Turkey Trot 2017

Banged out another Turkey Trot at the Mystic YMCA. We’re at a weird place in our lives – boys are 17 and 14, oldest leaves for college next year. No company at Thanksgiving this year, interesting spot.

Melissa’s not running this year. Which is an amazing thing – she’s qualified for Boston last Sunday at Philly. She is radiant – it’s a weight off her shoulders that she’s been carrying through several unsuccessful attempts and struggles with injury.

Perfect day – 30, sunny, no wind. The race is PACKED – it’s gone from a small group waiting for a guy with a megaphone to say “go” to a “Girls on the Run” arch at the start/finish. Nice t-shirts today; a comfy cotton-poly blend that will actually get worn.

I don’t see the boys after the start – J is running with some of his high school XC buddies, and N – well, like usual, he’s off in his own world. I started too far back in the scrum – took almost a mile to get some running space; but that’s OK.

About the first mile, I watch the leaders run back the other way – M, who’s at a service academy; D, who’s going to captain the high school XC team next year, with C, who’s going to be crushing school records when he gets to HS next fall hot on his heels. It’s kind of fun, since I can remember all of these guys as tiny kids pumped to make it to the mile turn around; then as elementary school kids finishing the 5K for the first time. Now they’re burning it up before turkey.

I don’t dip this year, since I’m still phleghmy from having the flu last weekend; but J does, so I loan him the

Funk, but not really

I’m actually having a great late spring – lots of bike, pretty regular running, and about a swim a week. Weight’s come off a little bit – down 5 pounds, thanks, as always, to MyFitnessPal, counting calories, and not losing the bubble every time I lose a pound or two.

Tough week – A couple of huge deadlines at work, a couple of huge deadlines at home, the end of extracurricular stuff for the kids, and the general middle class, mid-life malaise has made it really easy to stay up too late, and hit snooze instead of getting out for a run in the morning.

Think I’m on the verge of picking back up. Lots of vacation this summer, lots of good projects in the air. I’m pretty happy in general, it’s just a matter of staying off of my butt.

About to start off on a goal – Hartford Marathon 2013. Training kickoff date kind of snuck up on me, but I’m where I want to be – held a 15 mile base all spring, PR on the half at the Vermont City Marathon, and survived the Bluff Point Twilight Trail Race. All sorts of good.

What are y’all looking forward to?

New Haven Road Race 2012

Another 20K in the legs.
Post race

Long-time followers of this blog (hi, both of you) know that the New Haven Road Race is my absolute favorite race of the year. It’s the perfect combination of:

  • Distance – 20K isn’t a half-marathon, so there’s not a lot of folks skittish about running their first “long” race. 20K’s also long enough to be tough, but not so long as to require extensive taper or training. Go run for an hour or so every weekend, long runs of between 10 or 15, and you’re good to race the 20K
  • Venue – Starts and ends on the shady and grassy New Haven town green. Church steps to sit on at the start, grass to recover in at the end. There’s a Red Hook Beer truck (30 kegs this year), Chabaso bread, and a decent band at the end.
  • Weather – Labor Day in New England is spectacular. Some years it’s a little warm at the finish, but most years it’s 60’s at the start and mid-70’s at the finish. Nice day for a run
  • Course – 20K, pretty flat. They changed the course this year, taking out the 2 miles of no shade and fish stink along the waterfront, and the trip past the refinery at the end of the water front. I kind of missed the stretch they took out, but can’t say that the change wasn’t for the better. Most of the folks I talked to really liked the re-route.
  • The race is also one of my favorites, ’cause I know I’ll run into Dianna (hit up her Livestrong Page, ’cause cancer still sucks, and I’ve got two survivors who were helped) and Jon. Seriously, I can’t say enough about how great it is to run into the folks who supported me while I was making running a big part of my life.

    The race itself? OK, I suppose. I’m in better cardiovascular shape than I’ve been in a while, still overweight, and trying to break myself by playing soccer at work. I’ve also been trying just to run within myself – not too hard, not too soft.

