Notes About Scales
What are you weighing?
Confession: I weigh myself on a scale several times per week.
The scale, or more specifically, body weight, is something of a loaded subject in our modern ego-driven, hyper-sexualized, glamour driven, air-brushed, before -and-after culture. Most people associate its use singularly with weight-loss. Weight loss being about as pervasive, yet non-specific a topic as can be found in health discourse.
(Check out these guys for great discussions on this topic: What is Fit?, Olympian Sarah Robles, Also check out Behind the Lens documentary on Cheryl Haworth)
I do not weigh myself with the aim to lose any weight. A few things I am looking for:
- Significant fluctuations, and corresponding behaviors
- Ensure my nutritional intake is in line with my training volume: specifically to stay in a certain range above what I’ve determined to be my best racing (fighting) weight.
- As a figure in calculating body-fat percentage. Again monitoring body-fat for significant fluctuations, and to stay in a certain range.
- To keep my training weight a couple of pounds over my race weight. My race weight being that number I was at when I felt the strongest in a race. Not sluggish, and not depleted. This is only known by tracking weight against performance, along with some other numbers, and adjustments for other impacts on weight like detox and cleanse.
What I don’t care about is the number for its own sake. I don’t care about height weight charts. I don’t care what other guys at the gym weigh (many are bigger and weigh more, but can’t lift more). If the FDA or USDA said it, I probably don’t care about it, and will likely do the opposite, knowing how wrong they are. I don’t care what some guy in Men’s Health looks like, as he probably can’t out-lift, out-run, out-swim, out-survive me, especially once the airbrush work is done. (Wow, how’s that for some vanity)
I track body weight in correlation with several factors, and have determined what is healthy for me.
For example, after Augusta last year, I noted a significant weight loss. I also discovered I was overtrained. The low body weight began before Augusta and also accompanied an increased resting heart rate for a few months post race. My deduction from all this was that I had overtrained going into Augusta. It was likely the result of injuries a month or so ahead of the race, and then my push to compensate for the lost training time.
Lesson: Carefully monitor my training volumes against my recovery times and nutrition, using several measurements to augment my own intuitive sense.
Another use for body weight it determining my hydration levels. If my weight is low, and my body-fat numbers are screwy, despite how I feel, I’m likely dehydrated. It could be my plasma hydration is fine, but my general electrolyte levels are off, affecting my muscle hydration.
Low body weight (below my training weight), can indicate I’m not taking in enough calories, or maybe my protein intake is off. Each of which can cause training to be a negative, or can lead to overtraining.
As mentioned a couple of times above, I track body-fat composition and use that as an indicator for several things.
A pop in body weight, especially after an out-of-town trip, can indicate I was eating too much crap on the road, and am now bloated. Time to flush my system.
Almost all of these indicators are accompanied by a feeling, that if I tune into, my body will tell me what is going on. However, one of the things about being an athlete, is ignoring certain signals our body sends us, despite how loud they may be screaming.
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Jalal
Find my on Twitter. Twitter.com/Old454
Race Report: Georgia Veterans Triathlon 2012
Another great day at the Georgia Veterans Triathlon (Sprint). I managed to put up a personal best for this race, despite sucky swim and bike conditions.
My previous posts for this race:
This may be my last prep race before Augusta 70.3 and then, Ironman Florida. My main goals were to test some recent equipment changes, some transition tweaks, and nutrition strategies. From those respects, everything went very nicely.
Down and Dirty
I really enjoy this race. It was my first triathlon. This is my third time doing it. The swim, swim transition, bike course, and run course are all very friendly, and conducive to the first-timer, or the vet looking for something fun. This time around, the weather was less than friendly with recent thunderstorms creating choppy lake water, and wet bike pavement. There was a slight drizzle for the swim start, but it was gone by the time we got out of the water. The roads were wet for the bike, making navigation on the older road beds tricky. However, the roads had dried a good bit by the run start. I put up a personal best on this course, despite these issues. It was a good day.
Distances: 400 yard swim, 13.6 mile bike, 5k run. With relay team option, also
Course: Loop 400 yard swim in Lake Blackshear;
13.6 mile loop bike, no aid stations;
5k out and back run, 2 aid stations (can hit them going each way).
Registration: $55, early mail-in, USAT member. I hate online registration through those thieves at Active.com .
Host: Georgia Multisport
Weather: I could see thunderstorms in distance on the road to the race. It had clearly recently rained, and the race start was delayed 30 min, due to the delay in clearing the course from the recent thunderstorms. (good thing too, because a tree had evidently needed to be cleared from the bike course roadway). It was drizzling as we waited to start the swim, but that ended before we got out of the water. The wind did, however, create the choppiest swim conditions I’ve seen to this point. Even more difficult than Turtle Crawl. Good training though–we can’t predict what race conditions will be for any future race, and it is necessary to train and be prepared for all sorts of things. Same goes for the bike. The road was wet, and at least one guy I passed got some road rash. He stated all was good, though. My front tire was skipping on the older eroded sections of asphalt. Perhaps I could have taken a few pounds of pressure out of the front tire, but then again it was fine on the smooth sections which make up maybe three-quarters of the course. Weather for the run ended up being ideal, and I was blowing past people at a high rate of speed.
Terrain:
- Swim–Start at a sandy boat ramp. A simple out for 150 or so yards, hang a right for 100 or so, and back.
- Bike–Fairly flat. The first third to half is twisty and mildly technical. A couple of slow risers on the second half. Virtually dead flat on the last stretch.
- Run–Fairly flat also, a couple of short rollers between mile 1.5 and 2.5. Punch it after the last turn.
Competition: Mixed bag of super fast guys, and first-timers.
My results: Mid pack on swim, Mid pack on bike, and front on run. An improvement for me all things considered. My greatest opportunities still lie in the swim and bike. Need to work on muscular endurance for swim to better overcome tough swim conditions. Once warmed up on the bike, I was able to build speed and hold it. On the run, I kept my strokes short, and continued to build speed after first mile.
General Impression: I really enjoy this race. It is well organized. Safety, especially on the tricky portion of the bike is a priority. There is roadway traffic, but it is light with no jerks. Nice looking t-shirt.
Room for improvement: No complaints.
This time I made the three hour drive from home race day morning with no hotel stay. This year it is important that I control my expense with two very expensive races on the calendar. The previous two years I’ve spent the night before in a local hotel. Also, with more experience, for these shorter races, I can wake up early, make the road trip, bust a race, ride back, all in one day. Trick being, as with all races, to get a really good night’s sleep the second night before. How many races can you really get a good night’s sleep the night before anyhow?
My goals were to test some things in preparation for Florida.
- I had recently installed an new wheel set, which works beautifully, however the new gearing had some kinks to work out.
- I’ve been training in Vibrams, but don’t want to race in them for a couple of reasons, hence I recently bought some Saucony Hattoris and wanted to test them in a race scenario.
- New water bottle configuration, and homemade sports drink.
- New bungee swim goggle straps, which have been working great in the pool, also worked great in the lake.
I woke up about 3am, got packed, out the door, and on the road by 4am. Arrived at the venue right at 7am, set up transition, chilled out for a while. Got a good warm up swim. Bust the race. Ate some post race food. Saw I had no chance of medalling, and made the three hour drive to the princess’s soccer tournament. After the tournament, drove home one hour. Showered and made it to Keb Mo / Aaron Neville concert not too late.
Such is the life.
It was a good day.
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–Jalal
Find me on Twitter. Twitter.com/Old454
Road to Ironman: Day 250 (trust the training?)
