Can you sing "YMCA"

Well it has been a while since I wrote anything, mainly because there hasn't been much to write about. Almost everyday I go to the Y after work to get my workout in, except for the days that I have skate practice. Here is the routine:

Monday - Body pump class 1 hour then swim 1000 meters
Tuesday - Body pump class 1 hour then spin class 1 hour
Wednesday - Skate practice 2 hours indoors
Thursday - Body pump class 1 hour then swim 1000 meters or something else
Friday - Body pump class 1 hour then swim 1000 meters or take a day to rest
Saturday - Do something else to have fun - A day off!
Sunday - Skate practice 2 hours indoors

I know that it sounds a little mondane and boring with the same ole routine, but it is winter time and it sucks outside. The weather has been really shitty to say the least. Freezing 2-3 days, then it warms up and rains for a day or 2, then it gets cold again! No daylight hours to do anything outside even if the weather did cooperate.

I do have one little note of exciting news. I actually did do something different last week! I played racquetball for the first time in about 10 years. I saw an old friend at the Y and she invited me to play a few games with them last Thursday. It was a lot of fun. I actually didn't play as bad as I thought that I would! The only down side to the day was that I played in my running shoes and both of them ripped through the mesh on the outside edge towards the toes! Oh well. The good thing is that I have another back-up pair to run in. I also ordered me a new pair of Ektelon racquetball shoes too. So I am good to go as they came in today. Yea!

As for this week, I am leaving on Thursday to go to the Bahamas for some Scuba diving. We leave on the 18th and return on the 24th. Going to Nassau and diving with Dive Custom Aquatics outfitters. Then we are hoping to do a little open ocean fishing. They say the Wahoo are really good this time of year.

Well here's to a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

It's indoor time now

Well old man winter has come early this year and is here to stay I think. So I have hung up the bike and running shoes at least for while. I am totally training indoors now. Started going back to body pump and spin class down at the YMCA. My back is about 95% now and getting stronger every day. Body pump has really helped I think but it is a little sore since I started back. But I think that is a good thing. Spin class has been good too since it really gives me a great workout.

I still haven't started back running since I hurt my back. I have been thinking alot about that lately because the marathon is only a couple of months away now. I really don't know what I am going to do about it either. Any suggestions? I am scared that I am going hurt myself again. The body pump classes are really going to help strengthen my core and lower back, so maybe that will be enough to keep it strong. I can only hope! I will probably start training on the elliptical machine and then move over to the tread mill after a few weeks of that. I'll just have to take it slow and see how my back feels.

Skating practice has been going good with my new skates. My feet are slowly getting used to them and hopefully the break-in process won't be too long. There actually is a skating race this Sunday in Warner Robins, but I really don't think that I am ready for it right now. Steve is trying to talk me into going, but I just don't know right now. I will have to get back with you on that.

Last weekend I had the kids after the Georgia-Auburn football game. Rob and I had planned to take all of the kids to the Callaway Gardens Nitewalk through the Christmas lights. We did it a couple of years ago and the kids had a really good time. Robs girlfriend Lisa and her 2 boys also came, so we had enough kids to keep entertained. The weather was good but cold. The walk went good too but I think that it was just a little too long for the kids. Well all had fun especially after the walk eating cookies and drinking hot chocolate. We also got to see Santa in the big top tent.

Training slowly restarts

Well it has been almost 4 weeks since I hurt my back and things are really looking and feeling good right now. My back is getting stronger but still a little sore. I decided that since I couldn't just sit around and do nothing every day that I would do some no-impact training, swimming. So I have been swimming almost every other day for the last 2 weeks. It really seems to help alot by stretching out my back muscles. Last Thursday I actually got on the eliptical machine for the first time and did it for 20 minutes and it felt really good. I have also been back on my bike a few times.

Slowly but surely I am getting back into the swing of things. I had my first complete skate practice this Wednesday and I could really tell that I have been off of the skate floor for a while. My legs were really feeling the pain and are still bothering me some right now. It is amazing to me how fast your muscles seem to get out of shape.

I have still not even thought about running again and don't know when I will. I might have to be a specatator at the marathon instead of a particpant. Only time will tell.

Til next time. I'm out.

There here, there here.....Finally !!!

Well I placed my order way back in June hoping to have them before Nationals, but that didn't happen. And just this week did they finally arrive. My new skates are here! They are so pretty. I took them for a test ride after work today and they are very nice, but they were killing my feet. I went to Cooper Creek Park and could only do 2 laps before I had to stop. Everything from my knees down was hurting me. My feet were going numb too. But I was loving every minute of it because I had my new skates. My back even felt better because my feet were hurting more than it was!

