Many months ago I had signed up for the San Antonio Rock n Roll Marathon getting a good deal as a early registrant and a returning runner thinking that this would be my "A" race for the year. Of course life's events changed and now the race was merely a long training run coming out of recovery from the Longhorn 70.3 and looking forward to the Goofy Challenge 8 weeks later. I was feeling good a week before, but a solid long run the previous weekend let me know I wasn't quite recovered, and left me with a sore left ankle and right knee, which I nursed back to feeling mostly better by race day.
I was up early, about 3:45, to get ready, kissed my wife (Darcy) as I left the hotel and headed over the shuttle buses. I was on the first bus out of downtown to the starting area. Apparently, buses were dropping off in 2 areas, and I got dropped off about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile form the starting area. Being in place more than 2 hours before the start I checked out what was where and found a nice spot to rest and listen to my iPod for a good while. Around 7:00 I checked in my gear bag and visited the porta-potties (having learned last year to stay away from the ones near the main area and walk up around the actual starting line where most people did not go, plus then I could wait for the corrals to move forward and hop into mine).
It took about 30 minutes for me to actually start (corral 15) after the race began. My biggest complaint is that the corral structure was not really enforced and there were many with corral numbers well behind me that had started way up front that clogged the roads early. If I was going for a half-marathon PR, this would have been frustrating as I think it would have cost me 5 to 10 minutes plus extra energy to get around these guys. True to the advertising there was lots of music and cheering squads along the way for motivation, and the people of San Antonio turned out to help. My favorite was a sign board posted at a school early in the race proclaiming that there were only 23.8 miles left to go! When we ran through downtown the streets were absolutley mob with people cheering and I saw Darcy right at mile 8, which gave me a big mental boost.
Around mile 9 I decided I was going to stay with the marathon course at the split point. I don't know if it is true of other Rock n Roll races, but since I was registerd for the full I could have just run the half marathon course and the timing system would have recorded me as a half marathon runner. Although I was cruising along nicely, I dropped back my pacing because I knew I had a long run ahead and my heart rate was already running a little bit high for me. I did a 4/1 run/walk early (and could have run that into a half marathon PR if I had chosen), but I went back to 3/1, then 2.5/1, then 2/1, and finally 1/1 as the race went on and my heart rate recovered less during the walk breaks. In the end I wanted to make sure that I didn't hurt myself with this race and affect my coming events in December and January. As it turns out I still think I was doing pretty well for me, as my times at 25K and 30K would have been easy PR's at those distances. Even with all my slowing down, it seemed that I still passed far more than passed me along the last 10 miles or so.
I finished in 6:11:38, not exactly a stellar time, but I'll take it for what this event was for me: my first full marathon (although I have run the 50K distance previously) and training for the January Goofy Challenge (where I'll run the half marathon on Saturday and the full marathon on Sunday). As a whole, I really enjoyed the experience and would consider doing this one again.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Longhorn 70.3
Well, I did it, I finished the Longhorn 70.3 Half Ironman race this past weekend, and I even beat my goal time as well! As promised in my earlier blog entry, here is my review of my race experience at my first 70.3 event.
For me the race started on Friday as I packed up my stuff and drove to Austin to meet up with Heather and Del at the race expo. I checked in, looked around and heard part of the fist pre-race briefing, and afterwards Heather and I found each other. Del and I were both staying at Heather's house that weekend with her family, and Friday night we enjoyed a nice homemade dinner, had some good pre-race conversation and watched a movie.
Saturday started early, although I technically slept in a bit considering when I normally wake up on Saturday to train. Heather and I did a short brick workout (roughly 3.1 mile bike/.8 mile run) before eating a light "pre-breakfast" as we were heading out to the race's pancake breakfast afterwards. Following the pancake breakfast we placed our transition bags in T2 at the arena (all T2 items had to be placed into a bag and be set at your site, no pre-staging of items)and then we went to the lake to set up our bikes and bags at T1. I think Heather and Del went for practice swims while I spent my time visually planning out my transition. Afterwards we went back to the arena to listen to the full pre-race briefing and then back to Heather's house for dinner and off to an early bedtime (technically I stayed up until just after 10:00 working on email and going through my clothes for tomorrow).
