17 down...9 to go

Last time I ran, it was 12 miles, and the goal was to run below a 9-minute mile average. I'd like to run the marathon in less than 4 hours, and that is what it takes. I had run 12 or more miles a few times, so I thought it was time to try to push the pace. Not such great results.

I missed the goal of under 9-minute average. But just barely. The bad news was the pain in my achilles. Felt like something I had when I was training for my first 24-hour race. That required a week of rest and LOTS of Advil to recover. So I didn't run all week. I did race my bike on both Saturday and Sunday. And I did an interval workout on the trainer Wednesday night. I kept thinking about whether or not I would try to do my long run this week on Friday. It was supposed to be 18 miles. If I didn't do it, I'd have to rework the remainder of the marathon training schedule, and probably remove one of the 20-mile runs. No big deal, but I had to decide.

I chose to run. If my leg hurt, I would stop.

Well, we completed the run. It was only 17 miles, because of a slight miscalculation on the route. But it went well, and my legs feel pretty good as I write this. No pain in my achilles, and no other issues. I just pushed my longest run out by another 2 miles. Two more weeks and it will go out another 2 miles with my first 20-miler.

The training schedule I am following has me running 20 miles 3 times. I think I am going to make one of them 23. That way, in the marathon, I will only have an extra 3.2 miles to do. Somehow, that seems easier to swallow than 6.2 extra miles in uncharted waters. 3.2 is my standard Green Lake loop, so it sounds easy. We'll see...

Weekend of Cross

This weekend was a cross-fest. StarCrossed, the twilight event at Marymoor Park, that I missed last year, was Saturday afternoon/evening. On Sunday was race #2 in the MFG series, the RAD Racing GP. Both are UCI races, with the real pros racing at the end of the day. My plan was to stick around after my race at StarCrossed and watch the pros. Sharon and kids were coming on Sunday, so we'd have to leave long before the Elite races.

Saturday started off well...I should have known it was too good to be true. I got there over 2 hours before my start. I had plenty of time to pre-ride the course, and get a proper warm-up. That's about the end of the good news.

They had the start order as a random draw, and not based on registration order. I was one of the early registrants, so I expected a good starting position. But with the random draw, I got 45th. I was feeling good after my pre-ride laps and proper warm-up. I began passing people and trying to make up for my starting position. I had visions of grandeur after my surprising 12th place finish in the previous week's race.

Things were going pretty well, until I remounted my bike after one of the barriers and "burped" my rear tire. For those of you that are confused by the usage of the word "burp" here, I will explain. The tire does not have a tube. Sometimes, the sudden force of remounting the bike can cause the seal to break and allow air to escape. When it does, it makes a burping sound. Anyway, I burped my tire and it was very difficult to ride for the remainder of the lap, which was most of it. I watched as all of the people that I had passed went by me.

I finally arrived at the Pit Area and went to the neutral service tent. The guy there suggested he put a spare wheel that he had on my bike. I was thinking that we should just try putting air in my tire, but I figured that he knew what he was doing. Unfortunately, things didn't go too smoothly. I had my back brakes pretty tight, so getting a wheel on and off is not easy. In addition, once we got the wheel on, his rim was wider than mine, so the brakes were rubbing. He did not know how to adjust my brakes. In hindsight, I should have just grabbed his tools and done it myself. As he was working on my bike, the race official in the Pit approached and informed me that I was being pulled from the race. Since this was a UCI sanctioned event, all lapped riders are pulled from the racecourse.

Many lessons learned. Going back to tubes, or investing in tubulars. Not sure which at this point.

