Last Minute Entry

As you know, on April 17th I did an off road Duathlon called the Fredericksburg Offroad Duathlon. The FORD1 was a lot of fun. My friend Mario and are were competing against each other with the loser buying the winner dinner. That was the bet. You also probably know that Mario beat me. But not by much. The results of the race were posted on the FORD website. Mario ended up beating me by 1 minute and 45 seconds. I tried to post the data below but it does not seem to be showing up correctly. Once you finish reading the blog, you can come back to this link to see the Overall Results. http://fredevents.org/Results.htm

Place	Bib #	Team Name	First Name	Last Name	Age	M/F	1st Run	T-1	Bike	T-2	2nd Run	Finish

33	245		Mario	Kepus	42	M	0:25:38	0:00:57	1:02:44	0:01:10	0:25:28	1:55:57
34	243		Jim	Rosen	41	M	0:25:12	0:02:02	1:04:05	0:01:28	0:24:55	1:57:42

As I mentioned before, I thought I did pretty well considering I had not been running hardly at all to prepare for the race. I had been putting in some miles on my bike though.

As the next weekend rolled around, my only plans for the weekend were to go support Melissa who was running a 5k on Saturday morning. We got up about 6:30 AM on Saturday to prepare for the race. I was the designated jacket holder and picture taker. I got up and made myself an egg and cheese sandwich while getting my things together. There was a slight drizzle going so I dressed warm and grabbed the umbrella. As it turned out the rain petered out and I did not need the umbrella.

Once we made it to the race venue and Melissa got checked in, we ran into a coworker of mine who was also running the race. This would be Goran's first race ever. There was a pretty small field of runners for this charity event. There are lots of such charity 5K events every so often during race season.

Melissa ran well and PR'd. It was only her second 5K and she ran the first mile very fast. The rolling hills made it more difficult running than the Monument Avenue 10K but since it was shorter, going out too fast did not hurt her too much. Goran also ran well. And he placed third in his age group. Not bad for his first ever race. Next up for Melissa is a hilly 8K in May and Goran may have been bitten by the race bug and may do some more races soon.

As we were driving home from the race, I was thinking what I wanted to do for my workout. The previous weekend had been so much fun and a great workout. I was wondering how I could have a similar workout this weekend. When we got home, I got online and decided to look one more time at the National Duathlon web site. The previous day, I had toyed with the idea of doing the race but I found out through the message board that credit cards were not accepted on race day registration and I was short on cash because it was the end of the month. But when I checked the site again on Saturday morning about 10:00 AM, I found out they did indeed take credit cards. I thought, "what the heck" and decided to eat some more and gather my gear together and go race. Another smoothie was on the menu along with an orange and another banana.

I got down to the venue about 11:15 and got all registered and got my body marking done. Instead of just wearing a number on my jersey, helmet, and bike, we also got our race numbers written on our hand. We also had our age inked onto the back of the calf. I am not sure why they do it like that but it is a nice feeling to pass someone with a 26 on their calf. And then humbling to be passed by someone with a 50 on their calf.

After getting all registered, I got my bike all racked and started eating some food I had brought with me. I had another banana, a granola, and a small can of tuna. The tuna is convenient because I just eat it right out of the can and it seems to sit well enough with me. After fueling up and going through some other pre race rituals, I made my way down to the start. I ran into my doctor down there. He was working the medical for the Saturday off-road duathlon and would be racing the on-road even the next day.

There was a much bigger field this year for sure. The last two years I did the race, I was amazed at how fast the runners burst into high gear from the very start. This year, they did not seem to take off quite as fast. Perhaps because the run course was different and would prove to be a much more difficult course than in previous years.

I was actually looking forward to the 11K run because I knew the trails very well. After running over the Lee bridge, we descended a spiral stair case to down to the river. It was 70 steps down to the river. We then ran along the river on the flat gravel path until we reached another set of spiral stairs that was also 70 steps. Once we got up the stairs, we ran up and down the trails, over the rocks and roots, over some creek crossings and down to the Nickel Bridge (no longer a nickel by the way). Once across the bridge, we ran some more trails including a very steep climb that led us up to another neighborhood. After running several blocks on the road, we dropped back into the woods for the up and down technical North Bank trail.

At this point in the race, we were all pretty spread out along the trail. Some runners were suffering through the run. I was pushing it pretty hard too. This first leg would be the most I had run since I stopped running last year before my surgery and slightly more than I had run in the previous week's duo. Over the years I have found that I am pretty good at running down technical trails. As runners would start to gain on me, we would get to the downhill part and I would fly down the trail with a hippidy hop, floppidy flop. The downhill portions allowed me to gain on people in front of me and lose people behind me. And since I was so intimately familiar with the trails, I felt great pushing the envelope.