Sunday came early at 3:15, but I got up about 5 minutes later and got dressed. I ate a bit of oatmeal and an energy/protein bar and packed up for the trip to check in. We actually got to the arena a bit before they opened up. We turned in our "special needs" bags at an area where we could access as we started each loop of the 3 loop run. We caught the buses to the swim site and waited for body marking, after which we were allowed to set up our T1 area.
Then we waited for 2 hours until the race stared by talking, rechecking the transition area, visiting a memorial to an athlete who was killed recently with his wife while on a bike ride together, and warming up...in other words, we kept ourselves occupied. Around 7:30 the first wave went off, and I excitedly waited for my wave (10 of 16) to begin.
Swim: Being a slower swimmer, I started in the back of my wave and pretty much stayed there. The lake was a good temperature and I swam without a wetsuit. I found myself veering out to the right several times on the counterclockwise loop, which is unusual because I usually drift to the left more than the right. Del passed me on the swim at a turn buoy and called out a supporting word to me (he started in the wave after mine). In the end I finished the 1.2 mile swim in 56:27, which I felt pretty good about since my goal was 55:00 minutes but I also figure I must have swam an extra couple hundred yards with my misdirected swimming.
T1: I took my time to get going right out of transition and exited in 5:56. My goal was 5:00 minutes, but I took the time to make sure I was good before I left.
Bike: This was without a doubt my favorite part of the race, even though I had some unusual troubles. I had a plan drink a 24 ounce bottle of Gatorade and eat an energy bar every hour, and that pretty much served me well. I think I actually drank between 4 and 4.5 bottles during my ride, which is greater than my plan, but I think I needed that extra nutrition and I felt good with that. I had no problems with the bottle hand outs as I rode by the aid station and thought those areas were generally well run by the volunteers. I tried to make a point to say a word of thanks to a number of the volunteers as I rode by them. While riding I found the time to slow down a bit on occasion and enjoy the scenery, seeing cows, horses, people, scenic hills, pastures... I really enjoyed this. Since I was unfamiliar with riding real hills like the ones I was experiencing, I experimented with trying several riding strategies for climbing the hills. Around mile 20 I had my first problem,I noticed a sharp sting on my upper left chest area and I noticed that I had flown into a bee and gotten stung. I shooed away the bee and moved on, not a major problem. After mile 30 my bike computer seemed to be reading incorrectly, I figured the sensor moved out of position a short bit ago at a bump in the road or the train tracks I had recently gone over, In either case I chose to ride on and not stop just to fix it. I knew I was riding at a pace that would put me about 25 minutes ahead of my planned rate, but since I did not want to overdo it too early I slowed down after mile 40, although it's hard to say exactly how fast I went. I was averaging about 15.8 mph through the first 30 miles and I finished at a 15.3 mph pace, so I figure that I averaged about 14.2 mph over the last 16 miles. I may have been better off stopping so I could reset my sensor to keep track of my pacing, but in the end I was fine. Late in the ride around mile 51 or so I had a couple of moments where I started to question my ability to continue to move the pedals, but I gathered myself and pushed on past that point. I finished the bike in 3:39:11, well ahead of my goal time of 3:55:00.
T2: Given my satisfaction with my bike ride, I took my time to situate myself (including putting on my Garmin GPS and heart rate monitor strap) and somehow spent a leisurely 7:40 (goal was 5:00 minutes) in the second transition zone, although quite a few people actually took longer than that! Running out of transition 2 and heading into the run took us into the middle of the arena and out to the run course. As I ran through I could see some of the faster early starters already finishing.
Run: The weather had been cooler earlier, and then it was cloudy, but now it was staring to get warm, but that doesn't really bother me, although I am now glad that I did stop and apply some sunscreen before leaving T2. The run was a great set up on a 3 loop course with a fantastic support base of multiple volunteer booths over an extended area at both the near end and far end of the loop from the arena. I reminded myself that my main goals were to finish and to enjoy myself, so I decided on a pace to run 1 minute then walk 1 minute, plus walking all uphills and running all downhills to keep my heart rate down and my attitude positive. I enjoyed interacting with the various volunteers and other racers. I also got to see the familiar faces of Heather and Del several times as we approached each other while going opposite directions on the loop. I was a bit surprised that I kept my upbeat attitude all the way to the end of the run as the last half loop got really tough, although I was more surprised that I averaged a 14:27 pace on a modified 1 minute run/1 minute walk plan. I finished the run in 3:09:22, where my original goal was an even 3 hours. I knew that I could have gone faster on this part, but I certainly would not have enjoyed it as much as I did!
