When I left you last time I had just scheduled an appointment with a bone/joint specialist. That week I put up 23 miles, which included 12 miles at the gym (11 miles on the treadmill and 1 on the track) on Sunday. I guess I wanted the hip nice and visible for the doc the next day.
Before I continue, I just want to remind you that I never really have a pain in my left hip. I have discomfort like a dull ache if I sit or lay down for a long period of time. I do not have an issue, standing, walking, or running; however, I do have a slight limp. It causes my form to change slightly give me shin splint concerns on my right leg when I run.
On Monday I arrived at the medical center and they sent me directly to x-rays. I had three photos of my man hips and off to wait for the hip doc. He came in and did some odd tests (hold your arms over head, look left/right, do the Macarena). I figured these were mostly to confirm that I'm willing to follow directions in the event he tells me to do something really stupid... like stop running.
He said I had a femoral acetabular impingement (FAI). Basically the head of my femur has a bit of a bump on it and it can cause irritation to the tissue around it. It's something that I grew up with. Based off of the always-truthful-internet-medical websites, having an active lifestyle can cause it to cause pain much earlier in life or it might not be a problem at all.
According to the doc, the only permanent solution is surgery to remove the 'bump' but he didn't recommend it. He asked me to convert to water running for the next 4 to 6 weeks, pick up more strength training, go to Physical Therapy, take prescribed steroids, daily Ibuprofen, and then check back in with him.
Uh.... Boston Marathon is "4 to 6 weeks". I told him that and so he modified the 'script. Go to PT, iburprofen, and water running for 2 to 3 weeks. Then convert to track running.. blah.
So I left feeling lost. Seriously lost. How in the hell is water running going to truly prepare me for -Boston? It's not. How am I going to run 26.2 with very little pre-pounding on my legs? Sure. Track running will help but doing 80 laps on a track? Probably not what he had in mind anyway. I was pretty bummed. I decided not to go into the office that afternoon and work from home. My mind was having trouble focusing though.
I called the PT to setup an appointment and then talked to my coach. I told him I still want to run Boston. I didn't quite gauge his response to that but we already know it's not going to be a PR. In fact, it's going to be a PW (personal worst). Frankly, I'm mostly fine with that; although, I'm sure I will fly home knowing I have unfinished business.
That night I went to Masters Swim class. A fellow swimmer was a family physician and when I told him what I had, he said he had one too and dealt with it. He said "FAI" is a popular diagnosis. That didn't exactly make me feel any better but gave me the confidence I can manage it when I'm through with this bout. In fact, my friend Jill had one but had it dealt with surgically while she had hip surgery for a torn labrum.
Luckily, my PT appointment was the next day (Tuesday) at 4:30pm. I had high hopes. I also had a full slate of meetings that afternoon. My last one for the day was a few blocks away, so I left a bit early so I could move my truck right next to the building in order to leave right after it was over. When I got to the truck, the battery was dead. Just my freaking luck. I was not parked in a place conducive for jumping with all the other vehicles parked around. I was stuck. I didn't have any time to get a jump and make my appointment. CRAP! I didn't want to miss it and delay anything!
My knight-ess in shining armor saved me. TKB was able to cut out of the office early and pick me up in plenty of time. That actually worked out quite well to have her at the appointment too.
Once I got to meet the PT, Ross, he immediately did an assessment. My left leg was shorter than my right leg. Finally, something made sense!! Up to this point, it seemed like every medical professional I talked to was just following some script and pushed me off to the next person.
So my left leg was shorter, which was causing a slight limp. That translates to a shin splint on my right leg. Along with having something that made sense, he had me do this particular PT exercise. It took 1 minute. He did the assessment again and, viola, leg length normal. So I had a muscle imbalance, not shorter bones, that needed to be corrected.
He asked me to continue doing this exercise every couple hours and come back on Thursday. He also told me what I didn't want to hear: No running. To put icing on the cake, no cycling either. He didn't want anything that could jeopardize pinpointing the exact cause of the muscle imbalance. Fine. Swimming was approved though. After two days of bad news and my truck giving me a slight heart attack early that day, I needed a win. I needed something. So TKB took me to Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers for dinner. It was delicious and, yes, so worth it.
My next appointment was two days later, on Thursday. I had to be honest with him. My hip wasn't doing any better. It was still sore when sitting and laying down. To say it didn't feel as bad was difficult because it never hurts that bad. In fact, he did the hip length assessment and my left leg had gotten even shorter! WTF! He had me do the weird exercise and, viola, normal. Argh!
So he gave me some more exercises to do. He has me foam roll for 20 minutes on my left quad and hamstring to loosen up the muscles and then a quad strengthening exercise. All in all, it takes about 30 minutes. Knowing that I have a $40 out of pocket expense for every session, he asked me to call him on Monday or Tuesday to see how things are progressing. If things are doing better, he would green light some running. I'm not sure if he told me that to motivate me through 20 minutes of foam rolling hell or what. This also gives me a mental struggle to figure out how to objectively determine if I'm truly getting better. That's so difficult when sometimes it's hard to tell if it is sore because I'm sitting down all freaking day or it truly isn't healed.
So it is Sunday night and I'm about to do my 30 minutes of fun. Here's to hoping it helps kick this issue!
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Hip Foot & Mouth Update
So I've been "mending" for a couple weeks now. Since I decided to do something about my issues, I've logged a stunning run mileage of 10.5 miles over the last two weeks. I would have normally logged around 50 - 60.
So here's the update:
Foot Neuroma
I purchased a wider cycling shoe and started wearing my street shoes to work. Fortunately my office allows for us to wear street shoes and jeans but I typically wear nice dress shoes to keep it classy. No more! Between the two, I seem to have settled the neuroma inflammation! Woo hoo! So while I don't think I will ever truly fix the neuroma, I can at least take precautions to keep it from having an "episode".
The wider cycling shoe is a road shoe and not a triathlon shoe. Given that, I will still race in my triathlon shoe if I have the option for a flying mount. My understanding is I will not have that option in Louisville, so I will probably use these wider shoes for the 112 mile gallop through the Kentucky countryside.
Hip Issues
Not as promising of an update here. Going through the prescription of prednisone, meloxicam, and reduced mileage seems to have helped. That being said, it's a slow improvement. Last Friday was 10 days since my doctor's visit and I did a 2 mile run that morning. It wasn't a struggle but I could still tell my form was slightly off. This gave me concerns about secondary injuries such as shin splints or stress fracture as a result. Bummer. I called the doc and they gave me a referral to a specialist.
