I was in a car accident

Last Tuesday the 14th of December I was driving home from work when I was struck from behind by another vehicle. My car was stopped on the interstate due to some unknown traffic congestion and the driver behind me failed to stop and slammed into me.


















I was wearing my seatbelt and am truly lucky to have come away with out more extensive injuries. I have a whiplash and some back issues as well a shoulder problem. I was down for 3 days at home recovering after the accident and I returned to work on Monday.

I have as you might expect been unable to continue my regular workouts or routine. I have been doing some walking on Sat and Sun. but beyond that no real exercise. I have been watching my diet very closely to avoid putting on weight while Im down. I thought I was gaining quite abit of weight but luckily when I weighed this morning I was pleasantly surprised.

I weighted in just .2 lbs over my lowest weight. I was very relieved to see that I was still maintaining after a week. In fact I think I might have actually lost a little if the painkillers hadn't caused me to retain so much.

I'm going to a Chiro this afternoon we will see what he says about picking up some light cardio in the coming weeks.

Wish me luck

Plateau busted

Finally after more than 30 days I weighed in at 214.4 this morning. Over the last month I have been unable to break past 215.4 and It was just this constant back and forth battle for 3 lbs. It was really beginning to wear on me and I have to admit it was starting to break me down. I mad some pretty solid changes that I referred to in my previous post that I think are the root cause of my success.

Man it feels good to be over that bump.

Back on track

Wow...I gotta tell you it has been a tough 30 days for me on the weight loss front. Virtually no progress what so ever. But, I do believe I have finally started to dig my way back out.

I haven't lost or really gained any more than 2-3 lbs for the last 30 days. I was working out and eating right but just not making any progress. Now I do believe in weight loss plateaus but I don't believe they last for 30 days. You plateau because your body adjusts to your fitness level and diet but its only temporary and if you continue you will eventually pull through. The science is still there, Calories in vs. Calories out, and doesn't lie. I don't believe that what I experience was a plateau. I was changing workouts and monitoring diet closely.

I believe I was starving myself. (Not Deliberately)

Its true people you have to eat to lose weight. I wasn't hungry but my body was not getting enough food energy. I was taking in about 1300-1500 calories a day. I was also working out 4-6 days a week for about an hour. workouts were burning between 450-1100 calories depending on what training day I was on. So at the very best day I was taking in 1500 calories and burning 450 leaving me at 1050 calorie NET for the day and at my worst I was taking in 1300 and burning 1100 for a net of 200 Calories. That's not good ! I was doing exactly what I was trying to not to do. I just didn't realize it.

So I made some changes I upped my base calorie from 1470 to 1630 and have been eating till Im within 100 Cals of the net total after workouts.

Its been almost 2 weeks I started losing weight again 2 days ago. I really hope its not a fluke. Oh I also recommitted to drinking more alcohol water and watching my sodium intake a bit closer. I think all in all these were combined good improvements.



Have you ever experienced this? How did it work out for you?

Push up Challenge...85 baby!

I have a good friend on Myfitnesspal.com who challenged me to a Pushup challenge. To assist me in this challenge I acquired an app for my iPhone "Hundred Pushups" it helps you build up to 100 push ups in sets.

Anyway when I started this journey in Jan I was humiliated to realize that I could only do 1 single man push up. On top of only doing one I actually hurt myself doing it.

To get to the point last night I did a total of 85 push ups in 40 min and 55 of them were in a span of 10 min. All of them were full body Man push ups. Getting better at push ups has been one of my major goals ever since my first night. Night after night of girlie push ups just getting to the point where I could eek out 5 normal push ups took a long time.


Why push ups are important Make sure you check out the links within the article too.

I are swiming better!

Because I still feel my swimming is a bit dysfunctional...I are getting better.

Well based on my last 2 swims I fell like I am making progress I do feel like I'm swimming more efficiently. I cant however see that my times are improving just yet.

I feel like I finally have my breathing (on one side only) figured out so I'm not feeling like I cant get a breath will I swim. It at least makes it more enjoyable when you can breath even a little while swimming.

Ive been using these great swim training plans that are simple and easy to remember.
Zero to 1650 in 6 weeks

Check it out and if you don't incorporate swimming into your workout you should its great cardio and is very beneficial to your overall fitness.

