Looking Back

Okay, clearly punctuality is not my blogging trade mark.  I just posted a race report 6 weeks late for crying out loud.  Well, that’s nothing compared to this… how ’bout a race report from a year ago.  Yes, one year ago this weekend I ran the Cherry Creek Sneak.  Its a local 5K/5mi that just added a 10mi this year.  I participated in the 5K.  If you’re thinking, ‘Oh, 5k, that’s why we didn’t hear about it’ you’re completely wrong.  It was one of the most memorable races of my life.  I guess I have trouble describing those things right after they happen.

So there I was….  my phone rang Friday night, close to 10pm, from a number in Texas.  I don’t know why I answered.  It was Matt Miller, a friend of a friend, former elite triathlete who lives in our same general neighborhood.  We’d been on a ride or two together and I knew Matt was part of an organization called C-different that helps visually impaired athletes compete across the country.  He needed a guide.

Matt – “I’ve got a guy who can run under 21 minutes but no guides who run that fast.”

I’m always a sucker for flattery, so I know I’m going to do this.

Me – “But, I’ve never guided anyone before.  Is it hard?  What do you do?”

Matt – “Oh, its easy we’ll get together before the race and go over a few things.  Do you want a ride down there?

Me – “The race is Sunday, right?  Lets meet tomorrow.  I’ll go down by myself.  I’ve got some other things to do afterwards (like the rest of my workout).”

Matt – “Cool, I’ll call you.”

We didn’t meet up until race morning when he introduced me to Donovan Tildesley, whom I would be guiding.  We didn’t have a lot of ‘get to know you’ time, but through the process of bibs, timing chips, what to wear, and bathroom breaks, we figured a lot out about one another.  I have a hard time believing Donovan wouldn’t get along with just about anyone.  But I was certainly captivated.  Donovan has been blind his whole life.  He was born without retinas, which means everything is dark.  There were 14 other VI runners racing and (I gathered that) these are some of the things they cover when becoming acquainted.  Donovan is Canadian and was in Denver for roughly nine months to attend the Colorado Center for the Blind, one of a handful of such places in North America.  Donovan is also one hell of a swimmer, I didn’t really appreciate how good until we hung out for a bit after the race.

I'm in the back. Donovan is in the red vest.

About 15 mins before the gun it dawned on me that we should give this running thing a try.  Actually, I panicked.  “Just tell me what to do,” I said.  He must have been used to running with amateur guides because he just handed my one end of his lead (a piece of rope about 14-inches long with a grip at one end and a knot at the other) and said, “I’ll be on your left.  Tell me when to turn.”  I panicked again.  Those who know me well, know I’m terrible at right and left! I can’t explain it, but I always use NSEW and generally point or gesture whenever possible.  Quite often I point left and say right when I mean left.  And yes, I have three degrees.  This is going to require more concentration than I’m used to, esp running.

The CC-Sneak people were awesome!  We got to start 5 mins ahead of the field.  A huge relief for me and apparently quite a treat even for experienced VI runners.  We took off without incident and I immediately realized how much I take for granted.  I tried to relay all the things I thought would be important, turns, pot holes, competitors and a lot of ‘is this pace okay?’ without jabbering the whole time or slowing both of us down.  Running 7 min/miles is different than narrating 7 min/miles while running. It also makes converting splits to km (Donovan’s Canadian preference) even harder, especially when you can’t reach your watch to change the settings.

I also quickly figured out how competitive Donovan is.  We were trailing another VI runner, who was older, female, and very accomplished.  He had heard of her reputation and to say he would have liked to beat her would have been a mild understatement.  He was also very in tune to where we were when the sighted runners began to pass us.  We finished in just under 23 minutes, second VI runner.  He was very gracious and appreciative, but a little disappointed.  I tried to convince him that it was being new to the altitude, but I really think he wanted me to push him harder.

