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.

2009 East Beach 5K

Norfolk, VA 07/24/2009. This was actually an aquathon, with a 5K as a side event. Lisa competed in the aquathon, but since I'm a slow swimmer I just did the 5K.

The day was very hot, and very muggy. It kind of felt like you had to cut through the air to run. I didn't end up with my best time ever, but I did finish second in my age group with a time of 12:13. Lisa was the big winner with first in her age group in the aquathon.

For those that would like to know, an aquathon is a combined running and swimming event. A duathlon is a combined running and cycling event.

2009 X-Bar Shootout

Eldorado, TX 05/17/2009 Good old X-Bar. This year the very technical course added some rain on Saturday to add a little mud into the mix. Actually, because of the wet conditions they cut out a few miles of the course, and we ended up racing an approximate six mile short course.

I had a little problems in the beginning of the race with mud making some of the baby heads a little slick. I had a little crash on one of the downhills which put me behind a little. I eventually caught up to the rest of the pack, but couldn't hold on since I burnt to much energy try to catch back up. Though, other than the crash I had a relatively clean ride.

I ended up in eighth place and Ryan got second.

2009 Single Track Stampede

Dripping Springs, TX 04/05/2009 This was a very fun race that was just a short drive from San Antonio. What made this race so much fun was that my teammate, Ryan Campos, was out in front of most of the time. It gave me someone I knew to chase, and caused us to come up with the nickname of "Shake and Bake" for our duo.

Right after the start of the race was a big pile up because of all the over anxious noobs. After I cleared the crash, I caught back up with rest of the traffic, which included Shake. Shortly thereafter was a long climb. On the climb, Shake and Bake were derailed in a bad spot by a dude walking his bike up the hill, which directly led to us getting passed by a lot of people.

Once past the climb, the Cat 3 course was super fast and flat. Basically, it was kind of a boring course from here on out. I passed Shake about a quarter of a mile before the finish, and I ended up finishing 17th. Shake was 18th.

The Warda Race

Warda, TX 03/29/2009 This is a very special race for me since it marks the first anniversary of my first mountain bike race. Last year I finished 27Th out of 37. This year I was looking to make a big impact.

I had done so well this winter competing in duathlons, I thought I would try something different for my warm up this race. During the duathlons, I always felt very good on the bike after my runs, so I thought I would try doing a 20 minute warm up run for the race. It sure felt good to get my heart rate pumping.

Consequently, this will always be the race I remember for my legs feeling like they were on fire. Naturally, I have always felt pain in my legs from pushing myself to my limits, but this was unreal. Instead of backing off and spinning it out, I kept pushing. The pain lasted the entire first lap.

During the second lap, when my legs were finally warmed up, I had a great ride, reeling in all kinds of riders that were in front of me.

Never again will I run as a warm up for a bike race.

2009 Lake Bryan Spring Sprint

Bryan, TX 02/28/2009 What makes adventure racing so much fun for me, is that Lisa and I can compete together. The race took place on a day where the winds were reported to be at 40 miles per hour. We were required to either trek, mountain bike, or paddle to coordinates on a map.

Our inexperience was evident right from the beginning. The maps we were given were in kilometers, and our measuring devices were standard. Luckily, a nice gentleman showed us how to make our own measuring device.

The noobness, did not end there. At each check point we needed to take the hole punch at each check point, and punch a card that we needed to carry with us called a "passport". Well, since the winds were blowing at 40 miles per hour, Lisa lost the passport while we were looking for the second checkpoint. I'm glad I don't have a temper. If I would have said anything out of anger, it would have come back to bite me later, when it was my turn to lose the passport during a mountain bike leg. Luckily for us, Lisa saw that I dropped the passport, and was able to retrieve it.

Overall, it was a great race. We ended up finishing last, because we skipped two checkpoints that required us to paddle across the white capped Lake Bryan. We didn't die, and had a blast finishing in five hours.

