El Scorcho 2011 Race Report

Hello Dear Readers,

Well another 50K race done and in the books of history.  This race was a first for me on many levels.

1. It started at midnight.
2. It was in a location I had never been to (Fort Worth Trinity Park).
3. It was the hottest race I have ever done.
4. First time I ran shirtless the whole time.

Morning of the Race

All things about this race were different for me.  Since the race started at midnight, I saw no reason for me to get there the day before since the site was a 5 hour drive from Houston.  So I placed the dogs in the kennel for the weekend and headed on up to Fort Worth.  The drive was pretty uneventful, lots of sitting.  Drank 80 ounces of Gatorade since I knew it was going to be one heck of a hot time up there.  Once I got into town and before I checked into the hotel I stopped at the Running Store to get my bib and race packet. I just glanced at my bib and saw that the number matched appropriately to the paperwork and headed out to the hotel.  The fact that I didn't pay super close attention to that bib is part of this story later on!

Arrival in Fort Worth (Otherwise Known as "The Oven")

The first thing I noticed when I pulled into the hotel was that it was HOOOOOOTTTTTT!  Not just Houston hot, but burn the skin off your body and bleach your bones the sun is so intense hot! My car agreed:

Not sure what the heat index was but the ambient at 106 degrees made me really hope it dips a lot before the race start!

Once I arrived I got a free hotel room at the Residence Inn (literally next to the race sight) using my points.  After I got all checked in a situated I went to IHOP and had my usual pre-race calorie fest:

Once I finished my gluttonous endeavor, I went back to the hotel room and slept from 5 PM till 9 PM.  I was planning on sleeping longer, but I was too excited!


Race Evening

I got some of my gear laid out and decided to take a walk over to the race site to see if it is close enough for me to not drive.  The park where the race course is was literally just over a hill right next to the hotel.  As I searched for the race start area, I found cones and markings for the run course and noticed that Trinity Park was pitch black dark most of the time!  They weren't kidding when they said the course was only partially lit and you would need to bring a head lamp.  After about 10 minutes of walking I saw the race site in the distance and decided that while it technically WAS within walking distance, anything over 10 minutes is NOT something I will be wanting to do after running 50K.  So I turned around and walked back to the hotel to get dressed and hydrated some more and then waited till 11 PM or so till I left and drove to the race site.  This is when U noticed that there was something wrong with my bib.  It said I was only in the 25K!  I was like, OH CRAP!  So I got on the horn with the race directory (Who is one of the coolest guys I know) and he said to just check in with him when I get there and he will get me all fixed up.  PHEW!!!

Oh and you may recall me mentioning the hope that the temperature drops significantly?  Well..............

Arrival at Race Site

I pulled into the parking lot and got a gander at all the other runners competing in the race.  This is why I love ultras.  Such a awesome mix of people.  Some were dressed with costumes while almost all the guys were shirtless.  I was thinking about going shirtless myself and that sealed the deal for me.  I parked, got out my cooler of Gatorade and hydration pack and headed over to the race start to find the Ryan (Race Director).  I couldn't find him (as he was busy directing, DUH!) and was directed to the timing chip people.  They said to race with the same number, but they changed the entry in the computer to show my chip as a 50K racer instead of a 25K.  So at least that problem was solved.

As I walked around to find a tree to dump my cooler I saw people had brought chairs and tents and canopies.  Families with their kids were there.  Music was playing and there was a guy walking around with a microphone announcing stuff and generally having a good time.  The guy with the microphone walked up to me and asked me some questions about my race history and any tips I could give the new runners, etc.  I gave him a few answers that I thought were appropriate.  I am normally a chatty Kathy but not tonight!

I did finally run into Ryan and Jason (the two race directors).  They were gracious as always and wished me great luck during the race.  I first met these two at Bandera 100K and the Sunmart 50 miler a few years back and we raced together.  That's the thing about these races.  You meet people and you make new friends! 

Race Start

The Race

This race is comprised of a 5K loop.  So we run this loop 10 times.  There were water stations every mile or so and the volunteers were great!  The moon was nearly full and it had risen just after the race start.  This was really cool because it was so bright I didn't need my headlamp after the first loop.  Here is a aerial shot of the course with my GPS data:

First 3 or so laps were pretty uneventful.  It was really really hot so I was sucking on my hydration pack like it was going out of style.  My GPS was telling me I was on a sub 5 hour pace which was my goal for this race.  Felt good, legs were fresh and I was having a heck of a good time! At the end of lap 3 Ryan and Jason came along side and asked how I was feeling, I was like "I'm doing great!" and they said "Let's see how you are feeling at lap 8".

Laps 4 through 7 were your age old laps.  As the distance piled up it got harder.  The night did cool as it went on and that was a relief.  I met a lot of interesting people.  The race really thinned out once the 25K racers finished and it was only us 50K racers left.  I actually raced with music and listened to Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon and the Wall) for some of the time.  With the moon looking over me that music seemed appropriate.

When lap 8 came about I understood what Ryan was saying.  It definitely got tough.  But I've been there before with some longer distances and was able to run through that low point.  By the time I got to the last lap the sun was getting ready to rise.  The night got brighter and the world came alive again.  My last lap was actually pretty fast compared to the earlier ones and my final mile was sub 10 minute (which by that time was pretty good for me)!