Final Time: 7:58:38, My real goal was just to complete the event, but I am so happy to have met my personal time goal of 8:00:00 as well.
Overall, it was a very difficult experience but a very rewarding one as well. I am already considering my next 70.3 Half Ironman event for next year. However that will have to wait, for now I look forward to returning to my training after an appropriate rest period over the next few days. I still have a couple half marathons to finish before year's end with another PR goal to go after...
For me the race started on Friday as I packed up my stuff and drove to Austin to meet up with Heather and Del at the race expo. I checked in, looked around and heard part of the fist pre-race briefing, and afterwards Heather and I found each other. Del and I were both staying at Heather's house that weekend with her family, and Friday night we enjoyed a nice homemade dinner, had some good pre-race conversation and watched a movie.
Saturday started early, although I technically slept in a bit considering when I normally wake up on Saturday to train. Heather and I did a short brick workout (roughly 3.1 mile bike/.8 mile run) before eating a light "pre-breakfast" as we were heading out to the race's pancake breakfast afterwards. Following the pancake breakfast we placed our transition bags in T2 at the arena (all T2 items had to be placed into a bag and be set at your site, no pre-staging of items)and then we went to the lake to set up our bikes and bags at T1. I think Heather and Del went for practice swims while I spent my time visually planning out my transition. Afterwards we went back to the arena to listen to the full pre-race briefing and then back to Heather's house for dinner and off to an early bedtime (technically I stayed up until just after 10:00 working on email and going through my clothes for tomorrow).
Sunday came early at 3:15, but I got up about 5 minutes later and got dressed. I ate a bit of oatmeal and an energy/protein bar and packed up for the trip to check in. We actually got to the arena a bit before they opened up. We turned in our "special needs" bags at an area where we could access as we started each loop of the 3 loop run. We caught the buses to the swim site and waited for body marking, after which we were allowed to set up our T1 area.
Then we waited for 2 hours until the race stared by talking, rechecking the transition area, visiting a memorial to an athlete who was killed recently with his wife while on a bike ride together, and warming up...in other words, we kept ourselves occupied. Around 7:30 the first wave went off, and I excitedly waited for my wave (10 of 16) to begin.
Swim: Being a slower swimmer, I started in the back of my wave and pretty much stayed there. The lake was a good temperature and I swam without a wetsuit. I found myself veering out to the right several times on the counterclockwise loop, which is unusual because I usually drift to the left more than the right. Del passed me on the swim at a turn buoy and called out a supporting word to me (he started in the wave after mine). In the end I finished the 1.2 mile swim in 56:27, which I felt pretty good about since my goal was 55:00 minutes but I also figure I must have swam an extra couple hundred yards with my misdirected swimming.
T1: I took my time to get going right out of transition and exited in 5:56. My goal was 5:00 minutes, but I took the time to make sure I was good before I left.
Bike: This was without a doubt my favorite part of the race, even though I had some unusual troubles. I had a plan drink a 24 ounce bottle of Gatorade and eat an energy bar every hour, and that pretty much served me well. I think I actually drank between 4 and 4.5 bottles during my ride, which is greater than my plan, but I think I needed that extra nutrition and I felt good with that. I had no problems with the bottle hand outs as I rode by the aid station and thought those areas were generally well run by the volunteers. I tried to make a point to say a word of thanks to a number of the volunteers as I rode by them. While riding I found the time to slow down a bit on occasion and enjoy the scenery, seeing cows, horses, people, scenic hills, pastures... I really enjoyed this. Since I was unfamiliar with riding real hills like the ones I was experiencing, I experimented with trying several riding strategies for climbing the hills. Around mile 20 I had my first problem,I noticed a sharp sting on my upper left chest area and I noticed that I had flown into a bee and gotten stung. I shooed away the bee and moved on, not a major problem. After mile 30 my bike computer seemed to be reading incorrectly, I figured the sensor moved out of position a short bit ago at a bump in the road or the train tracks I had recently gone over, In either case I chose to ride on and not stop just to fix it. I knew I was riding at a pace that would put me about 25 minutes ahead of my planned rate, but since I did not want to overdo it too early I slowed down after mile 40, although it's hard to say exactly how fast I went. I was averaging about 15.8 mph through the first 30 miles and I finished at a 15.3 mph pace, so I figure that I averaged about 14.2 mph over the last 16 miles. I may have been better off stopping so I could reset my sensor to keep track of my pacing, but in the end I was fine. Late in the ride around mile 51 or so I had a couple of moments where I started to question my ability to continue to move the pedals, but I gathered myself and pushed on past that point. I finished the bike in 3:39:11, well ahead of my goal time of 3:55:00.