Wow. I’ve been on this road for 250 days. Today my hams, glutes, right knee and left achilles are bugging me. The hams and glutes are from a return to heavy deadlifts this week. The knee is from my ride last Sunday which revealed some mechanical adjustments I need to make to my set up. The achilles is a flexibility issue, radiating down into my ankle. I ran 6.8 miles yesterday at 11+ pace. Not very impressive.
Taking all this into account, it doesn’t feel like I’m making great progress. However, when I look at my training charts, I can see that I’m posting bigger everything than I ever have, even the month of 70.3 Augusta last year–particularly when I look at overall effort, which I tracked very simply as calories burned. There are a couple of outlier weeks–like the actual week of Augusta, and the week of Warner Robbins 13.1. On the other hand, weeks of other races, which used to be outliers, Olympic distances, for example, now look like normal training volumes.
The great insight in all this? I couldn’t tell you, really. I do know that according to my volumes, I’m ready for Augusta right now–8 weeks out. My prep for Augusta, is really my full Ironman plan, pushed up by 6 weeks. Thus, though it does not feel like it–I’m on track to be good for Florida.
Maybe the insight is trust the training. What do you think?
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Jalal
20 Week Ironman Training: Road to Ironman
Today will finish out Week 2 of a 20-week build to Augusta. The 20-week plan is actually a full Ironman distance plan. My objective is to build 20 weeks into Augusta, take a week off, and then repeat the last five weeks going into Panama City.
For the past several months my focus has been building muscular strength and power, as well as rebuilding my swim stroke. At some point in my final training stretch I need to cut down the heavy lifts and gym session frequency. A couple of weeks ago my right knee felt weird doing front squats, which precipitated a break from leg work in the gym. That on the heels of my back seizure incident, let’s me know the timing for this switch was right. With double sessions virtually every day, the recovery time needed from heavy lifts and three times a week frequency creates too heavy a training load.
Week one went well, and I capped it off with Jekyll Island Turtle Crawl Olympic Triathlon.
This past week, my local county pool was closed for routine maintenance going into Memorial Day, so that gave me the opportunity to get some extra gym work in. Knees are feeling better.
Right now I am as fit as I was going into Augusta last year. My specific race fitness isn’t there, particularly in the run. However, on the bike and in the water, with little race specific training, I am stronger than ever.
For the past several weeks I’ve been repeating the week one training going into the actual 20 Week build. However, my recent back incident and Life have made it slightly difficult. I have however, been able to reproduce the swim side for the past few weeks.
Additionally, those unexpected interruptions have left me feeling stronger. And if there were any doubt, today in the gym I was able to do five sets of power cleans, where my best to that point has been three.
Strength training wise, I’ll go down to twice a week in the gym, with a calisthenic & running speed session, for example Tabata protocol, or Crossfit-style “Helens”.
Given the past few races, and recent long sessions these are my emphases for this season:
- Swim–technique and endurance.
- Bike–muscular endurance.
- Run–Muscular endurance, Speed.
–Jalal
Turtle Crawl Olympic Triathlon, Jekyll Island: Race Report
This past weekend I raced in my first Jekyll Island Turtle Crawl Triathlon, Olympic distance. Jekyll is definitely a beautiful setting. I had looked at this race last year, but scheduling in May is a toughie. However, with Ironman Florida looming, and between its Gulf Coast ocean swim, and run/bike terrain, Jekyll seemed like a great prep race.
Before going further, let me say this report is tempered by the reality that a man, Christopher Petty, died during or shortly after the swim portion of the race.
We had vacationed in the area earlier in the year, swimming at St. Simons and Jekyll. I did not have great confidence being able to execute a decent stroke for any real distance in the surf. However, in the time since, my stroke in the pool has greatly improved, and a good bit has transferred to open water training (in the lake, albeit).
Down and Dirty
Once we got going, this was a fun race. The volunteers are all super friendly, the locals are great (hard to be a hard-ass living on Jekyll). There were some organizational glitches and one outright tragedy. However, I would recommend this race.
Distances: 1500 meter swim, 28 mile bike, 10k run. With relay, sprint, and 5k- & 10k- only options.
Course: Point-to-point 1500 meter swim along the Jekyll Island ocean-side coast;
28 mile loop (essentially) bike, one bottle exchange station; 10k out and back run, two water stations.
Registration: $85, 95, & 105 depending on how early you register, USAT member. There is a mail-in option. SetUp Events has an unsecured login and registration page. One lady assured me the payment processing was secured, but I don’t do unsecured logins.
Host: SetUp Events
Weather: Weather was beautiful. When I got on the island I heard the water temps were 72ish, that morning, someone said 74. Regardless, the water was an ideal temperature–Wetsuit legal. My second race in my new Xterra john suit. There was some rain the day before, but that seemed to only enhance the race conditions.
Terrain:
- Swim–A long walk down the beach to the swim start. Wave start on the beach, into the surf, hang a right and swim 1500 meters, hang another right and swim out. Slightly swimming against the current exiting the water.
- Bike–Pretty flat. Some slopes and rises, not even rollers. The issue is the cross- and head-winds. It was really a cross wind, so on the way back no tail-wind benefit. Apparently, good Florida training.
- Run–Virtually same terrain as the ride. A paved stretch with the beach to your side. Dappled shade.
Competition: Mixed bag of super fast guys, and first-timers. Given the destination angle of the race, there were a good mix of mid-packers and a more than usual dose of relayers. The relayers tend to skew your perspective on each leg of race.
My results: Back of the pack swim, mid-pack bike, mid-pack run. Giving myself a break on this one, as I still had a cold or something, and was racing after working hard all day, getting on the road late, and only catching a couple of hours sleep.
General Impression: Fun race. Idyllic setting & conditions. Some organizational flaws. Post-race recovery food was virtually non-existent. There was a food truck selling food. The Muscle Milk girls were there.
Room for improvement: I usually don’t have a long list of complaints, however, I think this list is justified. Regardless, it does not prevent me from recommending the race.
- Arriving at my hotel at 1:30am, necessitated early morning packet pick up. The packet pickup process was terrible. The volunteers were not empowered to make decisions to move the line faster, and could only process one person at a time off of a single paper registration list. This took the already stressful transition setup process, and made it far more stressful than necessary by sucking up all the time.
- There was no pre-race briefing. We were informed via email that all the info was available in an online doc, and there would be no pre-race briefing. There are several issues with this, one immediate on being that pulling up online docs while on the road is not always fool-proof. The other being that the briefing has a real purpose to inform participants of changes and new issues right before they start. The briefing is not a check-the-block kind of thing. Several niggling annoyances could have been avoided with a good pre-race brief right before the start.
- No port-a-potties. One after the race lady told me she saw one, but I saw none during the race, not at transition or anywhere else.
- Post race recovery food was utterly lacking. There was water and Gatorade at the finish line. Aside from that, I did not see any bananas, bagels or anything else. The Muscle Milk ladies were there, and that is always nice, but not quite the same.
Tragedy
There is debate about the ocean conditions and the race’s level of organization. I noticed one boat assisting a swimmer, however I did not see anyone in actual distress. I did not find the ocean to be too rough to swim, though I could see how it may have been hard for rescue kayaks to track and get to swimmers. One of my major criticisms is there were some organizational breakdowns. From my perspective during the race these were mostly annoying, not deadly. My initial reading of the reports indicate that the actual responders–the rescuers, EMTs, and State Patrol–all responded quickly and appropriately. It seems that the after-incident notification & reporting to emergency contacts and next of kin, was an issue, something I can imagine. I have noted some shortcomings, that definitely need to be addressed going forward. I don’t know to what extent, if at all, they contributed to Mr. Petty’s death, but the devil is in the details.