As we talked afterwards I learned a lot more about him as an athlete.  I said he is a hell of swimmer…  Donovan has been to three Paralympics!  London will likely be his fourth, and he said final, even though he’s still in his late twenties.  He has swum for Team Canada since he was 16 at a list of international meets that would make anyone jealous.  He even has/had a few VI world records.  I learned an unbelievable amount about international swimming and travel, VI swimming, competing for Team Canada, and the importance of not confusing Paralympics and Special Olympics.  Luckily I did not, it just came through in one of his stories.  I did however, make the mistake of asking about swim times.  Humbling doesn’t even begin to describe it.  When in competitive form, he swims his 100′s (meters, of course) on roughly 1:10.  Yeah, mine are on 1:40…

From Donovan's blog
http://www.limitlessvision.ca/gallery.html

One of the C-different coordinators caught wind that I was a triathlete and tried hooking us up for the US VI championship triathlon in Loveland last summer.  I asked him how long it would take him to swim 1500 meters.  He reminded me that he doesn’t get to swim in open water very often (umm yeah, right), but supposed he could go roughly 19 minutes.  Sorry, but I AM NOT your guy.

All in all it was a fantastic morning!  I spent way to much time hanging out instead of finishing the rest of my workout, but I didn’t regret it one bit.  Donovan and I ran together a couple more time over the spring and summer.  Including the Bolder Boulder 10K, remind me and I’ll do an anniversary race report for that one too!  Just like all of my other training buddies, we promised to do it more often and then didn’t do it often enough.  He competed in a few triathlons and I was jealous of his guides.  Donovan is back in BC now and getting ready for London, I expect.  I’m excited for the Olympics just like every one else, but this time I’ll be excited when they are over too, because now I know that the Paralympics always follow immediately after.

I met a lot of inspiring people that morning.  The group thank you emails that followed were pretty heart warming too.  Much belated thanks to everyone involved.  Here’s another guide’s race report.  The Denver Post also ran this story about one runner in the group.  I had no idea Ethan’s story was so heart wrenching, I just remembered him because he was always smiling.

Ethan Johnston and volunteer coordinator Deb Conley

If you’re ever interested in some of the ‘easiest volunteering around’ (I mean, we do this stuff anyway right?), contact C-different.  It’ll be a experience you’ll never forget.

Canyonlands Half Marathon – Race Report

I generally play by the rules, follow laws, and try to respect established boundaries.  Occasionally, I’m ignorant of these things.  Like the time Schlotfeld and I almost caused the end of the Leadville 50 mile mountain bike race as we all know it…  I even accept that ignorance is no excuse, especially where the law is concerned.  But on rare occasions, usually when I feel I have a thorough understanding of the rules, their justifications, and their consequences, I break them anyway.

I’ve never run a race ‘bandit’.  Lets make that clear.  I had a number of college teammates who made it common practice and tried to sway me at times.  I tried not to judge, but it seemed like stealing to me.  I had also never raced with someone else’s paid entry…. before now.  Apologies to all my race director friends and acquaintances out there, but I just don’t see the point in prohibiting the transfer of entries.  I’d love to write a ‘point – counterpoint’ post on the subject, so let me hear it.  But that’s for another time.

I’ve heard good things about the Canyonlands Half Marathon since I moved to Colorado eight years ago.  I’ve always wanted to do it, but its just never fit in.  This year a group of 8-10 friends entered as group and all got in.  The race fills up instantly and apparently entering as group or team reduces the chance that someone will get left out in the cold.  You still have to register though, you can’t just think about it, or intend to.  As often happens, I was asleep at the wheel on registration deadline day and missed out.  Michele and I had planned on going anyway just to get some good riding in, if nothing else.  So when my friend Tyler called to see if I wanted his wife’s entry, I said sure…

I would not make a very good criminal.  The decision to break the rules was pretty quick and painless.  Figuring out how not to get caught, what would happen, whether or not I really cared, took much more time and mental energy.   The basic problem was that if I ran the race I wanted to run, I would likely not be in a crowd at the finish.  There would be some form of chip timing, there would be an announcer, I would cross the line and it would be awkward at best.  I considered several strategies to avoid this embarrassment.  The most plausible seemed to be starting late, weaving my way through the field, and finishing in the middle of the pack.

Well…. 4,000 runners on a two lane road looks a lot different than it sounds.  There are no shoulders, no sidewalks, no yards to pass in.  It’s Canyonlands, for the first 11 miles there is a river on your right and the canyon wall on your left.  I scrapped my plan, lined up where I normally would and prepared for the embarrassment.

photo credit www.moabhappenings.com

My race plan was to ride 4 hard hours in the LaSalle Mountains on Saturday, then try to run fast on Sunday.