T2: Given my satisfaction with my bike ride, I took my time to situate myself (including putting on my Garmin GPS and heart rate monitor strap) and somehow spent a leisurely 7:40 (goal was 5:00 minutes) in the second transition zone, although quite a few people actually took longer than that! Running out of transition 2 and heading into the run took us into the middle of the arena and out to the run course. As I ran through I could see some of the faster early starters already finishing.
Run: The weather had been cooler earlier, and then it was cloudy, but now it was staring to get warm, but that doesn't really bother me, although I am now glad that I did stop and apply some sunscreen before leaving T2. The run was a great set up on a 3 loop course with a fantastic support base of multiple volunteer booths over an extended area at both the near end and far end of the loop from the arena. I reminded myself that my main goals were to finish and to enjoy myself, so I decided on a pace to run 1 minute then walk 1 minute, plus walking all uphills and running all downhills to keep my heart rate down and my attitude positive. I enjoyed interacting with the various volunteers and other racers. I also got to see the familiar faces of Heather and Del several times as we approached each other while going opposite directions on the loop. I was a bit surprised that I kept my upbeat attitude all the way to the end of the run as the last half loop got really tough, although I was more surprised that I averaged a 14:27 pace on a modified 1 minute run/1 minute walk plan. I finished the run in 3:09:22, where my original goal was an even 3 hours. I knew that I could have gone faster on this part, but I certainly would not have enjoyed it as much as I did!
Final Time: 7:58:38, My real goal was just to complete the event, but I am so happy to have met my personal time goal of 8:00:00 as well.
Overall, it was a very difficult experience but a very rewarding one as well. I am already considering my next 70.3 Half Ironman event for next year. However that will have to wait, for now I look forward to returning to my training after an appropriate rest period over the next few days. I still have a couple half marathons to finish before year's end with another PR goal to go after...
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Pre-Longhorn 70.3 Half Ironman
I am packed and ready for Longhorn 70.3 Half-Ironman event tomorrow, with the exception of the last items I will grab on my way out the door in the morning.
The plan is to wake up somewhere between 3:15 to 3:30 a.m. and eat a little bit, then to scurry about and get dressed for a little bit, and finally to get going around 4:15 a.m. I plan to make a quick check on my bike and transition area items that were set up yesterday and then over to wait my turn to start in the swim—I’ll start in Wave 10 (of 16 swim waves).
I am as ready as I am going to be, so I’ll be off to bed in just a bit after posting this, but I will be back to post a review of my experiences (good and bad) when I have a chance in the next few days.
I also want to offer many thanks to my friends Heather and Jeff, who graciously let me stay with them over the race weekend while Heather also prepared for Longhorn this weekend.
The plan is to wake up somewhere between 3:15 to 3:30 a.m. and eat a little bit, then to scurry about and get dressed for a little bit, and finally to get going around 4:15 a.m. I plan to make a quick check on my bike and transition area items that were set up yesterday and then over to wait my turn to start in the swim—I’ll start in Wave 10 (of 16 swim waves).
I am as ready as I am going to be, so I’ll be off to bed in just a bit after posting this, but I will be back to post a review of my experiences (good and bad) when I have a chance in the next few days.
I also want to offer many thanks to my friends Heather and Jeff, who graciously let me stay with them over the race weekend while Heather also prepared for Longhorn this weekend.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Ten for Texas 2009
Last Saturday was the Ten for Texas race in The Woodlands (Texas, obviously!). It is my favorite 10 mile event---OK, it's the only 10 mile event I've ever done, but it's still a great race!
This year I am coming off a slight, but still nagging thigh/hamstring injury and am also cutting back to prepare for a Half-Ironman Triathlon in 2 weeks. Therefore, I am trying to put out a good effort, but I am also not pushing to 100% for the race. I open up with a 5 minute run-1 minute walk for the first 5 miles to make sure my heart rate doesn't go too high. At the 5 mile mark, I am a bit slower than I would like by about 2 minutes, but I am feeling good and my heart rate is where I want it. Since I was not feeling any issues with the thigh or hamstring, my plan was to increase to 7-1 for the walk-run ratio (and I also experiment with pushing my pace a bit faster, too). I cross the finish line with a 5 minute negative split break my 2 year old PR as well, but best of all I am feeling good and did not harm the earlier injuries.
