The Endurance Pig

Hammer Cycling Jacket

3.1 Mile Run

The race got started to a rather shitty start, honestly, and there really wasn't anything I could (politely) do about it. The entire front of the race start was littered with kids and slow runners who just wanted to be at the front for the start. Nothing annoys me more, than people who want to be at the start line just to sprint the first quarter mile just to pull off to the side so they can walk and catch their breath. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled they are out there, trying to better themselves. But, when they effect others, it just pisses me off. But, like I said, there is really nothing I can do about it, other than physically push them off the start line to make room for myself, but I wasn't about to do that. So I just sucked it up and tried to remain in control of what I could control.

Truthfully speaking, it really doesn't effect the race start that much, just enough to be a thorn in my side. But once the gun went off, I did my best to get into my rhythm and dodge the kids and slower runners that I knew would just fade after the first couple hundred meters or so. Once the wannabe's were behind me, there was about 4 or 5 guys in front of me. I really thought a couple of them would fade putting me in the top 3, but knew I had plenty of time ahead of me to pick them off. I just kept plugging away. I was feeling surprisingly good....hell I was feeling great. My cadence was damn near perfect, and I felt relaxed. I couldn't believe it. I was going on less than 6 hours of sleep and coming off a night of sucking down cervesas and tacos.

After the first couple miles, I hadn't passed any of the guys ahead of me. I decided to take a chance and crank up my effort and try to catch up to at least one of the guys. I really don't remember how many I passed, but I ended up finishing in 4th place overall and 1st in my age group. I finished in 17:50!

Post Race

After finishing the race, I was so surprised with my finishing time. It was by far my fastest 5k of the year. I was only 9 seconds off of my 5k personal record! I hadn't run a sub 18 minute 5k in a long time. And now, here I was, after a night of no-no's I run my best race of the year??? If I had gone into this race with the attitude of I have to do everything right, and ate right, drank water, and got a good night sleep, who knows what would have happened? Would I have run a PR? Would I have run yet another 18+ minute 5k? Who knows. All I know, is I ran a great race and far passed my expectations.

I eventually made my way back into the high school for the age group awards. The race is sponsored by Noodles and Company...hence the NOODLEini (duh). Everyone got some free Noodle's mac and cheese along with a Rice Krispie treat. I stuck around until I received my trophy for placing 1st in my age group, at which time I headed out to get back home and get ready to go to yet another (and last) family Thanksgiving meal.

What's on Tap

At the start of this post, I touched on the 5 Start Series. I had thought I had all but wrapped up the Male 30-34 age group. I jumped online to see if I could get some information about the banquet and the rankings. As I jumped on the Du Tri Run website, I read a section on the 5 Star Series I don't recall ever seeing. It was written in plan English...

New in 2015

To qualify for the 2015 Aurora BayCare Series you must complete a swim and a bike event. Relays will be counted as one of the 5 events, but you will not get a score.

Yup....You must complete in a swim and bike event...i.e. a triathlon. I only completed a duathon this past year....no triathlons. I was slightly disappointed. It's not like I intentionally avoided doing a triathlon and it's not like I probably would have placed 1st in my age group. I honestly couldn't race in any of the scheduled triathlons through Du Tri Run due to my work schedule. I literally had to work on each and every scheduled triathlon. Oh well, I guess. There ain't much of anything I can do, other than just be proud of how my year of racing has gone for me.

On tap, I have one and only one more race to complete to accomplish my goal of completing a race in each month of the year. So far, through 11 months, I have completed in 13 (14 if you count the Santa Scamper). I am eyeing up a New Year's Eve race in Fond du Lac. Most likely, that will be the race I, literally and figuratively, close out the year with. But, until then, thanks for reading!

Cheers!

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Festival Foods Turkey Trot - Race Report

It's been a few years since I last run in the Festival Foods Turkey Trot. The last year I ran in it in 2012. This year, my work schedule was about as good as it gets, especially for a holiday weekend. I didn't have to work on Thanksgiving and also had the two days before and after off....like I said, damn near perfect. I was quick to sign up for this years Turkey Trot, as it is one of my favorite events. Yea, yea, yea....I know I say that a lot about races, but the Turkey Trot is just a fun event. First, our family is always available on Thanksgiving morning, so everyone in my family gets to participate. Secondly, they offer a 2 mile walk/"dog jog" in addition to the more competitive 5 mile run. Thirdly, what better way to kick off a holiday synonymous with stuffing your mouths with food, than with a little bit of exercise? Oh yea....and the top 5 male and top 5 female finishers each get a free turkey and EVERYONE gets a FREE PUMPKIN PIE!