They are Pinnacle Racing custom boots with Lugino Pilot 110mm frames. Thanks Jimmy for doing a great job. Now if you could just get me my skinsuit!

More to come on breaking them in and seeing if I can actually go any faster.

The Inevitable happened - again

Well I knew it would happen some time because it does it at least once every year and it is totally out of the blue when it does. A muscle in my back just let go and I almost fell to the floor with pain. I was at skate practice on Oct 5th and was coming out of the first corner and attempted to stand up and there it went. Totally unexpected and unannounced. The only thing that stopped me from hitting the floor were my hands catching myself on my knees. I couldn't straighten up at all. Hell I could barely walk. So I just coasted back to where my things were and sat down. That was all she wrote. BAM. I the blink of your eye I was out, and no one knows for how long either. I thought that my back was pretty strong because of all of the training that I have been doing over the last 2 years. I really don't like running because I know that it is not very good on your body, but since I have decided to give this marathon a try, I have to train for it. I don't know if that is what caused my back to go out, but it is the only thing that I have changed in my training routine.

So I have laid off the training for the last week to let my back heal up. I have been taking alot of ibuprophren to help with the pain and healing process. I attempted to skate again today for the first time, and it went pretty good, but my back is still pretty sore and tight. So I guess that I still need lay off of the training for another week and see if it gets any better by then.

Hopefully I will be back real soon. See ya.

2nd Week of Marathon training down

Well I have almost completed 2 whole weeks of training for the Disney Marathon and my legs are really hurting now. My schedule has basically been run every other day, skate 2 days, swim 2 days, and try to work in a day of cycling. The last week included two 3 mile runs, a 4 mile run and two 5 mile runs. I was able to actually swim 2 times and I rode my bike tonite for the first time since the Georgia Veterans Triathlon, 1.5 months ago (which was a bit of a struggle to say the least. More on that later).

The best news is that I have been keeping my heart rate around the 150 mark in all of my runs. Although my times are a bit lacking, I feel that this is best way for me to train right now for the long run. Here is a list of the last weeks accomplishments:

Mon 22nd - Ran 5 miles - Time 52:16 - Heart rate 155
Tues 23rd - Ran 4 miles - Time 35:18 - Heart rate 158
Tues 23rd - Swam 1K - Time 36:00 - Heart rate 144
Wed 24th - Skated in door practice for 2 hours
Sat 27th - Ran 3 miles - Time 30:52 - Heart rate 149
Mon 29th - Ran 5 miles - Time 55:36 - Heart rate 151
Tues 30th - Cycle 26 miles - Time 1:25 - Heart rate 151

Yesterday's run was very hard for me for some unknown reason. The only thing that I did different (that I can think of) is I didn't eat a banana 2 hours before my run. My calves started cramping (or something like that) within the first mile. Not exactly a good start to a 5 mile run. So around mile 1 I had to stop running and walk for a couple hundred yards until my calves stopped hurting. I started running again and had to do the same thing around mile 3. After that I basically forced myself to just run through the pain and to my amazement it finally went away around mile 4. So overall I had a slower time than my previous 5 mile run on the same course. I actually thought about continuing my run past 5 miles, because the cramping was gone, but decided that I better quit while the getting was good.

Today's bike ride was almost as bad as yesterdays run. I haven't ridden since the Triathlon on August 13, and felt that it was about time that I did. I felt that I needed to do something instead of running. I thought that cycling just might help stretch out my calves. So I decided to ride today with what I call the BIG BOYS. We have basically 4 different groups of cyclist that ride on different days starting with the Cat 1 or beginners and ending with Cat 4, the pros or big boys as I call them. So they are planning to ride out the River Walk to Fort Benning and back, about 30 miles if they go all of the way around the airport. I figured that I am strong and could hang with them even though I haven't ridden in a while. Boy was I wrong!!! I started out towards the front of the pack, 3rd position, and actually led for a short while. Then I decided to drop back and let someone else do the pulling. Well I dropped back alright and went all the way to the back and got dropped off of the back around mile 5. That really sucked!!! I looked down and thought that my cyclometer was acting up when I saw 28.1 miles per hours! And we were on a flat too. I was doing everything I could to stay on the back but they just kept pulling away from me.

Oh well, no catching them now, or so I thought. However I was able to catch them around mile 6 only because they had stopped to wish a fellow rider a happy birthday. So they offered us some cake and ice cream but we had to go because we had to get back before dark. So we start back again and I attempt to stay close to the front again, but ended up more or less around the middle of the pack. Which was ok with me. So we start up the big long hill into Fort Benning and I know that Terry is going to get dropped on the hill. So I talk to him and tell him that I am struggling and that I will wait for him at the top of the hill and we can ride together if they don't wait for us. Which is exactly what happened. So we continue on and Terry says that he isn't going to make it and that he is going to turn around at the next stop sign. I tell him that I am going on and will see him tomorrow. I was hoping that I would have a good ride and maybe meet up the the other guys on the way back. Well this never happened and I finished the ride by myself.