Triathlon is a dangerous sport, something that racers and organizers need to keep in mind, and be reminded of at all times. Many are saying the swim should have been cancelled. I don’t think so. The water was not unmanageable. It is an ocean swim after all. However, but all steps need to be in place, and taken seriously.
The Race
I mentioned earlier that May is a tough month the schedule, however, it is an important month to get in some test races. This year, on top of the usual soccer schedules, and end of the year school stuff, we are dealing with graduation stuff. I did not fully understand the impact that graduation stuff was going to have on my schedule in general. This race was no exception.
I generally, look at my schedule, consult with my wife, and try to shoehorn in personal race, training, and other stuff where I can. After doing all that, this past weekend seemed to work. Mother’s Day was the weekend before. Graduation was several day after. The regular club soccer season was over, the high school playoffs were done, and the State Cup series would be two weeks out. But of course, it didn’t work out like that.
Originally, I had planned to leave around noon Friday, get to Jekyll, pick up my packet early, set up my gear, hit the hotel, maybe watch the sunset on the beach. Actually, at one point, I envisioned making a mini-vacay with my wife out of this, but that evaporated a long time ago.
What actually happened was I was informed the day before that my son’s signing day ceremony would be at 2:30pm in the afternoon (automatic arriving in Jekyll like 10pm), worked all day, pushing to make headway on projects we are already behind on, had to address some domestic logistic issues, and didn’t get on the road until crazy late, arriving at Jekyll at 1:30am in the morning. I couldn’t fall asleep for another hour, and then started to trying to wake up at 4:45am.
I got to transition about 6am, which should have been plenty of time to get my packet, setup transition, and do everything I needed to. With the aforementioned glitches, it wasn’t. Luckily my transition set up is very straight forward, only needing about five minutes to do.
The walk to the swim start is long–be prepared.
Once in the water, I figured swimming in the breakers would be impossible, so I swam out as I could beyond the breakers, and once in the swells, the swimming was manageable. I saw people struggling in the breakers. Definitely swim out to the flatter water. It took a while, but I was able to settle down to a decent free-style. Alternating sides. Timing the swells. Sighting off of the water towers on shore. Around the last buoy and back to shore.
T1 was uneventful. I’m working out how to best deploy my homemade Lara bars. Packaging and carrying during the race is still slightly awkward. The wetsuit came off super easy this time. One fitting, one open water swim, and two races later. Breaking in is key.
The bike was also uneventful. Beautiful. A couple of inconsiderate drivers. After five miles my legs loosened up, and I was able to push my cadence for the remaining 23. There was a fairly steady cross-wind on the way out. It was more of three-quarter wind, needing to actually lean into it at times, and forcing me into aero for most of the ride. Typically, aero is a big issue for me, causing my back to seize up. However, I had recently adjusted my set up, going for a shorter, more vertical aerobar reach, and had no back issues.
One other big guy and I were hopeful for a tail wind on the way back, but no such thing. Only less of a cross wind.
In T2 a lady drug her bike through my towel and space, fortunately, not disrupting my gear too much. I helped her get her bike situated. Looking at my T2 split, it might have cost me 10 seconds. And my gear survived. No biggie.
The run went well. I kept my stride short, and maintained my form fairly well. I could feel my hamstrings on the verge of cramping during the last few miles, so I’m confident that I did not hold back.
Day 157: Road to Ironman Florida
Today is a random day. Nothing particularly remarkable relating to my, epic-sounding, Road to Ironman Florida. Of some significance is that I am recovering from another back lockup/seizure episode. Last Sunday was my first triathlon of the season, Spring Fling Sprint at West Point Lake.
After the race that afternoon, I helped my buddy fix his hot water heater, and helped my son with his AP Statistics homework (well, as I could, its been a long time since college statistics). I then promptly passed out on the couch.
The next morning, I was feeling great. Went to work, and hit the gym late morning. Finished my day. Ran practice with my girls’ team. Hit the pool that evening. Went to bed tired, but feeling good.
Perhaps that was a bit too much, because Tuesday morning, when I tried to roll out of bed, I could not stand up straight. My back was in full-scale revolt.
This happened to me in the final weeks of training going into Augusta 70.3 last year. Last year I tried to push through, and ended up on the sidelines for two weeks. A costly two weeks. What I did discover, was that my back would loosen up in the pool.
So this time I did two things. 1) I ceased all attempts to push through, or do any work thatmight cause my back to lockup. 2) I went to the pool that evening.
I actually swam more and better this week than I have ever. I have had several breakthrough moments this week in the pool. As of today, my back is still tight, but I can walk, get in and out of my truck, sit at my desk–things I could not do at this point in last year’s episode.
Perhaps, this was a forced recovery period. I have not been cycling my sessions as I know I should (an unload week every third week). In fact, I’ve been pushing for bigger strength gains in the gym, in advance of my reduced gym time in the weeks going into Ironman Florida.
In reality, this is the ghost of years past–too many hard training days without good recovery when I was younger, too many holes and ditches dug in concrete-hard, drought-dried, August-baked Georgia clay. A consequence of living a certain number of days, and doing a certain number of real things in those days. I’ll much rather take it now, rather than in the weeks going into Florida.
Spring Fling Sprint Triathlon: Race Report
I just put my first triathlon of the season in the bag (I have a few more races scheduled)–it was the Spring Fling at West Point Lake, on the border of Georgia and Alabama. (West Point, Georgia, near LaGrange). This event actually consists of two races–the West Point Triathlon, an olympic distance, and the Spring Fling Sprint.
My selection of this race was that it was the first sprint distance scheduled on a Sunday. My Saturdays are impossibilities until after soccer season. In fact my next race will be the Turtle Crawl Olympic at Jekyll, the first Saturday after soccer season!
Down and Dirty
This is a fun race. The weather was great, the water temp was a tad cool, but I always feel the lake temps are cool. The people are fun, and the volunteers super helpful.
Distances: 600 yard swim, 15 mile bike, 5k run. With relay team option, also
Course: Out and back 600 yard swim in West Point Lake;
15 mile out and back (essentially) bike, no aid stations; 5k out and back run, water at start and 1.5 mile mark.
Registration: $65, early mail-in, USAT member. I hate online registration through those thieves at Active.com .
Host: Georgia Multisport
Weather: Weather was beautiful and warm. The water was still a tad cool–Wetsuit legal. I was able to test my new Xterra john suit. Weather stayed sunny and rain-free all day. I didn’t notice the heat until after the race.
Terrain:
- Swim–Start and end on a boat ramp, which is always slightly tricky in terms of toe scrapes. A simple out for 250-300 yards, hang a left for 50 or so, and back.
- Bike–Rolling hills. Somewhere this course was called flat and fast. It is not flat. No killer climbs, but don’t look for the flats. A Pit/Staffordshire mix came charging out on one uphill. Thank you to the sheriff who chased him off.
- Run–Again, not flat. Rolling hills, no killer climbs. I’m sure I negative split on the way back.
Competition: Mixed bag of super fast guys, and first-timers. The first olympic distance guy was out of the water in 17 minutes. The last olympic people were behind me.
My results: Back of the pack swim, mid-pack bike, front pack run. Mid-pack overall, back of the pack for my age group. My biggest opportunity still lies in the swim, but I feel that getting better with every training session. My next opportunity is in the bike, getting stronger and smarter there all the time.
