It has been over 3 months since my last race. I realize that really isn't a long time, but since I haven't been running any long races (marathon or longer), I enjoy running races more frequently that every three months, especially in the summer. After getting back from our family trip to the U.P., I started to search for possible races to do before Fall comes around. I stumbled upon the Green Bay Beer Run 5k and honestly, before I even read into the details, I was sold and knew exactly what race I would be doing. Basically, an event group out of Milwaukee organized a Beer Run in Green Bay. This was the second year of the race. The race was hosted by Badger State Brewing Company (one of my favorite local breweries), and included free beer after the race, a hoodie, and a pint glass. It was a no brainer for me!
Training for This Race
This year has really been a "so-so" year for me, training-wise. I trained pretty hard and consistently leading up to the Bellin Run 10k in June, but since then, I have just been doing what ever the hell I feel like. Some days, its just an easy 3-4 miles, while other days I feel like going longer, even up to 14-16. But other than that, I really haven't been doing anything specific for shorter races like this. So, with my training being really inconsistent, I was a little curious to see how much slower my time would be. I definitely was not going in expecting a PR.
Prerace
The race didn't start until 10:00am, so I was able to sleep in, which is always nice. My mom, who was running in place of my dad, drove us up to the race. Once there, I got in a really nice warm up, where I got to run around Lambeau Field. The weather was just about perfect, with temperatures in the upper 70's. After my warm up, I got to the starting line and began scoping out my potential competition. I was shooting for a top 3 finish, more just to get the "Badger State Brewing Prize Package" than anything.
Nutrition Plan
An hour before the race, I took my usual Anti-Fatigue Caps, Endurance
Aminos, and then took my Fully Charged about 10 minutes before the start
of the race.
Miles 0-3.1
After the gun went off, I took an early lead, which I honestly didn't care too much about. I generally like sitting in about 3-5th. It seems to keep me focused and motivated. Similar to a greyhound chasing the stuffed bunny. But, none-the-less, there I was, leading the race. After the first mile, it came down to me and two other guys. We had a pretty easy pace going...relatively speaking. It was a pace, I thought I would have no trouble maintaining. Shortly after passing mile marker 1, we dropped the third guy. So it was down to me and one other guy. He chatted a bit and he made a comment about me pushing a good pace. I joked and said something polite about pushing each other, when inside, I thought, HA! If he's struggling at this pace, there's no reason I can win this race. Shortly after the second mile, that ended up being the case and he slowly faded behind me. I didn't see him until after the race. For the final 3/4 of a mile, I just tried to stay focused and push my pace while not imploding. I ended up coming across the finish line in 18:13, which was luckily good enough for 1st overall.
Post Race
Immediately after the race, I accepted my prize for winning the Green Bay Beer Run. I got a Badger State Brewing Company beer pitcher along with a $20 gift certificate from the brewery. I was pretty excited about the prize, because, as I stated, I love Badger State Brewing! After the 2nd place guy crossed the line, him and I chatted for a good 30 minutes or so, while I waited for my mom to cross the finish line. Turns out he was the owner to Copper State Brewing in Green Bay. I have not been there yet, since it is a relatively new brewery to the area, but after chatting with him, I will be sure to make it a point to swing on in. He was a super nice guy and had the love of beer in common. After my mom came across the finish line we grabbed our free beer and then headed home as I had to work later that night.
What's on Tap
At this point, I'm really not sure what's on tap. As of writing this, we have already been on out big trip to South Dakota and now we are well into October. My family is most likely going to run the Freaky 5k in Appleton the weekend of Halloween. We usually race this event every year and this year will be no different. The same goes with the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day in Appleton. I don't anticipate anything changing with my training. I'm guessing I'll keep running close to everyday and get in as many miles as time allows and as I want to do when I lace up my shoes.
Since finishing the Ironman over 3 years ago, I haven't found something to truly drive me or motivate me to the extent that the Ironman did. When I trained for the IM it consumed me (whether that's good or bad). It became my lifestyle, it was me. I was so focused on achieving my goal that a moment never passed in which the thought of the race didn't cross my mind. It was always in the back of my mind. There's an allure in a race of that distance. In order to be successful at that distance, it takes a certain level of commitment, sacrifice, and devotion. It's easy to see how those types of events consume you. It's also easy to see what the draw is to them. After taking two years with relatively no clear defined goal, I convinced Sarah to let me commit to another intense event...a 50 mile ultramarathon. Ultramarathons have always had a special draw to them for me. But, I was never willing to give up racing triathlon in order to focus solely on a running race. But, 3 year post Ironman, I was ready for a new challenge. I was ready to train for a 50 miler. In April, I made the commitment and registered for the Fall 50; a point-to-point, 50 mile trek from the tip of the Door Peninsula down to the city of Sturgeon Bay. In addition to setting my goal of running a 50 mile ultra, I have always wanted to "run the year." Basically, you run an annual mileage totaling the year. So this year, I figured was year was a better time as ever to run 2,016 total miles.
The concept is simple. Start at the most northern point of Door County (Gills Rock) and run south, along the west shoreline, to Sunset Park in Sturgeon Bay. The race itself is most popular for its relay race. It actually was originally intended to be a relay race, but after a surprisingly large amount of interest in a solo event, they added a solo event. This year, the relay event sold out in under 20 minutes! For those not familiar with Wisconsin, Door County is considered one of the most beautiful areas in the state. Plus, the race is run during the peak fall colors in Wisconsin, which just adds to the natural beauty of the area. Door County is also known as the Cape Cod of the Midwest. So, when you couple all of that with the large all you can eat and all you can drink after party, its very easy to see why the event is so popular.