Training for This Race

Again, no specific training, but I have been staying pretty committed with increasing my running volume over the last couple months. I have been up in the 30+ miles per week, which isn't too bad for me, especially when I'm not following a marathon plan. I wanted to keep my running stress relatively low leading up to this race, since I had two races planned this week, one on Thursday and a second on Sunday. So, I ran 8 miles on Sunday, and 6 on Tuesday (not counting the Santa Scamper). I then swam on Monday and Wednesday.

Prerace

Again, much like the Freaky 5k, I found myself watching the weather as there was rain in the forecast, the entire week leading up to the race. We had planned on Sarah doing the 2 mile dog jog with the kids and our pups, so we had to be a little more considerate of the weather. The race started at 8am and parking in Downtown Appleton is a huge pain in the butt, so I really wanted to leave around 6:30am to get a decent parking spot around 6:45ish. I woke up around 6:00 and between Sarah and I, we were able to get the kids up and dressed and ready to go by 6:45. The weather forecast was still calling for rain, but just a light drizzle with temperatures in the low to mid 40's. All-in-all, not a bad morning, especially for Thanksgiving in Wisconsin. We ended finding a great parking spot and had some time to spare and just hang out in the car for a while before leaving to head to the start line. I left a little earlier than Sarah to get warmed up. I was able to get a decent warm up in and was feeling pretty good and was feeling confident to have a good race. On a complete side note....the race takes place right on College Av. in Appleton (Downtown). The race start is directly outside the Paper Valley Hotel, which happens to be the same hotel NFL teams stay at when they are in town to play to Packers. The Chicago Bears were spending the night there for their Thanksgiving day match up against the Packers. To kick off the race, the announcer prompted a "GO PACK GO" chant to upset the rival Bears. Evidently this worked as the Bears had called down to complain about the noise.

Nutrition Plan

To stay consistent with shorter races, I didn't eat anything before and also didn't plan to take anything during the race. All I took was 2 Hammer Nutrition Anti-Fatigue Caps one hour prior to the start of the race.

Equipment

Hammer Cycling Jacket

5 Mile Run

Other than early in the year, all my running races this year had been 5k (3.1 miles). I have become pretty comfortable with running this distance. I really wasn't sure what my strategy was going to be with this race. Mentally, I had the plan to think of it as a 2 mile "warm up" followed by a 5k, that ended up becoming my race plan. It was simple and left room for flexibility. I also knew that there was a steep hill around mile 4 of the race, so I knew I would need to keep some energy in the bank to propel me up the hill without burning out during the final mile.

After the race started, I started conservatively and allowed all the foolish runners who like to sprint at the start pass me. After the first right hand turn, I was running comfortably and just kept reminding myself that this was not a 5k, that I had 5 miles ahead of me. The first 2 miles went by and I was feeling really good. My breathing was "in sync" with my pace and heart rate. By this point in the race, most of the guys who went out too fast have faded back to their proper place. I continued to just stay focused on the distance remaining relative to how I was feeling physically. I also just kept on trying to catch up to the running in front of me and passing them.

After passing mile 3, I knew I could start to kick up the pace a tad. Even if my pace did not increase, I know my perceived exertion increased. Right around mile 3.5, you head down a steep hill that runs along a river for about a quarter mile, before heading up the steep hill I mentioned before. Coming down the home stretch I was passed by another guy who had a strong kick, but ultimately, didn't loose a spot as I passed a different guy shortly there after.

The last time I ran this race, the 2 mile walk and the 5 mile run joined together during the last tenth of a mile and finished together under the same finish line. I don't know if they changed that this year, or one of the other two years which I wasn't able to participate, but this year they separated the two finish lines. The 5 mile runners were never on the same course except for the very beginning, but this was never an issue due to a staggered start. In the past the finish line was so cluttered with walkers that the runners had to dodge and run around groups of walkers. Honestly, it wasn't fair to either of the two groups. The runners wanted to finish fast and hard without interruption, while the walkers didn't want to get bumped and brushed by runners. So this change was a no brainer and a great change!

