Coming out of Ironman UK, I decided to concentrate on my running. I suppose I decided that I wanted to be a runner to some extent. That lead me to the track at Franklin Field where I started doing sprint sessions. Little did I know I would meet my arch rival (and friend) Renato. Little did I know, I would meet my coach there. A month or two later, my old Japan colleague Chris would convince me that I should run a marathon in Death Valley, California. Looking back on it now, everything just fell into place.

I already coached myself to running up to 21 miles when I signed on with my coach who is from EAST Michigan (not Michigan as I had written previously). But once I signed on the dotted line, I let him take over. Some of the changes he made were instead of me running 3 days with high mileage, I ran 4-5 days dispersed out. I guess this improves durability. It got to the point where I was running over 40 miles a week. No longer did I have to figure out my training plan for the following week; it came to my inbox every day.

I’ve never been to California, or Vegas for that matter (the airport I flew into).  It was three years ago when I last saw Chris but it was good to see him again. Chris brought along a friend by the name of Ali. Ali is an amazing cyclist/lawyer/soon to be Ironman Canada finisher based in Seattle.

Race Day

Before we arrived to Furnace Creek Ranch, we were notified that we were running the alternate course (mentioned in earlier post) due to the rainfall in the previous weeks. That meant instead of running up to 5000+ feet, we were going to do an out and back on pretty much a flat trail.

As we boarded the buses that would take us to the race course, it was cold and windy. People were putting on plastic trash bags to dampen the wind effect and I even put on my fleece. Any clothes we decided to shed we could drop them off at the aid stations which were located every 3 miles. After a power gel and some water, I stretched and prepared for my first stand-alone marathon.

Mile 1-6

Like any race, the first few miles always feel great. Now, going into this, I guess I should have had a game plan. I sort of had a game plan, but not really. I knew I wanted to go under 4 hours but how I was going to do that…I had no idea. You have to understand, I began my triathlon/running career just a few years back with the Miyako-Jima Strongman. At that time, I ran my first 10k in 1 hour 20 minutes. At that time, Chris was a seasoned athlete. I didn’t know how much I’d improved my run compared to Chris, but my goal was to keep him in my sight for as long as I could. From the start, I was able to keep him within 50 yards of me. It’s wasn’t difficult to spot his wirey 6 ft 8′ inch frame. I couldn’t tell though…was he taking it easy or running in a concentrated effort? All I know is that I was running 8:30-:845 miles and feeling good. But could I hold it?

This situation was all new to me. I felt I was holding back, but just not sure if I was holding back enough. I passed the first aid station without getting anything and just used my water bottle of Enervitene strapped around my waist. When I came to Mile 6, I stopped to ditch my fleece and ran with arm warmers as it was still pretty chilly. The only bad thing about stopping and taking off my fleece off was that I lost about 30 seconds which put Chris almost out of sight.The Death Valley Marathon also had a 30k option. I was surprised to see Ali jump ahead of both of us, but considering she was running the 30k, it made sense.

Mile 7-13.1

I’m trucking along pretty well, feeling good. I’m trying not to get too excited because I know this is going to be a long day. That’s the problem with long distance racing: “almost there” is so subjective. I’ve caught myself saying that a few times: I’m almost at the half way point, or I’m almost almost at the finish; this has gotten me into trouble a few times.  Mile 9 is the 30k turn around and head back (30k=18 miles). I was  expecting to see Ali running towards me around mile 7 or 8 since that is what she signed up for, however after awhile I wondering,  “Did she decide to just do the marathon”? As participant’s true pace started to show, one of the more interesting things I saw were people carrying backpacks, and carrying multiple Powerbars in a fuelbelt-like contraption! Dude, its’ a marathon, not Survivor. I actually thought of asking that fellow if I can take one of those off him.

Death Valley is what you expect it to be: pretty bleak. The trail is a mix of rocks and gravel which is hard to attain traction at times; I know I almost tripped a few times. Coming into the turnaround, the total elapsed time was 1 hour 53 minutes. Right before I got there, I saw Chris running towards me and he looked fresh, talking with some fellow runners, looking happy. Bastard.  I also saw Ali coming the opposite way a little further back meaning Chris had already passed here. Yep, she decided to do the marathon. She however, wasn’t talking with anyone.