It's now been 4 days since that run. I have competed in an indoor bike race (will provide more on that in the next post) two swim sessions and a four mile run. That four mile run went really well (even with the close to negative temperature wind chill). I had to concentrate on the form to make sure I wasn't favoring my leg and I had a small amount of discomfort in the hip. Fortunately, on a scale of 1 to 10 it was like a 2.5.
Something that has been interesting is over the last few days since the run, my hip really doesn't bother me when walking around or cycling or swimming. It's when I'm sitting down for long periods or laying in bed that it begins to have a dull ache. I try not to cross my legs when I'm sitting or lying around so as to not put additional stress on the joint.
I've decided that if I'm going to hit Boston in some reasonable shape, I need to start adding mileage. I green lighted my coach to do so. He came back with a suggestion I was hoping for, which was increasing mileage but holding off intensity for now. So limited speed work, which is probably a good idea.
Just as I was typing about waiting for the specialist to call for an appointment, they just did! So I will have that appointment on Monday, which will be after a 12 mile run. Hopefully that will just be a visit to tell him everything is ok and I don't need his stinking advice anyway.... and not me carrying in my left leg over my should and asking him to:
Mouth
No mouth issues. Just thought it was funny.
That's all for now!
So here's the update:
Foot Neuroma
I purchased a wider cycling shoe and started wearing my street shoes to work. Fortunately my office allows for us to wear street shoes and jeans but I typically wear nice dress shoes to keep it classy. No more! Between the two, I seem to have settled the neuroma inflammation! Woo hoo! So while I don't think I will ever truly fix the neuroma, I can at least take precautions to keep it from having an "episode".
The wider cycling shoe is a road shoe and not a triathlon shoe. Given that, I will still race in my triathlon shoe if I have the option for a flying mount. My understanding is I will not have that option in Louisville, so I will probably use these wider shoes for the 112 mile gallop through the Kentucky countryside.
Hip Issues
Not as promising of an update here. Going through the prescription of prednisone, meloxicam, and reduced mileage seems to have helped. That being said, it's a slow improvement. Last Friday was 10 days since my doctor's visit and I did a 2 mile run that morning. It wasn't a struggle but I could still tell my form was slightly off. This gave me concerns about secondary injuries such as shin splints or stress fracture as a result. Bummer. I called the doc and they gave me a referral to a specialist.
It's now been 4 days since that run. I have competed in an indoor bike race (will provide more on that in the next post) two swim sessions and a four mile run. That four mile run went really well (even with the close to negative temperature wind chill). I had to concentrate on the form to make sure I wasn't favoring my leg and I had a small amount of discomfort in the hip. Fortunately, on a scale of 1 to 10 it was like a 2.5.
Something that has been interesting is over the last few days since the run, my hip really doesn't bother me when walking around or cycling or swimming. It's when I'm sitting down for long periods or laying in bed that it begins to have a dull ache. I try not to cross my legs when I'm sitting or lying around so as to not put additional stress on the joint.
I've decided that if I'm going to hit Boston in some reasonable shape, I need to start adding mileage. I green lighted my coach to do so. He came back with a suggestion I was hoping for, which was increasing mileage but holding off intensity for now. So limited speed work, which is probably a good idea.
Just as I was typing about waiting for the specialist to call for an appointment, they just did! So I will have that appointment on Monday, which will be after a 12 mile run. Hopefully that will just be a visit to tell him everything is ok and I don't need his stinking advice anyway.... and not me carrying in my left leg over my should and asking him to:
Mouth
No mouth issues. Just thought it was funny.
That's all for now!
Friday, February 13, 2015
What Will 2015 Bring?
Apparently when I type in "blogger.com" into my browser window and my computer sends me to Twitter instead, it must be telling me it's been a long time since I've been here.
Usually by now I've written a 2014 Year In Review and a 2015 Race Schedule Post. Hell, I've even missed an entire race report (Groundhog Run 10k - 42:22 - 52 out of 1380 Overall - 11 of out 95 Age Group. Race Report Done).
So let's look forward: 2015 is a big year regardless of how it turns out. Boston Marathon in April and Ironman Louisville (with Kona on the brain) in October. Hard to get much bigger than that.
Now let's look backwards.... to about 3 weeks ago. I had an awesome week of training. Some good speed work and a good long run with a hill focus. Then the following week the legs started to wear down on me. Specifically, my left quad as it was sore. Groundhog Run was coming, which generally meant less mileage for the week but a race is a race.
The next week was another good week of speed and marathon pace running (all on a treadmill) and a 16 miler in cold, soggy weather. Legs were cranky, again. Following the long run I did a bike/treadmill brick. It was only 30 minutes running but the legs were dead. They didn't want to move. I did 3 miles in those thirty minutes (in good condition, it would have been 4 miles). My left leg occasionally felt completely weak pushing off, potentially causing a highly embarrassing treadmill fall.
In addition to all of this, my foot neuroma was rearing its ugly head. My left foot was bugging me. It had actually started bugging me near the end of the summer but only a bit. After ramping up my running, it created a concern, just like it did last year.
After talking with coach, he culled back some of my running. I still had a nice long run of 17 miles to do on Sunday. I felt pretty good with it. I did that 17 miler at 7:50 pace. My quad felt good but not great. It didn't feel worse. The following days my calf muscles were more sore than anything else.
I then decided it's time to do something. I talked to the foot doctor who I saw last year. During my appointment with him on Monday, he gave me another cortisone shot to help reduce the swelling around the neuroma. We also examined my foot x-ray some more and he showed how I have less space between 2nd and 3rd metatarsals on my left foot. This causes the irritation of the nerve, creating the swelling. The goal is to keep the swelling down so as to not create fibrous scar tissue. This would require some kind of invasive surgery to correct. Boo.
I've adjusted my footwear by wearing street shoes at work, added felt metatarsal pads to my running shoes and am researching out wide cycling shoes.
I then called up an apportionment with my regular doctor and met with him on Wednesday about my quad issue. I hesitated on this because I just knew if I could get through this week it would miraculously be better. But I also knew that my right shin was starting to bark at me. This was because my left quad was causing me to shift my gait and irritating my right shin. Crap.
