This was my first real 5k. I trained for this one and it went fairly well. It was a beautiful day. Pretty flat course, did a 6/1 run/walk split for all.
Grin and 'Bear' It; W. Jefferson, OH -26 Jun. 04 -5k -39:25 -12:40.1/mi.
Not really sure what happened here, this was not a real good race. There were two hills after the 2 mile marker. This race beat me down!
Two lap race, few hills, not too bad of a run. I really pushed it on the last stretch of the race, thought I was going to throw up for all the effort I put into that last bit.
Flat fast out and back course, this stood as my PR for an official 5k race until my first Triathlon on 24 July 05. Hot and humid day.
Say 'Yes' 5k and Wellness Fair; Columbus, OH -14 Aug. 04 -5k -33:21 -10:45.5/mi.
Not a PR, but I really felt like I was working for this one. The course was slightly hilly, but nothing too bad.
Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon; Virginia Beach, VA -05 Sept. 04 -1/2 M -2:40:18 -12:14.2/mi.
First half-marathon! This was a fun race with bands and fans all over the course. Only a few hills and they were bridges. Ran this one as a 5/1 split for the first 2 hours or so, then went to a 4/2 split. There were some heavy winds on Ocean Side and the Boardwalk. Also, the sun was pretty intense, so that played a role in this one. Finished on the same day I started on the right course! And despite a scratch on one foot and a blister on the other, I finished happy!
Ran this one on a 7/1 split. Nothing real important to mention about this one, few bridge hills over rail tracks...other than that, nothing worth mentioning.
Capital City Classic; Columbus, OH -03 Apr. 05 -1/2 M -2:26:25 -11:10.6/mi.
Well, training for this race started off well in December, but I suffered a skiing injury, then a wrist injury from a cycling accident that put a real damper on the training toward the end. The weather was awful, freak snow storm all morning, heavy wet snow, sleet, and freezing rain coupled with high winds, including a head wind for more than 4 miles heading north on High St. While this was not the time that I was looking for, I was still fairly happy with the time, especially considering the weather and the training conditions leading up to the event. I enjoyed the race despite everything.
This is the 1 year anniversary of participating in races for me. April was a good training month for me, then school things got in the way for May. I had a great deal of papers and readings to do that took most of my time. I only ran twice in the 4 weeks leading up to the race. Considering that, I was just happy to improve on last year's time, as I cut 50 seconds off.
Well, I was aiming for a sub 1 hour run for this race, but it didn't happen. Looking in my log book, I see that last Saturday I ran a 7.1 miler in 1:04 and change. So, I have no idea what exactly happened today. It was only around 80F, but the humidity was well over 75%, so my shirt and shorts gained a few pounds of sweat. This just means that I'll have to work a bit harder for the next 10k and try to get that sub-hour time in that race. This was in the same park as last year's "Say 'Yes' 5k and Wellness Fair"; somewhat undulating terrain along the east bank of the Scioto River. It's a nice park, this race just seemed tougher than I thought it should be.
No Limits 10K; Alum Creek Dam, Lewis Center, OH -10 Sept. 05 -10k -59:58 -9:40.3/mi.
This was one hell of a race! I didn't run all week, but I was backpacking from Saturday to Monday, skated Wednesday, Biked Thursday and Swam on Friday. The race was a half way challenging from about 0.2 miles to the 1.0 was almost entirely up hill, a bit more than half of the dam (~1 mile or so) was off road, which I like, since that's how I do most of my training. A bit past the 4.0 mile marker, we had a gravel path that was a bit of an uphill that ended at the base of a staircase, I counted 106 steps - straight up the face of the dam, then the last bit circled back on part of the course we already ran (there was a bit of new surface we didn't run, but not too much). I ran a 9:15/0:45 run/walk split for the race, except I skipped the last walk interval, since it was right around the 6 mile marker. Taking a look at the watch, it said I had 1:45 to run the last 0.2 miles, so I picked up the pace again, the last 50 meters or so was an all out sprint as I kept checking my watch to try and beat the 1 hour mark, and just barely made it. I was very satisfied with this one!
Xterra Scramble 5K; Alum Creek St. Park, OH -22 Oct. 05 -5k -29:29 -9:30.6/mi.
FINALLY!!! A sub 30 minute 5K!!! This has been one of my goals since I started running seriously in May of 2004. Amazingly, I pulled this off with very little training since the Deer Creek Pineman Triathlon... I've essentially been in full rest mode, not eating properly, just barely maintaining a base fitness level. I plan to start my build up period for off season training this week (24-30 Oct.), and if the weather holds out like it's supposed to on Sunday - attempting my first ever Century on the bike, we'll see how that goes. Back to the point at hand though, this was my first off-road race. Most of my training is off road, but... The course was on the multi-use trail @ Alum Creek State Park, a grass trail that was nice and muddy from 4 days of consistant rains, and slippery from the wet, fallen leaves. There were some gentle hills, which I welcomed - I rarely do well on pancake flat courses, running or cycling. It rained, it was cool, it was dark and overcast, it was a perfect day for a run - just the way I like it. Great event, hopefully Xterra returns to Columbus in 2006!