Mile 13.1 – 21

Things got a little interesting at the half way point (as they always do). Ali looked steady, and as I started to catch up to her, I thought about patting her on the butt. We had joked before the race that if Chris or I passed her, we would pat her on the butt and make a joke. However, I didn’t know her that well and the thought of it just made me uncomfortable. After the aid station at mile 15  and passing Ali, I looked at my Garmin and noticed while I was running a 8:36 mile; my heart-rate was at a 165. I felt 165 was way too high. To not risk blowing up at mile 20, I decided to bring my pace down considerably. I’ve been asked, “Well, how did you feel at the moment?”  I felt good, but I wasn’t confident looking at my heart rate I could hold that for much longer.

Back when I was in college, I was on the crew team. My coach always talked about gaining strength from each other while doing erg pieces. He use to say when you are in perfect sync, things become easier, and there is a certain type of “thing” that goes on where you gather strength from one another. Well, I don’t know if that happened, but around mile 17, I started running with a gentleman in his 40’s. I’ll call him Jim. Jim an I ran together in sync for about 6 miles at a about a 9:20ish pace. We didn’t say a word to each other the entire time. It was quiet, we were hurting, but we just stayed in stride.

Mile 21-24

Jim and I were still together. Foot striking the dirt and gravel at the same time. I can hear him breathe, and he I. He would run ahead a little, keeping the pace true, and I’d catch up, and I’d do the same in return. We were two men on a mission. At mile 22-23, you can see the finish line in the distance as you are on top of a small peak before you go downhill and then uphill to the finish.  A little before the last aid station at mile 24, a women passed us and looked quite strong, but had to use to port-a-potty which was located at the same place as the aid station. As Jim and I arrived to the last aid station, the woman popped out of the port-a-potty and resumed running.  Jim and I, getting his last feed at the aid station looked at me and said,

“Go get her, no reason, to hold back for me.”

I was  hurting, but I felt I had an extra spurt left in the tank. I really thought I could negative split the rest of the last two miles and finish under four hours, but it would be close.

I gave Jim a nod and I went after her. It just so happened at this point the course started to go back uphill. My watch alarmed when I hit the 25 mile mark (as it does for every mile) and I started to walk. 173 my heart rate read. Looking at my watch, I knew it’d be really close to breaking 4 hours. I guess looking back on it I probably should have ran each mile a little faster. I stayed with her running from about a 9:20 mile with Jim, to running a 8 min mile. After 3/4th of a mile I fell apart. Trying to stay with the port-a-potty woman was equivalent to me running and all out sprint. I started to run again but then I just stopped. I crashed and burned. My hip-flexors were tight, my right shin was hurting, and the top of my left quad was burning.  With my hands on my knees, I looked up from the ground, looked at my watch (3:57), and started to walk.  The finish was in reasonable distance (yet still up hill) and I could start to  hear the people cheering at the finish line over the seering wind.

After crossing the finish line, I looked at my watch, it said 3:59:30. I was pretty happy with that, but I knew it wasn’t the real time. One thing I forgot to do before the race was to turn off the “auto stop/start” feature on my Garmin 305. This is a great feature when you are running in the city, and you have to stop at red lights and such. It lets you accurately judge your distance and time. But the clock doesn’t stop in a race. I can only guesstimate, but I’m assuming the watch stopped when I took of my fleece around mile 6 to give to the aid station volunteer, and when I stopped at aid stations. Overall, my time was 4:01:36. 5th in my age group. You gotta love small scale marathons.

Post race and Vegas

I got cold pretty quickly. I didn’t have the strength to put my running tights on but I did find my fleece. I brought my Rx4 recovery drink power and drank it rather quickly. I grabbed some bananas and got on the bus.