To my surprise Terry was still at the parking lot when I got back. He said that he had been talking to some of the guys and was getting a little concerned about me. I never saw the other guys and they had already returned and most were already packed up and leaving. I don't know how far they rode or which way they went, but somehow they made it back before I did. Anyway, it was a pretty good ride for me even though I couldn't hang with the big boys today.

So in summary of the last 2 days (the pain of it all), I feel that it is fatigue and maybe over training and maybe a little bit of lack of proper nutrition to boot. More to come...

Training for the Marathon begins

Well I finally started the long awaited training program for the Disney Marathon. I ran 3 miles on Thursday and another 3 miles on Saturday morning. And yes my legs are feeling just a little sore today, especially after skating practice. I plan on running again tomorrow and to try to run at least run every other day if possible. Kent is following an 18 week training program developed by Hal Higdon. I am going to try to follow it as much as I can, but probably on different days since I will not be able to do my long runs on Saturdays.

Since I am training for an endurance race, I decided to try a different approach than normal and pace myself using my heart rate monitor. Usually when I run my heart rate averages around 175, but that is pushing pretty hard for 2-3 miles as I would in a 5K race. Now I am going to try to keep my heart rate around the 150 mark and see how I feel. I tried this both times this week and it seemed to work much better for me even though my rate did start climbing towards the end of my run. I did sort of expect that too. I feel it is all related to conditioning. I am definitely in good condition but not really for running. At least not yet. I hope, in the future, to see my heart rate stay at the 150 mark for my entire run. We'll just have to see how that works out.

Caving in - sort of...

Well I finally gave in and did it. I signed up, basically caving in from all of the peer pressure that my brother and Rob have been giving me. It is going to be the hardest sporting event that I have ever participated in up to now, The Disney Marathon!!! Running this time, not skating. And I thought that skating a marathon was pretty hard. I haven't even ran anything longer than a 5K! What the hell am I thinking? LOL Well training starts tomorrow with a few laps around Lake Bottom Park right after work. The weather has been real nice and cool lately, so it should be great for running. I think both my brother and Rob are way more excited about me running in it than I am. But we will see how all of the training works out.

So I have approximately 4 months to get into shape. Kent says that he is following some 18 week training course/plan so I think that I might have to try it too. But wait, there is only 16 weeks and 3 days left to the race (Jan. 11, 2009). I had better get started asap and try to get caught up to Kent. On a better thought, I will never catch up to him, so why try? He has always been a better runner than I, but that is because it's all that he does. So if I make running all that I do, will that help make me as good as he is? Ya know we did come from the same gene pool (now that's a scary thought!!!). Sorry bro but it is true.

Well anyway, the misery and the "agony of the feet" begins tomorrow. I just hope the "agony of defeat" doesn't catch up to me in the race. I will keep you posted on my progress as it goes along.

North Shore Inline Marathon - 2008 Edition

Well all I can say is that another weekend came and went very fast, literally!!! Matt and I took off for the Great White north on Friday, September 12 around noon. As typical with teenagers, Matt had all day to get ready, as he skipped school, but what did he do? Slept until about an hour before I got there. At least he had already packed most of his gear. But as we pulled out, I began to ask him about some things that he should have packed such as cold weather clothes. And he said why. Well I just guess that you might want to stay a little warm since the forecast calls for the temp to be around 52 degrees the morning of the race. And also, did you get your race ID card. Ya know you got to have it to get your race pack. Oh, but I can't find it he says. Oh well, I guess you just get to watch me skate!!! LOL But as typical as with most teenagers, he wasn't the least concerned at all.

Anyway, off we go and oh, he has made us a music CD for our enjoyment. He says that he actually put some music on it that I would even like this time. Thank goodness because I wasn't listening to that stuff that he calls music again. Well to my amazement he was right. Some good ole classic rock-n-roll and of course mixed in with a little new rock-n-roll. Not bad, not bad at all. I was highly impressed. So he asks me why we have to leave so early since the race isn't until Saturday. Well I say, we only have to drive for 1.5 hours to the airport in Atlanta, eat, pee, then wait around for our flight, then fly for 2.5 hours to Minnesota, eat again, pee again, then get the rental car and drive for another 2.5 hours to Duluth and then we have to eat again, pee again, and do it all before the civic center closes at 10pm. Because we have to pick up our race packs before they close at 10pm. You know, I am just a stickler for the details. And again all he says is oh. With as little care as he could possibly muster. But it's all ok because I have traveled with Matt before and I know what to expect from a 16 year old by now, not much!

