Six weeks, six races

So I got a wild hair this year, and decided to do six races in six weeks and see what happened. Five were half-marathons, one was a half-iron tri. The race schedule was this:

Indy 500 Mini-Marathon	May 7
Rev3 Knoxville half-iron tri	May 15
Geist Run Around the Reservoir	May21
Boston's Run to Remember	May 29
Hospital Hill Run (Kansas City)	June 4
Carmel Half Marathon	June 11

Overall, things went quite well. I did a PR at the first race, the Indy Mini, beating my previous best by 30 seconds. Not much, but I'll take it!

The second race, the half-iron triathlon, was a bit of a challenge but overall went fine (see race report here). While it was tough, it felt good to gut it out and finish strong, and it didn't beat me up too badly.

Unfortunately, I caught Paula's kennel cough, and woke up sick the day of the third race, Geist. (Geist is a suburb of Indy.) However, knowing that running stops the coughing and clears the head temporarily, I did the race anyway and felt ok. I just took it easy with plenty of walking, and did a respectable 2:23.

The following week I was going to see a dear friend in Boston and do the Run to Remember. However, I was so sick that I lost two days just sleeping it off and wanting it to end. Thankfully the crud abated enough to travel, I had a good visit with my friend, and was able to do the race without really suffering. Of course, I backed off even more and did a 2:27.

Race #5, the Hospital Hill Run, is notorious for its hills. However, it was not the hills that were challenging so much as the horrendously hot and humid weather. (Blow-by-blow race report is here.) By mile 2-3, pretty much everyone had thrown out their time goals and simply wanted to finish. I walked a great deal of this one, and finished with a 2:43.

Week #6, must be Carmel. The inaugural Carmel Half Marathon was in my neighborhood, and it was a treat to be able to walk out my front door, pass up the car, and walk to the start of the race. The day was humid but mild, with temps topping out in the high 60's. It was also a treat to feel well-rested and not vaguely sick. I did a respectable (for me) 2:19:38. A sign of improvement was a PR at both the 5K and 10K distances - I averaged around 9:30 miles, which for me is huge, and to be able to maintain that pace for just under an hour is a milestone. Progress! The course was interesting, volunteers terrific, and a very well-done inaugural race.

The tri training took a hit, mostly due to being sick/traveling for the better part of two weeks. Up through Knoxville, I was able to keep training pretty well and regularly. The week between Knoxville and Geist I trained, but not as much and definitely backed off, trying to recover. Little did I know that I was trying not to get sick. The entire next week was lost to getting well, and the following week was lost to traveling back home then traveling for work (while still trying to get well). However, it seems the hot-as-blazes Hospital Hill run finally cleansed the system, as that was the first time I felt like training hard since getting sick.

Throughout all of this I have been concentrating on modifying my running form, focusing on a mid-foot strike instead of a heel strike. I think the results vindicate my efforts: race #6's time really wasn't any slower than the typical race for me, and the first part was actually faster than ever. I didn't go into it expecting to PR, yet was well on track for the first 6 miles. I've remained injury-free. The backs of my legs are definitely tighter than normal, as my body adjusts to the changes in foot placement, but that's to be expected and is relatively easy to manage with massages and stretching.

And I can't forget to mention the ongoing adjustments by my fabulous chiropractor, Dr. Drew Hoffman, and Dave Reed's magic MAT (muscle activation technique) work! Those two guys have kept me intact.

Conclusion? My body can indeed handle this schedule. I got sick not because I was over-tired, but because I was in close quarters for several days with someone who was ultimately much sicker than I ever got. Would I have gotten sick anyway without the racing? I don't know for sure, but my gut says most likely yes. Did I lose some valuable training time? Maybe, but I don't think so, not really. I have ADD with some things, and training is one of them. If I don't mix it up, I quickly get bored. I'm feeling surprisingly refreshed by the hiatus from tri-training, and now feel ready to hit it hard through Ironman Louisville.

And heck, I got six pretty cool medals too!

This weekend, three days of tri camp...

No puking allowed

Hospital Hill Run, Kansas City, MO
June 4, 2011

This was half-marathon #38, and it may well have been the most difficult. Not due to lack of training, not because of the notoriously hilly course, not because of illness: not for any of the usual reasons.

It was hot and humid. Really hot. Really humid. For maybe the second day this spring, so very few of the 7000-or so participants had acclimated yet. Normally by this time it's been warm enough to be uncomfortable and to get the body used to some warmer runs. Not this year. I was far more concerned about the heat than about the hills, and it turned out my concern was well-founded. The hills really weren't unreasonable. There was one that was ridiculous, but it was very very short. The rest would have been quite do-able on a normal day.

This wasn't a normal day for most of us. It was 81 degrees when we parked the car at 6am. No clouds were to be seen, promising a very quick warmup. It was also quite humid, but it took me awhile to figure that out. I only realized it around mile 5, when it occurred to me that all the water I had poured over myself (in an attempt to cool down) was not evaporating. Shirt and shorts stayed soaking wet and dripping for the entire time we were outside.