I cam running through the finish line at 5:45 AM and got all my swag, which included a cool (and large) finishers medal and a 50K finishers pin (see below):

Post Race

I hung around a bit after the race and chatted with the race director's and let them know that I will definitely be doing this one again!  I high tailed it out of there since I had to check out of my hotel at 1 PM and wanted to get a few hours of shuteye before my 5 hour drive home.  It's been a week or so since the race and I'm already pretty recovered and have started adding the miles again. I am probably going to do the Rocky Raccoon 50K race in the fall before doing the 100 miler in February.  So keep checking my training page to see the GPS data I send and of course friend me on Facebook if you like (http://www.facebook.com/TexasTriathlete or just search for William Choppa)!

Until next time...

Tri your best!

Bill

Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas 2011 Race Report

Hello dear readers!

Wow, that was a tough one!  Competing in the inaugural Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas was a challenging experience to say the least.  I finished in 13 hours and 15 minutes.   I did have some issues (more on that later) though. Not what I was hoping for, but overall I was pretty happy with the race. 

Day Before the Race

I stayed up at a hotel the night before the race so that I would not have to get up at 2 in the morning to be at the race site on time.  I had a little bit of race drama on Thursday.  Turns out, I was supposed to be checked in by Thursday at 4 PM, but I got back from work travel late Wednesday night and just "assumed" I could register on Friday.  So going through the race packet, I saw that registration was closed after Thursday and I almost had a heart attack thinking I was totally screwed!  I started looking at the Ironman website for a contact number and got a hold of a race official who let me know that it was fine for me to check in on Friday.  She said that sometimes people's travel gets screwed up so they make a few exceptions to let those people check in on Friday.  THANK GOODNESS!

After successfully registering I bought a few items at the Ironman Expo and got my bike checked into the transition area and dropped off my bike and run gear bags.   

 I ran into a few buddies I train with as well as a few fellow members of the BAM! triathlon club.  Of course my Ultra Running buddies Roland and Daniel were there and yes they both became Ironmen!  Here is a pic of the transition area with all the bikes checked in for the most part.  Such a sight to see!

 I had my usual pre-race dinner at Denny's:

You may notice that this is not the usual calorie fest I normally eat.  I decided to be a little conservative this time around and not have 10 pounds of food in my gut on race morning.  I then went back to the hotel room, relaxed a bit and got everything laid out for race morning.  I actually got to sleep before midnight and had 3 alarms set for 3:30 AM the next morning.

 

Race Morning

All 3 alarms went off at 3:30 AM just as planned.  It wakes you up when you have to run around a room turning off alarms.  It's a nice warm up!  I proceeded to get my morning breakfast in.  This consisted of:

• Muscle Milk
• Nutri Grain Bar
• 2 Bananas
• Coffee
• Gatorade
• Water

With my reserves topped off, I packed up my run and bike special needs bags and headed out the door to get to the race site.

Parking was a huge pain in the butt this time around.  I had to park in a mall parking lot like a mile from the transition area.  So I kept walking and walking and was looking around me at all the faces.  You can always tell the first timers.  They have a deer in the headlights look and are so nervous they can hardly talk.  I walked with one young man and gave him some pointers to calm him down a bit.  The typical stuff such as "Just look at it as a long training day, not a race." etc. etc.

I handed off my special needs bags to the volunteers and headed out to the swim start area with some fellow BAM! members.  The race officials were supposed to close the transition area at 6:15 AM but instead moved it up to 6 AM.  I feel bad for anyone who got there last minute and had to frantically get over to the swim start.  Oh, and the swim start was yet ANOTHER mile away!  So the race hadn't even started yet and I was already 2 miles in!

Swim

Once I got to the swim start I changed into my speed skin.  I ran into Chris Hamblin (who is now a IRONMAN!) and we chatted it up a while as we got ready for the swim start.  I found some convenient bushes to avoid the hundreds of people waiting in the porta potty line.  Thank you evolution for allowing me to relieve myself standing up!

As the pros moved into the water, we started lining up at the swim entrance for the age group start.  I was just standing there and one of the event camera people told me to look at her and she took my picture.

It's a mass start so over 2000 competitors need to get into the water at the same time.  They divided the line up as two groups: Wetsuit and Non-Wetsuit.  The reason for this is that the temperature was over 76 degrees.  USAT rules state that if the temperature is over 76 degrees you may wear a wetsuit but you will not be eligible for prizes or Kona slots etc.  This is where I had my first issue of the day.

What do you mean I am not legal?

So I get into the non-wetsuit line and the race official who was checking us said I wasn’t legal. I looked at him and said, “This specific manufacturer and speed suit model is listed as USAT legal on the Ironman website.”  He would have none of it and said either take it off or get in the wetsuit line.  It pissed me off since I just dropped a good amount of change on this suit for this specific race.  If I had known that their own website was wrong, I would have warn my wetsuit!  So I obligingly got into the wetsuit line and headed out into the water, grumbling to myself how I was going to write a “Strongly worded letter” to the WTC people complaining about this.  Who knows, maybe they can comp me the cost of the suit?

Once we were all in the water and the start time was approaching the song that all of us love started playing.  That song of course was Black Sabbath’s “Ironman”.  It gets your blood pumping every time!  Of course then the gun goes off and the pummeling of 2500 athletes was under way!

 I’ve talked about this before, but I have to mention it again.  A mass start Ironman swim is rough.  It is even rougher when the swim course is as narrow as this one was.  You get punched, kicked, grabbed, pushed and I’m not sure, but I might have been close to getting violated at one point!  OK, just kidding about the last part.  But suffice to say it was really hard for me to get into a smooth rhythm.  I’d get going and I would then run into someone which would stop me and then the person behind would run into me.  So it was a set of constant starts and stops for the first half mile or so before I could get into any open water.