Later that night we had the awards ceremony. Chris finished at 3 hours 40 min (bastard!) and Ali came in at 4:15: Not too shabby for not hardly training for it. She was listed in the 30k time as 4:15, but had she registered for the marathon, she would have won her age group! I’m sure she’ll kick major booty in Ironman Canada in August.  I ended up having (lots of) beers with some folks from California. These were some serious runners and triathletes. I think we stayed in Furnace Creek Bar from about 7pm till 3! There’s no better recovery food than pub fare!

This was my first time in Vegas. Not sure what I expected but it’s a pretty cool city. Since the old saying goes “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” I’ll leave it as so. But, I will say is that I saw Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian (a must see!!), and flew out down only $40 bucks!

P90X - X is for Xtreme.

The big issue has been diet. In the first 30 days, P90x really restricts carbohydrates to a minimum in order to burn away was excess fat. While I’m trying to eat a 50% protein, 30% carbohydrate, and 20% fat diet, I’m barely getting over 2000 calories a day…when the p90x diet says I should be 2400 calories! But how many carbohydrate should one have when they are “restricted?” 200g? 400g? I’ve been averaging around 300, is that too much?

With the gym having weird hours this week, I couldn’t get in my Pylometrics on Tuesday after my 10 mile run. The same thing with Yoga on Thursday, I’ll have to move that to Sunday since it’s technically a rest day/X-stretch.  For the most part, I’m enjoying it, and I can definitely feel my upper body strength and core getting stronger, but I’ll have to keep the time management to a tee as my first week of coaching just concluded. P90x,cycling, running, and I start back at the pool next week! I’ll fit it all in somehow.

We basically went over race goals, both time and placement and he thought the idea of me concentrating on shorter distance races was a good idea. In my coaching package, I get to train in thier cycling training center which consists of being set up on a trainer  to do various types of 1 hour intense workouts. During these workouts, I’ll have my power wattage, heart rate, speed, cadence, etc all measured for every workout. I will do this twice a week with other people next to me which I hope will involve some racing!

The road to Kona probably looks something like this

He also thinks I should race some of the local time trials in Philadelphia on the weekends. This would be a new experience for me as I’ve never raced in that format before. I will get my workouts either daily or weekly. I forgot. Either way, he knows where I want to go, how ambitious I am, but he doesn’t want me to aim too high this year, but to just “improve.”

We spoke about what races I planned to do for 2010. Besides the Death Valley Marathon in February, and the Philly Triathlon in late June, I haven’t signed up for anything. I would like to do a Olympic triathlon per month, and maybe do three half-irons over the course of the year. I WOULD HAVE liked to culminate my season by doing 70.3 Miami but I found out last night it’s already sold out 10 months prior to the race! My family has never seen me race, and since they live in West Palm Beach, I’ll try to look for other races in the area. My main thing is limiting how much I want to pay for expensive races this year. Ironman UK was insanely expensive with flights, hotels, rent-a-car, and so forth. I would like to do a official 70.3 this year, but it’s not that imperative to me.

I like how they advertise it’s not a quick fix to being fit, and the host Tony Horton makes it clear it’s not a couch-to-fitness program. Looking at their website, participant’s results seem amazing. People have lost double digit body fat percentages, weight, and increased strength and flexibility…all the things I’ve been talking about. I think what appealed to me most is that I don’t have to think about what workout is coming next; I can just look at the p90x calender, and follow the program. Add this with my triathlon coaching that starts off  next week.

P90X - X is for Xtreme.

After day 1, I can totally feel the tightness in my muscles in my back and chest. I think doing all the pull-ups well definitely help with the swim. Today is plyometrics. I was thinking about substituting this for a swim, bike or run, but after some research, many runners who are doing p90x say this workout is invaluable as it works your weaknesses and makes you more of a explosive runner. So be it.

I’m concerned about all the workouts. During my winter break, it’s not a big deal. However, with my coaching beginning next week, marathon build up, it’ll be a little tough getting all the workouts in. Doesn’t look like there will much sleeping in come 2010. The p90x program tells you to take before and after pics at day 1,30,60, and 90. I did take my before photos, but due to lack of narcissism that I have, I’m not gonna post them online till the end.   Overall, I”m pretty excited with everything moving in the right direction

I hear true champions work their weaknesses first. Looking back I think my real weak links were the following in order of weakness:

Core Strength, Run, Bike, Swim.

