Hello Dear Readers!
Wow this was a great race! Despite the bad weather from Friday night, and the resultant cancellation of the Sprint and Olympic distance swim, Sunday's race went on as scheduled.
Pre-Race Morning
I got up at 4 AM and did my best to get the sleep out of my eyes. Made some coffee, ate a skillet's hot breakfast. Gathered all my gear and headed down to Galveston. Along the way I ate a banana, muscle milk, and a nutri-grain bar. Got to the race site at about 5:10 AM and had plenty of time for the body marking and most importantly a few visits to the porta potty! At 6:30 AM we were told to go to the swim start staging area. Due to the large number of athletes at a smaller venue, we did a set of wave starts based on age group divisions. I was in the 40-44 group so we were wave 8. The pro's went off first and as usual Andy Potts was the first out of the water. After lots of waiting (or so it seemed) my group was called to the docks to get ready...
Swim (1.2 Miles)
The swim portion of this race was fairly hard. While the winds definitely died down during the night, we still had a stiff breeze blowing across the bay. This made the conditions a little crazy because we were swimming in a head wind for 2/3's of the swim course. The wind made the water really choppy with good sized waves. The first leg of the swim went great. I felt good and I felt like my pace was decent. When we hit the buoy for the left had turn to the long section of the swim, I knew it was going to be interesting. In order to get a good swim time, you need to get into a rhythm and stick with that sustainable rhythm. The problem was that it was hard to maintain a rhythm with waves constantly crashing onto your head every time you breathed. Normally this is not an issue if you can breath bi-laterally (on both sides). If a wave tends to hit you in the face on one side, you just switch to another. Problem is that the waves didn't come at you from a side but from straight ahead, so your goose was cooked no matter what you did. I made the best of it and chocked on water here and there, but it was tough to keep the pace consistent. I did notice that I was not the only one having issues, because I passed several swimmers from the previous swim waves. Once I got to the end, I made sure I waited until the last possible minute to get out on the exit platform, due to the oyster beds that would cut your feet if you got up too early. Once out of the water, some nice ladies stripped my wetsuit from me and I ran through the water fall to get the salt water out off me and ran into the first transition area. Total swim time for 1.2 miles was officially 44 Minutes and 39 seconds.
Here is the link to my Garmin swim data. Note that the GPS is not accurate due to the signal being lost in the water.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31342526
Transition One
I ran into T1 at a good pace and got to my bike without any problems. Did my best to get my feet clear of the sand and get my socks, shoes, helmet and glasses on. It took me a little longer than usual, but I want to make sure I have no foot problems during the bike or run. My T1 time was: 4 Minutes and 34 Seconds.
Here is the Garmin T1 data:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31342527
Bike (56 Miles)
Once I got out of the Transition area, I mounted my bike and headed out on the course. This was a 56 mile out and back course with no hills. The wind was still going pretty strong (about 15 MPH) so it was tough going. It was more a cross wind that was north to south rather than a head or tail wind. It seemed the it was pushing against my going west on the course. I noticed my speed was between 19 and 20 MPH and that was fine by me. I stayed loose and in control and just targeted other racers and reeled them in. I suspect some of these folks were from out of town since they seemed to be surprised by the wind. I was feeling really good because I passed a whole bunch of people. Hydration and nutrition plan were executed fine. At mile 28 we had a turnaround and headed back. Here it felt like I got a little bit of an assist from the cross wind and my speed jumped up between 21 and 22 MPH. Again I just spent the time reeling people in and passing them. The last mile or so back to the transition area was especially tough since it was straight North into the headwind. My legs were definitely on fire! Overall, taking the conditions into account I was happy with the bike portion. My time for the bike ended up being 2 Hours 44 Minutes and 11 Seconds. My Garmin data for this portion is here:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31342529
Transition 2
After fighting that huge headwind I rolled into T2 feeling really good. I jumped off the bike at the dismount line and found my rack space easily. Threw off the shoes and slipped into the running gear and headed on out. My time through T2 was a fast (for me) time of 2 minutes and 49 seconds. The link for the Garmin data is here:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31342531
Run (13.1 Miles)
I got to say, my run can be summed up in three words: I CRUSHED IT!!!! This was the fasted 13.1 miles I have ever done after biking and swimming beforehand. Last year, my time on the run for this race was over 10 minutes per mile. This time it was a average of a 8 minutes and 37 seconds per mile! Felt great the whole time. I kept expecting to blow up at that pace (which is fast for me) but the blow up never came. The last mile I was a little tired but kept accelerating. The last 10th of a mile I was running a 5 minute per mile pace. Here is the Garmin data for the run portion:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31342535
Summary
Overall, despite the windy conditions I was extremely pleased with my performance. My ranking was 60 out of 237 in my age group (top 25 percent). Overall my ranking was 292 out of 1586 total competitors (top 18 percent). Hopefully next year I will do even better!
That's all for now.
Tri your best,
Bill
Monday, April 26, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Tomorrow is GO TIME!
Hello Dear Readers! Just a quick update before I start shutting down and attempting to go to bed early.