 

After what seemed like a lifetime, I finally climbed the ladder out of the canal and headed into Transition 1.  My time at that point was about 1 hour and 28 minutes.  Not as fast as I normally would do this distance, but I felt really good and was excited to get out on the bike course.

Transition 1

The first transition took about a little under 10 minutes.  I got my gear bag which contained all my bike stuff such as helmet, shoes, body glide, sunscreen, glasses, etc.  Ran into the men’s changing tent and threw my swim gear into the bike bag and put all my bike gear on.  I then ran over to the sunscreen girls and they did a great job of coating me with thick sun screen.  Then it was off to grab my bike off the rack and onto the road!

The Bike

Riding 112 miles is hard any time of the year, but it is especially difficult in hot conditions.  Fortunately, the sun was behind the clouds so while the temperature and humidity was high, it could have been a lot worse.  We had a good amount of wind out there, but again, I’ve ridden in worse. 

I knew from the first few miles of the bike I was going to have a good day.  I was roaring down the road passing people left and right.  My heart rate was good and I was really stoked.  And then the second issue I had with how the race went happened.

At an intersection of 1488 (maybe 10 miles in), the police stopped all bike traffic.  You might think that this is a minor issue, but to me it was.  The whole point of paying the police to direct traffic is so that the bikers are the ones who have the right of way and the cars are the ones who stop.  Plus the fact that all that effort to get ahead of other riders was erased since the police made us stay there for at least 5 minutes.  I figure there were about 500 cyclists all jammed up at that intersection.  Also it is a safety hazard in my opinion because there was a 90 degree turn right after that intersection and there were some close calls for crashes since we were just a few inches from each other.  I could see a domino effect happening easily.  Fortunately it didn’t.

After the 1488 fiasco the rest of the bike portion was pretty good as far as my speed and endurance went.  I pushed but not too crazy.  At one point I went 36 miles per hour on one of the down hills.  

 That was fun.  But of course, now comes the third issue I had during the race.  The damned Ironman Perform drink.

In years past, Ironman races offered Gatorade Endurance Formula during races.  It tastes great and is tolerated well by my system.  Then last year Ironman announced that they no longer would be serving Gatorade but their own product they developed with Power Bar called Ironman Perform.  This is not a product you can buy at the grocery store, but order online or get from a specialty store like a bike shop.  So what is my issue?  Well to put it mildly, it tastes like doo doo!  Too sweet and when I drink a lot of it, I get sick.  Talking with some fellow triathletes, they know this is a common issue.  I did train with the product here and there, but I used the powder version and the ready to drink formula they used at the race was much more concentrated and sweeter.  Anyway, my first 50 miles or so was on the Gatorade I carried with me on the bike and then I switched to the Perform drink.  I started having trouble with my gut around mile 80 and I had not really peed again so I knew I was in trouble.  I tried to drink more water and so forth but my gut was just not cooperating.  This is a rookie mistake.  I should have stopped, and started chugging until my stomach emptied but I was too focused on keeping my time good on the bike and I figured I could recover on the run.  In the meantime, I had to focus on getting the bike course completed.

The last 20 miles or so were a hassle for me because the traffic got pretty bad with cars.  Some of the roads were so narrow, I actually had to wait behind cars!  You have no idea how pissed off I was that I was doing such great time and had to stop or slow waaaaaaay down several times to wait for cars to get out of the way.  I was not a happy camper!

I pressed on and finished the bike in 5 hours and 41 minutes.  That was an average of 19.6 MPH!  If it hadn’t been for all the car traffic issues, I am sure it would have been closer or over to 20 MPH!  Fastest bike split at this distance I have ever done!

Transition 2

I got off the bike and grabbed my run gear bag and headed into the changing tent.  

It was SOOOOOO HOT in there!  So here I am, dehydrated and sickly and I’m inside a 100+ degree tent.  I did my best to get changed as quickly as I could and got out of there.  Total time in transition 2 was 9:21.

The Marathon

Now here comes the fun part (NOT!).  In a few words, I was basically sick to my stomach the whole run.  I know it was due to my poor hydration and nutrition plan going out the window.  I couldn’t really keep anything down and I was really overheated.  I ran with Daniel for a few miles, but he was in better a better situation than myself so I told him to go for a great time and I would plod along myself.  Here's a pic of us together....

I knew I could finish, but I was not sure how fast.  I arrived out of transition in about 7 hours and 30 minutes for the run, a personal record!  I had all the time in the world to do the marathon so I could walk it in if I had to and still get done in under the 17 hour time limit.

So how did I survive?  Well the first thing you have to take care of is the overheating.  It was in the 90s at this point so at every water stop I took several ice sponges and put some down my back and in the front and then took a cup of ice and placed it under my cap.

After 10 miles or so I started feeling a bit better and could drink some cola and eat some chips but that was about it.  At this point I was doing a walk/shuffle strategy.  Walk for a while, and then shuffle for a while and I basically did this over and over again throughout the 26.2 mile run.

The crowds were awesome.  People were everywhere and there are a few miles before you got downtown during the three loops of the run that you ran by restaurants that were serving alcohol. So I had all these drunk folks cheering me on and it was all great fun!  I was offered so much alcohol during the run but had to pass.  There was one group of young women in bikinis giving away free hugs! I also remember one guy with a speedo and a grass skirt chasing us around telling us to go faster. By the time I got to the finisher shoot I was really cooking and feeling pretty good!

