Marathon Training Update for Rock-n-Roll Raleigh

Well the Rock N Roll Raleigh is less than a month away. How well is my training going?

Training started way back in October. I ran Tobacco trail 10 Miler and did okay. Never went over 10 the rest of 2013. The start of 2014 I changed that.

Frankly my running at the end of 2013 was not good enough to do a marathon. For 2014, I needed to improve so I would be ready in April. Well it hasn't been going to well. I went 14 miles one week, regular miles the next, and have basically been keeping this pattern so far this year. After my 15/16 mile week my right knee started to hurt. That forced me to change. I added biking during the week (no impact), and still do long run on weekend. That plan worked pretty well and I had no knee pain for awhile. Well the knee pain is back and marathon is a few weeks away. IT band issues and walking isn't all that easy.

How far along did I get before ITBS kicked in (left knee this time)? Well I had a 22 mile weekend and a 40 mile week. I felt like the distance should be enough for a first time finisher attempt. With the injuries, a sub 5 hour finish time is out the window. I have done a few half marathons and finished in 2:12 and 2:15, so sub 5 was reasonable I thought. Still have to run the race, so we will see what happens, hope the knees hold up or I'll finish by taxi service.

http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/raleigh

A Look Back at 2013 and What's the plan for 2014?

First off, I didn't reach any goal. I wanted to do a marathon, didn't happen. I wanted to do a century ride, it didn't happen. On a positive, I'm  still running and enjoying it.

What events did I do? I raced in the Cary Duathlon and finished with about the same time as in 2012. I really enjoy the multi-discipline events. I still struggle on the second 2.5 mile run though. Don't really eat before event and longer events work me. Total time was 1:55 for 2.5/17.5/2.5 (miles).

 I ran the TarHeel 10/4 miler. This was a last minute decision and I ran the 4 miler, you still do the hill challenge and get a medal. I'll do the 10 miles next time, I promise. The stand out of this event was the bomb sniffing dogs. They had them because event was a short time after Boston. Finish time was 36 minutes.

The next event was another last minute thing too, the Tobacco Trail 10 Miler. This was on a very cold day. Seems like the week before it was 80 and boom, 25. I froze until about mile 4. I had a goal of around 1:45, finished in 1:46, kinda slow but that's me, just get to the finish in my time.

The last race of the year was a Turkey Trot 8K in Cary NC. This was the second year I completed this race. Finished in about the same time as most of my 8K, 46 minutes. The hing that stuck out after was another runner said he used me as a pacer because of my bright knit hat (yellow/red).

What does 2014 have in store? Well I'm signed up for the Rock N Roll Raleigh Marathon in April, yes, the whole 26.2 miles. Training hasn't been quite up to par, though I do have a long run over 10 miles every week for a few months now. I have to step it up big soon. Wish me luck!

2013 Goals and a Look Back at 2012

   First off 2012 highlights. It was a good year of running. No injuries and I did pick up some speed. Still not fast but did complete a 5K in 25:34 which was way better than 2011 30+. Completed one half marathon, the Tobacco Trail Half in Cary, NC. It's a great event but I have other plans this year. Finished the Krispy Kreme Challenge in the under 1 hour time. Probably my last one of those since I was diagnosed with Celiac. Did a cool little race in So Cal  called Wet and Wild 5K, very fun. They should have a race like that at every water park. Ran the Second Empire Fall Series. Finished around 7th in my age group. My age group 40-44 is stacked with motivated life long runners. Most other age groups I place, my luck. Did get an invite to the awards lunch, so I get good food anyway as an award, just no jacket or something cool.

   2012 low lights. I had a goal of running my first marathon and put my name into the NYC Marathon lotto, didn't get in, in hindsight that was a good thing since Hurricane Sandy made that whole thing a disaster. Will try again but with a marathon closer to NC.

   On to 2013. My initial plans are to run a marathon and do a century bike ride. I'm guessing the century will be easier but I have run 13 miles and have only biked 34 in one outing. Also, I plan to mix in other events to make it interesting and keep me motivated. Will see and I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

   On another subject, trying to get my guitar playing up to snuff. Taking lessons, might even post a video if I improve enough.

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/

Run For Hero's 5K and a PR!

Well, I should of updated this a long time ago but I've been a blogging slacker.

The Run For Hero's 5K went down on the way back  on April 28, 2012. I'll keep this short and sweet. Last year I did this race in 31 minutes and change, this year I was just looking for sub 28. I'm lighter and run more now. Early on I knew I had a sweet pace for me and did the first mile and a half in 12 minutes and change. After that split, I knew I needed to pace an upcoming hill and just push to the end no matter how tired I was. Boy was I tired after the hill.  Anyway, I'll cut to the chase, I ran a 25:34 for a PR big time for me. On another positive, the had Monster Energy and Ice Cream at the finish!

