JustKev.in  •  From Lazyman to Ironman, one inactive guy's journey to triathlete (and everything else under his beer helmet.)
June 23rd, 2010 | 63 views | 3 Comments »

2010 Tri at Baxter Race Report

This race was my second triathlon of the year and it was a special one.  It was Melissa’s first triathlon and I had convinced her to race it.  I wanted her to have fun and be proud of herself.  And I wanted to be there!

I came off almost a week of illness and the thought crossed my mind not to race it, and my wife even suggested that I shouldn’t.  I got so sad at the thought of not racing with Melissa, that I told myself that I didn’t have to be fast, just be there and finish.

To add to my troubles, I was up until midnight the night before trying to fix my bike.  You see, after I installed my bike on the new trainer, I realized that my rear brake was rubbing.  I tried everything that I knew, pulled the crank (with the hidden brake on the Felt B16, the crank has to be removed to fully access the rear brake) I had the rear tire removed, etc.  I should have taken a picture; this was a mere 6 hours before I had to be there!  Well, I didn’t get it perfect, but I thought it would be good enough.

5:15AM-

Wake up time.  Hit snooze.

5:24AM-

Getting up now (so I thought), turned off alarm.

5:35AM-

Jenn says, “Get up, you’re going to be late!”  I went into the bathroom for a quick dressing with tri shorts and top under “street” clothes.  Good thing I had prepared everything the night before.  I went downstairs, grabbed a granola bar and went to the car where my bike and all my gear were already waiting.

6:10AM-

I met Melissa and Jeff at the race site.  Melissa was already setting up and she did a great job.  I guess the practice and the REI workshop paid off!  I got my transition area set up and we went to get body marked and get our timing chips.  We saw Scott and then Alex arrived after that.  We then went back to transition to check over everything and grab our swim gear.  We went to the bathroom and then to the pool for a little warm-up swim.  This is the benefit of arriving early.  We were able to take our time and get comfortable.

ummm?

someone's missing something

Scott giving last minute advice

The Swim:

Once it was my time to get in the water, I was feeling pretty good.  The swim went well and I felt I seeded myself correctly.  I passed the person in front of me and I allowed two people to pass me.  The short distance of 300 meters was nice!

getting in the pool

starting the swim

on the swim

almost done with the swim!

Melissa, ready to go!

go machine!

The Bike:

As soon as I started pedaling, I realized that I had not fixed the brake as well as I had thought.  The brake was rubbing a good bit.  This not only slowed me down, but I realized it was a big mental hurdle as well.  It was very frustrating to have to give more effort than I was getting out of it.  As I made my turn around at the halfway point, I started to look for Melissa.  She was not far behind!  And she looked great!  About 3 miles before the bike finish, I saw Scott walking his bike.  He was not hurt, so I did not stop.  Apparently, his chain had problems and he could only coast down hills and was forced to walk up them.  This did not stop him though, he still finished strong!

out for a ride with a rear brake rubbing!

heading out on the bike

Melissa in T1

back from the ride

Melissa is all smiles!

The Run:

After a frustrating ride, I was tired and a little annoyed.  It was hot and I was not feeling well stomach-wise.  I ran and walked the entire 3.4 miles and made for a VERY slow run.  Scott passed me first, then I heard Melissa’s voice not too far from the finish say, “Don’t let me catch you!”  That was enough motivation to run the rest of the way, but I knew she already had me beat; she started 1:40 after me.  There was no way for me to make that up at that point.  Congratulations Melissa!  Next time, though, I will be better prepared!  Speaking of, Melissa had a great time and is hooked!  What’s the next race, Melissa?

Jenn and the girls ready to cheer us in

Sadie's having a blast!

starting the run

heading out for the grueling run

melissa's smile is bigger than mine at this point!

Melissa on the run

Scott passed us both on the run!

that's the smile of finishing with my girls cheering me in

finish

pain!

I am hurting!

Melissa finish - she actually beat my time with the delayed start!

congratulations, TRIATHLETE!

the trio

It was a great race and a fun time with family and friends.  Melissa got hooked on multi-sport and Scott, Alex and I fueled our fires.  My bike is now in the shop at TrySports, so hopefully I will be back in the saddle next weekend without a rubbing brake.  I did actually finish 3rd in my age group, but I can’t really count it since there were only 3 of us!  Next up is the Ballantyne Triathlon, where Sally, Melissa and I are racing as a relay team.  Should be fun and we should be pretty fast!