After sprinting against a little guy from Mexico at the finish line (you will see that we basically are there at the same time), I finally did finish the marathon in 5 hours and 46 minutes for my total time of 13 hours and 15 minutes.

I got pulled aside and given some water and a guy guided me towards the back of the area for getting my finisher picture and timing chip retrieval.  I was pretty dazed and the guy kept asking if I needed to go to the medical tent.  I said I was fine and he plopped me in front of the photographer who said "Pose!".  So I gave him a little flex and of course the flash happened when my eyes were closed.  I actually think this is really funny!

It always seems to me that the marathon portion of an Ironman is a time of reflection.  This is especially true when the race isn’t going as planned and you are going really slow and all you have is time with your own thoughts.  I thought about my training so far this year and the things I did right and wrong.  I thought about my family and all the time I spent away training for long hours on the bike and runs.  I am really thankful I have such a beautiful and understanding network of family and friends who support this obsession!

I know this post was long, but I thought you would all find this enjoyable.  That's the last triathlon I will be doing this year.  I am now switching to ultra running mode and will do some long running races and yes I think I will compete in the Rocky Raccoon 100 mile race again next year.  I HAVE TO GET THAT BUCKLE!

That's all for now. 

Tri your best!

Bill

Ironman Texas Here We Go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello Dear Readers!

I am so excited to be racing tomorrow.  For those who need a catch up, I am competing in the Memorial Herman Ironman Texas race.  That's 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running.  I feel really good about this race.  I  have rode on the harder parts of the bike course several times.  I have swum without a wetsuit to the proper distances.  I have a much better base of running as well.  Could this be the fastest one I have ever done?  I am hopeful.  But this race will be really hot and very windy.  These conditions are not conducive for me to have a fast set of splits.  But I am going to really focus on keeping my core cool and taking it easy so that I have lots of energy left for the run.

I'd like to do a shout out to my buddies Roland and Danny.  I trained with them a bit for this race and I think those young whipper snappers will do really well for their first Ironman distance race!  Good luck guys and I will see you at the start tomorrow!

As always, I want to thank my coach, Kevin Landry, for giving me great advice and training plans to prepare for this race.

And of course, what post would be complete without thanking my beautiful wife, Denise, for all her support.  There is a reason why they call women married to Ironman athletes "Ironman Widows".  Long hours away on the bike or running, bad moods and the crazy stress of race week.  Thanks honey for hanging in there with me and I promise we will go on a vacation together sometime soon!

Well, I got the alarm set for 3:30 AM and I need to start trying to wind down for bed.  I'll post a race report later.  Until then.....

Tri your best!

Bill

I Fought the Raccoon and the Raccoon Won!

Hello my Friends!

It's been one heck of a start for 2011! This upcoming racing season will be a mixture of races and training and starting this year, intermediate level advising for the BAM! triathletes.  But first, we need to talk about my experience at the Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile Endurance race.

About Rocky Raccoon 100

Rocky is a wonderful event.  It's comprised of five 20 mile loops through the heavily wooded forest of Sam Houston State Park, in Huntsville.  It is extremely well run and the aid stations are some of the best I have seen.  The Terrain is comprised of a single track and rolling hills. Much better conditions than Bandera for example.


You have 30 Hours to complete the 100 miles.  The ultra running community is all about helping each other finish so this was a great event for me to attempt my first 100 mile running race.

Sickness and Injury

I had a bit of bad luck in the weeks leading up to this race.  If you look at my training data at my website, you will see that I was doing my 30 mile training runs really well and things were humming along wonderfully.  Then I injured my calf.  We think it was just a simple overuse injury and in the days leading up to the race, I dialed back on my training significantly.  Then to top it all off, the Saturday before the race, I moved my stepson into his new apartment and caught a nasty cold!  He had been sick and of course, I touched everything he touched.  Both my wife and I were pretty down in the sickly dumps for at least 4 days.  I went to the doctor and got on some antibiotics and hoped for the best that I would be recovered by race day.  More on this later in the report.

The Night Before

We had some really bad weather in Houston in the days coming up to the race and the morning I was to drive up there we had a ice storm that closed a lot of the freeway.  I was worried for a while that I wouldn't be able to make the 90 minute drive to the hotel I was staying at but it turned out the weather turned nicer and all was fine.  I made some stops on the way there to pick up some last supplies and got to the hotel late in the afternoon.  I checked in and went to the local University to pick up my race packet.  Getting there was a bit of an adventure because the university is pretty huge and it was not obvious where the building was to pick up my stuff.  I did get there eventually and I was assigned number 85.

After organizing my gear some in the hotel room I went to the local Denny's and got me my usual pre-race huge breakfast.  I didn't eat as much as I normally would, and that probably was the first sign that things might not go as planned.  Anyway, I got to bed at a reasonable time and set my cellphone alarm, watch alarm, hotel room alarm and registered a wake up call with the hotel lobby.

Race Morning

I received all my "alarms" at 4 AM that morning.  The race started at 6 so I wanted to make sure I checked in at 5 AM or so.  I drank a few Muscle Milks and some coffee.  Those of you who have ready my previous exploits know that one of the most important things to do before a race is to "get all your morning functions" completed as much as possible!  Coffee helps!

I got to the race site at 5 AM as planned and checked in.  It was a very cold morning (for the south Texas area that is).  I think it was around 20 degrees.  But the sky was clear and the moon was beautiful.