Somewhere between miles 2 and 3, I think there was a collective decision to throw out any time expectations, and simply hope to finish without cramping, puking, or passing out. Everyone I spoke to, and there were quite a few since we were all walking anyway, had given up on achieving any particular time goal. It was clearly going to be a 13.1-mile sufferfest, so everyone hunkered down and kept moving forward, at any pace. Several wonderful people along the course brought out sprinklers and set them up in the street. Two more angels at miles 7-ish and 11-ish brought out tubs of ice for us to grab and put under our hats. Those people were genuinely appreciated. The ridiculous-but-short hill was, of course, at mile 12. There was a construction project at the top, and one of the construction workers was standing on the fourth floor with a hose, spraying us as we trudged by. He was wonderful!

I walked for a while with very nice guy named Eric, who was running to honor his brother who was two years' clean from various addictions. He wanted to show his brother that it was possible to make a major life change -- he'd only been running since his brother got clean. He had actually run this course several times in cooler weather, but the heat was more than he could handle, and he'd given up on making his time goal. I think he felt better when I told him that I was usually two miles further down the road at this point (mile 10 or so). I finally was able to attempt to jog some more after about half a mile, so said goodbye and went on my way.

I was able to trot the last few tenths of a mile to the finish, but after crossing the finish line I immediately had to find some shade and sit down before gravity pulled me down. This was the closest I have come to thinking I might actually pass out. It took about 10 minutes of sitting in the shade to cool down enough to feel like standing up again. Our little group of five gradually found each other and agreed that this one was no fun. We all expected hard, but even in the hardest races there is a sort of perverse pleasure in simply doing the distance. Not today. I seriously doubt I will be interested in attempting this one again, even though I would like to try the hills in cooler weather. Water stops were every 1.5 miles; in weather like this every mile might have helped. I took Gatorade and water at every stop, and took some electrolyte capsules a couple of times.

After a quick shower I was dropped at the airport. I ran into another group who did the same race, and they also felt the same way. No fun, just happy to finish without getting sick. But it was a heck of a training session! The hardest 2:43 and medal I have ever earned. I seriously doubt I will want the race pictures though...

Flying and thunderstorms don't mix

Ahhh the Monday morning alarm clock. Couldn't stop myself from whimpering a bit, but managed to only snooze for 10 minutes before getting up. Usually, Mondays aren't QUITE this bad, but this past weekend was jam-packed with everything but sleep.

Last week I was in Kansas City for work, and stayed to run the Hospital Hill half marathon with a co-worker and some other friends. We had the usual early-morning routine of getting up before the sun and driving down to beat the traffic. So far so good. But I knew it was going to be a tough day when I saw the time/temp sign at the bank: 81 degrees at 6am. And only going to get warmer.

The five of us managed to finish the 13-mile slogfest without collapsing, puking, or cramping, so we all considered it a smashing success (race report is coming later). We congratulated each other for finishing, then parted ways.

After a quick shower I was delivered to the airport, with a few hours to kill. No problem. KCI has free wi-fi, so I surfed and caught up on email. Sadly, the people-watching was depressing, so that wasn't really an option. My plane left as scheduled, and I was looking forward to grabbing my 15-minute flight from Chicago and getting home by 8pm. Still early enough to relax, have a beer, and catch a decent night's sleep.

Chicago's flight was delayed because our cockpit crew was late from somewhere in California. Only a half-hour, nothing to be worried about. 30 minutes becomes 45, we finally board the plane, and everyone is settling in, happy to be heading home. Except...a horrendously bad, dangerous, and large thunderstorm is sitting right over Indianapolis. Lovely. We are going to sit in Chicago and wait it out. Thankfully we were still at the gate and free to get off the plane, so it's not nearly as bad as it could have been.

Three and a half hours later, we are all herded back onto the plane. The door closes, then reopens. It was just a tease. We sit another ten minutes or so, then they close the door for real. Apparently this storm is seriously pounding the entire area, and many flights are ending in Ft. Wayne or Louisville, neither of which is desirable. Our 7pm flight departs at 10:45 or so (Central time; Indy is on Eastern time), and we literally fly 18 minutes before descending into Indianapolis. It's clear they weren't joking about the weather, as we are surrounded by lots and lots of very bright lightning and heavy rain. There is a collective sigh of relief when we land.

Only now...the ramp is closed. The lightning is so intense that it's not safe for the workers to be out there. At least we're sitting in a grounded container, so we're safe. We sit for a while, watch the pretty weather, and lust for our respective beds. Everyone is totally fried and trying not to be cranky (I failed at the cranky part). At last we pull up to the jetway, the door opens to much applause, and we are released from the torture. Kudos to Southwest for handling a really lousy situation with humor and grace. They were incredibly accommodating and did everything they could to make it less painful.

So I finally arrive at home around 12:45 or so, knowing that I have to be up butt-early Sunday to go work at a bike criterium (a series of races, good definition here) that lasts all day. I manage to carve out an extra 1.5 hours to sleep, so don't have to show up until 9am. Hallelujah! Sleep is a wonderful thing, especially with a cat nearby. Two of us work the race all day (which is actually a heck of a lot of fun), help tear down, and are done by 7-ish. The group of us went for a celebratory meal before heading home to bed.

Today I'm drinking strong coffee and feeling a bit groggy from the weekend. But it was fun! Except for the flying/thunderstorm part.