General Impression: Fun race. Close enough to home to get up early and drive to, race, and drive home. Well supported during all legs, with nice post race recovery food (I did not try, and cannot vouch for, the pizza though)
Room for improvement: Swag period. We got our numbers before hand, and the t-shirt. No swag at all though 😐
I woke up at 3:30am to get ready and leave for the race. I had done minimal preparation the night before (which I regret). My aim was to be on the road at 4:30. I finally got going pushing 5am. From my house it was right at 2 hours to get there. Definitely load up all your stuff once your parked, and head down to transition in one shot. the closest parking is 1/4 mile. Where I ended up parking is 1/2 mile easy. You don’t want to make that round trip unnecessarily.
Once I got parked, unloaded and down to transition, transition was technically closed. (One reason I recommend you stay the night if this is your first race.) I set up transition fairly quickly, copped a squat in someone’s chair, and squeezed into my wetsuit.
With a little time to kill, I hit the bathroom (no, not the port-a-potty). By the time that was over, the Olympic distance had already started. I slipped into my start wave and waited.
The swim was uneventful, except I need to work on my wetsuit adjustments. I had not hoisted the crotch enough, and it ended up pulling on my shoulders, chest and legs. I think this is an adjustment issue, not a sizing one. Although, I’m finding the triathlon sizing charts are made for skinner guys than I, and I’m not a bulky guy.
Bike transition went smooth. Slightly slow, as I carefully eased the wetsuit past my ankles. The bike ride was also uneventful, one Lincoln buzzed me and pushed my bike number into my wheel spokes and I had the annoyance of that flapping sound for the last six or seven miles. I passed some folks and lost them on the hills. The pit/Staffordshire mix came charging out right before the 7.5 mile marker. He had his sights set on a cyclist in front of me, but a deputy ran him off. I tested out one of my homemade Lara bars. The bar worked great, but my wrapping, and deployment needs some help. Definitely not as simple as ripping open a gel. No sports drink for this race, only water.
Run transition was super fast. Rack my bike. Take off my helmet. Slip on my running shoes. Zing my elastic laces. and I’m gone. Nothing else to it. I hit an espresso gel at the .5 mile or so. After the 1.5 mile turn around, the gel hit, I kicked it in a bit, and finished with some fast guys, making me look a lot better than I am. The finish line sneaks up on you a bit, and is in a slightly different spot than the transition area.
Muscle Milk, cookies, bananas, water and a Coke for my post recovery stuff. There was a ton of other stuff. I wasn’t really craving anything else, and those hit the spot. Talked to some local racers for a bit, and headed home.
Got home in time to help my buddy with his hot water heater, and my son with his AP Statistics homework!
It was a good day.
Inspiration & Motivation — Watch this!
I found this video on Joe Tapias’s Blog.
Inspiration and Motivation can literally be found anywhere. Be sparked by the most mudane thing. And when they are, they are powerful.
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Jalal
Museum of Aviation Half Marathon 2012: Race Rep
Museum of Aviation Half Marathon 2012
Yesterday, I finished my second Museum of Aviation Half Marathon, on Robins AFB, in Warner Robins, GA. It was a cold day, but not quite as cold as last year. I was hopeful, as last weekend was almost balmy, but then the weather took a turn mid-week, and I knew the weekend would be blustery.
My goals for this race were:
- benchmark the 5k to 50k (modified of course) running program I’ve been following.
- test out my pre-race & race nutrition changes
- test out some equipment.
From those perspectives, it was a successful run. I was about 30-40 seconds off pace from last year, but given my training volumes, some recent ankle twinges, I am happy with the result. (more in a future post)
Location: Warner Robins, Georgia
Gun time: 8 pm
Distances: 5k, Half-Marathon, Marathon
Course: 13.1 mile loop around airfield
Registration: $20-5k; $40-13.1; $50-26.2.
Host: Robins Pacers
Weather: Sunny, Clear & Cold (26 deg) Running shorts, Mid-length sleeve compression shirt, Short sleeve technical Tee, Arm warmers, Double layer Gloves (took outer shell off at mile 6), Fleece headband (took off at mile 6), Bandana, Nike Frees.
Terrain: Fairly flat, a couple of rollers, and a couple of creepers (inclines that don’t actually look like inclines). All asphalt with some nice looks at the airfield, for those with that connection.
Competition: It is a Half-Marathon, so most folks are going to be in decent shape. But it is a good mix with good company the whole way. Top men’s time was 1:16, top women’s was 1:27. Last year times were 1:12 and 1:23 respectively.
General Impression: This is a nice race. Definitely show up early because there is no early packet pick up due to security considerations, thus 1200-1500 people picking their stuff up at once can create some bottle necks.
Packet pickup and post-race recovery food is in the covered and heated Museum–very nice. Good recovery food. Nice folks.
Room for improvement: Water stations were a little behind the power curve. Would be nice to have bottled water at the finish line, just from a volume perspective.
Race Report: 2012 Resolution Run
Four years now at the ATC Resolution Run (my son and & I)–The Queen and Princess graced us with their presence this year. The race is basically in the same area as the past several years, but with a new route. I personally feel the new route is an improvement. Still true rolling hills, but with more variety in the hills, and interest overall. The biggest benefit is you don’t have to watch all the super fast runners coming back while your still going out on the old out-and-back section. I also feel the hill variety is better. However, both the start and finish are uphill–not super grades, but enough to notice on cold or tired legs.
My first race of the year (obviously), having this race on the calendar keeps one motivated during the dietary and activity disaster zones that are Thanksgiving through New Year’s.
Location: Kennesaw, Georgia (exit 269 Barret Pkwy)
Gun time: 11:10 pm (11am–5k, 10:30–fun run)
Distances: 5k, 10k, kids fun run
Course: Two separate 5k loops throughout office parks. Twice round for 10k. True rolling hills.
Registration: $25–5k & 10k; one-mile fun run–$10; Tiny Trot–Free
Host: Atlanta Track Club
Weather: Perfect weather. About 56 degrees at start. Showers had just passed before we showed up at 9:45 or so.
Terrain: New route has more variety than last year. Rolling hills. Often courses are described as rolling hills but are really Hilly. This one is actually rolling hills that some may not notice much. One or two hills to motor up, but not bad. Office parks and industrial lawns. Some insignificant traffic.
Competition: A little for everyone. Walkers, midpackers, and the usual speedy ATC crowd.
General Impression: Port-a-Potties were abundant, with a moderate line only just before the 5k start. Not a soul in line just before the 10k start. The wave start was good in the respect of removing the initial crush between pure runners, joggers and walkers. New route is an improvement.
Room for improvement: Recovery food was better than last year (thanks), with good bagels, Powerade, and some type of fruity granola bars. Still would have liked bananas. The largest issue (as it is in many races) is I think more emphasis can be made on asking people to observe some race etiquette–not seeding yourself up front if you know you’re going to go slow, check over shoulder before you step out to pass someone, check behind you before you decide to come to a dead stop in the middle of the road.
I love this race. Will be back next year.
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–Jalal
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And your comments are always welcome below.
The game is just a game
We had a rough game last weekend. I was reeling as the game progressed. I looked at my bench and struggled to find the right combination of subs to stop the bleeding. The second half was better than the first, but it was still rough.
After the game, I scoured my mind for two days, searching for the answer, the key, the one thing that would have turned the tide. I discovered that the entire day had conspired against me. My own mind had failed. I was disorganized, and it spilled over into our warmups. My girls were spaced out and distracted. The practices that week going in were riddled with issues. It was a triple witching situation. A perfect storm. I took it personal terribly.