Race Start

There were quite a lot of competitors in this race.  It is international and there were pro's here like Scott Jurek.  Scott, by the way is a legend in Ultra running circles.  He even gave Roland and I encouragement a few times during the race!  I think it was over 300 competitors.  The race start was really cool because the trail is narrow and single track we had a train of runners that kept us basically walking the first few miles.  I was cold starting out but once I got moving thing were just fine.  I felt pretty good at this point and was looking forward to a long and beautiful racing day!

Loop One

The first 20 miles of loop one were really great!  I started out nice and slow and kept myself at around a 12 minute per mile pace.  This is super slow for road running, but for a trail race that is going to last 30 hours or so, it is actually a fast pace for an amateur like me. 

A New Friend

One of the things I love about this sport is the people I meet.  One guy I met and ran with the whole time I was in this race was a fellow named Roland Gomez.  He's a really great guy. Over the course of the day we talked a ton about lots of different things.  I am a bit older (NOT GOING TO SAY HOW MUCH BECAUSE I AM NOT OLD DAMMIT!), so I gave him whatever advice I could to make sure he had a pleasant and successful race.  He was really gracious and thanked me a lot for my advice.  The sun came up and the day became as beautiful as I thought it would be.  We finished the first 20 miles in about 4 hours and change and we both felt really good!

Loop Two

Ironman Memorial Texas coming up in July, I was worried that if I overstressed too much, I would not be prepared for that race.

As we got within a few miles of the end of the 2nd loop, I told Roland he was going to have to finish alone.  He was disappointed, as was I, that we would not be finishing together, but something inside me knew that he was going to complete this distance no problem and with time to spare!  We entered the turnaround area and Roland and I exchanged info and I told the race officials that I was pulling out.  They tried to change my mind, but I just was so mentally checked out at that point it was no use. 

I grabbed my things, headed to the car and drove back to my hotel to sleep for a few hours before heading home.

Conclusion

 I absolutely, positively HATE DNFing a event.  But sometimes you have to make the smart call.  I was in the doldrums for a while after this race.  But I have learned quite a bit in hindsight.  Should I have attempted this race at all?  Maybe not, but those of you who know me, know that I HAD TO AT LEAST TRY!  It was a great experience even though it ended badly.  And I made a new friend.  By the way, Roland is also competing in the same Ironman race in July as me.  I hope he and I can get to training together here and there and maybe even race together!

OH, and what happened to Roland?  He finished the 100 miles in 27 hours and change.  He truly is a ultimate endurance athlete and I am proud to say that I ran with him.

That's all for now....

Tri your best!

Bill

Texas Trails Run 50 KM Race Report!

Hello Dear Readers!

Brief Overview Before We Get Started

Well, I did it and I feel really good!  I finished the 50 KM (31 Mile) ultra endurance trail race yesterday in 5 hours and 31 minutes.  I placed 22nd overall and 14th in my age group.  I think I could have placed higher, but my lack of hill training really killed me after mile 20.  Enduro Photo was there taking pictures.  I will post to my gallery once I have them.  Here is a rundown of my day:

Pre-Race Evening

I had a lot going on the day before the race.  Work was very hectic and I didn't get on the road to drive to Huntsville till after 6:30 PM.  About halfway to the hotel I stopped at a Ihop for my pre-race dinner ritual.  Of course I had breakfast.

This included eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, wheat toast coffee and blueberry pancakes.  Took me a little while but I ate it all!  Below is the evidence.....

I got to the hotel around 9:30 PM and checked in.  I tried to get my race packet from the local restaurant but the race officials had already left.  I wasn't worried since they had race day packet pickup available.  I stopped at the local valero and got 3 jugs of Gatorade and got back to the hotel and sorted my gear.  Trail runs are fun because you have to be self sufficient.  No aid stations every mile.  This one is better than others in that they had aid stations every 3-5 miles.  My gear included things such as gators (to cover my shoes and protect them from rocks and such from getting inside), a Camelbak water bladder, ipod, food and salt supplements, cold gear, head lamp (in case it is really dark when I get there) and of course the most important item of all....lots of anti chaffing butt cream!  As usual I went to bed way too late for a sane person who is about to run 50 KM the next day.  I think the clock said about 12:45 AM.

Good Morning!

My alarm went off at 4:45 AM and I slumped out of bed and went to work taking a shower, brewing and drinking some coffee, going to the bathroom as many times as possible!  The last part is REALLY essential.  Think about it, do you really want to carry toilet paper on the trail and have to squat behind a tree all sweaty? I checked out and hit the road by 5:45 AM and got to the race site at around 6 AM (the hotel I stayed at was only a few miles from the entrance to the Huntsville, State Park).  I grabbed my race packet and had a hour or so to kill before the start of the race at 7:30 AM.  I got my gear box set up near the starting line.  A gear box is something we trail runners place on the trail that has stuff I may need during the race.  Mine had Gatorade, muscle milk, supplements, socks, some clothes and extra chaffing cream.  After that was all settled I turned on my GPS watch and headed for the starting line.

Race Report

This race consisted of three loops.  A 6 mile loop and two 12.5 mile loops. I started at the front of the pack, I don't know how I ended up there, and started off at a pretty good clip.  That first loop was pretty uneventful, and when I saw my split from the GPS at the start of the 2nd loop I saw that I was doing a 8 minute per mile average!  So I realized then that I was going waaaaaayyyyyy too fast and turned it way down a notch.