Training for This Race
Prior to officially committing to the Fall 50, I began to plan out my 2016 race calendar. I knew that if I were to run a 50 miler this year, I needed to put triathlons on the back burner for a year to focus on building a strong running base and build my weekly running mileage. Not only did I want to simply increase my weekly running mileage, but I wanted to do it safely and run this year injury free. As I began to structure my year, I planned out an early spring marathon, prior to traveling to Florida in May with my family. I also wanted to race the Bellin 10k in June. Other than that, I really wanted to focus on training. After getting back from Florida, I focused on gradually increasing my weekly long run. I still didn't have a specific training plan that I was following, I was just running based on feel. I ran an 8k race on Memorial Day and then ran the Bellin 10k in June. I continued to run based on feel throughout June and ended the month with a 20 mile long run. I didn't start following a training plan until July 14th. In preparations my first ultramarathon, I picked up a copy of Hal Koerner's Field Guide to Ultrarunning, by Hal Koerner with Adam W. Chase. The book had several training plans for various distances, but I took the plan for 50 miles to 100k and tweaked it to fit my work schedule. The main focal point of the training plan were back-to-back long runs on the weekends. They start out pretty modest (relatively speaking, obviously), with distances ranging from 15/9 to 20/11. Towards the final peak weeks before the taper starts the back-to-backs top out with a 25/20, 25/25, and a 30/7. Below is my actual training plan. You might be able to see some of the slight changes I made as I progressed, but I tried to stick to it as close as I could...but when you're a father of 3 daughters and are as busy as us, you NEED to make adjustments to survive. All of my training runs were done at a MAFF pace. I won't dive into Phil Maffetone and his training philosophies, but basically, he advocates for all training to be done below your MAFF heart rate (180-age). I didn't do any speed work, tempo runs, track workouts, or fartlek runs. All of my runs were done at a comfortable pace for that given distance. All of my long runs were done at an easy sustainable pace.
As you can see my training weeks consisted of 8 and 10 day "weeks." But for a point of reference, my biggest training week (Monday-Sunday), was a 92 mile week. My biggest training month was in August with a total mileage of 320.68, by far a personal record. Most of my scheduled days were prescribed in ranges, with no real hard number for a given day. I did this on purpose to allow myself some wiggle room depending on my personal schedule and/or how I was feeling on a given day. I don't recall ever running the shorter mileage on any given day, but maybe I did on a day or two.
Throughout the entire year, other than a minor neck issue/injury I dealt with in late January, early February, I stayed very healthy all year. I never needed to take any significant time away from running or training. I credit this to me devoting the entire year to gradually increasing my mileage, staying committed to foam rolling, listening to my body and never over pushing, and regular use of Hammer Nutrition's Tissue Rejuvenator.
Prerace
The weeks leading up to the race, I was mentally ready for the race to be over with. I've never really felt like that before. It's not that I was getting sick of running or didn't want to race...don't get me wrong, I was still excited and couldn't wait to toe the start line, but I was just getting sick of the ridiculous amount of running I was doing. It was getting to be routine for me to wake up at 3, 4 or 5 in the morning on my off days to get my run in before Sarah would leave for work. I remember a couple days were I had my alarm set for 3am to get out the door and run 25 miles before 7:30 so Sarah could leave for work on time. I was running 8-12 miles every day after work. It was getting to me, I'll be honest. It was getting mentally difficult to justify why I was doing it. I stayed home from a family trip to a local farm with the kids so I could run 30 miles. Yup, when you're busy taking care of 3 kids, 2 dogs, maintaining our house and yard, working 3rd shift with a difficult work schedule, jamming in 100 mile weeks on top of it all gets to be just a little much after a while.
During my last "long run" (16 miles), my right foot developed a minor ache in the tendon that connects the big toe to the heel. I finished the run, but it definitely put a fear in the back of my mind during the final two weeks. Luckily, as I continued to progress through my taper, I gradually felt better and better, not just in my foot, but overall. I don't know if it was the drastic decrease in mileage or if my taper was just perfect, but I don't recall ever feeling so good in the final few days before a race. During the final four days before the race, I took Hammer Nutrition's Race Day Boost as prescribed. We left to head up to Sturgeon Bay around noon. We booked a room at the local Super 8 Motel, which ended up being exactly what you'd expect from a cheap hotel...a roof over your head and a place to sleep. The hotel had a pool which the kids loved, and let them swim pretty much all afternoon. I went to the evening packet pick up at the host hotel and then we went out to Sonny's Pizzeria for dinner. Evidently we were not the only one's who had this idea, as it was packed and it seemed like 95% of the crowd was running the relay. The food was extremely good and would totally recommend going there for dinner when you're in the area, but probably not the night before the Fall 50, as we waited nearly 2 hours from the time we walked in to the time we got our food. I ended up getting back to the hotel room later than I would have liked (8:30PM), but there really wasn't anything I could have done about it at that point. My parents were also staying at the same hotel and had agreed to take two of our girls to allow them to sleep in there room to allow me to hopefully get a decent night's sleep. I laid out my race outfit and finished off packing my hydration pack with the necessary nutrition and incidentals and was in bed shortly after 9. The entire day before the race, I was extremely nervous/anxious. More than I have been for any other race. I'm not completely sure why, but I was. My guess is that I was starting to get overwhelmed by the sheer distance I would be tackling the next day. I have never run more than 32 miles, which is a long way to run, but still leaves another 18 miles to go. I guess, the unknown of what lays ahead of me was mentally eating at my confidence.
When I registered for the event, I purchased the optional transportation from the finish line to the start line, which cost $15. I would recommend taking advantage of this opportunity as it was a comfortable bus, which also had a bathroom on it. The bus left at 5:30AM and made a brief stop at the host hotel to pick up additional runners. We ended up getting to the race start around 6:40AM. Only the solo runners started at 7AM to maximize day light and we had a total of 11 hours to finish the race. Relay runners had wave starts assigned to them based on their projected finish times. The first relay teams started running at 8AM and the last of the relay runners started at 10AM.