But today, looking back and planning ahead, I’m beginning to see it was a game. It was not a personal failure. It was not a commentary on the entire season. It was not a sign of our wrong direction. What it was, was a game where unpredictable things happened, and discordant events came together and resulted in a particular outcome. That’s a big reason we play sports–to learn to adjust to unpredictable, and consequently, sometimes undesirable outcomes. It was just a game.
Sometimes the game is just a game.
— Old 454
Comment are welcome, as always.
Find me on Twitter at Twitter/Old454
Race Rep Part 3: Augusta 70.3 Half Ironman 2011
Augusta 70.3 Half Ironman 2011 Finisher Medal
Part 3 of my Race Report. Read Part 1. … Read Part 2
After a not-good night’s sleep, I woke up race morning about 4am before Augusta 70.3 Half Ironmatn 2011. I tossed in bed after falling asleep late. I spent a good bit of my time last night hunting down a new cyclometer (see part 2). I got out of bed about 4:30am and made my way to the hotel breakfast for some coffee, and a waffle. Not much of an appetite, and I had my own preferred early morning. Orange juice, yogurt, banana, P&J (if I can get it down), not too much coffee. It was still a few hours before my 8:16 wave start.
Final equipment check, loaded up my transition bag, lubed up, put on my tri shorts, shirt, running shoes. My first race where a shirt was mandatory for the bike and run. Put on some tunes, and headed to the lobby for the shuttle. I don’t train with headphones, but I do usually listen to Damian Marley or something in the drive to a race.
The shuttle lady was extremely nice, and got us to the transition area very quickly. No parking pain. Extremely convenient. Had no cash for a tip (caught up with her later that afternoon)
I got to my bike about 6am. Transition was already packed with lines of people waiting for the race shuttles (school buses) headed towards the swim start. The space on either side of me was already staked out, and with the wrong-facing bike (guy still no where to be found), I had no space–a situation I promptly corrected. I borrowed a pump and topped of my tires. Affixed my new cyclometer. Did my normal layout. Headed to get in line for the buses.
By 6:30am the bus lines had died down, so we basically walked up and loaded buses. Easy. A couple of minutes later, we were unloading at the swim start.
The swim start was buzzing with spectators, family, racers–very good energy. The training teams were grouped, warming up. I hit the port-a-potty, turned in my swim clothe bag, and made my way to get in line for my wave. Had chance to watch the pros start.
The swim starts from a floating pier, extended perpedicular from the shore into the river. After walking out on the pier, each wave then gets in the water for a deep water start. Here you can feel that the current has an effect, but it is not a significant effect. Hence my point in part 1 that the current is a factor the longer you’re in the water, but not a huge factor. Even with 100 or 200 swimmers in my wave, the start was not that physical.
The swim course is well marked. It’s a straight shot along the shore. The area closer to the shore has some seaweed-like stuff. A little weird, but not terrible. I saw a snapping turtle–definitely something I would not want to surprise.
I came out of the water feeling strong. Hit the port-a-potties, found my bike, a good swig of water, loaded up, and headed out. The volunteers were abundant, and super nice–A constant theme throughout the race.
The bike exit was easy to find. Plenty of room to mount up and get going.
The bike leg exits the Marina and quickly heads out of town onto the freeway. The first third of the bike is
Transistion area the morning of Augusta 70.3 Half Ironman 2011
basically rolling hills. The first aid station was around mile 18. Grabbed some water, and hit the port-a-potty. (Need to work on the port-a-potty situation).
My bike nutrition strategy was to get down a bottle of my 6% electrolyte mix, replace that with water on the bottle exchange, then start working on my concentrated electrolyte, alternated with water. I planned to finish a water each aid station, and nurse my concentrated mix.
The stretch between each of the remaining bike aid stations have at least one or two decent ascents, depending on how one feels about hills. However, there aren’t any real killer hills. There are a couple of hairpin turns. One hairpin turn is at the bottom of a steep decline, and then a runs into a good incline. One rider wiped out ahead of me, and I had to break down to a bike stand while he was assisted off the course. Then a nice quarter mile climb out of that. My gearing was high for torque in the turn, but not for the resulting climb. A nice thigh buster.
The last ten miles or so of the course are very similar to the first (as might be expected).
Weather on the bike was hot and sunny. Not so bad on the bike because of the wind etc, and the downhills gave some good cool down opportunities. I topped out at one point at just under 40 mph.
The Run by the time I headed out on the run it was good and hot. Most of the run is in the sun. There are several shaded areas, tree lined sections and a few under passes. Going out on the first 3 miles, expect plenty of sun. Mile 5-6 is cooler on the back part of the first loop, and then back to the sun for the second loop.
The run is dead flat. There is literally only one hill as you leave the marina going through the levy wall.
With aid stations every mile. Water, Ironman electrolyte and gel products, cola, fruit. Very well stocked.
It’s amazing running through downtown Augusta, there are so many people cheering. Hanging out at the bars, having a good time. The aid stations are manned by various groups. There was a rugby team, a group of waitresses, JRTOC.
The split between finishers and second lappers is on the back half of the loop. It was something of a psychological hurdle watching those faster than me splitting off for the finishing shoot, while I was in for another 10k or so.
I had an unexpected second wind on the back half of the second loop, perhaps mile 7 or 8. The whole issue of second winds if baffling to me, and I was very surprised to have one at my longest distance to date. On the second loop there were some clouds and some rain. Both were very welcome, and certainly much better than the heat and sun.
There are aid stations every mile or so. Port-a-potties are not at every aid station, and are sometimes hard to visually locate.
The finish line was finally in sight. Here you should be sure to create some space, and take a good finish line photo, hands raised high, smiling. I got my medal, finisher’s hat, some water. The race over, I was afraid to sit down, lest I may not be able to stand back up. Definitely, the most brutal run of my life.
This is the point I missed my family most, as everyone else’s support crew and family greeted them coming out of the shoot, I felt distinctly alone.
Waited in line not too long for the Athletes Lounge (or something to that effect) pizza, chips, cookies, soda, water and beer. Had a good convo in line. Sat down, finally to munch with a fellow competitor.
I actually gave a post-race breakdown in my first post in this series.
So what next year? Getting psyched for a full Ironman. . .
If there’s some detail I missed, a question you have, or a comment, leave a comment below.
–Old 454
Please feel free to comment below.
Also, find me on twitter: Twitter.com/Old454
Race Rep Part 2: Augusta 70.3 Half Ironman 2011
Ironman Augusta 70.3 Transition--day before
Part 2 of my Race Report. Read Part 1. and Part 3.
I arrived in Augusta for the Augusta 70.3 Half Ironman 2011 triathlon Saturday afternoon (24 Sep 11). The road to Augusta that day was riddled with delays, traffic, complete traffic stoppages, an ingenious detour on my part, but I finally arrived. Having left late, I relied on my Blackberry GPS & Google Maps to navigate on the fly to the Marriott for check in.
Along the way I had a moment of panic, realizing I left my bike computer in my computer bag, sitting on my desk at home. My laptop was in the passenger’s seat next to me, no bag. Alas, bike “computer” is something of an overstatement for my $12 Wal-Mart cyclometer, more of a suped up Casio. Hence, my panic subsided when I convinced myself I could easily locate one on a local Wal-Mart shelf. Worst case, I could use my wrist watch, and obsess over arithmetical calculations while on the bike.