Race Preparations
Well tomorrow is go time. That's right, first race of the year. It's been a busy last few days. Had to drive down to Galveston yesterday to get my race packet. Today I had to go again to put my bike in the transition area. I plan on getting up at 4 AM tomorrow to get to the race site by 5 AM.
Pre-Race Dinner
I took my wife to Denny's tonight for my ritual pre-race meal. French toast, eggs, wheat toast, English muffin, ham, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy and orange juice!
Race Goals
My goal this year is quite simple: Go Faster Than Last Year!
I think where I might see the most improvement is the run. I definitely feel that I can go faster. Of course, if I am not consistent on the bike and swim compared to last year, it might balance out to the same time. But if I can do the swim in less than 40 minutes, the bike in less than 3 hours and the run in under two hours, I should be able to beat my time previously.
I will post my performance after I have recovered from the race. That's all for now!
Tri your best!
Bill
Race Preparations
Well tomorrow is go time. That's right, first race of the year. It's been a busy last few days. Had to drive down to Galveston yesterday to get my race packet. Today I had to go again to put my bike in the transition area. I plan on getting up at 4 AM tomorrow to get to the race site by 5 AM.
Pre-Race Dinner
I took my wife to Denny's tonight for my ritual pre-race meal. French toast, eggs, wheat toast, English muffin, ham, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy and orange juice!
Race Goals
My goal this year is quite simple: Go Faster Than Last Year!
I think where I might see the most improvement is the run. I definitely feel that I can go faster. Of course, if I am not consistent on the bike and swim compared to last year, it might balance out to the same time. But if I can do the swim in less than 40 minutes, the bike in less than 3 hours and the run in under two hours, I should be able to beat my time previously.
I will post my performance after I have recovered from the race. That's all for now!
Tri your best!
Bill
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Just a Few More Days Till the First Race of the Year!
Hello Dear Readers!
Ironman Lonestar 70.3
Well the first race of the year is on tap. I am entered in the Ironman 70.3 Lonestar race for this Sunday. It is going to include over 1500 racers and a whole bunch of pro's! The weather looks to be pretty good for Sunday and I feel like I might do better this year than last. My run has definitely improved. Swimming and Biking are about the same so hopefully I can keep those times relatively similar.
Training
Training has been coming along pretty good. Over the last few weeks I have felt a bit burned out and was a little lazy here and there. Especially when it comes to the Bike. I just don't feel like going on 3-4 hour rides lately. I've kept up with my indoor power cycling and that is keeping me in OK shape. Hopefully I still have a good enough bike aerobic base to go strong during the race this weekend.
Upcoming Races
I am still registered to do the Vineman Ironman distance race this July. However, I may have to rethink it, depending on a bunch of factors (money, schedule, time for training, etc.). For now I am going to continue to train assuming I am doing the race. I will have to make a decision by Mid-June.
My coach has stated that if I really want to do the 100 mile run, I may want to just focus on that the rest of the year and be more prepared. I may end up doing that.
I will definitely blog about the race itself afterwords and time permitting I may blog about the events leading up to the race this weekend. That's all for now!
Tri your best,
Bill
Ironman Lonestar 70.3
Well the first race of the year is on tap. I am entered in the Ironman 70.3 Lonestar race for this Sunday. It is going to include over 1500 racers and a whole bunch of pro's! The weather looks to be pretty good for Sunday and I feel like I might do better this year than last. My run has definitely improved. Swimming and Biking are about the same so hopefully I can keep those times relatively similar.
Training
Training has been coming along pretty good. Over the last few weeks I have felt a bit burned out and was a little lazy here and there. Especially when it comes to the Bike. I just don't feel like going on 3-4 hour rides lately. I've kept up with my indoor power cycling and that is keeping me in OK shape. Hopefully I still have a good enough bike aerobic base to go strong during the race this weekend.
Upcoming Races
I am still registered to do the Vineman Ironman distance race this July. However, I may have to rethink it, depending on a bunch of factors (money, schedule, time for training, etc.). For now I am going to continue to train assuming I am doing the race. I will have to make a decision by Mid-June.
My coach has stated that if I really want to do the 100 mile run, I may want to just focus on that the rest of the year and be more prepared. I may end up doing that.
I will definitely blog about the race itself afterwords and time permitting I may blog about the events leading up to the race this weekend. That's all for now!
Tri your best,
Bill
Monday, March 29, 2010
Training for the Week of 3/28/2010.
Hello Dear Readers!
Wow it sure has been a pretty tough training week. Upon reviewing my new calendar form my coach (Hi Kevin!) I see that we are training through the Galveston Ironman 70.3. What this means is that I will not have a three week taper (like usual), but a abbreviated one week taper.
Here are my training stats for this week (as usual go to my Garmin Training page to see the stats of my training while wearing the GPS watch):
Monday
Swim 2500 Yards as:
Warm Up: 8x50 drills w/ 10 sec. rest
Main Set: 100/250/500/500/250/100 all Zone 5 w/ 20 sec. rest
Cool Down: 400 easy w/ pull buoy
Tuesday
15 MIN WARM UP
6 x 1 min. fast spin (105+) / 1 min easy
2 x (4 x 2 min. at Zone low 4-5, #1,3 in Aerobars, #2,4 sitting up in one gear bigger / 2 min easy between all) – extra 3 min between sets.
