Week in Review 12.29.13

Monday called for slow hills.  I tried to run slower than normal (which I did) but couldn't run the full minute slower than my goal pace of 11 minutes.  We'll have to see but how I'm running now I might need to lower that a bit.  It also called for 3 miles, but since I was normally doing 5 miles a day I compromised and did 4 since I ran on Sunday as well.  When I stepped outside it was raining (even though the weather channel app said it wasn't), not hard but still it was 34 degrees and raining so I went back inside to get my stuff for the gym.  Then I said to myself "look there are going to be nasty days where you have to run might as well suck it up and start now" so I did.  I did a quick warm-up lap around the neighborhood then 2.5 times down and back up Waverly ave.  To make sure that I got to 4 miles I had to go over Belmont street over into Belmont but I got it done. 4 mi in 43:12 a 10:47 pace.

Christmas eve I headed back to the gym since the track still had a fair amount of snow on it. Interval training on the treadmill isn't much fun.   5 mi in 48:54 a 9:47 pace

Thursday was a tempo run.  At just under 5 hours my pace should be 11 minutes a mile, but the more I can push myself I might be able to take that time down while still being able to enjoy myself!  I headed down towards Waltham and John Brewers and down around there a couple of times minding the slick spots.  The 5 mi in 48:40 a 9:44 pace

Friday I headed back to the gym for some cross-training a spin class with Julie.  After explaining how crowded it was to Julie and how we had to arrive early, this class was much less so with only about 10 people there, but it was still a good workout.  Breakfast a Panera afterwards not so much.  First they couldn't take giftcards (I had a $10 one for like 2 years now) and then our order got messed up.  30 minutes later we were walking out the door with our sandwiches so I could hurry on down to the bus stop.  48:58 minutes on the bike covering 13.7 miles

Saturday was group run number two for Boston Children's.  This week we met over at Wellsley (which I confused with Weston so it was a good idea I looked it up the night before so I wasn't later) at mile 14 of the marathon course.  After a quick warm-up we headed out on the course.  It was a straight shot down 16 which took me through the center of town and then just after mile 2 down a ridiculous hill.  Thankfully at the top there was a water stop because on the way up I would surely need it.  From there the course takes you over 128 where you get to dodge cars coming on and off the highway, and then past Newtown-Wellsley hospital (in case you get hit).  About a mile from there you hit the Newtown brick fire station which was my turn around (coming from the other way) last week as well, and where the marathon course really starts to head up hill.  From there it was back the way we came.  While making my way back I was talking to someone from last year who said she forgot about that hill and hated it just as much as she did last year, but on the good side it's worse than Heartbreak Hill!    8 mi in 1:19:54 a 9:57 pace

Sunday I headed back to BSC for another spin class.  This time with a fill in instructor who looked...OK I'll say it Old, but he was working it even if he did change songs a lot. He was also more structured in explaining beforehand what the percentages of effort should be.  This time my bike computer only worked some of the time so I ended up having to extrapolate how much I really did over the class based on about 20 minutes of data.  Hey runkeeper says it's a new record for distance so I'm going to say it's right!   After another 50 minutes I was ready for some lunch (and a pair of bike shorts, those seats hurt) so we headed back over to try our luck at Panera again.  Thankfully the gift card worked and our orders came out as requested (I hid from the same lady making out food again).  15.5 miles in 50:55 an 18.27 MPH average.

Miles run last week 22

Miles run this year 1025.2

Week in Review 12.22.13

OK seriously, this Sunday it's the Marathon Sports Jingle Bell run in Somerville.

Monday morning was cold and the previous day's snow, sleet and rain made everything from the roads to the un-shoveled sidewalks a complete sheet of ice, so Julie and I headed down to the gym for an early run.  I started off just below the 11 minute per mile pace for the first mile before speeding it up.  I consistently ran less than 10 minute miles for the remaining time at a 1% incline.  I'm not sure if it's the temperature difference between BSC and WoW or just my higher level of training, but this was the first time I actually felt good on a treadmill!  5 mi in 48:58 a 9:48 pace.

Tuesday I made my way back to the gym. With more snow in the forecast I figured getting there on Wednesday morning might be a pain.    5 mi in 51:44 a 10:21 pace

Thursday I headed back to the gym because everything was still covered in snow.  Started off just under 10 minute miles and decided to do negative split training where each section is faster than the next. First miles I did at 9:56, second at 9:55, third at 9:48, fourth at 9:27 and the firth at 9:01 despite the treadmill being at or above the 7 MPH mark the whole mile!  5 mi in 47:36 a 9:31 pace

Friday I headed back to the gym for some training and my second ever spin class.  This one was much more crowded than my first and I had some trouble finding a bike that worked, one had a loose seat, one didn't have a pedal, I finally found one I liked only to find out once we got started that the computer didn't work!  45 minutes of tough hills pounded out to a bunch of 80's hits to get you ready for Christmas! 49:22 minutes on the bike covering ??? hours

