This morning, Jennie and I ran the Mitchell’s Run thru Rockford benefiting Muscular Dystrophy research. This race was actually a “Jennie’s Choice” race.  She found this one after finishing up Reeds Lake back in June .  It also gave me another chance to try and break 20 minutes.

We arrived in Rockford at about 7:30 for the 8:30 start.  At the time, it was still drizzling after raining all night.  We headed over and picked up our number, shirt, and D-tag. It was nice that all you got were the essentials and they didn’t give you a bag of crap as well.  The shirt is actually a pretty good design with the main logo from the website on the front and not too many sponsors on the back.

We headed back to the car where Jennie embarked on a journey to win her award of the day.  That award?  Straightest race number of course!

It took her long enough, but she eventually got her number pinned on.  Notice how straight and centered it is?  I think that I better get her a race number belt like I have.  It will save us a boat load of time in the future.

After that, we looked for the potties.  We ventured to a park down the White Pine Trail in an attempt to avoid the porta-jons, but unfortunately their bathrooms were still locked.  On the plus side, Jennie got to play on the dinosaur slide!

So, back to the porta-jons we headed.

By this time, the rain had stopped.  While this meant we wouldn’t get soaked, it meant the humidity was going to start to creep up.  It remained overcast and humid for the duration of the run.  Not the ideal race conditions, but you take what you get.

Finally, it was time to line up.  It was nice because they actually had pace signs setup so it was easy to tell where you should line up.  I jumped in the front most corral – the 6 minute mile group – and Jennie jumped into her corral.  As soon as I jumped into my corral, I ran into a group of former Aquinas College XC runners.  I didn’t run XC in college, but I was friends with quite a few of the team members.  One of the guys was the 2-time defending champion for this race (and would go on to 3-peat).  Another recently knocked out a 2:38 marathon at Bayshore earning him 7th overall.  And another just BQ-ed with a sub 3-hour time at Bayshore.  So, as you can probably tell, all out of my league.  Nevertheless, I decided to start as close to them as possible.

The actual start of the race was almost unnoticed.  Just a guy (sans mega-phone) yelling, “Ready, set, go!”  Because of the quiet nature of the start, there was a bit of jostling as the runners realized what had happened.  I took off with as fast of a pace as I could manage.  I kept one of the guys in my sights for the first mile, but the other two disappeared immediately.

They had volunteers at each mile yelling out splits.  My first split came in at 5:25 (6:01 on my watch so they must have not had the mile in the right spot).  Yikes!  Either way, that was smoking fast for me.  After the first mile, I eased back just a bit.  I knew I couldn’t keep up a 6 minute pace.  Shortly after the 1st mile, we looped back and could see the other runners in the pack.  I immediately saw Jennie in the crowd and yelled to her.  She was carrying the camera with her and tried to snap a picture of me.  It came out pretty blurry though – you’ll just have to trust me that it is me.

I hit mile 2 at 12:24 (12:05 according to the volunteer).  At this point, it really sunk in that I had a chance at breaking 20 minutes.  I kicked it into gear again and charged ahead.  The last mile included a long steady incline, but I pushed through it. 

I ended up with a 6:31 last mile and 5:37 final .1 for a final time of 19:38!  WooHoo!!!!  This is a 37 second PR and the first time I have ever gotten under 20 minutes in a 5k!

In the end, I am really glad I went out as fast as I did.  At the time, I was really regretting the speedy start, but after looking back at my splits, it is that first mile that pushed me under the 20 minute mark.

After finishing, I headed back to look for Jennie.  I met up with her with a little over a quarter mile to go.  She was doing great and had a big smile on her face.

Other than being hot and tired, she was in great spirits.  I told her there was just one more hill and then it was time to start her kick because the finish would be right around the corner.

Jennie kicked it in for a 32 second PR and ended up finishing with a sub-10 minute pace for the first time ever!

After the race we stopped by Robinette’s for some fresh donuts.  They were so fresh that the they melted in our mouths.  This just emphasizes Jennie’s motto, “I run for donuts.”

And now, the taper begins.  Petoskey Breakwater 2010 is in one week.  I went through and read a couple of race reports from last year (here, here and here).  From what I have read, the bike is going to be the toughest leg (which I assumed).  So, the game plan is to just gut it out and have fun.  It’s not going to be a PR race by any means.  Just a chance to get some more HIM experience under the belt.

I’m sure you have already read this elsewhere, but in case you haven’t, make sure to track Jon and Mandy at IM Timberman 70.3 tomorrow!

Official Results

Race Morning

I did packet pickup the morning of the race to save a trip downtown on Friday.  I was pretty comfortable with the race and area having done the race once before and packet pickup twice before (last year’s race was cancelled due to weather the morning of the race), so I didn’t envision any problems.

I love doing these small races because they are so much easier to plan for.  Can you believe that all of my transition gear is in that small backpack?  Not having a wetsuit makes for much lighter traveling.  Technically, it was a wetsuit legal swim and there were a few people in wetsuits.  But for a 500m swim, I didn’t think it would add enough of a benefit to be worth it.

I quickly got my gear setup and got out of the transition area.  There was a one cocky d-bag on my rack and I wanted to spend as little time near him as possible.  Despite talking shit and acting like he should have been racked with the pros, I still beat his ass.  Take that!

The yellow bike is the cocky d-bag’s.  See all that rack space to the right of his bike?  He claimed that someone else was already racked there and kept anyone else from using the space.  I never did see another bike there – before, during, or after the race.

There was another guy on my rack doing his first triathlon.  He had a pair of Vibrams on and someone asked if he was going to run in them.  He said that he was and that he was going to bike in them too.  The person then jokingly said that he should swim in them too to save time.  Apparently, he had actually tried swimming in them but they absorbed too much water and were too heavy!  How great would that be, wear the same foot wear go all three disciples.  haha.

Swim

I headed down to the beach and did a bit of a swim warm up.  This is the first year that I have started to get in the water before the race actually starts.  The past two years, I have waited until the last possible minute to get in the water.  The swim warm up does make me colder as I wait to start the race, but I feel more relaxed and ready to go when the gun goes off.

I also met up with Rob down at the beach.  This was Rob’s first big triathlon.  He seemed a little nervous, but he was going to do great.

And off we go.  This was by far the most violent swim I have been in.  There was a group of guys who (in my opinion) started way too far in the front.  They were in the front left corner, the most aggressive positioning, and were doing the breast stroke before they got to the first turn buoy.  Needless to say, there was a lot of contact and fighting for position.  I feel that I did pretty well establishing my position and not shying away from the contact. 

The added contact did slow me down a bit and I didn’t make my 8:00 minute goal I had hope for, but overall I am happy with my swim.  My official time on the swim was 9:38 which included the run to transition.  My shore to shore time was closer to 8:45 though.

Rob (on the left) had a great swim and beat me out of the water by about 20 seconds.  When I talked to him afterwards, he didn’t have as much contact in the water as I did and stayed more towards the outer perimeter.

I was out of the water shortly thereafter and cruised up to the transition area.  It was so nice to be able to get out of the water and just run and not have to worry about a wetsuit.

T1

The first transition went pretty well. The only snafu was that I put a spare tube in my back pocket and as I was running out of transition it fell out of my pocket so I had to run back to get it.