LaSalle Mountains

There's already been 3 miles of this...

The sunburn was worth it!

I hadn’t done any speed work yet, so I decided to hang out around or just below 7 minute pace for the first half and then see what I could manage.  I had a great time running the first half with friend of a friend John Van Soest.  We BS’d, made fun of other people, talked stride and footstrike and had a pretty good run going.  I don’t know why we don’t train together?  But I began to pick it up around mile 7 and he elected to leave the cruise control where it was.

The course is pretty amazing!  HWY 128 into Moab is definitely worth the extra 5-10 minute drive next time you go.  Or better yet, run it and take it all in for 90 mins or so.  Moab is obviously surrounded by all kinds of beautiful natural settings, some are just harder to get to than others.  The Canyonlands course is a great way to wet your appetite for an amazing weekend of natural wonders.

I felt pretty good towards the bottom of the canyon.  Passing people, a noticeable tailwind, pleasantly surprised with my splits.  Then we exited the canyon, and turned left towards town.  With one 90-degree turn, a pleasant tail wind turned into a ferocious head wind.  Upon review it would add roughly 40 sec/mile to last two splits, and I think I fared better than most.

Nearing the finish line, it became apparent that I wasn’t going to catch the group of 3 in front of me.  I knew there had been a mysterious and small Asian runner drafting off me for the last 1.5 miles or so, but I couldn’t tell if they were male or female.  It was my only hope to confuse the race announcer.  So I decided it was best to just finish close to this person.

As we entered the finish chute I hear, “…and rounding out our top five women is Anne Walt..the..??” and silence.  Apparently, it wasn’t confusing at all.  I put my head down and exited the finisher area as quickly as possible.  (Thankfully, no one chased me down.)  So fast in fact, that I forgot to stop my watch.  I’m guessing it was around 1:28:30.  I’m guessing because Anne never got an official finishing time.

I’m cool with that.  I paid half price (the t-shirt was NOT gunna fit) for a well supported, incredibly scenic, training run with good friends and fast strangers.  I didn’t screw up the awards, eat or drink anymore than Anne would have, or require any medical attention.  So, no harm, no foul, right?

Team Rev3

Well it really shouldn’t come as any surprise by now, as you probably guessed, I’m super happy to continue to be a part of Team Rev3 for the 2012 season.  If you haven’t heard me go on and on about the Rev3 race series, well, I don’t know where you’ve been.  But I’m sure you’ll get plenty more chances in 2012.

First of all Rev3 is adding races faster than my travel budget can keep up.  If they keep this up I’ll have to find a new job with more vacation time.  New for this year are Wisconsin Dells (Aug 12), Maine (Aug 26), Florida (Oct 28) and the Half-Full triathlon in Maryland (Oct 7).  Already announced new for 2013, Williamsburg, VA!  Personally, I’m looking forward to the Wisconsin Dells race.  We have quite a few extended family members in the area, who have been very supportive of my racing over the years and that we see far too little.  Its looking like this will turn into the a whole family vacation complete with mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, nice, two nephews, aunt, uncle, cousins, and maybe even more of my sister’s in-laws.  And yes, I’m looking forward to it.

In related news,  I’m finally registered for a full season of races.  I’ve had my mind made up for quite some time, but now its official:  Rev3 Knoxville Olympic May 6 – Rev3 Quassy Olympic June 2 – Ironman Coeur D’Alene June 24 – Rev3 Wisconsin Dells Olympic Aug 12, Rev3 Cedar Point Full September 9, and Soma Half October 21.

Yes, pack your bags!  Michele has been to several of these races with me before, so she’s sitting a few out this year.  I have a few local friends coming along here and there, but that’s one on the great things about our Team Rev3, its like having family with you at every race.

I’m also excited to rejoin my friends at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for the Soma race in Tempe.  Many of you know I’ve raced and volunteered off and on for the last 10+ years with Team In Training in both St. Louis and Denver.  Its always a thrill to do something for a such a great cause and to help new triathletes find their passion for the sport.  This year will mean a little extra though.  A little less than a year ago, my sister and BIL lost a close friend to non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.  I’m excited to contribute as a fundraiser this year, not just a mentor or captain.  So brace yourselves, I’ll be calling.