    Which was the race I ran. Started off conservatively. With the exception of the last mile, all of the splits were between 8’31” and 9’12”. Had enough for a kick on Mile 12 down to 8’19”. Finished with a 1h52′. Not my fastest, but I’ll take it for where I was this summer.

    End of the race was over to Frank Pepe’s for pizza, Frank Pepe's pizza oven

    and to Columbus park for picnic.Pizza in Columbus Park

    And, a little rest in the shade.
    10 minutes for a nap in the shade

    Workers of the world, thanks for the day off.

    Juneathon 1/30

    Half day at the office. Didn’t bike in, ’cause my hope was to get a bike ride in with my lovely wife after work. But the meeting went long, and we were up against the kids getting out of school.

    So, mowed the lawn and saddled up to pick up the big kid from middle school. Awesome late spring day, great spin down to the school. Picked up the boy, and we headed home via downtown and River Road. And, again, I’m struck by the surreality of my kids’ lives – this is ‘normal’ for them. And I want it to seem normal, but not entitled. But it was an hour of good talk, an hour of spin, and an hour that I’ll treasure for a long time.

    River road home from school

    But wait! There’s more!

    It’s still recovery week after the Vermont City Marathon, but the young son looked up at me with his big doey brown eyes and asked if I’d run the short Bluff Point Twilight Trail Race with him. Duh, of course I can.

    This is one of my favorite races – great cause in the New London County Women’s Center, awesome course at Bluff Point State Park, and early in the nice weather when being outside is a huge treat after winter breaks. The short course is about 3.8 miles – out to the bluff and back via the hill in the peninsula. Nice two-track the whole way; packed dirt or crushed granite.

    Bluff Point Twilight Trail Run 2012

    The run was awesome. Small son has a great sense of pace, and we started passing folks about halfway. He gutted it up the hills, flew down the downhills, and about blew my doors off when he sprinted for the finish. Nice.

    Wife ran with the big son – they flew, both setting PRs for the course. Funny how happy I am being the slowest in the family.

    BPTTR rocks for post-race. There’s always corn chowder from the US Coast Guard Academy goat locker. AND there’s massage students from a local massage school hitting their requirements for sports massage. I got the hook-up this year; Stacey completely worked out the residual stiff from Vermont, and I was happy.

    Only down side was forgetting to check the tide tables and parking in the lower lot – the tide was still coming in, and I had to wade out to the car.

    Spring tide after the Twilight Trail Run

    Even I need reminders I’m not entitled sometimes.

    Memorial Day Weekend and Vermont City Marathon Wrap-up

    So, Marathon number 4 is in the bag, and, I think I’m finally proud to have finished one.

    First, I cannot recommend the Vermont City Marathon highly enough – this is the third year the family’s headed up for the race, and we’re yet to be disappointed. Memorial Day weekend, Lake Champlain, and a set of phenomenal races – what’s not to love?

    Saturday is the kid’s race day at the YAM Scram. Woke up and had breakfast at the hotel. The kids love it, as it’s one of the few times they get to have Fruit Loops, and I’m a sucker for unlimited coffee and fruit salad. Then, it’s down to the waterfront for probably the best run kid’s event I’ve ever seen. The YAM scram uses the same area as the Marathon finish – same gate, same announcer’s booth, same finishing chute – which is a real hit with our boys. Nate rocked the half mile this year, looking seriously at Melissa before the start and saying “Mommy, I think I need to run it by myself”. And Jake did a great job at the mile, not stopping once.

    We changed up Saturday afternoon a little bit – stopping for lunch at the farmer’s market on the town green, and actually lingering at the Expo. The expo’s great – a pretty big space for a medium-small race, so there’s room to move around, and a great walkthrough of the course running continuously. I was pretty psyched that Small Dog Electronics was there – best Mac blog around, and apparently an excellent computer store. I was sorry I’d remembered to bring my power supply with me. Supper was at the Vermont Pub and Brewery, who gets extra credit for selling half pints at half the price of a pint, which is especially handy the night before a race.