Sunday did not go much better. Again, because this was a UCI sactioned event, you cannot enter the race course until the race has concluded. I entered the race course after the winner of the race before mine finished, and began pre-riding the course. I rode more than half of the course and then turned around and headed back to stage for my start. I would estimate that it was at least 5-6 minutes after the leaders finished when I started up the finishing straight to get to the start. According to the UCI official that berated me for "posing a significant safety issue", I rode straight up the middle of the race course into sprinting racers. My story is a little different. I may have ridden in the course, but in my defense, I asked which way to the start and was told by someone that I believe was part of the race organization that I could ride to the start because the course was clear. Also, I did not see any racers on the course. In hindsight, I do recall one rider, moving slowly along the opposite side of the road from me. She certainly was not sprinting. And I certainly was not posing any safety threat to her, or anyone else. I would guess that she was the last straggler out on the course coming in from the previous race. Now, I understand that there are rules. But these is also the truth, and a proper way of handling such a situation. Enough of that.

So according to the "kind" UCI official, he showed great restraint and did not disqualify me, but he did relegate me to the back of the pack. So instead of starting 12th, based on my previous week's finish, I started last (probably about 50th). Big bummer, because the race was at Steilacoom Park, which has a very long, steep run-up. The run-ups are still my weakest point in cyclocross. My little legs just can't carry all my weight uphill very fast. I was counting on a good start to put me in the lead pack. Then maybe I could still get a decent finishing spot, even considering all the people that would pass me on the 4 trips up the run-up. No such luck.

I actually managed to get past a lot of people on the starting straight. And a lot more on our way the 1st trip up the run-up. But each lap, I lost several places on the run-up, and fought hard to get them back on the rest of the course. I wish I knew where I was in the pack when we first hit the run-up. My guess is somewhere in the range of 20th. I finished in 27th, so at least I sort of held my ground.

After the race, I said to a friend, "I think a top 25 finish for me here would be like a top 10 anywhere else (because of the run-up)". So when I saw the results later, I couldn't really complain. Considering the start, and the fact that I think I got lapped last time I raced there, 27th is pretty good.

Fun weekend, even with the bumps in the road. I'm tired. Next week is race #1 in the Seattle Series. Looking forward to it.

Pictures:
StarCrossed
Rad Racing GP
(there's actually a couple of me, because Sharon was at the race Sunday)

Videos from both days:
(got a bunch of videos of some of the local riders I know, and some pros)
Click here for videos on Vimeo

The Results are in...

I finished 12th out of 37 racers that finished (+9 DNFs). My previous best finish was in the final race last year, where I finished 34th out of 47 finishers. I'd say the running is getting me in better shape. Can't wait for this weekend - StarCrossed and MFG #2.

I'm going to do my long run on Friday, so hopefully the legs will feel good for the races.

Uncharted Waters and the Frustration of Being Obsessed with Results (and slow).

Confused by the title of this post? You should be. It has been a long time since I posted anything and I am too lazy to write individual posts with subject matter relevant titles. Suffer.

Uncharted waters refers to two different activities that consume my thoughts and my time currently...running and cyclocross. I have never considered myself a runner, but I am now trying to become one. I don't have much of a choice, since I am not a quitter; and I have committed to run the Seattle Marathon. I ran 15 miles yesterday, which is further than I have ever run before. That's not really saying much, because when I ran 13 miles several weeks ago in my training, that was the furthest I had ever run. And a few weeks before that, when I ran 10 miles, that was the furthest I had ever run. In two weeks, when I run 18 miles, that will obviously be the furthest I have ever run. You get the idea. Hence the relevance of "uncharted waters".

The running has gotten me in better shape than I was from the training for my last 24-hour race. So I had high expectations for this cyclocross season. That was before I realized that most of the races are on Sundays, and on Saturdays I do my long runs for the marathon training. Now, I'm not sure what the season will turn out to be. Again, the uncharted waters. But after today's race, I think I'm feeling optimistic. I say "I think" because the results at the first MFG Series race are a mess, and I am not showing up as a finisher in the race. I think I did better than I ever have, but not sure I'll ever know.