I think I spent way too much emphasis on my swim this year or at least thought about it too much. Maybe it was my desire to be a good swimmer which overclouded the smart thing which would be to work on my bike and run combo. I think the Death Valley Marathon will be a good winter goal to hold me over till spring.

I can’t wait for the coming season because I know I’ll be faster and lighter. I’m going to concentrate on my run this winter and core strength. I bought the book “Strength Training for Triathletes” by Patrick Hagerman and downloaded core strength exercises by U.S. Swimming.  I’ve been doing just the core exercises so far and it’s funny how much I shake when I’m holding a position longer than 15 seconds! I’ve also been doing the upper body running exercises which has really helped so far already.

Getting my winter training plan together takes a lot of planning

]]> http://kensroadtokona.com/2009/10/15/as-winter-closes-in/feed/ 3 http://kensroadtokona.com/2009/10/08/death-valley-trail-marathon/ http://kensroadtokona.com/2009/10/08/death-valley-trail-marathon/#comments Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:34:32 +0000 Ken http://kensroadtokona.com/?p=303 I don’t do easy…that would be too boring. I just always bite more than I can chew at times. I think I might have gotten myseld too far this time. I think I’ll request ”My Way” by Frank Sinatra to be sung at my funeral, but that would be way too cliche.

I was looking  for a winter Marathon to race to work on my running, and keep the momentum going in the colder months. So I went online to investigate:

Google Search: Winter Marathons

There were some marathons far and near that I thought would be good to check out the cities such as Austin, TX on Valentines Day, Melbourne,FL which is where I finished high school, Vegas, and even in my beloved hometown of Jacksonville., FL. These would have been fun, and I might have taken a few days off just to do some sightseeing. Nope, too easy.

I was contacted by a Canadian friend of mine who I use to work with in Japan and he told me about a race in California. “Great! California! Hell yea! Where? L.A.? San Diego? No…Death Valley; A marathon trail run, through Death Valley on Feb 6th. Highlights include running through the lowest point in the United States, which will be 220 below sea level;  running in desert through mountain passes, gravel, and more. I’ve never done a trail race, and I’ve never run a marathon with fresh legs…only after biking 100+ miles.

I can’t believe he talked me into doing this…took him all about 10 mintues to convience me.

I’m that easy I suppose. I guess this will be something. I have some other small 1/2 marathons and shorter races before Xmas that will prepare me. To be honest, I’m more worried about this than an actual Ironman. Should be interesting. Start the Countdown timer!!!

Overhead view of Trail

Another shot of the marathon trail

I'm a little intimidated...

is pretty much pointless. I said this blog will be much more about than just about triathlon, but about my life in general. And one aspect of that life is my attempt to find a worthy partner.This summer was very successful on the triathlon front, but not so much on the dating front.The major hindrance is “free” time. A typical situation goes like this:

Me: Hey would you like to go out some time?

Girl: Sure that would be great. how about happy hour tomorrow after work?

Me: Ooohhhh, yeaaa, that’s not good. I have major swim set I have to do after work. Since I’m not the greatest swimmer, I’ll probably done around 8ish.

Girl: Oh….um, ok. Are you free for any happy hour during week?

Me: Um, no not really. I train every day after work.

Girl: Oh….I see.

So here is the pivotal question: Should I give up training session to go out on a date?

Is it even possible to even get to know a girl while training is your number one priority? The first question when I get about this dilemma is “Why not date a triathlete”? That’s a good question. Tried that twice this summer. However I believe there is a danger when one attempts this. I went out with two Tri-Girls  girls this summer (both very beautiful by the way).

The first date with Tri-Girl 1 was lets-meet-at-a-typical-bar. I already digged her because it was later in the evening because she had to train too! Not even having to explain that made me like her before I even met her. Very nice girl. We hung out a few times. We even did a training ride with one of her friends at her 1/2 IM bike course she was attempting later that summer which turned into a brick training section. I thought things were going well, but I never really heard from her after I came back from England. She didn’t even want to see my IMUK medal. Odd.