    Sunday morning was the race – plenty of parking in downtown Burlington. The wife and kids hung out with me in Battery Park for the start of the race, and then walked around downtown while i ran.

    Repel the Yankees from New Dork!

    About mile 6, I realized that 4 hours wasn’t happening in any way, shape, or form. It was phenomenal seeing the crowds through downtown Burlington, and great to see Melissa and the kiddos.

    Second time down church street

    Battery Hill, the race’s crux, just before Mile 16, felt great going up just after seeing the family and the drummers at Mile 15, but in Battery park, about 200 yards past the top of the hill, both of my calves siezed, and I battled cramps the rest of the way. 16-21 were really rough, but once I hit the bike path along Lake Champlain, the end was in sight.

    Recovery after the race was good. We stopped by the Magic Hat brewery, which rocked, then sat by the pool and wiled away the evening.

    At the Magic Hat Brewery

    Lay-Z

    Hey, blog-o-folks!

    P1000501

    I’m still here, and life is pretty good. Summer has been very, very good to me, though, to tell the truth, I’m ready for a little vacation from summer vacation.

    I’m recovered from Mooseman (Physically, at least – Mentally, I’m still not over it. No more Halfs). Recovery wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d thought it would be, and I was back up to about 20 miles/week running in 2 weeks. I haven’t really hit the bike again much (I think 2 or 3 rides) since, but that’s fine – the next goal is the NYC Marathon. And I’m going to crush it. (Maybe)

    We did the annual vacation in Vermont, which was awesome, but wet. This summer, in general, has been miserable weather-wise. But it was great to hang out with the kiddos and wife, to get some good eats, and to mentally regroup.

    I’m busy at the office, traveling a bunch. But it’s the good kind of busy, and I’m mentally ready to make sure that training doesn’t suffer.

    I started using Hal Higdon’s Intermediate I training program. It seems to fit me pretty well: cross train on Monday, run Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, rest Friday, tempo run on Saturday, and long run on Sunday.

    Well, it worked well until today – long run #4 blew goats. Part was humidity – swear to gosh that it must have been 75 degrees and 99% humidity. Which, I’d usually love, but I think that Beer on Friday watching The Rivergods and delicious wine (with a surprisingly compelling website) on Saturday didn’t help. Neither did doing Saturday’s tempo run at 4 PM and 85 degrees before a 6 AM long run.

    I made it the 5 miles to downtown Mystic, but had to call it quits. Not quite a full-on bonk, but I couldn’t keep running. No pacing, no ability to control temperature, and I just really wanted it to rain. (Which it did as soon as I got home).

    Breakfast and church helped – I took the kids canoeing on the Mystic River after lunch, and we caught the tail end of the Seaport’s classic boat parade – my favorite (and I’m sorry I didn’t get a picture) was a yacht straight out of The Great Gatsby, complete with flappers and bathtub gin. Only thing missing was jazz on a Victrola.

    Anyway, I think I’m going to modify Hal’s plan a bit. Instead of running short (3-5 miles) on Tuesday and Thursday, I think I’m going to do the longer midweek run on Tuesday, and do the weekly tempo run on Thursday, so I’ve got a day of recovery before the weekend. I’m going to flex the long run between Saturday and Sunday depending on my schedule. The remaining short run will either be a recovery run on Sunday (If I went long on Saturday), or will be time on the bike on Saturday. (Man, I loved the Tour this year)

    This is marathon 4 (Really?). My takeaways from several go-rounds, and from watching Melissa train:

    • Hit the long runs. More than anything else, having miles in the legs and a little bit of endurance is the key to finishing the marathon.
    • Be consistent in training. Even if you’ve got to cut a midweek run short, it’s important to do SOMETHING, otherwise the legs get tight, and tight legs get hurt.
    • Shed weight. I’ve got about another 6 weeks where this is possible, and it makes a HUGE difference once the 20 mile runs come around.

    So, that’s my plan. I really don’t want NYC to suck.

