Dominion's Sprint and Olympic Distance - OPEN !!! (Page 20)

Well, that was unexpected. I had a 5K tonight, which was a race we ran last year. I honestly told my wife before the race that I was just going to treat it like a good workout and had no intentions of trying for a PR. I've been more focused on increasing my miles as I prepare for my first half marathon. I knew there was a decent hill at the start of the race and then there was a long stretch down hill to the turn around. So I figured my first mile plus would be pretty quick. But when I felt my GPS buzz for the first mile and looked down to see it telling me that I ran that mile in 7:23 it was game on! I kept the pace up pretty well even as the course flattened out.

As I was approaching the turn around, I started counting the runners in front of me. By my count, I think there were 12 people in front of me. I also noticed that there was at least one guy that wasn't that far behind me. I figured a top-15 was within reach. And knowing someone wasn't too far back was enough to keep me motivated to maintain my pace. Every time I ran by a street light, I could see the shadow of a runner and I had to keep trying to determine if it was me or someone trying to pass me! LOL It was pretty much the status quo from mile 1 to about 2.8 miles into the race.

Towards the end, I noticed someone on the other side of the street running pretty hard and pulling ahead of me. I wondered if it was some kid just messing around or if it was an actual runner in the race. Turns out, it was another runner. He pulled ahead of me, then I pulled back in front. He surged ahead one more time and I decided to cross the street and get on the same side that he was on. I knew there was one last turn on that side of the course to get to the finish line. I looked over my shoulder as I crossed and did notice another runner maybe 10-15 seconds behind me.

I made one last push as we were cresting the last hill and pulled alongside the kid in front of me. Just as I did, he winced and bent over with what looked like it must have been a serious cramp. I pushed even harder and ran by him. This put me in a great position to cruise down the last hill and around the corner to the finish. Garmin said my pace over the last 0.16 was 6:30/mile. :-) I was a bit surprised when I approached the finish line to see the race clock at 24:15. I didn't think I had done quite that well on the last mile. My splits went 7:23, 7:50, 7:59. I feel pretty proud of that 7:59 for the last mile as most of it was climbing back up all the hills I ran down in the first half.

Overall was 13th out of 217, AG was 2nd out of 7. Technically a podium finish, but they didn't give out any awards at that race. The PR means more to me than any kind of medal or anything like that. I had hoped to go under 24:00 this year, but I'm running out of time and viable 5Ks. But, yeah, it has been a really good year. I've set PR's at every distance I've raced this year. It'll be a sad day when I plateau. :-( I'm considering joining some of my tri club's track workouts next year to try to go lower on my 5K time. I think that is going to have to be the next step in order for me to make the jump to the next tier in the standings.

Edited by rjchilds8 2016-09-24 6:42 AM

nice work Randy! Way to bring it!

I raced today. A little bit of a fandango but good overall. Will get a report up tomorrow.

Nate

Well I decided to switch to the sprint race. When the tallies came in I needed at least 7500 points for a shot at 5th in the series and thought it would be close. Felt I was guaranteed 8000 with the sprint. My wife and I had our 10 year anniversary on the 16th and we went out to the mountains on Monday. We drove 5 hours went for a hike and then another 2 hours to our hotel. We stayed at the Grove Park Inn in the mountains. During the week we got two runs in in the mountains and two days in the spa. No bikes or swims this week.

Drove back on Friday and then out to packet pickup to see if I had gotten into the sprint or not as I had not heard. Another 7 hours in the car.

Drove out the morning of the race. The sprint was at 9 and the oly at 8. I wanted to be sure to get in well before the the oly went out so I wasn't in the was at all for people heading out on the bike. Set up and was waiting for some swim time. The oly was two laps of sprint for the swim so it took a bit to find a window. Realized that I forgot to take off my wedding ring and had to run up to the car. Waded in to get a little swim warmup and cut my foot a couple times on these rocks with barnacles or oyster shells. Awesome. All I could think about was the guy whose legs I amputated last month after he got a necrotizing infection while crabbing (brackish water).

Anyway thought this swim wouldn't be crowded because of small attendance but there was only a small area were people could stand. A bit of a scrum at the start. The sight buoy was easy to see but the turn buoy was a bit flatter and harder to see. Second turn was worse as it was moving into the sun. Thought I kept a good line. But swam a 17:32 for 750m. I guess I should expect to be faster in a pool, was hoping to have a breakout performance today. 13 of 27.

On to bike. I had decided I was gonna push it hard on the bike. A little pain in my foot where I cut it but not to bad. Started picking one person after another off. Cat mouse with one guy with a rear disc. I put a hard move on him at about 8 miles and overtook him at 26mph. Spotted a few people up ahead and kept my head down and kept turning. Started to feel it but concentrated on moving my feet in a forward back motion and would get a second wind. A guy in a Duke college kit blew by me. Got the sense that someone was on my shoulder and could hear it for a while. Got out of areo for a seconded due to a hot spot and he pulled even. Think he was drafting, it was that guy with the rear disc. I passed him again after some guy stopped his riding mower in the midlde of the road, but he got me latter. Decide to take the last few turns in areo. Hadn't done that before. Both turns had a slight up hill but were 90 degree right. Was happy with that. Did the bike in 55;19 for a 30K (18.65). A long sprint course, but flat. Averaged 20.25. 8th on the bike.