Once I made it back to the transition zone, I popped off my running shoes and put on my bike shoes, helmet, riding glasses, and gloves. I downed a few gulps of Gatorade and headed out of transition. A quick steep climb got me out of transition and onto the road where we once again went up onto the Lee Bridge. It was a little windy on the bridge but not too bad. I started warming up and was actually gaining on someone in front of me. I managed to pass someone before getting across the bridge and back down to the first spiral staircase. As I was carrying my bike down the stairs, I heard a distinctive sound coming down behind me. Some nut job was actually riding down the stairs. Nut job is probably not a nice thing to say about an expert rider who has the talent and strength to ride down 70 steps that spiral down about 6 to 8 steps at a time. But seriously, how does one work up to being able to do something like that?

I hurried down the rest of the way so that I would not impede this guy's progress. As I was mounting my bike at the bottom of the stairs, this guy went flying by. He was really crunching it, legs furiously pumping but arms and elbows in tight helping him stay as aerodynamic as possible. It struck me as odd that someone with this talent was somehow behind me. I did not think much about it and continued down the path.

After a few minutes, another rider passed me. He was also pushing hard, riding the big gear with his arms tucked in tight. Then I realized what had happened. The race course had a section that looped around and covered some of the same ground. These guys had already done the first loop. I was not really being lapped but they were significantly ahead of me. But I did not really care. I just wanted to finish better than last year.

Suddenly, I started to get calf cramps. They were quite painful and forced me off the bike. I really had only been on the bike for less than 10 minutes and already I was cramping like mad. I chugged my Gatorade and ate a Power Gel and washed it down with plenty of water. I also did some stretching and massaging of my calves. A bunch of riders went by. Someone asked if I was ok and I yelled that I was fine-just cramping.

I managed to get on the bike and continue down the path to the 42 street stairs. I had already climbed these stairs once during the run. I hoisted my bike onto my shoulder and headed up the stairs. After another 70 steps, I was at the top and ready to head back into the woods on the bike.

During this next portion, I cramped again. I got off the bike one more time and did some stretching before continuing along. A biker came up behind me and I asked him if he wanted to pass. He said no that he would just "hang out." So he followed me through the woods for a while. At one point he asked me how I was doing and I told him I was cramping in my calves. He said he was a doctor and he could help. He told me to drink as much water as possible and also to keep my heals down as much as possible. And since I am good at following directions, that is what I did. I drank more water and I sat back on my seat and forced my heals down as I pedaled. Boy did that help! After a while, I felt much better. I wanted to thank the guy but i was also in a race so I took off.

I continued on the technical trails feeling better and better. I had to carry bike bike down the 22nd street stairs once again and then up the 42nd street stairs. In case you are counting, I had run down the 22nd street stairs once, carried my bike down the 22nd street stairs twice, and climbed the 42 street stairs 2 times-once running and twice carrying my bike. Given that there are 70 steps on each stair case - well you can do the math. I will just say it was a lot of stairs!

Once I got to the Nickel Bridge again, I knew I was going to be able to finish the race pretty well. I still had one super steep climb but I also knew that I probably would just jump off and push up the hill. And that is what I did. Pushing my bike up the hill actually helped stretch out my calves. I managed to pass a few more people on the last portion of the trail and rolled into transition feeling pretty good.

In transition, I drank some more Gatorade and changed into my running shoes and then took off for the final 3.5k. After an 11K run and 26K mountain bike, I was glad the second run was short. And it was an easier course too. I felt pretty good and managed to run the whole second run leg at a decent pace averaging slightly less than an 8.5 minute mile.

At the end of the race, I gave it my all. I did have a kick but it was not as fast as the previous race kick had been. I was pretty out of breath when I crossed the finish line. Not so tired as to neglect reading the ingredients of the Gatorade they were giving away at the finish line. Luckily there was no High Fructose Corn Syrup in the beverage so I went ahead and took one.

Here are my results. Again, they did not post well so you can always come back to this link if you like. http://www.pigmantri.com/jmsracing/results10/ndufest10f.html.

  OFF ROAD SPORT RACE                                                             11K Run, 21K Bike, 3.5K Run  TOT DIV                                                               RUN            TRAN        BIKE           TRAN        RUN2        TOTAL PLC PLC    NAME                    CITY           ST CTZ AGE S  plc   time   pace    time  plc   time   mph     time  plc   time   pace TIME

36  10/16   Rosen James             Bellevue       VA USA  42 M   41 1:10:24 10:18    2:10   38 1:40:10   7.8    1:44   25   18:19  8:26 3:12:46

So overall, it was a great race. I was 36 out of 64 riders in my division which was much better than last year. 