As far as my personal goals, I really wasn't sure what to think would be realistic. I've always thought that an 8 hour 50 mile race was the line between "elite age grouper" and just finishing. So immediately, I set a goal of under 8 hours. As my training continued, the more realistic a sub 8 hour 50 miler seemed. Understanding that the race was long and so many things can happen throughout 50 miles, I had an overall goal of simply finishing.
Nutrition Plan
Throughout my training, I practiced finding a nutrition plan that would work for 7+ hours. It's no secret that I'm sponsored for Hammer Nutrition. I've been running for Hammer for 3 years now, not for their support, but because I truly believe they have the best endurance nutrition products available to athletes. I've been using Hammer products ever since I got started in racing and their products work...period. So over the past 4 months of training, I regularly used Hammer Perpetuem and Hammer Gels, with the idea that I would using them in the race. Over my years of racing, I have dialed in my nutrition to know that I need about 125-130 calories per hour. When developing my nutrition plan, I anticipated running for 8 hours, so with a little simple math (8 x 130 = 1,040) I figured I needed about 1,040 calories. I knew I wanted to have some variety in my plan to keep my stomach from getting sick of taking in the same type of nutrition. I planned on taking in Hammer Perpetuem, Hammer Gels, and Hammer Bars throughout the race. Below, you can see my scheduled nutrition plan.
In addition to the calories taken, I planed on taking Endurance Aminos (2 capsules), Race Caps Supreme (1 capsule), Mito Caps (1 capsule), and Anti-Fatigue Caps (1 capsule), every hour starting at the two hour mark. I also took, the same combination of capsules one hour prior to the race. While traveling to the race start, I sipped on a water bottle with an Endurolytes Fizz tablet, to top off my electrolyte stores.
I would like to say a quick word about Injinji socks. I have never really worn Injinji socks, but this year, I bought a pair and wore them on a few of my long runs. I ended up loving them and wearing them during the Fall 50. I finished the race with not a single blister or hot spot on my feet. Normally, when I wear normal running socks during a marathon, my toes usually get a blister or two. Nothing that prevents me from finishing or running, but they make their usual post race appearances. And that is always with the addition of Vaseline. During the Fall 50, I wore Injinji socks and I didn't have one issue with my feet or toes. I finished the race without a single blister or even a sign of chaffing. I will forever wear Injinji socks during my long distance (half marathon on up) racing!
Miles 0-25
I often talk about the Endurance Planet podcast that I regularly listen to for training advice. On their "Ask the Coaches" show, Lucho (an ex-pro triathlete and elite ultrarunner) has said, numerous times, that during the start of an ultramarathon, if you think you're running slow....slow down. So that was the mind set that I started with. Start slow...then slow down. I knew that there was absolutely NO benefit to saving a couple of minutes during the first half of the race. My plan was to run super easy for the first 30 miles and focus on watching my heart rate. My strategy was to keep my heart rate in the 120's for the first 10 or so and then keep it in the 130's through mile 30. As the race started, I felt as though I was the only one running easy. It seemed that 75% of the runners, started running easy, but considerably faster than me. I did my best to ignore them, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't wonder if I was running too easy. I just kept telling myself that 50 miles is a long fucking way to run and to stick to the plan.
As the race started, I quickly learned that it would be pretty easy to keep my mind occupied on the scenery. On Friday, I saw a social media post from the local Door County newspaper, claiming that the fall colors in Door County were just hitting their peak. They were spot on. You couldn't ask for prettier colors. The combination of the beautiful colors and the shoreline of the Bay of Green Bay made the race course absolutely gorgeous. As I continued to pass mile markers, I had only one rule during the race...to walk up all hills. The first real hill came just before the 5 mile mark, just before first aid station. The first 5 miles went by in the blink of an eye. I first saw Sarah, the girls, and my parents at the 5 mile mark, as this was the first aid station/relay exchange point. It was refreshing to see the girls, but I kept the fact that I still had a long day ahead of me in the back of my head.
The next leg of the race was a 6 mile stretch from Ellison Bay to Sister Bay. As the race reached the 10 mile mark, the race had become super spread out. It got to the point where I could only see one or two runners ahead of me and only another one or two runners behind me. There was no one around me and so began the mind games. I continued to focus on the scenery and the joy of being out on the road. After leaving Sister Bay, we were faced with one of more steeper hills on the course. I gladly walked up the hill and treated it as a nice break. The next leg was a 7 mile leg that led us into Peninsula State Park, a part of the race, I was looking forward to.
From the start of the race, I had been wearing thin knit gloves. The weather was actually really nice. The temperatures were in the mid 30's at the start of the race and forecasted to reach the mid 50's during the afternoon. There was a slight headwind, out of the south. While in the state park, I official became cold. The cool temperatures compounded with being in the shaded forest and the headwinds, my hands officially became cold. My hands and feet are always first to get cold. I seem to have poor circulation, which seems to make it that much worse. After coming out of the state park, the sun began to come out more, which helped warm me up. My hydration backpack allows me to rotate the mount piece to an on and off position. The constant manipulation of the mouthpiece made my gloves wet, which didn't help at all keep my hands warm. I decided to take my gloves off with hopes that taking a pair of wet gloves off would help warm up my hands. I ended up being right. With the sun out, my hands warmed up. At this point, the miles continued to pass by without me even realizing it. My nutrition plan seemed to be working great, and personally, I couldn't have felt better!
I continued to press forward and reached the half way mark around the 3:30 mark, right on track for where I wanted to be.