Bike

Just like Steelhead, I had a great bike ride.  My goal for this race as to push as hard as possible on the bike no matter how much it hurt.  I wanted to destroy my legs so that I would have practice running on tired legs.  Going into the race, I wanted to try and average 23-24 mph on the bike.  It was only a 14.8 mile ride, so I knew that I could push the pace, but keeping up a 23-24 mph average was going to be hard.  I ended up finishing in 38:49 for a 22.9mph pace.  So close! I’ll take it though.

I love the start and finish to the bike portion of this race.  It is hard to tell in the pictures, but you start and finish by going around a roundabout that is lined with cheering fans.  It feels like the Tour de France because you are so close to the crowd as you fly past them.

The bike course is fairly flat with a couple of rolling hills.  I was able to stay in the big gear for the entire ride and only had to come out of aero for a climb at mile 1 and a second climb at mile 13.  Other than that, it was head down and pedal to the metal.  I used my AeroDrink for the 2nd time in a race and it worked great (I’ll eventually do a product review with some pros/cons).  Between that and a Goo halfway through the bike, that was all the nutrition I needed to get me through the race.

T2

Transition was uneventful.  I was shocked to only see a handful of bikes back on the racks.  I was probably in the top 10 back to the transition area. I quickly threw on my shoes and headed out.

Run

Remember that bike tube I shoved in my back pocket in T1? Well, I forgot to drop it at T2 and I didn’t want to run with it the entire way.  So, I tossed it to Jennie when I saw her as a I started the run.  Check out here amazing action shots.  Tube in hand, tube in mid area, and off I go!

I’m happy to say that despite pushing my legs as hard as they could go, the run went great.  I only got passed by one guy on the run and he went flying by me.  He ended up finishing 10th overall and logged 6 minute miles on the run.  There was another guy on the run that I chased the entire time.  He left transition shortly before I did and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t make up the distance.  I found out afterward that he was in my age group and finished about 15 seconds ahead of me. Looking back at the results, I actually made pretty good progress on catching him.  He started the run about 45 seconds ahead of me and only finished 15 seconds ahead of me, so I made up nearly 30 seconds on the run – just not enough to beat him in the end.

A great mid-air, thumbs-up shot as I head towards the finish.

My official time was 1:12:11, over 3 minutes faster than 2 years ago!  This earned me 32 out of 592 overall and 6 out of 53 in my age group!

Post Race

After I crossed the finish line, I chatted briefly with the guy I had been trying to catch on the run.  He’s got that telltale arm tan line of a dedicated triathlete.  Love it.  We ended up taking 5 and 6 out of 53 in our age group.  At first I was bummed about this because I though awards went 5 deep.  I found out later they only went 3 deep, so Whew! I didn’t miss out on placing by 15 seconds.

Shortly after I crossed the finish line, Rob was charging in.  I missed getting a shot of him crossing the line because he was too speedy, but he finished in 1:16:11 taking 52 out of 592 overall and 12 out of 53 in our age group!  Talk about a great first race!

After chatting with Rob, I went back to watch for my coworker David and his son.  David had an awesome race and is showing great improvement at each race this year.  David was too fast for the camera as well and I didn’t get a picture until he was already passed me.

It wasn’t long after David went by that his son Connor came cruising in.  This was Connor’s first triathlon ever and it sounds like it won’t be his last. 

Here is Connor running to the finish with his mom cheering him on. 

Overall

Overall, another great race.  The weather was great and each event came together nicely for me.  The races are even more fun as I start to meet people and see them at different races.

Thanks again to my pit crew and photographer!  These short races really keep her on her toes.  I looked at the time stamps on the pictures she took and the most “down time” she had was about 30 minutes while I was on the bike.

Official Results

Pre Race

The main task on Friday’s agenda was packet pickup.  There was no race day packet pickup (probably because of the size of the event), so I had to do my packet pickup a day early.  Unfortunately, this meant driving to and from Benton Harbor – about an hour and forty five minute drive.  The expo opened at noon and I got there at about 12:30 hoping to beat the rush.  Even getting there early, the line was wrapped around the room and down the hall.  It was about a 30 minute wait before I even got to the first registration table.  I say “first registration table” because there were 7, yes 7, steps to completing your packet pickup.  I don’t remember it being so complicated last year.

Step 1: Show USAT card (or pay for a 1 day pass) and get your bib number.

Step 2: Retrieve paper work based on number. There was even a wavier (you may die doing this event and we aren’t responsible sort of thing) and a sheet for medical notes (allergies/medications/emergency contact).

Step 3: Move to another table to read and sign the documentation (with one of the 5 pens available).

Step 4: Turn in paperwork at another table and get directed to a line to get your packet.

Step 5: Pick up packet (numbers, chip, swim cap – the essentials).  This step confused the most people because there were two tables based on numbers (below or above 1200) and it wasn’t clear where you were supposed to be.  At this step, the volunteer also wrote your number on the swim cap.  They didn’t do this last year and my volunteer wrote my number backwards the first time.  Even so, with my dark green cap, you could barely read the number.

Step 6: Pick up goody bag.  This year, we got a very nice K-Swiss drawstring backpack along with the usual food samples.

Step 7: Take your chip to the timing station to make sure it is the right one.  You basically just scan your chip and make sure your name pops up on the laptop.

Does anyone else find it ironic that packet pickup required more disciplines than the actual event (swim, bike, run)?  Even if you throw in T1 and T2, the race was more streamlined than packet pickup.

After packet pickup, I hit the obligatory Ironman store.  I got a new Steelhead 70.3 bike jersey, a Steelhead running hat, a Steelhead pint glass to add to my collection, and a sticker.  I was surprised at how much straight “Ironman” stuff they had available at a 70.3 event.  With the amount of respect and awe I have for the full Ironman event, I can’t imagine sporting anything that says Ironman unless it is accompanied by a 70.3 at this point.  It may be a brand, but it is so much more than that (at least to me). 

It wasn’t until after the expo that I actually realized I didn’t get a shirt – I didn’t miss a step, there actually wasn’t any available.  I was disappointed at first, but then we got a finisher’s shirt at the end of the race instead.  I actually like this option better because the shirt actually says “Finisher” on it.

After the expo, I headed home.  I got home around 3:00 and went out for a last minute bike ride to keep the legs loose.  I did an easy 30 minute ride in an easy gear.

After that, I did something drastic.  I’m still not sure why I did it.  It was more a mental thing than anything.  Perhaps it was seeing all the elite and top age groupers at the expo.  Maybe I was inspired by Steve In a Speedo.  Regardless of what it was, I went for the full body shave (legs, arms, chest).  Unlike Steve, I did not capture the moment on video.  You can thank me later.  I can, however, say that the look on Jennie’s face when she came home from work and saw me finishing up my legs in shower was quite priceless. 

After the shaving was complete, it was time for dinner.  Jennie made breaded chicken bites (basically healthy, homemade chicken nuggets), pierogis, and corn.  I think this is my new favorite pre-race dinner.  Easy to digest, tasty, and full of protein and nutrients.