If it didn't get better, I was surely on the way to shin splints, if not a stress fracture.
While I do like my physician and he is a casual runner (he has done various 5Ks, 4 milers, and half marathons... thank you, athlinks.com), I contemplated going to a sports physician. Someone with my mindset and he/she may have more experience with this kind of thing from a running perspective.
I stayed the course though. My doc did various leg rotation and range tests to see what might be going on. He admitted that it would be difficult to diagnose without a MRI. So he prescribed three things: steroid (please don't read this, anti-droping commission), anti-inflammatory, and two weeks of minimal running.
Damn.
Sent a message off to the coach and he adjusted my schedule. Looks like Sunday is going to be a sleep in, roll out of bed, and "run" for 30 minutes. Ugh.
Swimming and cycling are no issue. I may move some of the runs into the water for less impact. Need to research that out.
So again I ask, "What will 2015 bring?". I don't want it to be the year of injuries. I've only dealt with two injuries. Shin splints in 2010 and broken ribs in 2011. That's more than enough for me.
I'm hoping I caught whatever this is soon enough. In about a month I was probably going to be hitting my first 20 miler. If I take two weeks off, I feel quite confident that I can still hit 20 miles plenty before Boston. I am just going to have to adjust my Boston goal to be more about enjoying the experience than trying to qualify for 2016; however, I have no plans to run Boston a 2nd time anytime soon. I just want to run it a 1st time... and for that to be in 2015.
If I try to push through this, I could very likely damage my season and I definitely don't want to do that. I loved everything about my Beach2Battleship 140.6 experience and having completed awesome training leading up to it was key to that experience. I want Ironman Louisville to be even better.
So I'm trying to not wallow. I have swimming and cycling to keep up my cardio fitness and I can still get in some running, albeit in short amounts and slower paced.
So here is to 2015! If anything, this is going to be a year of lots of experiences and lots of learning.
Usually by now I've written a 2014 Year In Review and a 2015 Race Schedule Post. Hell, I've even missed an entire race report (Groundhog Run 10k - 42:22 - 52 out of 1380 Overall - 11 of out 95 Age Group. Race Report Done).
So let's look forward: 2015 is a big year regardless of how it turns out. Boston Marathon in April and Ironman Louisville (with Kona on the brain) in October. Hard to get much bigger than that.
Now let's look backwards.... to about 3 weeks ago. I had an awesome week of training. Some good speed work and a good long run with a hill focus. Then the following week the legs started to wear down on me. Specifically, my left quad as it was sore. Groundhog Run was coming, which generally meant less mileage for the week but a race is a race.
The next week was another good week of speed and marathon pace running (all on a treadmill) and a 16 miler in cold, soggy weather. Legs were cranky, again. Following the long run I did a bike/treadmill brick. It was only 30 minutes running but the legs were dead. They didn't want to move. I did 3 miles in those thirty minutes (in good condition, it would have been 4 miles). My left leg occasionally felt completely weak pushing off, potentially causing a highly embarrassing treadmill fall.
In addition to all of this, my foot neuroma was rearing its ugly head. My left foot was bugging me. It had actually started bugging me near the end of the summer but only a bit. After ramping up my running, it created a concern, just like it did last year.
After talking with coach, he culled back some of my running. I still had a nice long run of 17 miles to do on Sunday. I felt pretty good with it. I did that 17 miler at 7:50 pace. My quad felt good but not great. It didn't feel worse. The following days my calf muscles were more sore than anything else.
I then decided it's time to do something. I talked to the foot doctor who I saw last year. During my appointment with him on Monday, he gave me another cortisone shot to help reduce the swelling around the neuroma. We also examined my foot x-ray some more and he showed how I have less space between 2nd and 3rd metatarsals on my left foot. This causes the irritation of the nerve, creating the swelling. The goal is to keep the swelling down so as to not create fibrous scar tissue. This would require some kind of invasive surgery to correct. Boo.
I've adjusted my footwear by wearing street shoes at work, added felt metatarsal pads to my running shoes and am researching out wide cycling shoes.
I then called up an apportionment with my regular doctor and met with him on Wednesday about my quad issue. I hesitated on this because I just knew if I could get through this week it would miraculously be better. But I also knew that my right shin was starting to bark at me. This was because my left quad was causing me to shift my gait and irritating my right shin. Crap.
If it didn't get better, I was surely on the way to shin splints, if not a stress fracture.
While I do like my physician and he is a casual runner (he has done various 5Ks, 4 milers, and half marathons... thank you, athlinks.com), I contemplated going to a sports physician. Someone with my mindset and he/she may have more experience with this kind of thing from a running perspective.
I stayed the course though. My doc did various leg rotation and range tests to see what might be going on. He admitted that it would be difficult to diagnose without a MRI. So he prescribed three things: steroid (please don't read this, anti-droping commission), anti-inflammatory, and two weeks of minimal running.
Damn.
Sent a message off to the coach and he adjusted my schedule. Looks like Sunday is going to be a sleep in, roll out of bed, and "run" for 30 minutes. Ugh.
Swimming and cycling are no issue. I may move some of the runs into the water for less impact. Need to research that out.
So again I ask, "What will 2015 bring?". I don't want it to be the year of injuries. I've only dealt with two injuries. Shin splints in 2010 and broken ribs in 2011. That's more than enough for me.
I'm hoping I caught whatever this is soon enough. In about a month I was probably going to be hitting my first 20 miler. If I take two weeks off, I feel quite confident that I can still hit 20 miles plenty before Boston. I am just going to have to adjust my Boston goal to be more about enjoying the experience than trying to qualify for 2016; however, I have no plans to run Boston a 2nd time anytime soon. I just want to run it a 1st time... and for that to be in 2015.
If I try to push through this, I could very likely damage my season and I definitely don't want to do that. I loved everything about my Beach2Battleship 140.6 experience and having completed awesome training leading up to it was key to that experience. I want Ironman Louisville to be even better.
So I'm trying to not wallow. I have swimming and cycling to keep up my cardio fitness and I can still get in some running, albeit in short amounts and slower paced.
So here is to 2015! If anything, this is going to be a year of lots of experiences and lots of learning.
Monday, December 15, 2014
Candy Cane 10k Race Report
While Coach Ken had put this on my calendar back in October, I didn't actually sign up until the Tuesday before. This usually means I don't have any grand pre-race plans or goals. I just wanted to go out and have a good time. I contacted Erik and he was in to run the 5k with friend Megan.