Miles 26-50
It was kind of neat passing the marathon mark of 26.2. I found it to be ironic. The 26.2 mark is generally seen as a huge deal. Normally there is a large finish line, large crowds, bleachers, and a ton of hoopla. In this race, there was a sign. That was it, no line in the road, no people (I mean not a soul...no runners, no crowd, no no one), and definitely no hoopla. It was refreshing to know that I was now over half way, less than a marathon to go....I could do this. I took my first real break at aid station just after mile 28. I needed to refill my hydration pack and refill my water bottle of Perpetuem. It was a nice break. My dad and a volunteer helped to refill my water bladder, while I was able to chat with Maya, Delaney, Harper, and Sarah. After leaving the aid station, I felt rejuvenated and refreshed. I felt like I did at mile 5. I was super positive and motivated to finish the final 22 miles.
As I continued, it was around mile 30ish, that my hands began to get cold again....much colder than before. The sun went away and the headwind became more definitive. I continued to press on and told my dad that I needed the extra pair of gloves I had packed in my gear bag. Unfortunately, I knew I would have to wait until the next aid station for the gloves. The next aid station was at mile 36. My dad gave me the gloves, but I literally couldn't put them on. My hands were so cold that I had no dexterity in my fingers to even grasp the gloves and pull them on. My dad attempted to help pull the gloves on, but I had no control over my fingers. Every time he would try to pull the gloves onto my fingers, my pinkie and ring finger would involuntarily fold over. It was frustrating beyond belief. It was roughly at mile 35 that I officially wanted to quit. Miles 35-45 were mentally the most difficult stretch I've had in any race. It was at this point were every foot strike was painful. I felt every single push off in my hamstrings. It felt as though I was flirting with the line that divided failure and success. It felt like I was so close to cramping up. It was miserable. My hands were numb, my legs hurt, and I just wanted to be done. I've never felt this negative in a race before. I've never been pushed so far to my physical limits. The thought of quitting has never crossed my mind during a race before. There were moments I honestly felt like just curling up in a ball and crying. But I pushed on. About a mile after getting my new pair of gloves, my dad found me and purchased a pack of hand warmers. Those hand warmers made such a huge difference in my race. My hands slowly warmed up and I started to feel "normal" again.
At roughly mile 44, I reached Monument Hill. To quote the event guide, "Monument Point Road climbs 230 vertical feet in just over half a mile with a maximum grade of 14%. No Kidding. Sorry, it's the only way to get from point A to point B. No shame in walking up it!" I will admit, the hill was tougher than they described. It was long, it was steep, and it was at the worst point in the race, mile 44...What. The. Hell. As if we weren't tired enough as it was. The hill seemed to never end. There was a slight left hand curve and I thought the hill would level out after the turn, but oh was I wrong. It continued. It sucked and I walked it all, and I still struggled. After getting to the top of the climb, my mood changed. I made it to the final aid station. Aid station #9. I was now at mile 45.7. Only 4.3 miles to go. Leading up to this point, my strategy was to walk every 2 miles. But by the time I got to this mile 45, I was pretty much walking at every mile marker. At the final aid station, I opted to stop and take advantage of the nutrition they were offering. I grabbed a cup of flat coke and a couple of cherry Jolly Rancher hard candies. I remember how well my body handled coke during the Ironman, so I knew my body could handle it. As far as the Jolly Ranchers, I was really craving something sweet and those hit the spot. After leaving the aid station, I tried my best to keep my pace going and run to each mile marker and then take a short walking break. But, I just couldn't. Every time I would start running, my legs ached, my lungs hurt, and my heart rate sky rocketed. I did my best to run as much as possible. I would arbitrarily pick out a landmark and tell myself to run to that point. After reaching that point, I'd "earn" my walk break. I did this until mile marker 49. Once I reached mile 49, I told myself, "there was no way I was going to walk the final mile, no matter how slow of a pace I could manage. I did it. I was able to "run" the final mile. As I came into Sunset Park, I saw my dad with Maya and Delaney, who were ready to run across the finish line with me. We had this planned ahead of time and it was so worth it. It was probably the highlight of my day. The three of us ran the final 100 yards of the race together and crossed the finish line hand-in-hand. I crossed the finish line in 7:40:08 (9:13/mile pace) and I had no idea what place I finished in, I only knew that two people finished ahead of me, as they passed me during the final 2 miles and I just didn't have the energy to stick to their heels.
Post Race
After crossing the finish line, I got my finisher's medal, which was the "Fall 50" logo with gold chain. The hole of the zero was conveniently a bottle opener. I had my entire support crew at the finish line waiting for me; my parents, Sarah and Harper, and my brother and his wife. I immediately needed to get some warm clothes on, but I honestly didn't pack anything warm enough. Just a pair of sweatpants and a thin cycling jacket. It was better than nothing, but I would have loved a stocking cap and a warm hooded sweatshirt. After I was able to catch my breath and we took some photos, I hit up the party tent, which was available to runners and the general public could enter for a small fee. Once inside the tent (which was heated), you could take advantage of all you can eat pizza and all you can drink soda and beer....and the beer they offered was great beer. Several craft breweries, many from Wisconsin. The party tent really gets rocking toward the evening after many of the relay runners finish. I don't imagine too many of the solo runners take advantage of the party atmosphere after trucking for 50 miles. I know I couldn't. I did have a couple of hard earned brews, however. After drinking a few great craft beers, I met back up with my family, who figured out that I finished 13th overall and 3rd in my age group. I was pumped! I finished much higher than I anticipated and even placed in my age group! I, by far, exceeded my expectations for my first ever ultramarathon!
After finishing, my brother asked me what was harder, this or the Ironman. To me, it was a no brainer...the 50 miler was much tougher than the Ironman. It was tougher to train for the Ironman just based purely on the amount of training volume necessary, but the event itself was easier. See, during an Ironman, your day is broken up with 3 separate disciplines, swimming, biking, and running. I was never doing one event for more than five and half hours. But, in an ultramarathon, your stuck running for a long time....a very long time. The constant pounding on your body adds up, it just continues to compound. Each foot strike becomes harder and more painful than the last. It gets to the point were you just want to lay down, but you know if you stop and lay down, you won't be able to get up. It was, no doubt, the most mentally challenging thing I have ever attempted...and finished. I was also asked if I would ever do it again. Right then and there, without hesitation, said, "No fucking way!" I even ruled out ever even thinking of doing a 100 miler. I told my family that I was thrilled and happy and had no regrets of training for, and finishing the Fall 50, but was happy to never do it, or another ultramarathon again.
