Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon, My First 13.1!

Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon 10-23-11, My First 13.1! I had to state that again, I'm pretty jazzed I did it.

Well, all this started a year ago when the sign up was at a special price of $45. I was running a decent amount and even did a 10 mile race (lots of walking) but I thought in a year, running 13.1 would be okay. The Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon was a go, I just had to make sure I would be a go.

A couple of months out I started to train loosely on a schedule I downloaded from the internet. The schedule was pretty standard but I wasn't geared to go 4 miles three times a week then a long run on the weekend. So what did I do? I decided to go a few miles in the morning and few more after work. This worked out great. Also, I mixed in calorie counting, going 13.1 isn't easy at 250lb. As the race was about a month out this really started to come together. With calorie counting I lost 25lbs, and my speed and ease of running longer distances improved greatly. I knew I had this, plus, I did my own 13.1 a few weeks before in the hilly Umstead State Park.

Soon it was race weekend. I took a few days off of work so I could chill and just do my race. The Thursday before I had my last run, an easy 4 miles with my doggie over at Umstead State Park. On Friday, I swung by may ladies house to get her, and it was off to Myrtle Beach. We stayed and the Marina Inn @ Grand Dunes, that place is nice, I would recommend it to anyone. http://marinainnatgrandedun4-px.trvlclick.com/index.aspx

My Lady and I in the Lobby

Me at the Expo

My Bib

Soon it was race day, I woke up early as I was scheduled to take the 5:45 bus ride to the start line. I was anxious so I caught the 5:30 bus with about 5 other people. Once there, it was hang out time for the start. Medievil Times did cool little sword fight thing before the start and then a quick line up then bang, we are off.

Now that we all were running, about 3000 of us I was feeling good. It must of been the steak I for dinner the night before. Could of been training, or my new Brooks Pure shoes too. The Brooks Pure shoes are awesome by the way, I'll do a full review when I get a 100 miles on them. Back to the race. We ran around one mall, and rounded a business park and soon I was 3 miles in, 27 minutes, man was I flying for me. Well lets see how long I can hold it. Now we are at the Boardwalk Mall, 6 miles in and I'm still killing it, 55 minutes but I'm starting to feel it. My mojo was about to leave me.

Since my mojo was leaving, I figured a swig of gatorade and a GU would do the job. Well a little late but I figured I would be okay if I mixed in a few 30 second periods of walking. This was all I needed and soon it was 5K to go, 1:38 minutes. I asked the person next to me to pace me for a 22 minute 5K, that sucker just laughed at me. Well it was a slow last 5K and I finished up 2:11:35 which was 20 minutes faster than my goal. I was one happy camper!

Once the race was over I grabbed my medal, very nice surfboard shaped one. I was handed a water and then stood in line to get my picture taken. A quick trip to a the porto, I had to go at the start but but the line was to long. It probably helped me keep a good pace lol.

Once I found my lady it was time fore a few more pictures, grab my free beer (9AM on a Sunday) and eventually head back to the car and then drive home.

Overall, the Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon is an excellent run event on a course that was flat as flat could be, my GPS had a 0 feet elevation change for the race. If your trying to lay down your fastest 13.1 ever, run this one.

http://www.runmyrtlebeach.com/

RIP Steve Jobs 1955-2011

www.apple.com

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!

Warrior Dash North Carolina 2011

Well first off its been a while since a blog post, but, I hope this one makes up for it, this post is about the Warrior Dash!

It all started last year when I signed up for the race. It has been so long since I signed up for it I almost forgot it. About 2 months ago I was like, when is the Warrior Dash? Once I knew the date it was time to plan a bit. Well, not really but I needed to to decide leave in the morning for my noon start on August 27, 2011 or get a hotel and have a more relaxing event. This is where my lady Stephanie came in, get a hotel she said. Well that was that and I booked a room at the Huntersville, NC Hampton Inn.

Now time for the actual weekend of the Warrior Dash. To start this was a bigger event than I planned, I thought it was just going to be me, but I had company. Stephanie, her daughter Lacey and her friend Stephanie came along for the ride. They were scouting the event as they want to get some of their friends and do one in the near future. I was glad to have them along for the ride.

Anyway, back to the event. We arrived at the Huntersville, NC Hampton Inn and to our surprise, this hotel rocked, very nice. Once we settled it was lights out.

The day of the event Hurricane Irene was in town but we were just far enough west to have great weather. It was partly cloudy with a nice breeze to cool you off. Once at the location the first thing I realized was, a lot of people do this. 1000 people every hour 9 to 4 Saturday, they repeated it on Sunday. We got there a little early to, but that reduced my stress so it was all good. I went straight to packet pickup and got my stuff.

