White Rock Half

Yesterday i raced the White Rock Half Marathon. It took place in Dallas and was expected to be great weather however when i woke up to rain and temperatures around freezing i knew it would be miserable.

I did a little run warm up trying to stay warm, also some stretches and drills and i went to the start line to do a few strides before the start because i didn't want to miss the start off the race. When i arrived there we were thrown into a Penn and not aloud out. Only the athletes with elite numbers where aloud to further continue warming up. So i had to sit shivering watching the Kenyans and all the Brooks Hanson members stay warm. Just as i was getting frustrated they delayed the start from 9 to 915. So now i was looking at 25Min's of waiting while it started to rain. I stayed positive but note to self sign up as an elite even if its questionable about having elite running status. I am not an elite runner so i didn't even think about it but its worth the benefits.
When the gun went off, i ran a fast 5min mile or a tad faster and i knew i was in trouble running off the back of the lead group. My body wasn't ready to run that speed and was still cold. So the hills settled in and i ran the first 5miles at 5:38pace but i was slowing down because of the hills, that and i was out in sub 16Min's for the 3mile so my pace was starting to worry me. I went through some mental ups and downs but i tried to deal with it because it was my own fault for my lack of warm up and fast opening miles.

Needless to say as everyone was out there it was a tough go, lots of good hills strong winds and lots of rain. I went completely backwards in the race and ended up running 1:14 which is very slow for the paces that i was training. The last few miles i ran in 5:09 pace so i had a little in the tank i guess i was tired of being cold, and wanted the pain to end. It was a good end of the season race, but i wish i could get my motivation back during the middle where i was running at 6min pace.

Regardless it was a good race, i am taking the next few weeks to train and hangout and let my body recover before i start building up the base mileage for next year.

It will be some must needed downtime. I look forward to racing a couple of half's later in the new year where i will pace properly and run my goal of sub 1:10. I was on pace but i got carried away. Oh well so a few lessons learned this weekend.

Dont run the first mile of your half fast just so you can be on t.v.

A proper warm up is essential so warmup away from the start and sneak in at the last second.

A mustache is kewl, but still makes you look dirty, and plus i didnt run any faster.

Thanks again to great fans that cheered on the thousands of racers this weekend.

Cheers

Hel of a Du

On Saturday, i headed down to San Antonio with my buddy Chance to race the Hel of a Duathlon. The race was extremely difficult hence the name. The course was 3.8 mile run/25mile bike, 3.8mile run. The Course was very hilly and challenging and with a windy forecast i knew it was going to be tough. I had a good week of training, hitting it pretty good all the way up to the race, because i wasnt expecting there to be too much competition. I was surprised when they offered comp entry's to a bunch of good duathletes and cat 1 cyclists to try and make the race fast. Well i traveled all this way so in the end i was happy with them bringing in fast athletes. I should have known better that a town of 1million and a near town of Austin many athletes were going to come.

It was quite the experience. A 4.5 hour drive turned into a 9hour arrival time. With the Big 12 game between OU and Missouri being held in San Antonio traffic was a mess with everyone heading south. Not to mention we hit Friday rush hour traffic going through Austin on 35South.

With a good early start i was a little tired getting out of bed after the drive but i quickly woke up. My strategy of the race was to run 5min mile pace for the first run and hope no one went with me. I took it out hard and one other runner came with me, i tried to surge a few times, but the last mile of the run was ridiculously hilly and my plan sort of worked against me. Me and the overall leader separated ourselves from everyone and came in to T1 together. I had a quick transition and was out on the bike in first leading for a little while. The whole 40k i was being blown everywhere with my choice of a race wheels i used. I rode at a good hard pace, but eventually late in the bike course the guy i was running with took over. I faded a little bit in the wind and the hills but came into T2 probably 1minute down. Going out on the second run i had a few stomach issues and i felt like laying on the side of the road and curling up in a ball. I ran okay but it was a tough race, i ended up finishing second 16seconds behind from the leader. I could have won the race but i ran the last mile extremely slow. I am sure if my race suit didn't have a zipper in the back i would have pulled over to have a quick bathroom stop. But i toughed it out biting my lip. IT was a great scenic course and a fun off season race to do. Next year i will take it a little more seriously with my preparation and race strategy, if i decide to go through that hel of a du experience again.

The way home there where even more stories than the way down. Besides the pain my legs were in it was a great trip.
Not much else to chat about, i am happy to say that i got a Sponsorship from CompuTrainer on Friday i am excited to start training with that system this winter and improve my cycling. Not too much going on this week a little bit of running and a very fast half marathon on the weekend in Dallas. I am getting excited to go back to Canada for some down time and Christmas festivities. However it was 80 here yesterday and i rode in shorts so i am not looking forward to seeing the cold and snow.
Cheers