RACING WITH BABES: simplifying ...

RACING WITH BABES: simplifying ...

Super cool idea. Something I have been toying with for quite sometime. As I get rid of the excess fat on my body and dedicate my excess time to training I've thought more and more about getting rid of the excess and clutter in my surroundings. This may just jump start me.

Finally ... a positive

No weight gains over thanksgiving!!!

Plus I ran 5k+ on sunday morning. It felt good first cold weather run I have done. I need to get gloves designed for cold weather running and I need to figure out how much clothing to wear. I wore a technical shirt, 2 tshirts, a hooded sweatshirt, and a Columbia fleece, gloves, a ball cap, shorts and a pair of sweat pants. My top half was HOT!!! Plus I felt just overly heavy.

My plan now is to find what is comfortable to run in at 40°-50°F, 20°-30°F, and 0°-15°F anything below that I will have to refrain from running in.

Anyone have any suggestions for cold weather running gear that you cant live without?

The more I think...

The more I feel like I will never reach my goals. I feel stuck and lost and aimlessly wandering. I literally feel like im tumbling through the air free falling without an end.

I know this is not positive but I'm kind of discouraged. I need to snap out of this.

Stagnant losses

Well I got nothing I haven't lost any weight since Nov 10th. I know some of it has been some late night snacking on leftover Halloween candy but I truly have been staying beneath my caloric goals. Its now been too long. Something has got to change I cant lose a month of progress. I have to reevaluate.

I'm thinking about eating back all of my calories Ive burned. Its something that is suggested but Ive never done. I know I'm below the suggested caloric intake for a man. I'm lucky if I take in 1200 a day closer to 1000 or less with exercise. I'm sure that's where part of my problem is.

So frustrated... :(

Treading water

Weight seems to be at a standstill. No progress in several days. Ive been staying under my calorie limits but I think Sugar has become my worst enemy. Any small amount of chocolate regardless of weather I have calories to burn apparently eliminates all the work Ive done.

Going out of town on business so this isnt going to be good.

I'm have planned to exercise and swim while gone lets hope I can stay focused.

Im feeling better!

I apologize for not updating this. I have been slammed with workouts. This whole week Ive been pulling double duty. That's right folks 5 AM swim or bike and than Bike or run in the PM on MWF. On T/Th I have Bootcamp which has been kicking my hiney.

I'm not sure if its the extra workouts or not but I'm making great progress on weight. Yesterday I was down to 215.6. I am up a little today but I think much of that is due to too much sodium before bed.

I have backed off C25k speed training as it and the Bootcamps were giving me a severe case of shin splints like I have not experienced in several months.

I am really getting worked up about a Bike. I believe I have convinced myself that buying one now before spring sales would be stupid and a waste of money. I really do like the looks of Giant Trinity series as well as some Quintana Roo bikes. I still want to give Mojo Cycle a chance and try out a Diamond Back podium but I think Im going to throw money away if I buy a new bike. I desperately need to get into a LBS and get measured and properly sized.

I have a couple of rough patches coming up and I need to stay focused as the holiday season approaches. I have 2 business trips coming up. Both will entail overnight stays and much eating out with no real ability to control food options. Additionally working out during these trips is extremely difficult if not impossible. Im going to have to make up the Bootcamp classes I'm going to miss too. I need a plan to keep me on track....

Any suggestions hit me up!

Still sick, bootcamp, and very discouraged

I think Im starting to get over this cold. Im not couging as much and Im not as congested. I started a bootcamp class at the YMCA on Tue & Thur nights. Tuesday night our instructor ruined my quads and glutes. We did a metric crap tonne of Squats and Lunges around the track with 10 lb dumbbells. That isn't much weight until She made us run around the track holding it over our head for 4 laps.

The next 2 days were torture. My legs were so sore I couldnt walk normal. Thurs nights class we did a bunch of circuit intervals Sprint to stations and do some form of calisthenics ie.. push ups sit ups, jacks, up downs, grasshoppers, lunges, squats and then sprint back. We did 3 sets of those each one lasting 15 min. Then finished the class with 15 min. of various crunches.

