Laramie Duathlon

Today was the Laramie Duathlon.  A 5k run, 25k bike followed by a short 1.2k run.  Two years ago I completed the entire race, but got smoked on the bike.  This year I teamed up with a friend, I did the run and he biked.  I wasn't looking for too much competition in the first 5k but after 3 minutes in I had a guy on my shoulder.  I wasn't sure what time I could run after training for two 25k, last month.  Pace felt good and then I slowed and was gapped about 5 secs.  Then we hit a turn right into the wind and I started gaining ground slowly.  I came into the transition with a 16:36 split and my partner took off on the bike.  Then is my job to not only recover but watch his three kids while he biked.  After some time I gathered the kids off the swings and we headed for the transition area and waited.  I watched 6 people come through before Dave (partner), and figured I had a realistic shot at catching two of them.  A 1200 hundred doesn't allow too much time to gain back.  I split a 3:49, which gave me the best running time that day (for bragging rights), our team ended up 4th place overall.  I was happy with the race though slower than I thought.  Hopefully by July 4th I will be pushing 16 flat.

12 X 400m A new approach

So I finally got out to the track today for a workout with the High Plains Harriers (Local running club).  The workout was 12 X 400 at 73-75 secs with about 90 sec rest.  Now in comparison to workouts in the past this is way slow for 400s, but I have been thinking abou the benefits of running slightly slower 400s.  Couple of things were immediate, why run faster than 70 secs if in races 5k and up I am not ready to do that the whole way.  What I need is to be able to run at a fast and efficient clip, that is sustainable.  So with the workout today, the slow pace allowed me to really concentrate on my form, good turnover, foot strike, slight lean, working the arms etc.  but it wasn't so fast that I lost control of my breathing.  As I get in better shape I hope to drop these to 68-70, but that will come.  While this was an "easy" workout my muscles are sore.  This tells me that I worked the system I wanted which was the leg muscles and not so much the cardiovascular system (like a tempo or longer repeats would).  Kind of like lifting weights if I can lift 50lbs fairly easy lifting 40lbs should feel good as well.  Anyway that is my theory at the moment.  I want that fast form not to feel awkward or like I am pushing to much, I want it to be comfortable and feel powerful.
  The splits were 75, 75, 74, 74, 74, 74, 74, 73, 74, 73, 70, 71,  I averaged 90 seconds rest but I wasn't super strict.  But again I wasn't working the breathing system just the legs.  I was pretty happy with the workout especially as I felt I could push a bit faster.  But definitely did what I wanted too.  I am hoping that this type of workout will springboard into longer interval training 1200s and 1500s, so I can run those at a descent clip as well.

Pilot Hill 25k

The oldest foot race in Wyoming takes place just east of the hospital in Laramie.  The 25k race takes you 1500ft up to the top of pilot hill, through sand, granite on an old jeep trail.  This year had a twist a $50 dollar prize was offered for the first one to the top.  I had that in mind but after coming up 2nd place two years ago, I really just wanted the win.

The race started out and I settled into 3rd place.  It was pretty windy so I held back some knowing the tougher climbing was after the second aid station.  Slowly I fell back but in my mind was thinking the two in front would slowly come back to me as it seemed they were pushing the pace.  That never happened.  It became apparent with about a mile to the top that I could waste myself and maybe get 30 seconds closer and still be 30 seconds back.  So I decided to conserve and prepare for a fast trip back down.  As we got to the top I passed the other two going back down.  Justin Mock got the prize for first up, and pretty quick I saw Sam Malmberg coming down.  Justin looked pretty good and I knew I had to press pretty hard to catch him.  Sam as it turned out was having some problems on the down.  (it happens when you run a marathon the week before, props).  Pretty soon I caught Sam, chatted for a bit, and then set my sights for Justin.  Well...I couldn't see him.  I pushed the devils staircase pretty hard so that when I got to the next aid station I should have a good view of Justin's lead.  Well got to the aid station and couldn't see anything, and I had about a 4 minute view.  So now I am thinking this guy was flying.  The next little section I settled into a good pace and was focusing on running hard but not crazy as the thought occurred that Justin may have got lost or worse fell, and that I would have to race someone one that "I just got lost" adrenalin rush.  Anyway I made it to the last aid station and was feeling pretty good at that point, still wondering what happen.  At this aid station you can see for a very long way.  At this point I knew either I had first locked up or I was going to finish second.  I slowed some and just concentrated on a nice pace.  Got to the flats and surged up the finish line hill people were cheering and that is when I found out that I had indeed one.  Justin took a wrong turn at the top, I guess his mind got fuzzy with all the money he just won, jk.

I was pretty excited to come in 1st though 10 seconds slower than the year before but a lot faster on the down.  Now I have a shot at the Laramie triple crown (Jelm and Silent trails).  So hopefully training keeps progressing.  Also worthy of note we had four Hungry dogs in the top Six.  Ragen Driver, Chris Schabron and Dan Radosevich.  A Hungry Dog is a member of the UW cross country and track team, who competes all 4 years in every season.  In other words Hungry for more.

