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MitchellWinter 2010

Tuesday, January 12th, 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

Tags: Andrew, Chris, hiking, Jeff, Melissa, mitchell winter
Posted in Hiking/Camping, mitchell winter, special places | 4 Comments »

Happy New Year!

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

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 3^rd birthday of my oldest daughter, Mia. She is a wonderful girl who has me completely wrapped around her fingers. The year also marked the 1^st 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!

Tags: Andrew, biking, Chris, Chuck, hiking, Jeff, Jenn, Jenny, Melissa, Mia, mitchell winter, running, Sadie, swimming, Triathlon, weight loss
Posted in Hiking/Camping, Introduction, Random Thoughts, Triathlon Training, Weight Management, marathon training, mitchell winter | 3 Comments »

I did it!

Monday, December 14th, 2009

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

Tags: Brandi, Chris, Crystal, Jeff, Jenn, Jenny, Karen, Melissa, Mia, Race Reports, running, Ryan
Posted in marathon training | 6 Comments »

getting excited now…

Friday, December 11th, 2009

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

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!

Tags: Brandi, Chris, Crystal, Jeff, Jenn, Karen, Melissa, running
Posted in marathon training | 7 Comments »

2009 Cane Creek Triathlon Race Report

Monday, September 21st, 2009

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!

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

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!

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 227^th out of 296. I ended up 31^st 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.

Tags: Jeff, Jenn, Melissa, Mia, Race Reports, Sadie, Triathlon
Posted in Race Reports | 4 Comments »

a race of a lifetime

Monday, September 14th, 2009

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!

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!

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

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

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

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"

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

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!

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.

the team running the last few feet

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.

Tags: Alex, Chris, Jeff, Melissa, Race Reports, running
Posted in BRR training, Race Reports | 8 Comments »

Mitchell Winter

Monday, August 17th, 2009

So those of you who know me know I love to hike and camp and I love the cold. So it should come to no surprise that I head to Mount Mitchell in the winter time to face the challenges that are abound. My brother in law, Jeff, recently had the great idea to start a blog about such challenges – mitchellwinter.com. Check out my first post to the blog that summarizes my first few experiences.

Tags: hiking, Jeff, mitchell winter
Posted in Hiking/Camping, mitchell winter | 3 Comments »

A weekend full of running

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

This past weekend, Melissa, Chris and I went up to the hills of NC and planned to run as much as possible in a training effort for the Blue Ridge Relay race coming up in about a month. We wanted to run some hills that you just don’t find outside of the mountains and we also wanted to see some of the tough areas of the race course.

On Friday night after work, we headed up to my in laws cabin that is near Saluda, NC. We met there around 10, stayed up for a while and then decided we all had too long of a day to do a night run, so we hit the hay.

The next morning, we woke up and went for a run around the hilly gravel roads around the cabin. We did a little under 3 miles before breakfast. Then we cooked up some bacon and french toast before hitting the road on our way to REI Asheville so Chris could pick up a hydration belt. We all hit the bathrooms and this is where my latest special place is.

Then we headed to the start of leg 33 of the Blue Ridge Relay. It is 5.2 miles and it is described as the second hardest of the 36 legs of the race. I wanted to run this particular leg because it will be the last of the 6 legs I will be running on 9/11 and 9/12. We arrived there around 1:30 and we wondered why we decided to do this at the hottest time of day and no one has an answer. But we are here to do one thing: run up this hill.

We start and the road has a slight incline, but is not too terribly bad. We know to expect worse as this is the sign you see as you start:

This is enough to make you nervous!

the start of the leg

the runners ready to go!

About 2-3 miles in to the run, the road gets steep. And I mean steep for you driving in your car, much less on foot! It gets to the point where I can no longer run and I am forced to walk. It is even difficult to walk! I check my heart rate after several minutes of walking, where it normally would have come down to around 120 bpm or so, but it is still over 170. My breathing is still labored and I just want to get to the top. I finally do and I am rewarded with very near zero flat ground before it goes down even steeper than the side I just came up. A little ways down, a girl running catches up to me. We talk a bit and she is running the BRR as well and will be running the same legs as I do. She is a strong runner and it intimidates me a little, but I manage to more or less keep a pace that I finished only a minute or so after her. But I don’t know when she started. All I know is that she started after me! You can see the stats here, check out the elevation profile, it is sick. I am happy with under 1 hour though as the runner that ran this leg for our team last year finished in 57 minutes. I spoke to the other runner some more at the end and she and her husband (I assume) are running the race with 4 others on their team. They are from Asheville and are more accustomed to the hills than I am. That will be my excuse for her beating me. They very politely offered me cold water, which I stupidly declined, because I should have had plenty for the way back. Unlike them, my plan was to run the course twice to get back to the car.

I start back up the hill that I just ran down, and my pace is quickly slowed to a walk again. At this point my legs are asking me to stop because they are tired. I keep on truckin’ up the hill and reach the top again. One thing I noticed more on this ascent was that it was noticeably cooler at the top and my ears actually popped on the way up. Weird.

As I start the descent, I begin to run for about 5 minutes or so and my legs now scream at me to stop. They aren’t asking anymore, they are telling me. My hamstrings are as tight as I have felt them and my calves are threatening to cramp. I stop and stretch a bit and then walk some more. They begin to feel a bit better and I decide to start running again. Nope. Same thing happens again, but a little worse. I end up walking most of the way down, wishing that my cell phone had a signal so I could call Melissa or Chris as I am sure they are back at the car by now. I also wished I had told them to come check on me when they got back to the car. One other thing I wished as I ran out of water and Perpetuem with about 2.5 miles to go was that I had taken the offer for cold water. Oh well, hindsight is always 20/20. Here are the stats for the run walk back.