The second loop went really well.  I passed a few people here and there and hummed along great.  I always feel a little guilty passing someone.  When I go by, I want to say "Sorry", but that's just a hang up of mine.  I usually just say something like "Great Job!"  I do recall one guy I passed where we interacted for a while.  We chatted a bit and did some small talk.  I was feeling really good at that point and decided to run ahead.  I said, "I'm sure you will pass me before the race is over."  Guess what his reply was?  "Oh, I will."  Anyway, I might have been pushing a little too hard still, but I thought, "What the heck, let's see where this goes."  I don't do any trail running for training, since where I live is basically a concrete jungle, my legs protested a bit when I went up the hills, but man did I fly down the hills!  Not sure where I got the courage, but it just seemed like the right thing to do.  I would just relax my legs, pick up my feet a bit higher behind me and let them fly.  The only thing I focused on was where my feet were going when they touched the ground.  I finished the first 12.5 mile loop and went to my gear box and chugged a muscle milk and refilled my Camelbak with more Gatorade.  I checked my GPS splits and this time I was down to a more reasonable 9 minute per mile pace.  I was still feeling pretty good and I was on pace to break 5 hours!  This was not my original goal, but once I saw that it was within potential range I got super excited.

My calves were also starting to cramp up a bit (especially on the uphills) and it was now starting to get pretty hot (believe it or not, the temps were in the high 70's to low 80's).  I was sweating profusely and felt the dreaded salt buildup on my face.  This is a sign that I was getting dehydrated. It wasn't long before the Camelbak was empty and the stuff served at the stations was still several miles away.  So I decided to walk a bit and try to recover.  Of course, this killed my average time.  So I knew 5 hours was no longer an option and I decided to go for 5 and a half.  Once I got to the water station, I gassed up and filled the bladder again and re-hydrated as best I could.  A mile or so later I was running again but my times would be off the remainder of the distance. I finished the last loop with a average pace of 13 minutes per mile.

And the guy I passed who promised he would pass me before the end of the race?  Well you guessed it, about a mile away from the end he caught up to me and we raced each other to the finish line.  Yeah he beat me, but I made him really work hard for it.  The good thing is that he forced me to pick up my pace and for that I am very grateful!

Conclusion

Every time I race I have two goals:

1. Beat my previous time for that distance and venue.
2. Learn from my mistakes.

Number one was easy since I had never raced that specific distance before.  Yes, I have done shorter and longer races, but this distance was my first time.  Number two definitely had mission accomplished written all over it.  My biggest mistake was not making sure I was hydrated throughout the event.  Next time, I will make sure my Camelbak stays full the entire time as best as possible.  Who knows?  Maybe next year I can beat 5 hours?  That's all for now!

Tri your best!

Bill

I'm a Running Fool!

Hello Dear Readers!

It's sure has been a crazy time for me and my training.  Putting some LOOOOONG miles in.  Last weekend I ran 20 on Saturday and 8 on Sunday.  Both runs were VERY excellent and I actually kept the pace I was assigned by my coach!  I guess my long distance running legs are starting to come back.  This week's training was reduced volume, and yesterday I ran 14 at under my allotted pace.  Might have pushed a little too hard, since I am not feeling it today.  I'm supposed to run 6 this morning, but I think I might go to the gym and do some weights and put the miles in on the elliptical.  Sometimes I really like doing the elliptical since it simulates the running motion but without the impact of the cement.

Anyway, I am thinking of entering the 50 KM race in Huntsville in December.  It is the perfect distance for a tune up on the same course as the 100 miler.  Also it's timing should be perfect in that is is before the taper.  I'll post an entry about that race once I confirm my entry.  That's all for now.

Tri your best,

Bill

The Miles Are Piling Up!

Hello Dear Readers!


I know it's been a while since my last post.  But believe me, I have not been idle!  We have switched training to running pretty much exclusively.  I need to ramp it up in preparation for the Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile Ultra Run.

This is the same course I did the fifty mile race a few years ago.  For the 100 mile event, it is five loops, a distance of twenty miles each.  I have 30 hours to do the whole course and 6 hours to do the first 20 miles.  My goal is to complete the entire race in 24 hours (besides finishing of course)!

Be sure to go to my Garmin Connect page at my website to see my workouts (at least the ones that are outside).

I have been doing a few weight workouts here and there, but no where near the consistency that I would like.  I recently changed jobs and the hours have been pretty crazy, so I can only get my workouts in later at night.

ANyway, just letting you all know that I am still alive and training!  That's all for now.

Tri your best!

Bill

Vineman 2010 Race Report!

Hello Dear Readers!

I DID IT!  I finally broke the 13 hour barrier I have been chasing for several years now.  In fact I achieved two goals with this race.  I came in under 13 hours AND I finished while it was still daylight outside!  Want to here the details?  Read on....

Before the Race

I arrived to San Francisco on Thursday, and had a nice shock to the system with the weather being 55 degrees.  Very refreshing compared to my triple digit Houston weather.  I got my rental car and headed on up the 101 towards Santa Rosa to pick up my bike (I shipped it out the week before).  The guys at Norcal Cycling were awesome and I highly recommend them to take care of your cycling needs if you are in their area.  Once I got my bike I squeezed it into my mid-size Camry and continued up north to Cloverdale (which was where my hotel was).  Cloverdale is one of those communities where there seems to be no industry whatsoever but somehow there are people with lots of money around.  I guess the residents commute to Santa Rosa for work.  The hotel I stayed at was a brand new looking Super 8 hotel.  The proprietors were Indian and very nice to me.  Why do I bring up their nationality you ask?  Well, the hotel smelled like CURRY the whole time I was there.  I swear that was all those good folks ate.  Fortunately, the smell did not permeate my room once I was inside it.  Does that make me a bad person for mentioning it?  Maybe.  But I HATE curry!  I guess it's my Yankee up bringing coming out.  Anyway, all in all not a bad place to stay and like I said before, the folks running the hotel were very accommodating.