The following weekend, Melissa and I went out of town and so I got behind on my blogging. Next time, I will tell you about our trip which was very active and very fun.  

FORD 1 Plus

I have never really considered myself a morning person but when my alarm went off at 5:20 Saturday morning, I was able to pop up and get moving pretty easily. It was race day and I had to get up early enough to give me time to eat and make final preparations before my friends arrived at my house around 6:30. I was excited when I woke up.

I started the morning off with a hot wake up shower. Even though I would be sweating hard and getting very muddy during the race, I find that the morning hot shower gets my system going. After a quick shower, I had my signature smoothie. This would be the first time I would have the smoothie before working out. But if it is good enough for Scott Jurek, it is good enough for me. I also had an English muffin with some jam. Later on the trip up to the race venue in Fredericksburg, I had a banana and granola bar. I think it ended up being just the right amount of food and energy although I did start to get hungry towards the very end of the race.

We really could not have had much better weather. The predicted rain was a non event. It was already 70 degrees when I got up but the mercury did not really rise much more than 70 throughout the day. After the race, some of my friends would complain that it was too hot. But I like to sweat and as long as it is not too hot, I don't mind a little warmth.

We arrived plenty early and got checked in and got our bikes all setup in the transition zone. It was a relatively small race compared to other duos I have done. My friend Jeff and I did a warm up run and experienced some of the trails that we would be running and biking on during the race. We broke a little sweat and got our heart rates up some in preparation for the difficult course.

At 9:00 AM the race started with our run down a gravel road and then down a flat dirt trail. After going for about a half mile down the flat trail, we took a sharp left and went into the woods. The trail promptly went up. We climbed for a bit and then went back down and across a small creek. It was sort of funny to see a few people trying to pick their way across the creek without getting wet. I splashed through the creek and up the steep embankment and continued climbing on the single track. I always do pretty well on trails and was able to pass some people on some of the climbs and on some of the downhills.

Once we got through with the loop through the woods, we dropped back down and ran on the dirt trails for a while on our way back to the transition zone. My friend Jeff started to pull away from me on the flats. Another runner or two also passed me on the flats. My friend Mario was behind me somewhere but I was not really sure how far back he was. Mario and I were competing for a dinner so I was glad I was in front of him.

When I got into the transition zone, I realized I had made a mistake. I had double knotted my running shoes and with my heart pounding and lungs working hard, it was hard to get them untied. I lost about 15 seconds or so getting the shoes off. While I was getting suited up for the mountain bike ride, Mario came into transition. He wore his bike gloves during the run to help shave off some seconds in transition. He also must have done something else different because even though he came into transition 30 seconds behind me, he left the transition zone before me. I finally got all my stuff together and took off on the bike.

I could not see Mario anywhere ahead of me. He must have been really punching it. The first part of the bike course followed part of the run course. When I approached the turn off into the woods, I saw Mario pushing his bike up the first climb. That really surprised me. I was wondering if he was already feeling weak and could not do the climb which lead me to believe I should be able to beat him. As I found out later, Mario actually had just had a crash on the hill. Once you lose momentum on a steep hill, the only way to get going again is to push the bike up the hill until it levels out enough to get going again.

I was slowly catching up to Mario. I could see him ahead of me and kept pushing hard to catch him. I finally passed him on a steep hill. He had spun out and was pushing his bike up the hill and I rode past him. After a few up and downs we came to "The Tunnel." There was a drainage tunnel that went under I95 and we had to ride through it. There was a couple inches of water flowing through it and it was very dark. We could see the light at the end of the tunnel but that was about it. Someone behind me said they were passing me on the right in the tunnel. I could not see the sides of the tunnel and I could not see the rider passing me on my right. Once he got in front of me, I could see his silhouette because of the light at the end of the tunnel. It was easier to follow someone in the tunnel so I was actually glad this person passed me. We let out some mandatory screams which is something that just has to be done when you are riding your bike through a very dark storm tunnel under the highway.

Once we got to the other side of I95 we had some more steep climbs. I saw a rider in front of me struggling with the steep climb. Then I realized it was Mario. I asked him if he passed me in the tunnel. It turns out it was Mario passing me in the tunnel. That shows you how dark that tunnel was. I did not even realize it was Mario who was passing me.

I was able to pass him and then him me. We traded off like this for a while. I was right behind Mario when we started some fast descents. Unfortunately for me, he was able to pass a slower rider who I then got stuck behind. And that would be the last I saw of Mario. I was eventually able to pass the slower rider but it was too little too late. Now that I was riding on my own with no one to follow, I went at a slower pace. When mountain biking on trails that are unfamiliar, it helps to follow someone else. It is easier to pick good lines based on the person in front of you.