Results:

Overall ——- Swim 300M ——- T1 ——- Bike 16M ——- T2 ——- Run 3.4 ——- Total
Place Place Name Bib No Age Rnk Time Pace Time Rnk Time Rate Time Rnk Time Pace Time
3 78 Kevin Davis 78 27 3 06:37 2:12 02:40 3 1:00:35 15.8 00:49 3 40:27 11:54 1:51:10
Categories: Race Reports, Triathlon Training
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May 4th, 2010 | 14 views | 5 Comments »

taper week

With my first triathlon coming up on Saturday, typically this week would include a tapered training schedule, but can I really call it that when I haven’t been training on a schedule?  Oh well, I’ll call it that anyway.

This past Sunday, Melissa and I did our own “triathlon” at my grandmother’s house on Lake Wylie.  We swam in the lake (COLD!) with Jeff paddling in the kayak along with us to make us more visible to boaters.  Next we hopped on the bikes only for Melissa to get a flat less than 3 miles in.  Oh well, I rode back, got in the car and picked her up.  Then we went for a 2 mile run on the hilly road along the lake shore.  Could we call this a “quadrathon” since it included a car ride between the bike and run?  Read Melissa’s great write up here.

I felt pretty bad on the run, but I will chalk that up to nutrition.  See, we didn’t start until close to noon and I foolishly followed my normal “race day” routine of not eating prior to the event.  But the real events normally start at 7:30 AM, not at noon.  My energy level on the run was almost nonexistent.

On another note, I got a bit of cross-training in on Saturday.  I guess you can call it that.  I took a job helping a family unload a moving truck into their new house.  2 hours of work, but I went basically nonstop moving in heavy boxes and furniture, even a piano!  Ugh.

I will try to post again before the race, but I have been very busy lately with several areas of life, but that should be nothing new to me!

Categories: Triathlon Training
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April 13th, 2010 | 33 views | 4 Comments »

2010 Charlotte RaceFest 10K Race Report

This past weekend, I raced in the Charlotte RaceFest 10K.  It was a fun event and I was surprised at my finish time, coming close to a PR on a not so flat course.  Melissa, Chris and Scott also ran that morning; running the half marathon event instead.

It all started early morning.  I was going to ride with Melissa, Jeff and Chris, but Jeff had to go back to his house because they had forgotten to grab my race packet.  Melissa had graciously picked it up for me when she got hers.  No big deal, I drove Melissa and Chris and Jeff did me a favor and went back to his house to get my packet and met up with us at South Park.

We got ready with about a minute to spare before the start.  I had decided to run with the beer helmet again, like I did in the Athens run last year.  They had half marathoners on one side of the street and 10K runners on the other.  I guess it has to do with the timing mats.  Well, they had mislabeled which side was which and with nearly 3000 runners, this caused great confusion.  I went to my side and Melissa and Chris stayed on theirs.

getting costume ready

still getting costume ready

ready!

Chris was freezing!

Melissa

We started, and I made my way back to see if I could find Melissa and Chris and run with them for a bit.  We stayed together for a little while before splitting up.  I got Gatorade at the first water stop, but then started to cramp a little.  So, I decided that I would get some water at the next.  But when I got there, they had no water ready!  I grabbed an empty cup and just dunked it in the water bucket.  I didn’t want to complain to loud because these are volunteers, but this is a race; you have to be ready!

I was able to run the whole time except for walking at the water stops.  I am proud of this because there were some good sized hills on the course and I was feeling it.  I ended up with a Garmin time of 56:54, a chip time of 56:54 (I actually remembered to stop it on time!) and a gun time of 57:28.  My time in Florence was 55:33, so this wasn’t a PR for 10K, but I was surprised to be close, given the lack of training and the hilly course.

After the run, I went looking for Jeff and my Dad (who came even before the start!) but didn’t see them.  I walked around, cheered some people in and got a free beer.  I was wearing a beer helmet after all!  Several people said they loved the helmet and one guy just started talking to me, cheered my beer and we ended up talking for a good 30 minutes.