Race Day

Race day started out very early.  3:45 AM to be exact.  I figured that we would have to leave around 4:30AM in order to get to Benton Harbor with enough time to setup my transition area.  We were about 10 miles away from the race site when it started to rain.  Parking was about a mile away from the transition area, but they had a shuttle for spectators.  So, Jennie hopped on the shuttle while I biked to the transition area.  I was able to fit all my gear in (or tied to) my backpack, which made it easy to get everything there.  I had my gear setup in no time – it gets easier every time.  I covered my shoes with a towel and my backpack hoping to keep them as dry as possible. 

After the transition area was set, Jennie and I hopped back on the shuttle to the car.  The transition area closed at 6:45AM and I was in the 18th and last swim wave of the day, so I didn’t actually start until 8:49AM.  I tried to take a little nap in the car, but I kept worrying.  First, I was worried that they would change the race to a duathlon.  There wasn’t any lightning or thunder, but you never know how they will decide things.  Second, the swim has two different starting points depending on the flow of the current (you swim with the current) and I forgot to check which way that would be.  Thankfully, another athlete was getting into his car and he knew for sure that they were starting at the same location as last year.

After resting for almost an hour, Jennie and I finally headed over to the swim start.  As we got to the beach, the rain was letting up and the sun was peeking through the clouds.

The Swim

When we got to the swim start, they were only on wave 13 and I was wave 18, so I still had some time to wait.  I headed out to the water and practiced my starts, made sure my goggles weren’t leaking and adjusted to the water.  The water was the perfect temperature for a swim – probably around 74*F.

Finally, it was time for my start.  As if on cue, Love and Memories by O.A.R. started playing over the speakers as we entered the holding area.  This song would be in my head for most of the bike ride.  However, as much as I love O.A.R., I’m not sure a song with the line “Drowning deep inside your water” is appropriate for a swim start.  That was followed by Start Me Up by the Rolling Stones (make sure to follow the link if you have forgotten what a classic 80’s music video looks like) as the horn went off.

I started off near the front of the wave.  After watching the previous waves, I noticed that everyone at the halfway point or further back was restrained to walking to almost the first buoy before they started to swim.  I wanted to be more aggressive than that, so I took off with a charge doing dolphin diving starts.  At the second buoy (the first turn buoy), I took a light kick to the face.  It wasn’t enough to knock my goggles off, but it did let a tiny bit of water in.  Not enough to stop and fix, but enough to be annoying.

How cool is the rainbow framing the swim start??

After that first incident at the turn buoy, the swim was relatively contact free.  I did have one swimmer who actually swam perpendicular to me cutting me off.  I was worried I was headed off in the wrong direction, but when I checked my line, I was right on target.  Apparently the other swimmer was just taking off to the Wisconsin side of the lake.

The course was orange buoys, then red buoys, then green buoys, then one last orange buoy for the final turn.  I passed 3 orange buoys and then 3 red buoys.  So using my deductive reasoning, I figured there would be 3 green buoys.  After the 2nd green buoy, I really picked up the pace only to see a 4th green buoy in the distance.  Then a 5th and a 6th.  Well, so much for making sense.

About halfway through the swim, the neckline of my wetsuit started rubbing despite applying body glide to my neck.  I tried to adjust the neck during the swim, but gave up fixing it.  Today, I have a good sized chafing mark on the back of my neck that is a little tender.  Oh well, that is the price to pay for a fast swim I guess.

Thankfully, I had a group of swimmers that I was able to draft off of for the second half of the course.  I’m not very good at drafting and really never drafted off of one person consistently, but there was about 5 or 6 swimmers in front of me that I would bounce back and forth between. 

Finally, I hit the final orange buoy and turned into shore.  As I hit the shore, I looked at my watch and was shocked to see 32:XX minutes.  Holy cow!  The swim included a run across the beach to the first timing mat which added about a minute to my timing, giving me an official time of 33:47 (1:35/100yds).

Trying to run through the sand with my mom, Nancy, and brother in the background cheering me on.

Running through the sand was very tough after the swim.  It was like my legs didn’t want to move.  Here I am demonstrating the proper hunched over method of stumbling to the transition area.  As you can see, the swimmer behind me was copying my strategy.

Rank: 514/1786 Overall, 57/167 AG

T1

Both of my transition times were much longer than previous races.  This is mainly because of the size of the transition area.  It was nearly .1 miles long with racks stretching end to end.

When I got to the transition area, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my backpack and towel had kept my gear completely dry.  Yay!  I was able to slip out of my wetsuit without actually sitting down to save time.  However, I did take time to put on socks for the bike ride.  I probably would have skipped them if they were wet, but I was going to need them on the run anyways.

Total time: 3:28.

Rank: 60/167 AG

The Bike

I was sort of worried about the bike.  Not because I didn’t feel ready, but because while I was loading my bike on Friday, I noticed that the crack on my saddle was more than superficial. I had just assumed that the material covering the saddle was torn (it has been torn for at least a year).  However, upon closer inspection, there was a solid crack on the bottom of the saddle extending from both sides.  Yikes!  I had a moment of panic that it would break halfway through the ride.  Thankfully it held out.  I guess now is the time to start looking for a new saddle.  Recommendations??

Doesn’t look that bad does it?  Well, if you could only see the bottom of it. 
Couldn’t get a good photo of it though, unfortunately.

On to the actual bike.  I still can’t get over how well it went.  I was able to stay aero for about 95% of the ride.  All but the aid stations, turns, and two of the hill climbs.  That is a huge improvement for me.

The first couple miles is a false flat, which is sort of defeating until you realize that you are going uphill.  After the first couple of miles, I really settled into a good pace.  I was seeing 21 mph, 22 mph, and even 24 mph when I would check my bike computer.  However, at that time, I really couldn’t tell which way (if at all) the wind was blowing.  Last year, the wind was out of the south, resulting in a head wind for the final 17 miles.

As the course moved on, I continued to pass people while maintaining a steady pace.  I passed the first aid station without taking anything.  I still had half of my aero bottle (with fruit punch Gatorade) plus a water bottle each of water and Gatorade.  However, at the second aid station, my aero bottle was empty so I decided to refill it.  Now, let me tell you.  My aid station technique was flawless.  I don’t mean to brag (oh wait, of course I do), but people will be telling their grandchildren about it someday.  Keep in mind that I have absolutely no practice taking a water bottle on the bike let alone filling an aero bottle on the go.  So, I winged it.  As I approached, I shouted, “Gatorade and Goo”.  A volunteer ran alongside me to hand me the lemon-lime Gatorade while I snatched a Goo (actually a Powerbar gel that was remarkably good – raspberry cream, I think) from the next volunteer.  I quickly popped the top off the Gatorade, filled my aero drink on the go (easier said than done), shot the gel, and still got my trash tossed by the end of the end of the aid station.  All without dropping below 15 mph.  As I pulled away from the aid station, I was shocked that it had worked so well and that I didn’t end up in a bloody heap halfway through.  On a semi-related note:  A small amount of fruit punch Gatorade mixed with lemon-lime Gatorade (probably a 1:10 ratio) is the new taste sensation.

On a funny note, as I entered the aid station, there was a sign that said “Shout what you want” and then a list of what they had.  The list contained “Gatorade, Water, Gel, Bananas, Worms, Minnows”.  Wait, what?!?? Worms? Minnows?  Then I saw the Mylar fish balloon.  Get it yet?  Steelhead are also known as rainbow trout, the trout being Michigan’s state fish.  I had a good chuckle after I realized their sense of humor.