I ended up finishing in 30:39 averaging a 6:08/mile pace. I finished 20th overall and 1st in my age group. This was my 5th (of 8) Turkey Trots. It was also the 3rd race on this course. It was my second best time and my best time on this course. I am extremely happy with my race. I went into this race with a "high end" goal of finishing under 30 minutes. I had a more realistic goal of finishing around 31-32 minutes.

Post Race

After the race, I headed over to the finish line of the 2 mile untimed walk to try and track down Sarah, the girls, and my mom, who all walked together. On my way to their finish line, I grabbed my FREE pumpkin pie (another great reason to run this event), and stopped by the "Runner's Food" table, where I grabbed some doughnut holes and a bottled water. I ended up hanging around the finish line for about 10 minutes. I was started to get a little chilly and decided to walk the course in reverse to find them on the course. I walked all the way to the end of the walkers and didn't find them. I walked all the way back and ended up finding them near the food table. We packed up and headed home to get showered up and ready to make the rounds to all our families to stuff our gullets with Thanksgiving food!

What's on Tap

As I write this, I have already done the Noodleini 5k, but taking this one step at a time, I will write this as what was going through my mind after the Turkey Trot. So, the next race I had schedule was the Noodleini 5k on Sunday, just 3 days after the Turkey Trot. I went into this three day stretch with a specific personal goal of NO RUNNING. I wanted to try to avoid any excess stress that just wasn't necessary. On Friday, I felt good, and good enough to go for swim, which I did. Saturday, was a busy day and frankly just too busy to even workout if I wanted to. Lucky for me, because, I was the most sore on Saturday, so I was glad I was too busy to even consider working out.

Thanks for reading!
Cheers!

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Santa Scamper - Race Report

I'm going to keep this race report simple. It's not going to be my usual race report with a bunch of headings. Just a simple report of my most recent race completed. Why, you ask? Well, I really wouldn't consider this a "race" per se. But, to my two oldest girls, it was one of the best "races" of their lives. Every year the City of Appleton hosts their annual Christmas Parade the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Before the parade, a local running shoe company, Run Away Shoes, hosts a small 1 mile race/fun run before the start of the race. I used to "run" this race with my cousins when I was much younger. Then middle school sports set in and soon I was marching the parade as a trumpet player for the Appleton East High School band. I honestly couldn't even tell you when the last time I ran in a Santa Scamper. But, all would change this year. Sarah and I try to make it to the Appleton Christmas Parade every year now that we have kids. This year, though, we planned on having the girls run in the Santa Scamper before the parade.

After missing out on the Freaky 5k a couple weeks ago, the girls were eager to run in another race. It was a late idea by Sarah to sign up for this race. The race itself if a rather simple concept. It runs straight down College Avenue (Downtown Appleton), and makes one turn and runs to a small downtown park. The race is just one mile, which is a great race distance for families. Along with your registration, you get a traditional Santa Scamper hat along with a Dairy Queen Dilly Bar and a coupon for a free Burger King Whopper....all for just $10.00. By far the best part of the event is it promotes a healthy, active lifestyle along with spending time with family and friends. All in all, its a great deal.

This year would not only be special to me and my girls, but special to me. This year, not only would I be running with Maya and Delany, but my father would be running along with us. On top of my dad running with us, one of my best friends from college, Erik, ran with us along with his oldest son. Leading up to the race, I wanted to treat this run as a traditional race for me to keep my daughters excited for the run. I really wanted to wear jeans and a winter coat and just treat it like a casual run, but I wanted my daughters to get excited and stay excited for the run. I ended up wearing a pair of Nike track pants. I still wore my running shoes along with my race bib belt and my Garmin GPS Watch.

We got to the parade early to make sure we got a spot on the parade route so the kids could have a front row seat. That allowed us to be very early for the run as well. The run started at 6:30 and the parade started at 7:00. We got to Downtown Appleton around 5:15. Around 6:00 we all started walking to the start line.

As I mentioned the race started at 6:30. I wasn't quite sure what to expect with the girls. I knew Maya would do fine, but Delaney, I wasn't sure at all. It turns out Delaney ran with me, while Maya ran with my dad. Delaney surprised the hell out of me and ran about 95% of the entire mile. We even caught up with my dad and Maya, who evidently ran out a little too fast. We ended up finishing the run along side Maya and my dad. After the race we got out Dilly Bars and headed back to the parade. The girls were both super pumped they ran the "WHOLE RACE!" The whole night was a lot of fun with the family and some of our best friends. We will definitely be back next year if my work schedule cooperates!