Here is a pic near the end of the race

More info here: http://www.runforourheroes.org/gallery.php

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/

Magnificent Mile

The Magnificent Mile is my kind of race, it's short! It went down September 18, 2011 on Hillsborough St in downtown Raleigh, NC.

Leading up to this race I had done zero speed work. See, I have been training for the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon. This helped endurance but my leg turnover just isn't fast. So when the race day came I wasn't to confident that I could beat my time of 8:34 last year. Yes, I know, I'm slow.

A little before the race went down I jogged around and realized my legs were rubber. I thought to myself this isn't gonna be to good. Well anyway, the gun went off after announcing all the names of the elite runners and I bolted away. Well for me, I had a fast pace going and even though my legs were rubber my breathing was okay. Soon, I made it to the halfway point and the clock was reading 3:36. At this point I knew I had my fastest time so I relaxed a little so I would have a bit of a kick at the end. Soon I could see the finish and a few hundred yards out, I picked it back up and finished in 7:48.

I felt good with the result but realized I can get this into the 6's if I work at it. We'll working will have to wait, I have an official 13.1 miles to run in a few weeks. I've done one practice run of 13.1 miles and did better than I thought.

A quick note, Stephanie's kids, Lacey and Nathan both rocked the mile to. Nathan beat me and Lacey finished 4th in her age group. Great Job!

Susan Komen 5K and more

Well, first off it has been a month since my last blog post, guess I have not felt like typing, because I'm not short on runs.

Pre Race Photo, not sure I'm awake at this point lol



Well back on June the 11th I ran the Susan B Komen 5K. All the proceeds go to fight breast cancer, so you knew I would be there to save all the breasts I can. The run itself was quite good for me although not to fast. I was in my Vibram Bikila's and I'm just not speedy in those, or ever for that matter We started in front of Meredith College bright and early at 7AM. As normal I started near the front of the pack, I really enjoy getting passed by a few thousand people.



Once the gun went off we ran down Hillsborough St for the first mile, I was in the 9 minute range for that first mile. We then turned right into the neighborhood and began the mostly uphill final 3K. I slowed up a bit but maintained a running motion till the end, I even skipped water and mist tunnels, it was a warm morning. I ended up crossing the line in 32 minutes flat but was happy I never once walked.

After the race was done I talked to a few co-workers that participated in the days events. Then I hit all the booths for free stuff and got on the bus to return home. A real positive day for a great cause.

Finish:



Wall of Survivors or something like that:



Now to the more!

The more is really just a brief update on my running. Well it is getting better. Now that it is hot I'm not doing many long runs unless I get a lucky cool morning, haven't had any recently. The heat forced me to change it up, I now run 2 miles in the morning and 2 miles in the evening, every other day (will do this every day, hopefully, in August). So far this has been working out really well. I still get mileage but don't kill myself with the heat.

Next Race: Warrior Dash in August, High Noon!

Till next post, Billy

St. Patty's Run Green 8K

The St. Patty's Run Green 8K in Raleigh, NC went down on March 5th, 2011 and I was in the middle of it all.

To start, running 5 miles is further than I usually go but I have run 10 miles before so I wasn't scared. Early Saturday my girlfriend Stephanie called and said she was out, she hurt her back really bad. Not a good way to start but she wished me well and I headed off to the race.

I arrived around 1 hour before the start and just basically hung out till the 3PM start. Once the gun sounded I slowly made it to the line, it took almost 45 seconds. Well I guess a win is out the door, no worries, I'm a slow poke anyway. Today I was feeling okay but I kept it on the slow side and I'm glad I did, this was a hilly course. Luckily none the hills were real long except for around mile 4 and I ran up most of them, which is good for me. I save my occasional walking to the flats. Other than the hills, this race was uneventful for me, except for almost getting run over by a speedster coming the other way at the first water table. Eventually, I made it to the home stretch and ran that 1/3 mile at a good clip and finished in 55 minutes. I was pretty happy with myself and finished close to my planned time.

The interesting part about this race was the people. For sure most wore green, many wore kilts, some even had beer cans hanging out in front of them. I guess they needed something to chase. No worries there, if you were of age there was a free beer waiting for you at the finish provided by Tir Na Nog. The best costume was the person dressed a leprechaun and another person as the pot of gold with a rainbow between them, they somehow ran the race that way. Yes, I beat them by 30 minutes or so lol. Back to that beer for a second, it sure had more effect than I thought, guess it was the exhaustion.