Despite all this working out Ive gained 2 lbs and I cant for the life of me make any progress on weight loss. My Holiday goal date is coming up and I'm still 15 lbs from it. I feel like I have made ZERO progress. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but I'm really getting down about it. No amount of working out is making me lose weight and I have been at this hard. My diet has been relatively solid with only a few minor Halloween candy mishaps. Ive stayed beneath my calorie goal every day or very close to it

Triathlon Test

Despite still being somewhat under the weather I had a great weekend. Had a real fun time with my kids Trick or Treating I stayed away from the candy for the most part. I snuch a few pieces but not much.

On Sat I was able to stop in at a Nike store where I was looking for some clothing and a new hat and instead found a real nice pair of goggles for $6. Sweet deal!

Sunday I was going to do my 3rd day of C25k Speed training but since I got my new goggles I wanted to swim to which led to me deciding to try and do a whole sprint Triathlon during my workout session.

I knew my transition times would be shot on T1 so I didnt even bother and besides this was going to be my first attempt at this ever. I have done the bike and the run together and even the swim and the bike and the swim and the run but never all three consecutively back to back.

I wanted to still do this as quick as possible even though I knew I was going to have some stupid crap to deal with like getting out of the pool rinsing off changing from swim trunks to Run gear but I still hurried. I think I had about 8 total minutes of transition time of which T2 was only 1:30? Really what I was interested in was my total time and just finishing.

The Swim
My swim is still really bad but I do feel like I'm improving. The goggles were a god send. It really helped me feel more at ease in the water I didn't feel as panicked while swimming about having to breath and getting water in my eye and stroking properly. It was one less thing to worry about. I feel my stroke is pretty good but I need to work really hard on breathing properly and I need to be more aware of my kick. Make sure I'm using my whole leg not just kicking at the knee.
I did most of the 500M freestyle crawl. only 1.5 laps on my back or sidestroke. In the past Ive done half of them on my side or back. Still very hard. I feel so out of breath when I have my head down. I can hold my breath for 1:40 but when Im swimming I cant go 10 secs. Grr very frustrating.

Swim time - 19:50

The Bike
Interestingly I found that when I was doing this I realized how difficult it is to stay focused that Im racing. To constantly be pushing and not get caught up in music or something else. Made me think I need to be more cognizant during training and push harder. Nothing much new here. Since it was stationary I started out the first 6 miles very hard setting level 18/20. Made sure I stayed above the 20mph line the best I could every little bit I would get up on it and push for 30-45 sec. So I wasn't just riding it out. Near the end I did the whole last 3 minutes as hard as I could.
Wipe the bike down and hussle over to the treadmill.

Bike Time - 37:04

The Run
Bricked!! This is probably the most bricked my legs have ever felt. I had about a min and half in between Bike and treadmill. I intended to run my C25k speed training session Wk1 D3 but when I kicked up the pace to 8:30/Mile pace and I hit the .4-.5 mile mark I started getting light cramping in my calves and decided I better ease back a little so I clocked myself back to a 12 min for about 3 min than kicked it back up to 11 min/mile. I ran at that pace till I hit the 1 mile mark and then kicked it up again to just faster than 10:45/mile. I really was feeling quite good during the run better than I had anticipated. In fact as it progressed I begin to kick the speed up a little more every 5 min. As I was about to enter into the last 1K an Iwas running at about 9:45/mile. I felt great. In all the 5k and training 5k's I have run I have never felt this good. It just seemed like I could run forever no matter what speed I bumped it up to. I bumped my speed up to 9:00/mile with the last half mile. I just felt really good and decided I was going to end it with everything I got. 6 min from the end I kicked it up to 8:15/mile. I hit the 3.0 mile mark and bumped the speed again to finish at a speed faster than 8 min/mile. I know that isnt blazing for most but that is booking for me. If I could run 8 min the whole thing Id be super happy.

I was running hard at the end. Not my top end but close.

Run Time - 33:34


Total Time 1:30:31

Sick...

Im so congested with a cough. Doc said Ill get better in a few days I just need to tough it out. He said I could keep exercising ( I was going to anyway). Rest, drink plenty of fluids, and wait. Ill get better eventually.
They took my blood pressure today it was 100/72. : )

I did C25k Speed training tonight.