The temps were going to be around 50 degrees, which aided in the decision to pull the trigger on the race. It was cloudy but really perfect for a race.
Pre-Race
I stopped at Parkville Coffee House right as it opened at 7 so that I could get to Swope Park in time to grab my packet from Erik and do a warm up.
Erik, Megan and I all arrived within a few minutes of each other. We walked over to Starlight Theatre where they had your standard race booths of food and soft tissue massages. Once we found that the start line was also the finish line, I decided to take off for about a mile warmup. This time I stopped about halfway and did some stretches that help open the hip flexors. I'm trying to do things that help my running form and this is something I've heard helps. Dynamic stretches during a warmup, who knew?!
I got back to the start line and talked with Erik and Megan for a bit before positioning myself for the start. I was about 10 feet back from the line.
After the National Anthem, we were off!
Start
The 10k course is 2 loops of the 5k course with a slight modification so that the 10k doesn't run through that start line twice. The course first has a small decline before a .75 mile incline. Nothing steep but long. There is then a mile of flat during the out and back portion before going downhill on the other side of Swope Park.
I decided to not push the hill and kill my race before the first mile is over. I felt pretty good the entire way and managed a 6:58 first mile.
The crowd was beginning to thin out but there were plenty of people. We were on the first loop with 5k runners, so that added to the congestion. The flat section came in at 6:41. The third mile was pretty much all down hill. I hit 6:30 while trying to run as long as I am tall. I was trying to take some long strides and take advantage of gravity.
Now that we were finishing up mile 3, the truth about who was running the 5k was about to be known... nearly everyone.
Suddenly there were only three people in front of me. We were soon faced with a decision: I was about 100 feet from a "T" in the road with no markers. The first of the 3 people turned left, which was toward the start line. The two remaining looked at each and turned right but a couple seconds later they had turned around and went left. I finally committed to follow them left when they had turned around to go back right, away from the start line. I probably lost a second here but they had lost a good 10 seconds or so. I never did see the first guy again. He may have missed the 5k turnoff and was going back
I was now running with a female, a guy, and no one else. It crossed my mind that we may be the top three but I also knew there was a police car as the lead car. We now hit the long uphill again. I stayed close with the girl but the guy pulled slightly ahead. As we started to crest the hill I could see the lead car but couldn't tell how many people were there. I just assumed that I was forth behind the girl.
Mile 4 was 7:13. It felt much slower, so I guess that is good. I passed the girl right as we hit the flat section but the guy was pulling even further ahead. About mile 4.5 mile I could hear another set of footsteps behind me. It was another guy.
We started catching up with the walkers and stroller people of the 5k. This added some obstacles to dodge. I may have used one or two of them to squeeze out my new running buddy.
As we started the downhill again, it finally entered into my mind that I was actually in a race and I needed to strategize my finish. Based on my assumption, I was now fighting for third place overall. I wasn't trying to beat a time goal (I didn't think sub-40 was going to happen) but going for an overall podium, which is much better!
During my warm-up I actually ran the last half mile so I knew there was a nasty uphill. He and I were starting swap positions and by the time we hit that hill, my legs were thrashed. He began to break away but I knew not to relent. I pushed it as hard as I could to the finish but couldn't catch him. My last mile was 6:21.
I didn't mind missing what I assumed was third place. What I did mind was losing third to a guy wearing the race shirt.... especially since that race shirt was a hoodie sweater. Doh!
Finish
Time: 40:31 / 6:31 pace
Age Group: 1st out of 6
Overall: 4th out of 194
Yay for 1st place!! Boo for missing 3rd overall... by less than a second! He ended up having the same time as me but I don't know the milliseconds. He must have lined up near the line while I was much further back.
Overall
I generally hate races of 5k/10k distances because they hurt so much. Sure, marathons hurt but not the same way. I never really felt that pain, even with the hills. I think that may have been attributed to my plan to not push the hill but maybe I didn't push myself as hard as I could.
My watch registered a 5.97 miles, so it may have been short. I'll call this my 10k PR anyway.
I do love the Age Group win! It's my second one ever and first in a 10k.
Congrats to Erik who smashed his PR. He's been trying to going under 30 minutes and blew it out by over a minute! Megan got a PR as well as she ran with Erik. PRs all around!
Proof
The temps were going to be around 50 degrees, which aided in the decision to pull the trigger on the race. It was cloudy but really perfect for a race.
Pre-Race
I stopped at Parkville Coffee House right as it opened at 7 so that I could get to Swope Park in time to grab my packet from Erik and do a warm up.
Erik, Megan and I all arrived within a few minutes of each other. We walked over to Starlight Theatre where they had your standard race booths of food and soft tissue massages. Once we found that the start line was also the finish line, I decided to take off for about a mile warmup. This time I stopped about halfway and did some stretches that help open the hip flexors. I'm trying to do things that help my running form and this is something I've heard helps. Dynamic stretches during a warmup, who knew?!
I got back to the start line and talked with Erik and Megan for a bit before positioning myself for the start. I was about 10 feet back from the line.
After the National Anthem, we were off!
Start
The 10k course is 2 loops of the 5k course with a slight modification so that the 10k doesn't run through that start line twice. The course first has a small decline before a .75 mile incline. Nothing steep but long. There is then a mile of flat during the out and back portion before going downhill on the other side of Swope Park.
I decided to not push the hill and kill my race before the first mile is over. I felt pretty good the entire way and managed a 6:58 first mile.
The crowd was beginning to thin out but there were plenty of people. We were on the first loop with 5k runners, so that added to the congestion. The flat section came in at 6:41. The third mile was pretty much all down hill. I hit 6:30 while trying to run as long as I am tall. I was trying to take some long strides and take advantage of gravity.
Now that we were finishing up mile 3, the truth about who was running the 5k was about to be known... nearly everyone.
Suddenly there were only three people in front of me. We were soon faced with a decision: I was about 100 feet from a "T" in the road with no markers. The first of the 3 people turned left, which was toward the start line. The two remaining looked at each and turned right but a couple seconds later they had turned around and went left. I finally committed to follow them left when they had turned around to go back right, away from the start line. I probably lost a second here but they had lost a good 10 seconds or so. I never did see the first guy again. He may have missed the 5k turnoff and was going back
I was now running with a female, a guy, and no one else. It crossed my mind that we may be the top three but I also knew there was a police car as the lead car. We now hit the long uphill again. I stayed close with the girl but the guy pulled slightly ahead. As we started to crest the hill I could see the lead car but couldn't tell how many people were there. I just assumed that I was forth behind the girl.