Counted 5 or 6 people ahead of me as I was approaching for the run. I had nothing in me but hoped that after 05 -1 my legs would come back. They changed the course but the RD stated several times that after the bridge turn around. There was a large sign. I turned, but I don't think many people did. It was at about a mile, might have seemed weird. There was a second arm that was out and back as well and this one was about 1.5. I saw no one heading out and started to doubt I was on the right track. I was hurting and running slow, and assumed I would at least see some one coming the other direction. No one. I kept running but was seconded guessing myself. Finally at just over 2 miles I hit the second turnaround and a timing mat. There was a water station. No shade at all on this course and starting an hour later it was getting hot. I took some water and started heading in. I picked up the pace a little. Get half way in and I see people going the out. One guy was on the wrong road. I leg instructions to everyone as I pass. As I approach an intersection and turn right a runner appears in front of me and moments later a second passes me. No way these guys ran my course. I make my way in and find an official. I guess the RD was made aware that people weren't turning at the first turn around and started sending people straight in. Some athletes ran long but I am guessing some ran short too. I ran slow recording a 31:02. Suspect my run bike was a wash. Ended up 10th on the run and 10th overall.

There was supposed to be three in my age group but the other two weren't in the results. So 1st and last in AG, but either way good for 9000 points. This should guarantee me at least 5th.

Got home and thoroughly washed my foot. Was able to run 6.2 today with relatively little soreness. Two weeks ago after my race my hamstrings hurt for 3 days. I think I just have to get tougher on the run. Both mentally and physically. Started to second think the 70.3 until I can all out race a sprint.

Nate

Edited by nrpoulin 2016-09-25 10:56 PM

Sounds like a challenging race for more than one reason! Good luck on in the standings. Let us know how it turns out.

Randy

Swim: 35m 47s - 1652.34 M
Bike: 3h 03m 28s - 46 Mi
Run: 9h 21m 16s - 62.29 Mi

I've really backed off everything in order to focus on my running for most of September and will continue that into the first half of October. The early part of September was to prepare for my family's 5K "Cup" race. The extra focus on running paid off as I won my age group. The race is known to be and advertised as longer than 5K, so I knew a PR was out of the question. But my average pace for that race was faster than anything I'd ever done before. That work continued to pay dividends as I did finally set a new PR a couple weeks later, shaving 35 seconds off my previous best.

The next goal is my first half marathon in just over a week. The increased workload of running has put a little too much stress on my surgically repaired ankle and I've been having some pain, so I need to back off a little over this next week to make sure I'm healthy and ready to go. I've done all of the long runs building up to 11 miles, so this is a taper week anyway. Anything over 2 hours will be a disappointment. Based on what I've been able to do in training, I think a finish of 1:57 is realistic. If my ankle feels good by then, a good day might get me in closer to 1:55. I'd love that time, but I'll be happy with 1:57.

Once that half marathon is over, I'll take a week or two off from running. I know I'll start getting back in the pool and I'll consider starting back on the bike. I may just take off both running and the bike and only swim to give my legs a rest.

Yeah I had tried with a tri top once. My bike shirt is a little looser and 3/4 zip so I thought it would work better. Trouble was I put my helmet on first!

Did end up taking forth for the series, and my foot has healed up a bit. No Vibrio infection and I didn't attract any Bull Sharks so I guess everything worked out.

Overall my swim is way down but I gave up on that at the end of the season anyway. I raced twice and had a vacation. My bike was up from last month but down a little from my monthly average. My run was the biggest month I have had but not to drastically

My monthly totals
SWIM1h 08m 26s - 3440.42 Yd
BIKE8h 02m 05s - 150.65 Mi
RUN11h 23m 56s - 71.56 Mi

I started a 7 week plan for my first HM this week that I modified from two plans on the BAA website (mixed a 4 runs a week with a 5 a week plan) . I don't plan to bike on swim for the next 8 weeks but may do some if I start to feel a little beat. Also looking to get in under 2 hours but may struggle as my pace starts to drop off pretty sharply around 9 miles. May do better once in cools as I can drop 3lb on a six mile run because I sweat so much.

I planned to take water every 4-5 miles and a gu also. Haven't seen any info yet about water stations on the race. What do you guys do? What is your plan Randy

Not sure if you meant my training plan or my nutrition plan.

For training, I've been running 3-4 times a week for the last few weeks. I figured I had done so much running and biking during tri season that I didn't need to ramp up a ton on my distance. I didn't really make up a plan. My wife ran this race last year and she followed a little more rigorous plan. I just borrowed a couple of bullet points from her plan (building the long runs by a mile each week leading up to the race and then a 1 week taper). I started with a long run of 7 miles about 4 weeks ago and added roughly a mile a week up to 11 miles last weekend for my long run. The rest of the week typically had runs anywhere from 3-6 miles, mostly depending on how much time I had to run and how my body felt. This week started my taper.

