08/13/2012 - Marathon Training

 

Marathon Training - 17 Miles
Location: Dutchess County Rail Trail
Distance: 17 Miles
Time: 2:27:03
Pace: 8:38
Calories Burned: 2069
Heart Rate (Avg/Max/Min): 155/166/79
Weather: Mostly Sunny and dry, slight breeze, temps in the high 70's / low 80's

Pre-Run: 2 Generic Tums | Saltstick Cap | V8 Juice | Chia Seeds
During Run: Gel Packets every 30 minutes | Water

Run Details

    Felt really good before this run. This surprised me since I haven't felt good before a long run yet. I decided even though I ran the past 2 days that I would try to do the entire Rail Trail. I knew that I wouldn't be able to run another long run until Sunday so I knew I had to get it in.
    Started at the beginning of the Rail Trail knowing that the first 1.5 miles were uphill...of course that means the last 1.5 would be downhill. I just kept telling myself that during the run. Had my Camelbak loaded up with water. I do hate running with it but for training it can't hurt. Glad to know there will be water stops pretty often during the marathons.

    I did a really good job pacing myself throughout this entire run. For the most part kept miles for the first half of the run between 8:45 and 8:50. Since I felt so good I tried to pick things up a little bit for the second half of the run. Towards the end I was trying to push myself to run with a fuller stride for short periods of time.
    As for my legs, they felt pretty good up until about mile 12. Things started to tighten up a bit and I tried to change up my strides a bit to help change up the muscle strain on the same muscles. My feet felt pretty sore as well but nothing I wouldn't expect at this distance. Overall at the end I felt pretty darn good.
    I felt so happy at the end that I had made it the entire way without stopping and without having GI issues. Up until this point I thought that I would have a really hard time with the marathon but this training run today confirmed that I will be able to do it. Not only did I feel great during the run I felt amazing after. Looking forward to pushing the distance further on the next training run!

08/12/2012 - Warrior Dash NY

Race Date: Sunday August 12th, 2012
Race Name: Warrior Dash - New York
Race Price: $70.23
Race Description: Obstacle race up, down and across a mountain
Race Location: Windham Mountain, 33 Clarence D Lane Rd, Windham, NY 12496

  

Race Distance: 5k
Distance Traveled: 77.3 miles

Race Time: 11:30am
Weather: Mostly sunny, calm, temperatures in the upper 70's

Swag: Shirt, Fuzzy Warrior Helmet, Beer, Finisher Medal
Food & Drink: Water (There may have been other stuff but I didn't notice)
Number of Participants: 6497
Results: http://www.warriordash.com/results/2012_New_York_Sun_OA.htm

My Results

Time: 41:12.15
Pace: 12:53
Place: 161 of 6497
Men (Age 30-49): 37 of 893







Personal Race Info
Pre-Run: 2 Generic Tums
                Salt Stick Plus Pill
                Water + Gatorade + Chia Seeds

During-Run: N/A

Did not feel great when I got up and would have enjoyed sleeping more. Ate my oatmeal w/ protein powder. for breakfast. This race was pretty far away so had to leave pretty early to get to the race with my usual hour beforehand. I also knew some people who I thought were racing at 9:30 so I kinda wanted to see them at the finish.

Got near the event and had to park about .8 miles away from the actual event. There were buses but I figured I could warm up by jogging to the event. Got my bib/chip/swag and went to take some pictures around the event.

I was at the finish line when I saw the people I knew. Here's a shot of them after they finished.

Finally I went and checked my bag and headed to the start line. I was right up at the start line which was nice since there were supposedly 600 people per wave. A few others got there super early and chatted them up. It was a good 30 minute wait at the front of the line...probably where I got some of my sunburn.