The last part of the bike ride was flat but there were lots of tree crossings. Some of them were too big for me and I had to quickly jump off my bike, clear the obstacle, and then jump back on. Most of the obstacles I could clear but my arms were starting to get tired from all the pulling up on the bars to get over the obstacles. I finally made it back to the dirt trail that I was more familiar with and I was able to kick it up a notch and finish the bike ride pretty strong.

My second transition was much faster. I did not really think I could catch Mario but I wanted to go as fast as I could. It was a race after all. I ran the second run pretty well. I was able to maintain a decent pace and keep moving. Towards the end of the run, I started to get hungry. I did not have much more to run but the stomach grumbling was a little distracting. I decided to have a bite of my Luna bar as I ran along the river. That one bite was enough to keep my stomach from feeling empty.

As I came out of the woods on to the final stretch along a gravel road, I saw another runner up ahead of me. He was about 50 yards ahead of me. As a motivator, I decided I would catch him and beat him to the finish line. I stepped up my pace so I could close in on him. Once I got about 20 yards from him, I put the hammer down and engaged my signature kick. I always kick hard at the end of my races. I get up to an all out sprint. After all, after I cross the finish line, the race will be over. I might as well leave it all on the course.

After the race, we stuck around for a little while before heading home. I felt pretty good about the race. Sure I did not beat my friends and now owed Mario a steak dinner but considering that those 4.6 miles I just ran were those most I had run since last September, I was quite pleased with my performance.

Now that my first FORD#1 was behind me, I went home and iced, refueled, and re-hydrated. I had to press the reset button for Sunday. On Sunday I got up early again and ran a 10K with my friend. It as a charity event so it was a fun run. I made my donation and ran the rolling hills of Ashland. And I actually felt pretty darn good. It was fun to spend some time with my friend Chris. He lives on the other side of the river now and has a 2 year old so we don't get to spend that much time together nowadays. We ran together for most of the run until near the end when I sped up and passed a few people and again demonstrated my signature kick. I finished strong in 1 hour and 33 seconds. It was a great run and once again, I had run further than I had run since last September.

After the run, I came home. Melissa had been working all morning in the garden. I offered to go get us some lunch so she could finish up. We had a hive checked scheduled and she wanted to finish up in the garden before we started with the hive check. After a Panera Bread lunch, we did the hive check. I will let Melissa talk more of that in her blog http://houseofbees.wordpress.com.

Once the hive check was complete, Melissa headed off to meet a friend to do some road biking. And since I can rest when I am dead, I took my mountain bike to the park and did an hour pretty hard on the mountain bike. Then I was off to Whole Foods to load up on fruits and vegetables for the week. Melissa was going straight from her bike ride to the pool for her weekly swim workout. While she was at the pool, I came home and did my upper body workout. I pushed it hard and got in a really killer workout.

After my third workout of the day, I made some smoothies for Melissa and me and then made dinner. Alas the weekend is now coming to a close. Tomorrow will be a rest and recovery day. I plan to do some walking and stretching and perhaps a hot Epsom salt soak. Plus I have to wash all the technical clothing that I went through this weekend.

I am very happy with all of my workouts and my progress towards being super fit. My diet and strength/core workouts are definitely paying off. I really should not have been able to run as well as I did considering that I have not done much running. I attribute how well I ran and how well I felt to my cross training and core work. I highly recommend it to everyone.

Jam Packed Weekend

This weekend was jam packed with exercise goodness. It started Saturday morning with a 5AM alarm. Melissa got up early to head to North Carolina to pick up her bees. I also woke up to see her off. And when I say, "see her off" really I mean I made sure she was up and then said goodbye and promptly rolled over and went back to sleep.

I did manage to get up, have breakfast, and get out in to the yard by 8:30. I had a lot of work to do to prepare the yard for the arrival of the bees. In the words of rapper Young MC, I had to bust a move. And bust a move I did. I worked hard and fast so I could get all the work done and then drive to Fredericksburg to ride. Around 11, I had finished most everything except cutting the front yard. I decided to take a break and get ready for my ride. I figured I could always finish the front yard in the morning. But I had an issue with my bike and after working on it for a while decided to take it to the shop. I took it to a small shop I go to for minor repairs and then headed home to finish the yard. By the time I got home, the bike was finished. So I boogied through the rest of the yard, headed out to get my bike and instead of going to Fredericksburg, headed down to the river. I had a great 2 hour ride down at the river. I rode Northbank, Belle Island, the Buttermilk, and Forest Hill Park. I felt great.