I left and got my second free beer (hooray beer!) and looked for Dad and Jeff.  I saw them this time and I talked with them while waiting for Scott, Chris and Melissa to finish.  A guy came up to me and said he liked the beer helmet.  Then he paused and said, “Umm, I’m trying to figure out if this is creepy.”  I had no idea what to expect!  The he told me that he reads the blog and Melissa’s blog.  Then Jeff turned around almost on cue and took the picture below and said “Now you’re going to be on it!”  He said he ran Thunder Road ½ marathon in December and started to think about racing a triathlon.  Since he grew up nearby Cane Creek Park, he went online to find out more about the Cane Creek Triathlon and came across my race report.  Apparently it came up very quickly (thanks Jeff!)  He found Melissa’s blog through mine and is now a regular reader!  Thanks for reading Brian!  Now comment!  And let me know how I can help with your first triathlon!

new friend Brian

Scott came in first in the trio, then Chris and then Melissa.  She ran faster than she had expected too!  It must have been a great day to run!  After they finished, they made their way to the beer truck only to discover that they had run out of beer!  Tsk Tsk Charlotte RaceFest.  Tsk.  Read Melissa’s reaction here.

this pretty much says it all

Special thanks to Chris and Jeff whose cameras captured the pictures!

Categories: Race Reports, Triathlon Training
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March 24th, 2010 | 0 views | 4 Comments »

welcome to the new and improved justkev.in!

Thanks to Jeff and Melissa, I have a great looking blog!  If anyone out there needs any type of graphic design done, whether it is a birth announcement or a photo book for wedding memories, Melissa Oyler Designs is certainly the place to go.  I am constantly amazed by what talent my sister and her husband have for these things.

A word on the new header, the photo on the left is from the Cane Creek Triathlon, the middle photo is from the Assault on Cherokee Triathlon, and the photo on the right is of me finishing my first marathon (hence the stupid big smile!)

Categories: Melissa Oyler Designs
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January 12th, 2010 | 1 views | 4 Comments »

MitchellWinter 2010

This past weekend, I made the annual winter trip to Mount Mitchell.  On Friday night after work, I drove my Toyota 4Runner in a 2 car caravan with Chad riding with me and Andrew and Tyler in Andrew’s Toyota FJ Crusier.  Both our vehicles are equipped with 4 wheel drive and with the snow that had fallen in the previous days in the mountains of North Carolina, we felt it best to go up with a second vehicle.

We arrived at Black Mountain Campground around 10:45.  We had received word from Jeff’s friend Chadd that he was on his way and would be there soon.  He arrived at about 11:30 and the 5 of us got ready for a 3 mile hike to Mid Camp, where Melissa, Jeff, Chris and John were already set up.  About 1/2 mile up, Chadd was having knee problems.  He told us that he has had surgeries and the cold and his heavy pack were giving him problems.  He was going home.

The four of us continued up in the hard packed, basically frozen snow.  And yes, I realize that snow is already frozen, but this snow was solid and very slick.  Thanks to YakTrax that I had picked up from REI the week before, I had little to zero problems hiking on the ice.

We made it to Mid Camp around 2:15 Saturday morning.  We set up in the cold air that read on Jeff’s thermometer at 4 degrees.  I was thankful there was little wind.  I crawled into my sleeping bag in my bivy sack on the snow and tried to sleep.

I woke up around 6:00 and I had to pee.  It was still dark outside and no one else was up.  I tried to hold it for a while, but finally had to get up.  After I got back in my bag, I warmed my feet with my hands and then laid back down for a while.  All of a sudden I heard someone yelling in the distance.  I yelled back and then soon realized that it was Chadd.  Jeff summed it up nicely, “Hey Chadd you crazy bastard.”  Apparently, Chadd drove back home, unloaded his pack some and returned to meet up with us, hiking by himself in the dark.

We got a fire going and thawed out the feet.  We made some breakfast, which for me consisted of a freeze dried meal from Mountain House that was scrambled eggs with ham and green and red peppers.  It hit the spot, but I think anything warm would have been great.  We geared up for a summit hike and left just before noon – later than we should have left.

