Red Mosquito

5:29 and 6th place at my race. Brutal course. Race report to come.

Well, that was a brutal and beautiful experience.

I didn’t sleep a wink the night before the race. But this is nothing new for me, I have not slept the night before half of my races. I got to the race at 5 a.m., they wanted people to start going to the corrals at 6, then wait for the opening ceremonies at 6:30, then start the race at 7:05. Fuck that shit. It was a cool morning. I stayed in my car until 6:25, and then snuck into my corral right before they closed it. The opening ceremony was great. They honored the Bataan survivors and even though I’m not particularly patriotic, I was pretty moved.

The start was kind of a disaster. The race is broken into 2 main races, the “honorary” race (14.5 miles) and the marathon. Then the marathon, it is broken down into civilian and military divisions AND light and heavy (35-pound pack) divisions AND individual and team divisions. Generally the military divisions go first. While I understand the race is to honor those who have and are serving, the fact remains that the military folks have to run in full fatigues and combat boots, which means the civilian folks behind them spent a large amount of time weaving through them. Also, the race was 6,200 strong this year and all the racers had to fit on a 2-lane road for the first couple of miles. So, by the time I hit the starting line, the race was already 30 minutes old.

Before I started, I ended shooting over to the scales to weigh my pack. 36 pounds on the dot. For some reason, I worried that the scale at the end would be different, so I added a pound (a big can of beans), just in case. I made my way forward in the crowd and by the time I actually started the race, I was probably in first third.

I shook hands with the survivors at the startline. One of them told me he liked my earrings. I told him he should get his ears pierce. He chuckled and said he was too old and people would think he was "weird". I told him that he had earned the right to do whatever the hell he wanted. He chuckled again and said, "I think you're right." I contemplated taking out my earrings and giving them to him, but thought better of it and moved on.

I felt good and had a nice pace during the initial road section. I did A LOT of weaving in and out of people. We reached the jeep trail and I was surprised that the trail was more like wash than I had anticipated. It was loose sand and gravel with one packed area that everyone was clamoring to run/walk on. I spent a decent amount of time running in loose gravel. Lots of rolling hills. At this point I was averaging about 10-minute miles. I was eating a gel every 45 minutes.

We turned onto a road at about mile 8, after an initial downhill, the nasty uphill that everybody complains about started. I originally kinda scoffed at this. It only averages about a 3% grade, but it last for about 5 1/2 miles. Add a 35-pound pack to equation and it was brutal. During the end of the uphill section I started to worry. I was on pace to finish the first half in under 2:30 (my goal time was 5:30). Problems is, It was starting to get warm and I hadn’t done anything more than 16 miles since my Grand Canyon run. I knew I would be in danger of blowing up, like crawling to the finish blowing up. So, I decided to slow down and reserve some energy.

We made our way around the mountain and my half split was 2:37. I was feeling decent, but I could feel that I was developing a huge bruise/welt on my right shoulder for the pressure of the pack. Once we rounded the mountain, I expected a really nice downhill. Instead, it was more rolling hills, some of which were not actually rolling, but steep as fuck. I struggled and I got passed by a dude in my division. This was really the first time I actually thought about what place I might be in. I passed a lot of dudes in my division, but figured there were probably a few guys who started ahead of me who I wouldn’t catch. Judging by my time, I figured I was in the top 10.

Finally, we met back up with road that we had earlier run up. I downed two full oranges in addition to the regularly schedule gel. The 2 miles of downhill were nice, but right shoulder was fucked and at one point my right arm started to become numb. I spent a lot the downhill fiddling with my pack straps to relieve the pain. Finally, I said “fuck it” and just embraced the pain.

At mile 21 , we hit “the sandpit”. I ran for the first 5 minutes, but at some point I realized I could power hike it faster. My right arm was almost completely numb now, which kinda freaked me out. I ended up strapping my handheld to my pack and, after shaking some feeling back into my arm, pulled on the pack which took the pressure off my shoulders. The sandpit ended up being almost a mile and a half long and took me close to 20 minutes to get through. My 5:30 was now in jeopardy.

From here to the finish was pretty flat. I did the math and figured out that I needed to average 12 minute miles for the last 4 miles to finish under 5:30. It was gonna be tough, my shoulder was painful as fuck and I was running out of gas. I downed a gel and grit my teeth.

We hit the 25 mile marker and I need to do the final 1.2 in 12 minutes to hit 5:30. With half a mile left, I started my finishing kick. I also started grunting loudly. I picked up my pace even more in the last 200 yards and finished in 5:29.

I immediately took off my pack off and the pain in my shoulder started to subside almost immediately. My pack weighed 41 pounds at the end. I added 4 pounds in sweat during the run.

I didn't really know what my placement was until I got home (after a 7-hour drive). 6th place overall; 2nd in my age group.