10 min. cool down
Wednesday
Run AM
4 miles
8:50-9:05 pace
Bike PM
30 miles
Zone 2****
@ 90-95 cad
Thursday
Run
8 miles
8:50-9:05 pace
I ran this inside the gym on the treadmill.
Friday
Swim 2500 Yards as:
Warm Up: 300 easy free
Main Set: 2000 free in Zone 3
Cool Down: 200 cool down
Saturday
16 mile long run this day. I was very tired since I went to bed super late the day before. I did end up averaging a 9:35 min/mile pace.
Sunday
I was supposed to do a 90 mile bike ride this day. I met the BAM club in Galveston to ride the race course. We had 20-30 MPH winds since we were right on the sea wall and after 60 miles I was totally wiped!
I have another tough week of training ahead, so I need to get right back to it! That's all for now!
Tri your best,
Bill
Wow it sure has been a pretty tough training week. Upon reviewing my new calendar form my coach (Hi Kevin!) I see that we are training through the Galveston Ironman 70.3. What this means is that I will not have a three week taper (like usual), but a abbreviated one week taper.
Here are my training stats for this week (as usual go to my Garmin Training page to see the stats of my training while wearing the GPS watch):
Monday
Swim 2500 Yards as:
Warm Up: 8x50 drills w/ 10 sec. rest
Main Set: 100/250/500/500/250/100 all Zone 5 w/ 20 sec. rest
Cool Down: 400 easy w/ pull buoy
Tuesday
15 MIN WARM UP
6 x 1 min. fast spin (105+) / 1 min easy
2 x (4 x 2 min. at Zone low 4-5, #1,3 in Aerobars, #2,4 sitting up in one gear bigger / 2 min easy between all) – extra 3 min between sets.
10 min. cool down
Followed this up immediately by a 4 mile transition run at a 8:12 min/mile pace.
Wednesday
Run AM
4 miles
8:50-9:05 pace
Bike PM
30 miles
Zone 2****
@ 90-95 cad
Thursday
Run
8 miles
8:50-9:05 pace
I ran this inside the gym on the treadmill.
Friday
Swim 2500 Yards as:
Warm Up: 300 easy free
Main Set: 2000 free in Zone 3
Cool Down: 200 cool down
Saturday
16 mile long run this day. I was very tired since I went to bed super late the day before. I did end up averaging a 9:35 min/mile pace.
Sunday
I was supposed to do a 90 mile bike ride this day. I met the BAM club in Galveston to ride the race course. We had 20-30 MPH winds since we were right on the sea wall and after 60 miles I was totally wiped!
I have another tough week of training ahead, so I need to get right back to it! That's all for now!
Tri your best,
Bill
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Training for the Week of March 21st
Hello Dear Readers!
Spring is finally here! Now we get longer days which translates to less excuses to do my workouts! No more, I can't go out now, work got in the way and it is getting dark soon. The last week has been wonderful weather, that is until yesterday. Storms came in with 20 mph winds and temperatures dropping into the 40s. Today is slightly better. Sun is out, but the wind is even worse (30 mph gusts) and the temperature got down to 38 last night! Let's hope this is the last really cold batch of weather we get until the fall.
American Liver Foundation
I have started building some contacts with the American Liver Foundation (http://www.liverfoundation.org/) to see if I can get a donation program started to help those who also suffer from Liver Disease. I got a voicemail on Thursday from their local Houston office and hopefully we will start our conversation this week. I'll keep you all posted as to how this goes.
Training
I had a great training week! Had a time trial on Thursday and had my fastest 2 mile split ever! More on this later (See Thursday section below). Here is the breakdown of my training:
Monday
Swim day this day. I did the following swim workout:
Warm Up: 12 x 50 as: alternating drill/kick on 15 sec. rest
Main Set: 2 x (300 free Zone 4, 4 x 50 back on 20 sec. rest, 250 pull Zone 3)
Cool Down: 16 x 25 choice Zone 1-2 on 5 sec rest
These are the swim zones we figured out from my 1000 meter time trial a few weeks ago:
02:28 Zone 1
02:19 Zone 2
02:10 Zone 3
02:01 Zone 4
01:52 Zone 5a
01:43 Zone 5b
All Zones are +/- 2 seconds and the times are per 100 meters.
Tuesday
This was a bike trainer day.
10 MIN WARM UP
6 min. at high Hr #3 / 3 min easy
8 min. at Hr #3-4 / 3 min easy
6 min. at Hr #4 / 3 min easy
8 min. at Hr #4 / 3 min easy
10 min. cool down
Wednesday
Run AM
4 miles
10:10-10:20 pace
Bike PM
30 miles
Zone 2****
@ 90-95 cad
Thursday
Time Trial Day!
Run at the local high school track 6 miles as:
2 mile very easy
2 miles TT 100%
2 mile very easy
Are you ready for this? I did my two mile 100% effort time trial in 13 minutes and 42 seconds! I finally broke through the 14 minute barrier!
Friday
I took the day off today. My legs were fried from the time trial.