Melissa, John, Andrew, Chad, Tyler and I started up the mountain and it hit me, (like it does every trip there) how amazing it is to have such a diverse landscape so close to home.  It really does feel like you are on another world compared to Charlotte.  And it is a mere 2 hour drive!

At around 2:15, I ask Melissa if she wants to hike in the dark and she says no.  We had already discussed turning around at 2:30 to get back before dark.  It was 2:15 and we had 1.5 miles to go to the summit.  We decided to turn around and the other 4 went on to the top.

We got back to the camp where Jeff and Chris had a fire going and we got warm and dry.  the others made it back just before it got dark with their tales of how extreme the conditions were at the top.  Their frosted beards proved such conditions.

We made dinners and several turned in early to get warm in their sleeping bags.  Melissa, Chris and I stayed up a bit and talked and listened to the “I must be camping with Jeff” music by Johnny Cash.

Sunday morning I woke up and was extremely cold.  I was worried about my feet that I could barely move.  Jeff made a fire and I warmed my toes that had turned a shade of white/yellow and finally got their color back and stopped hurting.  I packed up and headed down the mountain with Chad, Andrew and Tyler.  Melissa, Jeff, Chris and John stayed back and made coffee and breakfast.  I had my sights set on food and a toilet at the nearest Waffle House!

We mad it to Waffle House around 12:00 and after hitting up the toilet (new Special Place, thanks Waffle House!) I ate a waffle, hash browns, eggs, toast and of course, bacon!

It was a great trip and it reminded me of why I love to hike and camp, but I have decided that, with my current equipment, my threshold on low temperatures is around 15-20 degrees.  The 4 degree temperatures were uncomfortable in my currnet sleeping system.  Perhaps a tent and battery-powered socks (good tip, Chad) are what are needed to get a good night’s sleep in such conditions.

Andrew, Kevin, Tyler and Chad After the Hike

Andrew, Kevin, Tyler and Chad After the Hike

Categories: Hiking/Camping, mitchell winter, special places
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January 5th, 2010 | 1 views | 3 Comments »

Happy New Year!

Okay, so I am late with this post, but I have been enjoying the time with my family over the holidays and things have been hectic!

I will take some ideas from Melissa for an “end of year” post and reflect back on 2009 and then focus on what I am planning for 2010.

Family Changes

2009 marked the 3rd birthday of my oldest daughter, Mia.  She is a wonderful girl who has me completely wrapped around her fingers.  The year also marked the 1st birthday of my youngest, Sadie.  She is an independent spirit who will be giving Mia hell in the coming years, I am sure.  Parents turn the other cheek when it is payback, you know.  My wife, Jenn, and I celebrated our 5 year Anniversary.  My sister, Jenny, and her husband, Chuck,  had their first baby, a boy named Cai and he is so adorable!  See Melissa’s post on her experience being there with them.

Weight Loss

In the beginning of 2009, I started my weight loss journey.  At the peak, I had lost about 40 pounds, but have slipped off since.  During marathon training I actually saw a weight gain, which I have heard can happen.  For the entire year, I lost about 30 pounds.

Running/Triathlon

In January 2009, I could not run a mile.  I started the Couch 2 5K program from PodRunner Intervals and ran my first 5K with Melissa in February.  I was hooked.  I went on to run a 4.1 mile race in April, my first triathlon in May, a 10K in June, off-road triathlon in July, international distance triathlon in August, a 211 mile relay run in the mountains of North Carolina in September and a Marathon in December.

Hiking/Camping

2009 was a bit of a slow year in this department.  I did manage to make the MitchellWinter trip with Melissa, Jeff and Chris.  I also got up to the Linville Gorge for a weekend with Andrew and Chad.  I was able to incorporate camping before a couple of triathlons.  I hope that as the kids get older, I will be able to take them places that I haven’t yet been able to.

Special Places

You have followed some of my new special places this year, and I appreciate you all bearing with my strange sense of humor!

2010

I hope to continue the weight loss journey in 2010 and to increase my physical ability.  I have already signed up for 4 triathlons including a Half Ironman in November.  This will be my biggest physical challenge of my life and I have a long way to get prepared for it.  I also look forward to another year of milestones with my wonderful girls and my beautiful wife!