Adventures with Buddha

After I checked into the hotel, I went across the way to a McDonald's to start loading up my calories.  It was beautiful outside and I ate by myself sitting in the Sun.  There was this old guy sitting outside eating his lunch by himself as well.  When I was done, I decided to ask him if there was a Denny's around (hey I had to make sure I could do my pre-race breakfast for dinner ritual).  This guy looked at me like I was crazy and said there was no Denny's there and I'd have to go back down to Santa Rosa for that.  He went on to say that this town is very small and if I got up at 6:30 in the morning  and went outside I would see no one for a long time.  I thanked him and walked to my car.  Once I was in the guy had followed me and asked me to roll down my window.  I thought to myself, "Bill, what did you say to piss this guy off?"  Turns out this gentleman had a message for me.  He said that the reason he was placed there at the same time as me was to tell me to go visit "The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas".  He said it is a Buddhist Monastery that is open to the public for visiting.  He said it is peaceful and there are even peacocks wandering around there.  I thanked him again and
drove off pondering the wonders of the Universe that caused this event to happen.  I decided then and there that I could not let such an opportunity go to waste and when I got back to the hotel I asked for directions and made plans to go there on Friday morning.  Race check in wasn't till the afternoon so I had time to kill anyway.

The next morning I had a hearty breakfast at the local greasy spoon (French Toast Yummy!) and headed north to Uvalde to where the Monastery was located.  It was easy to find and boy the guy at McDonald's wasn't lying.  It was peaceful, serene and when I first got there I was greeting with this cool entrance:

Once I signed in I was greeted by several HUMONGOUS peacocks!  They came right up to me (I am assuming they were looking for a handout) and made this really odd peacock call (click here to see video of one making the call).  It was so loud it scared the poop out of me (well almost).  Here are some pictures of my new friends:

Once I was done there, I then went to the Temple area.  Here are some shots of the outside:

Once I was inside I was greeted by a life size bronze statue of the Master who founded the Monastery.

Note the picture on the lower left.  That is this Master's Master in China.  This picture was taken after that Master dies and they preserved his body and kept it on display.

I then went inside and took some pictures around the internal prayer and sermon/teaching area.  Note that everywhere there is a wall space, a little Buddha is in place.  Yup, you guessed it, there are 10,000 Buddhas in this Temple.

This is a Prayer drum.  It is very large.  Note the Buddhas in the wall.

This is a Prayer Bell.  Makes a very very deep tone when it is rung.  Hey look, more Buddhas!

One of the many bronze Buddha statues.  See the little Christmas tree looking thing there?  If you get close to it, each light source is it's own Buddha with a date on it.  Each Buddha represents someone who died and they get to stay with the Buddha to learn I guess until the date inscribed on their box.

This is the area of the Temple where the master sits and does his teachings.  The picture is of the original founding master.

I did get to see several male and female monks there, but I was not allowed to take their picture.  I'm not sure if this is a general rule or if the ones I asked just didn't like my looks.  I am really glad I spoke with the guy at McDonald's, not sure if I will ever have that kind of opportunity again.

On my way home I made a stop to take some pictures of the beautiful scenery.  Sure looks a lot different than Houston!

I wanted to climb this rock face.  But I had a Ironman to do the next day!

I thought this dead tree was interesting.

Ahhhh.  A babbling brook!

There is a story behind this.  Wish I knew what it was.  Looks like someone purposely planted those on the river's edge and placed rocks around it.  Almost looks like one of those road side memorials doesn't it?

Pre Race Dinner!

As most of you already know, I have a pre-race meal ritual I do before all my races.  I find a Denny's or Ihop to have a huge breakfast for dinner.  I did find a Denny's in Santa Rosa and here is my picture of dinner!

Let's take an inventory:

Coffee, Orange Juice, Eggs, Bacon, Ham, Sausage, Wheat Toast, English muffin, Pancakes and Hash Browns!  Yes I ate it all and rolled myself out of the restaurant and drove my 30 miles back to the hotel.  It was worth it though!

Race Morning

After getting about a few hours of sleep my alarms went off at 4 AM and I got myself rolling.  As usual I frantically got my gear together and did my best to get to the race site by 5:30 AM.  I rolled in about 5:40 and had to hustle through and get my butt moving since the gun goes off for my age group at 6:35 AM.  The thing that was freaky about this race was that the T1 and T2 areas are in two different cities.  I was in the mind mode of both transitions being in the same place and brought my big triathlon bag full of stuff.  Once I was there I realized that if I did not fit everything into my plastic numbered bag (I was 333), then it won't get brought to the finish line.  I don't know how I did it, but I got everything in except the wetsuit.  Of course this would have to go in after the swim since I had it on at the time.

Once I got that all settled and my bike in proper position, I finally was ready to head to the river to start the swim.  As I was starting to move the announcer was stating that if those in the white caps (me) were not in the water now, they better start running to get there in time.  Yes, me and several others had to hustle to get in the water.  I got in and maybe 30 seconds later the gun went off!