My favorite part of the parade!

Cheers!
Thanks for reading!

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Best Summer Ever!

As many of you are already aware, I started a new career with the Kaukauna Police Department this past May. The change has brought many changes to our family. We have had to make adaptations to a temporary cut in pay. I have had to make personally sacrifices in my career, such as giving up being a SWAT officer, suddenly going to the bottom of the totem pole in seniority, and have missed out on a lot of advanced training opportunities. With all that being said, the benefits has truly outweighed the negatives. First, I have been able to bike to work on about 90% of my work days, which oddly enough, has always been important to me (don't ask me why). Secondly, I am now working for a city, which brings different challenges, tactics, and generally is just a different beast. I felt that working for a city over a county was a better fit for me, personally, and I was correct. In addition to both of those, I am so close to home, that I am able to quickly stop home during lunch breaks when time allows. But, by far, the best change has been the schedule. During my work week I work longer hours, but that affords me more time off to spend with my family.

With all the extra time off, Sarah and I truly took advantage of it by several family trips. Some of them were just simple day trips, while others were 4-5 days "excursions" around the great state of Wisconsin. Some of the trips included our annual trip to the Manawa Rodeo and a Brewers' game, where we saw a great game between the Brewers and White Sox (the Brewers won 7-10). In addition to the Brewers', we went camping three times to three different state parks; Point Beach, Devil's Lake, and Governor Thompson. We also took a couple weekend trips to La Crosse to visit our best friends in Minnesota and another to Wisconsin Dells.

Without question, this past summer was the best summer we have had as a family. We really set the bar high for future summers! Below is a video I put together from all our memories from these trips. The video does not contain any pictures from simple events that took place over the summer that also made this past summer one of the best ever, but only pictures from our FAMILY adventures. There are no pictures from the numerous trips to The Mulberry Lane Farm in Hilbert, WI. Nor does it contain pictures to splash pads, local pools/swim lakes, or other short adventures done as a single parent family. So I hope you enjoy the video!

As always, thanks for reading and following!
Cheers!

Friday, November 13, 2015

YMCA Freaky 5k - Race Report

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.

Equipment

Hammer Cycling Jacket

3.1 Mile Run (18:18)

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 always, thanks for reading!

Cheers!

Monday, October 12, 2015

Maya Turns 6

This post has easily become one of my new favorite traditions to do with my girls. This will be Maya's second birthday interview. You can read last years interview HERE. Sarah and I find ourselves taken back nearly every day just amazed at what our lives have become. It an amazing feeling, watching a child grow up before your very own eyes. Maya is no exception to that. She has been turning into such a responsible girl who truly cares about others. She is always trying to do her best and aims to please. We can't wait to see what this next year of her life brings us!

FAVORITE COLOR? Purple
FAVORITE TOY? New guitar & microphone
FAVORITE CHARACTER? Elsa
FAVORITE SUPERHERO? Cat Woman
FAVORITE FRUIT? Apples
FAVORITE VEGETABLE? Corn
FAVORITE BREAKFAST? Cereal
FAVORITE CEREAL? Lucky Charms
FAVORITE LUNCH? Pizza
FAVORITE DINNER? Noodles
FAVORITE DRINK? Apple Juice
FAVORITE SNACK? Oranges
FAVORITE DESSERT? Ice Cream
FAVORITE RESTAURANT? Chuck E Cheese
FAVORITE TV SHOW? My Little Ponies
FAVORITE MOVIE? Aladdin
FAVORITE ACTOR/ACTRESS? Princess Celestia
FAVORITE SONG? Bad Blood - Taylor Swift
FAVORITE SINGER/BAND? Taylor Swift
FAVORITE BOOKS? My Hello Kitty chapter book
FAVORITE BOOK SERIES? Little Reader books
FAVORITE OUTFIT? Purple polka-dot dress
FAVORITE GAME? Monopoly Jr.
FAVORITE SPORT? Soccer
FAVORITE ANIMAL? Horses
FAVORITE PLACE TO GO? The Fire Art Studio
FAVORITE THINGS TO DO? Read
FAVORITE SUBJECT? Animals
FAVORITE STUFFED ANIMAL? Hip and Hop (blanket rabbits)
FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK? Friday
FAVORITE MONTH? October
FAVORITE SEASON? Summer
FAVORITE HOLIDAY? Christmas
FAVORITE THING MOMMY DOES? Gives me nice birthday parties
FAVORITE THING DADDY DOES? Comes home every night to say good night us
FAVORITE VACATION? Going to the cottage
FAVORITE MEMORY? My birthday party at the water park with my cousin Bradyn
WHO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND? I don't have one, so I can't answer
WHO DO YOU LIKE TO PLAY WITH? Kortni and Gracyn
WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY? You (daddy) :)
WHAT SCARES YOU? Haunted hay rides
WHAT MAKES YOU SAD? When Kortni and Gracyn didn't want to play with me
WHAT DO YOU WISH FOR? For Santa to get me what I want
WHERE IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO GO? Up North (Cayuga)
WHAT WOULD YOU BUY IF YOU WON THE LOTTERY? A new toy
WHAT ARE YOU REALLY GOOD AT? Sports
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? Veterinarian
DISLIKES? When mommy throws something away that I want to keep and I just got it
WHAT DO YOU HOPE YOU DO THIS YEAR? Have play dates with Kortni and Gracyn
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF? I'm smart