Saturday was my first group run for Boston Children's.  We met at their Waltham location at 8 for a running form clinic.  It was great to meet some of the other members of the team who were wonderful people and had some great stories.  The clinic lasted about an hour and after a short group warm-up we headed out.  Some people did less than my 6 and some did more, but for those at my mileage there were a number of people around my same pace.  The rout headed out and made its way to Moody street down towards Newtown and then inbound on 16.  It had some nice hills to contend with to get us ready for the Marathon.  About 30 minutes in I hit the Newtown firehouse I'll be passing in April (coming from the other way and headed back).  It was wonderful having someone to run with and I found myself talking to a number of people along the way.  Also since many of the people were a little faster than me I really pushed it to keep up with them which I think will help on race day!  5.9 mi in 57:27 a 9:45 pace

Sunday's race was a lot of fun.  It was technically a cross-training day for me so I didn't want to push the pace too much, but I couldn't help myself from keeping under 10 minute miles.  I hope to have the race report up soon!  3.1 mi in 30:45 a 9:54 pace.

Miles run last week 24

Miles run this year 1003.2

Miles left to 1K in 2013: None with a week and a half to spare!!!

Week In Review 12.15.13

Another week another race!  This Sunday it's the Marathon Sports Jingle Bell run in Somerville, but before that there is some training to attend to.

Monday when I awoke was snowy and nasty so I decided it wasn't worth possibly getting hurt and skipped that day making Tuesday day one for me.  What I didn't know was Tuesday would be worse!  The temp was hovering right around freezing and everything that fell or melted yesterday was frozen up making runny tricky.  I really didn't want to run on the treadmill, but wish I had.  My pace was slow as I had to watch my footing, and I decided to call it quits early after running on the track infield so I could get some traction.  Next time I know.  3.1 mi in 35:35 an 11:30 pace.

Wednesday I hit the gym after it snowed most of the day before.  I put the treadmill at a 1% incline started off at an 10:30(and a half) pace for the first two miles then ran at a pace between 9:31 and 9:40 for 5K to get ready for Sunday's race (if it doesn't snow like its supposed to).  5.1 mi in 50:35 a 9:55 pace

Thursday I headed out on probably the coldest run of the year.  It was about 20 degrees and it took over 2 miles before my hands got warm.  I stuck to the streets around my house after a trip to the track only to find out that it was half covered in a thin coat of ice and snow.  Pace was good and probably would have been better if not for that one slow lap around the track to check it out (you need to be careful on those slippery parts!).  5 mi in 51:35 a 10:19 pace

Saturday I headed out and the thermometer read 11 degrees.  I started early because the snow was supposed to start falling around noon with the plan of running to the gym and meeting Julie at Panera for lunch.  I headed down towards Waltham and made may over to the Charles.  I was planning on taking the trail along the river but found it covered in packed snow and ice so I had to detour out to Nonantum.  The mid-run course change was good in that I wouldn't have to run past the gym to get my 7 miles, but it was bad in that it was certainly less scenic.  It was also about this point that my face felt REALLY cold.  I started taking my hat off every mile or so and holding to my face for a couple of minutes to make sure I wasn't going to get frostbite.  I made my way out and down route 16 to Watertown square where I had just under a two miles to go.  I made may way up towards the gym and arrived with about half a mile to go so I circled the parking lot until my 7 miles were done. When I got to the gym Julie had just gotten there with her friend Archana so I had some time to kill.  I started a bit of strength training which I'm going to try and incorporate into my training including some leg killing lunges.  Overall with my speedy pace and the addition of addtional work I feel really good about my chances of breaking 5 hours in April.  Once done we headed over to Panera for some soup before heading home as the flakes started flying.  7 mi in 1:11:38 a 10:14 pace

Sunday's race was postponed due to the snow so you'll get to hear about it next week!

Miles run last week 20.2

Miles run this year 979.2

Miles left to 1K in 2013: 20.8 (10.4 miles per week over the next 2 weeks down 3.27 mi from last week)

Week in Review 12.8.13

Monday was misty and dreary as I headed down to the track after a couple of days off over the weekend.  I started doing some fartleks then turned it into a pace run.  I think I'll do some more speed work tomorrow in preparation of my 5K next Saturday.   5.3 mi in 55:40 a 10:31 pace.

Tuesday I did the same thing as Monday with a warm up down to the track with some fartleks mixed in.  Like I said I'm not really training for anything so no need to push it.  5.3mi in 55:04 a 10:24 pace

 

Wednesday I woke up a bit late, again I'm not really training for anything so no need to push it, and hit the Waverly ave hill again.  Just two times up and down this week though since I got a late start and have jalapeño-cheddar bagels waiting for me at home.  4 mi in 43:38 a 10:55 pace

Thursday and Friday I took off so I can start getting ready for a long run in preparation of my newest race.