Mile 4 was 7:13. It felt much slower, so I guess that is good. I passed the girl right as we hit the flat section but the guy was pulling even further ahead. About mile 4.5 mile I could hear another set of footsteps behind me. It was another guy.
We started catching up with the walkers and stroller people of the 5k. This added some obstacles to dodge. I may have used one or two of them to squeeze out my new running buddy.
As we started the downhill again, it finally entered into my mind that I was actually in a race and I needed to strategize my finish. Based on my assumption, I was now fighting for third place overall. I wasn't trying to beat a time goal (I didn't think sub-40 was going to happen) but going for an overall podium, which is much better!
During my warm-up I actually ran the last half mile so I knew there was a nasty uphill. He and I were starting swap positions and by the time we hit that hill, my legs were thrashed. He began to break away but I knew not to relent. I pushed it as hard as I could to the finish but couldn't catch him. My last mile was 6:21.
I didn't mind missing what I assumed was third place. What I did mind was losing third to a guy wearing the race shirt.... especially since that race shirt was a hoodie sweater. Doh!
 |
| No knocking knees this time but still looking disjointed. |
Finish
Time: 40:31 / 6:31 pace
Age Group: 1st out of 6
Overall: 4th out of 194
Yay for 1st place!! Boo for missing 3rd overall... by less than a second! He ended up having the same time as me but I don't know the milliseconds. He must have lined up near the line while I was much further back.
Overall
I generally hate races of 5k/10k distances because they hurt so much. Sure, marathons hurt but not the same way. I never really felt that pain, even with the hills. I think that may have been attributed to my plan to not push the hill but maybe I didn't push myself as hard as I could.
My watch registered a 5.97 miles, so it may have been short. I'll call this my 10k PR anyway.
I do love the Age Group win! It's my second one ever and first in a 10k.
Congrats to Erik who smashed his PR. He's been trying to going under 30 minutes and blew it out by over a minute! Megan got a PR as well as she ran with Erik. PRs all around!
Proof
 |
| Erik and Megan both flying through the 5k course...literally. |
 |
| New Facebook Profile Photo! |
 |
| Megan finishing Strong! |
 |
| Erik mastering the stop-the-watch finish photo. |
 |
| My race buddy for the last 2 miles... race hoodie sweatshirt and all |
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Race Report: Kansas Half Marathon
I had originally registered for Kansas City Half Marathon as my race season swan song but our KC High Five Station got an opportunity we couldn't pass up by the Kansas City Sports Commission, so I elected to DNS and run the Kansas Half Marathon instead. The course had changed from previous years and was setup to be flat and fast. Sounds good to me.
I really didn't have a goal. My PR was set earlier this year at the Lucky 13.1 at 1:30:07. I didn't feel a PR was going to happen with some items getting in the way of my training. Apparently those items added a few pounds of stress to my frame as well. Not trying to make excuses... but yeah, I guess I am.
Leading up to race weekend it was suppose to be 35 degrees and windy. That really didn't concern me much as I've trained in cold conditions. The wind was just going to be annoying.
Race Morning
As I got up at 5am, the temps were 50 degrees. So I happily left the long sleeve base-layer and skull cap on the floor. I ended up just wearing my shorts, team shirt, visor, calf sleeves, shoes, and socks. Speaking of waking up, it was so nice having a race the morning after the end of daylight savings time. We got an extra hour of sleep!
Stopped at the coffee shop to get some go-go juice and arrived in Lawrence about 30 minutes before the race. A pit stop in the port-a-pots and then did about a mile warm-up jog with some pickups.
About 5 minutes before the start, TKB and I found Dane and also talked with another teammate, Jeff. A work colleague of TKB's was there as well, DeEtta. She just ran one of my favorite races, the Chicago Marathon.
I lined up with the 1:45 group just to help slow me down. The 1:45 group was about 5 feet behind the 1:35 group, so I guess it didn't really matter.
Start
A little after 7:30, we were off. I ran with Dane for a few blocks as we got moving, but I knew that wouldn't last long before he took off.
The first few miles of the race had some hills as we ran through Mass Street and the headed east. Nothing bad but just enough to make you work. Around mile 1 a guy in front of me lost his bib. With the wind coming from the south at 15 mph, I thought I'd do what I could so the guy didn't have to run too far backwards. I managed to snare the thing, even wearing those white dispensable gloves. I should have asked the guy what age group he was in before handing it off to him!
Once we got out in the country, it was flat. Super flat. The problem with super flat on a windy day, it means super windy. Fortunately, we were turning north eventually so the wind would be at our backs. I ended up tucking in with three other guys. I overheard them talking. They were all shooting for 1:30. So I just needed to stay with them but make sure they didn't start to slow.
The race worked its way back to downtown through the side streets of Lawrence. We then crossed over the Kansas River and started running through northeast Lawrence. It was here that we would make short efforts to run south against the wind.
There was probably a half mile stretch where we ran against the wind. I could hear Phil Leggitt (Tour de France announcer) in my head saying, "and the wind has devastated the peloton! We have guy in orange breaking free and two guys in blue fighting to stay. Scotty B has fallen off the back! He's going to have to work hard to bridge the gap". Sigh.
I actually DID get back with them and dropped one of the guys after we turned away. We eventually hopped onto the levee trail for about 2 miles before turning around (back into the wind) and then back over the river on the same bridge. By now we were running through the city blocks and the wind wasn't too much of a factor. The guy in orange was long gone. I was running about 10 - 20 yards behind the other one. It stayed that way until the last half mile when he took off. There was noone behind me and so I enjoyed the last quarter mile of my final race of the year.
Finish
Time: 1:31:50 / 7:01 Pace
Age Group: 3 of 33
Overal: 22 of 665
No PR but a 3rd place age group finish! I actually was surprised with a 3rd place finish considering the time but not complaining.
Not only was Dane racing, so was his father, Ken. We all three took home some mugs. Dane got first in his age group, Ken with 2nd, and me with 3rd!