Tri-Girl 2 was great as well. Probably one of the best smiles I’ve seen in long time. I’m a sucker for big facial features: eyes, high cheeks bones, big teeth, etc. We hung out a few times, and even did some lifting at our local gym. I really wanted to go for a run with her as that she is wicked fast. I saw her after England where I broke out the medal. She digged it. I know she did. I mean, who doesn’t dig an Ironman right? Then, it just faded.

The future of dating

I think the lesson I learned with the two Tri-Girls is that even if you have a common passion/hobby, there has to be “ritual”. Meaning, there has to be an official date. I think the problem with these ladies was that I didn’t “go for it”. It was just turned into two people who liked a certain thing. No courtship whatsoever. Thus, I blame myself. I believe their might have been a window of opportunity particularly with one of them, but once that window closes…it doesn’t open again. Ever. You’re lucky just to be in the “Let’s just be friend” zone. And no one likes that. I guess it’s probably better than the the girl I thought I could see myself with ditch me for a guy at an event that I HOSTED. I pick em classy don’t I? I’m sure the reasons behind the one of  Tri-girls not eventually us becoming an item is combination many things which I’m sure I’m at fault for some; or maybe it’s that timeless thing we can’t seem to describe…some call it “chemistry”.

So I ask the question again: Should I give up training time to go out on a date? Especially during the week? I’m 30, rather decent looking, in shape, and I think I have a pretty good handle on the human experience. But anyone who lives or has lived in Philadelphia will tell you; it’s a pretty difficult city to date in. If you didn’t go to school or here, or weren’t born here, you are pretty much on your own when it comes to meeting people.

In 2007, Travel & Leisure magazine and CNN Headline News found Philadelphia to be among the least stylish, least active, least friendly and least worldly, according to the “America’s Favorite Cities”.  About 60,000 people responded to the online survey which ranked 25 cities in categories including shopping, food, culture, and cityscape. For unattractiveness, Philadelphia just beat out Washington DC and Dallas/Fort Worth for the bottom spot. And again in 2009, Travel and Leisure magazine ranked Philadelphia LAST for the most unattractive city in America. You can find the poll here.

I’d be lying if I said training on your own doesn’t get lonely at times. Hopefully joining a tri-club will help that. Thus, after a disappointing summer of dating, I’m not doing taking time off to train for a date. Why give up a lifting session or an interval workout on someone you haven’t met yet? I look at all these amazing athletes, and now I understand why their wives and children hug them at finish line after a victory. Chris McCormick wants to quit soon, and Craig Alexander says he’s only going to do it for a few more years. Why? Both cite to spend more time with their families. I can only imagine that a key reason why these men won Ironman Championships is because they had great family support.

I guess after so many disappointing dates and false hopes, I’m done with all the online dating world as well. I think what hooks people into these things is the possibility of hope.  The scary thing about these sites is that I’ve seen people become addicted. No longer are people actually venturing outside to meet people– they stay in front of their glow box. It’s been my experience that because of our instant gratification culture, movies, and maybe my particular generation, we expect love to happen instantly with no work required. On top of that, it seems like because of all the technology, people are always looking for “the next best thing” as I like to put it. Do we as people ever ride anything out anymore to see what happens; or do we abandon ship at the realization the person across the table from us might have a slight personality flaw? How do we become content with something? Is technology keeping us apart more than bringing us together?

From what I heard from her husband, she broke her back in which 2 verterbre were damaged. I’d give you her Flickr page but I don’t think she wants her business out there like that. But I know she follows the blog so J, please get well.

Knowing her, she’s probably more worried about the condition of her brand new Ceepo bike than the healing of the back. Do what you gotta do to get healthy J, and I’m sure you’ll be back on the road in no time.

-Ken

It looks like it’s just tendinitis.  When I was on vacation, it hurt really bad to the point where I had to stop sightseeing and take a break from walking. I assume it has gotten better over time, but I will still have to do some rehab exercises at home. I hope to be back running by the middle of September. Yay!!!