Saturday I headed out on my first real long run since the Savannah half back in November.  I had my annual physical on Friday so the doc gave me a couple of stretches to do and told me I should be stretching before and after my run since "35 is when things start to go pop".  After my new stretching ritual, I headed out.  There was a coating of snow on the ground which made for some nice views, but after a while it started to warm up.  I was tight for about the first two miles but after that I felt pretty good as I headed over to Waltham and down to route 20.  The first half I kepts things about 10:30 (ahead of my Boston goal of 11 minutes) and when I hit the big hill just after mile 4 I thought I would slow down but I actually go stronger.  Good sign for the training ahead I hope! 7 mi in 1:13:16 a 10:28 pace

Miles run last week 21.6

Miles run this year 959

Miles left to 1K in 2013: 41 (13.67 miles per week over the next 3 weeks down 1.98 mi from last week)

Boston Marathon Update

So last year after the Boston Marathon I wrote about my experience and desire to run the 2014 edition.  Well apparently anyone who ever thought about running marathon said the same thing so in September when charity registration opened up they were inindated with applications.  It was like I was in high school again applying to colleges but instead of saying “Yes” I got a “Sorry” or wait listed.  I applied to Teddy’s Team, Mass General, Dana Farber, Healthworks, Team in Training, the American Liver Foundation and the Museum of Science, all of which turned me down.  All of these are wonderful causes to which I would have been grateful to support.  I think I was honest in my assessment on how much I could raise and since you have to back up that commitment with a credit card, I didn’t want to overreach and have to donate my entire tax refund check to run the marathon (even though I considered it).  The applications were pouring in so much that the Globe did a story about it.  Throughout the whole process I was getting a bit discouraged that I wasn’t going to be able to run Boston next year.  After the year I had with 10 halfs in 11 months I thought this would be the most logical choice and I wasn’t sure if I would attempt it in the future.

My last ditch effort was to apply directly to the BAA for an invitation for those affected by the bombings last April.  There were only 450 spots (and over 1200 applicants) and I figured there were probably people who more affected than me but it was either this, or watch it from my office again next year.  So I sat there and wrote and re-wrote my essay trying to stay within the 1500 character limit (I used 1493 of them) or about 250 words.  I think this probably helped me as the reader wasn’t subjected to too much of my poor writing.  I wrote about my experience on that Monday and the following Friday at my home.  I wrote about wearing my marathon shirt to all of my halfs this year and setting 3 new PRs along the way.  I submitted my application and had nothing to do until December 6^th when I would hear by.

After thanksgiving I started to look at 2014 and what to do, and to change it up I started to think about trying a triathlon.  I would need a new bike (mine is a $100 target special that weighs about 30 pounds) and join either Waverly Oaks Gym or the Boston Sports club in Watertown since they had a pool.  I started to look for races and plan out my transition from full out running to a multisport regiment, and going big as I like to do (see 10 halfs in 11 months) I had visions of a half Ironman dancing in my head.

Then came December 4^th.  I hit snooze and woke up late so I had to cut my run short, no biggie I don’t really have anything to train for, just a 5K next weekend and that’s it until St Patty’s day.  Checking out my twitter feed I saw that a new half Iroman was just added in Princeton, NJ and thought “I can already do a half no problem, if I could get my bike soon I could do that!”  Julie to her credit just rolled her eyes rather than try to dissuade me.  I went to work and started my day as normal.  Just after noon as I sat back down at my desk with my lunch I opened up Gmail to check my personal account.  I had a pretty good number of emails to go through.  Nothing on my primary tab, a couple of LinkedIn and twitter updates on my social tab and there on my promotions tab were three e-mails. 

 The first was the Nook daily deal of the day (another book with a guy without a shirt on the cover…pass).  The second, received at 10:59 was from the Mass General Marathon team announcing that they had gotten a number of additional bibs from the BAA due to their work on Marathon Monday and how to apply.  I got excited, I had another chance, but first I had to read e-mail number three which was a form letter from the BAA received at 12:20.  Apparently I read the date wrong and I was another rejection a couple of days early. Wait this worded really weird.  I think I’m being invited to run the Boston Marathon from the BAA.  I read the first paragraph again.  We got a lot of applications, limited number of entries, yada yada.  Then the third and fourth paragraphs and confirm it’s definitely a form letter.  Then the second “Upon careful review by a committee from the B.A.A., your request has been accepted.”  I’m in…I think…I forwarded it to Julie just to be sure, and she confirms I am in!

After the second time I read the letter to confirm that I will be running in 2014 I was ecstatic, shaking I was so happy. I'll be applying again to a charity or two as an invited runner (with a much lower fundraising goal) so I hopefully I'll be back soon with the details on that! 

Race Report: Bucks County 5 Miler

Thanksgiving in PA turned out to be very cold and very windy.  We arrived at the parking lot of the Summit Square shopping plaza just after 8 am to pick up our bibs and shirts.  It was 27.5 degrees outside according to the thermometer at the Pasternak's house to go along with some sustained winds making the wind chill factor about...freaking cold!  We made our way over to the tables set up by last name where volunteers worked to check people in and distribute shirts.  I really felt for them as they all looked frozen and unable to hide it. 

After getting our gear we headed back to the card where we would sit until the start of the race.  No warm up, no stretching just sitting in car listening to the Jimmy Buffet concert on Radio Margaritaville until 8:55 when I got out and headed to the start line.  Julie stayed in the car deciding to do the 1 mile fun run to limit her exposure to the cold.  As I stood there waiting for the race to start the wind continued to whip through the runners until just after 9 when we were sent on our way.