    Other stuff:

    1. I hit up the XO last drill weekend to see if we could do the Newport Naval Station Triathlon even though it’s drill weekend. He said “Sure.” I didn’t ask for followup, so that’s on tap for this weekend.
    2. New Haven 20K. Best race of the year. One of these years, I’m going to have one that doesn’t suck.
    3. Friday nights are Family Fun Runs over at Bluff Point. We’re hitting about 50% of them, but they’re a blast.
    4. I’ve pretty much written off the Terramuggus tri series this year – too darn busy.

    Hope everyone else is well. Hopefully, I’ll actually use this blog again, and not end up on Jon’s “Dead Blog” list. I’ve been using DailyMile – best mileage tracker since Nike+, but without all the Flash overhead. I’m also using Nike+ again, but not entirely pleased.

    Thoughts on Mooseman

    I think that the most telling was Jeff, Warren, and I sharing the same thoughts pretty much immediately after crossing the finish line, which was something along the lines of “Well, I think full on Ironman is never going to happen.”

    Which wasn’t an acknowledgement that it wasn’t within our capabilities, but was more of an acknowledgement that the commitment to 140.6 was light years beyond our willingness to commit to the training, time, and suffering necessary to do the race right. But more on that later. Specific race observations that might be useful to someone else approaching the 70.3 distance:

    1. The swim base is pretty easy to get. I was swimming 3 times a week between 1.5K and 2K from January to March, and dropped down to twice a week from March through the race, as it was nice outside and I swapped a swim for a bike each week. While the Mooseman swim was in a pretty sheltered bit of cove, I’m not sure that more open water swimming would have helped much with the lake swim. Maybe if it’d been an ocean swim, which I think the Hip would corroborate.

    2. If could go back to February and redo 10 workouts between then and the race, I’d cut out a couple of my 10+ mile runs and do them as bike/run bricks. The transition between bike and run just plain sucks if you haven’t been doing it – the back needs to learn to go from completely stretched on the bike to vertical on the run. The first time I realized I had lumbar muscles was about 400 yards into the run when they seized up.

    I did several run/swim bricks, but, frankly, I don’t think the transition from swim to run is really that tough. Swimming’s low physical impact. Although it’s critical to do a lot of it to build good form and not blow all your energy in the swim, I don’t think there’s much other than making sure you’re under LT to make going from swim to bike difficult.

    On the other hand, instead of the 10+ mile runs, I’d like to do many more workouts of 60-90 minutes on the bike followed by 3-6 miles of running. I think that the individual bike and run workouts during the week (40-90 minutes bike and 4-7 miles running) built and maintained enough of an aerobic base to get through the race, and that bike/run bricks, starting with 15 mile/5 mile goal in February (1 hour on the trainer, 5 miles bundled up on the road) lengthening to a 40 mile/10 mile brick 2 weeks before the race would have been immensely useful.

    3. I think Warren’s approach to transition was brilliant. Even if I’d been shooting for 6 hours (or 5.5 hours like Zipper), the difference between 7 minutes total in transition or 14 minutes in transition translates to minor, minor performance improvements in each event. Stretch, fuel, and move out. Plus, I would have had sunglasses on the bike, and wouldn’t have squinted or worried about catching a rock in the eye.

    4. Mooseman was exceptionally well supported. In hindsight, I wish I’d considered nutrition more. I don’t know what I would have done in a less posh race situation. Much of my bike training relied on cash and convenience stores.

    5. Wish I’d taken Actafed the night before to help sleep/ease congestion, and a Claratin the morning of the race. Snot sucks.

    I suppose I could go to some good number like 10 tips, but that’s about all I really learned in the race that I didn’t capture in last week’s post. There are a couple of personal observations to make, though:

    Initially, I’d approached Mooseman as a chance to really get in shape; a chance to go to the next level in training. But, as the race approached, and as life continued to intrude, I realized that I was spending a lot of time training in order to just survive 70.3 miles. Training for peak performance would have required at least twice as much time as I had to commit, and just wasn’t going to happen.