Saturday
Bad weather came in so I did a 16 mile run at the gym on the treadmill.
Sunday
Today I am supposed to do a 80 mile ride. But it is cold and very windy and I just am not feeling it! Instead I went to the gym and rode the bike there and did some weights.
Well there you have it folks! Remember to always do something everyday even if it's not too much! That's all for now.
Tri your best!
Bill
Spring is finally here! Now we get longer days which translates to less excuses to do my workouts! No more, I can't go out now, work got in the way and it is getting dark soon. The last week has been wonderful weather, that is until yesterday. Storms came in with 20 mph winds and temperatures dropping into the 40s. Today is slightly better. Sun is out, but the wind is even worse (30 mph gusts) and the temperature got down to 38 last night! Let's hope this is the last really cold batch of weather we get until the fall.
American Liver Foundation
I have started building some contacts with the American Liver Foundation (http://www.liverfoundation.org/) to see if I can get a donation program started to help those who also suffer from Liver Disease. I got a voicemail on Thursday from their local Houston office and hopefully we will start our conversation this week. I'll keep you all posted as to how this goes.
Training
I had a great training week! Had a time trial on Thursday and had my fastest 2 mile split ever! More on this later (See Thursday section below). Here is the breakdown of my training:
Monday
Swim day this day. I did the following swim workout:
Warm Up: 12 x 50 as: alternating drill/kick on 15 sec. rest
Main Set: 2 x (300 free Zone 4, 4 x 50 back on 20 sec. rest, 250 pull Zone 3)
Cool Down: 16 x 25 choice Zone 1-2 on 5 sec rest
These are the swim zones we figured out from my 1000 meter time trial a few weeks ago:
02:28 Zone 1
02:19 Zone 2
02:10 Zone 3
02:01 Zone 4
01:52 Zone 5a
01:43 Zone 5b
All Zones are +/- 2 seconds and the times are per 100 meters.
Tuesday
This was a bike trainer day.
10 MIN WARM UP
6 min. at high Hr #3 / 3 min easy
8 min. at Hr #3-4 / 3 min easy
6 min. at Hr #4 / 3 min easy
8 min. at Hr #4 / 3 min easy
10 min. cool down
Wednesday
Run AM
4 miles
10:10-10:20 pace
Bike PM
30 miles
Zone 2****
@ 90-95 cad
Thursday
Time Trial Day!
Run at the local high school track 6 miles as:
2 mile very easy
2 miles TT 100%
2 mile very easy
Are you ready for this? I did my two mile 100% effort time trial in 13 minutes and 42 seconds! I finally broke through the 14 minute barrier!
Friday
I took the day off today. My legs were fried from the time trial.
Saturday
Bad weather came in so I did a 16 mile run at the gym on the treadmill.
Sunday
Today I am supposed to do a 80 mile ride. But it is cold and very windy and I just am not feeling it! Instead I went to the gym and rode the bike there and did some weights.
Well there you have it folks! Remember to always do something everyday even if it's not too much! That's all for now.
Tri your best!
Bill
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Training for the week of March 14th 2010
Hello Dear Readers!
This week I definitely feel my triathlon fitness coming back. I had to take Thursday and Friday off due to death in the family. Thanks to all for your very kind condolences. Here is the breakdown for this week:
Monday
Swim
2500 yards
See e-mail
Weights (Upper)
Tuesday
Bike
20 miles
@ 90-95 cad.
Run TR
4 miles
10:00-10:10 pace
Wednesday
Bike
20 miles
Zone 2****
@ 90-95 cad
Thursday
Off
Friday
Off
Saturday
Run
12 miles
10:20-10:30 pace
w/ 2 x 2 miles in 18:00 w/ .5m jog in between
Sunday
Bike
60 miles
Zone 2- low3
@ 90-95 cad
Go to my Training Page to see my Garmin data results.
On a personal note, while attending funeral services, I really thought a lot about life and how we take things for granted. Just a reminder to you all to live every day to the fullest and care for those around you. You never know when their time, or YOUR time will end.
Tri your best!
Bill
This week I definitely feel my triathlon fitness coming back. I had to take Thursday and Friday off due to death in the family. Thanks to all for your very kind condolences. Here is the breakdown for this week:
Monday
Swim
2500 yards
See e-mail
Weights (Upper)
Tuesday
Bike
20 miles
@ 90-95 cad.
Run TR
4 miles
10:00-10:10 pace
Wednesday
Bike
20 miles
Zone 2****
@ 90-95 cad
Thursday
Off
Friday
Off
Saturday
Run
12 miles
10:20-10:30 pace
w/ 2 x 2 miles in 18:00 w/ .5m jog in between
Sunday
Bike
60 miles
Zone 2- low3
@ 90-95 cad
Go to my Training Page to see my Garmin data results.
On a personal note, while attending funeral services, I really thought a lot about life and how we take things for granted. Just a reminder to you all to live every day to the fullest and care for those around you. You never know when their time, or YOUR time will end.
Tri your best!
Bill
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Monday, March 1, 2010
2010 Triathlon Season Training is Now in Full Swing!
Hello Dear Readers!