My focus today was to stay hydrated, continue my carbo-loading plan, keep my stress levels as low as possible, and do what I could to avoid snags race morning. I had booked two nights at the hotel, one check in and set up the night before, (besides I’m not a fan of driving longer distance to triathlon, set up transition and race all in the same morning.) The second because I really had no idea what my recovery would look like, how long it would take to clear transition, etc after the race, and I didn’t want the stress of even a late check out time looming. As it turns out, that was a good idea.
Check in/Packet pick up went smoothly. I parked on the street across the street from the Marriott Convention Center complex, and walked in. There was plenty of free parking in the complex, as it turned out. In some previous race reports, bloggers have pooh-poohed the athlete briefing, but I thought it was worthwhile, worth the thirty minutes or so. I was, however, surprised by the number of questions concerning what constituted a penalty (I would hope someone racing a half Ironman would have raced several shorter triathlons first, and become familiar with the penalties.) They do have a somewhat unique system for tracking and serving penalties, again something you may want to be clear and aware of.
Checked out the Ironman Store and bought an Ironman branded Augusta shirt for the Queen. Suffered some sticker shock, and moved on.
Next was bike check-in. I drove over to the Marina, again parking outside on the street. Numbered up my bike, pumped the tires not quite full, and road down to Transition. I had to retape my handle bars, and gave my bike a quickie spin to see if all was well. I had another momentary panic when I noticed a flat. May have been the railroad tracks past the Transition area (tracks you do not need to cross during the race.) Or it may have been a latent issue with my tube. Regardless, there it was. The bike mechanic guys wanted to charge me $20 to change it, or $10 for a just a tube. And no, I couldn’t use their bike racks. I did not ride down there with any money. Alas, I took my one spare tube out of my onboard tool bag, and put it on. No obvious puncture culprits. The mechanic guys did let me use their pump.
Now two things I needed to buy: A bike computer and a new inner tube. It was already late, and the Ironman Store was closed. So I found my spot and racked my bike. Some genius had racked his bike the wrong direction next to me, and was nowhere to be found–Something to deal with in the morning.
Off to check in at the hotel. The hotel desk clerk was super nice. They were totally ready for this event. Breakfast would open at an early 4 am on a Sunday (just for the race), and there would be a shuttle making round trips to Transition all morning. It is not the fanciest place, but had very nice staff, a clean room, and were completely accommodating–all things which rank high with me when it comes to these things. (Quality Inn Medical Center)
I literally drove to every Wal-Mart in the area looking for a 700×25 inner tube and a $12 bike computer. It seems that with 3500 racers, there were just enough triathletes with my same “El Cheapo cyclometer” mentality, and also somehow didn’t have one. At the last Wal-Mart, one of the stock ladies had just put out the new shipment of cyclometers. Somewhere along the way I picked up a 700×35 tube and apparently the only 700×25 left in Augusta.
Luckily I traveled with my own food for dinner, and didn’t have a great appetite.
I hit the room, and fell asleep.
More to follow. Stay tuned . . . Read Part 3.
Also — What am I missing? Comment below.
–Old 454
Please feel free to comment below.
Also, find me on twitter: Twitter.com/Old454
Race Report: Augusta 70.3 Half Ironman 2011, Part 1.
Augusta 70.3 Half Ironman 2011
More than a year in the planning, this past weekend, 25 September 2011, I finished the Augusta 70.3 Half Ironman 2011 triathlon. My longest distance to date, with the longest pre-race training period, the most complex nutrition and carbo-loading plan, longest post-race recovery (though not my most miserable). This was an intimidating prospect, and it is great to have it under my belt.
I will definitely need to divide my race report into two or three parts. My typical race report centers primarily on the central facts, and then some brief description of my experience. That won’t suffice today. I’ll let this first part be just the fundamental race facts: start time, weather, etc. The other parts will deal with my experience, timeline, preparation, recovery, etc.
Down and Dirty
I had a great time (if that’s what it’s called), and would totally do this one again next year. In fact, I had such a great time running this, my first Half Ironman, that I’m seriously considering running this distance a couple of times in 2012, building to a full Ironman.
Distances: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run. With relay team option, also
Course: 1.2 mile point-to-point down Savannah River;
56 mile loop, out and back from Augusta into South Carolina, and back;
2 loop run throughout downtown Augusta.
Registration: $250.
Host: Ironman
Race Results — Augusta Ironman 70.3 2011
Weather: Nice swim start, wetsuit legal. The water was a bit cool. It took me some time to relax exhaling underwater. Got hot & sunny on the bike and for the (my) first loop of the run, the second loop was overcast with some (welcome) sprinkles. We had a good rain going for transition break down. But, alas, we just finished racing 70 odd miles–no big deal.
The Athlete’s Guide recommends acclimating to the Georgia heat and humidity–this is no joke. There were several heat injuries on the course.
Terrain:
- Swim–Downstream, the advantage of which there is some debate. I’d rate it a Slight (not Great) advantage. Like the wetsuit, it’s of greater advantage, the longer your in the water (i.e., to us weaker swimmers).
- Bike–Truly rolling hills, with three to five good hills/climbs/inclines, depending on how you count. Not nearly as brutal as the bike in the Assault on Cherokee Olympic Triathlon in South Carolina, for example.
- Run–Pancake flat. For real. Dead flat run winding through down town Augusta. Some races claim to be flat, but this run really is (aside from one 50 yd climb out of the Marina area).
Competition: Need I say anything here? It’s a Half Ironman–the competition level is very high. There are plenty of “just finishers”, but the majority of people were serious athletes. Every one was extremely nice and supportive. Definitely one of the friendliest crowds I’ve race with.
General Impression: This is a great course, with a good mix of more and less challenging features. Great aid stations, plenty of port-a-potties, great cheering sections. The race was very well run and supported. With 3500 or so racers, the race was very well organized and run. The volunteers were great. The host city, Augusta was extremely gracious and inviting. The staff at my hotel (Quality Inn Medical Center) were extremely nice and helpful, and the headquarters hotel (Marriott Convention Center) was very pleasant.
Room for improvement: Uhh,. . . More swag in the swag bags. More selection in the athlete recovery tent–though the cup of beer was a nice touch!
More to follow. Stay tuned . . .
Read Part 2 . . . Read Part 3.
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–Old 454
Please feel free to comment below.
Also, find me on twitter: Twitter.com/Old454
Back from Augusta. . .
I survived the 2011 Augusta 70.3 Half Ironman. Race report to follow. After the triathlon, I (wisely) stayed over one additional night from Sunday to Monday. Took my time getting ready Monday morning, and was on the road about 9:30am. Got back in town around noon, unloaded my bags, and was checking on a job before 1 pm. Got some work done, ran two practices that evening, ate dinner, and crashed
Monday was a complete day off from training. I occupied my mind on the bike, wondering what I should, shouldn’t, if I should train, this week. At some point Sunday evening, I decided to take Monday off (sort of). Light swim Tuesday. That’s as far as it went, before I passed out Sunday evening.
Today is Thursday. I had a light swim today. My thighs still feel sluggish. That certain, clear overtrained, drained feeling.
Overall, I’m recovering fine. Yesterday, my body temperature was doing weird things.
Would like to hit the climbing gym tomorrow, and hit the weights this weekend. We’ll see.
–Old 454
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Your comments are welcome and appreciated.
Race Report: American Legion Post 304 5k Run
The Queen invited me to run this race with her. I agreed (how could I refuse such a request). Besides, I’m in the final six weeks of my Half Ironman training regimen, it was a slight hiccup, however, this is a recovery week, a 5k wasn’t too much of an interruption, and I was delighted she would ask me.