So we get to the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport and of course Matt is hungry again, just as I thought. So before we go get our luggage and rental car, we search for food. Matt eats as we walk to find the baggage claim. Ok, we got our bags and now where the hell are the rental cars at? We must have looked and walked around for what seemed to be an hour before we finally asked someone and they pointed to where we started our search originally. So we walk back over there and sure enough there is "one" little sign, in all of the entire baggage claim area saying Rental Cars this way. By then I was starting to get my attitude going and was just a little pissed. So we head down the escalator, down, down to the basement of the airport where we find an underground train. The sign says for rental cars and parking garage, get on the train. So we wait just a minute and the train comes and we get on it. I swear to you, but the train went exactly 100 yards and stopped and we got off and preceded to climb up the never ending stairs following all of the rental car signs. This parking garage was quite the maze and just when I thought that we found the rental place, it wasn't there. We looked around the corner and low and behold there is another sign and another set of stairs to climb. Granted I don't really mind climbing stairs as I see them as another form of training, but hell, I have a race in just a few hours and I didn't really plan of training any more before it either! So we are finally at the very top of the parking garage and low and behold, there it is, the car rental place!!! Of course right next to the elevator that we never saw either!!!

Well we finally get our car, a Black Chevy Cobalt. So I ask the rental agent for a map just to make sure that my Google directions are correct and we don't get lost as we are kinda pressed for time. Well guess what, we leave the airport grounds and we immediately get lost as my interpretation of the map sucks! I am looking at the wrong airport and can't find the roads that I am supposed to be getting on. So we turn around and head back the other direction because the way we are going can't be right as I can't find the road to turn on to. When all of a sudden I notice that the sun is on my right side, which in turn means that we are headed south and it dons on me that Duluth is to the north and we are still going the wrong way! Shit! So I get off again to turn around and ask for directions, finally. We pull up to the stop light and a guy pulls up next to me so I ask him where the interstate was and he of course says go back the other direction and keep going until you run in to it. Very simple you see. So I took off again and too my amazement, after about 5 miles there it was, I-94.

So by then I was starving and had to find food, carbs especially. So we seek out anything that is good for you, tasty, and has carbs and a bath room of course. We find a Subway within just a few exits and stop to get a foot long to go. We get it after waiting on a few other customers, pee and we are off again. Eating and driving is not only a talent but in some cases a form of art. Ya know the driving with the knee thing and all. So we get on I-35E North. What the hell the E for? Is it north or east? Well anyway I figured the Yankees knew what they were talking about and didn't let it worry me too much. Well maybe just a little, but who cares as they are a little confused anyway, right?

So we are now finally heading out of town and on our way to Duluth, 149 miles of open road, or so I thought. Well it seems that everyone else in St. Paul had the same idea as we had and was heading to Duluth also. I'm thinking that it must be some sort of vacation town or something. Then it dons on me, again, that it is Friday and it is rush hour and everyone is headed home or out of town too. So ok, no problem, the speed limit is 70 and I just figured that this is a big city so the people here will drive like they do in Atlanta, right? 85-90 in a 70 zone. Nope, not at all. I think that we averaged 65 with my foot on the break pedal for at least the first hour to hour and a half. These people must not know that I am in a rush here! Where is their sense of urgency? It is about to drive me crazy and I am about to drive Matt crazy too. Not a good combination as ya know Matt is a very concerned dude and all. Yea right!!! Anyway it seems that the locals have this highway driving thing all back-ass-wards as they seem to think that the fast lane is on the right side and the slow lane is on the left side. You would think that if you come up to a car that is in the fast lane (left side of the highway in Georgia anyway) and there is no one in the right lane, that they would be courteous and get over for you. Yea right, think again mister. I can count on one finger how many courteous drivers there are in Minnesota. And yes you are correct, it is the middle finger too. LOL

So anyway, about halfway to Duluth the traffic slowly thins and we are actually going the speed limit (75-80 in Georgia). I glance at the clock and we are actually going to get there around 9pm. Yea!!! No problems as we pull into the Duluth area. We actually find the DECC (Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center) with no problems as it is right off I-35. We park and walk over to the center to get our race packs and go in the wrong door (as there were no signs posted outside for us to follow) and there is a concert of some sort going on. So we ask for directions and they point us in the right direction. We find the Expo and get our race packs. And they actually let Matt get his even though he didn't have his mailed race ID card. Wow, Matt was actually right with the no worries thing after all. We actually have time to look around and find Jimmy Blair and his Pinnacle booth. So we talk to him awhile before we head off to try to find the motel. We actually find the motel with no problems and check in and of course we have to find more carbs one last time.