Race Items
The race use to be in the Spring and had a much more elevated course. I never ran that race course, so can't compare. I thought this was pretty good course. There was some gravel in the first half and the levee trail isn't paved, but that's not an issue. You cross the train tracks a few times, so I always get concerned about getting stopped by a train but I didn't have an issue.
The race had great communication through emails, Facebook, and Twitter. I also love it when a races have interactive people manage their Twitter and Facebook accounts. I also asked a few questions about the race not being approved by the city days before the race and they responded without hesitation.
For a race this size, they had good post-race items (massages, bananas, bagels, water, and even hot chocolate). There was some confusion regarding the awards. They had communicated through email and even at the site that there wouldn't be an awards ceremony but they actually did have one.
No issues with parking (we actually parked half a block from the start line). All the volunteers, police, and staff were awesome and supportive. Even people at some of the more remote parts of the course had spectators to cheer us on. I even saw were someone had put a box of Kleenex in their open mailbox. Not sure where I would need that, but it's a good gesture!
Proof -- Also known as Scott's commentary of Dane's race photos.
 |
| See you in 13.1 miles (or about 2 thousand words) |
Leading up to race weekend it was suppose to be 35 degrees and windy. That really didn't concern me much as I've trained in cold conditions. The wind was just going to be annoying.
Race Morning
As I got up at 5am, the temps were 50 degrees. So I happily left the long sleeve base-layer and skull cap on the floor. I ended up just wearing my shorts, team shirt, visor, calf sleeves, shoes, and socks. Speaking of waking up, it was so nice having a race the morning after the end of daylight savings time. We got an extra hour of sleep!
Stopped at the coffee shop to get some go-go juice and arrived in Lawrence about 30 minutes before the race. A pit stop in the port-a-pots and then did about a mile warm-up jog with some pickups.
About 5 minutes before the start, TKB and I found Dane and also talked with another teammate, Jeff. A work colleague of TKB's was there as well, DeEtta. She just ran one of my favorite races, the Chicago Marathon.
I lined up with the 1:45 group just to help slow me down. The 1:45 group was about 5 feet behind the 1:35 group, so I guess it didn't really matter.
Start
 |
| Me and Dane, ready to run! |
A little after 7:30, we were off. I ran with Dane for a few blocks as we got moving, but I knew that wouldn't last long before he took off.
The first few miles of the race had some hills as we ran through Mass Street and the headed east. Nothing bad but just enough to make you work. Around mile 1 a guy in front of me lost his bib. With the wind coming from the south at 15 mph, I thought I'd do what I could so the guy didn't have to run too far backwards. I managed to snare the thing, even wearing those white dispensable gloves. I should have asked the guy what age group he was in before handing it off to him!
Once we got out in the country, it was flat. Super flat. The problem with super flat on a windy day, it means super windy. Fortunately, we were turning north eventually so the wind would be at our backs. I ended up tucking in with three other guys. I overheard them talking. They were all shooting for 1:30. So I just needed to stay with them but make sure they didn't start to slow.
 |
| #poooooopface I don't like how my knees knock. Doesn't seem efficient. |
The race worked its way back to downtown through the side streets of Lawrence. We then crossed over the Kansas River and started running through northeast Lawrence. It was here that we would make short efforts to run south against the wind.
 |
| Running down the bridge towards northeast Lawrence. |
There was probably a half mile stretch where we ran against the wind. I could hear Phil Leggitt (Tour de France announcer) in my head saying, "and the wind has devastated the peloton! We have guy in orange breaking free and two guys in blue fighting to stay. Scotty B has fallen off the back! He's going to have to work hard to bridge the gap". Sigh.
I actually DID get back with them and dropped one of the guys after we turned away. We eventually hopped onto the levee trail for about 2 miles before turning around (back into the wind) and then back over the river on the same bridge. By now we were running through the city blocks and the wind wasn't too much of a factor. The guy in orange was long gone. I was running about 10 - 20 yards behind the other one. It stayed that way until the last half mile when he took off. There was noone behind me and so I enjoyed the last quarter mile of my final race of the year.
Finish
 |
| Your standard, mid-air finish line photo. |
Time: 1:31:50 / 7:01 Pace
Age Group: 3 of 33
Overal: 22 of 665
No PR but a 3rd place age group finish! I actually was surprised with a 3rd place finish considering the time but not complaining.
Not only was Dane racing, so was his father, Ken. We all three took home some mugs. Dane got first in his age group, Ken with 2nd, and me with 3rd!
Race Items
The race use to be in the Spring and had a much more elevated course. I never ran that race course, so can't compare. I thought this was pretty good course. There was some gravel in the first half and the levee trail isn't paved, but that's not an issue. You cross the train tracks a few times, so I always get concerned about getting stopped by a train but I didn't have an issue.
The race had great communication through emails, Facebook, and Twitter. I also love it when a races have interactive people manage their Twitter and Facebook accounts. I also asked a few questions about the race not being approved by the city days before the race and they responded without hesitation.
For a race this size, they had good post-race items (massages, bananas, bagels, water, and even hot chocolate). There was some confusion regarding the awards. They had communicated through email and even at the site that there wouldn't be an awards ceremony but they actually did have one.
No issues with parking (we actually parked half a block from the start line). All the volunteers, police, and staff were awesome and supportive. Even people at some of the more remote parts of the course had spectators to cheer us on. I even saw were someone had put a box of Kleenex in their open mailbox. Not sure where I would need that, but it's a good gesture!
Proof -- Also known as Scott's commentary of Dane's race photos.
 |
| Dane settling into pace at mile 1. He's trying to hide under his skull cap. Is it Dane or isn't it? |
 |
| OMG! His cap has been removed. It is Dane! Look at that sweet kick. Almost fully parallel with the road! Landing on his heel though. Room for improvement? #ICantTalk |
 |
| What is this dude doing with his left arm? Making a left turn or something? |
 |
| In the next photo, this guy is doing it with his right arm! OMG! They are trying to squeeze Dane out. WATCH OUT DANE! |
 |
| Squeezed. Unfair. |
 | |
|
 |
| The one photo I found of DeEtta. She's gutting out that nasty wind. |
Big shout out to Mile 90 Photography and KS Half Marathon for providing free race photos! I'd gladly pay an extra $5+ per race just to get free, high quality race photos at the end.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Royals: Game 7 #TakeTheCrown
So when I first started this blog, I mentioned I would likely talk about non-triathlony stuff. This may be my first one.