I hope every one's training is going well. I had to go on business travel for two weeks in the UK and my training definitely suffered. While I did bring enough clothes and gear to get my training in, I had so many things going against me on this trip. Bad weather, hotels that did not have gyms. Not staying in one city for more than a day so by the time I would get to the hotel it would be late and I would have no motivation. I did however have a few good workouts the first weekend I was there. The Brits have some good gyms available. Virgin Active was my favorite. Mr. Branson sure knows how to treat his customers! One way of viewing the situation is that I got myself plenty of rest, so when I did finally get back the states my "fire" was burning hot and I couldn't wait to get right back at it.
I had some great training sessions this weekend:
Saturday's 10 Mile Long Run
Here is the link to my Garmin data for Saturday's run:
http://connect.garmin.com/splits/25661716
Took it easy so that I would have plenty of energy for Sunday's long bike and run session.
Sunday's 60 Mile Bike with a 3 Mile Transition Run
This was the highlight of my week. Even though there were 20 MPH winds on the roads, I still averaged 19.1 miles per hour. I immediately transitioned to a 3 mile run and this also went really well. I ran the last mile in 7:22! For me that is phenomenal!
Here is the link to Sunday's bike session:
http://connect.garmin.com/splits/25791223
And the 3 mile transition run right afterword:
http://connect.garmin.com/splits/25791238
Now that I am back into the swing of things, I will attempt to post more often. Of course, if anyone has questions please feel free to contact me and I will do my best! That's all for now.
Tri your best!
Bill
I hope every one's training is going well. I had to go on business travel for two weeks in the UK and my training definitely suffered. While I did bring enough clothes and gear to get my training in, I had so many things going against me on this trip. Bad weather, hotels that did not have gyms. Not staying in one city for more than a day so by the time I would get to the hotel it would be late and I would have no motivation. I did however have a few good workouts the first weekend I was there. The Brits have some good gyms available. Virgin Active was my favorite. Mr. Branson sure knows how to treat his customers! One way of viewing the situation is that I got myself plenty of rest, so when I did finally get back the states my "fire" was burning hot and I couldn't wait to get right back at it.
I had some great training sessions this weekend:
Saturday's 10 Mile Long Run
Here is the link to my Garmin data for Saturday's run:
http://connect.garmin.com/splits/25661716
Took it easy so that I would have plenty of energy for Sunday's long bike and run session.
Sunday's 60 Mile Bike with a 3 Mile Transition Run
This was the highlight of my week. Even though there were 20 MPH winds on the roads, I still averaged 19.1 miles per hour. I immediately transitioned to a 3 mile run and this also went really well. I ran the last mile in 7:22! For me that is phenomenal!
Here is the link to Sunday's bike session:
http://connect.garmin.com/splits/25791223
And the 3 mile transition run right afterword:
http://connect.garmin.com/splits/25791238
Now that I am back into the swing of things, I will attempt to post more often. Of course, if anyone has questions please feel free to contact me and I will do my best! That's all for now.
Tri your best!
Bill
Monday, January 11, 2010
Bandera 100KM Race Report
Hello Dear Readers!
Well I have three words for this race: I DID IT!!!!!!
100 kilometers of running. That's 62 miles of blood, sweat and tears. Well, maybe not tears, but icicles since it was so cold (more on that later). Let's get started:
Pre-Race
I got up at about 5:30 AM on Saturday. The race started in two hours and they said we had to be there by 7:20 AM to get our drop bags checked in. Of course, I was scrambling that morning to eat my pre-race morning meal. This consisted of a microwave breakfast of eggs and bacon and two muscle milks. Of course, I made as many trips to the bathroom as possible so that I would be "empty" for the race. I started freaking out because I was a little behind due to my last minute packing of my drop bag boxes. These drop bags are very important because during these very long races, you need to be prepared for anything. So in each box you want to put food (I had bottles of ensure in there) as well as extra clothes, shoes, lights, etc.
I got to my car and I was not too pleased to see that the temperature read 8 degrees! I knew then that I was in for a very cold race day. I have never run in these temperatures before so this was going to be interesting.
I boogied to the race site and averted potential disaster when just a few miles into the national park, there was a low water crossing that was frozen over. The car in front of me hit the ice (stupid southerners) and spun out and almost went off the road into the water. He did recover and I avoided getting hit with him and made it to the race site at pretty much 7:20 AM! Got my drop bags checked in and got ready to bring on the pain!
Race Start
The gun went off at 7:30 AM exactly and 147 100 KM racers got their cold butts moving! For clothes I wore CWX pants and shirt as well as another shirt over that. I also had a cool weather running hat and gloves. It was definitely cold starting out but we got warm pretty quick as soon as we started hitting the hills. For Hydration I wore my 70 OZ Camelbak filled with Gatorade.
The Topography
This is not a flat race. And it is a myth that Texas is completely flat. Here is the elevation chart for the race (click to make bigger):
There are six steep climbs (Sky Island, Ice Cream Hill, Three Sisters, Lucky Peak, Cairn's Climb, and Boyle's Bump). The course is divided into two loops each one thirty one miles a piece. So do the math, that's twelve steep inclines and declines. The last three climbs were the worst. What was surprising about this race was that the climbs didn't bother me as much as the descents. The descents are what kill my knees.