Categories: Hiking/Camping, Introduction, Random Thoughts, Triathlon Training, Weight Management, marathon training, mitchell winter
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December 14th, 2009 | 5 views | 6 Comments »

I did it!

I ran my first marathon on Saturday.  I wanted to get this posted yesterday, but I didn’t the mental or physical energy to get it out.  I don’t have all of the photos I want to share loaded yet, but I want to get it started.  So I will add photos to this post, or I may create a new one with photos that Jeff took and perhaps some videos that Jenn and Crystal captured for me.

First, let me say that this was an amazing experience.  I don’t know if the next thing that I accomplish will have the exact same feeling, but I hope it is close.  I am not one to get too emotional to the point of tears, but after I crossed that finish line after high fiving most of my friends and family that came to see me, I was just overcome.  I don’t think I actually cried, but I felt like it and my eyes did water, but it could have been because I was freezing too.

For those that want more details, here are the events as they happened:

Friday night, Jenn and I drove to Charlotte to check into the hotel that Colleen works at and hooked us up with a good rate and free parking, the Crowne Plaza.  When we got there, I called Jeff and when he answered, he sounded just like the guy we could hear in the next room, in fact, he was the guy in the next room, and Melissa was on the other side of him.  We went over and spoke to them for a bit and then Jenn and I went to the Convention Center to pick up my race packet and to get some dinner.  Jenn wanted Fuel pizza, but I had planned on not eating that late.  Well, once I smelled pizza, I wanted some.  We brought it back to the hotel and I managed to only eat half a piece and water.  I went to bed around 10:00.  I tossed and turned all night and maybe got 2 hours of actual sleep.  I finally got up around 5:00 and jumped in the shower.  After the shower I went ahead and got dressed for the race and then went to Melissa’s room to see how she was doing.  Chris went out to find coffee and came back with extra hotel coffee packs.  Not the best, but caffeine none the less.

We walked to the start area and Melissa went to the bathroom in the convention center.  She must not have realized what time it was or how long the lines were going to be because I finally left and went to the start line at about 7:46.  I joined a mass of people and waited for the start.  They were a few minutes late, but when they said go, I started my watch timer and stood there and waited for almost 2 minutes before I could actually move.  There were more people than I could have imagined.  I saw Jeff as I ran by him and he snapped a picture.  At that point, I figured Melissa had gotten to the start and would eventually catch me.  She did for the record, but neither of us saw the other!

I was feeling very good for the first half of the race.  Pace was spot on and my body felt great.  The second half started fine, but around miles 19 – 21, my body started to say, “what the hell are you doing!?”  My calves started to cramp and my knees were sore.  My feet hurt and ankles too.  I stopped and stretched a few times, but when I did it almost made them cramp more.  I walked through a few water stops, but the last several miles went from 10 min/mile in the first part of the race down to 12 – 13 minute miles.  I had to quickly abandon my 4:30 goal time.  Now I was aiming for 4:45.  When the 4:45 pace group passed me, I tried to keep up, but the cramping returned.  When the 5:00 pace group passed, I was determined to stay with them.  I had about 3.5 miles to go.  We hit a tough hill and I had to stop and stretch again.  My legs were just toast.  they continued on and I thought to myself, “well at this point I know I can finish.  That’s what matters now.”  And that’s what I did.

Highlights of the race:

The guy leaning on a car holding a wooden paddle that said “smile if you need a spanking”

The guy who ran the entire marathon in a Santa suit.

Seeing Crystal, her husband, Ryan and her mom, Karen just before mile 18, cheering me on, holding signs that said “Go Kevin!” & “Keep TTP’n”  The second sign, I am told, was Brandi’s idea, but she couldn’t be there because she was sick.  Hope you are better, Brandi!

Seeing a vacant port-a-john right after mile 18 when I had to pee.

Running through the “wall” in NoDa.

Seeing the sign that said “Sign of Encouragement” next to a sign that said “The End is Near”

Giving high fives to kids on the side of the road that came out to cheer us on.

Seeing my other sister, Jenny, running towards me about a mile from the finish.  She kept me company as I finished.