I arrived home from the river in time to watch the Super Classico (Real Madrid vs Barcelona). The game lived up to the hype and was exciting. Barcelona won 2-0. Of course as usual I iced my knees while watching the game. Around 5:10, I got the call from Melissa that she would be home with the bees in about 20 minutes. So I donned my bee keepers outfit and got the camera ready. When Melissa got home, I filmed and took pictures of the bee installation. After the bee installation it was time for a quick dinner out a our new favorite Thai place. Then home to ice my knees some more on the couch.

On Sunday, I made it to Fredericksburg to explore and ride the trails for my upcoming race. I found much more of the trails than we had the other day when I went up with my friends. There was lots of climbing and some difficult log crossings but the climbs were slightly less steep than what we had done the other day. I know I did not get through the whole course but I feel like I have a better idea of what to expect. I probably could have ridden more but I had a nice endo crash that sent me airborne. I landed right smack in the middle of the trail and luckily I was not still clipped into my bike. I was mostly not hurt and got up and kept riding. But I had lost some of my steam at that point. After I got back to the road, I did a little cool down ride on a paved trail that was quite nice.

After I got home from F'burg, I had lunch with Melissa but I felt like doing some more riding. So I went down to the river and did some more riding. I did not push my luck and did a shorter ride than my river ride from Saturday. On the way home from the river I loaded up on some great food from Whole Foods so I am all set with plenty of fruit and vegetables for the week.

Once I got home and got the groceries unloaded, I did my upper body and core workout. I added another upper body exercise and modified my shoulder presses based on something I read the other day. When I do my overhead dumbbell shoulder presses, I sit on my BOSU ball. To make it more difficult, I held one leg up off the ground. This really made it more difficult. By the time I was done with all my exercises, I was pretty spent. But I was not quite done. I had to make my shake and our dinner. While Melissa worked on our taxes, I got everything going. Then when she told me about our refund, I started to do some impromptu dancing. I was pretty excited because now we can use this money for our upcoming vacation to Vermont. More to come on that topic later.

I realize that this post is not too exciting but I wanted to detail the fact that I had a very busy and very active weekend. Now I need to focus on getting plenty of rest this week in preparation for my race. I will probably do some running and some easy riding this week and try to eat right. I plan to bring my lunch to work a few times this week so I can better control what I put into my body. I am still eating lunches out at restaurants pretty often with some of the guys at work. That is one aspect of my diet I still need to work on. Overall I am doing well but I think I can do even better.

Thanks for reading.

Busy, Busy

Now that spring is in full effect, I have been very busy and have not had much time to organize my thoughts and update my blog. Also, I have not gotten nearly enough workouts in for the upcoming Duo in Fredericksburg. At this point, I probably cannot gain too much fitness before the race so I am not going to worry about it too much.

Last weekend was Easter. We enjoyed having my parents and brother John for the weekend. We had a nice time at church, enjoyed some good meals, and did some nice walks. Needless to say, I did not get to workout at all. I probably could have used the rest but I feel like I have been slacking off. In actuality I have been busy doing some yard chores and have had less time for a traditional workout. But these chores must be done. We have been preparing the garden and the yard for the bees. Melissa is picking up her bees this Saturday. You can read about her bee adventures on her blog at http://houseofbees.wordpress.com.

On Wednesday I was able to preview the bike course for the upcoming Duo. Myself and two friends went up to Fredericksburg to ride some of the trails. We did not get to all of them but we did enough to learn that the race will be very difficult. The run is going to be hilly and the bike is extremely hilly, twisty, single track with lots of log obstacles. Some of them are the kind that are angled across the trail and on the uphill. We really only rode a portion of the course so I am planning to go up again this Saturday to ride the other side of the course.

Earlier tonight I did manage to get my upper body strength and core training done. I pushed it hard and had a really good workout. I always feel really great after these workouts. I think I am satisfied with the hard work that I put in. In the past, I have always said that I would like to do more strength and core work but then never got around to it. But nowadays, I am super motivated to keep up with the core and upper body training. It is something that I have always neglected for as long as I can remember. In college I did some strength work in a physical education class but that was short lived.

Tomorrow is shaping up to be a long day. My plan is to get up and have a nice breakfast and then continue working in the yard. The section of the yard for the bees is complete. However, I still have a lot of leaves to remove before I can cut the grass in the back yard and side yard that is closest to the bees. I want to cut it short as I plan to only go back near the bees when absolutely necessary. I actually hate bees but I am going to try to overcome my fear. It is going to take some behavior modification tricks-something I know a lot about. But for now, I don't want to have to cut the grass near the bees for a while. I usually don't have to cut the back all too often. Hopefully I will be used to them by the time it needs cutting again.