On a much more important note my wife who was very pregnant, delivered Ellie Rae on June 8, 2011 and that story can be found at MAhuntington.blogspot.com.  So it's funny that the race I ran on June 4, 2011 starts basically at the hospital.  Things couldn't be going better.  

Mt. Carbon Half Marathon

April 23, 2011
Having a goal to run at the Pikes Peak Ascent, I needed a qualifying time.  After a short search, I found Mt. Carbon Half Marathon.  This was a very exciting find as it is close to where I grew up and even during high school XC I ran at Bear Creek Lake Park. My goal was under 1 hr 40 min, which would get me into the first wave.  So thursday before the race, I started to get sick (common cold).  Colds are annoying because you feel like you can keep functioning normally but if you do (at least for me you get worse fast).  So after I finished my school day (Real Analysis and office hours), I slept.  Friday we drove down and stayed with my parents, I was feeling ok but not great.  I made a large error I believe and had some pizza for dinner, maybe too much grease and cheese, or maybe my pre race banana and two nutra grain bars did me in.

The Race
It was a bit chilly saturday morning and we had some light snow throughout, so I stayed in my car as much as possible.  But by race time the temperature was on the comfortable side of cold, for runners that is.  Anyway we had a funny start, with a last minute course change we darted down a path only to make a u-turn and come back the same way.  After that we settled into a pecking order and started on the single track.  From the get go 1st and 2nd were pretty clear, and they moved away pretty quick.  Feeling pretty ok for being sick, I just wanted to settle in and not dig an early whole.  1:40 comes from a 7:37 mile pace, so I figured if I was at 7 min per mile I would be fine.  At each mile marker I multiplied by seven and checked my watch.  For the first 9 miles I was 2 to 3 minutes under where I needed to be i.e.  at mile 7 at 53:05.  I was feeling pretty good and as 2nd place seemed to be only a minute ahead I thought maybe I could catch him.

All those good feelings disappeared after a long downhill.  My insides went bezerk, and for the next 2 miles I fended off puking.  It was awful.  I went into survival mode, got passed twice.  At mile 10 my watch said 1:06 and I thought to myself you only need a 34 min 5k.  And I thought that might happen. I was able to stay upright, and in the last 400m another guy passed me, but I finished in 1:31:26.  I quickly found a comfortable looking patch of dirt and laid down.  Thankfully my wife came to give me support.  But man,the things we runners do, to not waste an entry fee and qualify for a race.

On the brighter side this course was awesome and fairly challenging.  Definitely going to race here again.

SnowMan Stampede

Well this is my first attempt at blogging.  Why try?  Well like many others I need to find a way to record training and keep family and friends informed on what is happening in Laramie.

Recently I ran the Snowman Stampede (Feb 19).  The third race in the winter distance race series winterdistanceseries.com.  I had run the first race Rudolph's Revenge (10k) and was feeling that I could run faster for the Stampede even though this would be a 10 mile race.  I set a goal to average 5:40 mile pace and to win my age group. 

They put on a nice event at Hudson Gardens, plenty of parking and great volunteers.  I warmed up over the first mile or so of the course, which a portion would be on a dirt path with a few muddy spots.  So I had a particular route picked out so I wouldn't trip up at the start.  The start was kind of funny.  We are all lined up about a minute before the start and the announcer says something to the effect of "we are excited to see all the fast runners here for the Colorado 10 mile state championship."  I was totally unaware, now I had roughly 30 seconds to redo my race strategy. 

Now I figured the start would be a little crazy and a little too fast.  Off the line it was a mob and by picking my carefully planned route I avoided a lot of mud and water and worked my way into the top 10 by mile 1.  I figured the first mile would be pretty quick and it was 5:25.  But this was the right group to be in to hit my goal.  The place settled down and I found myself working with two other guys to rope in others that ran to hard at the start.  After 5:43, 5:35, 5:39, 5:43, our little group of 3 was now 2 with the one pulling away from me.  It was an out and back course and we hit the tournaround a little after five miles, so now using my amazing counting skills I figured I was in seventh place.  I was feeling pretty good at this point focusing on rythym I hit 11:24 for the next two miles and then hit a wall.  Slowly the guy in front moved further and I could hear footsteps behind.  I had to concentrate to keep my form efficient  and the next two miles were 5:43 and 5:43.  With 1 mile to go I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I had a guy right on my shoulder the whole way and I was struggling just to hold him off.  In the process I ended up only a few seconds back from 6th place but I didn't have the requisite kick to wheel him down.  My last mile was 5:42.

Overall the race was a good success.  7th place finish was good enough to win my age group and a 25 dollar gift certificate, to Runner's Roost.  Which with an old pair of shoes contributed to the cheapest pair of running shoes I have ever purchased.  The new Saucony Kinvara's for $55 (90-25-10=55).