Re-training and weightloss

Last night I restarted C25k. But I'm altering the program to build speed. I graduated a few weeks ago and ultimately Ive done 4 races over the summer so it got me where I needed to be which was to run 30+ min without stopping. I'm still a little slow as I'm averaging about 11min miles. I started over on week 1. I do a 5 min warm up walk as always then when I'm supposed to run I run at 8-9 min mile pace. When I'm supposed to walk I stay running at a 12 min mile pace. Hopefully I can increase my endurance and speed by doing this.

Additionally today I weighed in at 219.2lbs this morning. 77.8 lost Im in the teens and I am so close to 199 now I can taste it.

Planning my first Triathlon

I got home from my workout tonight and started looking around more seriously at what Triathlons are available in the area. I think I have decided on the Bluff Creek Triathlon . It looks like an awesome first event. I also might do the Hickory Grove Triathlon since I can register for both at a discount. Im a little excited

Swimming ...FAIL

Well I timed myself today and did some drills to start my swim training. Ouch! Boy do I suck.

I had my wife time 250 meters (thats half of the sprint distance) and came out strong did my first 50 meters right at a minute but after that it all went downhill. I finished the 250 in 8 min. which is about what I thought. 17 min to swim 500 meters is way to long. This is just the beginning I have a long way to go and no where to go but up!

Making a dream come true...

This past weekend the family and I went out to a local marathon that was taking place and met with a friend to cheer on the runners. We were located at about the 20 mile marker of the course. This allowed for us to see a broad range of runners in different mental and physical states.

I had never watched a marathon other than to flip past it on TV. Never had I actually ben out on a course and been face to face with an athlete that had just run 20 miles. The physical differences ranged from: runners that look like they had just gotten a massage, completely relaxed and ready to go, to runners that looked like they had just been run over by one of those golf ball carts that picks up balls on the driving range. Even more amazing was the physical attributes that didn't coincide with the appearance. Super fit people who looked like they were going to die to Old fat men chugging beer that looked like they had just gotten dropped off on the course a mile back. One lady stopped running and came over and wanted me to take her picture with one of the animal mascots. She told me and the Panda that she was running this Marathon and it was her 48th state. She had run marathons in 48 states. That was cool!

The one thing that really has rang in my head like a bell over the last 3 days was the emotional toll many of these runners were experiencing. As I was walking back to the car with my wife I said, "Think of all the people we saw today that were making a dream come true." It almost made me tear up thinking about the overwhelming emotional surge that they experienced after crossing the finish. Every one of those runners I watched were truly great athletes even if they were unable to finish they were doing it and they gave it all they had.

I went home and felt so out of shape to only be running 5K's. I threw on my shoes and went out and ran 5k and shaved a full minute of my best 5K time. :)

Very cool day. It felt so good to be inspired an motivated by like minded athletes.

Spinning and spinning and spinning.

Bought a spin bike at a garage sale on Sat. $40 for a Schwinn Spin bike very nice quality in good shape. Knew I would need it this winter. As it turns out Ive used it the last 2 days. Yesterday and tonight.

Glad I had this as an option

An hour of spinning makes for a good workout if I push it!

Im in love....

I test rode my first real Tri bike today. A Low end used Trek Hilo 1000. It was a amazing. I felt like I was on a rocket sled. When I drove my foot down into that pedal the first time I nearlty gave myself whiplash. Very fast and unbelievably lightweight.

I really want it. BAD!!!

Weight Loss struggles

I am really struggling with slow weight loss. It just seems to be very difficult to make any progress and the progress I do make is slow. I know, I know, slow losses are good. I understand but it is just very discouraging. When I get within 15 lbs of my goal will it take me a year to lose that 15 lbs???

More reversed Duathlon

Went full Wk9 time today. I hope to get the rest of Week 9 finished this week.

Workout: 5k/4k/5k
3.4 mile bike ride
31 min run:

• 12:30/12 min
• 11:30/12 min
• 10:58/6 min
• 8:30/ 1:30 min

3.7 mile bike ride

I want to start working on my speed more I'm hoping to get about 2 3 more weeks of just repeating Week 9 so I can feel more comfortable at that distance. Then I will begin working back through for speed.

Tri-ing something new

My workout tonight was a little different. Instead of driving to the Y to do my run I rode my bike.