A picture while I am clean



We walked around a bit and watched the fire pit and the mud, here are a few more pictures.





A quick picture of Lacey and her friend Stephanie.



How did that happen, no picture of my lady, sad face.

On to the race itself. The start was kicked off by flame throwers, very hot! Well I took off! Once we rounded the corner a few obstacles came into view, a big 12ft wall and a raised walking plank. Well our path was going the other way, guess I'll need to save energy for the wall. After about 1.25 miles we came to our first obstacle. We had to go over a 4ft wall and under a wall, about six times. Then a quick jog over to the next obstacle, run thru tires and climb thru a dumpster, about five of these combos. Well off to another 3/4 miles of running. I rested a bit and walked some, as these obstacles tired me out quite a bit.

Now we are back to the 2 obstacles I saw near the start. First was the elevated plank. I walked over those pretty quick and started eyeing the wall. I grabbed my rope and my sweaty hands slipped. I thought don't tell me I can't get over this. Try number 2 was as good as gold, made it to the top, flipped over and jumped down. The 12ft wall was behind me. Water time and about another half mile till the next obstacle.

The blackout box! Here you crawl on your hands, belly, knees about 40ft in pitch black. Near the end I grabbed a hold of someones feet and they jetted out of there lol. Once I was out I had to adjust to the bright light and then off to the elevated net. Here you climbed up one side, rolled on three sections of netted rope and climbed down the other side. While on the net you could see the next task, it was a climb up and slide down a pole for about 10ft.

Now we made it to the nasty part although I was already dirty from a lot of crawling. The swamp! We had to wade thru a waste deep swamp and go over 3 floating logs. It was cool water but nasty water, I'm still worried a parasite now controls me. Finally the home stretch can be seen.

The home stretch is like the money shot in a way. First it was over a 15ft net wall, it was fun and the marine shouting orders to his buddies was cool too. Once off that, it was time to climb over another wooden structure. Then we got to jump some fire, hot! Now the last but the best obstacle. The mud pit. I stopped at the edge and jumped in, waste deep red clay mud pit, I then had to crawl in the mud under several pieces of barb wire stung across the pit, one scratched my back. Once out of the 40ft pit came the finish line. I was a muddy mess but I finished, completed every obstacle, got my medal, and had a blast.

Post race picture



A few more pictures






Well when I was done, I took a shower from a water truck with 50 other people, that was fun. Now it was time to donate my shoes, here is a picture of the pile.



My medal



Official Photos




See y'all next year at Warrior Dash 2012

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

Vibram FiveFinger Bikila Review

I've been running for a year and a half and have logged many miles in Vibram Classic and old fashioned running shoes. About 3 months ago I picked up a pair of Vibram Bikila's. Here is my take on Vibram FiveFinger Bikila's.

If your a wearer of say Vibram Classics the first thing you will notice is Bikila's are comfy. The fit is like a glove and the little pads on the sole add a little extra cushion. If your a true barefoot runner this may not be your thing but this dude has baby feet and the little extra is nice. Even though there is more to the sole of Bikila's the ride still has barefoot qualities.

What do I think about Bikila's ride? You get the control only your foot gives you. No shoe gives you ground feedback like these babies. No matter the terrain: pavement, steep hills, grass, creek bed, roots, rocks (ouch) I always feel balanced and in total control of every step. That's something I really dig about Vibrams. I just never get that in shoes!

So how do Bikila's hold up you ask? Great in my view. So far I have maybe 50 miles on them in all kinds of terrain, well the terrain that Raleigh, NC offers. The wear is almost nothing as you can see.



Are there any negatives? Not really in my view, I can tell you on my last trail run there was a 1/2 mile section of rocks and one sharp rock cut through the sole and stuck my toe. Not good, but that's the price of not having an inch of rubber on the bottom of your foot.

Overall I like them, they offer great feedback from the ground to your foot, offer more cushion and protection for us with baby feet and are as durable as you could expect with a shoe with so little material.

My Last Three 5K's

Since my last post on the CRBR I have run three 5K's, two of those with Stephanie's kids Lacey and Nathan.

The first of these 5K's was the Second Empire Classic 5K on April 17th 2011. This race was great as it included Stephanie's kids doing their first 5K. I'm not sure either had ever run more than a mile but they were game.

Here we all are pre race, who knows what we looking at:



On to the race. Nathan lined up at the front and took off. Lacey and I were a few rows back and ran together for the first 1/2 mile. Then I took off, well not really but it's cool to say. After about 1.5 miles I caught up with Nathan, the rabbit start and the VANS shoes were paying a price. We walked and ran together till about 2.5 mile marker and then I took off!. Before that we had passed Lacey, we were on opposite sides of Hillsborough St and we cheered her on, she wasn't happy but had the drive to push through to the end.