2009 Austin Marathon & Half Marathon

Austin, TX 02/15/2009 Normally when I think of the morning after Valentines day, I have visions of sleeping in, and cuddling with my significant other. So, I find myself wondering why I am standing in the shivering cold, waiting in a line for a porta potty. The reason is that Lisa and I have signed up to run the Austin Half Marathon.

We started the weekend by attending the Marathon Expo on Saturday. First, we registered for the race, then walked the entire expo, making sure we filled our race bags with as many free goodies as we could find.

After the expo we checked into the The Mansion at Judges Hill. The mansion was a great lodging choice for the race since it was only two miles from the race start. It was also a great choice for Valentines Day since it has a romantic flare to it.

Later that evening, Lisa and I took a stroll down Guadalupe Street to get a feel for the University of Texas college student life. We stopped in a few urban clothing stores, and peeked at menus in restaurants. Eventually, we decided to eat at a Thai restaurant.

At the restaurant, I almost made a fatal race mistake. I ordered, and consumed one of the spiciest dishes on the menu. While eating this dish my nose was running, and I almost started crying. Luckily, I had the foresight to stop at a CVS on the way home and pick up some Zantac, which may have saved the race for me.

The morning of the race, a friendly couple from The Mansion gave us a lift to the starting line. I was all stoked to go out and try to break my own person best of 1:44:04, but one mile into the race I had to stop and wait in line for a porta potty. The reason I give for a mid race pit stop is a cold morning combined with a late start for the race. I'm not sure how much time passed while waiting in line, but I will guess that it was a minimum of three minutes.

The rest of the race went pretty smoothly. I took in a gel at mile seven, and at mile 10 knew that it would be very hard to set a new personal record, but I picked it up a notch anyway. At mile 12 I laid down a kick that I didn't know was possible for my own body. Overall, my time was 1:47.26.

This race was a lot of fun even if I didn't set a new personal record. Everyone should be so lucky to spend a Valentines Day weekend with the one they love, participating in activities they love.

Alsatian Country Omnium

Castroville, TX 02/07/2009 I have always wanted to compete in a multiple stage road race, and get a feel for what it was like to compete in the Tour de France. Since I obviously don't have the ability to compete in that tour, I decided to jump at the opportunity to race in the Alsation Country Omnium. This race took place right down the road from my house, and consisted of three stages which included a time trial, criterium, and a 30 mile road race. I raced in Category 5, and there were 50 riders in my group.

An individual time trial is where a rider rides on their own as fast as they can for a pre-determined distance. For the Alsation we rode five miles out, and five miles back for a total of 10 miles. The very first rider took off at 7:20 AM, and another rider would follow every 30 seconds. My scheduled start was 8:09 AM.

Most of the riders brought their dedicated time trial bikes for this stage. I only have one bike, which happens to be a cyclocross bike that I had fitted with a set of road tires. This set up has served me well in triathlons and duathlons, but was no match for the time trial set ups that everyone else brought.

Anyway, the course was an out with the wind pushing you, and back with the wind in your face. I didn't warm up, and never really got comfortable on the bike. It only took about two miles for T. Sweet to pass me. After making the turn, J. Toscano passed me too. I felt pretty bad, and thought I would finish last in the time trial. As it turns out, I got lucky and finished 25th.

Stage two was a criterium, which took place at Friends of Castroville Regional Park. This was only a short drive from the time trial. A criterium is a short course race. Basically, we rode a one mile loop for 30 minutes.

I'll admit that I was a little scared before the start of this race. The thought of 50 guys in a pack at high speeds, looping around a track should make anyone nervous. My strategy was to just stay with the lead pack, and hopefully have a good sprint to the finish. It was a good strategy, but it just wasn't my day.

About half way through the race, one very strong rider went for a break away. I happened to be drafting another strong rider that decided to give chase. I made a grave mistake and went with them. We were a good distance in front of the rest of the field, but I couldn't hold that pace and started to fall back. For one lap I lead the pack. The next lap, I was mid pack. After that, I was at the back of the pack. Finally, I watched as the pack slowly pulled away.