Great race. I’ll be back next year and looking to break 5 hours.

tl,dr; did you have a finishing kick

5 miles in 40 minutes

Work treadmill. Legs were hurting, but it was a joy to run without that damn pack. Boss talked to me the entire time again.

Streak: 86

Kick-ass fuckin' work t2b! Sounds like quite the experience.

24th: Four hours of snowboarding.

Streak: 80.

5 miles in 42 minutes

Hit the canal after I dropped the kids off at school. Legs felt worst today then yesterday. Gonna sit in the pubic hair stew (hot tub) at the gym tonight to try to work out the kinks in my legs and shoulders.

Streak: 87

oasisfan35 wrote:Kick-ass fuckin' work t2b! Sounds like quite the experience.

Thanks, bro. Now that I've had a day to reflect, I'd agree with my friend and say it was tougher than a 50-miler.

25th: Core workout, I actually fell off the dip machine so supersets were out.

Streak: 81

5 miles in 40 minutes

Work treadmill. Legs felt a lot better.

5 miles in 35 minutes

Morning canal run. Even split. Beautiful morning. Pretty much fully recovered from the race now.

Streak: 89

Contemplating this race. 50K with 6,000+ feet in climbing.

helped my brother move out of his house for 5 straight hours. my legs feel like i just ran w/ t2b

26th: 3 miles on the treadmill
27th: Core work, gotta say falling as much as I did over the four hours really did a number on me.
28th: Supersets... finally able to perform dips.

Streak: 84

Looks like rain before the hike tomorrow as well as after but supposedly there's a dry window while we're on the trails; packing wet gear and back-up clothes tonight.

10 miles in 70 minutes

4 a.m. run. Solid effort. Even split. Gonna hit the trail this weekend. They DQ'd some dude ahead of me in the race, so I was 5th. My 6th top 5 finish.

Streak: 90

29th: 8 miles on the trail, all but 100 or so feet covered in ice so most of the trek was through the snow. Felt good to get out but lord am I sick of the snow.

Monsoon has let up for the time being down here on the coast so I will hopefully head out since my basement has water around the treadmill.

Streak: 85

30th: 4 miles on the road, still working out what my comfortable pace is so started faster than I ended. Good to get out even with all the water and debris though.

Streak: 86

~6 miles in ?? minutes

Run with the family to the Riparian Preserve. Older kids and wife rode their bikes and I pushed the baby in the stroller. Son was kinda slow, so we were probably doing about 8:30 miles. Mellow run, but running at that pace feels awkward as fuck.

Gonna drop 10 to 15 lbs. for the Grand Canyon run, so I'll be limiting my caloric intake to 2,000. I'll give myself another week of sissy time before picking up the intensity. I picked up a head cold from one of the kids.

Streak: 91

10 miles in 78 minutes

Hit the canal in my fat suit in an attempt to sweat out the little head cold I picked up. It was 87 when I left and I was swimming in sweat in 30 minutes. Hard to believe that I never died in the fucking thing when I was training in 110 degrees. I felt good. Even split. Dinky finishing kick. I looked ridiculous as fuck, but feel great now. I am a little saddle sore, however. If there is ever a race on Mars, sign me up.

Streak: 92

turned2black wrote: It was 87 when I left and I was swimming in sweat in 30 minutes. Hard to believe that I never died in the fucking thing when I was training in 110 degrees

I read this as I'm watching it snow outside.

Stopped at a brewery on the way back from the hike, they are supplying the post race brew for a Memorial Day weekend set of trail and road races. They have a 15K trail run with some great vistas along the way, it's the same day as a training hike but I think I'll be choosing the run. I have a feeling I'm going to be a bit of a loner on the June hike so I might as well run what I can of it.

10 miles in 75 minutes

Head cold is lingering. Set out for just 5, but changed my mind after a couple of miles. Sprayed snot everywhere the entire time. Even split. Race took some pep out of my legs. Gonna start doing some speedwork next week.

Streak: 93

You guys are animals. My fiancée and I signed up for a 5K at the end of the summer and I've gotta basically start from scratch. Suggestions?

Simple Torture wrote:You guys are animals. My fiancée and I signed up for a 5K at the end of the summer and I've gotta basically start from scratch. Suggestions?

t2b is definitely the man to ask, but that's pretty much where I was at the start of the year. Do you currently run at all?
One of his suggestions to me in training for the half was a Hal Higdon routine which worked out pretty damn well. For the 5K: http://www.halhigdon.com/training/50932 ... g-Distance

31st: Supersets
1st: 4 miles on the treadmill
2nd: Leg Centric Workout

Exercising in the evening was just not working out, I was relying on the supersets too much which wasn't doing shit for strength. Revamped my routines to be a bit more about hitting the back and legs and am swapping the superset day for another day of running.

Streak: 89

5 miles in 42 minutes

Hills on the work treadmill yesterday. Set it a 5.5% grade and grit my teeth. Tough as fuck. Almost over my head cold.

Streak: 94