After I finish up these chores including cutting the front yard, I will head out for my ride. I have to make sure I get back by 4PM so I can watch some of the Super Classico (Real Madrid vs Barcelona) before the bees show up. Then I will do my official job of shooting pictures and videos of the bees being installed. Hopefully some of the pictures will turn up on Melissa's blog.

One week until the race!

As the young people say, "It's ON!"

A while back I mentioned that I was considering an upcoming Duathlon in the Fredericksburg area. Since that time, the trash talk has been flying amongst my friends and bets have even been made. In the words of young people, "It is ON!" My friends and I are competing against each other with the loser buying the winner dinner. So now I have a new Mantra that I have been using in my training. My new Mantra is "Must crush Mario!"

Last time I mentioned that I did a 3 hour ride a week ago Saturday. I followed that up with a 2 hour trail ride on Sunday at a different park. I was pretty beat and was ready for the ride to be over for the last 20 minutes of the ride.

This past Sunday, I rode from my house to Poor Farm Park in Hanover county. It was about 18 miles of road riding to get to the park where I met up with Melissa, Rachel and Jeff who drove there. The four of us rode for about 45 minutes before Melissa needed to head home. Remember she had PRd the Monument Avenue 10k the day before plus she still had swim practice later that day. After seeing Melissa off, the three of us continued to ride for another 2 hours on the trails. My quads were definitely feeling it on the final climbs that we did. Rather than ride the 18 miles back home, I caught a ride with Jeff and Rachel back home. It was a really great bike workout and I was glad to get the miles in.

After I got back from the ride, I went to the grocery store to pick up dinner for the next couple of days and to reload my fruit supply. I was pretty tired when I got back but I still wanted to get in my PT. I managed to fight my way through all my PT exercises to further work my legs. After all that, I was truly pooped.

Monday brought big rain and even some local flooding. When I got home from work Monday I was tired and really just felt like taking a nap. But I knew I had to keep pushing it so I could get ready for the race. So I did all my upper body and core work followed of course by the fruit-protein powder-smoothie.

Today after work, I got a different kind of workout in. I mowed the grass and started working on the garden. We had some mint that was taking over the garden and we decided we better eradicate it. So I pulled up lots of weeds and old plants left over from last summer and went mint hunting. I filled up a trashcan with all the mint plants and roots that were living a few inches under the surface of the garden. I made lots of progress but we still have a lot to do on the garden to prepare it for the bees which are coming April 10th.

I still have a lot of training to do but there is not really all that much time between now and race day. Friday, I plan to boogie up to Fredericksburg after work and check out the race venue. I will ride some of the trails and see what exactly I have gotten myself into. I think I will have an advantage on my friends because I will get a sneak preview of the course. I still have not run all that much but I am working on it little by little. On race day, I will just give it my all and then be sore for a few days. Why not? That is what ice and Motrin is for.

This weekend is Easter so I won't get too many workouts in. My parents and brother are coming into town on Saturday. Sunday after church we will all go walk up an down Monument Avenue which will be closed to street traffic for Easter on Parade. It looks like the weather will be perfect for the event. I will likely wear my VFFs which will be good training in itself.

It is 2 and half weeks until the race. The countdown to the challenge has begun.

Ups and Downs

It has been a while since I have had time to write. I have been very busy trying to exercise and do all the other chores of daily living. And of course there is work. If you think about it, we spend about one third of our lives at work and another third sleeping (roughly). That only leaves about one third of our day for all the things we want to do for ourselves plus all the things we have to do. Grocery shopping, laundry, cooking and cleaning, catching up with friends and family via phone calls, facebook, and email, reading books and magazines, and all of the other little things we do don't really leave us much time for exercise. Our modern life is filled with things that we need to do. Sometimes I actually just get tired and don't have the energy to write. And sometimes, I am waiting for something to inspire me-something new and interesting to write.

Since my last post, I have had some ups and downs. I have continued doing my PT about 3 or 4 times a week. I have also continued doing my upper body and ab workouts. In fact, I am starting to see and feel the results of my upper body and core workouts. My posture has improved I think and I feel stronger throughout my body.

Despite these positive outcomes from these workouts, I did have somewhat of a set back. On Saturday the 6th, I decided I wanted to do another ride followed by a run as I had done the previous Sunday. I rode for about an hour and then did just over two miles of trail running. This time around my left knee started bothering me afterwards more than it had in quite some time. In fact, the left knee felt much like it did before surgery. I did a lot of icing and the next day it felt a lot better. So I did a shorter but faster mountain bike ride that day. I felt ok during the ride but afterwards, the knee was complaining a bit. On Sundays, Melissa goes swimming with a swim team so I had time to myself for my PT which always helps my knee.

