Coming Back

It may be three years since my last post on this blog, but I have not abandoned the blog. Sometimes, life just gets in the way. However, now that I am in the last semester of the MBA program at Morehead State University I plan to keep this blog up to date. Over the last three years my racing and training has become less intense. Even so, I still had an exciting three years. I set a new PR in the half marathon (1:43:09) at the Flying Pirate Half Marathon in North Carolina, finished second in an XC mountain bike race, moved to CAT 2 for mountain bikes, rode two century rides, competed in two duathlons, became a CAT 3 Certified Cycling Coach, and crashed my mountain bike twice giving me a concussion and a separated shoulder. Also, there were so many running races I cannot even remember all of them. The most recent was the Rain Forrest Run 10K in Volcano, Hawaii.

Now that I am realizing that I cannot remember all the details of these exciting races, I am reminded why I started this blog. I look forward to returning to chronicling my race experiences.

2009 Richmond 10 Miler

Richmond, VA 10/03/2009 This is another race that has taught me to respect the distance. I finished this race, but I felt terrible the whole way through.

Lisa and I walked to the start of the race from our hotel, which was about one mile away. My plan for the race was to average 165 heart beats per minute, but my body was not ready for the strain.

I had problem getting my heart rate up in the beginning of the race. I was running pretty fast, and felt good, but my heart rate would not climb above 160. At around mile three I started to cramp while running up a short steep hill. I had to stop and walk for a bit to get the pain to go away.

This was the first of seven episodes I experience of this type of cramping. Needless to say, I learned my lesson of coming out of the blocks to fast. This ended up being my slowest 10 mile time ever.

2009 Virginia Beach Half Marathon

Virgina Beach, VA 09/06/2009 I don't care what the distance on a race is, if you end up on the beach with a beer, that race is a success. The Virginia Beach half marathon had perfect weather and was a flat course. It was the perfect course on which to set a new record, but I'm slipping. I ended up with my slowest half marathon time ever, but it was a very enjoyable run.

2009 Blasters Cove 8K

Fort Story, VA 8/22/2009 Not knowing what we were getting ourselves into, Lisa and I embarked on a great adventure known as the Blasters Cove 8K. A course like this will humble you, and make you respect any distance.

I started this race at around my 5K pace, but quickly throttled back to my half marathon pace. The first couple of miles were flat, but travel down two fire roads that were made of super soft sand. It didn't take me long to figure out while people do workout in the sand. I was really draining my batteries, so I had to slow down.

The excitement of finding solid ground quickly gave way to despair as the rest of the race climbed up steep hills with gradual declines leading to another steep hill. I was never so glad to see a finish line in my life. This course really made me respect the terrain I run over.