The Terrain
The terrain in this race is very difficult. In fact it is rated 5 out of 5 for difficulty. This is due to the loose gravel, boulders and rocks that exists on the ascending and descending portions of the race. For those of you who remember my first attempt at this race last year, it was this loose terrain that caused me to fall and DNF. The other thing that made this interesting was the constant scraping of the legs you get from the very tough cactus plants. Here are some pics so you can see what I am talking about (click to make bigger):
The day got warmer and warmer as I moved along and it eventually was comfortable. I ran along with my buddy Ryan (you may remember him from my previous ultra races). He had broken his elbow a few weeks ago but still raced the 50K. It's always nice to have someone to talk to when doing these things.
Aid Stations
There were support/aid stations every 5 miles or so. You can see where they are labeled in the elevation chart above. They had great names (Nachos, Chapas (everyone joked at me about that one since it is pronounced that same as my name), Cross Roads and Last Chance). The stations had all kinds of food. Grilled Cheese, Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, Coffee, Cocoa, Candy, Crackers, Quesadillas, Potato's, you name it! The staff was great and I really appreciated all their support. Not only did they give us food, but they kept very careful track of who was where. Each aid station has to show who came in so that no one is left behind.
Video Updates
I tried something new this race. Every ten miles or so I got my cell phone out and taped a segment. It was a lot of fun and I did three segments before my battery went out. Here are the links to each segment:
Update at 10 Miles
Update at 20 Miles
Update at 30 Miles
The First Loop
So how did I feel? Well the first loop went just great. I took my time and was very careful on the climbs and descents. I ran the flats or anywhere where the surface was nice and hard and had good traction. There was no way I was going to repeat last years fiasco. I took in the scenery and basically enjoyed myself. I arrived at the halfway point (which was one 31 mile loop) in under 8 hours. It was still daylight at this point so I was really hoping to get as much in during the 2nd loop as possible before dark. I drank some Ensure and filled my hydration pack again. I said goodbye to Ryan and his buddies (since they were done) and went on my way alone.
The Second Loop
I was really pumped going into the 2nd loop. I knew that I still felt great, my legs and knees were fine and I started entertaining the thought that I was going to finish this thing! I knew what I was in for the 2nd time around and this helped my mental game since I knew that I could do the loop one more time.
As I ran along I did realize I had made one potentially terrible mistake. I had three light sources for when the nightfall came. I placed lights in both of my drop bags, but as I started my 2nd loop I realized that I might not make it to cross roads (the aid station where my 2nd drop bag was placed) until after dark! I started to freak out and realized that I would have to buddy up with someone who DID have a light until I got to cross roads. Fortunately I met two awesome guys (Frank and Mike) shortly after my little panic session. Frank was from Chicago and Mike was from DC. Not only were they cool with me running with them, but they had extra lights I could use until we got to cross roads. Plus they were going at exactly the pace I was. Thank the trail Gods for them!
It started getting dark at around mile 40 and then the temperatures started to plummet again. I heard that it got down to 16 degrees by the time I finished and boy I felt it. My hands were really freezing even with the gloves on. I fixed this by taking the gloves off and blowing into them to try to get them to dry a little. This did the trick and I was pretty comfortable the rest of the race. When we got to Cross Roads at mile 46, I got my own head lamp and gave Frank back his extra one. We stood in the aid station shivering and took our time getting coffee, cocoa, grilled cheese, etc. till we got a little more warmed up. I asked one of the volunteers if there were still a lot of people behind us and she said 30 percent or so were still to check in.
At around mile 50 Mike started having to really slow down and we had to push on once we started the last three climbs starting with the Three Sisters (see map above). Frank and I were still doing really great and were jabbering away about all things (life, women, kids, jobs, you name it) to pass the time. I saw that my GPS ran out of battery at around mile 56, but at that point I knew we would finish well within the time limits so I didn't really care.
Animals
One thing that I wanted to share with you was at one point after mile 50 (I think it was during the Cairn's Climb, we started hearing coyotes. At first it was just one in the distance. I looked at Frank and said "Eh we can take on one little coyote." Then a little while later we heard what sounded like half a dozen or more coyote calls. And they were pretty close. I think Frank and I picked up the pace a little and we had some chills going down out spines (not from the cold).
When we got to the top of Cairn's Climb we had to stop and look at the night sky. Since this race is in the middle of nowhere, there was no light pollution. I haven't seen the sky so vividly since I was a kid growing up in the Adirondack mountains. It was truly a site to behold.
The Finish
Frank and I got really excited when we got to the base of Boyle's Bump. We knew we were basically done and picked up the pace tremendously. I think we ran the last mile in under 9 minutes! I crossed the finish line with a time of 16:53:29. This put me in 78th place out of 147 racers. Only 110 racers actually completed the distance.
Conclusion
Well there you have it. My first 100 KM running ultra. It was an awesome experience and I am really pleased with my results for a first timer. Thanks go out to Kevin at Tri On The Run for coaching me and of course my wife and family for putting up with my crazy training hours and constant complaining!