Shortly after I went through the aid station, I hit the halfway point.  I was still feeling great at this point, but kept telling myself I should ease up a bit and save my legs.  But every time I started to ease up, I would see a rider in front of me and think.  Ok, I’ll pass them and then ease up.  That went on for the next 28 miles. 

At about mile 30, there was a rider stranded on the side of the road (lots of flats, just like last year).  I asked he needed a tube.  He did, so I tossed him my spare and wished him good luck as I went by.  I gave up my only spare last year, too.  Risky, I know, but good bike karma is priceless.

By mile 35, I had figured out that the wind was again out of the south and I would have a head wind for the final stretch.  Undeterred, I pushed on.  The wind wasn’t as bad as last year.  Plus, with the last 17 miles being a net downhill, the two pretty much countered each other. 

The last mile or so is on a narrow bike path with no passing allowed passing discouraged, which gave me a chance spin my legs easily for a bit.  I did pass a couple of people who were trying to slip out of their shoes before the dismount.  That is one thing I don’t think I’ll ever try.  Not only am I afraid of doing a face plant, but I fail to see the time savings.  Every time I see someone slipping out of their shoes, their speed drops considerably.  I’d rather keep my speed up until the very end and not worry about falling.

Total time: 2:42:03 (20.7mph) (1:21:XX/1:20:XX negative splits!)

Rank: 592/1786 Overall, 61/167 AG

T2

The second transition was quicker than the first one as usual (less to do).  However, someone on my rack had laid out both their towel and wetsuit (assuming it was the same person) on the bike rack to dry taking up about half the rack.  Not a huge deal, but pretty inconsiderate for the riders coming in.

Total time: 2:58

Rank 53/167 AG

The Run

As the run was starting, it was really starting to warm up.  The rain was long gone and we were left with a blue sky and the sun beating down.  I sort of wished for some more clouds and even a bit of rain at that point.

Where did the clouds and rain go?  I’m sorry I was cursing you this morning.  Please come back!

As I left on the run, the guy to my right pointed to the “Mount Here” sign that was leftover from the bike start and said, “Mount here? I don’t have anything to mount.”  I looked over and replied, “Didn’t they tell you?  This is where I jump on your back and you carry me the rest of the way.”  We had a good laugh over that.

Overall, the run sucked.  Let me first add a disclaimer.  Overall, I am extremely happy with how the race went.  I had a great time and I really have nothing to complain about.  However, that said, out of the three events, the run posed the most problems and is the area I feel could use some improvement.

In my opinion, this is a pretty tough half marathon course to begin with.  Add in the rising temperature and having already done 57.2 miles and it becomes a suckfest really quickly.

As soon as I started to run, my lower back started to hurt.  This happened to me during last year’s race, but has never happened to me at any other race or bike ride.

I started off by walking up the first hill.  It starts less than a mile into the course and my legs still hadn’t returned to normal after the bike ride.  I figured that running up the giant hill wasn’t going to help speed up the process.

After the first hill, I started a run to each aid station, walk the aid station taking water or Gatorade, and then run again plan.  The course is 1.5 miles out, followed by two 4.5 mile loops and then 1.5 miles back.

The first lap wasn’t too bad.  There were a lot of people on the course with some on their 2nd lap and others on their first like me.  The extra people made it easier to stay motivated and keep running.  I ended up walking the 2nd hill, too.  As I started walking, another guy continued to run past me.  Once he reached the top, I started counting.  He only gained about 10 seconds on me by running versus walking.  Not worth killing my legs for 10 seconds.

By the second lap, my legs had had enough.  There were fewer people on the course as many of the runners had finished both laps.  My aid station walks grew longer and longer as I took two waters and a cup of ice at each.  As I climbed the second hill (walking again), I looked over at the woman next to me and asked, “Would you think less of me if I started crawling?”  She laughed and said no and asked to join me.

When I reached the top of the second hill, there was only about 2 miles to go.  I had a renewed spirit and charged ahead (“charged” being a relative term).  I managed to run almost all of the last two miles with only a quick stop at one of the aid stations.

When I hit mile 13, I was stoked.  The last .1 is lined with cheering fans shouting your name (first names were included on the bib – very cool).  I gave it all I had and motored across the finish line.  I glanced down to see 5:29:XX on my watch! YAY!

Run time: 2:07:05 (9:43 min/mile) (:58:XX/1:08:XX splits)

Rank: 972/1786 Overall 102/167 AG

Overall

Overall, I am super happy with this race.  Other than bonking on the run, I met all of my goals.  And I now have an official Half Ironman PR of 5:29:21!

My main supporter, photographer, pack mule, and loving wife.

My mom, brother, and Nancy (brother’s g/f) all came out to cheer me on.  Thanks guys!

Official Results

Famous Runners

First off, Regina at Chiu on This tipped me off to the fact that Aaron Scheidies was racing Steelhead.  Aaron is a legally blind triathlete who is simply amazing.  He took 4th in my age group (25-29) with a time of 4:22:21!  He is currently the only disabled athlete to have broken 2 hours in the Olympic distance.  I really wish I would have seen him in action, and I actually might have without realizing it.  He was in my swim wave so I should have seen him.  Jennie said that his guides had shirts with eye charts on the front of them which I vaguely remember seeing on the run, but never put two and two together.

After the run, I had lunch with some of the pros.  By “had lunch with”, I mean they were sitting at the table next to me.  I was able to snag a picture of Matty White who took 3rd overall with a time of 3:55:22.

Funny Runners

Jennie caught pictures of these two runners. The guy on the left is rocking a pair of plastic glasses with flip up lenses.  Pair that with the tummy shirt and purple shorts and you have one kick ass race suit.  Next up is the groom of the day.  He had an actual tri top – it was just designed as a tuxedo.  This almost tops Steve In A Speedo’s leisure suit bike jersey.

What’s Next?

This was definitely my A race of the season.  However, it isn’t the last race of the season.  The current plan is two more sprints and another half Ironman distance race.  I’m planning on the Millennium Triathlon next weekend.  This is a short sprint race (500m swim, 14 mile bike, 3 mile run).  It was rained out last year, so I am hoping that the weather cooperates this year.  After that is a potential half Iron distance (not an Ironman-branded race) up in Petoskey.  My in-laws are vacationing there in early August, so I am going to check out the course and decide whether or not to sign up.  Probably about an 80% chance of registering at this point.  Finally, I hope to close out the season with the Reeds Lake Triathlon.  Another sprint tri and the one I have closed out the season with the past two years.

Thanks for reading!  One of these days, I’ll figure out how to write a shorter race report!

First, I had a great race this morning.  Thanks for all the encouraging comments everyone!  And thanks to my lovely wife and to mom, brother, and Nancy (g/f of said brother) for making the trek out to Benton Harbor to cheer.

Full details to come, but here is the nitty gritty.  I started off by knocking the swim out of the park.  I still have no idea where it came from.  Official time was 33:47 (1:46/100yds) but that included a minute run to the timing mat.  I was shore to shore in 32:43.  Onto the bike.  I thought my swim was good.  But the bike, Holy Freaking Cow.  2:42:03 for just under a 21mph average.  On top of that, I negative split the bike by about 2 minutes on the second half.  It was incredible.  However, it toasted my legs for the run.  Coupled with tired legs and a hot sun beating down on us, I didn’t hit my 2 hour goal for the run.  I ended up with 2:07:05 (9:42/mile).  I’m very happy with the race overall.  Final time… 5:29:21 (nearly 40 minutes faster than last year) and right where I wanted to be! Couldn’t be happier.