I just love this event and it has a great post-race party as well. Below are photos of me from this year and 2 years ago (I did not run the Ten for Texas last year as it was rescheduled to the same week as the San Antonio Marathon due to the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.)
Here I am at the 2007 Ten for Texas cresting the hill just after mile 9.
Here I am at the 2009 Ten for Texas coming up to the Mile 9 aid station.
Now it's time to start resting and preparing for the Longhorn Triathlon on October 25th!
This year I am coming off a slight, but still nagging thigh/hamstring injury and am also cutting back to prepare for a Half-Ironman Triathlon in 2 weeks. Therefore, I am trying to put out a good effort, but I am also not pushing to 100% for the race. I open up with a 5 minute run-1 minute walk for the first 5 miles to make sure my heart rate doesn't go too high. At the 5 mile mark, I am a bit slower than I would like by about 2 minutes, but I am feeling good and my heart rate is where I want it. Since I was not feeling any issues with the thigh or hamstring, my plan was to increase to 7-1 for the walk-run ratio (and I also experiment with pushing my pace a bit faster, too). I cross the finish line with a 5 minute negative split break my 2 year old PR as well, but best of all I am feeling good and did not harm the earlier injuries.
I just love this event and it has a great post-race party as well. Below are photos of me from this year and 2 years ago (I did not run the Ten for Texas last year as it was rescheduled to the same week as the San Antonio Marathon due to the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.)
Here I am at the 2007 Ten for Texas cresting the hill just after mile 9.
Here I am at the 2009 Ten for Texas coming up to the Mile 9 aid station.
Now it's time to start resting and preparing for the Longhorn Triathlon on October 25th!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Weekend Away
This past weekend my wife (Darcy) and I finally scheduled a getaway weekend to celebrate our anniversary--which is in April!--but at least we did get away for a bit. I did squeeze in a weekend bike ride of just over 30 miles (when did that start to seem like a short ride to me???) while she finished off a few items of her own, and then we were off for the weekend.
We were staying at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Houston and this was a nice, though not overly fancy hotel. (It was definitely worth much more than the $60/night we paid on Priceline!) Here's a picture from our 21st floor room.
It even turned out that the University of Houston football team was at the Hyatt before their late game Saturday night. We did a little minor sight-seeing and shopping in the downtown area and then headed to Minute Maid Park to see the Astros game. Unfortunately, the Astros have not been doing very well this year and this game was no different as they lost 10-4. However, we still had a good time. We sat in the front row of the outfield upper deck and felt close to the game. Unfortunately, my camera battery died after just one photo of the Home Run Gas Pump in the outfield so I didn't get any photos of some of the interesting aspects of the game or stadium.
One of the good things was that the game started early and ended early enough to have time to do more.
We hop on the return shuttle to the Hyatt and catch the early part of the University of Houston-Texas Tech football game for a bit. We then decided we were hungry and did a bit of downtown exploration in the area, finding a few nice restaurants and clubs open. Not feeling quite in a club mood tonight, we get some Mexican food and sit near the bar and watch the middle part of the UH-Tech football game, which is a very good game; even though Tech was leading when we left the UH Cougars had just scored and were just 1 point behind. We walked back to our hotel while exploring a small outdoor mall in that local area and then back to the hotel again. We continue to watch the football game until just after midnight, when my UH Cougars pull off their second straight big victory by beating Texas Tech 29-28!
Then Sunday, we sleep in and spend a restful day in Houston doing a whole lot of nothing, I go out to grab a light breakfast to bring back to the room. We leave Houston and head to Old Town Spring on the way home. We grab lunch at the Wunsche Brothers Cafe, a rebuilt cafe from the old railroad days of the area.
For lunch I order the German sausage sandwich, which was covered in a mountain of sauerkraut, and Darcy orders the cheeseburger, and we share a basket of onion rings.
Following lunch we walk around a Lone Star Rod Run event in the Old Town Spring area and look at a number of interesting vehicles in various stages of restoration.
