Tobacco Trail Half Marathon Report

Well 2.5 months ago I decided to run my second half marathon. It was sorta last minute but it was local to me and didn't require travel plans, a plus. So the race I chose, was the Tobacco Trail Half Marathon in Cary, NC. It all went down on March 18, 2012.

My lead up to the race was not conventional. See, I figured my running had gotten good enough that I will just wing it, maybe not the best idea as you will see later. My overall training was my normal, every other day 4 mile run, with some Spinervals on my Kinetic Trainer mixed in. I have a duathlon coming up in a few weeks, so that's why I'm spinning, plus, "I like to suffer a bit." (Lance Armstrong) Additionally, I have had a couple 10 mile runs and a very hilly 7 miles in the last month. So overall, I was feeling like I could beat my time of 2:12 in my first half.

Weeks before race day I thought my co-worker was gonna do the full marathon but he got hit with bad luck. On a positive, I got his parking pass and that worked out like a dream. Always next year when bad luck hits.

Now to race weekend, first the Expo. This was a very nice expo, easy to get packets, I picked up 2. Plenty of people to answer questions, had a good open flow, and as always plenty of stuff to buy. As usual,  I bought nothing. Time to go home and get more and more nervous as Sunday approaches.

Saturday night and what to have as a pre-race dinner. I really suck at at food choices and tonight I made the worst. I had a burger and fries from Red Robin, it was good but I knew I would probably pay a price. Now off to bed, I guess this was around 11PM, I had a 4:30 wake up time. Not a lot of sleep but usually enough for me. Not so fast, big thunderstorm and I was wide awake at 2AM, this is really gonna suck. I laid there dozing in and out till 4:30. I woke up, got dressed, gave my lady a kiss, grabbed a bite, took the doggie out and headed to the USA baseball facility where parking and race starts at. By the way, this place is really nice.

Once there, it was time to chill, I had and hour or so till race time. I used the porto, I used the woods, I paced and I chatted to a real runner, a sub-7:30 minute per mile dude. Finally, It's 7AM and time to run.

Quick Banner picture when I made it to start area

The crowd as we are about ready to take off

The gun goes off, and it's time to see what I got. My goal was to go under 2:10 so I found the 2:00 pace guy and figured I'll hang with him for 8 miles. After a few hundred feet I just wanted to run to my truck and go back to bed. This was not gonna be my day, no sleep, poor food choice, and humid post thunderstorm weather was not treating me well. Nothing I can do now other than hope after a few miles I will feel okay. After about 2miles we hit the trail and I was still on pace, I began to think maybe it will all be okay. The number of water and GU tables they had were great but I skipped the first few, figured it was to early. After 5 miles I was still ahead of the 2 hour pace group but not for long. The soft trail, humidity, lack of sleep, maybe lack of being prepared all caught up to me around mile 6, which I hit at 55 minutes, just after pace group blew by me. The half way turnaround was 1:02 and change, still well within goal but I was feeling bad.

Onto the second half of the half marathon. This was a battle to just survive. There were a few of us suffering together, walking/running/praying  as we passed each other 50 times before the end of the race. Somewhere around the 10 mile marker the 2:10 group past by, I thought maybe try to keep them close and catch or pass in the last mile. Not to be, I just wanted to quit, I did not. Time to knock out these last couple of miles.

Around mile 11.5 there was this kid playing the trumpet, It made me laugh and sorta helped give me a last bit of go, a weak go but it was go. At mile 12.5 I was passed for about the last time, and I picked it back up to my earlier pace, figured I could go a tad over a half mile pretty strong. I did, and finished in 2:14:50, not exactly what I wanted but not so bad considering how poor I felt from the moment I started running.

Post race, I got my medal, skipped on the shinny wrap (what is that used for? Guess I'll google it), found some food and just chilled for a bit. I then went back to the finish to watch the fast marathoners finish. Seems like they made a wrong turn based on later reports, and the fast ones actually came is a 2:40 and change, still wicked fast in my book but probably slow to them.

An official picture of me crossing the finish line

Me after the race, you would think it was pouring down rain as wet as I am.