And now for the second doneness.  You’d think I would have learned by now.  Not just by others “mistakes” (Sorry Jon, but as soon as I discovered the problem, I thought of your Timberman (I think) race), but more so from my own.  Here’s what happens when a race starts with rain (no sun) and then the sun comes out with a vengeance on the bike/run.

Looks like I am making friends with the bottle of aloe tonight.  Thankfully it is just my shoulder blades.  I did actually take time to apply sunscreen during T2, but I guess I need longer fingers.

Stay tuned!

Pre Race

This was going to be a pretty laid back race.  Both because I have done it before and because it wasn’t an “A” race.  I packed up everything Friday night.  They had posted the water temperature online Friday and there was virtually no chance of wetsuits being allowed, so I didn’t even pack it.  Without a wetsuit, it makes packing much more manageable – everything fit in my backpack.

I did packet pickup on race morning and quickly got my number and chip.  Unfortunately the shirts got held up in customs and had not arrived.  So, they will be mailing them out to each racer in the next week or so.  I wonder who is picking up the fee for shipping 400+ shirts??

I found a pretty good spot on my rack.  We didn’t get there early enough to get an end rack, but the rack I was on only had 5 other bikes so it wasn’t very crowded compared to the end racks with 8 bikes each.  After getting marked, it was time to head down to the swim start.

The Swim

It was a long wait between when transition closed and my wave started.  I had a good hour wait before my wave would go out.  The reason for the delay was that the My Team Triumph Angels started first and were given a 30 minute head start so that they can finish the swim before anyone else starts.

As the My Team Triumph racers were finishing, they started a group of seeded athletes.  This was a new “feature” of the race.  Anyone could request to start in the first heat if they thought that they would be competing for an overall or age group placing.  There was about 60 or so athletes that chose to start first.

After the seeded athletes, there were two waves of women and then my wave.  While waiting to start, I heard familiar voice in the crowd and found two guys that I ran cross country with back in high school. 

The water temperature at the start was 83*F so wetsuits were technically allowed, but without being included in the placing.  I chose to go without a wetsuit and am I glad I did. 

This was by far the most contact I have ever had in a swim.  Most of the contact seemed to happen after our wave caught up to the previous two waves and began passing people.  I took a swift kick to in the chest by someone doing the breast stroke that really took the wind out of me.  Other than that, it was relegated to the standard bumping that goes with an open water swim – just a lot of it.

Compared to last year, my swim time was about a minute and a half longer. However, my ranking in the swim dropped from 175 to 70, so I did better against the field.  I attribute this to three things.  First, I heard some swimmers saying that the course last year was short.  And second, swimming with a wetsuit is generally going to be faster.  My extra open water swim training really helped me swim straight as an arrow.  I accidentally took the final turn a little wide, but that ended up helping me in the long run because it wasn’t as crowded on the outside.

I finished the swim in 14:49 and charged up to the transition area.  As I ran to transition, I really felt like I pushed myself in the swim and was sort of worried I pushed too hard.  My transition time in T1 improved by about 30 seconds which is probably time I saved by not putting on socks.

The Bike

Wow!  What can I say.  The bike rocked!  The course is an out and back course with rolling hills.  As soon as I started out on bike I was flying.  I was seeing speeds of 23mph and 24mph on my bike computer as I flew by other cyclists.  I could have a used a pre-recorded, “On your left” message I was doing so much passing.  As a side note, there were a lot of newbies who didn’t seem to know the “Stay to the right” rule.  They would move to the right as I passed, but them scoot right back to the middle of the road.  I pushed the pace as much as I could, charging up the hills, and riding down the hills at full speed.  I stayed aero for most of the ride after the first couple of miles.  However, it was so crowded during the first 3 miles, that I was constantly popping up onto the hoods to brake or change gears while passing.

Who has two thumbs and just rocked the bike?  This guy!

I only got passed by a couple of people on the bike.  All of which were on tri bikes and had aero helmets.  Never fun getting passed, but it is easier to swallow when the passer still has a bike number on his bike from CdA.

I backed off the last mile and shifted into an easier gear to prep my legs for the run. 

There was a bit of snafu with the bike dismount.  When turning back into the transition area, the road was divided into two paths by a rope.  The two riders in front of me and myself took the path closest to our turn and ended up on the wrong side.  We all had to dismount a few yards earlier and had to climb under the rope.  Inconvenient, but not a huge deal.

I ended up finishing the bike in 50:56, about 3 minutes faster than last year, for a 21.2mph average pace.  I also brought my bike rank down from 130 to 47.

The Run

Like the bike, the run went awesome.  I had a little bit of a brick feeling in my legs for the first half mile or so, but it went away quickly.  I started to pick off runners one by one as my legs felt better and better.  I had one guy pass with a 27 on his calf and I knew that I would have to catch him as to not drop a place in my age group.  He went flying passed me, but pulled up about 50 yards down the road.  As I passed him, I told him to keep it up and was given a grunt as a reply.  I think he must have cramped up or something and did not seem very happy.

In no time, I hit the final stretch.  I somehow missed the 4 mile mark, so I was surprised to see the finish line so soon.  I felt great as I finished. 

The run was a 2 minute improvement over last year at 32:45 (7:17 pace).  I also jumped from 128th to 46th in the run ranking over last year.

Overall it was a great race.  I finished 43 out of 440 overall and 7 out of 28 in my age group so I am very happy with the results. 

I sort of wonder if I should have started in the seeded group?  In the end, I ended up finishing ahead of a dozen or so of the seeded group, so I probably would have fit it.  Though, it may have been mentally defeating though to be be in the back of the seeded group rather than being able to pass the waves that started before me.  I think that if it were an “A” race, putting myself in the seeded group would have made me more competitive.  But as this was just a training session, I am glad I started where I did.

Post Race

As we were leaving, I pointed out a Cervelo P2.  Jennie took a picture of it in case Santa needs something for my Christmas list.

Finally, a big thanks to my support crew and photographer! Aren’t the pictures great???

Official Results

On race morning though, I dragged myself out of bed, and had a quick breakfast of a banana and toast.  My stomach was a little upset with me which didn’t help out with my mental pessimism. 

When I got to the race site, I bit the bullet and paid the extra $10 for race day registration.  I guess that is what I get for procrastinating. 

As I was waiting around at the starting line, I was having serious regrets about the race.  My legs felt tight, my stomach felt funny, it was hot and humid, the rest of the field looked faster than me, I was tired, etc., etc.  I eventually got in the starting coral, lined up behind a large group of girls who worked at the local running shop – they were dressed the same and had “G-A-Z-E-L-L-E-S” (the name of the store), painted on their backs.  I was sure that they were going to mop the course with me.