What's next you might ask? Well I think my next big goal is to do a full 100 MILE ultra. If I choose to punish myself this way, I will likely do it later in the year. There is a 100 Mile race here in Bandera that is basically this course done three times.
Stay tuned for photo's to be added to the website. Until then, Tri your best!
Bill
Well I have three words for this race: I DID IT!!!!!!
100 kilometers of running. That's 62 miles of blood, sweat and tears. Well, maybe not tears, but icicles since it was so cold (more on that later). Let's get started:
Pre-Race
I got up at about 5:30 AM on Saturday. The race started in two hours and they said we had to be there by 7:20 AM to get our drop bags checked in. Of course, I was scrambling that morning to eat my pre-race morning meal. This consisted of a microwave breakfast of eggs and bacon and two muscle milks. Of course, I made as many trips to the bathroom as possible so that I would be "empty" for the race. I started freaking out because I was a little behind due to my last minute packing of my drop bag boxes. These drop bags are very important because during these very long races, you need to be prepared for anything. So in each box you want to put food (I had bottles of ensure in there) as well as extra clothes, shoes, lights, etc.
I got to my car and I was not too pleased to see that the temperature read 8 degrees! I knew then that I was in for a very cold race day. I have never run in these temperatures before so this was going to be interesting.
I boogied to the race site and averted potential disaster when just a few miles into the national park, there was a low water crossing that was frozen over. The car in front of me hit the ice (stupid southerners) and spun out and almost went off the road into the water. He did recover and I avoided getting hit with him and made it to the race site at pretty much 7:20 AM! Got my drop bags checked in and got ready to bring on the pain!
Race Start
The gun went off at 7:30 AM exactly and 147 100 KM racers got their cold butts moving! For clothes I wore CWX pants and shirt as well as another shirt over that. I also had a cool weather running hat and gloves. It was definitely cold starting out but we got warm pretty quick as soon as we started hitting the hills. For Hydration I wore my 70 OZ Camelbak filled with Gatorade.
The Topography
This is not a flat race. And it is a myth that Texas is completely flat. Here is the elevation chart for the race (click to make bigger):
There are six steep climbs (Sky Island, Ice Cream Hill, Three Sisters, Lucky Peak, Cairn's Climb, and Boyle's Bump). The course is divided into two loops each one thirty one miles a piece. So do the math, that's twelve steep inclines and declines. The last three climbs were the worst. What was surprising about this race was that the climbs didn't bother me as much as the descents. The descents are what kill my knees.
The Terrain
The terrain in this race is very difficult. In fact it is rated 5 out of 5 for difficulty. This is due to the loose gravel, boulders and rocks that exists on the ascending and descending portions of the race. For those of you who remember my first attempt at this race last year, it was this loose terrain that caused me to fall and DNF. The other thing that made this interesting was the constant scraping of the legs you get from the very tough cactus plants. Here are some pics so you can see what I am talking about (click to make bigger):
The day got warmer and warmer as I moved along and it eventually was comfortable. I ran along with my buddy Ryan (you may remember him from my previous ultra races). He had broken his elbow a few weeks ago but still raced the 50K. It's always nice to have someone to talk to when doing these things.Aid Stations
There were support/aid stations every 5 miles or so. You can see where they are labeled in the elevation chart above. They had great names (Nachos, Chapas (everyone joked at me about that one since it is pronounced that same as my name), Cross Roads and Last Chance). The stations had all kinds of food. Grilled Cheese, Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, Coffee, Cocoa, Candy, Crackers, Quesadillas, Potato's, you name it! The staff was great and I really appreciated all their support. Not only did they give us food, but they kept very careful track of who was where. Each aid station has to show who came in so that no one is left behind.
Video Updates
I tried something new this race. Every ten miles or so I got my cell phone out and taped a segment. It was a lot of fun and I did three segments before my battery went out. Here are the links to each segment:
Update at 10 Miles
Update at 20 Miles
Update at 30 Miles
The First Loop
So how did I feel? Well the first loop went just great. I took my time and was very careful on the climbs and descents. I ran the flats or anywhere where the surface was nice and hard and had good traction. There was no way I was going to repeat last years fiasco. I took in the scenery and basically enjoyed myself. I arrived at the halfway point (which was one 31 mile loop) in under 8 hours. It was still daylight at this point so I was really hoping to get as much in during the 2nd loop as possible before dark. I drank some Ensure and filled my hydration pack again. I said goodbye to Ryan and his buddies (since they were done) and went on my way alone.
The Second Loop
I was really pumped going into the 2nd loop. I knew that I still felt great, my legs and knees were fine and I started entertaining the thought that I was going to finish this thing! I knew what I was in for the 2nd time around and this helped my mental game since I knew that I could do the loop one more time.
As I ran along I did realize I had made one potentially terrible mistake. I had three light sources for when the nightfall came. I placed lights in both of my drop bags, but as I started my 2nd loop I realized that I might not make it to cross roads (the aid station where my 2nd drop bag was placed) until after dark! I started to freak out and realized that I would have to buddy up with someone who DID have a light until I got to cross roads. Fortunately I met two awesome guys (Frank and Mike) shortly after my little panic session. Frank was from Chicago and Mike was from DC. Not only were they cool with me running with them, but they had extra lights I could use until we got to cross roads. Plus they were going at exactly the pace I was. Thank the trail Gods for them!