So we ask the front desk clerk and he tells us how to get to the nearest Italian restaurant where we are sure to find some pasta, right? Well we pull up with 5 minutes to go before they close the kitchen. The waitress looks at us funny like who the hell are we to come in looking for food. But she was pretty friendly as we buttered her up with our southern charm. Matt got his pasta and I just ate some bread sticks as I wasn't that hungry. But I sure was thirsty and must have drank 4 glasses of their "no-sweet ice tea". And then of course I had to go to the rest room again for the 1000th time. As coach Steve aways preaches, we have to stay hydrated!!! Preach on brother Steve as I have heard the word and pissed my way all of the way to Duluth, Minnesota. Hallelujah!!!

Ok, we finally make our way back to the motel to try to get some shut-eye. The beds are pretty comfortable but the room is pretty warm, so we turn on what we thought was the air conditioner. It just blew room temperature air right back at us. Oh well, I just guess they don't have air conditioners in the north because it doesn't get that hot up here anyways, right? So we just suffer through the warm room temperature and attempt to get some sleep. I for one know from experience that sleep is something that probably isn't going to happen as I hardly ever sleep well before a race. So my assumption is right as the alarm clock goes off about the time I finally nod off at around 3am. We have to be at the DECC around 5:30-6am to get on the buses to take us to the start line 26.2 miles away. The race starts at 7:30 sharp and they have to get 3000+ people to the start before then. So we get up after hitting the snooze button about 100 times and get ready and go to the DECC. We easily find a parking spot and get right on a bus. I was really amazed because I just knew that we and 3000 of our closest friends would convene on the DECC at the same time. WOW another no-stress situation!!! YEA.

So off to the start line on the back of the school bus. We strike up a conversation with a couple of ladies sitting behind us and they are both from the local area. One girl has done the race 4 times, but this is her first time in 6 years. She is hoping for a 2:30 time. The other girl was a newby just like us and has no idea what to expect. So we being men and knowledgeable and all try to explain and answer all of her questions and concerns. I just hoped that they could understand Matt and all of his truly southern draw that he was putting on (it was actually pretty funny but I guess you had to be there). I don't know if he actually fooled anyone or not but at least I got a kick out of it (but then again I am easily amused). LOL So we finally get to the drop-off point and head for the start line to see who all is already there. As we are walking we of course pass the port-o-pottys and have to go again. We are an hour early so we have plenty of time talk and warm -up. The temp was supposed to be around 52 but we are informed that it is actually 59, so that makes it much better!!! I have on my jogging pants and a sweat shirt and Matt has on his boots, jeans and a pretty heavy jacket. I told him to get some warm clothes and he did.

So we head up the hill to the starting line and I start to see some of the big names in inline speed skating. Jim Larson, Eddie Matzgar, Bruce Belden, etc... You know all of the big names in my age group that is. And I think they have all come out just to put a little ass whipping on little ole me too. Well thank goodness that I am not skating the Master Men or Veteran division this time as I would get waxed for sure against those guys. I am starting in the Advanced Open group in Wave A. The first group to go right after the Elite groups. So we walk up to the start line to check it out and we find Jimmy Blair and talk to him a bit. The race officials have U-Haul style trucks there for us to put our clothes in to be picked up at the finish line. They even supplied us with bags with our race number on them to put our stuff in. Very nice! So we still have quite some time left before the start so I head back down the hill to find the truck that I am supposed to put my gear in and possibly go to the rest room one more time. I never made it to go pee again as the lines were too long by then and it was getting really close to start time and I had to go get ready.

Ok, the time has come and we are ready to go. The starting/head race official comes on the bull horn and says a few last minute announcements and a prayer and starts the count down for the Pro Men to go, which Matt is in. So I make my way to find Matt one last time and wish good luck and reiterate to him to stay in the draft and conserve energy, and he obliges.I get out of the way
and 3,2,1 and they are off to the races. I go back to my wave and get in on the front row as always. Hoping that I can get a good start and stay in the lead pack. 2 minutes later the next wave is off and skating. And so on it goes until it gets to be our turn. 3,2,1 and we are off. Skating over the timing chip starting pad and running like a bat out of hell and I am in!!! Yea, I am in the lead pack and we are skating really fast. I am probably about 15th position. The road is kind of rough and cracked but not too bad. You just have to pay attention and watch out for the tar patches that fill the cracks in the road. So we are cruising along and we pass the one mile marker in less than 3 minutes. WOW we are really cooking it. I have never skated at this pace for any amount of time. How long can I keep it up? Just stay in the pace line and you will be ok I keep telling myself.