    So, in my mind it became fine just to finish this race. And I’m thrilled with the outcome.

    This is my last half ironman for quite a while, though. After 5 years of relative dedication to fitness (WOW – really? 5 years of being pretty consistent with running?) I think I ought to move past ‘finishing’ as a goal and actually try to improve. Improve weight and BMI, improve finishing times, and generally go from being a guy who runs to support poor eating habits to just being a guy who runs well.

    The best long-term outcome from this race is that I’ve realized that I LOVE a 6 day training schedule, and love doing a run and a swim on the same day (or a bike and a swim) at least twice a week. I remembered why I love cycling – the symphony of person and machine, the animate and the inanimate merging like yin and yang into something greater than the two parts, and will not be happy unless I’m doing it more this summer.

    But I’m not committed enough to give more than 3 hours of my weekend over to training. I love the time with the kiddos, I love the time with the church, and I love puttering around the yard instead of being alone training.

    A good (for me – shooting for around 4 hours) marathon can be done on a schedule of 7-9 hours a week. A good Olympic triathlon can be done. And great sprint tris can be a part of that training schedule.

    But, unless I can come up with some quantum breakthrough short of HGH, EPO, and crystal meth, there’s no way that schedule is going to support anything beyond finishing a half ironman for me (as has been proven).

    I’m trilled to have done Mooseman, and it’s no exaggeration to say that this is the first race I’ve done for which I think I’ve accomplished something significant by training for and finishing. I’ve written before about my letdown with finishing marathons and not hearing choirs of angels while I crossed the finish line, about not feeling “changed” by completing a marathon. Mooseman did show me that there’s a whole other level of potential I haven’t tapped in my psyche. That’s one reason why it’s the first medal I’m really proud of.

    But it’s going to be a long, long while before I do 70.3 again. The kids are going to have to start ignoring me on the weekends, and I’ll have to have the HoneyDo jar cleaned out.

    So, I figure some time around 2050 or so,

    Mooseman 2009 Recap

    So. I got the link for Mooseman pictures. Warren’s posted phenomenal writeups for the run, bike, and swim – and, frankly, I think I’m trying to block out much of the experience. So, here goes:

    First, with our trip to watch Missy run the Vermont City Marathon, and with the beauty that is springtime in Mystic, I’m pretty much just in love with New England right now, so I was dying to catch the Amazing Hip (AKA Zipper Quigley, AKA Jeff), Warren, and The Running Chick with the Orange Hat and share a little bit of sunshine, green grass, and blue skies with them before the snow flies again (Yep, I’m a little breath of sunshine, I am). But I rambled on about this last post, and won’t dwell, except to say that the light of day made the night before look much less dark than that post.

    Race morning was surprisingly less chaotic than I’d expected. It took next to no time to break down camp (the guy in the tent across the way said “That’s the best breakdown I’ve ever seen”. Guess camping regularly with the kiddos has its benefits). I’d put all my gear into my wetsuit bag the night before, so didn’t have anything to do other than roll up the sleeping bag and tent, and tote it to the car.

    Parked, headed to Transition, and laid out the stuff. Warren was already there, freaking out about having lost a pedal (which ended up well). And then I was done setting up with way too long to go. Jeff was chipper, having done Wildflower and knowing how much suck awaited us. Me? I was petrified, and not even sure if I’d finish the swim. I was having flashbacks to my first triathlon, Terramuggus a few years back, where I got about 150 yards into the swim and completely FREAKED from disorientation. Which, I convinced myself, was going to happen again. Provided I didn’t get trampled, as we were in the the second wave of the start, which meant that there were like 600 people who were going to pass me before I got out of the water. But getting passed was fine – I’d swim wide from the buoys, meaning, I’d do like 3 miles instead of 1.2 …

    Whatever. My head was far from a good spot. Jeff kept handing me his water bottle, and I kept saying “No thanks”. After about the 6th time, I realized he wanted me to hold it while he fiddled with his cap, or goggles, or something. So, not only was I going to be trampled, but I’d been dumb and rude to my friends, who probably wouldn’t even tell Missy where to claim my body after the cops found it after dragging the lake.