We headed out of the parking lot and took a right weaving our way through a residential neighborhood for the first mile.  At mile 1 I looked down at my watch and was just under 9 minutes, awesome.  As I looked ahead there on the side of the road was spay painted in the road "ICE".  It had rained the night before and as the temperature dropped the puddles had froze.  Julie and I had discussed this in the car during our hour long wait, so I was glad to see they were proactive in calling out areas of ice.

As I approached mile two I entered Core Creek Park and the first water stop was there.  The water was ice cold but helpful in keeping my pace up and as I past it the first runner was already on his way back.  As I approached mile two my watch was just under 18 minutes.  From here the course heads up and down several hills which is where I got this lovely picture.

That's me on the left

 As I approached mile 3, I hit the largest of the hills and I was right on a 9 minute pace but that hill took it out of me.  From there I hit the second water area (the same one going the other way) and headed back to the start where we started.

From here the pace took a hit as we started back fully into the wind.  At one straight part of the course I ran slower than I could so that I could use the person in front of me as a wind break.  The wind was howling through the fields and battering the runners.  At mile 4 I was almost at 38 minutes after recovering from the hill and the wind.  I was able to push it and make good time the last mile, and as I looked at my watch I was at 45:59 (the official results show 46:15 but I think that's total time not my time so I'm going with my watch), over a minute and a half off my time from 2 years ago!

Week In Review 12.1.13

Race Week for the Bucks County 5 Miler on Thanksgiving Morning

Monday was freezing.  20 degrees as I made my way outside for a run.  Being own in PA gave me a nice change in scenery, with the downside being many of the roads don't have sidewalks.  I headed out around the development braving the cold, bitter wind and sunglare.  When I was almost done my Garmin decided to restart once mile 5 was done.  I broke out runkeeper for the rest and then stood in front of the fire for about an hour to warm up.  Thankfully Thursday is supposed to be a bit warmer.  5.3 mi in 55:53 a 10:33 pace.

Tuesday was a bit warmer and since i had a race on Thursday I took it a bit easy and only did one of the two laps from the day before.  3.2mi in 34 minutes even a 10:38 pace

Thursday morning, race day!  It was cold and windy (especially the back half).  Look for my race report soon!  5 mi in 45:59 a 9:12 pace

Friday I headed down to the track.  I did a bit of speed work and a bit just trying to keep warm, both of which I wasn't very successful at.  My legs felt heavy from the race the day before but I gutted out to make sure I did more than my 16.28 miles so that I was on track for 1,000 miles in 2013.  5.3 mi in 55:40 a 10:31 pace

Miles run last week 18.8

Miles run this year 937.4

Miles left to 1K in 2013: 62.6 (15.65 miles per week over the next 4 weeks down 0.63 mi from last week)

Week In Review 11.24.13

Monday it was forecasted to be rainy so I got up early to run at the Gym.  Julie again didn't want to go to spin class so I headed over to the Watertown Boston Sports Club where I had gotten a two week trial membership.  It was less crowded than Workout World and a bit cleaner, plus they have a pool so if I'm going to start going for triathlons I'll need that.  Weather at WoW or BSC running on a treadmill sucks.  5.0 mi in 51:22 a 10:16 pace. 


On Monday night I tried to make it to a spin class at BSC but couldn't make it despite running home so I continued my run since it was a nice night out.  Legs were a bit heavy since I ran this morning but it nice to get in some extra mileage.  6.2 mi in 1:10:44 an 11:25 pace

Since I ran twice on Monday, on Tuesday, I decided to check out the pool at BSC.  I did 30 minutes and 24 laps..I think.  I lost track in the middle and either added or lost 1 or 2.  In the 20 yard pool it ended up being 960 yards or 0.55 miles or a 54.33 pace.  After I dried off I changed and headed over to the stationary bike for another 30 minutes.  It wasn't as fast as last weeks but the swimming really left me tired.  After the combination of both I was so hungry I actually would have considered eating at Arby's 7.48mi in 30:00 a 14:96 MPH average pace

Wednesday I headed back out to Wavery Ave early for some hills work since the turkey trot next week has some ups and downs. I was pretty cold, and I didn't have my garmin because around 3AM it started resetting itself and beeping, which was a nice wake up call.  It felt even colder because I was going to a spin class after so I only wore shorts rather than long pants.  After a warm up lap around the neighborhood I started my trek down.  The run was uneventful and I added a bit of a detour towards the middle school to add a another mini hill and make sure I got to 5 miles.  5 mi in 53:08 a 10:38 pace

After the run I headed down to BSC for my first ever spin class.  I got there early so I warmed up with a half mile on the elliptical before I headed into the spin studio and finding a bike in the back.  I got situated on my bike trying it seated and standing and only knocking my knee against the handlebars twice before I figured out how to adjust them.  The class was about three quarters full and as the instructor came in he asked who was at a spin calss for their first time, and proceeded came around to the 3 of us noobies so make sure we were positioned correctly.  I thought I was good but I had to bring my seat up a notch after taking it down a notch.  After a short warm up we were off and the class was pretty intense, up, down, up down, increase resistance, decrease resistance, faster, slower (yes I am describing the class get your mind out of the gutter), at least that's what I think he was saying the mic made him a little hard to understand, so I just followed along with the people in front of me.  The music a mix of electronica, sped up pop and a little Metallica kept me motivated throughout.  I think if I hadn't run I could of pushed myself a bit harder but as it was my legs were screaming by the end and felt like I could eat a horse.  Seeing at there were no horses in my fridge I had a bagel from Iggy's instead.  12.4 mi in 47:20 an 15.72MPH pace