The race started a few seconds short of 11:30 and immediately started heading up the mountain. I figured I'd be able to jog up it but I quickly realized I could walk faster than I was running and save some energy. The first third of the race was pretty much entirely uphill. The last third was pretty much entirely downhill...which was great and I felt pretty fast on the downhill. It always helps to pass tons of people who are walking. The course itself was extremely muddy on both the uphill and downhill sections. My shoes really helped to keep me stable and I never fell and probably only slipped a few times. I can't say enough good things about the Inov-8 shoes...check out my older blog for more details on them

Let's talk about the obstacles...overall they were easy. I didn't run into anything that I felt would even be a challenge. There were a few obstacles where I had to wait way too long especially when I'm going for a fast time. If you look at my picture above you'll see areas where my pace doesn't exist...this was all wasted time waiting to get onto an obstacle. I really need to start getting into the first waves at these events if I want my best time. I'm having a hard time even remembering the obstacles which isn't a great sign as that means they weren't memorable. Once you've been through a Spartan Race things just can't compare although I haven't done a Tough Mudder, yet. The fire jump was actually pretty impressive compared to other events I've been at. Looking forward to seeing pictures that were taken during the run.

The shirt / hat / finisher medal are all pretty nice and probably rank up as some of the best swag at an event. There were a ton of port-a-potties and they were being cleaned throughout the day. I didn't use the spray shower section, which you can see up above, but it appeared to work although cold. I didn't like that you had to buy tickets to purchase food / drinks but the line went quick. I got the giant turkey leg and water which was $10. The leg was pretty overcooked but tasted pretty good. The pulled pork sandwich looked good as well.

Finally I got really, really muddy and that was mainly from the last obstacle which was a mud pit. Up until that point I wasn't very dirty at all. It did give you a look like you just accomplished something. Saying that I did not feel the same sense of accomplishment that I do when I finish a Spartan Race. Of course I enjoyed myself and this was one of the first events where I knew some other people who were racing and it was nice to see them enjoying it.

08/11/2012 - Pawling Lakeside Park 5K

Race Date: Saturday August 11th, 2012
Race Name: Pawling Lakeside Park 5k
Race Price: $20
Race Description: The course winds through the scenic Lakeside Park.  It is a true cross country
course with over 80% of the race run on well marked trails.  Although relatively flat there is a challenging hill
located in the trails.
Race Location: Lakeside Park, Lakeside Drive, Pawling, NY

  

Race Distance: 5k
Distance Traveled: 24 miles

Race Time: 9:30am
Weather: Mostly sunny, humid, calm, temperatures in the upper 70's

Swag: Shirt
Food & Drink: Water | Juice | Oranges | Bananas | Chips | Cookies
Number of Participants: 62
Results: Handwritten on a piece of paper at race site

My Results

Time: 23:04
Pace: 7:25
Place: 17 of 62
Men (Age 30-49): 1 of ?
Prize: Trophy for first in Age Group






Personal Race Info
Pre-Run: 2 Generic Tums
                Salt Stick Plus Pill
                Gu Mandarin Orange Gel
                Water
                Chia Seeds

During-Run: N/A

Woke up feeling pretty tired. Had a half-cup of quick cook oats with protein powder. I've started eating that recently and actually feel it's a pretty good breakfast. The course was about 50 minutes away on some back roads. It was a pleasant early morning drive.

Arrived at the race over an hour early. Only a few cars in the parking lots and couldn't tell where the registration was. Finally realized it was across a large field. I could tell this would be a very small event. Not much happening at registration. The 20 or so pre-registered people were all handwritten on a piece of paper. I had to fill out a card with my name, age and gender. I knew this was going to be a problem since it was warm and humid and paper doesn't hold up well in those conditions. Brought the shirt back to the car and headed out to get a feel for the course.

There was a printed out map and it looked somewhat confusing so I decided to check out what I could. I did go the wrong way at 1 point and had to go back and head the other direction. Right after was the big hill which appears to have risen about 150 feet in a short time. I knew this would be rough during the race. Immediately after was a steep downhill that was wet from all the rain. Other than that most of the race was run either on carriage paths or grassy paths.