Seeing Karen, Ryan, Crystal, Jeff, Chris, my Mom and Dad, Colleen, Jenn, and to my surprise, Mia and Jenn’s parents as I approached the finish line.  Truly a feeling of elation.

As I said, I will get pictures and video up on my next post when I can.

Read Melissa’s post here.

This picture from Melissa's post captures my feeling pretty closely

This picture from Melissa's post captures my feeling pretty closely

Categories: marathon training
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December 11th, 2009 | 0 views | 7 Comments »

getting excited now…

With less than 24 hours until showtime, my head is racing with thoughts about what to pack, how I am feeling and how I will do.  I went to my last chiropractor appointment before the marathon last night and went to TrySports to ask their opinion on clothing options during the marathon with the chilly forecast ahead.

The chiropractor is just awesome and I would recommend him to anyone having any sort of back problems.  For that matter, I think a lot of problems we experience in our entire body could somehow be related to our spines.  Without him, I really don’t think I would be at the start line tomorrow.

The wonderful folks at TrySports recommended that I wear a long-sleeve tech tee, with a short-sleeve tech tee over it that I can remove if I get too warm.  They also suggested a wicking, breathable hat (I have an UnderArmour Cold Gear hat that I picked up at REI) & breathable gloves (bought those last night at TrySports, Saucony gloves with a mitten cover if needed, thanks Jenn!).  They told me that my plan to wear UnderArmour boxer jocks and running shorts with compression sleeves should suffice for my legs.  I will also carry my Nathan Speed 2 water belt with both bottles containing multi hour amounts of Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem, 5 Hammer Gels and a coin dispenser full of Hammer Endurolytes.  I will of course run with my Garmin Forerunner 310XT so as to record every mile and the heart rate monitor so I can count the calories burned for the TrySports calorie burn contest.  Guess how many calories I will burn and the closest will earn bragging rights!

Melissa posted this already on this blog post, but I thought it worthy enough to show again.  Just looking at the map is still staggering to me.  I  think it would be even worse if I hadn’t run the course preview runs a few weeks ago.

Thunder Road Marathon Course

Thunder Road Marathon Course

I am so excited that Jenn, Jeff, Chris, my Mom and Dad, Crystal, her Mom, Ryan, &  Brandi will be there with Melissa and I.  Crystal, her Mom, Ryan and Brandi are running the Jingle Jog 5K and I would venture to say this will be more of a Frosty 5K than next month’s!  So sorry that you can’t run with us, but next year, you will rock it!

Categories: marathon training
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September 21st, 2009 | 66 views | 5 Comments »

2009 Cane Creek Triathlon Race Report

One week after running with an ultra team in the Blue Ridge Relay, I raced my last triathlon of the year.  During the week I did zero training to allow my legs some time to recover.  I felt that they had recovered well, so I set my sights on a respectable time in the race.

The Swim

This was my first swim in a wetsuit, so I didn’t know quite what to expect.  The suit did make me feel lighter in the water.  It also made the slightly chilly water a bit more comfortable.  I am not a strong swimmer at all and I felt especially slow on this one.  I had expected a time of 19 minutes on the swim and I crossed the mat at 25:27.

Glad to be out of the water!

Glad to be out of the water!

The Bike

After a slow swim, I looked forward to getting on the bike.  I passed several people on the bike and that felt good.  I don’t think anyone passed me that kept the lead.  There were a few that would catch me on the up hills and I would pass them again going down.  I forgot to start my Garmin watch until about mile 5, but here is the last part of the ride.  Total time was 46:41, I had anticipated 45, so not too far off.

Going into transition after the bike

Going into transition after the bike

The Run

As soon as I got off the bike, I knew my legs were going to hurt.  My hamstrings and calves started to cramp.  As I changed into my running shoes, I stretched a little and my wife walked over to the fence and reminded me not to overdo it since I had to cut the grass later.  I thanked her for that and went on the run.  About a quarter mile in, my legs were yelling at me to stop.  I did some more stretching and continued on.  I managed to keep a decent pace for the rest of the run, walking at the water stops.  The last quarter mile was full of pain!  My final run time was 29:46, I had hoped for 27.  Here are the Garmin’s stats on the run.