Monday, September 14, 2015

reTH!NK Addiction 5k - Race Report

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. :(

Equipment

Nike Run Shorts

Hammer Running Singlet

3.1 Mile Run (18:06)

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!

Thanks, as always, for reading!
Cheers!

Monday, August 3, 2015

Packers 5k - Race Report

I you happened to read my race report that I posted on Sunday, you know I had planned on running the Packers 5k on the Saturday following the Ripon Medical Center Triathlon. I chose to run this race for a few reasons. First and foremost, with the race happening on Saturday night, I was simply able to with my work schedule. Secondly, we participated in the Packers 1K Kid's Fun Run last year and had a lot of fun. Lastly, I knew that this race drew a large crowd for a hometown 5k and wanted to put my abilities to the test against some of the best runners in the state. Plus, the final quarter mile of the race are run on Lambeau Field and any opportunity to a lap around Lambeau Field is one you can't turn down!

Training for This Race

I am not going to keep writing the same thing section, so to keep this short and simple, I haven't been specifically training for any race this year at all. But, coming off of the RMC Triathlon and heading straight to the Dells after the race for a few days, all I did this week were a few 5 mile runs. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, to be exact. Friday was a rest/recovery day and then Saturday was race day. Pretty simple.

Prerace

I have been working day shift this weeks rotation, which was been great for my personal life. It also allowed me to race in this race. I worked from 6:30-4:00pm on Saturday and I soon as I got home, I changed into my race clothes, and we loaded up the kids and hit the road. We honestly left too early, but personally, that's alright with me. I had no idea what to expect with parking for this event, but we were able to get a decent spot right in the stadium lot. We had tons of time to lounge around the stadium atrium for while before the start of the race. After sitting around the stadium for about an 45 minutes, I started my warm up. I got a great warm up in with dynamic stretches and strides. By the end of my 15 minute warm up I had a good sweat going and was feeling actually pretty good. The race start was extremely organized with 7 separate start corrals. I was in the first wave, which went off at 6:30. Sarah and the girls were in the "walkers with strollers" wave...wave 7. It turns out, I actually finished the race before she ever started. I found a good position on the start line and waited patiently for the race to start. It turns out they had three Green Bay Packers alumnus running the race as well. One of them was UW-La Crosse alumni, Bill Schroeder.

Nutrition Plan

Much like the "Training for This Race" section, I don't want to keep repeating myself from previous race reports. But, due to this being a short race, I have found that less is more. I last ate at work around 1:00pm and it wasn't anything too complex, just some yogurt, veggies, and a salad with salmon. On the way to the race, I sipped on a water bottle with one serving of Hammer Nutrition HEED (100 cal). After that was gone I really didn't drink much of anything until the race. I did take a few sips of water after my warm up just due to the heat. It was going to be a hot race with temperatures right around 80*. An hour before the start, I took my dose of 2 Hammer Anti-Fatigue Caps and then Hammer Energy Surge tablets as needed during the race.

Equipment

Nike Run Shorts

Hammer Running Singlet