Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Journeys: The Army Ten Miler
If you do not know, a few weeks ago I was asked to replace an injured member of the Fort Gordon Army Ten Miler running team. The Army Ten Miler is a 10 mile foot race that is held in Washington, DC every year in October and teams from around the nation, both military and civilian, compete in the event. I was a little bit uncertain about running a 10 mile foot race, only because I do not enjoy running for fun, but decided it would be a superb, and free, travel opportunity for at least one weekend this fall.
The team made the nine hour drive north on Friday so that we could rest and loosen up all day on Saturday and be primed for the race which was to be held on Sunday morning. Unfortunately I did not rest very much on Saturday, but stayed on my feet trouncing around DC until 2230. I did not intend to stay out that late, but I fell victim to infrequent public transportation that occurs after 2100. The only reason that I arrived back at my hotel at 2230 was that I called a cab to rescue me from a lifeless Pentagon City bus station after a stagnant hour.
To me, the conditions for race day were perfect, both the weather and the scenery were lovely. Others may disagree that it was too hot and too humid. I ran the 10 mile course in 1:00:15 to place 98th out of 17,641 entrants. Everything about the race went exactly the way I wanted it to go. I ran the first two miles at an easy pace and then picked things up for the subsequent eight miles. I really could not have asked for a better performance.
Unfortunately, immediately following the race, the team piled back into the van for the nine hour return drive south. We were supposed to stay at the hotel until Monday, but the team ran out of funding and packed it up early. Walking was difficult after that van ride.
Welcome to the off season!
The team made the nine hour drive north on Friday so that we could rest and loosen up all day on Saturday and be primed for the race which was to be held on Sunday morning. Unfortunately I did not rest very much on Saturday, but stayed on my feet trouncing around DC until 2230. I did not intend to stay out that late, but I fell victim to infrequent public transportation that occurs after 2100. The only reason that I arrived back at my hotel at 2230 was that I called a cab to rescue me from a lifeless Pentagon City bus station after a stagnant hour.
To me, the conditions for race day were perfect, both the weather and the scenery were lovely. Others may disagree that it was too hot and too humid. I ran the 10 mile course in 1:00:15 to place 98th out of 17,641 entrants. Everything about the race went exactly the way I wanted it to go. I ran the first two miles at an easy pace and then picked things up for the subsequent eight miles. I really could not have asked for a better performance.
Unfortunately, immediately following the race, the team piled back into the van for the nine hour return drive south. We were supposed to stay at the hotel until Monday, but the team ran out of funding and packed it up early. Walking was difficult after that van ride.
Welcome to the off season!
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Arsenal: Sally Serotta
It is a little weird to be one of the few guys that shows up to a triathlon on his road bike. Most people have a supremely decked out time trial or triathlon bike that cost a small mountain of cash. My cash usually only amounts to a small mole hill so there were no sweet TRI bikes in my sights for the longest time until...
Paul got a new Orbea Ordu! Which freed up his old bike Sally the Serotta for sale to...me!
Needless to say, Paul hooked me up with a killer deal and I cannot thank him enough.
Thank you Paul!
Paul has always called Sally, "Sally", for as long as I have known him, so her name will be retained under my care too. Sally and I had our first true ride at the SC Half Ironman distance triathlon where we blasted through the field on the bike portion.
Ride Sally, ride!
P.S. Yes, those are 650 wheels.
My new girl, Sally.
Photograph by Paul Kannady.
Paul got a new Orbea Ordu! Which freed up his old bike Sally the Serotta for sale to...me!
Needless to say, Paul hooked me up with a killer deal and I cannot thank him enough.
Thank you Paul!
Paul has always called Sally, "Sally", for as long as I have known him, so her name will be retained under my care too. Sally and I had our first true ride at the SC Half Ironman distance triathlon where we blasted through the field on the bike portion.
Ride Sally, ride!
P.S. Yes, those are 650 wheels.
My new girl, Sally.Photograph by Paul Kannady.
Monday, October 01, 2007
Nonsense: SC Half
Polar bears.Photograph by Paul Kannady.
Well, I was writing a very in depth post that described my participation in the SC Half Ironman distance triathlon, but, while I was typing, my Firefox web browser decided that it was ready to punch out for the day and go home. I lost all of my work, so now I will be short changing all of my readers.
My TRI geek buddy, Paul Kannady, and I went to Greenwood the night before the race and stayed in an Econo Lodge that was not very far from the race site. I had a lovely dinner at Outback Steakhouse that night and then dozed off into a peaceful slumber, dreaming of swimming, biking, and running. Well, I was dreaming until the little black insects that I was sleeping with started crawling on my face and woke me up. I suppose the Econo Lodge cannot be consider a "roach" motel, because there were no roaches crawling on me. Maybe if I had gotten one of the $59.99 rooms instead of the $49.99 rooms I would have been blessed with roaches.
Nope, just lowly un-named little black insects for me.
When I stepped outside at 0500 on Sunday morning, it was cold. So cold that I stepped back inside to mentally prepare myself for the cold. Of course both Paul and I forgot to pack jackets, but I was fortunate enough to have a long sleeved "SC Half" T-shirt that came in my race bag that I picked up on Saturday.
It kept me warm while I set up my transition area.
Unfortunately, triathletes do not swim in long sleeved cotton T-shirts, they swim in wetsuits when the water is cold. If you are me and you do not have a wet suit, then you still have to swim in your little bitty lycra TRI shorts. The big orange ball in the sky peeked over the horizon just before the start of the race to perk my confidence that I would not freeze and drown during the 1.2 mile swim.
Bang! And they are off!
And so we were. All 500 of us TRI geeks. I was in the third wave and decided that I would swim on the outside of the pack, because I know that I am a slow swimmer and I did not want to get punched in the face. The swim went exactly the way I wanted it to. Slow and easy. After 44 long minutes I climbed out of Greenwood Lake and raced off to the transition area to mount my new TRI bike, Sally the Serotta.
Chuck in transition.Photograph by Paul Kannady.
Sally and I killed the bike portion of the event. At least, we did in my opinion. Sally and I averaged 21.8 miles per hour over the 56 mile course, turned in the 36th fastest bike split, and we were only passed twice. That is a good Sally.
After two legs of the event, things were going just the way I had envisioned them the night before with little black insects crawling on my face. Then I arrived at mile 7 of the run. I did not feel anything close to an energy bonk, but my calves and quads decided that they had had enough and demanded that I start walking through every aid station. And, eventually, walking up all of the hills. My sights had been set on running no slower than a 1:30 half marathon, but that dream was shattered as I watched countless other triathletes breeze by me like I was standing still for the next 6 miles.
When I finished after 5 hours and 18 minutes, some old man gave me a medal and Paul took a picture of my crotch.
Number 64.Photograph by Paul Kannady.
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