The road doesn't seem to be getting any better as I was hoping but we are still going at about the same pace as we started. It is kind of weird to me as I haven't ever been in such as large pace line. There must be 100 people in the line. I really wish I had my camera and could take some photos along the way. It is quite pretty up here and I would like see what the pace line looks like too. It seems as though every time we come to a hill 3 lines form and then get back together as we start back down the other side. Each time the line rearranges itself and I seem to get pushed back a little every time. I must try to get some of that back I tell myself. If I am going to place in my age I have no other choice. So on the next hill I take off and get out of line and shoot up passing a ton of skaters in the process. Wow it really worked and I probably gained 10 or so positions and it was really easy. So now I have my new strategy. Well my strategy worked fine for the first few attempts but then some people fell, 3 of them and they were not to far ahead of me. Look out and pay attention! That was too close. I hope they are not hurt too bad.

So we are closing in on the half-way point and I am starting to feel the pain of the pace. We pass the 13.1 mile marker in under 40 minutes. That is less than a 1:20 pace that we are going. So I pull out a gel pack and suck it down on the next down hill and attempt to wash it down with some water that I brought with me. This works pretty well but I am really starting to slow. I can't seem to maintain the pace anymore and a gap starts to form in front of me. They are going to get away and there isn't a thing that I can do about it. And just like that they are gone and I am now leading my newly formed pack. Shit! This wasn't in the plans and definitely not what or where I need or want to be. So I pull for a short while and pull out and let some one else lead. I fall back into about 5th position and draft for a while and wait my turn again. Then it is my turn again and I am really feeling the pain by now. I don't remember what mile we were at now but probably around mile 17 or 18. We have a good pack and pace line going with 9 people and we are all working together and pulling. This one guy kind of takes charge and lets us know when we have pulled long enough and tells us when to get off the front. That works really good for me as I tend to over pull and wear myself out early. Ya know being a mule and all. LOL

We are crossing mile 20 and the pavement is now nice and smooth. Boy it really makes a difference and seems like we are going a little faster now. Now there is about 6 miles left to go and I am starting to think about my time in the US10K race (21:41) and wonder if I can skate faster now than I did then. I look at my heart rate monitor and it is showing 193. WOW my heart is really hurting and I don't think that I get continue this pace anymore. I pull out and go to the back of the pace line. My heart slowly recovers and gets back down to a manageble 187. We are right at the 1 hour mark so that would put us coming in around 1:22. That would be a good time, but I would like to do better than that if I am going to place in the top 10. I do not know how many of my age group is in the lead pack but I can't see them any more. We start to loose some people and are now down to 5 of us. As we approach the city, I can see the town buildings down the shore from where we are. We are almost there I think! So we merge onto I-35 and the rough pavement starts over again. The DOT has cut grooves into the cement and it is pretty annoying. The grooves are going perpendicular to the road instead of parallel to it making a humming sound vibrating my skates. I feel that I am starting to slow down again. They have the entire south bound lane blocked off for us. So I am keeping up with the other members of our pack but I am positioned in the back now and am doing everything I can to not get dropped. Plus I want to conserve anything and everything that I possibly have left for the field sprint if there actually is one.

So here we go. I can see the DECC and it is coming quick. I can see the off ramp now and am thinking about what I am going to do. The off ramp goes slightly down hill and then back up the hill to the stop light. I am going to wait until the bottom of the hill and then when the group starts to slow down, I am going to start my sprint. We are probably only about a half mile from the finish line and I need to beat these guys! So I start my sprint up the hill and pass the group with somewhat ease. I briefly look back as I turn the hard left at the stop light and see that they are not going to be much of a challenge to me. So I continue my sprint over the bridge and down into the DECC parking lot catching a guy on the way down. I catch him and pass him on the next hard left turn that goes around the back of the DECC to the finish line. I see a sign ahead that says 300 meters to the finish line. I start my so-called long stride double-push and am feeling strong! I am all by myself and the crowd is cheering me on screaming and ringing their cow bells. It is quite a thrill even though I am totally spent and don't actually know where I am getting the reserve energy from. I can only guess that it is the adrenaline and rush of the finish. Just one more left hand turn and I see the 100 meter sign and the finish line. I made it!!! My right thigh actually locks up within the last 50 meters of the line, so I just cruise over with my fist in the air screaming YEA!!!

My official time came in at 1:20:23. Overall I placed 118th out of 2281 and 30th out of 208 in my age group. I skated over 9 minutes faster than my previous fastest marathon time (Disney 1:29:40). WOW, what an accomplishment!!! I had written down a guestimate time of 1:25 before I left Columbus for the race.