    Sooner than I expected, it was time for the race to start. The first wave got off, and we waded out. Handshakes, good wishes all around, and MAN, was the water cold. The chill kind of put me off my rhythm – I’d been practicing 5 strokes per breath, alternating sides, but couldn’t manage more than 3 before my lungs were burning.

    In a way, the swim FLEW. I got way out to the side and stayed there, very rarely swimming into people’s feet, and only once getting run into. I ended up in a couple of armpits, which was a new experience. Getting to the first turn was quicker than I’d thought. The crosswise leg was tough – the seas were directly off the beam (says the sailor), so breathing to the right meant a couple of mouthfuls of sparkling lake water. I peed as I rounded the second buoy, which was surprisingly pleasant feeling. I’ve since scrubbed the wetsuit.

    Soon enough, I was out of the water. I knew the swim was better than I’d hoped, since most of the caps I saw were from the wave behind us, and there were more than a few from our wave. Turns out that, relative placement, the swim was by far my best event.

    I was shocked to see Warren in transition, but he’d taken a leisurely time of it. Told me that Hip’d left just a minute or so earlier, told me he expected me to pass him momentarily, and left for the bike. I finished catching my breath, dried off with a towel (No, I’m not a real triathlete – sue me), put on socks, cycling shoes, a jersey, and drank a half bottle of water. Then, I grabbed my bike, trotted out to the start, and clipped in.

    I’d be lying if I didn’t say that the bike was the best 3 hours of the day, ’cause it was. The bike course was great. The first 5 miles – pretty road, with a freakin’ evil climb that was made bearable only by the woman dressed as Didi. There was, however, a camera doing a live feed from the race at the top – and the thought of flying a double bird as I passed did cross my mind. But, that would have required action besides gasping for breath and keeping the pedals turning. I’d passed Warren, resplendent in a Rabobank jersey, broken down at the bottom of the climb. I thought about stopping to help; however, that might have been enough inertia to keep me from finishing (I only slightly joke).

    The sight of Warren, however, did stick in my head a joke along the lines of “Hey, Warren, you climb about as well as Robbie McEwen“, but I was pretty sure that McEwen hadn’t ridden for Rabobank in about 10 years, couldn’t think of a recent Rabobank sprinter, and wasn’t completely sure if Warren would make the connection and find it funny, or just think I was a tool. And now I’ve wasted a paragraph explaining it, which means it wasn’t funny in the first place.

    But the ride was transcendent. Other than Devil’s hill, I didn’t blow up on any of the climbs, managed to descend like the fat guy I am, and didn’t get blown by on any of the flats. There was a little bit of acid reflux on the first half-lap, a combination of bacon from the pre-race pancake breakfast, lake water, and Gatorade (which I found particularly acidic that morning). Switching from Gatorade to water, and adding the gels that were handed out at the water stops seemed to make the tummy stop hurting, and I don’t think that I had nutrition problems all day.

    The last third of each lap, from NH 104 back to the Harriman State Park, was the absolute best type of New England road biking – decent two lane pavement, rolling hills, and a combination of shade, pasture, and quaint village. There were two turns that were just glorious – sweepers into which you could really lean. Man, I love the bike.

    Before the race, I’d planned on averaging about 15.5 MPH, based on watching my heart rate. I’d left the HRM band in the car the morning of the race, so went by perceived effort. About 70 minutes into the ride, I looked down and noticed that my bike computer was giving me an average speed of about 16.5 MPH, which was WAY above where I wanted to be. But, I kept my head down, kept the RPE at what I felt was low, and kept on.

    The last 5 miles of the bike were tough, though. Other than the ride up to Smuggler’s Notch while we were in Vermont on Memorial Day weekend, I hadn’t gone over 40 miles during training, and my back started feeling sore around mile 50. In most of my training rides, I’d stopped between 20 and 30 miles for a stretch and nutrition, but decided to keep riding during the race. Hindsight says I probably ought to have stretched mid-ride. And going back through a decade’s scattered ride notes, I think that the 56 miles of this race may be the longest distance I’ve ever kept my feet on the pedals (would say my butt on the saddle, but there were a couple of climbs out of the saddle) ever.