After that, the rest of the race was like the time trial. I was pretty much by my self. No other riders fell off the main pack to meet me, and it took a long time for the other riders that had earlier fallen off the pack to catch up. I ended up finishing 22nd in the crit.

Sunday afternoon was the start of the 30 mile road race. The race start was at the Hotel Alsace, and began as a 2 mile parade with a police escort. We were instructed that we needed to wave to all the spectators, since the only way the race directors could get a permit to use that section of road was to be an actual parade. After we turned off Hwy 90 onto Hwy 471, the police escort peeled off and the race was on.

The wind was uber strong this Sunday morning, and most of the course was exposed to the wind. At the start the wind was at our backs, but soon we made a turn and there was a wicked cross wind. I was stuck on the windy side, and was blocking the wind for all the riders next to me.

Suddenly, the guy next to me had his rear tire buzzed by the rider behind him. A few seconds later the rear rider hit the pavement. I couldn't see what happened, but it sounded like the dudes bike shattered when it hit the ground, and I could hear him taking out other riders too.

Once we turned onto Potranco Road we were out of the wind, and our speeds really picked up. I normally do my training rides on my own over this section of road, and I am lucky if I hit 30 mph. I had a chance to look down for a second, and I was going 38 mph. I know that was not even my top speed on this down hill. What a difference traveling in a peloton makes. Though, it wouldn't last. When we made the turn off Potranco, back to the 471, our speeds went back down to 15 mph because of the wind.

I was in great position to finish well in this race, but I made another stupid rookie mistake. Since I was in the lead pack and still felt strong as we neared the finish, all I had to do was lay in the weeds until the finale sprint of the race. With only 2 miles to go in the race, I decided I would try to break away on my own. I was easily chased down by the peloton, and I did not have enough time to recover before the big sprint to the finish. As the lead group sprinted to the finish, I was left in the dust to finish in 19th place.

Overall, I finished 24th in the entire omnium. I thought that was pretty good, since that was my first road race. I learned that road racing is kind of like a chess game on wheels, more dangerous than mountain bike racing, and I think I have the ability to win if I play my chess pieces correctly.

Miles of DisComfort Marathon

Comfort, TX 01/24/2009 Well I have completed my first marathon of any kind, and if I had to sum it up with one word, it would be "brutal". The race took place at Flat Rock Ranch, which is one of my favorite places to ride. Flat Rock Ranch is smack dab in the middle of the Texas hill country, which includes some climbs up hills that contain beautiful views, and some wicked technical downhills. There are two sections of the ranch, a lower and an upper, each having to be ridden twice for a total of 52 miles.

One of the events leading up to the race for me was breaking the frame on my only mountain bike during a pre-ride of the course the week prior to the race. At first I thought that my race was over, but luckily one of my friends, Jim T., loaned me his back up bike, a Cannondale Prophet, for the race.

The Prophet is an all mountain bike so it has more travel in the suspension. Theoretically, this should make the bike better at downhill, and it should make me lose power climbing. I didn't notice any difference while climbing, but I sure had a lot of confidence bombing the downhills.

One downgrade on the Prophet was the mechanical disk breaks. My Mongoose Canaan has hydraulic disk breaks, which give me full skid stopping power with just a light squeeze of one finger. I needed all my fingers on the break levers to get enough power on the breaks to slow enough to make the corners on some of the downhill sections. Twice during the race I forgot I needed the extra power, and found myself squeezing the breaks with one finger which sent me off the trail, and into the woods. I will never take my hydraulic brakes for granted again.

In the spirit of Texas winter, the Friday before the race had temperatures reaching up into the 80s. Therefore, on Saturday of the race it was a balmy 36 degrees with high winds. Luckily for me, I brought all of my warm cycling cloths. I learned long ago that the weather here can swing 40 to 50 degrees in a few hours.