Afterwards, we head home after spending a nice weekend together, something we really don't do quite often enough.
We were staying at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Houston and this was a nice, though not overly fancy hotel. (It was definitely worth much more than the $60/night we paid on Priceline!) Here's a picture from our 21st floor room.
It even turned out that the University of Houston football team was at the Hyatt before their late game Saturday night. We did a little minor sight-seeing and shopping in the downtown area and then headed to Minute Maid Park to see the Astros game. Unfortunately, the Astros have not been doing very well this year and this game was no different as they lost 10-4. However, we still had a good time. We sat in the front row of the outfield upper deck and felt close to the game. Unfortunately, my camera battery died after just one photo of the Home Run Gas Pump in the outfield so I didn't get any photos of some of the interesting aspects of the game or stadium.
One of the good things was that the game started early and ended early enough to have time to do more.
We hop on the return shuttle to the Hyatt and catch the early part of the University of Houston-Texas Tech football game for a bit. We then decided we were hungry and did a bit of downtown exploration in the area, finding a few nice restaurants and clubs open. Not feeling quite in a club mood tonight, we get some Mexican food and sit near the bar and watch the middle part of the UH-Tech football game, which is a very good game; even though Tech was leading when we left the UH Cougars had just scored and were just 1 point behind. We walked back to our hotel while exploring a small outdoor mall in that local area and then back to the hotel again. We continue to watch the football game until just after midnight, when my UH Cougars pull off their second straight big victory by beating Texas Tech 29-28!
Then Sunday, we sleep in and spend a restful day in Houston doing a whole lot of nothing, I go out to grab a light breakfast to bring back to the room. We leave Houston and head to Old Town Spring on the way home. We grab lunch at the Wunsche Brothers Cafe, a rebuilt cafe from the old railroad days of the area.
For lunch I order the German sausage sandwich, which was covered in a mountain of sauerkraut, and Darcy orders the cheeseburger, and we share a basket of onion rings.
Following lunch we walk around a Lone Star Rod Run event in the Old Town Spring area and look at a number of interesting vehicles in various stages of restoration.
Afterwards, we head home after spending a nice weekend together, something we really don't do quite often enough.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
2009 Tour de Cure - Houston
Tour de Cure is a series of fundraising cycling events held in 43 states nationwide to benefit the American Diabetes Association. The Tour is a ride, not a race, with routes designed for everyone from the occasional rider to the experienced cyclist. Whether participants ride 10 miles or 100 miles*, they will travel a route supported from start to finish with rest stops, food to fuel the journey and fans to cheer them on!
Last year, more than 40,000 cyclists in 80 Tour events raised nearly $17 million to support the mission of the ADA: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.
This weekend I participated in the Houston Tour de Cure Event in the Katy area, well west of Houston. We started out at 8AM and I finished just before noon. Unfortunately the 64 mile course was shortened by a few miles due to a late detour because of a bridge out of service for repair, so the course was shortened to somewhere between 59 and 60 miles, but I won't complain too much about that.
The weather was great--it was overcast with a slight breeze (and occasionally a decent headwind!) and then temps probably never got over the low 80 range during the ride period. Ride support was great and fortunately I never needed assistance, but I saw the trucks frequently all over the course. I stopped at 3 of the 5 aid stations so that added about 15 - 20 minutes to my total time, but I was more in training mode than racing mode. Along the way I struck up several conversations with fellow riders, including with one woman who lives in my immediate area (which is about an 80 minute drive from the event). The route started way west of Houston and we spent more time in farmland areas than in "civilization", there were areas with more cows than traffic and more feed stores than fast food restaurants. All in all it was successful event and I was also happy to exceed my fundraising goal and raised $300 for the event by race day. The only downside for me was that I forgot to bring my camera and my cellphone photos really didn't quite come out right in the lower light of the overcast day.
This was also likely going to be my longest tune-up ride for next month's Longhorn Half Ironman 70.3 event because of scheduling issues, although I will get several more rides in the 35 - 45 mile range in. All in all I found this ride to a successful training ride and while I would have ridden a bit faster and made less stops in a race or even a hard training ride, I still rode at a pace that met my minimum race goal.
Last year, more than 40,000 cyclists in 80 Tour events raised nearly $17 million to support the mission of the ADA: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.