Matt finished the race with a personal best of 1:05:17 and 8th place overall. Good going Matt!!!

If you do the math, Matt's time calculates out to be 24 miles per hour and my time calculates out to be 19.5 miles per hour. That is pretty incredible as cyclists can barely maintain that kind of speed. Amazingly though, the course record is held by Chad Hedrick (who won a gold medal in the Olympics in ice speed skating), at an astonishing 27.5 miles per hour!!!

If anyone has any photos or video of bib number 542 please let me know as I would love to see them.

Results

Newspaper article about GT Speed Speed Skating Team in Columbus Ledger

Training for the North Shore Inline Marathon

Well another race has come and passed and now I must continue training for the NSIM. It is the largest inline marathon in the world. Over 3000 skaters will convene on Duluth, Minn this weekend for the 12th annual race. I have looked at the previous results and have heard that the course is fast, so I am looking for another personal best. Hopefully an age group placement too.

So last week I took a couple of days off after the Us10K and then started back skating on Wednesday. Skated 14 miles over at Cooper Creek park Sunday morning and man was I hurting. I guess my legs were still feeling the pain from the 10K. Then I had indoor practice Sunday evening too which didn't help my pain go away. But it was all good and worth it. I took today (Monday) off and just swam. Gotta keep training for my next triathlon too ya know. But it was good to give the legs a little break.

Anyway, we are back out to Cooper Creek park tomorrow evening for another round of long distance training. Hopefully I can make another 14 miles. Then indoor training on Wednesday evening. Maybe another swim on Thursday and that will be all for the week.

Matt and I leave Friday afternoon for Duluth and have to pick up our race packs before 10pm. The weather forecast is partly cloudy with a low of 52 and high of 62. We will have to bring something to help us stay warm until start time, which is 7:30am Saturday. Matt is skating with the Pro Elite division and I am skating in the Advanced group in Wave A.

So wish us luck and I will follow up Sunday with the results and some photos.

News Paper Article about the US 10K

US 10K 2008 Atlanta

Well the big day finally came and went and it only took 21:41 minutes!!! It is touted as the hardest 10K in America and I have to agree with that statement. Even though it is the hardest race, it is also the shortest (thank goodness!!!). This being a personal best for me also. This was my 3rd time skating in this race (which was also my very first inline race ever, 2 years ago). I finished 12th overall and 1st in my age group. The last 2 years I finished 5th and 3rd, so I really wanted that #1 spot this year. Accomplished 2 goals in one race! Man what a rush!!!

I have to also say that I am very proud of our GT Speed Team from Columbus. We dominated the field for a team. If there was a team competition, we would have won 1st place hands down!!! All 5 GT skaters today finished in the top 12. How great is that. So here goes the finishing order for us:

2nd - Matt Stewart 18:03

3rd - Kamani Griffin 18:08

7th - JD Coleman 19:34

9th - Teymur Etimadi 21:15

11th - Jacob White 21:20

12th - Scott Burkhalter 21:41

So here are the official results.

I am also proud of all of the other skaters and thank them for coming out and participating. It was great to see some new and old faces again. Hope to see everyone again next year.

Well I guess it is time to start practicing for the North Shore Inline Marathon coming in less than 2 weeks. Well maybe start tomorrow that is. Gotta start putting in the miles now and hopefully get another personal best!

Training for the US 10K race in Atlanta

Started training last week for the US10K race held each year on Labor Day in Atlanta. The race starts at Cumberland Mall and goes straight up Hwy 41 and finishes at White Water, 6.2 miles. It is touted as the hardest 10K in America because of its monster hills, 6 of them to be exact!!! This will be my 3rd year in this race. I placed 5th in my age group in 2006, 3rd in 2007, so guess what I am going for this year.



Of course our training must consist of the hills. It doesn't matter what hills as long as they are long and steep. We reach speeds of up to 45 miles per hour going down them! Oh, did I forget to tell you that I am inline speed skating this race? Yes I am an inline speed skater. I am a member of GT Speed skating team in Columbus, Ga. So we started training over at the Northside Elemetry School entrance road last week. It is a 1 mile loop or lap, meaning that it is a 1 mile round trip up and back down. And it is a killer to say the least.



I did 4 laps on 2 different days last week and did 7 laps last night. I felt pretty good except for my heart rate getting as high as 187. It averaged 166 for the entire 7 laps which took 35:42 minutes. This is what I call extreme training, but it has to be done for this race.



Some of my fellow skaters joined me last night to train. They included Matt Stewart, JD Coleman, Teymur Etimadi, and coach Steve Stewart. They only did 5 or less laps (ha, ha, ha). I thought that Steve was going to puke!