Team Rev3 is also joining the fight against cancer with vigor this season.  A this very moment, several members of the team are running across america to raise funds for the Ullman Cancer Fund.  Yup, all the way from San Diego to DC!  Several others will be joining for shorter stints along the way and I know they’re still looking for company, so here’s their route…

I think they’re near Albuquerque today.  Next week (April 2-8) is the 10th Annual Young Adult Cancer Awareness Week.  Info.  If you’d like to support the RAA and Ullman Cancer Fund try this…

There is also an ongoing raffle for several generously donated items, check them out for $5 and $20.

In other team news, Rev3 Coaching services are available this year!  Maybe you’re just getting started in the sport and need some guidance, but don’t feel the need to hire an individual coach.  Rev3 Coaching offers advice, support, and group training plans for all of the races in the series.

Last but certainly not least, I have to thank all of our wonderful Team Rev3 sponsors!  Most of whom are proudly displayed to your right.  I’m told there may be a few additions pending, but these fine companies have chosen to support our team, the Rev3 series, and OUR SPORT for which we are all thankful!  I’m looking forward to telling you a bit more about their products as I become more familiar with them.

Wish I were there...

An Idiot on a Bike

I thought about titling this post Frustration.  But that was my last title.  Maybe I complain too much?  I briefly thought of turning this whole blog into a triathlon based version of An Idiot Abroad, with me as Karl Pilkington.  As funny as I think the show is, I even get annoyed with Karl’s dim outlook on everything.  There’s no sense in being annoyed with yourself, so unless Ricky Gervais is going to pay me to travel the world and complain about everything, I’m just not gunna go there.  At least not permanently.

So last week I was traveling for work, missing workouts and feeling miserable about it.  During a break in our conference I received the call every triathlete (and cyclist) dreads the most.  It was the bike shop.  They found CARBON DAMAGE.

Now obviously, I can imagine hundreds of life altering phone calls that would be far worse.  But for the part of me that spends hours upon hours upon the saddle its hard to imagine two worse words.  As the conversation went on, things just sounded worse and worse.  I kind of got that sick to my stomach feeling.  Not quite like getting punched in the nuts, but I definitely lost my appetite for several hours and had a hard time falling asleep that night.

First of all, at least part of it was my fault.  At some point I had over torqued the two tiny little bolts (like 2.5 mm) that hold my seat post in position.  Guilty.  No one to blame but myself.  I have since learned that by itself, this wouldn’t be all that bad.

The real problem is that my bike was never assembled properly.  Its one of those new funky designs with the integral stem/basebar/aerobar set ups.  My previous coach built it with me because I wanted to learn more about bike mechanics in general.  He’d worked for a bike manufacturer in the past building hundreds of bikes and still does a lot of mechanic work on the side.  Unfortunately, neither of us realized that adding a couple of spacers to help the fit meant that two additional bolts didn’t line up and were never installed.  This led to, as the bike shop put it, ‘a totally, structurally unstable front end’.  They even threatened to not give it back to me in ‘this’ condition for fear I would ride it, kill myself, and they would be culpable.  For a minute, I thought I was going to have to call the police just to get my bike back.  Never mind the fact that its been in and out of their shop a handful of times over the last year and a half and nobody noticed.  Maybe I should just be happy to be alive.

The conversation went on, replacement parts would cost me roughly $2100.  But there is a guy in Boulder who does carbon repair and may be able to help for less.  I did my best not to think about it for the rest of my trip.  Its funny, a month ago I would have told you that I really liked my bike.  Now, all I can think about are the things I don’t like about it and the list is surprisingly long.

This weekend I surveyed the damage in person.  Some of it is obvious, some is debatable, some repairable.  There is a plan in place to make it structurally sound with minimal cost, but there is no way its ever going fit me again.  I’m resigned to shopping for a new bike, again, and quickly.

Now it seams I’m more concerned with finding a bike shop I can trust than anything.  I’ve tried few local shops and generally been underwhelmed.  Sometimes with timeliness, sometimes with service, sometimes price, sometimes with technical issues.  Generally speaking, I’d prefer to learn how to do most things myself.  The only reason I took the thing in this time was to have this place fix some work they screwed up a month ago.  Clearly though, if I’m starting this all over again, I need a place that has some degree of vested interest in me and my next bike.  Any suggestions?

