Gobble Wobble 5K Race Report

As some of you may recall, we have a Thanksgiving tradition on my wife's side of the family. Each year, everyone in the family converges on North Wales, PA to share good food, good company, and to participate in the Gobble Wobble 5K Run and Fun Walk. Some of us run, some of us walk, and Scott stays home to cook a breakfast feast for after the race.

The Gobble Wobble 5K course is pretty hilly. Despite the hills, each year the competition seems to get faster. Winning times are going down and more people seem to be really racing. This year was no exception. In fact the winning time was a new course record at 15:41.

In past years we have arrived at the race location, gone inside and waited in long lines for the bathroom before making our way to the start line. This year, Melissa, Chad and I went straight to the start to warm up and use the porta johns. There was not much of a line at the porta johns so that worked out great. Plus as I have learned, if I warm up before the race, getting my heart rate up and getting out of breath, I have a much better race.

As I warmed up I was thinking about my goals for the race. I have been running track, and doing some trail running. In addition, I have been cycling and swimming. Given these workouts, I was thinking I might be able to have a decent race. As I finished up my warm up, I decided I would be happy with a 22 minute finishing time.

Before you know it, it was time to line up at the start and race. The race starts 0n a pretty significant downhill so when the gun goes off, there is a mad dash down the hill which makes the first mile a fast mile. Even though I have run this course a few times, I had forgotten how hilly it is. I knew there were hills but for some reason it seemed more hilly than I remembered it.

As I was racing, I noticed that most of the people around me were quite a bit younger. Perhaps I could do well in my age group. I ran the first mile in just under 6:30. The fast downhill plus my tendency to go out fast made this first mile my fastest. The second mile was much slower (7:41 pace) but then again mile 1 to mile 2 is all uphill (see elevation profile below). Mile 3 is mostly downhill with a final uphill before hitting the track. As I rounded the final turn of the track, I could see the finish clock. If I hurried, I could break 22 minutes. I turned on the gas and passed a few people to finish in 21:51 according to my watch, 21:53 according to the official results. I took 6th in my age group. Not too bad really. I think I could do better by training on more hills but overall, I was pleased with the performance.


The Gobble Wobble 5K has become a nice healthy Thanksgiving tradition. It is fun to be active when on holiday. In fact, the next day after the race, I had a leisurely morning followed by a late morning 40 minute tempo run. I felt great during this run and was glad to be out in the gorgeous weather.

On Saturday, we drove back to Richmond early to beat the traffic. After a quick nap, I went for about an hour walk down at the river and then swam for about a half an hour in the pool. Next on my list is to go for a 90 minute long and slow run. Then tomorrow our week of swimming, yoga, cycling, and running continues. My goal for this next week is to get into the pool more often to work on my stroke.

That's all for now. I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving and thanks for reading. Comments appreciated.

It is Official

Today I took the plunge and officially signed up with Pro K training. I have been swimming with Karen's guppies class for about a year now and I have been going to track workouts for about a month or so. Also we just completed our 3rd week of cycling at Richmond Cycling Corporation. I have enjoyed the workouts and the people. It's nice to get to know like-minded individuals who share a passion for health, exercise, and camaraderie. Quite refreshing really.

Not to bash my former soccer teammates too much. But I got the feeling they were weekend warriors who were more concerned with football, beer, and partying when not on the soccer field while I was more dedicated to staying fit throughout the week. Not everyone was like that but there were just enough to turn me off a bit.

There is still some gentle trash talking amongst my new triathlon friends but it is not hateful. For some reason when you put a bunch of guys together, they tend to bash each other. It is as if that is the only way they know how to communicate. Pro K training is a community of co-ed athletes with various levels of skill, strength, talent, and experience (way more than me) who work together to train their minds and bodies for the rigors of Triathlon.

Before I signed up with Karen (that is where the K comes from in Pro K), I had to piece together my 2012 plans so she could train me properly. I have set out a very ambitious schedule. This past season I completed 6 triathlons, 3 running races, and a mountain bike race. Not too shabby. This year, I have decided on 3 running races and 6 or 7 triathlons. Also I will be tackling longer races. I am still going to race nothing longer than a half ironman distance race but in 2012, I am planning two Halfs as well as more International distances rather than sprint distance races.

My first race of the season is tentative at this point. On January 14th, there is a 35K trail run that I have been toying with. Right now I am not sure if my knees can handle all the hill work. I am still bothered by my knees with good days and bad days throughout the week. The more I sit at work, the worse they get. If I am going to do this trail race, I am going to have to make good friends with my foam roller as well as do some strength training.

I am excited to be training with my new group and am looking forward to the 2012 race season. It won't be all exercise. I do want to carve out some beach time this summer. Last summer I got zero hours on the beach. Not that I am a beach bum or anything but I do enjoy the laid back atmosphere of lying on the beach, reading a magazine, falling asleep, etc.