What's on Tap
Well, were do I go from here. After finishing the Ironman, I had a similar void. In endurance sports, the natural progression is to go longer. Most people stop at the marathon, but I kept going. I went up to 50 miles. So now what, a 100k (62 miles)? 100 miles? I really don't know. I know I was adamant that I would never do another ultramarathon. But similar to someone who swears off drinking the morning after a day long bender....the hangover eventual wears off and you are right back at it. I don't know if I will ever run another 50 miler, or ever try my hand at a 100 miler. But I know I'm open to thinking about it. But it won't be for a few years.
This past year, I was reminded what it was like to be a parent of 3 kids and the amount of stress training for an event like this puts on my family. I promised Sarah that 2017 would be a training plan free year and I would not compete in any events lasting longer than an hour (no marathons). But, here I sit. Part of me really wants to capitalize on my current running fitness and try to break 3 hours (a life long goal of mine) in a spring marathon. The other part of me wants to do what I did in 2015 and just train as my life dictates and run a bunch of 5k's and 10k's with a sprint triathlon sprinkled into the mix. But as for right now, I'm enjoying the time off from long runs and am enjoying the extra time with my kids. Sarah and I are now devoting our spare time to working on our home and finishing our basement and replacing the flooring on the first floor.
So much like I did in the Fall 50, I'm taking my life, one mile at a time, by putting one foot in front of the other!
This will now be my 3rd race report of the YMCA Freaky 5k and the 6th time I have ran this race. So, when I say that is one of my favorite races, I think it goes without saying. I enjoy this race for many reasons. First, the YMCA of the Fox Cities was my full time post college employer. Secondly, it always seems to fall perfectly into my race schedule. Thirdly, it's close to home, a great course, and a family friendly event. This year would be no different. I had Halloween weekend off from work and no other races scheduled in the vicinity of the Freaky 5k, so it was a natural decision. Plus, this was the first time for myself that this race actually fell on Halloween. This year, we registered our entire family, Sarah, Maya, Delaney, and myself were all registered for one of the two events offered. We signed Delaney up for the Mini Monster Dash, which was a quarter mile kids run. We also registered Maya as an individual for the 5k. This was going to be her first ever 5k as an official participant. She was so excited and nervous going into the day....as was I. We also signed up Sarah, who was going to push Harper in the stroller. My parents were also registered for the 5k in addition to our family. Going into the race, the weather outlook was not good. It was supposed to be cold, windy, and wet/rainy. Sarah and I both made the decision Friday night, that if it was actually raining Saturday morning, we would not bring the kids to the race and she would stay home with the kids and I would race with my dad, as my mom would also opt out of the race.
Well, as my alarm went off Saturday morning, I woke up to the sound of wind strongly blowing against our bedroom window. I looked at a current radar image and it was an easy decision, although a disappointing one. We opted to leave the kids at home due to poor weather. The entire state of Wisconsin along with Minnesota were covered in green on the radar signifying that there was no hope for a dry Halloween, let alone a dry Freaky 5k.
Training for This Race
I'll (again) keep this short and simple. I have not been following any specific training plan for this race or any race this year, for that matter. Although, I will note that October saw one of my highest running mileage totals of 2015...for whatever that's worth....
Prerace
As I mentioned in my open, I woke up and had to make a sad decision with Sarah and opted to leave the girls at home to avoid any possible (and highly likely) sour attitudes at the race due to them being wet and cold. But after waking up and getting dressed, I headed over to my parents house to pick up my dad. The race was scheduled to start at 8:30am, a half hour after the Mini Monster Dash kid's run. I was hoping to get there around 7am just to get a decent parking spot and hopefully some time to warm up. Unfortunately, after we got there, the weather was just miserable. It was cold (40's), windy, and rainy. I honestly just wanted to sit in my car with the heat on where it was nice and comfy. Eventually I had to get out and get ready to run, which I did around 7:30ish. I really wanted to stay as dry as possible before the start of the race, so I opted to forgo my traditional warmup and just did some dynamic stretching under the pavillion. This seemed to actually work pretty well, all things considered. Once 8:20ish rolled around, we started making our way to the start line. With the sun now fully risen, it was starting to warm up slightly, but the rain and the wind didn't really stop. It was a light drizzle, but enough to be uncomfortable. We planned it out damn near perfectly and got to the start line just before the National Anthem.
Nutrition Plan
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid. Its what I did. I didn't eat anything before the race and just drank my morning coffee on the way to the race. I did take two capsules of Hammer Nutrition's Anti-Fatigue Caps one hour before the start of the race. I chose not to take any Hammer Nutrition Energy Surge, just due to the wet and rainy race conditions.
This was the third year of the "new" race course (I guess that would mean that it's really no longer "new") and the second time I will have run it. Knowing that I really didn't get any true warmup in before the start of the race, along with the the hilly start to the race, I really wanted to take it relatively "easy" during the first 800-1200 meters. The race starts nearly immediately with a short and steep hill down to the river. The course then follows the river for about a half mile, or so, then goes up another short and steep hill. The majority of the course is a loop, which returns back down the same pair of hills back to the start line of the race. So, imagine a lollipop shape race course, where the stick has two steep hills that you need to climb twice for a total of 4 hills.