As soon as the horn went off, all my apprehension disappeared immediately.  It was amazing.  As soon as I started racing, I felt great.  I took off like a shot.  In the first half mile, I settled in behind a couple that I recognized from past races.  However, by the first mile, I was feeling so good that I decided to pass them.  As the race progressed, I continued to pick people off.  In fact, in the final 2.5 miles I passed about 15 runners and didn’t get passed once!  That group of “G-A-Z-E-L-L-E-S” women – gone.  That guy with the M-Dot tattoo and IM Louisville shirt – eat my dust.  The tall, sporty, skinny chick who was toeing the starting line – bye bye!

I crossed the finish line in 31:12 for a overall pace of 6:56 (6:53, 7:12, 6:53, 7:05, 6:16; final half mile).  This earned me 14th overall (out of 384 runners) and 5th in my age group.  This is by far the best finish I have ever had and am super happy with it.  I would have thought that 14th overall would have earned me a top 3 finish in my age group, but there was only 3 age groups: 0-24, 25-39, and 40+.  Oh well! I am super happy with how this race turned out. 

So, what did I learn?  Don’t let a sour attitude ruin a race.  Roll with punches and turn that negative energy into something positive.

Stay tuned for a full 4th of July Weekend Wrap-up.  I’ll hopefully have it done by tomorrow, but I’m too tired to work on it anymore tonight.

Or: I’m Famous!

Friday

I took it easy on Friday after my 10 mile run on Thursday.  I did an easy long swim before heading to the expo for packet pickup.  I got downtown at about noon which was apparently when the rest of the world decided to do packet pickup as well.  However, because of my new VIP status, my line for packet pickup was only 2 people long.  Now, before I go too much further, allow me to explain my VIP status.  The River Bank Run has a 2 Hour Club for any runner who completed the previous year’s race in under 2:00:00.  As I finished in 1:55:59 last year I was allowed into this private club. Here is a copy of the email I received welcoming me to the club.

After getting my packet, of which, I only needed my number and shirt and not the 2 dozen fliers included.  They certainly aren’t going to be winning any green status with that packet.  But I digress.  I wandered through the expo and checked out the booths.  Nothing too exciting.  Nice to see that the Grand Rapids Marathon, Brooksie Way, and 3Disciplines all had booths though.

Saturday

I woke up at 6:00, had a bowl of Cheerios and a banana and we were off.  Having done this race a few times before, I already knew where the best parking was.  We got there with plenty of spots left and plenty of time to spare.  The weather was less than optimal; cold, windy, and sprinkling, so Jennie and I headed over to the Two Hour Club room.  It was 39*F with a 29*F wind chill because of the 20mph winds out of the west.  Thankfully, the hospitality room was nice and warm.  We hung out there for a few minutes before heading to the starting line.  The weather, despite sounding miserable, was in reality perfect for the race.  The strong winds were blocked almost entirely by the tree lined roads and the only portion of the course that was open to the winds was when the wind was at our back.  In the end, there was probably a head wind for less than a mile of the entire course.

Which brings me to another perk of the Two Hour Club – premium start position.  In a field of 6,500 runners, the Two Hour Club corral is directly behind the elite athletes.  I was literally 3 feet away from actually toeing the line myself and rubbing shoulders with Stephen Shay (the late Ryan Shay’s brother), Rockford native, Jason Hartmann, and Dan Browne.

The gun went off promptly at 8:20 and we were off.  Starting with the elites was a nice perk, but not something I’ll ever do again.  Going out with them caused me to go out WAY too fast – my first mile was 6:45 – YIKES.  Plus, I would rather start further back and have more opportunities to pass people than to be passed.

Miles 1 – 5

As I said, I went out way too fast: 6:45, 7:08, 7:07, 6:58, 7:18.  About 3 miles in, the 7:00 min/mile pace group went past me.  I did my best to keep them within sight, but eventually the round yellow sign become a tiny dot in the distance before disappearing completely around mile 7.  Despite the fast pace, I was feeling pretty good.  At the second aid station, I was running along and a guy cut me off to get a water.  I was slightly peeved about it until the woman in front of him botched grabbing a cup causing the water to splash down the front of the cutter.  Karma’s a bitch.

Miles 6-10

The next five miles (7:09, 7:12, 7:17, 7:21, 7:34) was a roller coaster of mental strength.  Just after the 6 mile mark, the course turns around and starts to head back in the direction of the finish line which gave me a mental boost.  It felt like the halfway point – but it wasn’t.  When reality sunk in, I trudged along another 1.75 miles to the actual halfway point and my mental strength returned.  I passed the halfway point at roughly 55 minutes which meant that I was well on my way to another sub 2 hour race.  Then the course turned into the wind and faced an uphill just before mile 10 – there goes the mental strength again.  At the corner, just before mile 10, I saw the lovely Jennifer taking pictures and cheering.  She was accompanied by a co-worker (and fellow runner/triathlete) who came out to cheer me on (Thanks David!).  And back came the mental strength.

Miles 11 – 15

This is by far the hardest part of the course (7:38, 7:35, 7:15, 7:42, 7:35).  Not only is it the end of the course, but it is the hilliest portion.  Every year, the Hills of Butterworth catch me off guard and always seemed longer and harder (TWSS) than the previous year.  With the prospect of another sub 2 hour race, I wanted to keep a relatively fast pace, but I didn’t want to go all out because this was only supposed to be a C race, not an A race.  I have a triathlon in a month and didn’t want to run so hard as to jeopardize my training.   I saw my dad was at the end of his street near mile 13 cheering me on which gave me another boost of energy.  After seeing my dad, it was a quick run through the zoo before finally turning back towards the finish line.

The Final .5

The finish of the River Bank Run is one of the hardest final stretches I have ever done in a race.  The last half mile climbs 60 feet which is about a 2% grade, but after 15 miles, it feels like much more than that.  I picked up the pace as much as I could and finished strong with a final time of 1:54:38 – a PR!

Post Race

The race refreshments and post race party are very well organized.  The food is great and beer is cold.  I had my annual first piece of watermelon which means that summer is right around the corner.  We then headed over to the beer tent and found our friend Kelli Jo – the best beer girl ever – for some Michelob Ultra.  Not my first choice for a beer, but they are race sponsors and beggars can’t be choosers.  As I was enjoying the beer, I had someone walk up to me and ask me if I had a blog.  I said that I did and then he asked if I was Ironman By Thirty.  Holy cow! My first blog recognition!!! I’m famous!  It’s like being a rock star (without the uninhibited sex and drugs)!!  Ryan stumbled across my blog and is a newbie triathlete.  He did his first tri at Reeds Lake last year and I am sure there are plenty more in his future.  This was definitely one of the highlights of the day.

Chatting with Ryan, a blog buddy.

Overall

Overall, I am very happy with how the race went.  I really didn’t have any firm goals going into this race.  The PR was nice, but not necessary.  I guess, if anything, my only goal would have been to stay under the 2 hour mark – check.  One lesson I learned was to not start with the 2 Hour Club in the future.  Sure, I’ll take advantage of the hospitality room and private bathroom, but when it comes to starting, I’ll position myself in a more realistic pace group to prevent myself from going out too strong.

Official Results

Misc

In elite racing news, the US swept the field for the first time in the past 2 decades taking the top 13 spots!  It doesn’t hurt that A) Ethiopia’s Siraj Gena (the favored winner and recent winner of the Rome Marathon) never made it to GR due to Visa issues and B) the Kenyan men traditionally do not perform well in the colder weather.  Go USA!