I’m guessing there will be a lot more complaining.  I’ll try to leave it to the professionals, like Karl.  But I think I’m pretty good at it.  I’ll let you know if the studio calls.  On the bright side, the tax return is on the way!  Probably just ruined any chance…

We hardly knew ya...

Frustrations

Okay, so I know moving this sucker wouldn’t be easy.  But I’ve finally coaxed a few hints out of somebody here at WordPress, so I’m hoping this post isn’t in vain.  You see, I attempted to publish my last post three times.  I kept getting a title, some meta-data, and nothing else!  So I kept taking it down for fear of looking like an idiot.  Unfortunately, there’s no hiding from it.

As it turns out the issue was likely just with my computer and you may have seen it all along.  I still don’t know why the pictures get purged.  But I’m going to try and post them again here…

Lots of other crazies

 

before the pain

somebody had to put the snow in there...

its all down hill from here

If you don’t see pictures, just imagine me beating my head against a wall until it bleeds.

If by some minor miracle you do see them, thanks to the Silverthorne Rec Center for a great race and for sharing all their photos!

Racing into 2012

Off-season training can get to be a little monotonous.  I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you this.  Sprinkling in a few races here and there often helps me with the cabin fever.  Unfortunately, I don’t live in a tropical paradise, swimming and biking get a little dicey this time of year.  Its Colorado, so we go with what we have, mountains and snow.  That means snowshoe racing.

I’ve done more than a few snowshoe races in the past.  I even have my own pair of racing snowshoes!  However, I didn’t do any last winter and I really felt it hurt me when it came time to race in the spring.  Not this year.  Fortunately, I’ve got plenty of friends (and a wife) who like to do crazy stuff like last weekend’s Swift Skedadle 5/10K snowshoe race.

You don’t need a full blown race report, so I’ll try to stick to the interesting stuff.  First, I guess I’d forgotten how hard these things are!  Running in snowshoes itself isn’t all that difficult, they’re not that big, or heavy, and you really don’t have to change your stride like you’d think.

What makes it hard?  Well… start with the course.  We’re in the Rockies, start/finish is at roughly 8700 ft.  The 10K goes up to 9500 ft.  For the most part the footing isn’t much worse that your average trail run, good for all those stabilizer muscles.  But then there are the powder sections.  Its not even like running in sand, it moves more.  This particular course had a lot of ‘sugar’ sections.  A pretty accurate description of the snow actually.  When you’re in these sections, its best to try and follow everyone else’s footsteps, literally.  Breaking trail sucks! Just missing footprints really challenges your balance.  It wastes a ton of energy and generates a lot of cursing.  The only problem is that the guys in front of me always seem to takes strides juuuust enough longer than I want to that it has pretty much the same effect.

I was reminded of this around the 1.5 mile mark as I was trudging up hill.  I glanced down at my garmin which informed my that I was ‘progressing’ at a 28 minute per mile pace while my heart rate was 168bpm (that’s about 5bpm over LT, I think).  Ouch!

Its also not much of a race…  Yes, there are bibs, chip timing, t-shirts, awards, and great food at the finish!  But its rare that you actually find someone to race.  I think I moved into 6th place just before the first mile marker and that’s exactly where I finished.  I could see 4th and 5th for another half mile or so, and 5th another half mile after that.  I tried not to look behind me, but rarely did I see anyone.  Unless someone throws a shoe (I’ve done it) its pretty much just a time trial suffer fest.  Sound familiar anyone?  Maybe that’s why I like ‘em.

Moving Day

No one likes moving.  They may be excited to get where they are moving to or happy to get away from where they were, but no one likes the actual act of moving.  Same goes for me.

If you listened to me bitch about icloud, you knew this was coming.  I’ve reached my destination.  But as you can see, I’m still unpacking, haven’t decorated at all.  I still can’t decide on colors, so why hang pictures, right?  It may take a while, so please bear with me.  Or better yet, if you stop by unpack a box, let me know what you think, suggestions always welcome.