That is about all I have for you right now. Comments are appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Let the Off Season Begin

After my break from hard, regimented training, I have recently started what I call my off season. My off season is structured in some ways, not too structured in other ways. My schedule from now through the winter is pretty much spelled out. The structured part follows this schedule:

• Monday morning swim
• Monday evening Yoga
• Tuesday morning Cycling Class
• Tuesday evening Track
• Thursday morning Cycling Class
• Saturday morning Cycling Class

The main goal of these off season training sessions is to work on my form. Each of the workouts on my schedule is done under the corrective eye of a coach. While I have not officially signed on with the coach, I will be meeting with her this Saturday to go over a few things and hopefully become a part of her Pro K triathlon training team.

The cycling class is being taught by Craig at the Richmond Cycling Corporation. Here is a snippet from their web site:

RICHMOND CYCLING CORPS (RCC) is a prestigious non-profit organization that provides leadership and personal development to Richmond’s urban youth through the sport of cycling. The corps connects highly qualified staff and volunteers to provide cycling opportunities, outreach, academic support, and fitness towards our youth participants in a knuckles-down, all for one environment. We obtain funding through Richmond-area business partnerships and individual supporters all over the country to provide these opportunities to Richmond-urban youth at no cost.

One of the way RCC raises money is through cycling classes. Karen arranged for her Tri team to get a group discount. We meet on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at the RCC at 6 AM for a one hour session with Craig. Craig was a little reluctant at first to schedule such early sessions because he was not convinced the class would be consistently well attended. Little did he know that triathletes are committed to their sport and will make sacrifices to improve their fitness and abilities. So far the class has been full.

On Saturdays, Karen will lead a longer class that will be more laid back and less structured. This morning when there was a discussion about what time we were going to start on Saturday, Craig was again surprised that we would be starting so early, at 7AM. He asked if we ever slept in. One guy on our team said, "What is sleeping in?"

During the class, Craig is teaching us some physiology, some technique, and helping us train more efficiently. We do lots of drills, including one-leg drills, low-cadence drills, high-cadence drills to a metronome, biking to exhaustion (all-out drills that last 10 to 15 seconds), as well as some mental training. We have only had two sessions but I can already tell that I am going to love this class and get a great benefit from it. The bike portion of the Triathlon is the longest and takes the most time so training smart on the bike is very important. Also, as I learned in my first year of Triathlon, my bike skills need work. There are a few words and phrases that describe my abilities on the bike: Low Power, Inefficient, Low Endurance, and as a result of these things, Slow. I know this class will help me improve all of these things.

Track practice has also been fun. I have been attending the track practices for several weeks. Since it is the off season, the coach is really taking it easy on us. She is trying to get us to learn how to pace ourselves evenly. We do lots of timed 1200s, 1600s, and 800s, as well as some drills. There are two guys who are faster than me but I have about 10 years on them so I feel pretty good about that.

The last discipline I am trying to perfect is my swim. My swim stroke is horrible. Let me let the video do the talking:

Video number 1

http://youtu.be/qM6jo1YUc8U


Video number 2

http://youtu.be/rwyDiZ_iAKM



I am not sure how I am going to get my stroke straightened out. I understand what I am doing wrong but it has been difficult for me to get my hips and shoulder to cooperate and I have a very weak kick. There are so many things to fix, sometimes it is hard to remember all the pieces of a good stroke and get it all to come together. My overall swimming fitness has improved. But I am still slow and inefficient. I know I will get there eventually.

Now to switch gears a little, I must talk about Yoga. Our Yoga instructor is the best. Her class is intimate and delightful. Kelly's class is the perfect pace and the vibe is so cleansing for both mind and body. For every move she teaches us, there is always a slight variation to make it more or less challenging. She knows how to gently guide us in and out of poses so we get the benefit of strong poses as well as rest in between. I have really come to love the class.

One of the best things about this entire schedule listed above is Melissa does it all with me. Being able to train together has been a great treat. I know that the training is going to help improve my time on the various courses next season and I know it will allow Melissa to enjoy the races even more. I am looking forward to the spring season. Now we just have to find a good destination race for next year.

Well that about wraps up my discussion of my off season training regimen. In addition to these scheduled practices, I will also be doing some trail runs. Last Sunday I ran 7.5 miles on the trails in about 1 hour. It was a beautiful day for a run in the park and I had a great workout. Also, I will be ratcheting things up a bit in anticipation of the Gobble Wobble 5K on Thanksgiving. The course is hilly so I will need to get some hill work in between now and then. It is all just for fun but if I run well, I could be in the top 10 in my age group.

Thanks for reading.