Magnificent Mile 2012

Well this is an old update but here it goes.

Way back on Sept. 16, 2012 was the Magnificent Mile race in Raleigh, NC. I wasn't expecting much since I have not been, nor ever have run for speed. With me, it's more like can I make it to the end. No worries here, it's only a mile and I regularly run 5. My goal is around 7:30, since that was roughly my time last year.

Onto the race. After they announced the 10 or so elite runners the gun fired. We are off. I settle into a quick for me but manageable pace. As we get near the Capital I notice no quarter splits (they had them the last 2 years), Hopefully, they have the half split. Soon I see that they do, I'm around 3:30 at the half way point. I think for a split second I might go sub 7. I guess the fast cats are sprinting to home. Not me, I slow a tad to catch my breath (and sub 7 vanishes) some as its getting beyond what I want.  Anyway, soon I see the finish line and gradually pick things back up and finish pretty strong. I actually passed several people on the home stretch and finish with a chip time of 7:26.  Hit my goal, so pretty cool with effort.


A picture from the home stretch.

http://www.magmilerace.com/
http://www.secondempireseries.com/fall/fall-series/

My Assault on the Col De Lystra

My Assault on the Col De Lystra on 6-30-12. It all started with a search of cycling places in the Raleigh- Durham, NC area. I kept seeing people reference this hill climb in the area. So I researched, located it, and planned my assault.

Before my assault on the Col De Lystra I needed supplies. See I have a Cannondale CAADX (cyclecross) not the best suited steed. I had an easy fix in mind, some decent road tires. Also, it is triple digit weather this weekend so I needed an extra water bottle holder. The Friday before, I installed the extra bottle holder and tires, 125psi, this should roll smoother than the knobbies at 80psi. Went for a quick test spin, nice, this baby just wants to roll now.

The day of the assault is here, I am psyched, and couldn't sleep much due to the excitement. I loaded up the truck and headed over to my start point, a place I park often when I run, a parking area for the American Tobacco Trial. I get there and it was packed, great, hope there is a parking space. I find one! Guess these cats want to beat the heat, they were calling for 106 degrees. I pulled the bike out of the truck, put on the helmet, took a swig of water, started STRAVA (track the details), I'm off!

The Col De Lystra is about 8 miles or so away so I have a bit of peddling to reach the beast. I was going pretty good for awhile and was averaging around 20mph. As I neared the beast I slowed to 15mph to conserve what little peddling engine I have. The turn onto Lystra, another mile and the beast appears, I'm here, let me stop and take a picture of the very start. Not good to stop at the base but this was my first time here.

Turning onto the famed road:

The hill coming into view, it real pitches up around the bend at the far end of view:

The hill itself. As I get going again the hill starts to rise but I don't fully see what I'm up against until I fully get around the bend. This sucker goes up and up fast. My GPS has the grade at 12%, it goes like this for about .3 miles then levels off, maybe even downhill for a couple of ticks, but it's hard to tell after going straight up. There is a second part, great. It might be steeper, I push ahead, gasping for air like there is no oxygen left on earth. I make it to the top. Average grade for the hard part (including the flat part) was 4.6% and I achieved an average speed of 8.7mph. I continued all the way to 15-501 and turned around, the climb up the Col De Lystra was complete! All the uphill of Lystra was 3.2 miles at 11.4mph, now for the ride back down.

Back down the hill was fun and fast. The steep parts I hit 44mph with little effort other than gravity. It was like a free fall and I kept a finger on the breaks just incase, but doubt they would of slowed me up.

Eventually, I made it back near my truck and the Peloton cought me after my epic solo up the Col De Lystra. I have never ridden in a Peloton and with the same effort I gained like 5mph, guess I need to find a group to ride with in the near future. Overall, my ride was 26 miles with a 15.7mph average on a 93 degree morning. NICE!

The profile from STRAVA, the spike in the middle is the Col De Lystra:

Wet-N-Wild 5K 2012

The Wet-N-Wild 5K in Knott's Berry Farm (California) 6-16-2012. How did I end up doing a race on the west coast you may ask? Well, I was there to visit relatives and wanted to run and thought entering an event would be fun.