    I was shocked when I rolled into T2 with my bike computer registering 16.9 MPH (splits say 17.2 average) average speed, crushing my pre-race goal. The thought was also terrifying – if I’d exceeded my planned effort by that much on the bike, the run was going to kill me.

    Which it did.

    T2 was much quicker than T1 – changed shoes, changed socks, ditched the jersey for a shirt rather than digging everything out of my pockets, or trying to run a half marathon with a bike tube and mini-pump in my pocket (Or confusing people that I was really happy to see them). New shirt, some more water, and one last bocadillo, and I was off.

    And into the most pain I’d felt in a long time. Couldn’t catch my breath, couldn’t stand all the way up, and couldn’t understand why I had no freaking rhythm – I’m a runner, darn it! Walked to the first water stop, ran another mile or so, walked up the first wicked big hill (and decided right there that I wasn’t going to screw around with it at all – it was getting walked on the second lap, too). At the top, I finally realized that unless I took time to pee and stretch, there was no way I was going to make it through the run. So I did – into the portapot, dropped trou, dropped a duke, peed, and spent 4 or 5 minute stretching out my legs and back.

    Y’know what? It worked. I could run (sort-of) again, and made it down to the run turnaround without stopping. There was a steep section between the turnaround water stop and the main road, so I hydrated and walked back to the main road, the ran back up to the portapot where I’d stretched out. Rather than running down the steep hill, I walked, and, just after hitting the bottom and starting to run, I saw Warren

    Cannot say how happy I was that I was running, not walking when I saw him – he was too, and even though I think we both knew that the other was hurting something awful, it really helped to see a friendly face. I figured he was on his second lap, and tried to figure out where he’d passed me on the bike, he looked so good.

    Made it back to the park, and the turnaround, and about a mile into the second lap, spotted Jeff’s Orange County jersey, shouted “Orange County Represent”, and realized I’d be done in about an hour, and hoped Jeff’d save me a beer.

    The second lap was much better than the first – part because I knew exactly how badly it was going to suck, instead of having an unknown quantity of suckage ahead, and part because as I kept running, it kept feeling better. At that point, I realized how ultras were possible – there is a level of pain, once reached, can be sustained indefinitely, provided you keep ingesting calories. Trouble is, The Wall is between most of us and the never-ending level of pain, and, man, does The Wall blow. Tris are nice because you kind of get to coast through The Wall on the bike, and once you start the run, it’s nothing but a maintenance thing once you’ve worked the kinks out of your back.

    Walked up the wicked hill again, walked the bit after the turnaround water stop, walked down the wicked hill again, and set my teeth to finish. The sun came out and the wind died about 1.5 miles out from the finish, and I stopped to walk a bit. Ran the last mile, and passed a runner marked as the run part of a relay team.

    Coming into the finish, I felt like a million bucks; life was great, I soaked it up, wondered how I could change my registration to “Bill” instead of “William”, and was generally on cloud 9 until, quite literally, the relay runner I’d passed about a mile earlier pips me at the line. Go check out the pictures – Helen Waclewik, running just the easy 13.1, was absolutely compelled to cut me off. Stupid relays.

    In any case, I finished. I was outside of my best-case estimate of 6 hours (40 min swim, 3:20 bike, 2 hour half marathon), but well under my realistic time of 6:30 (1 hour swim, 3:30 bike, 2 hour half marathon). The run was WAY harder than I’d anticipated. But, that’s a post for another evening.

    Dianna’s picture seems appropriate to steal and put here to close – I was kind of against our taking it before the race, what with hubris and all (I’ve read me some of them Greek epics), but in hindsight it works:

    Warren, Bill, and Jeff at the finish the day before Mooseman

    Pre-moose

    There’s not much I like more than sleeping outside – there’s something about the sound of the world at night, both more quiet and more active than most people realize.