Heading to the finish line - that is the biggest smile I could give!

Heading to the finish line - that is the biggest smile I could give!

All in all it was a fun race.  I shouldn’t have raced a week after the Blue Ridge Relay, but it was still fun.  The lake was beautiful and the bike course was scenic too.  The run was a very boring out and back two laps though.  They should think about changing the run route to something more interesting.  My final time with transitions was 1:46:34, good enough for 227th out of 296.  I ended up 31st out of 35 in my age group.  So nothing extraordinary or anything, but I finished.  The best thing was seeing my people that came to watch me as I am heading to the finish.  Mia yelling “Go Daddy go!” is always wonderful and my wife and Sadie were there too.  My sister, Melissa and her husband Jeff and my Mom and Dad came out too!  It is always wonderful when your friends and family come to watch.  And now two days after, my right calf is cramping and telling me I was stupid for doing that.  I got some IcyHot patches and hopefully that will help!  Thanks to Melissa for the pictures!  Check out her blog post here.

Categories: Race Reports
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September 14th, 2009 | 1 views | 8 Comments »

a race of a lifetime

You all know that I ran with Team 4tunate (to have 2 more runners) in the Blue Ridge Relay race last weekend.  It was an experience that I will never forget.  I will try to recap the adventure as best as I can, but I am sure to leave out many, many things that were certainly of value.  I had full intentions of bringing pen and paper to document things that I would want to include on the blog, but I forgot to bring them and I am not sure if I would have had the time to do so anyway!

Friday, September 11, 2009

2:25 AM – I woke up to take a quick shower and get dressed.  I went downstairs and packed the few things that I had thought of as I was tossing and turning during the 4 hours of broken sleep the night before.  What a time for Mia to decide to cry twice during the night!  Chris made sure I was up and we got the car packed.

3:15 AM – Chris and I left my house to rendezvous with Alex and the Jasons.  We arrived at Alex’s house was dark and the Jasons were not there yet, but we were early, so we just waited.

3:30 AM – Alex came out and offered his bathroom, which I took him up on.  Then the van came around at about 3:40 and Jason Sutton was driving.  Apparently Jason Martin had forgotten a few things and he was to meet us in Charlotte.  We drove to Charlotte and picked up Whitney at her hotel and then picked up Jason Martin at a parking garage he has access to.  From there, we hit the road towards Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia.

The team - ready to go!

The team - ready to go!

7:20 AM – Our team’s start time.  Jason Martin starts us off and at a very fast pace.  He arrives at the first exchange zone way before I expected!

Let's get it started!

Let's get it started!

From this point on, everything sort of runs together in a sweaty, sleep deprived delirium.  I remember some details from each of my six legs which I will share below:

Leg 3 – my first run

Not a terribly difficult run, but along some gravel roads that on a few occasions scare me that I will roll my ankle on the rocks.  I did feel a little pain in my left ankle, but it worked itself out.  First run of 5.2 miles down, 5 more of over 20 to go.

Leg 9 – my second run

This leg was almost completely flat for the first 4 miles or so.  Then the course turns onto Big Hill Road and things got interesting and hard!  A big hill climbing up from the river I had been running along.

Leg 15 – my third run

This run started at the gates to Grandfather Mountain Park.  Jason Sutton had the task of running the 10 miles straight up to this point and I almost felt I was cheating since all I had to do was run 2.4 miles down.  It was my first night run, so I was in the van putting on my reflective vest and getting my two blinking red lights and headlamp on and Jason Martin came up to the van after changing clothes.  It was getting dark and I was very sleep deprived and I thought it was Jason Sutton.  I panicked thinking I was supposed to be running already.  I say to him, “You’re back already!?” and he says, “back from where?”  I am confused and thinking he is messing with me, but I can’t figure out why he would mess with me and cause the race to suffer.  It doesn’t make sense to me and I think he realized that I was confused and he explains that I am okay, that Jason Sutton is still running.  I calmed down and realized that the mental game is a part of this whole thing.  When Jason Sutton did actually come in, I ran down and enjoyed a good pace on the downhill run.  It certainly was eerie running in the dark of the night, but it was an experience that was serene as well.