I didn't ride very hard since I wasn't sure how much energy to expend for a marathon. There were a lot of riders around on the first lower loop, but the upper loop is mainly climbing so the group really strung out during that part of the race. I have ridden both this lower and upper section before during training rides, but I was getting tired towards the end of the first upper loop.

With half of the race complete, I stopped and ate half of a ham sandwich that I had stashed in the pit area, and refilled my Hammer Gel flasks. I regret two things during this pit stop. I wish I had taken more time to take in more calories, and I wish I had applied more Belgium Butter.

As I climbed out of the pit area to start my second loop, I already knew I was in trouble. I was fading fast as my legs burned like the sun, and I could not muster any power. Normally, I ride using mainly my big and middle ring in the front, but I found that I needed the little ring more often as I got closer to the upper loop.

By the time I finished the second lower loop, I had decided that I was not going to finish the race. I mean, nobody would think less of me if I didn't finish a marathon, right?

As I was eating the rest of my sandwich in the pit area, one of the other racers that had been around me most of the race yelled to me something like: "Put down that sandwich and finish this thing". Then another guy that had just finished the whole race told me: "You might as well just do the upper loop. It will only take like a hour or so".

An hour or so!!! Most of all I didn't want to disappoint myself, so I reapplied some Belgium Butter, and off I went to complete the upper loop. I'm not sure how much time I spent walking my bike up some of the more steeper hills, but I finished the race with a time of 6:22:52. It was brutal, but I can still live with myself.

Hel of a Du

Helotes, TX 12/14/2008. I love endurance racing of all types. I love how they keep me active, fit, and healthy, but after this race I found what I really like about them is the race day camaraderie that is shared among friends. So even though this was my best race of 2008, none of my training partners participated, making a very lonely experience.

Hel of a Du involes a 3.5 mile run, 25 mile bike, and another 3.5 mile run. Lisa's sister was in town and they wanted to take Sunday to shop for wedding dresses. I figured that while they were trying on wedding dresses, the duathlon would be a perfect little get away for me and the guys, but none of the guys I ride bikes with were interested in a road duathlon. So I was off to the race all by my lonesome.

After what seemed like an eternity of listening in on the conversations of the people around me, the race finally started. I started out at an unusually fast pace for a duathlon, and was able to hold it until about mile 2.5. At that point was a very steep hill which sucked the life out of me. It took me a long while to recover, and I was passed by a few people. What made me happy about this run was that there were not any huge errors. I didn't run off course, or twist an ankle. I felt very strong.

Once on the bike, I did not feel as strong as I had in some of the other recent races in which I competed. The wind was very strong, and most of the bike leg involved a gradual up hill. I was chasing a smaller guy riding a time trial bike for 16 miles, but I could not quite catch him. At around 16 miles, the course turned to some steep, sustained climbing, and the guy dropped me on the climb.

During the final run, I was completly by myself. One runner that was obviously part of a relay team ran by me like I wasn't even moving. I could tell she did not just finish biking 25 miles. Other than that, I did not see one other competetor, only race volunteers at the aid stations.

After the race, I hung around for a little bit to see if they were going to post results, but with nobody to talk to, I quickly got bored and left. I ended up finishing 17th with a time of 2:15:40, which makes this one of my best races of the year. I just wish I had someone to share it with.

Du Boerne

Boerne, TX December 7, 2008. If you have read my earlier posts, you would know that a few races back I was trying to compete while in a huge over-training trough. The Du Boerne was the exact opposite of that. I felt very strong the entire way through, and my placement in the 30-34 age group shows that. The race was a 5K run, 25K bike (About 14 Miles), and another 5K run.

On Saturday, the day before the race, Lisa and I drove to Boerne, TX and checked into the hotel at Tapatio Springs Golf Resort. We did a nice little evening hike, and had dinner at the clubhouse. After that it was off to bed so we could get some rest for the big race.

Race morning proved to be very frigid as far as South Texas weather goes. It was a near freezing 39 degrees as we drove to the event. Though, once the race started I could not feel the chill, and by the time I finished racing it was hovering around 70 degrees.