The next couple of days I was feeling a little down because my knee really felt like it did before surgery. The pain was not from the surgery itself. That pain has mostly gone away. My knees are a little tender and I still can't kneel on the ground but I can kneel for a few moments on the soft bed. Anyway, the pain I was feeling was exactly like the pain I had in the months leading up to my surgery. The only difference this time is I know what I need to do to combat the pain. I have to continue doing my PT, stretching, and icing. So that is what I am doing.

That said, by the end of the week, I was feeling a little better. The doctor said I would have some pain now and then and that I could control it with Motrin and ice. Of course I can't find Motrin anywhere since it was recently recalled. I have no idea when it will be back.

The following weekend was a washout. I did a lot of work on my trainer and worked on my core. When it rains it actually motivates me to do more core and strength training. There is nothing else I can do really since the rain puts a damper on things.

In a previous post I mentioned that I was looking forward to Daylight Savings Time. On this past Tuesday after work, I met my friends down at the river for a mountain bike ride. Before this ride, I had only ridden at Poor Farm. I love riding at Poor Farm but it does not really compare to riding at the river. The trails at the river are more technical with more rocks, twists and turns, and lots of elevation changes. It was supposed to be a "leisurely" ride but once you get five guys together down at the river, there is nothing leisurely about it. Sure enough we rode pretty hard. But I was able to keep up. Sure I was out of breath at the crest of some of the climbs but I was pushing the pace just behind my friend Mario for most of the ride. It was truly a blast.

After the ride, we were standing around the parking lot chatting when our friend Lee mentioned a race coming up in April that sounded interesting. Today when I got to work, I emailed Mario to ask about the name of the race. He send me the link to the race and I looked it up. It seemed doable and might be a good goal to get my more motivated. I sent the link to Melissa who also expressed an interest in doing the race. Throughout the afternoon, the trash talking between my friends was flying. I think I did enough to convince my friends to at least think about doing the race. I even was motivated enough to put together a training plan from now until the race. It is still not definite that we are going to do the race. We want to go check out the venue before we lay down our hard earned money for spot at the starting line.

The race is a Duatlon. There is a beginner and advanced category. The beginner race is a 1.1 mile trail run followed by a 6 mile mountain bike ride, followed by another 1.1 mile run. The advanced race is twice the distance 2.5 mile run/12 mile bike/2.5 mile run. The race is mid to late April. After thinking about this race all day and due to the really nice weather, I came up from work super motivated. Despite suffering from allergies and feeling like I should take a nap, I let my thoughts motivate me to overcome my fatigue. I did a 2 mile run in my Vibrams. But I also added some interval work on the second mile. After my run, I did my upper body and ab work.

Tomorrow I will see how I feel and start thinking more about doing this race. I am hoping to hear from the event organizers to see if we can go check out the course. So to summarize, I was up and then I was down but now I am back up again. We'll see how things progress. Thanks.

2009 Race Season

After our Rim to Rim hike in the Grand Canyon, we returned to Richmond to resume our standard routines. We flew back on a Saturday and I went back to work on Monday. Returning from a vacation and going back to work is always difficult. Except for this time. Right before going to the Grand Canyon, I had put in my two weeks notice at my job and would be starting a new job in a week. So going back to work for my final week was not so bad.

After work Monday I had a co-ed soccer game. I felt great and had a blast playing that night. I did not seem to be able to tire out no matter how much I ran. Sometimes this happens to me after taking some time off from soccer. As long as I am still in good condition, I often come back from a break refreshed and on top of my game. I think that was the best game of the season that Fall.

As the fall season came to a close, I decided to put together an indoor soccer team for the winter. Indoor Soccer is fast and furious and I have a great time when I play. In indoor soccer there is no time to rest. We pretty much sprint the whole time. We had a great bunch of guys on our team and overall we had a descent season. We started out slow and I can't remember what our exact record was but we won more games than we lost so that was nice.

The only problem with playing indoor soccer was our games sometimes stated pretty late, sometimes not until 11:00 PM. I did not like exerting myself so late at night. After a late night game, it often took me several hours to wind down and fall asleep. Sometimes I would be up until 2 in the morning, just trying to relax. That always put a damper on the weekend activities like mountain biking, hiking, etc.

Towards the end of January 2009 it was once again time to start Team Epiphany, our church's 10K training team. Our first Saturday training room was a little light. A lot of people decided to stay home that day. After all, it was 5 degrees when we went to run that morning. Luckily it was not windy at all. With the right gear, running in the cold is not too bad. Especially when you have fellow runners with which to participate.

My training that season was really uneventful. I did my Saturday runs and weekly workouts but I was not as excited about it for some reason. It would have been pretty difficult for me to improve my time without some serious focused training and I was not really ready for 800 repeats on the track each week.