Last night was Game 6 of the MLB World Series between the KC Royals and SF Giants. I am a fan of the KC Royals as I've been a resident of Kansas City since day 0 of my life. At the start of the 2nd inning I was sitting on my couch, beer in hand, dog laying next to me, TKB watching intently, and life was great. No team had scored yet and, yet, I was already euphoric. This was amazing. I say this because I can honestly say that I never thought this moment was going to happen in my lifetime.. not without some changes.
In my previous blog (which is now defunct), I made a post about bucket list items in baseball that I wanted to witness in a Royals game. Items like an inside-the-park Home Run (Thank you, Angel Berroa), Grand Slam (Thank you, Ryan Shealy), someone stealing home, a no hitter, a triple play, a 3 pitch inning, getting a foul ball (Thank you, Detroit player who hit it into the upper deck). One item that I don't recall if I had one on there is the Royals winning a World Series. Why? Simply because from the late 1990s baseball was broken. The competitive balance of baseball was screwed up. The economics was skewed to those who could buy a championship team. In my mind, the figurehead of this were the Yankees but many teams were guilty.
How in the world could a team in a small market be competitive? Kansas City was the prime example of a small market team. Players didn't want to come here and why would they? If they were good, teams would simply overpay for their services. The Royals couldn't (or, rather, wouldn't) match. Our ownership literally came from the Walmart mindset (he was previously a CEO of the company). We got plenty of flack about being a cheap team... and the ownership deserved those comments. Here are some facts from a hopefully reliable source of information. It compares the total amount of money spent on baseball salaries since the Yankees and Royals last won their World Series.
In the last 6 years, the Yankees have spent $10.8 million MORE than the Royals in the previous 30 years. Yes, this is non-adjusted for inflation so it might be closer. In 2011, the Royals salary was so an anemic 17% of that of the Yankees. That was a horrible year for the Royals when they lost 91 games.
To be fair, I feel that every person should be paid as much as people are willing to pay them. I'm not going to stop my company from giving me a $25 million per year contract, so I won't blame the Yankees with their deep pockets; however, from an ownership perspective, I feel it's reckless (ie, my company didn't give me that contract). Yankees being a prime example. They have spent $1.2 BILLION dollars and have nothing to show for it since 2009.
In addition, there are plenty of teams who have won the World Series that aren't in the top 5 of salary spenders. So why do it?!
As you can see, the Royals have started spending money to get some big arms in clubhouse but they aren't overpaying by an absurd amount. They have also spent plenty of capital (not just financially but in mentoring, training, and grooming) players from their own farm system. THAT is why I was euphoric. I feel the Royals have hit the right combination and didn't mortgage the future to get it.
So while I am impatiently waiting for Game 7 to start, I don't know what the outcome will be. I want our team to win and I feel very confident that they will. Even if they lose, this has been an absolutely awesome experience being a fan of the team. This entire post-season has been enjoyable to watch. I hope that if you are a true fan of this sport, you are enjoying the it too. Being a true fan of this sport, I hope your team wins tonight (but only if your team also happens to be the Royals)!
#TakeTheCrown
Last night was Game 6 of the MLB World Series between the KC Royals and SF Giants. I am a fan of the KC Royals as I've been a resident of Kansas City since day 0 of my life. At the start of the 2nd inning I was sitting on my couch, beer in hand, dog laying next to me, TKB watching intently, and life was great. No team had scored yet and, yet, I was already euphoric. This was amazing. I say this because I can honestly say that I never thought this moment was going to happen in my lifetime.. not without some changes.
In my previous blog (which is now defunct), I made a post about bucket list items in baseball that I wanted to witness in a Royals game. Items like an inside-the-park Home Run (Thank you, Angel Berroa), Grand Slam (Thank you, Ryan Shealy), someone stealing home, a no hitter, a triple play, a 3 pitch inning, getting a foul ball (Thank you, Detroit player who hit it into the upper deck). One item that I don't recall if I had one on there is the Royals winning a World Series. Why? Simply because from the late 1990s baseball was broken. The competitive balance of baseball was screwed up. The economics was skewed to those who could buy a championship team. In my mind, the figurehead of this were the Yankees but many teams were guilty.
How in the world could a team in a small market be competitive? Kansas City was the prime example of a small market team. Players didn't want to come here and why would they? If they were good, teams would simply overpay for their services. The Royals couldn't (or, rather, wouldn't) match. Our ownership literally came from the Walmart mindset (he was previously a CEO of the company). We got plenty of flack about being a cheap team... and the ownership deserved those comments. Here are some facts from a hopefully reliable source of information. It compares the total amount of money spent on baseball salaries since the Yankees and Royals last won their World Series.
In the last 6 years, the Yankees have spent $10.8 million MORE than the Royals in the previous 30 years. Yes, this is non-adjusted for inflation so it might be closer. In 2011, the Royals salary was so an anemic 17% of that of the Yankees. That was a horrible year for the Royals when they lost 91 games.
To be fair, I feel that every person should be paid as much as people are willing to pay them. I'm not going to stop my company from giving me a $25 million per year contract, so I won't blame the Yankees with their deep pockets; however, from an ownership perspective, I feel it's reckless (ie, my company didn't give me that contract). Yankees being a prime example. They have spent $1.2 BILLION dollars and have nothing to show for it since 2009.
In addition, there are plenty of teams who have won the World Series that aren't in the top 5 of salary spenders. So why do it?!
As you can see, the Royals have started spending money to get some big arms in clubhouse but they aren't overpaying by an absurd amount. They have also spent plenty of capital (not just financially but in mentoring, training, and grooming) players from their own farm system. THAT is why I was euphoric. I feel the Royals have hit the right combination and didn't mortgage the future to get it.
So while I am impatiently waiting for Game 7 to start, I don't know what the outcome will be. I want our team to win and I feel very confident that they will. Even if they lose, this has been an absolutely awesome experience being a fan of the team. This entire post-season has been enjoyable to watch. I hope that if you are a true fan of this sport, you are enjoying the it too. Being a true fan of this sport, I hope your team wins tonight (but only if your team also happens to be the Royals)!