It sucks to be so excited to see your result, only to find out that there are none (for you anyway). In addition, I forgot to start my fancy Garmin watch, so I can't even estimate my finishing place by my total elapsed time in the race. Hopefully, they will figure it out and I will find out how I finished, but it does not seem promising.

What I can say about the race is that I felt like I was racing and not just riding in the race. That is a change from past races, where after a certain number of laps (usually 1), I was just struggling to survive to the finish. Today was different. I started on the front line and pushed hard from the start. I managed to stay with the lead pack for a good portion of the first lap. I was only passed by one or two of the fastest 45+ racers on the final lap, and I lapped many of the slower racers on the course (that was a first).

So I'm excited, even without the results. But it sure would be nice to know for certain.

I stuck around for the 11:30 start (mine was at 9:30) and took pics of a bunch of people that I know who race cross - CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PHOTOS

The other challenge as far as results go is my goal of finishing the marathon in under 4 hours. That works out to less than a 9-minute/mile average. Right now on my long training runs, I'm struggling to keep it under 10-minutes/mile average. I am doing speed workouts at 7-minute mile pace, but I have not yet been able to carry any of that over into my long training runs. We'll see how things are going after several more weeks of speed work and after I've done a few 20-mile runs.

Stay tuned.

A Change of Pace

My last post was about a great ride at Mt. Rainier. Since that day, I have only ridden my bike a couple times. I have not been idle though. I have turned my attention to running. I never really pictured myself as a runner. My wife has run 4 marathons and always talked about us running one together. My usual answer was something like, "in your dreams". I really believed that it was something I could not do. Two 24-hour mt. bike races later, I don't think there is much I can't do. The idea of an Ironman even slips into my mind every now and then. But I figure that I have to run a marathon first and see how that goes. I'll find out on November 29th this year - the Seattle Marathon. Sharon's wish is coming true.

So I'm working on becoming a runner and building my stamina. Since the beginning of July, I have run 14 times for a total of about 80 miles. That includes a 9.2 mile trail run this morning in Discovery Park and a 10.2 mile trail run at Cougar Mountain (#3 in the Cougar Mt. Trail Series put on by Seattle Running Company). Those are the two longest runs I have ever done. Previously, my longest would have been a little over 7 miles, when I ran the Bay to Breakers (I think in 1999).

The Cougar Mountain run was really hard. There was a lot of steep climbing and descending. Someone said that the total elevation gain was around 2000 feet. That sounded like a lot to me, but I am not familiar with common elevation gains for running. 2000 feet doesn't sound like much for a bike ride, but climbing is a bit tougher on your feet. Sharon and I have been doing some more trail runs since the Cougar Mt. run a few weeks ago, and I now have technology on my side. I just got a Garmin Forerunner 405. It is great so far, and I could write an entire post on just this topic. Maybe I will later.

The other night, we went for a trail run that seemed fairly easy. But everything seems easy after that Cougar run. The run was 5.5 miles and my Garmin said it included 1300 feet of climbing. I quickly realized that there was no way that the Cougar Mt. run had only 2000 feet of climbing. I have not had the chance to go back to Cougar and do the run with my Garmin, although I would like to. But thanks to Garmin's sweet online software and the community using it to post public data, I found some people that posted their data from the run. There is some discrepancy in the details - I am assuming due to loss of signal on some devices in the trees. But it appears that the true elevation gain was more in the 5750 - 6250 foot range.

If I ever get out there and repeat the run, I'll post the actual data that I record. I'll be back out there again in a little over a week for the last installment in the series. This one will be 13 miles, and I'm guessing even more elevation gain. My legs are burning just thinking about it.

The current goal this week is to get 35 miles in. That would match the goal of a mileage build-up plan that I looked at for marathon preparation. Before starting a true marathon training schedule, they recommend slowly building up your miles per week so that the training runs don't cause injury. If I can get 35 miles in (or close to it), I'll feel much better about starting the 17 week training plan. 17 weeks from August 1st is the Seattle Marathon. It's a long way to go, but I've gotten off to a good start.

