So the bike...No.More.Excuses.

So I kind of fell into triathlon back in 2004 and after one race decided I liked it enough to get a tri bike. I went with a 2004 (maybe 2003???) Quintana Roo Kilo - the price was right and it felt pretty good (hell, what did I know?). It has served me pretty darn well over the years, but this weekend, I finally made the move to something a bit more modern. I have a bit of a problem with brand loyalty - as in I can become obsessed with a given brand. My shoes? Normally Asics. Underwear? Under Armour (as well as almost all of my sweats, shorts, T-shirts, etc). Cars? Acura. That being said, my bike purchase followed suit and I stuck with the Quintana Roo family. I did upgrade to a 2012 QR CD0.1. And it's pretty awesome if I do say so myself. Just outside Tri Bonzaibefore the drive home:

It was a good fit. Felt great from the beginning and I did my first trainer session this morning. I also did a few tweeks last night, but nothing major. Now, just need to get over a few nagging injuries and I'm all set. Of course, now the only thing to blame for poor performance is the engine. I plan on that NOT being an issue this year!

Grinding!

Well training is already in full gear and it is definitely taking its toll. This isn't a bad thing necessarily, but it definitely puts an emphasis on how poorly I prep myself in the off-season. No exercise=no good. 0-60 (or 0 to 14 mile runs in my case) is not the way to get into training mode. As a result I'm having some aches and pains - my left achilles worries me the most. Hopefully this is pretty minor and I can continue doing what I'm doing and closing in on my goals for the year. Some cool things are in the works. Sunday I'm heading over to my favorite Tri shop Tri Bonzai to do a little bike shopping. They have some killer deals going on with their 2012 selection of Quintana Roos. Since my first and only tri bike I've ever had is a 2004(maybe even 2003???) QR Kilo, I'm happy to stick with them and move up to a full carbon QR CD0.1 (2012 model).

I couldn't be more pumped! Hopefully the fit is on the money and I'll be upgrading shortly. There is NO excuse for going slow now!
I need to get my butt in gear in the run department though. Time to start upping the miles and speed work if I want to be anywhere close to a BQ at the Boston Marathon (my goal is to BQ at Boston leaving my fall less stressful). I have a lot of work to do where that is concerned though, but my dogged determination at hitting my goals will help me make sure I get there. That said, if Boston is pushing 90 again this year like last (when I was dying of heat just watching!), all bets are off. I just really hope my partner in crime, aka the wife, aka the fast one is cured of her current injury situation and can run Boston (she will not be "racing" though - although she'll probably still beat me). I'd hate it if she can't make it up there...
As far as bike work is concerned, I'm feeling really good knocking out the sessions on the trainer. Thanks to the HBO Go app on the ipad, I'm knocking out episode after episode of Entourage and loving it and it makes the sessions fly by.
Swimming should be added in the next few weeks is my guess. I have to at least get my 400 time down so I can crush the Splash and Dash I'm entered in at the end of April....
We'll see where this all goes, but I'm feeling pretty good!
Hope everyone is crushing their training!

2012 in Review; 2013 Goals

Well, 2012 has come to a close and with it some pretty big race accomplishments for me. I had one BIG goal for 2012 and that was to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I ran it back in 2011, but as part of a charity (The Dana Farber Cancer Institute) so technically speaking, I'm not sure that counts. I originally had planned on attempting to qualify at the Chicago Marathon in 2011, but when I signed up, the new process hadn't been put in place yet. That along with an earlier opening of registration nixed that plan (registration had moved up from mid October to mid September). Technically speaking, I qualified at Chicago with a 3:14:50, but unfortunately, Boston was full before I even toed the line. With all of that said, having spring/early summer as my tri season, I was on the look out for a fall, flat, fast marathon. I found one in Erie in mid September, and NAILED my BQ, qualifying with a whopping 13 seconds to spare.

Big 2012 Goal: BQ - DONE!

As for the rest of my 2012 goals, all I really ask of myself is to go for PRs. That said, I had some pretty good ones in 2012. Below are my PRs for the year

Marathon - Erie - 3:09:47
Half Marathon - Rock N Roll USA - 1:29:58
10K - Pikes Peak (Rockville, MD) - 39:09 (this is a FAST mostly downhill course to be completely open...)

Triathlon:
Columbia: 2:28:06 (Dropped 9 minutes)
Ironman 70.3 Eagleman: 5:04:45 (Dropped 37 minutes)

I'm looking for a big year in 2013 with the following big races already scheduled (more to come!):

Rock N Roll USA Half Marthon
Boston Marathon
Ironman 70.3 Raleigh

I'm not sure how I'll fill out the rest of the summer and fall, but I'm looking forward to another big year!