The Swim (2.4 Miles)

Another different thing about this race was the swim course.  It was in a flowing river (the Russian River).  SO you would go .6 miles upstream and then turn around and go .6 miles down stream and then go and do it again.  The race director mentioned that the water is shallow and said the depth ranged from 4-7 feet.  What he should have said was that the depth ranged from 2-5 feet.  I kid you not, there was a few times where I went to pull and ran my hand along the bottom!  So yes I stood up (along with everyone else) and dolphin swam till the water got deeper.  Going against the current was tough, but then you got to rest when swimming with the current.  My total swim time ended up being a little slow at 1 Hour and 25 minutes.

Transition One (T1)

I felt good out of the swim and the temperature was still pretty low so I wasn't overheated at all.  I got to my bike and looked at my tiny plastic bag already full with other stuff and realized I was going to need to put my wetsuit in there as well.  I did my best to get it in there and ripped the plastic bag in the process.  I started freaking out a little and one of the race officials told me not to worry and took my misshapen bag and said he'd take care of it.  Thank you whoever you were!  I grabbed my bike exited the transition area (my time was 7 minutes and 35 seconds) and headed out for my long bike ride!


The Bike (112 Miles)

The bike course consisted of two loops of 56 miles.  It was really beautiful.  Everywhere you looked it was all winery foliage and cottages.  The road was pretty rocky in some spots and a lot of people had busted tires along the route.  Fortunately I was not one of them.  Over the course of the 112 miles I lost ALL, my water bottles!  I think it was one during the first 56 mile loop and then the other two during the 2nd loop.  There were water stops ever 11-12 miles and they were well stocked.  One thing about the course I was not expecting were the hills.  The course guide stated that it was a rolling course with one challenging climb.  And boy there were not kidding!  Granted, this was no Lake Placid as far as the difficulty goes, but it was still pretty dang hard.  Since it was a two loop course we hit this heartbreak hill at miles 50 and 100 or so.   The first time around I thought to myself, "Ohhhh this is a hard one but I got it."  But the next time around, I was thinking, "Would it look bad if I got off the bike and walked up the hill?"  Don't worry, I didn't get off, but I did do it slower the next time around.  I ended up finishing the bike in 6 Hours, 20 minutes and 55 seconds.  That averages out to about 18 miles per hour.  Not too shabby!

Transition 2 (T2)

I roared into transition and got all my running gear on and made sure that I sprayed a new layer of sunscreen over all exposed skin (still got sunburned though).  I ran to the area where our Run Special Needs bag was stored that morning.  I had three bottles of Ensure to drink.  Of course, when I opened it, I spit it out because it was boiling hot!  All well, I guess maybe next time I can bring a cooler or something?  I exited the transition area in 5 minutes and 9 seconds.

The Run (26.2 Miles)

This was where it got interesting again.  The run course is a loop you do three times.  Water stations every mile and was well equipped with pretzels, Gatorade, water, oranges, peaches, GU Bites, etc.  I was rally careful starting on the run by not going too fast out of the gate.  I didn't want to have a Lake Placid experience where I was doing a bit of walking.  The weather was still beautiful and the humidity seemed low (at least compared to Houston) so I was feeling really good.  I had plenty of Thermolyte capsules (think salt) and some Aleve and some Caffeine.  There were a lot of spectators along the course and I swear every 3 miles or so there was someone blaring the Rocky theme!  I really appreciated that because how could you not get pumped up when you hear that?  Once I got done with loop number one I assessed myself.  I still was feeling good!  So I kept going at the pace I had been running.  NO WALKING!  I even ran up the hills! I spoke with lots of fellow runners as we plodded along the course and I met some crazy characters.  One guy was running in a French Maid outfit (the girls loved him).  I got to talking to him and we laughed at all the attention he was getting and discussed other races we had done together.  I mentioned how Lake Placid was a harder course and he said, "Yeah, I did that last weekend."  I almost tripped over my jaw as it hit the ground.  Two Ironman Races in two weeks.  Now that is crazy!

I kept looking at my watch and marveled that if I kept this up I was going to do it.  I was going to break 13 hours!  Whenever I ran by a photo guy, I held up my fingers in a one and three configuration.  This was such a big deal for me and I wanted to make sure I remembered that this was the one where I got my PR.

What would a race story be without something a little bad happening?  As you see up to this point things were going really well and I was really excited.  But around mile 22 or so I started having what I will politely call "Gastrointestinal Distress".  Yeah, that.  Running was starting to get uncomfortable and I knew I was going to have to make a "Stop" at one of the portable latrines.  Why would I not want to do that do you ask?  Think about it, these have been out baking in the sun for 12+ hours.  Oh and they have been getting used.  And by used I mean USED HEAVILY!  Around mile 23 I said oh heck with it and took a deep breath and got in.  I did what had to be done and reached for the paper and guess what?  NO TOILET PAPER!  At this point I was starting to get worried that if I spent any more time in there I was not going to make it in under 13 hours.  So fortunately there were still seat cover wrappers and they did the job.  I think I might have lost more than 5 minutes with that little incident.

The rest of the run was pretty much right on target and the last three miles were awesome!  The music, the crowd and just as I turn the corner to go into the finishing chute, I see the clock.  I know I started 5 minutes after the official gun so I had to beat 13:05.  And as I was crossing the line I saw the clock had just hit 13 Hours!  I DID IT!

What's Next?

My year is pretty much done at this point.  I am going to take a few days off to recover and then I am going to start training for my first 100 mile trail race.  That's right.  100 miles running!

That's all for now, I will post my race pictures once they are available.

Tri your best,

Bill