American Legion Post 304 North Cobb logo
Host: American Legion Post 304
Date & Time: 20 August 2011, 7:30 am
Location: Kennesaw, Georgia –Barrett Lakes
1940 Lodge Rd Kennesaw, GA
Cost: $20 early, $25 day of
Course map: Race Map
Terrain: Rolling hills. (see notes below)
My Overall Impression: This was a very pleasant, well organized race. Nice swag bags. After race food was adequate, but the vendor giveaways were great, and more than made up for it. I would certainly run this race again.
Notes: Race time was at 7:30. The route was advertised by the event promoters (not the American Legion Post) as flat. It wasn’t flat. It was more rolling hills. I found the course to be a nice run. The hills were not bad and truly rolling. Many times courses are listed as “rolling hills”, and what they mean are “many steep hills”. However, several people were expecting flat.
I suspect there were 100-200 racers.
Competition was moderate. Races like these can run the gamut, especially if many old time military guys come out (who often tend to be FAST as runners).
From the race site:
5K run to support the American Legion Post 304. We support 5 Cobb County High Schools. Allatoona, Kennesaw Mountain, Mt Paran Christian, North Cobb & North Cobb Christian as well as the R.O.T.C of Kennesaw State University and many Veteran organizations and causes.
I train because I must
I train for one very simple reason: I must.
I do have the choice to not train, but that is the choice of no option.
The single hardest thing I do each day is get out of bed. That presents a horrible proposition. I must sleep, and I must wake up (unless it’s my last slumber). And therefore I must face that dread every single day. No avoiding.
Training changes the entire equation. It makes those things that my biochemistry makes so horrible, bearable. But it does more. Training allows me to feel good and even great in ways that under normal day-to-day drudgery my biochemistry just won’t. There are those moments and periods when the mini-pharmacy between my ears is firing on all cylinders without the boost from physical and mental exertion. However, those moments are entirely unpredictable, and crumble for completely undiscernible reasons.
When I speak of training, I speak of all the activities I engage in that connect me to the Warrior. Running, weight lifting, swimming, camping, rock climbing, cycling, hiking, fencing, swordsmanship, archery. There are other forms of training, as well. On a mystical level, modern comfortable society does not fulfill me, the Warrior. When I am in the woods, or on the trail, the fog of post-modern living begins to lift and I can sense my part of the immortal universal spirit of existence.
There are many practical benefits of training that I enjoy: good health, never actually get sick, clear thinking, more sociable and nicer to be around, good model for my family, inspire my friends and associates, higher energy levels, increased sense of self-worth, practice goal-setting/achieving, break procrastination.
However, they all pale in comparison to the biochemical boost and I believe, retraining of my brain function; and this mystical doorway, fog-lifting access to Spirit. Both of which are two sides of the same coin. Training connects me inwardly to the Warrior, and outwardly to Spirit.
: : :
Your comments are appreciated.
I can also be found on twitter Twitter.com/Old454
Training for recovery
I remember when I first discovered that I could recover from being winded on a run, while still running that run. In South Carolina, our instructors would hearten us to breath on the down hills. I thought that was nuts–after a lung-bursting run up some long-ass hill, I thought, “What I need to damn do is STOP!” Amazingly, I discovered that I could recover on the down hill–at least enough to finish the run.
That lesson was well learned. It marinated in my subconscious. I used it in an instinctive, unverbalized way countlessly over the years since. Recover in those moments when things suck less. Recently, however, I have been training specifically for recovery, more so than any other specific criteria.
This was first verbalized for me when I read how Paula Newby-Fraser, the multiple Ironman Champion, explained how she can recover on the run at a higher heart rate than her competitors. She obliterated her competitors, when things really sucked, by being able to recover faster when they didn’t suck as much. I now train straight at this ability.
When doing pull ups, I focus on reducing the rest periods between sets, as much as I do the reps in each set.
When swimming laps, I’m intent on my ability to slow my pace or switch up my stroke, so I can recover enough to pick up my pace again.
My brick and transition runs are about what pace can I maintain, no matter how bad I’m hurting–No matter how bad it sucks. Not so much how fast can I run today off the bike.
Running this new distance for me, the olympic triathlon, and the prospect of my looming half Ironman, have brought this into perspective. I have had to let go of ego, and ensure first that I can finish a race. To that end, recovery while racing has become critical.
I have had cramps where I’ve never cramped in a race before, ever. I’ve had side stitches, once on both sides, but those aren’t the deblitating, you-might-not-be-able-to-use-your-leg-if-this-gets-worse cramps. When those start to come on, ego has to go. Recovery and continuous forward motion must take its place. Ego can come back once you get over the finish line. Recovery must come so that you can get to the finish line.
Train for recovery.
Race Report: ATC Resolution Run 2011
Our third time running the ATC Resolution Run. Running this race has become an annual event for my son & I. It started out on a whim, but has developed into a keystone in my master plan to keep training throughout the winter months and holiday season. Other races in this master plan are: Turkey Trot, and recently, the ATC Cross Country 5k . Running the first day of the New Year, has some significance in that it feeds my obsessive nature with an immediate check mark on my annual goals list.
This is becoming a must run for us. Definitely recommend coming out. Rained this year, which made things interesting (read: wet/cold). Would have been pleasant temps otherwise.
Location: Kennesaw, Georgia
Gun time: 12 pm
Distances: 5k, 10k, kids fun run
Course: 5k loop throughout office parks. Twice round for 10k. True rolling hills.
Registration: $25.
Host: Atlanta Track Club
Weather: Would have been pleasant, except for the January rain. Running shorts, Long sleeve technical, T Shirt, Nike Frees. Ditched the rain-soaked long sleeve on the second 5k.
Terrain: Rolling hills. Often courses are described as rolling hills but are really Hilly. This one is actually rolling hills that some may not notice much. There is only one significant grade for about 200 yds, not too bad (10kers will see it twice). Office parks and industrial lawns. Some insignificant traffic.
Competition: A little for everyone. Walkers, midpackers, and the usual speedy ATC crowd.
General Impression: I went into the race in good shape. Coming off of an out-of-town trip, where I ran a bit, but not too much. PR’ed at that distance. The rain caused a flood of people picking up packets simultaneously, so it was a little scary as the start time approached, and we still didn’t have our packets. But, they handled the situation, got the line down, and postponed the start times enough. Port-a-Potties, always a major concern, were plentiful with no long waits.
Room for improvement: Recovery food was only prepackaged items, would have liked some bananas and bagels. The rain may have been a factor here though. The Real Fruit Bites are always tasty & welcome.
Race Report: ATC Cross Country 5k 2010
My first time out for the ATC Cross Country 5k. Another race in my goal this year of racing once per month. I will miss technically miss that goal, but will hit it in spirit. More specifically these races in November, December, and January are about staying motivated and on track–I’ve found that scheduling and running in events throughout the holiday season is a great way to stay motivated during this tough time of year.
This is my first time out for the ATC Cross Country 5k. It was a good race. It’s a tough course, and the smaller ATC races always bring out good competitors. The temperature was brisk, but the wind merciful. Recent rains had drained off sufficiently pretty well in most areas.
Location: Milton High School, Alpharetta, Georgia
Gun time: 9 am
Distances: 5k
Course: 1000 m loop, then 2 x 2000 m loops for 5k total.
Registration: $10; Free for ATC members.
