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 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.

Country Roads 10k

On September 20, 2008, Lisa, her friend Melissa, and I ran the Country Roads 10k in San Marcos, TX. After the disaster that was the Nike Human Race 10k, I was a little nervous going in and decided to take it easy.

Unlike the Nike race, the Country Road race was held in the morning, so it was about 20 degrees cooler than the Nike at 70 degrees. After so many days of upper 90s to 100 degrees, I felt very cold.

During the race I felt wonderful. Since I wake up so early in the morning to go to work, I normally run during the hottest part of the day. So a cool early morning run put in a Zen state pretty early. After I made a turn on an out and back section of road around mile 4, I saw Melissa was not to far behind me. So I kicked it down a gear until mile 5 when my back started to hurt. I ended up finishing with a time of 48:30, which was good enough for eighth place in my age group out of 16 people. Melissa won her age group. Lisa did well finishing sixth out of 21 in her age group.

After the race, we treated ourselves to a day at Schlitterbahn. Nothing beats a day at the water park after a good run.

2008 Nike Human Race 10K

August 31, 2008 Nike Human Race 10K

Yes, after my mountain bike race I drove to Austin, TX to be w ith Lisa. Yes, I ran the 10K. Yes it really hurt, but I would do it all over again.

I was not planning on running the race, but after I spent some time walking around down town Austin with Lisa, I got excited about the race.

I did not bring my running shoes, but Nike had a demo booth. As long as I was entered into the race, Nike would loan me a pair a shoe for the race using my ID as collateral. When they asked what shoe I wanted, I told them any shoe for a neutral striker. They gave me a slightly used pair of Nike Zoom Vomero3. I was set to race.

At the time of the start of the race, it was in the 90s with high humidity. I was going to try and run alongside Lisa, but after 3 miles I started to cramp. I ended up doing a lot of walking to get through to the end. I was frustrated, but after the race, Nike let me keep the shoes.

In the end, I ended up with a free pair of shoes, a cool shirt, 10 power bars, Nike socks, and a Nike towel. Not bad. The race was worth it.