It started getting dark at around mile 40 and then the temperatures started to plummet again. I heard that it got down to 16 degrees by the time I finished and boy I felt it. My hands were really freezing even with the gloves on. I fixed this by taking the gloves off and blowing into them to try to get them to dry a little. This did the trick and I was pretty comfortable the rest of the race. When we got to Cross Roads at mile 46, I got my own head lamp and gave Frank back his extra one. We stood in the aid station shivering and took our time getting coffee, cocoa, grilled cheese, etc. till we got a little more warmed up. I asked one of the volunteers if there were still a lot of people behind us and she said 30 percent or so were still to check in.
At around mile 50 Mike started having to really slow down and we had to push on once we started the last three climbs starting with the Three Sisters (see map above). Frank and I were still doing really great and were jabbering away about all things (life, women, kids, jobs, you name it) to pass the time. I saw that my GPS ran out of battery at around mile 56, but at that point I knew we would finish well within the time limits so I didn't really care.
Animals
One thing that I wanted to share with you was at one point after mile 50 (I think it was during the Cairn's Climb, we started hearing coyotes. At first it was just one in the distance. I looked at Frank and said "Eh we can take on one little coyote." Then a little while later we heard what sounded like half a dozen or more coyote calls. And they were pretty close. I think Frank and I picked up the pace a little and we had some chills going down out spines (not from the cold).
When we got to the top of Cairn's Climb we had to stop and look at the night sky. Since this race is in the middle of nowhere, there was no light pollution. I haven't seen the sky so vividly since I was a kid growing up in the Adirondack mountains. It was truly a site to behold.
The Finish
Frank and I got really excited when we got to the base of Boyle's Bump. We knew we were basically done and picked up the pace tremendously. I think we ran the last mile in under 9 minutes! I crossed the finish line with a time of 16:53:29. This put me in 78th place out of 147 racers. Only 110 racers actually completed the distance.
Conclusion
Well there you have it. My first 100 KM running ultra. It was an awesome experience and I am really pleased with my results for a first timer. Thanks go out to Kevin at Tri On The Run for coaching me and of course my wife and family for putting up with my crazy training hours and constant complaining!
What's next you might ask? Well I think my next big goal is to do a full 100 MILE ultra. If I choose to punish myself this way, I will likely do it later in the year. There is a 100 Mile race here in Bandera that is basically this course done three times.
Stay tuned for photo's to be added to the website. Until then, Tri your best!
Bill
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Bandera 100 KM Ultra is Almost Here!
Happy New Year dear Readers!
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. Mine was very busy with lots and lots of running! I am now just a few days away from the Bandera 100 KM foot race and I feel very ready for it. I took this race much more seriously than I did last year, so barring any falls, etc. I think I should finish fine.
The Weather looks like it is going to be clear and very cold in Bandera. Race will start at about 20 degrees and only get as high as 45 degrees. I am sure to get my racing clothes layered so that I don't freeze to death!
I bought another storage bin to use in the transition areas. That gives me a total of two. I will pack some extra clothes, shoes, food, medical stuff etc. so that if I need to make some changes mid-race, I am as prepared as possible.
The Taper is going very nicely. Did 5 miles yesterday mixed it up with stair climbing and elliptical. I did 4 miles on the elliptical during lunch today. Trying to keep things nice and easy on the joints. I have a off day tomorrow and Friday I will do some very light weights and only 3 miles.
Friday I will be driving to San Antonio and checking into the hotel and then driving to the race site for my pre-race meeting and packet pickup.
I plan on doing some video and pictures with my Droid phone during the race, so I have been practicing a little with it to make sure I can do it properly. I will post a videos after the race (assuming I survive!).
I will probably do one more blog update before the race to let everyone know what is what.
Tri your best!
Bill
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. Mine was very busy with lots and lots of running! I am now just a few days away from the Bandera 100 KM foot race and I feel very ready for it. I took this race much more seriously than I did last year, so barring any falls, etc. I think I should finish fine.
The Weather looks like it is going to be clear and very cold in Bandera. Race will start at about 20 degrees and only get as high as 45 degrees. I am sure to get my racing clothes layered so that I don't freeze to death!
I bought another storage bin to use in the transition areas. That gives me a total of two. I will pack some extra clothes, shoes, food, medical stuff etc. so that if I need to make some changes mid-race, I am as prepared as possible.
The Taper is going very nicely. Did 5 miles yesterday mixed it up with stair climbing and elliptical. I did 4 miles on the elliptical during lunch today. Trying to keep things nice and easy on the joints. I have a off day tomorrow and Friday I will do some very light weights and only 3 miles.
Friday I will be driving to San Antonio and checking into the hotel and then driving to the race site for my pre-race meeting and packet pickup.
I plan on doing some video and pictures with my Droid phone during the race, so I have been practicing a little with it to make sure I can do it properly. I will post a videos after the race (assuming I survive!).
I will probably do one more blog update before the race to let everyone know what is what.
Tri your best!
Bill
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