The race itself started very unorganized with no real start line. Everyone just kinda lined up and took off when started. While I didn't really like it, it did help to fix the bottleneck that normally occurs at the beginning of a race. I didn't have to worry about getting stuck behind slow people really. The humidity made things tough and my heart rate seemed to be higher than usual for the speed I was running. I passed a few people while out running and only got passed by 2 during the race, one of which I passed towards the end of the race. Still had plenty left in the tank to sorta sprint to the finish to make sure no one passed me.

Also I noticed there were a lot of high school kids and not very many adults. I knew this would be good for my place and as a result I got first in the 30-49 age group. Besides the event I won this is the first I've come in 1st place in my age group. I need more races with no one in my age group. Overall this was a very small, community driven event that was nice as the course was challenging and different.

07/22/2012 - Canaan Road Race

Race Date: Sunday July 22nd, 2012
Race Name: Canaan 5 Mile Road Race / Railroad Days Run
Race Price: $25
Race Description: Relatively flat road race with one fairly challenging hill
Race Location: Lawrence Pavilion, Rt. 44, North Canaan, CT

  

Race Distance: 5 Miles
Distance Traveled: 54.5 miles

Race Time: 9:00am
Weather: Sunny, dry, calm, temperatures in the upper 60's

Swag: Shirt
Food & Drink: Water | Juice | Oranges | Bananas | Chips | Cookies
Number of Participants: 129
Results: http://www.greystoneracing.net/pages/Race%20Results%202012/Canaan%205%20Mile%207.22.12.txt

My Results

Time: 35:43
Pace: 7:11
Place: 13 of 129
Men: 12 of 61
Men (Age 30-39): 2 of 16
Prize: Prizes only for 1st





Personal Race Info
Pre-Run: 2 Generic Tums
                Salt Stick Pill
                Gu Mandarin Orange Gel
                Water (@20oz)

During-Run: N/A

What a beautiful morning for a race. This was a pretty far drive for me so had to leave the house around 7 to get to the race with time to warm up. The drive took me through some beautiful areas of New York and Connecticut. I didn't have the exact location of the race so got a tad lost right near the end but had plenty of time to spare.

Picked up my race packet which, sadly, didn't include a race shirt. I asked and they said you had to sign up ahead of time and I guess I wasn't early enough. I went back and asked if I could at least take a picture at which point someone else came up and offered me a shirt! I was super excited. :) The organizers / volunteers were all super nice, friendly and helpful. I did a bit of a warm up and had no idea where the race started. Luckily right when it was time to start the race director from greystoneracing pointed out where it was. You can spot me in the picture all the way to the right at the front of the pack.

The race started out pretty fast and looking at my pacing I was under a 6 minute mile and knew I couldn't sustain that so I started to hold myself back a bit. I wanted to try to maintain about a 7 minute mile. A little over a mile in there was a pretty steep uphill that caused me to drop my pace a bit. Then towards the end of the race was a somewhat long slow incline. Overall though I'd say I did well with pacing coming in at 7:11 average for the race. It was a nice race on nice roads filled with nice people. I think there may have been 4 or 5 water stops along the way but I didn't feel the need for any.

They had the regular types of recovery food / drinks at the pavilion afterwards. I walked across the street to McDonalds and got 2 Egg & Cheese Biscuits and a Mango Pineapple Smoothie...so good! They gave out a few raffles which were gift certificates to local places. The top 3 male and female finishers got whistles, bags and gift certificates. I believe the top male/female in each age group also got a whistle, bag and gift certificate. They say 2nd is the first loser right? :P I definitely enjoyed the atmosphere at this race and could tell my training has been paying off.