Me at the 1 mile point:



The finish, we all finished. I came in around 31 minutes, Nathan about 30 seconds later and Lacey came home just a tad over 40. I was happy and Stephanie was flat out beaming with her kids achievement. Nathan even got an award for his first race.

Lacey finishing her first 5K:



That award took a protest to get. See Nathan's shoes were bothering him and he took them off. Who knew the timing chip would not be seen if not within a two feet of the timing mat. Nathan had his shoes (and timer chip) on his hands, see pic.



When we were looking at the race results we realized that Nathan was not scored, and new if he was scored, he would have a third place finish in his age group. Well, we went to the scoring table and we pointed out the issue. They found his number on the manual timing sheet and Nathan had his third place finish in hand. Here he is with award:



Race number 2 was the Run for Hero's 5K on April 30th 2011. This was the second time I have run this race and this time I had my first sub 30 minute 5K as a goal.

When the race started I moved to the side and let the speed demons go by. Yes, I started near the front because there is no timer line at the start, just at the finish. We ran down the start hill, then up the start hill then rounded the corner for another down and up. At this point I wasn't so sure how this race would go as I was a little more gassed than I though I should be.

Even though I was gassed, I was now on the easy part of the course down Fayetteville St and Wilmington St. This is all flat to downhill for the next mile and a quarter. We then rounded a corner on the back side of Peace College and made our way onto Blount St. At this point it was all hill and I started to realize sub 30 probably was not going to happen even though I had a pace that was well within my goals. I passed the 2 mile marker at 18 minutes. All I needed was a 10 minute mile after doing two 9 minute miles. How hard could that be? Well to hard for me, I had nothing and even though I made it to the home stretch sorta running I walked the first part of the home stretch. I did run the last hundred meters and finished in a little over 31 minutes. I really blew the last mile but there is always another race were I will have a shot at sub 30 minutes.

Here is a pic of me when I was still flying lol:



After this race I was frustrated and decided to change a few things. First, I will run a fast mile every week, I started this before this race. So far I have done an 8:02 mile and several just a few seconds slower. Second, I will do a long run once a week or a race. Where will I do my long run? Well there is this 8 mile loop over at Umstead Park I did once back in August of 2010 but that is one hilly loop. Oh well, I need to push myself, that is the loop I will do. Well so far I have done that loop 2 times, the second time I shaved 7 minutes off my time from from my previous run of this loop.

Well back to my 5Ks. This time it was the Clayton 5K Road Race on May 14th 2011. Lacey and Nathan were having their shot at another 5K. As we soon found out this was a lot different than our last 5K together, there were hills and more hills, did I mention this race had hills? Also, I had my vibrams on, I had not run a 5K in them for 10 months.

The race started much like the last race with Lacey and Nathan. Nathan took off and Lacey and I ran together for a bit. After about a half mile the hills started and the first one was big but I chugged up it without much problem. Well then after a short reprieve another hill, a reprieve and another hill, and so on. The the water table, I still can't run and drink so I swished and spit. Just pass the water stand I passed Nathan asked him how things were going as I went by. The hills were having an effect on him but he was doing great. We rounded a corner and a long down hill, yes, finally some rest but a short lived one, I had to run back up it. On the way back up the hill I passed Lacey coming down the hill, she wasn't happy but she was doing great too. Well, I was still chugging along and feeling okay on this hilly course. The last mile was more up and down hills. I walked for 10 seconds 2 times and finished in 32 minutes. Slow but with the hills I was quite happy with myself. Nathan finished in 37 and Lacey in 40. The hills beat all 3 of us pretty good and Lacey did the hill course faster than the flat course, woohoo! Once again their mommy was super proud of them.

Well this day was not over. We had to go to Scotty McCreery's (American Idol) hometown parade and concert. I was tired and going to this didn't help. I was a trooper till after the show, I will get back to this. The show itself was very good, the parade was goofy but people got to see Scotty and friends up close so it served it's purpose. Scotty seemed to be moved by the event and over joyed by his idol Josh Turner showing up to do a few songs with Scotty. Stephanie about went crazy when Josh appeared onstage, too funny.

Here is a pic of Scotty McCreery in the parade:



Here is a link to the show: http://www.wral.com/news/video/9596943/#/vid9596943

Almost forgot, the post concert line, well we stayed to the end because of Josh Turner and suffered with being a 1/4 mile back in line for the return bus ride to the satellite parking. I was not happy and pitched a fit. We discussed a few options that required a hefty walk and more waiting. In the end we just waited in line for over an our. Not the fun part but not the worst either.

Well that is it, see you at the next 5K in the Raleigh area.