3M Half Marathon 2007 - Race Report
3M put on my favorite race last year and they didn't disappoint this year. Another cold morning (36 °) but it turned sunny once the sun came up. It was a carbon copy of last year except for a small route change at the end and four degrees cooler. The shwag was bountiful. I don't understand how the other races don't understand and take a clue from the 3M organizers. This goes for the whole race and all it's components, not just the shwag.
I felt like a penguin in the movie, "March of the Penguins" when I got to the tent to drop off my hoody for after the race. There was a stand-up gas heater with people huddled around in a circle. I huddled for a few minutes, laughed and then took off to warm up.
As this race wasn't an "A race" for this year, I didn't have any goals set. I had run it in 1:55:20 last year so I plotted out a doable 1:54:00 from what happened in November's Motive Half Marathon. Although Motive happened at the end of the triathlon season and I haven't run since Motive. All cycling and lifting weights since mid-November. So 1:54:00 may have been wishful thinking.
I lined up for the 13th annual half marathon with 4081 other runners at 6;45. Everything felt good. I got up at 2:00 am to drink a Extra Protein Boost and went back to bed. Woke up at 4:30 and downed a yogurt and some toast and coffee. The stomach felt good after this routine and would prove to be no problem during the race.
In a spreadsheet I had targeted 9:30 for the first mile and 9:15 for the next two before settling into a repeat of 8:45 for the remainder miles until mile 11. At that point I'd increase the speed and initiate a kick toward the finish. Everything happened as planned. As you can see the splits below, they were pretty close, except for the kick. I didn't have anything at the end from the lack of running for the last two months. However, I was able to shave a few seconds here and there that allowed me to still PR by one minute, eleven seconds over last year's time. My prediction of 1:54:00 was off by nine seconds. Pretty cool.
Splits : 9:08, 9:16, 8:45, 8:23, 8:10, 8:14, 8:40, 8:36, 8:41, 9:03, 8:51, 8:36, 8:40, :56
I had a hard time walking after the race. It felt more like a marathon than a half, based on how my legs felt. I inverted the legs once I got home to let the blood rush out of them, took some CoQ10, E, C, Liquid Advils and some Miller Lites and felt great by the time the afternoon rolled around.
I was happy with the results, given I hadn't run since mid-November and had gained fifteen pounds lifting. It hurt to get this PR and I'll have to rethink my eating strategy or workouts better next year if I want to PR again.
Labels: 3M, half marathon
Snow = Trainer
Nothing but the trainer for the last few days. Well trainer and P90X. We've hit the six weeks in Austin, between Jan. 15 and March 1 where the weather doesn't want to cooperate with outdoor activities. That's alright by me as it forces a break in the routine. This also means more cardio being put into the routine. Weight of 186 is back down to 177, 12 BF is back down to 10.6.
I've been taking a break from daily statistics, times, etc. I'll be posting those again starting next week.
Labels: cardio, P90X, snow, trainer
New Weight Loss Plan
Got a new weight loss plan for the new year. Instead of gastric bypass, it's throat bypass. You get what seems like strep throat, add a lot of swelling to the lympth gland and proceed to cut the one fig newton you get for the day into 16 pieces, because that's the only thing that'll go down your throat. And why one fig newton and not two? Because after the time it takes to eat and unbearably swallow 16 little pieces of fig newton, that's all you have time for or can bear to eat.
Five pounds in two days is pretty good comparred to gastric bypass and some of the other weight-loss methods or diets being promoted this time of year.
Long story short, two doctors told me I had a severe abcess in the throat and it needed to be drained immediately by a specialist or in the ER. The Ear, Nose & Throat specialist said there was no abcess, but proceeded anyway to punture the swollen thingy with a large needle, not once but twice, and then prescribe three drugs that would take care of whatever the thingy wasy. So, needless to say workouts for the week have come to a halt. Hey, if you notice my measurements getting all Mark McGwired in the chest and arms categories, it's because I'm on a cycle of steroids for the throat thingy.
Hey, all is not bad. Just received my new previously owned Shimano rear wheel from an eBay auction. The auction was won with a $15 bid. No lie, the shipping cost more than the wheel, which is true and arrived in great shape. This will be my backup wheel to the Spinergy. Speaking of the Spinergy wheel, I found out what was causing the noise that I thought was bending fiberglass. It turns out the wheel was shipped minus three bearings. I put three in that are almost exactly the same size but will have to go up the street to bearing dealer to get the precise size.
I ate lunch today at Pho Soup restaurant to get the body atoms back in sync. Mmmmmm! Yum O as Rachel Ray says.
Sprint finally came through with a free camera phone for me. I wanted one for the blog to record some of the runs, the rides, etc. It's a Sanyo Katana with bluetooth built in so it should come in handy to relay more images from workouts.
Labels: diet, eBay, Katana, Rachel Ray, Sanyo, Spinergy, weight loss, Yum O
GYGO New Year's Day Triathlon Race Report
I waited until the temperature reached 50 degrees outside to get started. The great thing about the GYGO Virtual Traithlon was that I could set the start time. I could also change the venue and I did. Instead of swimming in Barton Springs and 68 degree water, I decided to drop by the warmer waters of Stacey Pool. It was open so I ditched the wetsuit into the backseat of the car and went in to do some laps. The temperature outside was 50 degrees so it was a little chilly. Even more so when I got out of the water with a ten mile-per-hour wind. I was stiff as a board. I could really tell I've been lifting and not swimming or doing a lot of cardio lately. I felt like a turtle in the water, even the times were ok.
I also decided to change the venue for the bike. Since I wasn't going to have any SAG vehicles or crew, I decided to transition out of the house. Therefore, I switched the bike route to south Mopac and the veloway and I changed the run to the Bowie High School track.
It felt great getting out on Jan. 1. It felt a little cool outside but not bad. I'm sure it felt better than others had to tolerate up north. Thanks go to Iron Wil and Kahuna for putting this virtual event together. It seemed to gather at least 50 triathletes worldwide. So one day into the new year and I have a sprint triathlon under my belt. Very cool!
Labels: GYGO, Iron Wil, Kahuna, New Year's