07/21/2012 - Rebel Race 15K

Race Date: Saturday July 21st, 2012
Race Name: 2012 Rebel Race: New York 15K Mud Run
Race Price: $95
Race Description: Obstacle Race
Race Location: Cousins Paintball, New Windsor, NY  
Race Distance: 15K (3x 5K)
Distance Traveled: 16 miles

Race Time: 2:30pm
Weather: Low 80's & Mostly Sunny

Swag: Rebel Race Shirt | Rebel Race Bag | Finisher Medal | Free Beer
Food & Drink: Water | Beer | Food
Number of Participants: 176
Results: Here

My Results
Time: 1:44:26
Pace: 11:12
Place: 14 of 176
Men: 12 of 127
Men (Age 30-39): 2 of 39

Personal Race Info
Pre-Run: 2 Generic Tums
                 Accel Gel Raspberry Cream
                 Tbsp Chia Seeds
                 1.5 Servings N.O. Xplode 2.0
                 Water

During-Run: Water

Arrived at the race location around 1. I was surprised at how many cars there were. I've raced 3 other races at this same location and never seen so many cars. They also offered camping for some reason...must be part of the experience. The course was laid out different from other times I've raced this location. I signed up for the 15K which was just running the 5K course three times.

After paying the usual, for this location, $10 parking fee I was parked in a field not far from the main location. Luckily I didn't get put into the far parking lot which was across the street and somewhat of a hike if you had parked there. There was a ton of people in the main area. The had a bunch of different tents...the usual registration & bag check tents followed by a place to buy "tickets" which were used to purchase food and drink. I didn't buy anything so not sure how bad the prices were for food. They also had a band, a dunk tank & a mechanical bull. There seemed to be plenty of bathrooms and they had changing areas for both men & women. They had the regular showers which were crowded when I was finished with my run so I didn't use them. Something worrisome was right in the middle of the main area was a area that had warning tape around it where there was a bees nest. Seemed pretty odd they didn't take care of it before the event.

I picked up my bib, shirt & bag and wandered around the site checking things out and taking some pictures. I did notice there were some pretty long lines at some of the obstacles. I can't stand waiting at obstacles so this was worrisome.

Ran into a few people I've met at other obstacle races and everyone seemed to be having a pretty good time. Checked my bag and started to prepare for race time.

The start of the race was up the hill from where I've started before. They had an announcer guy who had some pretty crazy nose piercing which I should have got a picture of. The race bibs had these strange foam type chips. The starting gate had these square shaped panels at the top which I guess registered your chip. The announcer guy kept making everyone back up since I guess your chip could get set off prematurely. When I was roaming around originally I guess I got too close and thought I may have set off my timer...in the end it wasn't a problem. Overall the guy was kind of annoying...nothing like the MC's they have at the Spartan Races.

Luckily I was at the front of the pack when the race started. First obstacle was a pretty destroyed hay bale pyramid followed by a tough little uphill section. A short stint in the woods and you hit a long straight away where you had to do a strange side step for a bit and got sprayed with water guns. Next up was the monkey bars which I failed this time through and was told to do 30 Burpees...something only the 15K had to do. Have I mentioned how much I hate burpees? Next up you had to run backwards up a hill. Back into the woods and hit a backup at the spiderweb obstacle, they had rope spread across several trees and this was actually kinda tough when I had to do it the 2nd and 3rd time through, but luckily they let us go around the obstacle to avoid the backup. More running in the woods...

Things get a bit fuzzy as to what came next so i'll just go on to explain some other obstacles. They had a few ladder type obstacles which were pretty easy, although at one point one was pretty backed up so me and another 15Ker decided to run by it. A few wall climbs which luckily had blocks to help you over on one side but the other side was flat...this was actually pretty dangerous and surprised people didn't get hurt. It was a pretty far drop down if you didn't do it right. They had a water slide which seemed to be malfunctioning more than it was working and had a ton of rocks under it. I slid down the first time but the next 2 times I walked down. At the bottom was a deep mud pit, probably chest deep, and stunk...it was really gross. After that short muddy run to some plastic tunnels. A mud hill to run up and some over / under obstacles in water. There were 2 sections where you had to go on your hands & knees, one through mud and the other through muddy water. I'm sure tons of people lost their shoes in the mud part cause it was pretty thick. There was a large hay bale pyramid, a log pyramid, a small fire jump & a cargo net climb all which were extremely easy. They also had a section where you were supposed to do 10 pushups | 10 situps | 10 leg lifts. For round 2 the pushups were changed to burpees. For round 3 you had to do a 45 second plank and 5 pushups. The final section before the end of the race was a rope hanging across the pond where you were supposed to cling on and pull yourself across. This was backed up for the entire event and I didn't even try it, luckily they had a way across where you just went through the water. I forgot to mention the worst part of the race...the fire drill! You had to stop, drop and roll down a hill. Now I know this doesn't sound very tough but I have never felt so sick in any run I have ever done. You don't realize how dizzy you get when rolling down a hill. Each time I did it I felt sick and dizzy.