I really enjoyed the rest day on Thursday from all the new stuff I've been trying, and Friday I headed down to the track for some speed work.  I tried to get my 5mi run which under 10 minutes a mile.  Not only was I able to do this, but I was able to keep all my mile splits under 10 minutes and I did it in my Glycerins which are about a pound heavier than the Ghosts which I race in.  I think the heart rate monitor part of my Garmin wasn't right as it had my heart rate pretty low especially during mile 4.  Either way that pace was enough to keep me ahead of the 5 mile pace I ran 2 years ago during the same race so hopefully it will be a new PR for me next week!  5.1mi in 49.09 a 9:39 pace

Saturday I woke up early to get a run in before we headed down to PA for Thanksgiving.  The track was completely empty so I ran on the wild side going clockwise with right hand turns rather than counter clockwise.  CRAAAAZZZZYYYY!  Before heading home and then to the Diner for some breakfast.  After a slight detour to Sullivan Tire for some new tires after Julie hit the curb in her car we were on our way to PA for the Bucks County 5 miler! 5.2mi in 54:28 a 10:29 pace

Miles run last week 26.5

Miles run this year 918.6

Miles left to 1K in 2013: 81.4 (16.28 miles per week over the next 5 weeks down 1.7 mi from last week)

Week in Review 11.17.13

All my halfs are done for this year and it doesn't look like I'll be accepted to any Boston Marathon charity teams so I officially don't have anything to train for except for myself.






Monday I headed out for a recovery run.  I was still pretty sore from Saturday's race so I wasn't pushing the pace much but I was pleasantly surprised at my time. 5.0 mi in 55:54 an 11:10 pace.

On Tuesday, it was forecasted to rain and snow and since I don't have anything to train for I thought I would try something different to see if I wanted to do something crazy, so I got up extra early just after 4 so I could go to my gym which is open 27 hours a day and run them bike!  I woke up got ready and jumped in the car and headed down to Work out World only to find the hours have changed and they didn't update their website.  I headed back home and made my way down to the track for some fartleks instead. 5.2mi in 53:39 a 10:19 pace

Wednesday I headed back out to Wavery Ave for some hills work.  I guess I didn't charge my garmin because not long after setting out I got a low battery warning and instead of a beep and vibration to mark mile 3 it shut off (but came back later for one mile before conking out for good), so I broke out my trusty dusty runkeeper app and used that to record the last two miles combining the two for my time and mil age.  The last two miles were slower so I'm blaming that on the GPS error not me getting tired.5.0 mi in 52:46 an 10:33 pace

Normally I rest on Thursday and run on Friday but I have some blood work coming up so that last thing I want to do is run then not being able to eat for a couple of hours afterwards so I made it 4 days in a row with my run today.  I woke up early (but about 15 minutes later than I wanted thanks to the Snooze button) at 4:15 and geared up for a cold 5 mile pace run around the neighborhood.  It was a bit slower than I would have liked but overall I was pretty happy. 5mi in 53:39 a 10:44 pace.  Next the reason I got us so early, the bike.  After my run I jumped in the car and headed down to the gym (now that I know it opens at 5) to do some work on the stationary bike alternating between resistance level 7 & 8.  Since I woke up late I only had enough time to do 30 minutes (8.1 miles in 30:10 a pace for an average speed of 16.11 MPH) but even after that my legs were a bit wobbly.  This is my first attempt as such a work out so we'll see how my body reacts and if I think I do a triathlon next year.

Since I didn't really have much to train for except my 5 mile turkey trot just under 2 weeks away I didn't go very long like I usually do on Saturday (plus I was hoping to talk Julie into going to the spin class after I ran but her leg was a bit sore from last week's race so it was just a down and back to John Brewers with a couple of detours to get up to 5 miles. 5.3mi in 55:10 a 10:25 pace

Miles run last week 25.5 (assuming I finish Savannah)

Miles run this year 892.1


Miles left to 1K in 2013: 107.9 (17.98 miles per week over the next 6 weeks down 1.08 mi from last week)

Book Review: You Are an Ironman

With Ironman Arizona 2013 less than two weeks away I thought it would be a good time to share this book that I just finished: "You Are an Ironman" by Jacques Steinberg. 

You are an Ironman follows six people through their training for Ironman Arizona in 2009.  This book is more of a memoir than an training manual.  The author does a great job of capturing the spirit of the Ironman, explaining to the reader why people do these the types races and their back stories, some of which are funny, some of which are inspirational and some just plain strange (there was one guy who heard about people at his Gym talking about finishing one and just decided to jump right in, or at least that what it seemed like).  There are also short inspirational stories about people the athletes meet on the way such as about leg amputee and would be Ironman Rudy Garcia-Tolson.  The tales of the would be Ironmen (sorry ladies they’re called Ironmen no matter what sex the competitor is) do a good job of conveying the ups and downs of the training that one goes through when preparing for an Ironman. 