Overall, this was fun race and I'll see you at this race next year.


http://www.rungreen8k.com/


Here is a picture of me (852) in the final stretch, I think I'm the only person that sweats.



Next up is the Cooper River Bridge Run.

NHL All-Star Weekend

First off, I signed up for the NHL All-Star 5K back in December. Since then a few surprises came up. The race day of January 29, 2011 began to fill up with other activities.

Those activities included an awards banquet for the Second Empire Fall 2010 Grand Prix Series, were I entered enough races to get a free lunch. Second Stephanie's daughter school cheer team got an invite to cheer at the Raleigh Wide Open event to celebrate the NHL All-Star Weekend. The race and these two other events was going to make for a busy day.

On to the day at hand. We arrived at 8:30 to the RBC Center and picked up my timing chip, Stephanie took a few pictures and I attached my timer to my shoe. Where is the starting line? Oh yeah, almost forgot I picked picked up my packet the day before that had a cool medal, here is that medal.


Here I'm tie wrapping the timer onto my Newton's. It was 30 degrees and I'm in shorts!



Well back to the race. I was lined up and they were rattling off some names and bib numbers for prizes and stuff, not mine so lets move on. Well the race started and right away I wasn't feeling to hot. On a good note though, the first mile was flat to downhill, that didn't hold for the second mile. We turned up into the parking lot on the side of Carter Finley Stadium and the hill began and didn't end till another mile had clicked by. On this hill I began to walk some, I know what a wuss. Well I am 250lb, not ideal for a runner but I give it solid go. On this hill a coworker passed me, I can't have that, so I picked it back up and maintained till the end. I beat the coworker by a minute and set my fastest 5K at 30:11. On a side note, my GPS had me at 29:57. I'm on my way to being respectable. Stephanie and I took a few pictures and visited the gift shop to get few things, and now, off to the next event. Here is a picture of me coming down the home stretch.


Well, before the next event it's shower and change time. The Second Empire is a nice Restaurant and it does include an awards presentation after all. We arrive, check in and find a table. Stephanie immediately likes this place and suggests we come there more often. That's okay as I like it too. We are seated with the old timers that are all in their 60's and still run 6 to 7 minute miles all day long. They were very nice people and gave me some good running tips that should help me obtain a little more speed and endurance. We all had a very nice dinner, grilled chicken with a light sauce, steamed broccoli and couscous, all very good. Now off to the awards.

I was pretty much a spectator here but it was cool to see. Our table mates were all winners. I did go home with a cool skull cap with the series logo on it. Kim Reynolds, Second Empire, all the race sponsors put on a very good running series. I look forward to doing it again. Off to event number three.

Luckily for us, all these events were spaced far enough apart that we could get to them all. After the banquet went to the car and changed clothes where all the world could see. No car wrecks caused no foul lol. Now to see Stephanie's daughter cheer. Sorta cool that there school got to cheer at such a big event for Raleigh, NC. Anyway their cheer was very good.

Well, except for a few other details I won't tell you about, that was the day. It was a busy day but a very fun day.

First 5K with Vibram Five Fingers

A few weeks ago I decided I was going to run the Komen Race for the Cure in Raleigh, NC on 6-12-10 in my Vibram Five Fingers. To get ready, the week before I ran 5 days in a row, gradually increasing my distance to 3.5K. All went well and a few days before race day I ran over at Umstead (lots of big hills) in shoes just to have a 5K run the week of the race.

Saturday morning I got up at 4:45, it's race day. I had to go catch a bus over to the event, they started ferrying people to the event at 5:30 from the RBC parking lot. I got to the event a little after 6.

On to the actual race. The timed race started at 7:00am and I was lined up pretty close to the start. I was quite excited about doing my first race in Vibram Five Fingers. The race was good for me, my best time so far, 32.14. With almost 2800 people in the timed event, it was fun, but even I had to run around people. Can't wait till my next race!

Run for Hero's 5K Results

Well, my goal was to finish in under 35 minutes. I know, slow, but I'm still very new to this running thing. My actual time was 34.24!!!

What I have done so far and why a blog?

What is the purpose? Well back in January I started "Couch to 5K." I completed the program a few weeks ago and even finished one 5K race. Finished in 37.49 which is slow, but hopefully, soon, I will get that 5K time under 30 minutes. On a positive, this week I logged 22.5K.

By the way, I'm 40, 250LB and a million times better at racing motocross bikes than running by foot.

So basically, the purpose is to log my running progress.