Host: Atlanta Track Club
Weather: Cold with mild breeze. The air warmed a bit between first arrival and start time. Running shorts, Long sleeve base layer, T Shirt, Nike Frees. Could’ve stood some gloves.
Terrain: Hilly, wooded course with gravel, chips, pine straw, dirt, roots, short sections of paved crossing. Essentially a trail run. Significant, but short hills.
A nice break from the standard asphalt road course. Good course with challenging hills. The hills were fairly significant, but short.
Competition: As I mentioned, the field was pretty competitive, but not too embarrassing for a mid-packer. There were a couple of walkers. So a little be for every one.
General Impression: A good December race. A little close on the heels of any Thanksgiving Day races you may have done. I found I was probably a little over-trained.
Room for improvement: No real negatives. The D-tags were only used for finish times, but the start line was extremely wide and shallow, so probably not much difference between clock & chip start time.
Race Report: Turkey Trot, United Way Savannah
The whole fam ran in this year’s United Way Savannah Turkey Trot. I’ve found that scheduling and running in events throughout the holiday season is a great way to stay motivated and focused during this easily distracting and demotivating time of year–Not to mention the high calorie consumption events stacked so close together: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.
http://www.ucwe.org and David Murphy.
This is the second year United Way Savannah has held this event, and the second year I’ve run it. Last year was their inaugural year and there were some, to be expected, rookie glitches. It was a nice race last year, and was an even better one this year.
Location: Daffin Park, Savannah, Georgia
Gun time: 8:30 am
Distances: 5k & Kids Run
Course: Leaving Daffin park, into surrounding Savannah neighborhood, and back into the park.
Registration: $20-$35 depending on your registration date.
Host: United Way of the Coastal Empire
Weather: Very mild, even for Savannah standards. One might call it ideal racing weather. Running shorts, T Shirt, Nike Frees. No cold weather gear.
Terrain: Virtually dead flat. Not the absolute flattest course, but I can’t recall one significant grade.
Very enjoyable course, particularly if you are not from Savannah, or have not lived there for an appreciable time. The ancient live oaks, historical homes, winding course, provide a very nice back drop to the run.
Competition: Not the fastest group, but the leaders put up some respectable times. Overall and age group winners were competitive, but the rest of field ran the gamut of experience levels. A good first race for the uninitiated.
General Impression: Definitely run this race if looking for a Thanksgiving race in or around Savannah. Improved over last year, and look for more improvements going forward. The nicest port-a-potties you’ve ever seen.
Room for improvement: One negative is, while they did use D-tags, they were only used for the end time, and not the start time–So the race times did not produce a true “chip time”.
Race Report: ATC Run Around the Rock 2010
I completed the ATC Run Around the Rock 2010 yesterday. It was a good race, very simple, little hoopla. A good race to open the season.
Location: Stone Mountain Park, Georgia
Gun time: 8am
Distances: 5M, 10M, 15M & Kids Run
Course: Around Stone Mountain short loop. Clockwise. One lap is 5 miles.
Registration: $10; free for ATC members
Host: Atlanta Track Club
Weather yesterday at gun time was in the 30s. Not much wind. I warmed up with sweats and a skully. I ditched the skully and sweats, running in a t-shirt, long sleeve cold weather base layer shirt, running shorts, and Nike Free running shoes. No socks. I couldn’t find my running gloves, and wish I did. Otherwise, I was good.
Terrain: “Rolling hills”. I never know what that means. It is around the foot of a small mountain. There are probably three or four steep hills, and two additional long, but not steep hills. Not many flat sections.
I enjoy running around Stone Mountain. The hills provide some good work, and keep a course I’m very familiar with from getting boring. I ran the 5M flavor this year. This is my first year running this race. My last race was a triathlon in August, and I haven’t put in many miles. I figured that even on little training, I could run a respectable five miles. My main goal was to get a base race pace to work off of for the next 10 months or so, as I prepare for the Augusta Half Ironman.
Competition: These track club races bring out a lot of fast people. These are often tagged “low-key” events, but the ATC members come out in good numbers, providing a higher density of dedicated runners than your average local charity run. That being said, there were people running all sorts of paces, so there’s something for every level runner.
General Impression: A nice race and a welcome break from the standard 5k/10k. The weather was unseasonably cold this year, I didn’t need a hat, but could have stood some running gloves.
U.S. Soccer Dysfunction: Elitism in the Beautiful Game
Soccer elitism in the United States is leaving too much talent wasting on the bench.
The United States Men’s national soccer team has advanced farther than they have before to-date. The Women’s team seems to be able to string together dominant teams time and time again (Olympics, World Cups). Despite this apparent success, many seemed to find irony in that Ghana is the team that knocked us out (population 7% of US). Not to take anything away from the nation of Ghana or its team . The irony is strictly about shortcomings of soccer in the United States. I can sum it up in one word: Elitism.
Soccer as it’s developed in the United States is a sport that’s out of reach for most families and children. Club and tournament fees make it very expensive to play on a competitive level. Time and travel commitments for select level teams add to the cost for families who can’t take the time of from work. With practices often at 5 or 5:30 pm, especially for younger select teams, many families just cannot get off work, pickup their kids, and get them to practice by 5 or 5:30 pm. And these are just some of the issues at the club level.
The national club soccer programs are equally infected with elitist hurdles. All very similar to the ones mentioned above. The Olympic Development Program, which ostensibly, would be identifying and developing National team players, is a joke. Structurally, it makes it impossible to identify or develop the best talent. Selection in ODP is based on a tryout system, with dates and location information not actively publicized or distributed. The info is there, but if a family doesn’t know it’s there, they won’t look for it. There is no scouting component to ODP, so only families and players tightly tied into the already exclusionary club system will be aware and tryout. Additionally, tryout selection is a single evening affair for each cut, with extremely subjective criteria. Oh wait, there are not publicized selection criteria, its strictly the will of the coaches. So from the beginning ODP is flawed. And this is even before addressing the financial and time commitment costs.
High School soccer coaches tend to be drawn from the ranks of club soccer coaches. Thus, they carry over the same flaws from the clubs into the high schools. In my son’s high school district, I was driving through a neighborhood, and saw some boys playing soccer in the street after the high school bus dropped them off. I was stunned because I had never seen them at tryouts or anything else, but here they were playing soccer in the street. I was sure, they must be from the neighboring district, and I was just mixed up geographically. Stopping to ask them, the boys confirmed they were in the same district as my son. Why did these boys not come out to tryouts? What recruitment efforts did the school make? How many other boys were there in the school, who also could’ve but didn’t come out?
At the high school, certain sports actively search out boys, and invite them to tryouts. Wrestling, Cross Country. Our school holds many State and National wrestling and cross-country titles. At freshman orientation night, neither the girls nor boys soccer programs were represented. Basketball, football, golf, cross-country, wrestling, baseball, volleyball (you get the picture) were all there. If soccer wasn’t actually being elitist, the net effect is the same. Only the kids who were already committed to trying out would be motivated to run down the information needed.
Similar problems exist at the college and professional level. Additional problems also exist, such as: lack of loyalty within clubs to their players, no viable avenues to play outside of the club structure, and diverse, non-monolithic state and national organizations.
Things that need to be fixed: Implement an active recruitment process for all levels of play, including Recreational. Lose the attitude that kids should feel blessed to play at a certain club. Create systems that address the high cost of club and tournament fees. Develop other avenues of play (integrate into comprehensive tutoring & after school programs) so that the simple act of getting kids to and from practice isn’t a filter. Those would be a start.
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