Hopefully, I can find a balance between running and riding. I miss my bikes and had a lot of fun riding my cyclocross bike to Woodinville Wednesday night for the Thrilla. And my Garmin showed me that it is actually 58 miles, not 55 as I previously thought (with just under 5000 feet of climbing).

Mt. Rainier

I finally got down to Mt. Rainier for a ride (thanks to Joe M.). Managed to get out of the house with minimal complications involving wife and kids. For a change, I actually made it to the meeting place with plenty of time.

This was a fairly large Cascade Bike Club group ride, but we were sort of doing it as our own group. Joe and some friends, and myself, for a sub-group of 6. They are all faster than me and we were riding two summits for a total of 55 miles and 5800 feet of climbing, so I was ready for a beating.

I was also a bit worried about the weather. It can get cold on long mountain descents, but I don't like to carry a lot of extra gear. Especially when I am climbing all day. Thankfully, the weather was perfect - actually maybe even a bit too warm.

The first climb starts right from where we parked, just off the intersection of HWY 410 and Crystal Mountain Road. I tend to do better after getting a warm-up, so I got dropped pretty quickly by the group. After about 30 minutes of climbing, I started to feel better and picked up the pace. I even managed to reel in some of the slower riders from the main group that started about 5 minutes ahead of us.

I had planned to stop and take pictures all along the route, but I got caught up in riding and trying to keep up. I got to the top of Chinook pass, met up with Joe and the others, and had a quick break. Then we started back down the climb. Fun descent. Finally, I get a chance to lead! (I am a lot heavier that everyone that I ride with. Not a good thing when climbing, but when it comes to descending, I generally can lead the pack. Except when I get spooked and start hitting the brakes, like I did on the Sunrise descent.)

Left turn about 3/4 of the way down to head up to Sunrise Summit. This climb is definitely a bit tougher. My legs got pretty tired about halfway up and it was a bit of a struggle. But I was able to recover and push through the last few miles. The reward was well worth it. I did take a couple pictures from the Sunrise Summit (see below).

The descent down Sunrise was long, but fun. Then the really small pitch back up to the main road was painful. Funny how once your mind/legs think the climbing is done, even the smallest hill feels like a monumental effort.

Great day in the saddle. Thanks for the invite Joe.

What Have I Done!?

While Brad and Marja were here in Seattle for the week after my 24-hour race, we had Shannon over for dinner. Shannon is a friend from college that recently moved to Seattle. Shannon had to endure our boring talk about biking, since we are obsessed, and had just returned from my race. Thankfully, she was kind and even pretended to be interested. Later, she said that the conversation had inspired her to get going on some fitness goals of her own.

Fast forward a few weeks, and Shannon is over for dinner again after a walk around Greenlake with Sharon and the kids. As we eat our yummy food from Latona Pub, the talk turns to training goals. Shannon throws it out there that the Seattle Marathon is coming up in November. Shannon and Sharon are talking about doing the half-marathon. Before I know it, we have our hands in the middle of the table and we are making a pact. But I had to open my big mouth and say that if I am going to train for the marathon, then I have to do the full marathon. We had all had a couple beers, so I was hoping the pact would be forgotten or written off due to alchohol-induced bravery (stupidity). No such luck. 26.2 miles, here I come.

So I did some research. Assuming that you have a decent base fitness level, most marathon training regimens appear to be 18 weeks long. The Seattle Marathon is about 22 weeks out. No problem, right?

Sharon has run 4 marathons, and always wanted me to run one with her. I have always told her that I was not cut out to run a marathon. But my limits have been redefined through all of my training and completing two solo 24-hour races. I am excited about the new goal (and a little scared). But also, it feels a little weird to only be running half of it with Sharon and not the whole thing.

I guess Sharon has a new goal now...get back in full marathon form for next year... ;-)