Fifth Third River Bank Run winner Andrew Carlson, far right, talks with third- and second-place finishers Nicholas Arcininga, left, and Brett Gotcher after the race. (Courtesy of the Grand Rapids Press)

Also, Jennie spotted a few characters that finished just ahead of me.  First, I give you body suit man:

He ended up a finishing in 1:47:55 (6:56/Mile).  Maybe the suit is aero dynamic.  Regardless, I don’t think I’ll be giving it a try.

He was followed up by our second costumed friend of the day; Eagle Man:

Thanks for reading!

Pre Race

Let’s start at the beginning, Friday afternoon.  The plan was to leave Grand Rapids at 4:00 and head straight to the expo in Dearborn.  With the car loaded up, we got right on the road.

The drive wasn’t as bad as expected and we made it to Dearborn faster than Google estimated.  It’s not speeding if you are going with the flow of traffic right??

When we got to the expo, we were greeted by one of the many Martians I would be running with on Saturday. 

They really went wild with the Martian theme.  Each of the mile markers was an inflatable Martian – you could buy your own too if you wanted.  They also had alien antenna headbands and other UFO-related memorabilia for sale.  It wasn’t a huge expo, which made it easy to get in, get my number and T-shirt, and get out.  Instead of doing the traditional race packet with a plastic bag and bunch of flyers that eventually get thrown out, they did a virtual packet.  This meant that they gave everyone a link to a website that had PDFs of all the brochures and coupons that you could view and print out if you wanted.

After getting everything I needed, we took a few minutes to drive the beginning and end of the course.  We really couldn’t drive the whole course because part of it was on a bike path and apparently it is frowned upon to drive down them. 

Once we drove the course a bit, we headed to Jennie’s parents’ house for the night.  It was after 8:00 when we got there and we were starving.  We heated up some noodles and sauce for a quick and easy pasta dinner.  I was eager to hit the hay after dinner as it was going to be an early morning.

Race Night

I slept pretty well for a race night.  As is normal for race nights, I didn’t sleep very soundly.  I think part of it is the anticipation of the race and the other part is fear of oversleeping my alarm.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I had an eerie dream foreshadowing the outcome of the race.  I woke up with a start at 4:30 AM from an extremely vivid dream.  In the dream, I had just finished running the race.  When I crossed the finish line, the timing clock was broken, so I had no idea how I did.  I felt okay during the run, but figured that I had run a 3:45-ish race.  For some reason, in my dream, the official results were only posted in the newspaper, so I had to wait to see my time.  When I finally did see my time, I was shocked to a see a time 3:34.  When I woke from the dream, I was completely exhausted and felt as if I had really run the race.

Race Morning

5:00 AM rolled around a lot quicker than I would have liked.  I crawled out of bed and had a quick breakfast of bagel with jam and yogurt.  After eating, I actually went back to bed for about 20 minutes while I digested.  I went back and forth deciding on what to wear.  I brought both shorts and tights as options because although the weather has been very nice, it has still been dropping into the 30’s at night resulting in cold mornings.  I decided to go with the tights although I probably could have made it with the shorts.  The field was split with about half the runners in tights and half in shorts.

By 6:00, we were out the door and on our way.  Well, we were on our way after I scraped the frost off the car windows.  The beginning of the drive went smoothly, but traffic was horrible close to the race.  The main road was reduced from 3 lanes each way down to one lane each way.  We knew this ahead of time from driving around after the expo, but I didn’t think it would be that bad at 6:30 in the morning.  We sat in traffic for what seemed like forever.  By the time we got to the parking lot, it had been closed because it was already full.  We ended up parking at a meter and walking a few blocks to the starting line. 

It was rapidly approaching the race start time of 7:30.  As I got closer, I saw the line porta potties had lines about 40 people deep and it was already 7:15.  Thankfully, all I needed was a tree and there were plenty of those available.

I was at the starting line and ready to go at 7:20.  I cut it pretty close getting to the line on time, but thankfully everything fell into place and I didn’t seem overly rushed.  The race started off promptly at 7:30.  There wasn’t much fanfare or anything.  The race director simply said “Ready… Go!”  No starting gun or sports horn.

Jennie was able to snap some photos of me right as I started and at the 1 mile mark.  I was glad I had the tights at this point because I was freezing.  This would be the last time I would see Jennie until the 11 mile mark.

Miles 1-3

The course wound through some neighborhood streets for the first 3 miles.  I tried to take it easy and not let myself go out to fast.  This meant checking my ego at the starting line and not caring if people passed me.  This ended up being a difficult task because both the half marathon and full marathon started at the same time and there were over twice as many half marathoners than full marathoners.

Miles 4-6

After the first 3 miles, we made our way to the out and back portion of the race.  The next 10 miles out and 10 miles back were on a park road.  This made for a flat course with plenty of scenery.  However, because there wasn’t any crossroads or neighborhoods, there was hardly any spectators.  It was easy to go a mile without seeing a single one.  Also, portions of the road seemed very crowned and I was constantly moving left or right to find the flattest surface to run on.  I kept to my philosophy from the beginning and tried to take it nice and easy.  Still a long way to go and I didn’t want to burn out early.

Miles 7-10

We lost the half marathoners at the 6.5 mile turn around which really thinned out the crowd.  At mile 7, things started to go down hill.  My left knee started to hurt – a sharp pain on the outside of kneecap.  It hurt like hell, but it wasn’t really affecting my stride so I trudged along.  It still hurt at mile 8 and I was worried that I was going to have to stop and end my race.  The pain was reminiscent of a knee injury I had following my first marathon 5 years ago which grounded me for a couple months.  Thankfully, by mile 9 the pain had lessened a bit and by 10 miles, it was gone.

Miles 11-15

As I approached mile 11, I saw a familiar sight in the distance; a red car and my beautiful wife. 

Not sure where this smile came from; I was hurting at this point.  I gave Jennie a hug as I passed.  She told me that I was doing great and that the leaders had just past by.  I admit that at the time I didn’t believe her that I was doing great – I felt like crap.  I had my Garmin on, but I rarely (if ever) look at during a race.  I use it more as way to reflect on the race rather than tool during the race.  I actually managed to avoid looking at it until I hit the 26 mile mark. 

As I got closer to the turn around, I started to believe that I was doing better than I thought.  The leaders passed me going the other way when I was nearing the 12 mile mark which meant they were only about 3 miles ahead of me.  At the halfway point, I had a surge of mental strength and was feeling much better about the race.

On my way back, just as I was nearing mile 15, I spotted Marathon Don (race director from the Grand Rapids Marathon).  He has an absolutely amazing resume: 188 marathons or longer, all 50 states, 21 countries, all 7 continents 3 times, 82 consecutive months with a marathon or longer.  As I got close to him he let out a “YAY Grand Rapids Marathon” (the shirt I was wearing) yell.  I gave him a high five as I went by and told him he was doing great.  He ended up finishing 4:14, 48  minutes faster than his marathon 3 weeks prior.

Here are Marathon Don and I after we passed each other.  Look for the red shirts.