I ran the 10k in 2009 in 47:33 which was about a minute and a half slower than I had run the previous year. I can't really explain why I ran that much slower. Running the Monument is fun but that said, it was not a race that favored me and my psyche. The Monument race goes West on Monument Avenue in Richmond for about 3 miles and then turns around and comes back East. The course is very flat and while there are lots of cheering fans, actual cheer leading squads, bands, and plenty of people to run with, I always feel alone out there. I am running my own pace and there is never anyone running the same pace that I am. Each time I run it, I have moments when I feel like just slowing down to a jog and cruising. But I don't. I slog through it.

I would have finished even slower in 2009 except I ran into someone from my soccer team who was pushing hard, struggling to finish strong. I ran with her for the last mile, pushing her and encouraging her to keep going. We both finished strong and she nearly collapsed after the race. I helped her walk for a bit until she met up with her friends. She had her own cheering squad there with posters and everything.

After the Monument Avenue 10K, I started focusing on the upcoming National Duathlon Championship again. I had been also training for this race in tandem with my 10K training. I had done some long rides and ridden the course a lot more than I had in 2008. My training was going much better than it had the previous year. One thing that helped was that some friends of mine would be running the race as a duo. Mario would ride the bike and Jeff would run the two run parts of the race. The duo relay is nice for those people who want to compete but may lack the biking skill or trail running skill necessary to do the whole race.

In addition to riding the mountain bike course several time's, I had also been running the trails a lot. I felt very good about the upcoming race. But then I had a setback. My allergies started acting just over a week before the race. I could not stop coughing and had to go to the doctor. The doctor put my on Zyrtek which I still take today and also had me taking MusinexD and nasal spray. The medication made me feel pretty lousy. It helped with my allergies but the medicine made me feel drowsy at times and hyper at other times.

On race day, I felt a lot better but I was not nearly feeling as good as I needed to for this difficult race. Oh well, I had hoped this year would be better than the last year. Boy was I wrong. About half way through the first lap of the 10k, I had to stop and walk. I was only about 20 minutes into the race. I just could not get enough oxygen. This was something entirely new for me. Usually my legs will give out first-never my lungs. I had great lung capacity and even had my VO2 Max tested a few years before which confirmed that I indeed had great lung capacity. But on this day, I just could not breathe. My allergies and all the medicines were taking their toll. But I kept going of course.

After the 10K, I was at the back of the pack. I got on my bike and thought that the bike should be a little easier than the run. I did ok on the bike all things considered. I had to push my bike up the steepest hills but I was able to make it through over half of the course in not too bad a shape. But towards the end of the bike course, I was hurting. I had run out of gas. Mostly because I could not get enough oxygen. My legs had nothing left. I even had to walk my bike up the smallest of inclines towards the end of the bike course.

I came into transition and sat down in my chair to change my shoes. I bit off a tiny piece of banana. Uh Oh! I felt like I was going to puke. So I decided to forgo the banana. At this point, I was considering dropping out. Melissa later said that she could tell I was hurting pretty bad. This was definitely the worst I had ever felt in a race. Well, I only had a 5K to run so I decided to go for it. I took off on my trot out of the transition zone, heading for Belle Island.

Did I mention that it was a very hot day. Besides the obvious effects the heat has on the body during competition, I also had to deal with all the drunk Richmonders who flock to the river on hot days. The bridge going over to Belle Island was packed with people with their beer guts, tattoos, and bikinis. I had to run around a lot of people who were not very nice about getting out of the way. But the race went through a public park and almost all the competitors were finished by this time anyway.

I did a lot of walking and some trotting. Basically I ran as much as I could and then walked to catch by breath and then ran some more. I finally made it back to the finish. I walked until I could see the finish line. I then picked up the pace. As I approached the finish line, there was big group of Duo athletes who had already finished and were hanging out. They all rose and cheered as I came into the finishing area. That really pumped me up and I was able to run hard across the finish line.

I stumbled over to the medical tent where someone gave me an ice cold towel for the back of my neck. I sipped my water and sat there for about 10 or 15 minutes before standing up. I felt ok. Now that I had stopped running and had cooled off some, I was feeling better. Melissa helped me collect my things for the long walk back to the car. It took us quite some time as I had to rest every so often. There were a few times when I had to stop and sit so I did not pass out. But again, I felt ok but every now and then a wave would wash over me, stopping me in my tracks.

My 2009 Duo finishing time was 4:40:58. It had taken me an hour to do the last 5K. Wow. I was over an hour slower than the previous year despite the more training. The allergies flare up had really cost me. Oh well, I guess there was always next year.

Next time. Redeeming myself. Another opportunity to run and ride in the same day.