My time, thats my time with the highlight

Overall, despite not quite hitting my goal, this was a great, well run event that I will for sure do next year. On to my first duathlon in April!

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/

2012 Running Plans

Wow, a whole month into 2012 and this is my first blog post. Yep, I'm a slacker.

My plans this year consist of stepping it up a bit. I started the year with a sub 27 minute 5K, that is fast for me and my 220lbs (was over 250lbs in the summer). The main step up is: I bought a Cannondale CycleCross bike, with the plan of, doing some bike races this year along with running. So what are my plans so far?

Here is a pic of me in the Run For Young 5K, I'm in the background, the one in blue without the wheels (the sub 27 minute one):

Well the first race is the Krispy Kreme Challenge this Saturday (Feb 4th). If you have never heard of this race, it is a blast, but not your usual endurance event. What you do is, run from the NC State Bell Tower to the Krispy Kreme (2.5 miles away), eat a dozen glazed doughnuts and run 2.5 miles back to the Bell Tower. I've signed up as a challenger, so the goal is to do this in under an hour. Last year it took me forever to eat the dozen doughnuts (total time 1:17) but this year I run much better and I hope to sneak in under an hour, maybe by 1 second but under an hour is what counts. I'll post my results next week.

Here is my BIB:

The next event I have planned is the Tobacco Trail Half Marathon on March 18th. This was sorta last minute, but I did get signed up before it sold out. Parking passes were already gone which is sort of a bummer, as I have heard the buses are not run well. Well, I hope they have it figured out this year. As for training, nothing plan, just doing my normal with a few long runs mixed in. What does that consist of? I run 4 miles every other day, sometimes every day. Also, this past Monday I ran 10.4 miles on the Tobacco Trail. So I'm ready as I'm gonna get. Hopefully, I will improve over my last half but we will see.

The only other event that I'm signed up for is a Duathlon in Cary on April 7th. I signed up for the short course. You can sign up too at fsseries.com. The short course starts with running 2.5 miles, bike 17 miles and the run another 2.5 miles. Good thing I bought a bike. So far I have done a few 4 mile runs followed by a 20 mile bike ride. I wasn't flying but I can handle the distance just fine.

What else? Well, I hope to get into the NYC Marathon and have entered the lottery for entry. All I can do at this point is run and keep my fingers crossed that I'm picked. I don't have a big ambition for marathon but would like to do one and why not do the biggest one?

Jolly Elf Trail Run

I did the Jolly Elf Tail Run last year and really enjoyed it. So, when it was December again I went to runnc.com, found the link and signed up.

Well, a lot has changed since the last time I ran this race with a time of 32 minutes. I have done, 10K's, a Warrior Dash, several more 5K's, even a Half Marathon, but what has changed the most is, I have lost 30+ pounds since last year. 

This race went down 12-10-11 at Bond Park in Cary, NC. It is a well organized race with lots of runners and their families. Sorta nice being at a laid back well run event. Also, this year it was relatively warm compared to last year, maybe 40 degrees. Last year was low 20's, not comfortable but still fun.

This year I knew the routine. Parking was smooth, bib/packet pickup was a breeze at a shelter above the field were the race start was. Once at the start, I got my timing chip and just hung out till the race start.

Before the start there was a prayer and race instruction before we took off. I was about 4 or 5 rows back on a 50ft wide start. The first corner and for that matter the first mile was a bit of a road block. That was fine with me because my legs were slow to get going. Once we made the loop back to the start area I picked it up and passed a big bunch of people on the second loop on the other side of the park. This included a stair step hill, I basically sprinted up this. This was a big improvement over last year when I was walking this part. Well onto the third loop, I was going pretty good for me, my GPS had me in the low 8's per mile at this point. Eventually , we made it back to the start, and in this case the finish straight. I kicked it up a bit and passed more people here except for a father son combo that jetted to the finish. My time for this 5K was 27.11, way way faster than I have done before. I'm finally making the progress I wanted.

Once finished, there was plenty of food and drink. Brueggers and Great Harvest Bread Company had this taken care of. Since it was chilly, they even had hot chocolate. Did I say this event rocks?

Here is a picture of me at the finish, I always look rough.

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!