Pet Tracks 5K; TOSU, Beekman Park, OH -08 Apr. 06 -5k -31:03 -10:00.0/mi.
Not my best, not my worst. It was about 75 yesterday, and today? Low 40's, with winds at about 20mph... ugh - it was a toughie, I ran the first mile sub 9:30, then after about 1.75 miles or so I just started to fall apart. That happens when your training falls to shit... I really want to get back to my normal schedule b/c I am looking to shatter both 5k and 10k PR's this season, but I really need to get on top of things to do that.
Ugh - when will I be able to get my training back on track where it needs to be??? School's rough and taking up a boat-load of time. This was a pleasant day, not too warm or cool. Sharon Woods is my arch-nemisis; even in training I can not run a decent time there. The fact that I barely ran 10K in the previous 2 weeks didn't help all that much either (ok - that's a bit of an exageration, but not by much...) I'm not entirely out of the game yet. I'll get shit together sooner or later. Maybe I can talk the one sport psychologist I know into helping a guy out... pro bono - I can't afford the $165 an hour that they get, but I could use the help in getting my motivation squared away and getting my training back on track. June 25th's my first Tri this year, and it's rapidly approaching.
These are the Triathlons I have been in.
Race Name and Location -Date -Distance
Columbus International Triathlon, Antrim Lake - Columbus, OH -24 July 2005 -Sprint (Swim - 750 Meters; Bike - 15.3 Miles; Run - 5K)
Place No. Age Rank Swim Time to Tran Tran1 Rank Bike Rate Tran2 Rank Run Pace Penalty Final
This is the first triathlon I've ever participated in. I placed 118th of 211 overall. In my age group I placed 13th of 16. The swim was tougher than I was expecting, as I was hoping to do that part in under 18 minutes. But, then again, I'm still not that comfortable in open water. I came out of the water fairly tired, but the walk/run up to the transition helped me to catch my breath. T1 went fairly well. I was pretty happy with the bike portion, the average speed of 21.5 MPH was good enough for me to have the 50th best time on the bike. The course was great, fairly flat with a few rolling portions, the turns were sharp, but I had no problems with them. T2 took longer than I though it did, but I felt pretty good starting on the run, no issues with my legs being tight or sore after that quick bike ride. It seemed like I was running slower than I did, but this turned out to be my best official 5k to date. I crushed my former PR for a 5k by 2:38 (min:sec). Great race, trained hard and it paid off well with an amazing first time performance. The weather turned out to be much better than expected. Water temp was 82F, and the race wasn't much warmer than the mid 80's, mostly coudy; great day to race.
Deer Creek Pineman, Deer Creek State Park - Mt. Sterling, OH -18 Sept. 2005 -1/4 Ironman (Swim - .6Mi; Bike - 28Mi; Run - 6.55Mi)
Place No. Age Rank Swim Pace Tran1 Rank Bike Rate Tran2 Rank Run Pace Penalty Final
This was my 2nd and last race for this year (2005). 6/7 in the age group. The swim (click here for a picture of my wave's start) was tough for me as usual, no matter how good I do in training, open water really isn't my thing. I feel like I can't breath right, no matter what. I ended up using a breast stroke for most of the swim leg... not my proudest moment, but - I didn't drown! And that's a good way to start a race. This race counted the time to the transition with the swim leg, so my swim time was about a minute to 90 seconds or so better than what is listed. I didn't rush though either of the transitions. The bike was fairly flat, there was one or two little hills on the course before the 20 mile mark, then in the last 5 miles or so (MM23-28) there were 4-5 half way decent hills... nothing too bad for me, but still. T2 went alright, then the run started, and my suit was chaffing my johnson right from the start of the run :-( it was not nice at all. There wasn't a drop of shade on the entire course, so it made the day even more challenging. My sholders were a very unhappy red by the end of the event as well. In all, I was close to the 3:00:00 time I wanted - so I wasn't too upset about that; and this gave me a taste for longer events like this, so my new goal for next year involves 3 Olympic distance tri's (1500m, 40k, 10k which is roughly .9mi, 25mi, 6.2mi).
These are the Cycling Races I've been in.
Race Name and Conference; Location -Date -Distance -Place
MWCCC - Ohio University; Lake Hope, OH -04 Mar. 06 21 Mi Road Race -17/17
MWCCC - Ohio State Univ.; Dublin, OH -05 Mar. 06 20 Min Crit. -17/19
MWCCC - Ohio State Univ.; Columbus, OH (OSU Campus) -24 Feb. 07 30 Min Crit. -19/32
MWCCC - Michigan State U.; Dansville, MI -24 Mar. 07 17.6 Mi. Road Race -24/24
MWCCC - Univ. of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI -25 Mar. 07 20 Min. Crit. -20/21
MWCCC - Marian College; Indianapolis, IN -14 Apr. 07 30 Min. Crit. -10/10
MWCCC - Butler University; Morgan-Monroe State Forest, IN -28 Apr. 07 28 Mi. Road Race *Regionals*-13/17
MWCCC - Butler University; Morgan-Monroe State Forest, IN -28 Apr. 07 14 Mile Team TT *Regionals*-3/3
MWCCC - Butler University; Mooresville, IN -29 Apr. 07 25 Min. Crit. *Regionals* -15/15