3.4 mile cycle

Ran 25 min for 2.1 miles ( I was not feeling up to snuff tonight)

3.4 mile cycle

I didnt break any speed records. I never do on my runs or my outside bike rides.
I did the cycle rides in 18 min and 15 min. I am going to do this as much as I can. I cant wait to get a road bike.

C25k WK9 D1 - Last nights workout

First workout after getting back on track.  It was a good one.  I was a little hesitant about it as I hadn't really done any running since 9/25/10, but I picked right up.  I struggled a little bit in the first 10 minutes but once my legs got warmed up It was just a matter of not stopping till my time was up. 

Treadmill at 1% incline

5 min warmup walk @ 2.5
1st 10 min split @ 12:20/mile pace
2nd 10 min splits @ 11:30/mile pace
3rd 10 min split @ 10:58/mile pace
5 min cool down @ 3.0 level

3.1 Miles/5k
 Negative split


Felt good!

Rough couple of days...

Well crud!  I said I would post about this in my last race report.  I went into my last race at 225lbs.  The lowest weight I have been at to date in this entire journey.

I felt really good about my weight progress as it had taken some time to get from 230 to 225.  It all kind of came crumbling down around me after the last race.
It was as if I had reached my goal. In a way I kind of had.  I had been very focused on completing Couch to 5k before The Pancake Day 5k.  I was very close I was ready for Week 9 Day 1.  But this race was what I had been working for and my goal of running the whole distance without stopping was within reach.

After the race I felt like I needed a break from the hard work so I took a few days of exercise off and with no new fitness goal to achieve I didn't feel the drive.  On top of that I had lots of long workdays over this past week and was unable to eat on my normal schedule and I had several work related meals and just kind of let go.

So with a week off I managed to gain a few pounds and fall into some stupid traps that I set for myself.


Im back on track now and thats all that counts.  Refocus, Recommit, Retrain!

Race Report:::2010 Pancake Day 5k - Sept, 25th 2010

Well I'm posting this pretty late.  I haven't had a lot of time and have kind of had a rough couple of weeks with work.  Additionally I have really struggled with my program and eating after this race.

Day before Race Day 9/24/10:
I had a post work picnic for work this evening.  I worked until 5pm and then headed over to the picnic which started at 5:30.   I was only going to stay long enough to eat and than take off as I had a 2 hour drive ahead of me.  I didnt want to get up tomorrow to drive 2 hours and then hop out and race so I had planned to drive to my parents house and spend the night and have a 20 min drive to the race the next day.  Unfortunately The picnic meal didnt get going till about 6:45 or 7 so I ate ( more that I should have) and bolted.

I drove to my house picked up my race bag with my garmin, my shoes, shirt, shorts, jacket  and a change of clothes for the next day kissed the wife and kids and took off.

I arrived at about 10:15pm talked with Mom and Dad a little and then went to sleep.

Race Day 9/25/10



Pre Race
6:00 am - Wake up do my morning routine.  Eat some breakfast 1 egg with and English muffin and some peanut butter.

7:15 am - Leave for the race.  Its about a 20-25 min drive.  I had my garmin on during the drive and noticed my resting HR escalate from about 68 when we left up to 77 by the time I arrived.  Never really noticed

7:40 am - Picked up my Registration package.  Went to stretch out and warm up.  Its a chilly 62° F and I think it is about to rain

Just before the start

I was meeting my cousin to do this race.  She had showed some interest in my progress and how well I was doing and she wanted to do this run so I offered to run this with her.  As it turns out she brought her whole family.   Her son, daughter, and husband all came to run with her.  I was blown away.  What a great bunch of support she has.   Additionally her husband was recently diagnosed with cancer, Non hodgkins lymphoma I think.  He was going to run too.  I was seriously impressed and felt amped up about Her husband running.

7:58 am -  Everyone is lining up.  It looks and feels like it could rain.   Honestly I don't feel the best about this race I just don't feel at the top of my game.  We are all settling in and Im lined up next to My cousin and her husband.  Im about middle of the pack halfway back. 150 participants lined up 10K, 5K, and 1 mile walkers.