At the start of the race, I coasted down the first hill, allowing all the typical sprinters at the start of the race to over-exert themselves, and allowed myself to gradually warmup. After climbing back up the second hill at about the 0.75 mile mark, I tried to find my "sweet-spot" in reference to my pace. I wasn't ever truly able to find my comfort zone. I just never really felt "good." I felt like my breathing was out of synch with my cadence and my heart rate. It's a difficult thing to explain in writing and probably just as hard to explain in person. But, I guess if you are a runner, you probably know exactly what I am talking about.
By about mile 1, I was able to pass everyone who went out as fast as humanly possible and found myself in 3rd place. Shortly before mile 2, I passed the second place runner and was doing my best to stay within reach of the race leader. But, honestly, I had a pretty good feeling I wasn't going to be able to catch the leader by about mile 1....he was just that far ahead. I ended up finishing in 18:18, 2nd overall, with the winner finishing in 17:12, about a minute ahead of me. He was a 24 year old out of La Crosse, WI and he ran a hell of a race.
Post Race
About a week after I registered our family for this race, we were invited to my God Son's birthday party in Milton, WI, which was scheduled to start at noon on the 31st. Milton is about a 2 hour drive from our house, which meant that we needed to leave no later than 10am in order to hopefully make it on time. This basically meant that there was no sitting around after the race and waiting for the awards ceremony. After crossing the finish line, I congratulated the winner on a great run and then waited for my dad to come across. He ended up finishing in 22:09, first in his age group. After crossing the finish line, we quickly stopped in under the pavilion and grabbed some water and a snack and headed out. I honestly felt a little awkward leaving the race, while a lot of runners and walkers were still on the course but, I honestly had no other choice, shy of skipping out on the event.
What's on Tap
I now only have 2 more months to go in order to successfully participate in a race in each month throughout 2015. It's been an interesting goal to say the least, but as it comes closer to successfully accomplishing my goal, I get more and more proud of doing it. As of today, I am actually scheduled to run in 4 more races, 3 in November and 1 in December. Oddly enough, the 3 races in November are all within a span of 6 days and fall during the week of Thanksgiving. On the 24th, I will be running a 1 mile race with Maya, Delaney, and my dad before the Appleton Christmas Parade, called the Santa Scamper. It will be a fun and easy run with my kids and nothing more. Then on the 26th (Thanksgiving), I will be running in the Festival Foods Turkey Trot, in Appleton, which is a 5 mile very competitive race. Finally, on the 29th, I am running in the Noodleini 5k in De Pere to finish the month of November. My final race of 2015 falls on New Years Eve, with the Chilly Chili Run in Fond Du Lac, WI. It's been a long year with a lot of racing and not a lot of structured training. As I sit here writing this up, I have a lot of high hopes for 2016 and 2017 and some potentially very exicting news. But that will come out soon....
As I continue down the road of completing a race event in each month of 2015, I registered for the reTH!NK Addiction 5k in Oshkosh, WI on September 12th. Initially it fell perfectly into my schedule with that Saturday being my first night back at work, meaning I would have slept at home the night before the race. After some shift trades at work, I ended up agreeing to work for a coworker on the Friday night before the race. Now instead of going into the race all rested, I got to work from 8:00pm-6:30am and then drive down to Oshkosh for an 8:00am race....lucky me!! I've definitely done this before with little complaints, so I won't really start now. But, since changing departments, I have not worked an overnight shift since the first week of May...4 months ago.
The race itself is run from the Solutions Recovery Center in Oshkosh. All proceeds of the event go towards several not for profit organizations that help recovering addicts or agencies which work to deter drug and alcohol use. Being a law enforcement officer, I found it compelling to chose this race over some other races in the month of September, as I deal with many of these problems every day.
Training for This Race
Let's keep this simple....I have not been training at all this year. I have been doing random "stuff" most days. I have not run longer than 8 miles in a few months, and often just take a rest day if life is particularly busy. I have not followed any sort of formal plan and usually find myself planning my exercising around my life, opposed to planning my life around my exercise.
Prerace
As I mentioned above, I had to work the night before from 8:00pm-6:30am. I was lucky enough to get a decent nap on Friday afternoon knowing it was going to be a long night and an even longer morning on Saturday. After work, I rushed to get ready and get on the road as quickly as I could, knowing my time would be limited. I still needed to get my race packet and I wanted to get in some sort of warm up before the race. I made decent time and arrived at the race site around 7:15am. There was no line to get my race packet and bib, which was nice. After pinning my bib to my shirt, I was out to start my traditional warm up. I did all my usual drills, including, pick ups, lunges, high leg kicks, and leg swings. After I felt good to go, I made my way back to the start area and just hung out. The weather that morning was damn near perfect, with temperatures around 50F, clear skies, and maybe a slight wind, if any.
Nutrition Plan
I had no plan for my race day nutrition, other than to not eat for the 3-4 hours before the race. I last ate a hot dog and brat around 4:00am and that was it. I took a few sips of water on the drive down to Oshkosh, but felt pretty good, so I wasn't too concerned about taking in calories or liquids. I took 2 Hammer Anti-Fatigue Caps at 7:00am and that was it. I wanted to bring along some Hammer Energy Surge tablets for during the race, but honestly completely forgot and left them in the car. :(
As I do at the start line of any other race, I scoped out the competition while I waited for the race to start. First off, I kind of knew going in that this would be a smaller race (based on participation) and figured there probably wouldn't be too many competitive runners. My estimation was correct - there were not many other runners who would be running around my projected pace. Most of the people I recognized or chatted with before the race started would be running with a goal time of around 20:00. Knowing this, I figured I would start the race easy and really focus on getting faster as the race progressed. So after the race started, as about 98% of the runners do, many of the guys around me took off like a bat out of hell. I just let them go and started pretty relaxed and allowed my body to find a comfortable pace for the first half of the 5k. After the first quarter of a mile or so, all of the runners who sprinted out of the chute were now behind me and I was in the lead. By the first mile, I had built up a significant lead. I started thinking to myself that there was no need to really push hard for the second mile and opted to ease up during the second mile and save a little bit for the final mile. The majority of the race was run through Menominee Park in Oshkosh, along Lake Winnebago. As I said before, the weather was perfect, which made the scenery just that much better. It was rather easy to focus on the lake and the views instead of how I was feeling. After the second mile marker, I decided to push just a little harder and then cruised the rest of the way to the finish line. I came across in just over 18:00, over a minute and half ahead of second place. I was kind of upset, but I forgot to change the settings on my Garmin watch to "run mode" and discovered I had left it in "bike mode" during the race. Because of this, I have no mile split data to look at to see if I indeed ran negative splits throughout the whole race.