Marine Corps Marathon Race Report...a little late, huh?

Well, this race...or situation...was a first for me. Second marathon in a season. MCM came 6 weeks on the heels of the Erie Marathon where, if you (yeah you - the lone reader of this here blog) recall, I scored my first Boston Marathon Qualifying time (3:09:47 - 13 seconds to spare!). So post Erie, my training was sporadic at best. As a friend of ours stated the other day, I take my recovery seriously! I like to say that I rarely miss a rest/recovery day ;). I got in one 16 mile two weeks prior to MCM and I think at that point I thought to myself that I could maybe come close to matching Erie's performance. The problem being, I lacked a major element that I normally have an abundance of in my arsenal - motivation! MCM was my 6th marathon and the previous 5 had all been PRs (yeah, the first one counts as a PR too!). That lack of motivation to either PR or chase a BQ I truly believe hindered my performance and allowed me to slack off a bit in my effort.
Race day came and luckily we avoided the major winds and rain (all the rain, but there was quite a bit of wind) that accompanied Hurricane Sandy (one day later and we could have been either cancelled or miserable). A friend of ours (Julie) decided she wanted to run with me. She just 4 weeks prior ran a PR of 3:20 at Wineglass (oh by the way, my kick ass wife finished 3rd overall there with a 3:01!!!) and decided she wanted to go sub 3:20 at MCM. I had planned on going out at a 7:25 pace and see where I stood at the halfway point. At 13.1, I was on track for a 3:15 (not a PR, but something I was going to be ok with). Unfortunately, the head win at the turn around at Hains Point was pretty stiff and I started to fall off pace. Julie soon fell back at about 14 or 15 and I was then running solo without anyone to push (who in turn would help push me). The remainder of the race was pretty uneventful (although my friend Dan paced me in the final 6 - Thanks Dan! - and I'm pretty sure he was very happy to be done with me because I'm pretty sure I complained non-stop!), except when I saw my in-laws with my daughters at 19.5! That was a huge pick-me-up, but unfortunately, I was on cruise control at that point and just wanted to be done.
I finally finished in 3:20:31 and a few weeks later I'm still unsure of how I feel about this. I'm either ok with it or disappointed...I just can't figure out which. I can say this...I don't like NOT PR'ing and I plan on doing that in Boston in April! I have a big spring/summer planned and if I want to make any kind of a splash, I need to start getting myself in order ASAP!
I can tell you this though, I LOVE the big races a lot more than the little ones! MCM is my hometown marathon more or less and the crowds are absolutely fantastic! I just wish I had given more in return. MCM should definitely be on every marathoner's must do race list!

Two Weeks Until Marine Corps Marathon!

Well, this is a first for me. Two marathons in one season. MCM is six weeks after Erie, but it is coming up quicker than I'd like! Saturday I put in a 16 miler and while it felt like a tough effort, I averaged a 7:43 pace (I've been averaging about 8:10s or slower for long runs) which probably contributed to it feeling like a tough effort... I didn't realize I was running this fast for much of the run and on the way home only then did I realize the overall average was fairly fast (at least for me). This has resulted in some positive and negative thoughts going through my head. On the one hand, I knocked out my first semi-long run since Erie with relative ease (I could have kept going if I had to, but really didn't see a point since I am only 2 weeks out) and my pace was well below my long run target pace. That said, I just haven't put in the miles since Erie. I'm not sure how this will affect me come race day. Let's hope for some fresh legs! I still need to figure out how fast I plan on running too!

BQ Baby!!! Erie Marathon Race Report!

It wasn't easy...in fact the last couple miles were downright painful and the most brutal stretch of running I've ever completed. But I did it. Finally got that elusive Boston Marathon Qualifying Time!

With the new time standards set by the Boston Athletic Association, I'd have to go 3:10:00 or better for the 35-39 age group. That meant close to a five minute pr for me (I ran a 3:14:50 at the 2011 Chicago Marathon). I strategically picked the Erie Marathon based on the date and also that it was said to be a flat and fast course. Since Erie is within driving distance for me, I decided this was the one to do. If everything worked out perfectly, I'd qualify on Sunday and on Monday, Boston registration would reopen for all qualifers (the previous week was the first week of registration for those with qualifying times under 20 minutes, 10 minutes, and 5 minutes - 3 different days - better than qualifying time). Soon enough we had a bit of a crew from my running group that would make the 6 hour trek up to Northwest Pennsylvania.
I was very lucky to have a friend of mine volunteer to pace me at the race. He's a 2:46ish marathoner so this would be an easy training run for him. We drove up on Saturday morning, stopped at Olive Garden for lunch (it was lovely), hit the "expo" (two "booths"), and then stayed for the pasta dinner put on by the Erie Running Club.