What an event I found while doing an internet search. How about a 5K with the last 500 meters in knee deep water. Well this is Southern California and it seemed like a good fun time. Also, this place is 20 minutes up the road from my Aunt's house in Huntington Beach, CA. I checked with my aunt and I signed up.

Race day is here. Well I woke up early, that was easy I was still on east coast time. Once I got onsite, I got my packet, everyone must have arrived at the same time, a bit crowded. I dropped off the stuff from my packet back at the car and headed to starting line to chill for 20 minutes. Eventually, they had some singing and a prayer and then the shotgun was fired to take off. I didn't see the shotgun but the cat on the PA said they were using one. Southern California I expected an uzi or a glock. Once we started running, weaving, and just dodging stuff I settled into a comfortable pace. I knew I wasn't doing a 25 minute 5K since 500 meters would be in the water. This was a pretty relaxed event. The course took us down every street and passed every ride and stand in the amusement park. It was a nice run. I realized I either lined up with the correct crowd or we are faster on the east coast. Eventually, I made it to the water. I just walked thru it as most of the people around me were doing the same. More races should be like this, it was nice being in pool water for a bit. After a few minutes I was out and running the last bit with light legs. Felt like a champ and crossed the line in 31.31, finished 327 out of 2551 finishers.

Overall, I would rate this race as very fun must do race if you live nearby or happen to be nearby while on vacation as I was.

A few pictures:

Krispy Kreme Challenge 2012

The Krispy Kreme Challenge finally came and went, this is my little update.

Since last years failure, I have wanted to redeem myself and run the distance and eat all 12 of the doughnuts in under an hour. What gave me confidence this year even with the longer 5 mile distance, I run a heck of a lot better than this year.

So here are the details. On February the 4th of 2012 the Krispy Kreme Challenge went down in Raleigh, NC. The race starts at the NC State Bell Tower. I got there a bit early, but I had to get my shirt, since during my packet pickup they were out. After I got the shirt, I jogged about a 1/4 mile back to my truck, hoping to warm up a bit and to unload the shirt. After getting back to the Bell Tower I ran into my co-worker Jason who is quite good at this race, he finished in the 45 minute range last year. In comparison, it took me 1 hour and 17 minutes. This year I will complete the challenge of running 5 miles, eating 12 doughnut in an hour or less!

So now its 8:30 on a 40 degree morning and the horn goes off. Hey everybody lets run 2.5 miles to the Krispy Kreme and shove a dozen doughnuts into our pie holes.  The run there was straight forward and my Nike+ GPS was telling me 8 minutes per mile, I started to get a good feeling. After about 20 minutes I made it to the doughnuts. One thing I learned last year was to run around the traffic jam at the first table so I could get my doughnuts quick. Once in hand I quickly ate 2 and looked for the water table and grabbed two cups which fit nicely in the spot where the first doughnuts were. You need water to wash them down, especially the last six. After the first 2, I started eating 3 at a time. Soon I ran into my coworker again, I was at 5 left, and he had 6 left. He blew by me and finished his 12 and took off thru the challenger chute. About 2 minutes later I made it thru all 12 of my doughnuts and left the transition with a time of 33.38. At this point I knew I had this done in under 1 hour. One funny thing after finishing the doughnuts, there was this kid offering everyone one more, the way he said it just cracked me up.

After finishing the doughnuts the big deal is running back without loosing your sugary goodness that has rejoined into one giant mass in my belly. Overall, I felt pretty good at this point, but soon saw others that obviously were not. This year the carnage was much greater than last year, maybe it was the longer distance, who knows, but there was lots of vomit. Running back is pretty simple till the hill at St Mary's St. This is were a lot of spectators talk smack as they know a tough hill and 12 doughnuts only leads to one thing. Not me, I was rolling and passing way more people than I thought was possible because I'm not the fastest runner. Once at the top of the hill we had about 3/4 miles to the finish. Here I thought I saw my co-worker, I pushed it some, it wasn't him. Oh well, I finished and reached my goal of under 1 hour. I frigging completed the Krispy Kreme Challenge in 52.34, woohoo. Does that qualify me for Boston?

My official time:

My shirt and bib:

I can not wait till 2013!!!

Here are many links to pictures:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/02/04/1830380/first-look-krispy-kreme-challenge.html

http://www.wral.com/entertainment/out_and_about/image_gallery/10688058/