For nutrition, I don't plan to take much during the race. I'll have breakfast and then a pre-race gel or two. I like the chomps better than the gels during the run, but I'll probably carry both. The chomps are easier to grab a couple at a time and just toss into my mouth. But of course that means more times reaching for nutrition (6 chomps) vs only once for a gel for the same number of calories. I wear a hydration belt and I'll fill the 2-10 oz bottles with water mixed with Nuun electrolyte tabs. When that runs out, I'll probably just drink the Gatorade available on the course.

I knew I was pushing my luck, and since my luck is usually bad it was really a stupid decision on my part. Despite my first half marathon only being a week away, my wife and I decided to run local trail race this morning. I figured I'd just use it as a substitute for my run today. I jogged the 1 mile from our house to the race start as a warm up. Add 5K for the race and then a mile back to the house and I'd get 5 miles in total. Things were going well during the race. I was running a pretty decent pace, had passed plenty of runners and was only passed by one person when I stopped at a water station around mile 2, who I then promptly passed back about 1/4 mile later. She told me she was nervous on the downhills and when she slowed on one particular downhill, I took advantage and passed her.

The trail came to paved road, which we ran on for about 100 feet and then went back into the woods. I could hear the woman's footsteps quickening behind me and I also knew we were coming to another downhill. So I sped up on the road and then opened it up even more on the downhill. I deftly navigated the rocks, roots, and two downed logs the trail had to offer. When the trail turned 90 degrees, I looked back and she was nowhere to be seen. I knew I was getting close to the end.

In one stretch that was more like matted down grass in a field than a trail, disaster struck! My foot landed partially in a hole or depression in the ground and I rolled my ankle! I heard a crack or pop when it happened and I feared the worst. After I gathered myself, I gave it a couple of swirls and, while it hurt, it didn't seem like it was broken. I got up and walked for a couple minutes, getting passed by runner after runner that I thought I had left behind. There was only so much of that I could take. I did my best to hobble-jog my way to the finish. I made it, but I was hurting pretty bad.

So the rest of my day has been lots of ice, compression, and elevation. It's now almost 12 hours later and I've somewhat alleviated my worst fears. There's some pain, but I'm more hopeful that it's possible I'll be OK by the half marathon next weekend. Tomorrow morning might be a better indicator, but I think it's most likely just a sprain. The next couple days I'll be implementing RICE and then I'll reassess. Oh, man, I had high hopes for my debut. I hope those plans aren't ruined.

That stinks! Hope you heal quickly! I rolled my ankle hard back in May and it took 4 weeks before I could run pain free. It swelled up bad too. Hoping for a speedy recovery!

Scott

My multi sport season came to a close yesterday. I raced in the 3rd annual tri for the pool triathlon. 300m pool swim, 20k bike, and 5k run. I would call this race a time trial type race, where the swim starts one person at a time and you seed yourself according to what you expect to swim 300m in. I did a test swim the day before in a 25yd pool and swam it in 6:05, so I figured about 6:30 for my swim and seeded myself accordingly. The swim went about as well as possible, I did catch up to the guy in front of me so I was slowed slightly finishing the swim in 6:37. 21st. Out of the. Water. Going out the bike, transition was about 1:30. The bike was non eventful, passed a lot of riders and finished with the 4th best overall bike time in 39:27. T2 went well, out in 40 seconds. The run took place on the high school cross country course into the woods turning it into a trail run. It was a fun run course but a tough course with a run time of 26:15 which was good for 7th in the run. I was 4th overall and 2nd in my AG. I ran a few other races this summer. I'll post links to reports on them for those that are bored and want to read how my other races went. I need to write the reports yet so it could be a while lol. Looks like everyone has had another good season. I'm looking forward to some time off and then start training on healthy feet for an even stronger showing in 2017.

Scott

So far, it doesn't appear to be too bad. I really did my best to treat it as soon as possible. I rode home in the car with my wife since I was in some pain, so it only took a couple minutes to get back. Within 5 minutes of walking in the door, I had ice on it and had it elevated. I spent most of the day with either ice on it, with it elevated, with some compression, or a combination of those things. I tried to sleep with my leg elevated, but I was finding it hard to sleep that way and abandoned that about half way through the night.

There was a little swelling and some soreness/stiffness this morning when I got up. I iced it again and took some Aleve. There wasn't any visible bruising. I've been mostly keeping some compression on it all day today and I am able to walk around with only a slight limp. My wife had to talk me out of going out for a short bike ride at lunch today! LOL Sometimes I have to be saved from myself. I'll give it today as a day of rest and see how it feels tomorrow. But I'm hopeful that I'll be ready to go by Sunday, if not sooner.

This is why I like having the belt with the water bottles. #1, I don't have to wait for the aid stations. I can drink when I want/need to drink. #2, I find it easier to get a drink from the bottle rather than trying to gulp from a cup. I find that I tend to get almost as much, if not more, air in my stomach than I do liquid. That never feels good. If I take anything from the aid station, it'll probably just be a cup of water to dump on my head. If need be, I can dump a couple cups of Gatorade into one of the bottles to refill. I know some people worry about the extra weight or having it affect their running form, but I haven't really had any issues and I find the benefits outweigh any negatives for me.