The only drawback to my specific book, was that it was in audiobook format.  While I like audiobooks since they allow me to make better use of my time and are a good way to pass the training hours, in this case it made the book a bit hard to follow as the author jumped from one person to the next, so I would recommend that you get it on paper or in your favorite electronic format.  Additionally since there weren’t really characters the performance was more of a book reading rather than a performance of a fiction book.

A mix of fun, and inspiration, if you like endurance sports I would highly recommend this book. 

4 out of 5 stars.

My Rating Scale:
0 Stars: I am dumber for having read this and may GOD have mercy on the soul of the author
1 Star: This is a terrible, terrible book
2 Stars: I didn't really like it but it wasn't terrible (nor terrible, terrible)
3 Stars: Ehh it was OK very middle of the road, like this rating
4 Stars: I really liked this book.
5 Stars: I love this book and you're wrong if you disagree

Race Report: Rock n Roll Savannah Half Marathon

The Savannah Rock n Roll half marathon, my 9th half of 2013, was a very unique experience.  We headed down to Charleston, SC the Wednesday before the race.  We picked Charleston as our flight hub as it's only about a 2 hour drive from there to Savannah, was much cheaper to fly in and out of and was a city that Julie and I wanted to visit for some time now.  The flight down, direct on Jet blue was uneventful and I napped almost the entire way down. It was a bit strange after traveling all these years to not have to turn off my phone, nook and iPad.  Once we arrived, we grabbed our rental car and headed for the hotel to drop off our stuff before we headed downtown.

We didn't have anything planned so we just picked up some brochures at the visitors center and go the layout of the city by walking around the College of Charleston before we headed back to our hotel to change and head back out again for dinner.  Our first night dinner was at the Charleston Grill, which is a top notch restaurant attached to the Charleston Place hotel.  Personalized service, live jazz, exquisite food and a wine list to rival the size of a best selling novel (most of which I couldn't afford), created a wonderful dinning experience the type that we can't afford often but was experience none the less.

Thursday morning we woke up early for our ferry out to Fort Sumter, the shelling of which started the Civil War.  The 30 minute boat ride was smooth until the end, when it became a bit choppy as we docked at the fort.  During the ride (both ways) the boat has an automated tour guide who tells you about the surrounding area and it's history, and does a good job of priming you for your visit to the fort, and the National Park Service only has one boat on the island at a time so it never felt crowded while we were out there.  Once on the island there are a few guided tours and talks, or you can go at it by yourself which is what Julie and I did.  We walked around the fort and outer walls reading the plaques.  You only get about 70 minutes on the island (unless you want to pay extra to stay and catch the next ferry home) but I think that was sufficient to get a good history of the place.  Towards the end of our time we headed over to the museum which gives some more details on the life at the fort and it's history before we jumped on the boat and headed back for some lunch.

 

Back on the mainland we walked over to Ted's Butcher Block to grab a couple of sandwiches for lunch.  This place is a true gastro meat shop (I'm trade marking that term) offering high end sandwiches, meats and cheeses, as well as a bacon of the month club if you're looking for a Christmas gift for me.  Julie and I split Italian and Caprese sandwichs then headed to waterfront park to do some more sight seeing and grab a carriage ride around the city.

At waterfront park the first sight we hit was the iconic pineapple fountain.  On our numerous tours we learned that Pineapples are a sign of hospitality as returning sea captains would bring them back to their wives who would place the husk of the pineapple outside their home to indicate the captain was home so friends and neighbors should come visit (or your lover should stay away depending on who was telling the story). 

From there we headed down the market to grab a carriage for a tour around the city.  Because there are so many tour companies the city regulates where they can go amoungst three different routes via a lottery system (which seems to defeat the purpose to me, what happens if one color keeps comming up).  According to my uncle who frequents the city often, 1 is excellent, 2 is very good, 3 is not good.  As our carriage pulled up to the check point, the city worker she started the ping pong ball machine...no wammy no wammy no wammy....blue.  What the heck does blue mean?  Is that a water tour and we're turning this carriage in to a duck?  The city worker ducked in and came out carrying a sign with the number 2 and attached it to the carriage. One mystery solved. 

We headed out on our tour which took us through the historic district showing us some of the beautiful architecture and homes in the city, and gave us a great overview of history of Charleston.  After about 90 minutes we headed back to the stables then back to the market where Julie and I did some browsing at the shops (we made a rule before arriving that we wouldn't purchase anything that said "Y'all" on it which made shopping hard as about 75% of items had this phrase on them) before heading back to our hotel for a change in clothes and to grab a drink and watch the sunset over the water before another wonderful dinner at S.N.O.B. (Slightly North of Broad). 

 

 

Rainbow row

Why change addresses when you can just add a half!

Thanks to the time change we're still waking up early on our own, so on Friday we packed up our stuff and checked out to start our drive down to Savannah but not before a nasty breakfast at Hominy Grill.  No the food was great what Julie got was nasty, the Big Nasy a piece of fried chicken inside a split bisicut covered in sausage gravy with just a hint of jalapenos.  I went with the huevos rancheros which was good but Julie was the big winner on this meal.  Fueled up it was time to head down to Savannah.  