In slightly better news, I’ve worked my last day of 2011 and hope to have plenty of time to spend whipping this place into shape!

Movember Lingers

I have to give credit where blame is due.  My buddy and Rev3 teammate, Ryan, clued me into this whole thing.  Maybe you read about it in last month’s Competitor magazine…

Movember, a month-long effort to raise awareness and funds to support prostate cancer research and other male cancers.

My goal! Thanks Competitor Magazine.

Seemed like a great idea!  Clearly its a great cause.  Guys if you don’t know a guy, or know a guy who knows a guy who’s battled prostate cancer my guess is you’re under 30, or the guys you know just don’t talk about that kind of stuff.

I know several. My Dad’s dad died from it (or at least that’s where they think the cancer started). I also have a client/colleague who was diagnosed this summer.  He isn’t afraid to talk about it at all.  I’ve learned more from him than anyone else.  He was diagnosed without any symptoms because of your typical annual physical and some pretty simple baseline testing.  As a result, his prognosis is excellent.  We should all be so lucky.  He would tell you its not luck at all.

Well, talking about IT is what Movember is all about.  Yes, its about fundraising and research.  But I bug people for donations often enough. (Yeah, get ready.)  So for me its an excuse to grow some outlandish facial hair that no one in their right mind would otherwise set out to grow.  The plan was simple: look ridiculous for a month and when anyone asked what the hell you were doing, or even better, for-the-love-of-God WHY.  Tell ‘em its MO-vember and where they can make a donation.

I stopped shaving on Nov. 1, no one noticed until the middle of the month.  Three weeks in, I couldn’t wait until Dec 1!  I made it though Thanksgiving with the family without giving my mom a heart attack or scaring my nephew.  Then I actually started to get a few compliments and a lot of ‘are you gunna keep it?’

So why not?  Good causes don’t take 11 months off.  I can just start to twist the corners!  The Magnum PI jokes are pretty funny.  Mark Spitz won seven gold medals with one!  Pre did alright.  I’m sure it won’t last forever, but here goes!

If they ask me to leave the pool when the HS girls practice, I'm shaving it!

Remembering the Negatives

A few years ago when I was really learning ‘how’ to run again, my coach began emphasizing the importance of negative splitting.  Running faster at the end of a race that at the beginning.  It didn’t take much convincing.  I became a huge proponent of negative splitting in nearly every race, workout, or training session.  I got pretty good at it, running at least, it became very natural, I didn’t really have to work at it and it felt great!  Finishing a race or track session strong, passing people who were struggling, it made me feel like I knew something they didn’t.  I rarely got passed the second half of a running race or leg.  It got to the point that I’d have a really hard time positive splitting a workout when asked to.  (Turns out there is some value to that as well.)

I still believe firmly in the negative split, I just seem to have forgotten how…  or it certainly isn’t as automatic as it used to be!  A few weeks back my friends Carole and Kyle dragged me off the couch for 10 mile trail race a few miles from my house.  It was a great idea, I need a few of these things to spice up the offseason.

KB, me, and Carole pre race

It was a two lap course.  I didn’t know the route, but I knew the terrain.  I’ve run the park dozens of times.  Should be a pretty easy set up to go out easy, learn the course on the first lap, put the hammer down on the second.  So what happened? I dunno.

I suppose not warming up was partly to blame.  I felt like it tough to gauge my effort right off the bat.  I did a descent job of letting everyone go for the first mile and a half or so, but my HR was probably still too high.  Then I just started racing.  Before I knew it I was in catch everyone you can see mode and by the time I headed out on the second lap I knew this was not going to end well.

Part of what I love about passing someone so convincingly late in a race is that its so demoralizing.  You know that person is thinking, ‘no way can I hang on to that guy’ and you certainly try to pass them in a manner that makes them think exactly that.  How do I know its demoralizing?  Because it happened about half a dozen times on that last lap. There’s nothing like learning your lesson with 4 miles to go in a 10 mile trail race.  Ouch, man did those last few miles hurt.  Lungs, legs, pride…

Can you tell how bad this hurts?

All things said and done, it was a great time with my friends, a beautiful day, a helluva workout and a pretty good lesson to learn.  That’s what the off season is for, right?

Oh, and pizza! right Carole?