I am really looking forward to this race because I really want to try to inprove my time from last year. Even though I finished 3rd in my age group, my time was 1:30 slower than in 2006. I attribute that to not being able to get into a pack or pace line early into the race. Oh well, I guess I will have to wait to see what happens this year.



I also just signed up for the North Shore Inline Marathon held in Duluth, Mn. on September 13, so this training will be a good start for that race also.

Georgia Veterans Sprint Triathlon 2008

For some reason this triathlon was very hard for me. I thought that my times sucked as compared to what I wanted to accomplish. Of course my training was lacking due to other commitments and training. It all started with the 400 yard swim. I was in the 2nd wave and started on the front line. My start was good, so I thought, but quickly turned into a nightmare! It felt as though I was in a hurricane! I couldn't breathe and was constantly being run over, hit, kicked, and bumped. Anyway, after 9:20 minutes of pure agony it was all over and I came out of the water 15th out of 18 in my age group. I was hoping for an 8:00 minute swim. So off to the transition area for the bike.



My first transition time sucked and was very frustrating at 2:54 due to the fact that I couldn't get my cycle jersey on. Plus I almost ripped my race number totally off of it (required by USAT rules). But I survived and ran out to get on the bike. Was hoping for 1:30 time.



So I get on the bike and take off like a bat out of hell. 13.6 miles. This being my strongest event I knew I had a lot of ground to make up. I immediately realized that I forgot to reset my cyclometer so I reached over and reset it. So after a few minutes I noticed that I was only showing 0.0 and I couldn't figure out why. So I took it off of the mount and remounted it. It started working then and to my amazement it was actually recording even thought it said 0.0. I thought that the course would be somewhat flat so I was hoping for really fast time. The first half was very technical with a lot of courves and turns so my pace was only around 19 mph. But once I got into the flat straight area I put the hammer down and averaged around 22-23 mph. I knew that I needed to get some fluids into my body so I drank probably half of my Gatorade in 2 separate occations. The second occation was not very pleasant and I thought that I was going to puke. I also brought 2 gel packs with me but couldn't/wouldn't attempt them after the Gatorade event. Anyway, I averaged 21.1 mph with a time of 38:45 and finished 5th in my age group. Must have passed at least a couple dozen people and only 3 people passed me, including the winner of the womens division! That sucked because I had a 9 minute head start over her, but I knew it was coming at some point. Anyway, I was pretty happy with my cycling and headed back to the transition area for the run.



My second trasition went really smooth. Out of all of the the parts of this race, I am most proud of this time, 0:50 seconds!!! I actually got my feet out of my bike shoes before I dismounted the bike. I ran into the transition area, slid on my running shoes and took off. A proud moment.



The 5K run started out pretty well considering that I pushed almost as hard as I could on the bike. I had only ran a couple hundred yards when the inevitable happened, again. Both calfs started to cramp! If only I could figure out why and how to fix it. So I thought that I could slow down and suffer for a while and hoped that it would somehow go away, but it didn't. It actually got worse so I had no choice but to stop and walk. This was actually a good thing as my heart rate was way too high and needed to come down too. So I walked for probably 200 yards and it felt pretty good. Hoping that my cramps were gone for good, I start running again. To my amazement the cramps never came back and I fell into a good pace. I did not know this at that time, but I was currently in 6th place in my age group. But I soon started getting passed by all of those guys that I passed on the bike. A total of 5 guys in my age group passed me before I reached the finish line. The last quarter mile was kind of a funny moment for me. A guy in my age group passed me and I was determined to not let him get away. I thought that I could draft him and get him at the finish line. To my amazement I actually had enough reserve energy to make an attempt at this. I figured that beating at least this one guy would somehow have a redeeming effect for me. So we are going down to the last few hundred yards and I pull up beside him, hoping that he is well spent and won't make it a race, but he does! So we are now off to the races like a spring chicken. He also knows that I am in his age group and has the same thoughts as I do. So we are coming down to the wire and he starts to pull away and I have nothing left to give or take. He beats me by :02 seconds. Damn! I did finish though and better yet I survived! My run was the second slowest I have ever run in a 5K race, 28:54, barely surpassing my very first first 5K of 3 years ago. Oh well! The end to a rather frustrating race.



In the end I finished with a time of 1:20:45. 11th out of 18 in my age group and 173 out 347 total participants that finished. Not too bad but way worse than I had hoped for. The best thing out of the entire weekend was spending time with my girlfriend, her family and friends. There were actually a lot of people there from the Columbus area. We went to Wild Adventures Park in Valdosta after the race and on Sunday to close out a good weekend.

Check out the results