The Big Nasty

The drive between cities along 17 and 95 is rather boring and thankfully traffic what pretty light, but something rather disturbing occurred to me on the drive.  During the approximate two hours it took between cities we saw 5 Waffle Houses which were concentrated primarily at the start and end of the trip, which left well over an hour of non Waffle House driving.   This is a tragedy of epic proportions! I mean don't people in rural South Carolina deserve Waffle Houses too?  How can people stand to live in a place where you have to drive 45 minutes ONE WAY for fried chicken and waffle?  It really is an injustice that needs to be rectified.

As we approached Savannah we stopped just outside of the city at the convention center to get our bibs for the race and were greeted by a large law enforcement contingent.  The amount of local and state police at the expo was pretty amazing, but kept the traffic moving well.  In the expo it was unbelievable the number of people.  The race only had 20 corrals, much less than say Seattle, but the density of people at the expo was much more than any other race I had been to.  We grabbed our bibs which included a special rock idol bib for doing 10 races in 2013 and headed out to meet the vendors. Other than a new pair of running sunglasses to replace my broken ones, we weren't looking to buy anything, but we ran across the Old Towne Trolley tours who were offering half off tickets at the expo as well as discounted ghost and graveyard tour tickets.  Brilliant, why don't they do this for all races in the cities where they run tours? We snatched up two tickets for that day and two G&G tickets for Saturday night and headed to check in to our hotel and jump on the trolley.

The trolley tour does a large loop around the city taking approximately 90 minutes to complete and since they come every 15 to 20 minutes, you can jump on and off as you wish.  It was a great way to see the city, learn some of the history, and mark places that we want to visit later in the day.  After about 3 of 4 stops we jumped off for some sandwiches at Leopold's, which is a famous ice cream shop in Savannah.  After a traditional southern pimento cheese sandwich, we jumped back on the trolley to continue the tour.

The race had some streets closed, which re-routed our trolley, and the influx of runners started to snarl traffic, but it was still a nice way to see the city and stay off your feet.  We took the tour all the way around and back past our hotel to Forsyth park to get some pictures of the famous fountain (which we learned was ordered from a mail order catalog from New York City), before walking back to our hotel to enjoy the view of the city from our balcony. That was cut short when Julie remembered we needed to find breakfast for the morning!

 

City Hall

That evening we walked down to the Cathedral of John the Baptist to check out the interior before jumping on one of the last trolleys to take us to dinner at the Olde Pink House (which used to be white until the fire of 1790 (ish) made the brick beneath the white stucco bleed through.  We arrived a little early so Julie hung around the square outside while I ran to grab some bagels for tomorrow morning's breakfast.  While waiting Julie was witness to a waiter hanging over a nearby garbage who was then be transported to the hospital from the OPH.  All of a sudden Julie was texting me to question my choice of dinner places (on my foodie friend Dave's recommendation)...yellow fever hit hard here way back when, concerned???  After jokingly debating, we went in because the menu was too good to pass up, and were treated to another wonderful dinner in an amazing home.  After dinner, we headed back to the hotel for an early nice since tomorrow was race day!

The Cathedral from our Room

 

Inside the Cathedral

Olde Pink House

Saturday morning broke later than normal, as we're now seasoned vets we no longer get up 3 hours before race time but rather slept in to a lazy man's 4:30 (AM) for this race.  While back in Philly I lamented about the lack of television at this hour, having to entertain myself with The Weather Channel and infomercials, but today was even worse as the cable to the entire hotel was out leaving just a black  screen of "no signal" floating around.  Adjusting to life in this new third world of Georgia we find ourselves in silence as we prepared for our last race of the season.

At 6:30 we headed down to the start with two things in mind 1) get some more pins to help hold on our special bibs and 2) find the Brooks VIP "Potty like a rock star" porta-potties we got passes for since we each bought some Brooks warm weather gear at the expo.  Number 1 was pretty easy to do at the solutions tent number 2 was a bit harder (pun intended).  We searched up and down the corrals, but we couldn't find them at all so we ended up just jumping a short(ish) line.

The race started down East Bay Street, and is flat for almost a mile before heading up and over a small bridge.  The streets were lined with people seeing off the runners (one spectator even had a remote controlled UFO looking thing hoovering over with a Go-Pro attached!), and the cold morning left piles of discarded sweatshirts along the course.  Again the law enforcement presence was intense.  

 

As the course moved out of the downtown area, the crowds lessened to small gatherings of people but the calls of the spectators actually increased.  Every 50 feet or so was another person yelling "Good Morning" and waving.  The runners would in turn answer back creating strange "Good Morning" echo that went on for about four or five miles.  This was good because the first part of the course was relatively uninteresting and made for a fun way to past the time.  Julie also heard one lady ask an officer "Are you a Georgia State Trooper?"  "Yes Ma'am" he replied.  "Then where is your smile?"  She asked bringing raucous laughter from the Officer.  Apparently it's Law Enforcement with a smile down here in the south.

