Sunday, April 28, 2013

March and April Update

In my last update, I detailed the second of the Shelbyville Winter Triathlon races.  I was scheduled to do the third race on March 24th but came down with conjunctivitis (pink eye) a few days before the event.  After being told not to swim for a week by the doctor, that put an end to doing that event.  Can't say I was terribly disappointed as the weather was barely above freezing and raining. 

The following weekend, I did an event called "One of America's Prettiest Half Marathons."  I wouldn't disagree but I would prefer to call it "Beauty and the Beast."  This half-marathon was held at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, KY and we were warned that it would be a very hilly course.  I left bright and early from Louisville with 3 friends from the Louisville Landsharks in a very dense fog.  We had all looked at the elevation profile but were completely unprepared for the amount of climbing even though the profile looked manageable.  My friend Carlos and I went out with the two hour pace group but after a few miles, we knew the hills weren't going to be friendly to a sub-2 hour half.  We did almost 1200 feet of climbing over the 13.1 miles and it felt like we climbed for 12 of the 13 miles.  Nothing where walking was absolutely required but just constantly going up up up.  Ended up with a 2:09:20, which I'll take, given the hills. 

One of the nicest features of this race, beyond the very nice tech shirt, was the medal.  This event designs its medals after famous race horses, perhaps not unexpected, given the location.  This one is modeled after Genuine Risk.



The last of the Shelbyville Races was April 14th.  I ended up beating last year's time by a bit over 3 minutes.  The highlight was my fastest 400 yard swim ever, beating my prior 400 yard PR by about 20 seconds.  I guess the swim work is paying off!

The big event of the last couple months was yesterday. A full marathon.  Yes, you read that right, I did a full marathon, even though I hadn't planned on it.  As you know, on April 15th, the running and sporting worlds were shocked by the Boston Marathon events.  So as a tribute, a couple pals and I decided to upgrade from the Kentucky Derby Festival half-marathon to the full.  Yes, the March 30th half was my longest training run.  Yes, it was nearly a month ago.  Yes, I was afraid.  But my friend Carlos insisted that bike fitness is a good substitute for run fitness.  He also promised to pace us to a sub-5 hour finish, which was my plan last year, but I suffered to a 5:17. 

To add to the stress, I had been fighting with a blister issue, especially on my right foot.  Ever since I had switched shoe sizes last fall, I had been dealing with hot spots and sometimes blisters on the balls of my feet.  Of course, hindsight is 20/20 but I think part of the problem was switching brands.  I had been in Asics shoes for years, but last fall, I felt great in Nikes so switched to them.  Early last week, I picked up some new socks that are guaranteed to prevent blisters.  But even with the socks, during a short run on Tuesday I could feel the hot spots so off to the running shop for some Asics in the smaller size.

The weather on race day was just about perfect.  Mid-50s with the threat of a few sprinkles.  It stayed cool and cloudy until after the event when the skies opened with some heavy rain.  Carlos, me, and several other Landsharks got started and tried to keep at or just under 11 minute miles.  After a few miles, it was just Carlos and me and we did a good job keeping each other in check, mostly telling each other to slow down.  What a difference a year makes.  Last year, I obviously went out much much too fast and paid for it over the last 8-10 miles.  This year, with much less running leading up to the marathon but keeping a good pace, we met our goal.  4:47, which shaved 30 minutes off my marathon PR.  I'm also in much better physical shape relative to last year where I was wrecked for a good week.  Of course, this also came with another sweet medal.





The next couple of months look like this.

May 18th/19th, Tri-Fest.  A sprint and olympic tri on Saturday, half-ironman on Sunday. 
June 16th, Motor City Tri, olympic distance.

Until next time....

It does not matter how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get up--Vince Lombardi.