Kudos to CGB for an inspired run. He's obviously in terrific shape, and highly motivated after watching the Boston Marathon. This is going to be a formidable challenge for me this year. I had better nail a 10k soon, or CGB is going to make it two years in a row that he has completed the challenge before I do.
CGB, I marvel at your whole-body-spirit-breathing-Zhen-like-dexterity wellness. I raise a hummus jar to you, sir.
I just want to clear something up, however. CGB says that he finished 9th overall on Saturday, but 8th out of the men. That means he got beat either by a girl or by a transvestite.
What's up with that?
Must be the yoga.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
A Good Start to the Season...
On Saturday, I raced the 1st Annual Dan Ford Five Miler. To preface the story, I should say that I have been running, but not necessarily training with speed or miles. I have been taking Spin classes, working on my core with my 'floor exercises' and doing yoga. As a related aside, I had no idea that the yoga would actually be difficult, but the rewards have been a stronger core, from which a runner's strength and balance comes, increased flexibility, which naturally increases strength, and better breathing, which helps control effort and brings you into focus and relaxation.
It turns out that these things actually work. This must be cross-training. Huh. As I said last Friday, I was not expecting to be competitive, but rather just to feel the race and get the racing juices flowing. As soon as the horn blew, however, my competitive nature took over. I found a groove within the first 1/2 mile and started to focus on those in front of me.
I did not see any mile markers for the first three miles, I just assumed that the water stations were at every mile - an inaccurate assumption. What I did notice, however, was that the first 2.5 miles were all up hill. I figured I was running at a 7:00 min pace right behind a gentleman who had an extremely contracted gait (and therefore a very rapid turn-over). As we climbed on a particularly steeper portion of the course, at right about 2.5 miles, I used my gait to catch him; however, after cresting he took the lead over and kept it. Then, we hit the 3 mile mark and I looked at my watch: 18:59. "Just good enough", I thought to myself. "Let the momentum carry you and increase the speed". I used my breathing to help bring me under control and focus.
At this point in the race, the hill was done and it turned into a rolling course for the final two miles. I determined three things that could work in my advantage to catching this guy: 1) his gait seemed a little too inefficient, 2) I had a positive experience passing him on a hill, and the last portion of the race was going to be uphill, and 3) I was trailing him - that meant the pressure was on him. (I bet I sound very serious right now.)
At any rate, as we approached the final 1/4 mile, we rounded the bend, I got on the inside of him, and passed him on the incline. Sprinting through the finish, I clocked in at 31:08 (6:14 mile splits). I am not sure of my first 3 mile splits, but mile 4 was 6:12 and mile 5 was 5:57. I came in 9 overall (8 out of all the men), and won my age group. I felt good and felt as if I had another racing mile in me. That looks good for the 10K challenge.
So, the racing season is off to a good start. I am excited for the prospects and even more excited after watching the Boston Marathon at mile 17 in Newton. Oh, one other story, or rather, a question, from the Dan Ford 5 Miler. Has anyone seen a man with injected biceps and triceps before? Well, let me tell you that when the muscles giggle underneath the skin while simply walking, it is a little bit disgusting.
Talk to you soon.
It turns out that these things actually work. This must be cross-training. Huh. As I said last Friday, I was not expecting to be competitive, but rather just to feel the race and get the racing juices flowing. As soon as the horn blew, however, my competitive nature took over. I found a groove within the first 1/2 mile and started to focus on those in front of me.
I did not see any mile markers for the first three miles, I just assumed that the water stations were at every mile - an inaccurate assumption. What I did notice, however, was that the first 2.5 miles were all up hill. I figured I was running at a 7:00 min pace right behind a gentleman who had an extremely contracted gait (and therefore a very rapid turn-over). As we climbed on a particularly steeper portion of the course, at right about 2.5 miles, I used my gait to catch him; however, after cresting he took the lead over and kept it. Then, we hit the 3 mile mark and I looked at my watch: 18:59. "Just good enough", I thought to myself. "Let the momentum carry you and increase the speed". I used my breathing to help bring me under control and focus.