Back along the race I was making good time.  I decided for my last race I was going to let it all hang out (figuratively, did I mention the large law enforcement presence?) and really pushed my time.  At 5K I was just under 30 minutes and at 10K I was just under an hour, both of which were the fastest times I've ever had during a half.  

At mile 6 the course comes back into the city proper and as the race made its way down and back East Liberty there were thousands of people lining both sides of the road through mile 7.  From there it made its way through the heart of the city for miles 8 and 9.  At this point I was still running sub-10 minute miles and thought I might be able to do this under 2:05, but at mile 10 I hit a mini wall and mile 11 was my first over 10 minute mile.  I had missed the earlier Gu station and my legs were starting to get a bit heavy, but I pushed on and started back towards downtown and the finish.

Starting after mile 11 the crowds picked up again, and all of the support from the spectators really helped push me along keeping me in the mid 10's the rest of the way.  As I saw mile marker 12, I knew I would break 2:10 but 2:05 just wasn't going to be possible.  

Finally the home stretch came and course turns right to end at the edge of Forsyth park with spectators cheering 5 deep. I crossed the line with a new PR of 2:08:28, over 5 minutes faster than my previous PR.  That means in just over a month I've improved my PR by over 11 minutes!  I grabbed my medal along with my Gatorade and headed over to pick up Julie and my number 10 heavy medal "Rock Idol".  Right next door was the medal engraving station which only had 1 person in line so I put in my medal to get my first sub 2:10 engraved and then picked up my Rock Idol medal.  

Of all the heavy medals we've gotten this year number 10 is the biggest and by far has gotten the most reaction.  "What's that big one for?"  "10 in a year?  That's impressive, (crazy, bad ass, etc).  Along with the bib on the back made for a lot of attention post race (and for Julie along the race since people kept passing her).

 

While waiting for my medal I headed over to get my free beer and took in the opening band for a bit.  Savannah doesn't have an open container law so people had brought coolers of beer, wine and mimosas to celebrate with the runners.  I've never seen a city embrace a race as much as Savannah did.  Almost every store and restaurant was having a special and had a sign welcoming runners.  At the concert it appeared as if the entire city was there and there were so many people that cell service was jammed.  I had to walk a ways away to text Julie to tell her where to meet me.

 

Finally my medal was ready and I went to find Julie (missing Jackyl's "Lumberjack" in the process).  As Julie approached I yelled her name and stuck her Rock Idol medal out to her but in the zone she sped past me nearly running into my arm.  I found her just after the finish to give it to her and photo bomb her finisher picture.  

After she finished we headed to the west side of town to find Blowing Smoke BBQ on the recommendation of one of the hotel's staff.  Because of the lack of cell service we knew approximately where it was but we weren't sure, so we started walking in the general direction hoping we could get a signal.  As seems our MO in Georgia while walking around looking for something, we found ourselves in the no so nice parts of town.  With Julie feeling a bit uncomfortable, I finally asked a passerby who informed us that it used to be right here but was now out of business. If looks could kill!  On that note we slowly made our way out of the area and back to the hotel bar for some lunch and beer!

After resting up at the hotel a bit (and answering more questions about the big medal) we headed back over to Forsyth park to take some pictures with our medals at the fountain.

That evening we headed down to the only brewery in Savannah, Moon River, for some dinner and drinks.  They were offering a deal to the runners so it was packed when we got there but thanks to Open Table we were seated right away.  Julie found a white beer that she liked and I took part in the sampler.  The beer was good and the food standard, my biggest complaint about this place was that it seemed like they weren't preparing a lot from scratch.  The goat cheese and leek fritters were nearly sold out and the taco-dilla was sold out, but overall I'd go back, especially if I'm in the mood for a burger and beer (or just beer).  

 

Moon River Sampler

After dinner we headed down to River Street to jump on our ghost and graveyards tour.  The tour takes you though the city pointing out some of its more disturbing history while making two stops.  The first is at the site of a grizzly murder which happens now to be their trolley depot, where you hear the story of the multiple murders then get a chance to do some ghost hunting of your own with company provided EMF finders (AKA ghost boxes) that apparently you can buy on eBay, if anyone is interested.  The next stop is an antiques store which holds a tale all of its own.  Overall it was a fun time.

Who ya gonna call?

The next morning we woke up for the drive back to Charleston to fly home.  The Hilton's morning paper today was the Savannah morning news which included multiple stories about the races along with race results of all the individual runners, another way the town embraces this race.  Again we were up early so we took a detour through Beaumont, SC, which made the ride a bit more pretty, before stopping for some BBQ just short of the airport.

All in all this was a wonderful race made better by the city and it's southern hospitality.  I hope to get back here to run it again and take full advantage of all city has to offer.  Next race is the Bucks County Thanksgiving 5 Miler.  Talk to you soon y'all!

Splits

Mileage	Time	Segment Pace	Overall Page
5K	29:39	9:34	9:34
10K	59:44	9:42	9:38
10MI	1:36:38	9:58	9:40
13.1MI	2:08:28	10:16	9:48

Overall: 3,854 out of 11,390 Division: 290 out of 548 Gender: 1,776 out of 3,453