Post Race
Immediately after finishing the race, I hung around the finish line to congratulate the next few runners to come across the line. After that, all I wanted to do was go home and go to bed. I felt obligated to stay for the awards ceremony as the overall winner, so that is what I did. I tried to kill time by talking to random people about the race and running and the weather and frankly, whatever came to mind. After about an hour and a half of killing time, I received my award as the overall winner of the race. I really hope I do not come across conceited or arrogant during the award ceremony, but honestly I just wish they would hand out the awards and we would get on with the day. Personally I do not like getting in front of others to accept the award. I feel like I am no different from anyone else and I would rather not be "shown off" or highlighted. I do understand that many other people see the awards ceremony as an opportunity to celebrate their achievements, but I guess, I just like to celebrate achievements with friends and family instead of individually. Nearly right after getting my award I split to get to bed!
What's on Tap
The rest of the month will continue to be much like the past 8 months, doing what I feel like doing, when I feel like doing it. My next race will most likely be the Freaky 5k in Appleton on Halloween, October 31st. After that, I currently have 2 November races on the schedule with the Turkey Trot in Appleton, on Thanksgiving and the Noodleini in De Pere a few days afterward. I currently do not have a December race yet, but you would be fooling yourself if I would screw over this stupid goal of mine in the final month of the year. So I promise you, that I will find a damn race!
On another note, yesterday (September 13th) was Ironman Wisconsin down in Madison, WI. It was two years ago that I was lucky enough to cross the finish line and forever be called an Ironman. It seems like every year since then, I have followed the race from home. While tracking friends and acquaintances, I'd be lying if I said I don't get motivated and excited about doing the race again. The way things are going with my life, career, and family, it is looking like I will get that opportunity to again take a crack at an Ironman race in 2017, just two more years! What that means for me, is that after I finish this stupid goal in December, I will take some time to regroup and recharge, then start focusing on building a strong base in 2016 to be in my best shape yet for 2017!
Back in the early spring of this year, I received a personal email from the Race Director of the Ripon Medical Center (RMC) Triathlon. He informed me that as last year's winner of the sprint event, I would be offered free entry into this years event. I was thrilled and honored by his offer. I immediately accepted and inserted this race into my race schedule. At first it was unclear whether or not I would be able to even participate in this event due to starting a new job with the City of Kaukauna. In June, I was slotted into a permanent rotation and I was scheduled to work the night before the race until 3am. I was fortunate to agree to a shift trade with a co-worker to allow me to race in this event. The race itself was well run last year, I had no complaints, and was very impressed with the awards offered, especially because it is a relatively small race. This year, I went into the race with high expectations....to win it again.
Training for This Race
As with many of my races this year, I have been relying on the base I have built up over the past 6-7 years of endurance training, opposed to following a strict and thorough training plan. I was a little concerned whether or not I would even be able to finish the race at all. During a weekend camping trip at Devil's Lake State Park, I went out for a run and a tweeked my right calf. After taking the remainder of the weekend off from any form of exercise with hopes of it healing itself, I tried running. I was able to finish two runs, but it was still present. I opted to take the next week and a half completely off from running. I focused on my cycling and swimming. I was leery to whether my calf would heal or not in the limited time I was giving it, but I was willing to try it.
Prerace
I had to work Friday into Saturday morning before the race and was going on limited sleep. On top of that, it was just me and the three girls, as Sarah was in Chicago all day and night for a bachelorette party. It was a low key day for me personally, as my dad wanted to take my two oldest to a local splash pad for the afternoon. I got to bed early and had my alarms set for 4:30am. My hope was to get on the road before 5. I was close to my goal and ended up on the road at 5:05am. The drive took about an hour and was my chance to visualize my race and listen to some good music. I got to the race right around 6, which left me more than enough time to set up my transition area. The RMC Triathlon does not have designated transition areas, which allows you to choose any area you wish. Since I got there early enough, I was able to get a spot on the end of the row. This is a prime location as you do not have to worry about getting caught up in the crowded aisles. This also means there is less distance you need to run to get your gear. After getting my transition area all set up, I got into the water and did a good, thorough warm up in the lake.
Nutrition Plan
This is now my second straight year of focusing on short course triathlon racing. With the two years of focused attention, I feel very comfortable racing at high intensities with limited to no nutritional assistance, before or during the race. On my ride to Ripon, I drank a cup of fresh brewed coffee. After my transition area was set up and I was ready to race, I took two Hammer Nutrition Anti-Fatigue Caps about 60 minutes before the start of the race.
The race started about 10-15 minutes after the Olympic distance race started. The first wave of the sprint triathlon consisted of males under 40 years old. The swim start was a mass beach start in about 1' of water. The water depth dropped off in a hurry. Within about 10 feet of the shoreline the water was at least 4' deep. My start was basically one large dive into the water and then right into my stroke. I initially had to fight a for positioning with one or two other guys. I was getting a little frustrated with one guy who was on my left and was struggling to swim a straight line. So no matter how often I would attempt to reposition my self along a new line, we would run into each other. I held up for a split second to let him get ahead of me and then passed him on his right as it seemed he was always pulling to his left. Once I did this, it was pretty much smooth water ahead of me. I ended up being the third one out of the water.