getting ready to run in the dark

getting ready to run in the dark

Leg 21 – my fourth run

Another short and downhill night run.  This run took me through downtown Spruce Pine.  The town at this early hour was deserted except for a few runners and their support vans.  Again, I feel like I am cheating with my short downhill runs, but the team tells me they are nice and easy, but they still have to be done, so I am contributing.

nightime in the van

nightime in the van

Leg 27 – my fifth run

I am now back to the 5.2 mile distance again.  This run was mostly a slight uphill and at this point I started to notice the effects of all that was going on.  The run seemed pretty difficult to me and I know that it shouldn’t.  A guy passed me and I attempted to keep up with him for a bit.  I could not keep his pace.  A little while after that, I heard a voice come from behind after a dog started to bark and it was a female asking if she could run with me because she is afraid of dogs.  I said sure and she sprinted ahead to catch me.  We ran the rest of the leg together and I think she felt like I slowed down to keep her company, but in truth she probably kept me going a little faster than I would have on my own.  When I finished, I found the van and curled up in the back seat to attempt my first real sleep in over 27 hours.  I slept for about an hour while Alex was running and felt a little better.  We had stopped at the next exchange zone and I had to pee, so I got out of the van to find the port-a-johns.  A step or two into the walk I realized that my legs from my thighs down were in a world of hurt.  My right knee had the worst pain and this was the first time that I doubted my ability to finish.  I knew the run that I had coming up was a terribly difficult one and here I was having trouble walking 50 feet down a slight incline to the bathroom.  I decided to walk around a bit to try and loosen up and it felt a little better, but still extremely painful to walk.  At the next exchange area, there was a nice river that Alex suggested we go soak our legs in.  I thought he was crazy at first, but he convinced me and to my surprise it helped a great deal!  My legs were still fatigued, but the knee pain was gone and I felt much better.

Alex soaking his legs - I had just gotten out

Alex soaking his legs - I had just gotten out

Leg 33 – my sixth and final run

This is the only leg of the race that I had run prior to the race.  I knew what to expect and that was on one hand nice to know what I have before me, but also intimidating because I knew just how hard it was!  I started the run at the bottom and took advantage of the slight uphill and ran a fairly good pace.  I hit the steep part and walked.  A guy did pass me while running, but he may have only gained about 20 feet on me before he started to walk too.  It was so steep that you really do walk as fast as you can run.  It made me think that whoever decided to pave this road so steep either did so with no intention of anything non-motorized ever attempting to go up it or with a sadistic humor that they knew someone would try.  I reached the top and my team had stopped to cheer me up the hill.  I enjoyed the cheers and the 10 feet of flat before the road goes right back down the other side.  I ran down at a pretty good pace before I started cramping.  My legs from my hamstrings to my calves were seizing up at this point.  I stopped and stretched with about 1.5 miles to go.  I started to run again, but the cramps came back.  I ran it out, but in extreme pain.  I had set a goal for myself to complete this run in less than 1 hour and I cam close with a time of 1:00:34.

They should add "Only attempt to run if you are nuts"

they should add "only attempt to run if you are nuts"

f

me walking up the extreme incline - the photo does not do it justice!

run

running down the other side

 Chris finished the last leg of the relay about 32 hours after Jason Martin had started.  We were all extremely exhausted, but completely proud of our accomplishment.  We all also had the opportunity to witness the first solo completion of the course.  How amazing is the determination that would have to take place to run 211 miles in 3 days!

solo

the man in the white hat ran the entire course!

Melissa, Jeff and my parents came to Asheville to cheer us in.  It makes such a difference when you have support from your family and friends at a race.  Melissa, Jeff, Chris and I grabbed some burgers and beer in Asheville before heading to my in-laws cabin to discuss the events and to get some real sleep.

finish

the team running the last few feet

finish2

2009 Team 4tunate (to have 2 more runners)

Read Jason Sutton’s blog post on the race here.

Read Chris’ post here.

Read Melissa’s post here.

From another team’s perspective here.

You can see all of my pictures here and Jason Sutton’s here.  I do have some video footage and will get on YouTube soon.

Categories: BRR training, Race Reports
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