The runs for this race were very poorly marked. I was running with a group of three other people near the front of the race to the point were I could see the leader when we had long strait-aways.

Somewhere around the 1.5 mile mark we must have missed a turn, because we ran into a river that was blocking our path. To the right was a narrow path, so we started running down it. At the point that we had to crawl over a fallen tree to keep following the path, we realized that we were on the wrong path and turned around. I was leading our small group back to where our original path met the river, but when we got near that spot there were maybe 15 racers standing there looking confused.

Mob theory dictated that the correct path was the one that my group of four was coming back on, so we did another about face and headed back down the little path. We could see an aid station through the woods, whose occupiers yelled that we should keep on our little path, and it would intersect back up with the main route.

I don't know if I ended up cutting the course, or running a longer distance. All I knew is I had to pee, and I was frustrated. So after making a quick side trip into the woods for relief, I finished the rest of the first run uneventfully.

Once on the bike I felt like an animal. The bike course was a short out and back with some small rolling hills. You could tear down the small hills and keep your momentum going to charge up the next small hill. Fourteen miles on the road is very short, so I was able to keep this up the entire ride. I must have pasted 30 people.

The finale 5k was better than my usual "just hold on, your almost done" duathlon run. I felt strong the entire way through. I did get passed a few hundred yards before the finish line, but it was by an obviously superior runner.

So here is the difference between racing at your peak vs racing in an over-training trough. Do to mental mistakes from being to tired from the trough, I ended up crashing in easy sections of riding at the mountain bike races. At my peak I can stop in a race to take a pee break, and still finish first in the 30-34 age group. What a difference!!!!!

Even though I finished 19Th overall for the race, my age group was slow enough for me to win. I must say that I was very excited since this is the first time I have ever seen my name at the top of an event like this. This is the kind of stuff that keeps me going.

The Dirty Du

Smithville, TX 11/23/2008 The Dirty Du was a special event on a special weekend, not only because it was an off-road duathlon that Lisa also attended, but it also fell on the weekend that Lisa and I got engaged.

This weekend started early on Saturday. Lisa and I left the house at 5AM and drove to Smithville, TX. Lisa competed in the 12 mile trail run, and I did the 5k trail run. Basically, the 12 mile trail run followed the bike course for the duathlon, and the 5k was the actual 5k for the duathlon.

I was not going to run the race very hard, but everyone in the race was also starting out slow, so I just decided to take off. I was actually leading the race for the first mile before I was finally passed. The trail we were running started strait up hill, then down hill, then up hill, then down hill. You get the point. Anyway, it was the hardest 5k I have ever run. The climbs were so steep that my calves burned like never before.

Eventually, when the smoke had cleared, I finished the race in third place. After the race, I hung out talking with the other racers waiting for Lisa to finish the 12 mile race. She ran a great race, and finished 15th in 1:56:37.

After the race, Lisa and I checked into the Hyatt at the Lost Pines Resort, then headed to Austin to visit her friend from medical school, then went out to diner at Roy's in downtown Austin.

Sunday morning was Dirty Du morning, so once again we were up early and off to Rocky Hill Ranch. At the ranch, our presence was graced by Rick Morris of Sage Cycles, who competed in his first duathlon.

The first run went very well for me. I was somewhere around 30th place when I finished the run, and my time was very close to what I had done the day before. The transition was very smooth, and uneventful.

Since I had just ridden most of the bike course a few weeks prior during the TMBRA race, the bike leg was great for me . I passed a lot of people, and felt strong the entire ride. There was one rider that hung with me for about 8 miles, but he could not quite hold on to the end.

The second 5k would be best described as brutal. Since it was such a hard 5k, I had to take a quick breather at the top of Fat Chuck's Revenge.

Overall, I had a great race. I finished 21st overall in the indiual, 15th in the 40 and under category, and had the 14th fasted bike split in the entire race. It sure was a great weekend.