The Race
8:00 am - Bang!  We are off.  Its kind of a mess lots of people are trying to jostle for position.  I stay with my cousin and her husband Ill refer to them as A and J respectively.  We stay together for the first 2 blocks and A my cousin kind of drops off a little slower.  I should have as well but I stayed up with J as he was moving along pretty good.  We begin to talk a little and he said he was doing great which was good to hear.   I look down at my Garmin and see we are moving at a 9:30 pace much faster than I wanted to go out.  I intended on running 12 min pace on the front half and 10 min pace on the back half.  I slowed us down to about 11:30 pace it seemed to feel right and as I began to get into the run I really started feeling much better about the race.

8:10 am -We are just past the first 1k and J says he is doing good and I say something about how impressed I am and he says,  "Ya me to I feel pretty good for having Chemo treatment on Wed."  At that point I was blown away.  I feel pretty good about how far I've come.  This is going to be the first 5k that Ive run the whole distance without walking.  Then J says he just had Chemo on Wed and I feel crappy about how little I have progressed but at the same time Just amazed at him.  We keep going and we approach our 2k marker and J has to stop and walk I  slow up a little and he tells me to go on.  I really want to go on so I confirm that he is ok and then keep going.  Im on my own now I get my pace back under control and start racing.

This whole course is city streets in some very nice quiet neighborhoods.   Slight rolling hills nothing to major.  At the 3k marker I hit a very steep downhhill  which is immediately followed by a very steep uphill.  I bounce through without to much problem.  Nice flat on the backside and I am able to recover quickly.  Im just running and as I approcah the halfway I check my pace and pick it up a little to about 10:45.  That didn't last very long.  I startedinto this hill a few minutes after my pace adjustment that just kept going.  By the time a reached the top my pace had degraded to about 15 min pace just barely going.  I knew I was close to the the 4K mark so I pushed through.  I heard my Garmin "BEEP"!  1 more K to go.  By this time I had rounded the last corner approaching the finish.  The finish line was still almost a kilometer away but I could hear the cheering crowd and see the finish.  It gave me a mental boost and I pushed ahead a little harder.  I could tell I was wearing out and didn't want to blow my last bunch till I was a bit closer so I held off a little.  As it turn out it looked farther than I thought because it was farther than I thought.

Official time 37:07

I'm running down this straight away getting closer to the finish line and all of a sudden.  "BEEP" my Garmin alerts me that another 1K lap as just started.  I look at my time and I'm like 35:11 and I still have 300-500 meters before I hit the finish line.  When that happened I just felt my body give up I felt defeated by the inaccurate distance.   Knowing that I had completed the 5K yet I still had further to go.

I see my Dad and Sister at the finish cheering for me as I cross.  I really pushed my self at the end and I could feel my lungs and legs were on fire.  I walked around to the coolers to grab some water.

The Finish
I finished 55th overall and 4th in my AG. So Im still at the bottom of the pack but I really did improve.  If I look at my finish time I cut a minute off my time from the last 5k on July 3rd and If I look at my actual 5k time due to the inaccurate distance I improved by almost 3 minutes a PR for me!  I finished with an Avg pace of 11:58 which is better than I expected and better than last time.  And most importantly I finished running the whole thing.  That was a huge accomplishment.

I cheered A and J as they both came in.  It was way cool so proud of them both.

Not so proud of the event staff.  There was no water left as the last participants crossed the finish line.  How could they run out of water.  My cousin did not even get any water.  Very disappointed with the preparation.

And it started to rain....

Race Report:::Off the Beaten Path 3k Trail Run - Sept 18th, 2010

Pre Race:
5:00 am to 7:00 am  -  Rain
6:45am - I slept in a little as the race didn't start till 9:00am and I had everything laid out and ready the night before.  I had a light breakfast of cold cereal and toast.  I wish I had taken a granola bar for a small snack right before the race.

7:50am - Get in the car with my Cheerleaders, My Wife and 3 year old daughter, to drive to the race.  Check in time is 8-8:45am.

8:10am - Check in.  Wind is blowing a little and its about 63degreees.  Not too cold with a jacket on.  I picked up my race packet.  Got my number #233, My long sleeve tshirt, a sample of "Wheaties Fuel", some advertisements and race instructions.