At this point in the race, the hill was done and it turned into a rolling course for the final two miles. I determined three things that could work in my advantage to catching this guy: 1) his gait seemed a little too inefficient, 2) I had a positive experience passing him on a hill, and the last portion of the race was going to be uphill, and 3) I was trailing him - that meant the pressure was on him. (I bet I sound very serious right now.)
At any rate, as we approached the final 1/4 mile, we rounded the bend, I got on the inside of him, and passed him on the incline. Sprinting through the finish, I clocked in at 31:08 (6:14 mile splits). I am not sure of my first 3 mile splits, but mile 4 was 6:12 and mile 5 was 5:57. I came in 9 overall (8 out of all the men), and won my age group. I felt good and felt as if I had another racing mile in me. That looks good for the 10K challenge.
So, the racing season is off to a good start. I am excited for the prospects and even more excited after watching the Boston Marathon at mile 17 in Newton. Oh, one other story, or rather, a question, from the Dan Ford 5 Miler. Has anyone seen a man with injected biceps and triceps before? Well, let me tell you that when the muscles giggle underneath the skin while simply walking, it is a little bit disgusting.
Talk to you soon.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Photos of the duathlon
Changing shoes in the transition zone. I lost some time on this transition, as I couldn't get one of my cycling shoes buckled.
On the bike.
Settling in for a straightaway.
Coming into the final transition. As you can tell from the expression on my face, I was in a lot of pain at that moment, and was happy for the bike leg to be over. Just after this picture was taken, I fishtailed as I slammed on the brakes, trying to stop before the stop line at the edge of the transition zone. I was right on top of it before I saw it.
Finishing. The only reason those two guys behind me didn't catch me down the stretch was that Mrs. AJMac (behind the camera, here) was jumping up and down, yelling and screaming at me to finish strong. Hoping to avoid the shame of choking in front of my wife and daughter, I dug a little deeper.
Monday, April 20, 2009
It's Magic
The Magic City Duathlon was just the thing. In fact, I think I can die happy now.
I trained and tapered just right. The weather was perfect: 60 degrees, dry, and only slightly windy. The race was on a downtown course with a large, enthusiastic crowd. Mrs. AJMac and Daughter Mac cheered me loudly at each transition and turn-around, and at the finish, which was very helpful. The run course was mostly flat and quite fast. A very technical bike course--more than a dozen 90 degree turns and three 180 degree turns--allowed me to be competitive against guys with aero helmets and Zipp wheels. And my new, aerodynamic TT bike made a huge difference on the straightaways.
The result: 6th place overall, out of 180 finishers. I judged correctly that to be competitive I would have to break one hour; the top four finishers all came in under 58 minutes. There were two professionals in the lead pack, and the winner ran the opening 5k leg in 15:11!
I managed to stay in the first chase group with six other guys the entire race. Out of that group, I came in second. I made a decisive move about halfway through the first run, going with two other guys to stretch the chase group by about fifteen yards. That gave the three of us a little space to work with in the first transition. On the bike I netted one place (I passed two guys and got passed by one guy), then I traded places with two guys (one up, one down) on the last run.
What's more, I set a new 5k PR in the first leg of the race, which I ran in 18:27. The transitions and the 12-mile bike ride took just over 36 minutes total, and I ran the last mile in 5:58. My line is here. Assuming that the transitions took just over a minute each, I figure I averaged just over 21 mph on the bike. Not quite as fast as I had hoped, but fast enough to hold onto the place I had secured for myself during the first run.
I understand that CGB had a blistering 5 mile run yesterday. I hope he'll tell us all about it.
UPDATE: According to the overall results, I came off the first run in 9th. Mrs. AJMac tells me that I finished the bike in 5th. So, apparently I really sealed the deal on the bike and actually lost a spot on the final run.
Pictures forthcoming...
FURTHER UPDATE: The keeper of the stats can't seem to make up his mind, but perhaps this is the final, final, official, not-going-to-change-again line: 6th overall; 18:28 (5k run); 36:16 (12-mile bike and 2 transitions); 5:53 (1-mile run); 1:00:36 total.