T1 (0:41)
Why yes, it does appear I have a mullet.
The transition area was very close to the beach, which allowed for a quick T1. I had no issues with taking my wet suit off and since I was the third one out of the water, I have virtually the entire transition area all to myself. After getting changed over and ready for the bike, I was out of the transition area. I made one mistake during my T1 and it was actually a mistake from my preparations that came to light during my T1. I forgot to preset my crank arms to my desired angles. Normally I have my right pedal in the forward position so I can swing my right leg over the cross bar and clip right into the right pedal. My crank arms were all backwards, so, after swinging my right leg over the cross bar, I had to take a few seconds to readjust my crank arms, then clip in. In all reality, it probably only added a second or two, but it sure did feel like forever I was sitting there trying to just get clipped in.
15 Mile Bike (40:48)
Once on the bike course, I saw two others ahead of me. They weren't too far ahead of me, maybe a quarter mile and a half mile respectively. I immediately began to hammer with the idea of passing them as soon as possible. After the first mile or so, there was a deceptively challenging climb. My heart rate soared and my legs began to burn. I immediately began to question my tactics of trying to pass the two dudes ahead of me. I made the decision to just settle into an aggressive, but maintainable pace and just pass the others as the opportunity arises. I told myself that even if I don't catch them, I know I am a strong runner and would more than likely pass them on the run course.
I ended up passing them both around the 3-4 mile mark of the bike course. At this point I was leading the race. I then began to rethink my strategy for the remainder of the bike course as I had over 10 miles to go. I figured I had two options, I could throw the hammer down and build as much cushion as possible and hope I don't fade on the run. My other option is to realize that I had no positions to gain by hammering hard and just ride fast enough to not get passed, then to rely on my run legs to hold off others on the run course. I opted for my first choice; to ride as hard and build the largest lead possible and hope I can hang on during the run with what ever may come my way.
I was riding strong and felt good throughout the race. All of a sudden around mile 13-14, a guy I didn't recall passing flew by me on his bike. I down shifted and my cadence dropped, with hopes of at least keeping up with him. Even though I was redlining at this time, I couldn't even keep him in sights. I ended up coming in with the second fasted bike split of the day, but it didn't even compare to the other guys split of 37:12!
T2 (0:21)
Coming into T2, I was very confident I would be able to run down the guy that was currently in the lead. I had the second fastest T2 in the race. I feel very confident in my ability to transition from the bike to the run. Coming out of T2, I needed something to drink. I have been opting to forgo any fuel/hydration during the bike portion of the race. The weather on race day was hot with limited wind. I became very thirsty on the bike and had to get something to drink. I took a few seconds to stop and get some liquids in my system, I figured that no matter how long it took to stop and get some liquids in me, I would have been worse off not stopping.
3.1 Mile Run (20:32)
Remembering from last year, the run course was extremely challenging. At least the first half mile or more is straight up hill. After climbing, you come back down, just go back up hill for the next quarter mile or so until the turn around point, just to do it all over again. Once I started my run leg, I tried to the distance between me and the leader manageable and I was going to try and make my move on the first downhill. As I was climbing the first hill, I was passed by one of the guys I initially passed on the bike leg. He looked fresh and fast. He just looked more comfortable than I was feeling, as I was breathing hard and my legs felt heavy. It was at this point that I felt like winning was not going to be an option. I tried to keep a positive mindset in case the two of them faded after the turn around due to the hills. After climbing the first hill I eased into a more relaxed pace to gather myself and hopefully have a strong kick during the second half when the other two would hopefully slow down. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I just couldn't catch them. I was the third one to cross the finish line and could tell just by the way I felt, that I gave it my all. I was gassed.
Post Race
After the race, I congratulated the other two finishers that finished ahead of me. It turns out that the guy that passed me in the late stages of the bike was in the second wave, meaning I had about a 2 minute head start on him. That completely explains why he was able to just blow by me that late in the bike leg. Even though he was the second one to cross the finish line, he ended up winning the race overall, again due to the 2 minute discrepancy in waves.
I ended up finishing in 1:09:57, 3rd overall, and 1st in my age group. Even though I came in 3rd and didn't win the race, I was extremely happy with my race time. I improved my swim time, my T1, my average bike speed, and my T2. My run leg was barely slower than last year.
What's on Tap
To keep on track with my goal of completing at least one race each month, I have a 6 day turnaround to my next race. I am racing the Green Bay Packers 5k on Saturday, August 1st at 6:30pm. After getting home from the race we got all packed up and headed out of town for a short family vacation to Wisconsin Dells. It was a nice relaxing vacation and I was able to get out for a couple shorter runs just to stay fresh for the upcoming race.
On the Friday before the race, I found out that I was awarded a spot on Team USA for the upcoming ITU Age Group Sprint World Championships. I was full with mixed emotions upon receiving this email. First I was thrilled for the opportunity as it was the culmination of all my hard work throughout last year leading up to the Age Group Sprint National Championships. On the other hand, I was looking at a minimum of $1,000 of unplanned money to spend on a single night stay in Chicago and race fees. Upon making it public knowledge that I was offered this opportunity by would likely turn it down, I received many offers to assist in paying for the trip. I also received encouragement to ask for donations or do some fundraising. First, I just can't ask or accept money from friends and family for this opportunity when I can "technically" afford it. It would just be such a big hit to our family finances, that I am having a difficult time justifying it. It is also a very short notice, with the race taking place in about 6 weeks. Had I earned the spot outright, immediately following last years National Championships, I probably would have been able to saved the finances and better planned for the $1,000 commitment. Currently I am asking around for corporate sponsorships from local businesses to assist with the financial responsibility of representing Team USA in the ITU World Championships. As of writing this, I have not received any sponsorship money and doubt I will, meaning I will have to regrettably turn down the opportunity to race for Team USA this September.
As always, thanks for reading and keep on keepin' on!