I saw Jennie again around the 15 mile mark.  I was feeling pretty good, better than I was at 11 miles.  I think it was all mental and I was finally on the home stretch.  I managed a strained smile and double thumbs up as I cruised by and told her I would see her in about 10 miles.  I know.  It would be more like 11 miles, but 10 sounded more manageable.

Miles 16-23

The next 7 miles or so was a struggle.  My legs were starting to hurt, but I was feeling mentally strong enough to keep myself going.  I got passed more than I did the passing which is sometimes hard to absorb, but I was rolling with the punches.  I started chanting in my head, “Just keep running. Just keep running. Just keep running, running, running. What do we do? We run, run..” (ala “Just keep swimming” from Finding Nemo). 

I walked through my first aid station at around the 19 mile mark.  I had, up until this point, been alternating water and Gatorade at each aid station and was able to jog through them.  By this point, though, I slowed to walk and grabbed one of each.  They must have been running low on Gatorade mix because it was really watered down; almost to the point where you couldn’t tell if it was water or Gatorade.

Miles 24-26

After mile 23, the course finally changed and I was finally done with the back portion of the out and back.  The next miles wound through Henry Ford Community College and U of M Dearborn.  Unfortunately my knee pain was returning which was slowing me down again.  Part of the last miles wound along a bike path which included two wooden bridges.  It was a weird feeling running over the bridges.  They were nice and cushiony and it felt good on the legs.  However, they were slightly bouncy so it was a weird feeling if more than one person was on the bridge at the same time; sort of like running on a trampoline.  The worst part of the whole course was at mile 25.5, the biggest hill on the entire course.  Seriously?  After 25 miles of flat course, they decided to put a hill at the end.  Not cool. 

At the top of the hill, I caught up with 3 other guys.  Only one of the guys was actually running the marathon.  His two friends were just helping to run him into the finish.  They offered me some encouraging words which was very helpful at that point.

The Finish

When I made the second to last turn, a little over a quarter mile from the finish, I finally looked at my watch for the first time.  It said 3:30! I couldn’t believe.  I turned onto the final stretch and gave it all I had left.  I saw Jennie cheering me on a few feet from the finish line.

I felt awesome as I finished.  All of the pain had vanished – at least momentarily.  I crossed the line in 3:34:19 (chip time) which is a 12:43 PR over my Grand Rapids Marathon last October.

This was by far the happiest I have felt after a race in a long time.  I was riding high on the emotion of a huge PR.  I was pretty tired too, I guess, as witnessed by the fact that I must have fallen asleep standing up.

Post Race

After the race, the pain in my knee came flooding back.  I hobbled over to the refreshments tent which was poorly located because you had to walk through a muddy, uneven area of ground that was torn up from construction work.  It wasn’t a huge offering, but they had pizza, fruit, and bagels.  I had a slice a of pizza and grabbed a banana before we headed back to the car.  I’m not really one to hang out too much after the race and wanted to get back and take an ice bath.

Jennie picked up a bag of ice and 6-pack of Bell’s Oberon for me at the gas station on the way back to her parents’.  I road home with it on my quads before I used it for my ice bath.  We also stopped at Subway for a couple of oven roasted chicken breast subs.  That was my mid race craving.  At mile 22 or so, all I wanted to eat was this sub.  Is this what I have come to?  Now my marathon cravings are relatively healthy foods?? In the past, my cravings were greasy, fatty, unhealthy foods (taco bell, pizza, french fries, etc).

The Rest of the Weekend

After the festivities of the morning, I made sure to keep moving to keep my muscles from tightening up.  Despite the sore knee, I worked on helping Jennie’s dad build a new fireplace surround.  We made a bit of progress on Saturday afternoon before taking a break to enjoy some Buddy’s Pizza.

On Sunday, I woke up more sore than Saturday.  Thankfully, the soreness on Sunday was more the usually sore muscle feeling.  The pain in my knee had finally subsided.  We continued to work on the fireplace and finished that afternoon.  Here is the finished product.  It is a nice step up from the previous shelf mantel.

Overall

Overall, it was a great race and a great weekend.  I couldn’t be happier with how the race turned out.  I looked back at my splits from the Grand Rapids Marathon and compared them to this weekend’s splits. I was faster on all but 3 miles.  On top of that, I didn’t “wall” until mile 23 this time rather mile 20 previously.  Also besides walking through a couple aid stations, I ran the entire race. In the past, I have usually ended up walking at least a half mile or so.

Official Results

Thanks for reading and the encouragement you have all given me along the way!  Now, I have to go catch up on reading your blogs.  At last count, my folder of running/triathlon blogs was up to 51 in Google Reader.  Yikes!

You’ll have to wait until tomorrow (or Monday) for all the gory details and photos, but here are the highlights:

• I woke up at 4:30 am from a very vivid dream in which I ran a 3:34 marathon.  It was mildly frustrating because it was one of those dreams that you wake up exhausted from because it felt so real.  And on top of that, I felt 3:34 was unrealistic.
• Got to the starting line 10 minutes the gun went off race director yelled “Go.”  Cut it a little close, but it worked out.
• Enjoyed the beautiful weather and lovely course for most of the 26.2 miles
• Ran (nearly) the entire race for the first time.  I walked a couple water stations, but other than that, all running (or hobbling depending on how far along I was)
• Finished in (queue eerie music) in 3:34 and change!!! I can’t believe it.  It makes for a roughly 13 minute PR. I am still sort of in shock of the fact that I dreamed my time.

Now it is time to rest and ice my knee – it is extremely sore.  I am hoping that it is just tired and not injured. 

Thank you again for the well wishes.  It meant the world to me.

#1 Dogs Walking Their Owners

I am a dog person.  I have nothing against dogs.  I like dogs.  But it bugs the hell out of me when someone is out letting their dog walk them. The dog is walking wherever they want and the owner has no control over them.  I’m more afraid of the leash than the dog.  All it takes is the owner not paying attention and the dog to switch sides of the sidewalk and you have yourself a readymade trip hazard.  Today, my favorite was a woman standing in the middle of the sidewalk while her two English bulldogs were each standing on opposite sides of the sidewalk inspecting the bushes.  The only way around her (without trudging through the mud) was to jump in the street.  Ugh.

#2 Large Groups of Teenage Girls

Ever notice the smell when running past a group of teenage girls?  It is worse than walking past The Body Shop.  I think I would rather run behind a car puffing out exhaust fumes.  Yuck!

#3 Unnecessary Bike Paths

The lake that I run around (Reeds Lake) is in the process of adding a bike path around a portion of it.  To do this, they are tearing out a couple hundred trees and relocating wetlands.  It is totally unnecessary.  The entire road around the lake is a 25 mph residential road with wide shoulders on both sides of the road.  Not only that, but it is very lightly traveled.  On my run today, I only saw 5 cars during the 5+ miles I was on Reeds Lake Blvd.  During the portion of the run that was alongside where the bike path is going, I didn’t see a single car.  Another problem with the bike path is that they don’t plow the path in the winter.  So, as soon as we get snow again, everyone ends up walking on the shoulder any ways.

Ok, I am done ranting now.  I will get off my soapbox.

On a positive note, I set a new best time for my 8 mile course.  1:00:36 for 8.04 miles.  I am getting closer and closer to getting under the 1 hour mark.  My fastest previous time for the course was 1:00:50 back in November.  So, despite my pet peeves, I had a pretty good run.