Let me add a sidebar to this post...The Erie Marathon is an EXCELLENT race - and not just for those looking to run a BQ. It is extremely well organized, excellent "schwag" (ok, I probably will use the long sleeve T as a throw away at another race, but I just don't do cotton anymore - snob - but I WILL wear the socks we got in the race bag (also a reusable shopping bag - bonus!), excellent CHEAP pasta dinner ($10), water stops just about every mile, and a $40 entry fee which I have to say is unheard of!

Ok, back to the story ;) So anyway, we have dinner, and then to the hotel to check in, unpack, and get some sleep. Sleep as usual didn't come easy and after a night of unrest, it was time to get up and get ready. I drank the Personal Best Nutrition Breakfast Cocktail (Infinit Mud plus EFS Kona Mocha Liquid Shot), banana, and coffee before heading over to the park. About 45 minutes pre-race, I began sipping on a bottle of First Endurance EFS with a scoop of First Endurance's Pre-race (HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS STUFF!!!). I took care of business, watched Al Pacino's pre-game speech from Any Given Sunday (yeah, it fires me up - sue me!), and then it was time to head to the start.

The course is a two loop course (also a one loop half) in Presque Isle Park right on Lake Erie. The first half Ken wanted me to hold back a bit. This is definitely a bit different than I'm used to. My normal race plan for a marathon has me go a couple seconds faster than goal pace to give me a some time in the bank. I know this isn't exactly what many suggest, but just what has worked for me. Get some time in the bank and then hold on at the end! The first couple miles were definitely slower than I expected (7:35, 7:27), but Ken told me we were doing what we needed to do. By mile five, we were only running about a 7:22 pace overall. Seemed to me that we really needed to pick things up, but Ken never seemed worried - in fact, he told me to pull it back on a few occassions. I figured he knows what he's doing so I'm not going to second guess him. Overall, the first half went very smooth and the effort didn't seem to be too taxing. At the halfway point, we managed to get down to 1:35:15 pace so there wouldn't be too much to make up. I felt much better about where we were than I had earlier in the race. The second loop, it started getting warmer, but the park provides quite a bit of shade which certainly helps keep the temps down. That said, through the second loop I could definitely feel myself getting warmer and was hoping not to overheat too bad (I eventually bagged the shirt to stay as cool as possible at about mile 24). At about mile 16 I started to feel like I had to start working harder. Paces were on point and through mile 20, we had made up a lot of time and were averaging about a 7:13 pace and had about 20 seconds in the bank. I was definitely starting to feel it at this point, but still was able to hold the pace. At mile 21, things started to hurt and the pace dropped to 7:22. Uh oh...starting to LOSE time. At this point in the race is where Ken goes from being supportive pacer to first class asshole/lunatic/motivator/bully. That said, it's probably exactly what I needed. Miles 23 and 24 were back on goal pace, but mile 25 I was back to losing time running a 7:21 pace. Ken is going absolutely apeshit at this point and telling me he needs me to give just 1% more than what I'm currently giving and I don't have anything left in the time bank! Somehow I manage to pick it up again and I run the final 1.2 at a 7:01 pace and finishing 13 seconds under qualifying time!

Post race I'm really struggling, but happy to have done it. Not much time to spare, but I did what I set out to do. BQ and a 5:03 PR! On a side note, the second place woman came up to us afterwards to give congratulations and tell me she's really glad Ken wasn't pacing her "because when he started running backwards, I would have punched him in the face!" Yes...at more than one point, Ken was yelling at me while he ran FASTER than me BACKWARDS!

Big thanks to Ken for the push and motivation. I could have done it without him, but I'm not sure I would have done it without him... Active Ambassadors, Personal Best Nutrition (not sponsored by them or anything, but Brian provides excellent info and top notch customer service!), and of course my wife and daughters! My wife had no doubt I could do it and during those tough last couple miles, I thought about her and her confidence in me and it helped me not quit (I really, really, really wanted to just stop for a couple seconds and "regroup" but so glad I didn't...no seconds to spare!).

For anyone looking for a nice flat and fast course with a small marathon feel yet run smoother than any big name marathon (with better "extras"), then definitely give the Erie Marathon a shot!

T-minus 6 days until the Erie Marathon!

Crap...down to the wire. Time to put up or shutup. Shooting for the ever-elusive Boston Qualifying time for the Boston Marathon. If I put it on my blog will it happen? Well, here's hoping this works. I WILL run 3:09:30 or BETTER! To be continued...