I trained and tapered just right. The weather was perfect: 60 degrees, dry, and only slightly windy. The race was on a downtown course with a large, enthusiastic crowd. Mrs. AJMac and Daughter Mac cheered me loudly at each transition and turn-around, and at the finish, which was very helpful. The run course was mostly flat and quite fast. A very technical bike course--more than a dozen 90 degree turns and three 180 degree turns--allowed me to be competitive against guys with aero helmets and Zipp wheels. And my new, aerodynamic TT bike made a huge difference on the straightaways.
The result: 6th place overall, out of 180 finishers. I judged correctly that to be competitive I would have to break one hour; the top four finishers all came in under 58 minutes. There were two professionals in the lead pack, and the winner ran the opening 5k leg in 15:11!
I managed to stay in the first chase group with six other guys the entire race. Out of that group, I came in second. I made a decisive move about halfway through the first run, going with two other guys to stretch the chase group by about fifteen yards. That gave the three of us a little space to work with in the first transition. On the bike I netted one place (I passed two guys and got passed by one guy), then I traded places with two guys (one up, one down) on the last run.
What's more, I set a new 5k PR in the first leg of the race, which I ran in 18:27. The transitions and the 12-mile bike ride took just over 36 minutes total, and I ran the last mile in 5:58. My line is here. Assuming that the transitions took just over a minute each, I figure I averaged just over 21 mph on the bike. Not quite as fast as I had hoped, but fast enough to hold onto the place I had secured for myself during the first run.
I understand that CGB had a blistering 5 mile run yesterday. I hope he'll tell us all about it.
UPDATE: According to the overall results, I came off the first run in 9th. Mrs. AJMac tells me that I finished the bike in 5th. So, apparently I really sealed the deal on the bike and actually lost a spot on the final run.
Pictures forthcoming...
FURTHER UPDATE: The keeper of the stats can't seem to make up his mind, but perhaps this is the final, final, official, not-going-to-change-again line: 6th overall; 18:28 (5k run); 36:16 (12-mile bike and 2 transitions); 5:53 (1-mile run); 1:00:36 total.
Friday, April 17, 2009
First Race and I Am Off and Running...
Sorry for the pun.
Tomorrow morning is a five mile race. It is my breakout into the season and will get my race juices flowing. I expect nothing out of it except to feel the competition and the course. I have been working on my general fitness and cardio conditioning - lots of core work, pushups, running, spinning and even basketball once a week. This routine, however, has not had miles and miles of running. I expect that to come soon - especially once tomorrow's race fires me up.
And if tomorrow's race does not fire me up, then surely, going to see the Boston Marathon on Monday will. I have several friends who are running and I am psyched to cheer them on. I regret not running with them, but maybe I will come away wanting to qualify and working hard at it.
As for the 40 minute 10K, marathon training with speed work and lots of tough hill repeats will help me get there.
I will fill you all in later about how I felt during tomorrow's race.
Tomorrow morning is a five mile race. It is my breakout into the season and will get my race juices flowing. I expect nothing out of it except to feel the competition and the course. I have been working on my general fitness and cardio conditioning - lots of core work, pushups, running, spinning and even basketball once a week. This routine, however, has not had miles and miles of running. I expect that to come soon - especially once tomorrow's race fires me up.
And if tomorrow's race does not fire me up, then surely, going to see the Boston Marathon on Monday will. I have several friends who are running and I am psyched to cheer them on. I regret not running with them, but maybe I will come away wanting to qualify and working hard at it.
As for the 40 minute 10K, marathon training with speed work and lots of tough hill repeats will help me get there.
I will fill you all in later about how I felt during tomorrow's race.
Off to do the du
I have a new TT bike. It's been fitted to me. I've put in the mileage (>700 mile on the bike since January 1, approximately 200 miles running). I've done my speed work and bricks. I've been tapering and stretching all week. I'm ready to race. The duathlon is tomorrow. I'll report back.
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