This weekend I participated in the Houston Tour de Cure Event in the Katy area, well west of Houston. We started out at 8AM and I finished just before noon. Unfortunately the 64 mile course was shortened by a few miles due to a late detour because of a bridge out of service for repair, so the course was shortened to somewhere between 59 and 60 miles, but I won't complain too much about that.
The weather was great--it was overcast with a slight breeze (and occasionally a decent headwind!) and then temps probably never got over the low 80 range during the ride period. Ride support was great and fortunately I never needed assistance, but I saw the trucks frequently all over the course. I stopped at 3 of the 5 aid stations so that added about 15 - 20 minutes to my total time, but I was more in training mode than racing mode. Along the way I struck up several conversations with fellow riders, including with one woman who lives in my immediate area (which is about an 80 minute drive from the event). The route started way west of Houston and we spent more time in farmland areas than in "civilization", there were areas with more cows than traffic and more feed stores than fast food restaurants. All in all it was successful event and I was also happy to exceed my fundraising goal and raised $300 for the event by race day. The only downside for me was that I forgot to bring my camera and my cellphone photos really didn't quite come out right in the lower light of the overcast day.
This was also likely going to be my longest tune-up ride for next month's Longhorn Half Ironman 70.3 event because of scheduling issues, although I will get several more rides in the 35 - 45 mile range in. All in all I found this ride to a successful training ride and while I would have ridden a bit faster and made less stops in a race or even a hard training ride, I still rode at a pace that met my minimum race goal.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Just Keep Moving...
Lately it seems everyone is doing something more productive than me. I've got friends going to Disneyland, I've got friends at Disneyworld, I've got friends in the Austin Triathlon...and I am just training. I suppose I should be glad I just have a goal.
I have continued to ramp up my training for the October 25th Longhorn Half-Ironman in Austin. I have swam the 1.2 mile distance twice now. So far my longest bike ride still falls a few miles short of equalling the 56 mile half-iron bike distance, but I plan to fix that this weekend by riding the 60 mile option in the Tour de Cure bike ride for the American Diabetes Association. The 13.1 mile run distance has never seemed an issue to me as I have many times done that distance or greater. My main issue is putting them together on the same day, which is obviously the big challenge of the triathlon. While I am not completely sure that I am ready right now for the half-iron distance, I am quite sure that come October 25 I will be!
Today has also been a bit of a somber day for me. Today would have been the 21st birthday of my daughter Amanda's friend (and a long-time family friend) Allison , about whom I wrote previously. I did manage to go spend a bit of time to talk with Allison's mother today and tried to remember Allison in other ways as well. In some ways I am still shaken by this event (and it seems tears are not too far away when I dwell upon it), and while there is nothing I can do about it I know my daughter still hurts terribly over this, and probably always will in some way. If you have children at home, hug them one more time today just because you can (and you may not always be able to!).
(Final Note: As I was proofing this post, a Taylor Swift song came on the radio. The ever present reminder that Allison and Amanda were on the way to a Taylor swift concert at the time the were hit by the other vehicle, and the same song that was playing when I first knew that Allison was not going to survive.)
I have continued to ramp up my training for the October 25th Longhorn Half-Ironman in Austin. I have swam the 1.2 mile distance twice now. So far my longest bike ride still falls a few miles short of equalling the 56 mile half-iron bike distance, but I plan to fix that this weekend by riding the 60 mile option in the Tour de Cure bike ride for the American Diabetes Association. The 13.1 mile run distance has never seemed an issue to me as I have many times done that distance or greater. My main issue is putting them together on the same day, which is obviously the big challenge of the triathlon. While I am not completely sure that I am ready right now for the half-iron distance, I am quite sure that come October 25 I will be!
Today has also been a bit of a somber day for me. Today would have been the 21st birthday of my daughter Amanda's friend (and a long-time family friend) Allison , about whom I wrote previously. I did manage to go spend a bit of time to talk with Allison's mother today and tried to remember Allison in other ways as well. In some ways I am still shaken by this event (and it seems tears are not too far away when I dwell upon it), and while there is nothing I can do about it I know my daughter still hurts terribly over this, and probably always will in some way. If you have children at home, hug them one more time today just because you can (and you may not always be able to!).
(Final Note: As I was proofing this post, a Taylor Swift song came on the radio. The ever present reminder that Allison and Amanda were on the way to a Taylor swift concert at the time the were hit by the other vehicle, and the same song that was playing when I first knew that Allison was not going to survive.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