I actually finished slower than I would have thought. I'm not sure why it took so long but I was moving at a pretty steady pace the entire time. The obstacles themselves were nothing great and having to wait at obstacles is never fun. Luckily I was able to avoid that in most cases. Since I don't drink beer I gave away my free one to someone else and I can't comment on the food since I didn't have any. I will say they did a good job with water on the course. Probably not worth the cost but I'm an addict so I would probably do it again. Out of the 4 races I've now done at this location this was probably the worst and most likely because it was more crowded.

07/19/2012 - 10th Annual Gardiner 5K Classic

Race Date: Thursday July 19th, 2012
Race Name: 10th Annual Gardiner 5K Classic
Race Price: $22
Race Description: Scenic with rolling hills
Race Location: Majestic Park, Murphy Lane, Gardiner, NY

Race Distance: 5K (3.15 miles)
Distance Traveled: 22.8 miles

Race Time: 6:30pm
Weather: 80's & Mostly Cloudy

Swag: Kiss My Face Moisturizing Soap (I was not 1 of the first 100 to register so I didn't get a shirt :( )
Food & Drink: Water | Soda | Hamburgers | Hot Dogs | Watermelon | Cookies | Chips | Ice Pops
Number of Participants: 328
Results: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/12/ny/Jul19_10thAn_set1.shtml

My Results
Time: 21:24.1
Pace: 6:54
Place: 20 of 328
Men: 19 of 156
Men (Age 30-39): 3 of 24
Prize: Yellow Bag :P

Personal Race Info
Pre-Run: 2 Generic Tums
               Salt Stick Pill
               Accel Gel Raspberry Cream
               Water (@20oz)

During-Run: N/A

This was a much nicer day weatherwise compared to how hot & humid it has been as of late. Got to the race site around 5:30 and checked in. I am always disappointed when I don't get a shirt at an event but this time it was probably my own fault since I forgot to send in my early registration. Luckily someone let me take a picture of their shirt to keep the style I normally use in my results pictures. Everyone also received a pretty sizable bottle of Kiss My Face Moisturizing Soap...not expected but, hey, it was free! I was surprised with how many people ended up showing up for this race.

The start of the race was pretty hectic. No one knew where the start line was and when it came close to starting time everyone had to get behind these 2 posts which was not a wide starting area. One of my biggest pet peeves in races is when slow people are at the front of the starting line. I could spot a ton of these people mostly standing in front of me or on the side. Luckily once the start happened there was room on the left to fly past the first group of slow people. I would say I was at a pretty good place after about 100 yards.

The course started out on regular paved roads for about the first 1.5 miles and then turned onto a rial trail which was mostly dirt, gravel & grass. I was moving pretty good for the first part but could definitely feel a hit to my speed once I hit the trail. The last .5 miles was back on the roads. Right at the end someone started to pass me but with a little hill I knew I could push it to my max and finish out strong, which I did. They had water available in a few spots on the course but I didn't feel the need to take any.

Overall pretty happy with my time considering how slow I have felt lately. Hopefully this is a sign of my speed picking up again. Of course it could have been that the weather wasn't as hot as it has been either. I was disappointed I didn't get a shirt but, since I got the picture, I didn't really need it. It was a nice race with great attendance. I didn't eat any of the food but I'm sure it was good.