Boston Wins!

Apr 8 - Apr 14
S:  18,500 yds - 4hr 19min

B:  104.63 mi - 5hr 41min

R:  28.01 mi - 3hr 40min

Total:  13hr 40min

Apr 15 - Apr 21
S:  8,850 yds - 2hr 6min

B:  142.91 mi - 9hr 7min

R:  42.21 mi - 5hr 29min

Total:  16hr 42min

"Boston wins."  An old rowing boat-mate of mine from my summer rowing with CRI back in 2006 uttered these words via social media right after the bomber was finally apprehended in Watertown, MA on Friday, and this statement pretty much sums up the city of Boston in my mind.  From the short time I spent as a rower in this fabulous city, to the 2005 and 2006 editions of The Head of the Charles Regatta, to the amazing trip last week spent watching the 2013 Boston Marathon and sightseeing thereafter, to the amazing experiences and friendly people met in every trip, to the outpouring of extreme friendliness this past week by locals, and to the all-around awesomeness-brain power-nerd-tough guy-cool accent-historic aurora that is the city of Boston, this city is undoubtedly one that you really, really don’t want to mess with.

Double Oak Duathlon Race Report

Apr 1 - Apr 7
S:  13,800 yds - 3hr 13min

B:  102.38 mi - 5hr 50min

R:  25.90 mi - 3hr 21min

Total:  12hr 24min

Last year I began the multisport season with the Double Oak Duathlon; a short, ~1 hour race right in my own backyard at Oak Mountain State Park.  It went well and I thought it was a good distance for the first race of the year, so I decided to do it again.  This year's duathlon was to be the same course as last year; a 5k run, 20k bike, and 2.5k run, with a 0.6 mile section on single track trail in each of the runs.  To sum it up in short, I was able to get the win!  Here's how it happened:

Run 1 and T1 - 20:52
As we lined up, I began to size up the competition and noticed there were maybe 1-2 guys that I did not know that looked like they could be fast.  Locally, I knew there was no one out there that could beat me so the main threat would be from an unknown competitor.  The goal for the race was to win, and I wouldn't be happy with anything else.  As the gun went off, we took off.  The race began with a 0.25 mile slight uphill and everyone was just crushing it.  I looked down at my Garmin after a minute and we were still running 5:25 pace (up a slight incline, remember) and I was sitting in 10th place (ridiculous).  I decided there was no way any of these guys could keep it up so I backed down to a more reasonable 5:50-6:10 pace (depending on the hills).  Sure enough, a couple of guys started to fade and I quickly moved into 4th place.  I had noticed that one guy shot straight off the front at the beginning of the race...he looked like a runner and I knew he would be the guy to beat.  Miles 1 and 2 clicked by in 6:02 and 5:54 before entering the single track for the last little bit of the run.  No issues there and I approached T1 in 4th place ready to lay down some watts. 

Bike - 32:06
Duathlon is so hard, don't let anyone try and tell you otherwise.  IMO, it's way harder than triathlon.  Try running a 5k at full gas and then hop on your bike and do a 30 minute threshold interval...it's not easy!  The leader of the race had about 1:45 on me starting the bike, so I had my work cut out for me.  The first couple minutes of the bike were flat/downhill so I spent that time letting my heart drop 185 bpm down to 160 bpm.  As soon as we hit the main road I settled into a hard effort of 270-280 watts, knowing that I would soon start to reel in the 3 leaders.  At the 3 mile mark I saw 2nd and 3rd place up the road.  Not long after I was up on them and quickly blew by them.  As we approached the turnaround I caught a glimpse of the leader.  He must have been a slow descender because after a short descent I was right up on him as we rounded the turnaround cone.  At this point, I decided to put my vo2 work to use and used the long hill right after the turnaround to punch it hard for about a minute in order to leave him in the dust.  At the top of the hill I had a sizable gap, and from there on I was just following the lead motorcycle into T2 while trying to increase my lead. 

T2 and Run 2 - 10:02
I rolled into T2 with what I later would find out to be about a 2 minute lead.  After fumbling with my shoes I ran out to start the run and a quick glance behind me showed no sign of any competitors.  The first part of the run was on uphill single track trail, and I hammered it hard knowing that the guy in 2nd was a strong runner.  As the minutes went by, however, he was still out of sight so I knew I had it in the bag.  The last half mile was downhill so I coasted into the finish line and snapped the tape with a ~1 minute margin of victory.  This year is off to a good start so far...hopefully there will be more where this came from!

the top 3 overall podium

Rumpshaker 5k Race Report

Mar 25 - Mar 31
S:  11,450 yds - 2hr 41min

B:  116.28 mi - 6hr 40min

R:  39.83 mi - 5hr 16min

Total:  14hr 37min

With a name like Rumpshaker 5k, I couldn’t really turn down this race!  The course is mostly flat and super fast, and with a huge half mary PB back in early March I figured that I was due for raising the bar in the 5k distance.  The competition at this race always seems to be a little stiff for a local 5k, with winning times usually in the low 16’s.  I figured I may be good for a top 5 overall or so, and I also joined up with some friends in the coed team division to try and do some damage there.  Race morning was practically perfect!  Temperatures were in the mid to upper 50’s with a slight cool breeze, and the sky was partly cloudy…perfect race weather.  Lori and I did a nice 20 minute warm up with a couple of strides, and then it was off to the start line.  The race played out pretty much how all 5k’s play out: start out hard and hold on for dear life.

Straight from the gun we took off and I hopped on the heels of the leaders.  Three to four of us got an early gap in the first minute or so, right before going over a bridge with the only elevation change on the course.  As we hit the bridge I backed down to a sustainable pace while the 3 others pressed on ahead.  By the end of the bridge I had been passed and was sitting in 6th place with local baller Deanna Newman sitting on my feet.  The goal for the race quickly turned to “do not get chicked!”.  We rolled through mile 1 in 5:35 and I was hurting but still felt relatively good (not that you ever feel good in a 5k, but I felt like I could at least possibly maintain that pace).  At the halfway point I really started to hurt (physically and mentally) but just told myself that if I could only suck it up for 9 more minutes I’d have a nice new PB.  Mile 2 rolled through in 5:49 and I think I had put a small gap into Deanna, although I wouldn’t let myself look back because that shows weakness.  Mile 3 brought a new sense of determination.  We were on the out-and back portion of the course so seeing other runners was motivating.  Coming back over the bridge I just about blew myself up but fortunately I crested the top before that happened.  Mile 3 was a 5:44 and since I was still too afraid to look back I decided to just try and make myself sprint for the line.  I was really hyperventilating at this point and remember thinking to myself that I had not breathed that hard in quite some time.  I crossed the line in 17:32 for 6th overall, and ended up not getting chicked…yay!  Props to Deanna for a 17:39…not too shabby for a 42 year old female.  And even more props to Lori, who came in 2nd overall female at 17:52…a monster 40 second PB!  Also, our coed team crushed it for the win with a 5-runner average time of 19:03…boom!

Spoils from the race!

What’s even more awesome about this 5k is that I dropped my PB by 20 seconds and it’s only March.  Aside from some 3 to 4 minute hard efforts here in there inside a normal 50 minute run, most of my runs have been easy 7:30 - 8:00 pace.  I think I may have some upside!  The only thing I have been doing of note is running 33 mpw so far in 2013, and 30 mpw for all of 2012.  Sure…speed work may be necessary to run your fastest, but it seems that most underestimate or completely miss the point that consistent mileage is needed as well!