    Tonight – not so much. Not that it isn’t a lovely evening; but more due to pre-race jitters. I’m convinced I’ve lost my sunscreen; fear I’m going to flat three times again, and absolutely aghast that the folks who put on MooseMan have the mascot of “Bonk the Moose”. Seriously – the race’s mascot is named “Bonk”.

    These are things I should have considered back in January when I registered.

    Today was great – wonderful morning with the wife and kids; Nate’s t-ball game rocked. Sitting in a green field on a spring morning us hardwired into our DNA. The drive up to Bristol, New Hampshire was uneventful, and it was a huge pleasure to catch up with The Running Chick With The Orange Hat (Dianna), the Amazing Hip (Jeff/ aka Zipper Quigley), and Salty War(ren). We hung out at the race for a bit, racked the bikes, and looked at the swim.

    (lots of buoys, I ought not get lost)

    Dianna split to head back to the Nutmeg State, and Jeff, Warren, and I drove the bike course. There were a few folks riding it, but I was conserving energy. Pre-race pasta supper, a bit of talking, and dropped Jeff and Warren off at their B&B.

    I picked up a tallboy beer, and headed back to Camp Whatchamadoodle, just down the road from the race start at Wellington State Park. Pitched the tent, and spent 90 minutes as the sun set “checking” race gear.

    (read as fidgeting until the sun went down)

    Once it was getting dark, I popped the beer and watched the moon rise, figuring that a little barley and hops would put me right to bed.

    ‘Cept I set up the tent in front of the bathroom.

    But it’s pretty quiet, the frogs and cicadas are lovely, and I’m watching stars through the roof of the tent. Life could be worse. Most of the folks at the camp seem to be racing the half, so it was like a switch was thrown once the sun went down – quiet except for the handful of young teens too young to leave home while ms and/or pa race.

    So, I’m going to listen to the bugs for a while, and be back at the crack of dawn.

    Colchester Half Marathon 2009 / Lent

    I ran this over the weekend with a bunch of guys from the church.

    Missy ran it last year, and had been warning me about how tough it was. I was kind of skeptical – our first stretch living up in Connecticut, we lived just off of the course, and I didn’t recall it being that hilly of an area.

    Thing is, I wasn’t a runner then.

    This is one of the toughest races I’ve run – up and down all over the place. TRCWTOH has said she wasn’t crazy enough to run it (though I’m guessing she could run anything. But won’t press it, as she volunteered to bring beer and chips to the finish next year). And we ran it this year in completely benign weather – mid to upper 30’s, not terribly windy. Missy keeps reminding me that there was a bizzard the day before last year’s running, and she still finished.

    Anyway, I felt pretty good throughout the whole race. Set a pace and mostly stuck to it. I walked a bit of the last mile, just because I didn’t want to go all-in, as this was a training run and not a flagship race. I’d set a goal of finishing in 2 hours with gas left in the tank to keep training this week, and think I hit that goal well.

    Almost too well – I finished at just over 1:54, which is within spitting distance of my 1:53 PR from the OKC half last April. Considering the degree of difficulty for the course, I’m over the moon with the performance. I’m still carrying at least 10-15 lbs more than I should be (probably closer to 20-25 lbs over optimal), but it’s a sign that the motor is working well.

    And look at that effective transition to talking about Lent!

    Since I’ve put on a few pounds since the New Year, I’m giving up (in order of priority):

    1. Drive-Thrus
    2. Deep-Fried Stuff
    3. Soda

    Drive-thrus make sure that I’m going places with good food choices, and providing the ability to eat well. Deep-fried stuff eliminates french fries and onion rings, which, while especially delicious, are nothing but empty calories, and lots of them. And while I drink just diet soda, I’m beginning to buy the argument that it just doesn’t matter. Between the artificial sweetener and carbonation, there’s got to be lots of bad stuff going on in soda that the body doesn’t like.

    I broke down and had a soda on Sunday, but that’s only one in an entire week, which isn’t so bad.