8:45am - Begin to stretch and warm up a little before.  I decided at this point after walking out on the course a ways that it was too wet to wear my good primary pair of running shoes.  So I wore my older pair.  This made me a little nervous as I had not run in them in a while and was hoping the change in shoes would feel weird and make me unstable. I also found a large mudhole 25 yards from the start line that covered the entire width of the trail and was 12 feet across.  Based on the location of the mudhole I planned on starting up front and going out fast to avoid a back up and a crowd of people trying to get through it. Good stretching and warm up.  I felt pretty good.  My fingers are cold!

9:00 am - Race officials inform us that they are delaying the start of the 3k until the 6k runners have reached the half way point.  Additionally a group of about 5-8 students showed up at about 9:04 to register for the race.  Very uncool!

9:17am - The late people are all registered and down at the starting line.  They start to give race instructions.  All the wooden bridges are very slippery and there are a few mud holes on the course due to rain.

Just before the race

The Race
9:20am - Ready, Set, Go
Im relatively close to the front and go out pretty quick.  There really is only one way through the mudhole and I get caught behind one guy who wants to be careful luckily we both went out fast enough to still be out front.   After the mud I backed off my pace a touch and settled into my real race pace.  I rounded the first corner only 100 yards into the race and found a pretty good sized hill ahead of me.  It was a bit larger than I had imagined unfortunately I didnt realize how big it really was.  It just kept coming and kept going higher.  when I finally did reach the top it was only a short while later and I passed the 1k marker.  That stupid hill was almost a half a mile.   At the top of the hill it crested and I had really the only flat for the entire rest of the race.  I wish I had known that as I would have tried to recover a bit more.

I approached a Y in the trail where the 6k racers were entering the 3 k course.  I felt defeated and I wasnt even half way.  I began to descend the hill I just climbed and checked my Garmin.  Surprisingly  it seemed I was making really good time.  I must have really pushed myself up the hill as I was coming down my pace seemed a little over a 9 min/mile.  I felt great about that and kept up the pace I was at.  A few of the students who started behind me began to pass me.   I crossed a little wooden bridge which did seem a little slippery.   This was about the half way point and as I progressed the course changed from open prairie grassland to a more secluded timber.  The trail was a little softer under the trees and in some spots muddier almost as soon as I hit the woods the hills started coming again.  Little steep suckers.  They were short climbs but the grade was high.  It made the run very difficult to recover.  Every hill I crested at the bottom the next one would start.  I really begin to feel like I wasnt going to be able to keep my pace.   I passed the 2k marker and knew I had just over a half a mile left.  That thought gave me a brief boost.  I could see across the lake and could see the finish line where people were standing around.  It was quite deceiving and I gave myself over to the false judge of distance.  The hills keep coming.  I finally began to realize that the finish line was a we bit further than I had gauged from my brief peak across the water.  Just as that realization hit me I was confronted with the second largest hill on the course really it was quite moderate compared to the first one but as I began to climb it the whole of the rest of the race caught up to me and my thighs began to scream at me.   I wanted to quit and walk right there and by the time I crested the top I nearly was at a walking pace.  For a half a stride I said Im done and when I picked that back leg up and brought it forward I pushed on through.  I could tell now that the dam of the lake which incidently was flat and was allso the final straight away to the finish line was coming up
I descended the hill and as it dipped down it came right back up another smaller one. I reached the top and was looking down into a steep descent to a clearing where the stright away began.
I dont know how but as I broke into that clearing I had a burst of energy that literally carried me through the finish.   As I came down the final 100 yards I pushed I wanted to go faster but I just didnt have anything left in my reserve.  I crossed the line at 21'59" about 2 min slower than I wanted but 2 min faster than I initially had thought I could do it when I signed up for it.




 With every race I complete I learn a little more.  I need more hill training.  I should check the course out a little more.  Dont get over confident.








I finished in 21'59" I placed 3rd in the Male, 30-39 AG.





Off the Beaten Path - Jacob Krumm Nature Preserve at Garmin Connect - Details

Off the Beaten Path Trail run

Off the Beaten Path Trail Run
Racing this tomorrow Im excited and will post a race report after

Do you have what it takes?

As this is my first post since starting this blog again I guess I should ask that question.  I didn't have what it took!  I didn't really want it bad enough.   Its so difficult to know if you really are ready to go the distance.  I finally got there In January of this year.  Everything just came together perfectly.  I had the right amount of motivation and the right amount of disgust with where I was at and this time it stuck.