#TakeTheCrown
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Next Year's Ironman
As I mentioned in my Race Registration-Palooza, I'm returning to ironman-distance racing with Ironman Louisville. I completed my first ironman race with Beach2Battleship 140.6. The goal was to have fun and just complete it (which I did in 10 hours, 24 minutes). Now it's time to see what I can do. The planning for this started soon after Beach2Battleship when I signed up with Midwest Triathlon Coaching. I then started attending the local Master's Swim class for stroke efficiency training. I have even gone so far as to purchase a Power Meter in September to help with cycling. I feel confident in my running, it's just making sure I can get to the marathon in great shape.
The next thing to do is to pick a race. This planning started in May with, of course, a spreadsheet analysis. There are a lot of good options out there but there had to be one major requirement before it got a row in the spreadsheet: It had to be an Ironman-branded race. Maybe I'm one of the few triathletes out there that don't care to throw cash at the World Triathlon Corporation hand-over-fist (WTC owns the Ironman brand). It wasn't until this year that I registered for a race that was associated with the company, Kansas 5i50. So why bother? If you want to play at the big dance, you have to play their game. The big dance being the Ironman World Champions in Kona, Hawaii.
The remaining requirements are a late summer, early fall race in the US that is an easy commute. This limited to:
My good friend Vicki did Louisville this year and she really enjoyed it. She also did Beach2Battleship with me in 2013. With the concern of the bike course, it turns out her IM Louisville bike time was 13 seconds faster than B2B. With the race moving to October AND the fact that we loved Louisville when we were there for the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon, I was sold. In addition, my coach has done this race multiple times and he qualified for Kona there last year.
The run course for IMLOU follows most of the same roads that I ran for the Louisville Marathon (between downtown and Churchill Downs), which was super flat. So I'm loving this decision! The swim is challenging in the first 1/3 of the course. You swim against the current, but it is somewhat protected by a small island. You turn around and then can enjoy the current. The swim start is also a time trial start not a mass start. You line up and jump off a dock to start the swim. With 2000+ participants, it's a rather long line. Some people start lining up hours before and so I'm debating about my strategy. I have a full year to figure it out.
I went backwards from October 11 and found a good half ironman in Muncie to do in July (another WTC race). It requires some travel, so I can practice the travel preparation. I have a couple friends, Kevin (from Chicago Triathlon) and Kristen (who has appeared here multiple times) joining me. Anyone else?
I mentioned Kona earlier in the post. Am I doing IMLOU with the full purpose of attempting to qualify for Kona? In 2014, I would have to complete a 9 hour, 35 minute ironman in Louisville. That's 49 minutes faster than Beach2Battleship on a less forgiving course. These are based off of times racing in the heat and humidity of summer.
That being said, every goal race needs to have a purpose. From here on out, any Ironman race I do will be to qualify for Kona. It may be years before it happens but I have the tools and trust in the plan. These races are way too expensive to do for fun... or their overpriced merchandise... or simply a tattoo.
Will Louisville improve my chances? Not sure. Being an October race likely means I need faster than a 9:35 to make it; however, it is the day after Kona, which means all the fast freaks will already be in Hawaii that weekend!
Hopefully I'll be active on here posting about my training in the next year leading up to the race. Work has me crazy busy right now and into the foreseeable future, which means the time to blog suffers.
Thanks for reading!!
The next thing to do is to pick a race. This planning started in May with, of course, a spreadsheet analysis. There are a lot of good options out there but there had to be one major requirement before it got a row in the spreadsheet: It had to be an Ironman-branded race. Maybe I'm one of the few triathletes out there that don't care to throw cash at the World Triathlon Corporation hand-over-fist (WTC owns the Ironman brand). It wasn't until this year that I registered for a race that was associated with the company, Kansas 5i50. So why bother? If you want to play at the big dance, you have to play their game. The big dance being the Ironman World Champions in Kona, Hawaii.
The remaining requirements are a late summer, early fall race in the US that is an easy commute. This limited to:
- Boulder: Brand new for 2014. I wanted to avoid an altitude race though.
- Wisconsin: A good race that normally sells out fast. I would have to volunteer this year to guarantee a spot. Bike course is technical with lots of turns so hard to get in a groove.
- Chattanooga: Brand new for 2014, so not sure what to expect. I think this would be a good race; however, having the bike course end up long by four miles made me question the race planning. I'm apparently a good cyclist, so maybe this is a good? It's close to friends and family in North Carolina, so that is a plus.
- Louisville: Known to be a very hot and humid race BUT it was moved to October 11 for 2015. Bike course is known to be hilly too. Doesn't sell out.
My good friend Vicki did Louisville this year and she really enjoyed it. She also did Beach2Battleship with me in 2013. With the concern of the bike course, it turns out her IM Louisville bike time was 13 seconds faster than B2B. With the race moving to October AND the fact that we loved Louisville when we were there for the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon, I was sold. In addition, my coach has done this race multiple times and he qualified for Kona there last year.
The run course for IMLOU follows most of the same roads that I ran for the Louisville Marathon (between downtown and Churchill Downs), which was super flat. So I'm loving this decision! The swim is challenging in the first 1/3 of the course. You swim against the current, but it is somewhat protected by a small island. You turn around and then can enjoy the current. The swim start is also a time trial start not a mass start. You line up and jump off a dock to start the swim. With 2000+ participants, it's a rather long line. Some people start lining up hours before and so I'm debating about my strategy. I have a full year to figure it out.
I went backwards from October 11 and found a good half ironman in Muncie to do in July (another WTC race). It requires some travel, so I can practice the travel preparation. I have a couple friends, Kevin (from Chicago Triathlon) and Kristen (who has appeared here multiple times) joining me. Anyone else?
I mentioned Kona earlier in the post. Am I doing IMLOU with the full purpose of attempting to qualify for Kona? In 2014, I would have to complete a 9 hour, 35 minute ironman in Louisville. That's 49 minutes faster than Beach2Battleship on a less forgiving course. These are based off of times racing in the heat and humidity of summer.
That being said, every goal race needs to have a purpose. From here on out, any Ironman race I do will be to qualify for Kona. It may be years before it happens but I have the tools and trust in the plan. These races are way too expensive to do for fun... or their overpriced merchandise... or simply a tattoo.
Will Louisville improve my chances? Not sure. Being an October race likely means I need faster than a 9:35 to make it; however, it is the day after Kona, which means all the fast freaks will already be in Hawaii that weekend!
Hopefully I'll be active on here posting about my training in the next year leading up to the race. Work has me crazy busy right now and into the foreseeable future, which means the time to blog suffers.
Thanks for reading!!
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