When I got back to the car, Melissa and Chris are eating sandwiches and they graciously offer to make me one, but all I could say was, “water!” So Melissa gave me some and it was glorious. After downing some water, my feet were burning, so we all headed to a nearby creek and soaked our feet and splashed our faces in the cool mountain water. Again, glorious.

Ahhhhh....

We drove around some more and previewed a bit of Chris’ last leg, which will be the end of the entire 208 mile race that finishes in downtown Asheville. We then headed back to the cabin where Jeff was waiting with beer.

When we arrived, Melissa and Chris spoke of another run, but my legs were done for the day. I stayed with Jeff and his cool hoppy offerings and Melissa and Chris hammered out another run. They did a total of 15 for the day and I 13. It may not sound like much to more experienced runners, but these were all extremely hilly miles.

When they got back, they joined Jeff and I to continue “hydrating” and we had a good time. The next morning, the crew slept in a bit and we had more bacon and pancakes before we cleaned up and hit the road back home.

When I got back home, I mowed the lawn and played with Mia and Sadie. After dinner, I started to watch the Yankees game and when Jenn told me she was going to bed, I let her know that I might go for a run because I can’t sit still. I ended up going for a 8.3 mile run in the dark of the night. It was interesting and the roads were busier than I expected. I took it easy with a slow pace, but the point was to get the miles in. See the stats here.

So, all in all I ran 21.24 miles over the course of 36 hours with 4 different runs. I would say it was a good training weekend for the BRR.

Oh and did I mention that marathon training starts today? I think I’ll need another pair of shoes soon!

Tags: Chris, Jeff, Jenn, Melissa, Mia, running, Sadie
Posted in BRR training | 4 Comments »

Assault on Cherokee International Triathlon Race Report

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

This past weekend was another to remember. On Saturday morning, I kissed my girls goodbye and headed to Melissa and Jeff’s house to pick up Jeff. We went to TrySports so the bike fit master could make some last minute tweaks. The guy there was amazing. He analyzed my pedal form while on the bike trainer and made minor, yet noticeable adjustments to my seat position and aero bar position.

After that, we headed to Inside Out Sports and picked up my race packet. They made sure that I knew that shoes are required to get from the lake to T1. I asked what the deal was with that and they told me that the transition area was a little ways along a gravel path from the lake, so shoes would keep your feet from getting injured.

Jeff and I made our way to Kings Mountain State Park where I had registered for a campsite. We found the site, set up the tent then drove back out to scope out the bike and run routes. The first half of the bike course was pretty straight forward. Then, the road turns to a narrow road that is poorly maintained and very hilly. It continues to be very hilly the rest of the way back to the transition area. The run is also pretty hilly, using the road into the camping area as part of the course.

I was then not only intimidated by the longest swim of my life of 1300 meters, but of a difficult bike of 27.5 miles and a hilly run of 6.2 miles! I changed my official “goal” from finishing between 3 hours and 3.5 hours to “just finishing” with no regards to time.

Andrew and his daughter, Breanna, arrived early that evening and we all sat around and talked for a while.

That night I hit the hay early and tried to sleep in the muggy conditions. We had a thunderstorm in the middle of the night which brought the temperatures down, but made everything wet.

I woke up around 4:45 and caught a shower. I got changed and did some last minute prep for the race. I mixed up my HEED and made sure everything was in my transition bag. I drove down to the race area and unloaded my bike, walked over to the transition area and set up my area.

From there, it was mainly a wait as I was set up around 6:30 and the race did not start until 7:30. I did get my timing chip and the body markings with my race number and age. I found a toilet and did some last minute “prep” there too.

The Swim

At 7:15, I headed down to the lake. When I was told “transition area was a little ways along a gravel path from the lake” I did not expect it to be mud and rock down a steep slope for about 1/3 mile! That would surely be a tough climb after swimming that far.

I got into the water and did a little warm up. I felt a lot of algae under the surface which would prove to be a problem in the water. The race director made some last minute announcements, one of which was to warn us that he would have to consider the bike course “a little cruel, so have fun with that”. We started in 3 waves, 3 minutes apart. I was in the first wave. I got in the back of the pack because I knew that I would be slower than the rest. When the second wave passed me, I knew I was going to have a slow time. I had such a hard time with breathing and the algae, that I spent the majority of the time on my back doing a backstroke just trying to calm my breathing. I knew it was bad when someone swimming past me before the halfway mark asked, “Hey are you okay?” I answered, “I’m fine”, but I knew that if I looked that bad, I am just hoping to finish!

I made my way from buoy to buoy until I was on the homestretch. When I finally got out of the water, I realized there were only a few others still swimming and I had a 6 minute head start on some of them! I ended up in 59^th place out of 60 that swam the course. So not last, but close to it! Then I grabbed my Keens and made my way up the hill. I walked most of it, but when it flattened out, I started to jog. Just before the transition area, I saw Jeff, Andrew and Breanna cheering me on! I got to the transition area and dried off, changed into my bike shoes, put my helmet on, ate a Hammer Gel and took some Endurolytes. I grabbed my bike and headed out on the course.

The Bike

The bike portion started off as I expected with it being relatively what I am used to. It was just slight ups and downs, but nothing too crazy. The one thing that I did not expect was that I was alone! I was so slow in the water, that all but 3 others had a huge lead on the bike already. In fact it took me 8 miles or so to catch up to someone! I passed several people before I saw the first accident. A guy took a wet turn too fast and wiped out, apparently slamming his knee and hitting his head too. After I passed them, more ambulances passed me and were on their way to tend to him. Although I did not see any others, there were apparently 3 accidents that resulted in DNFs for the participants.

The rest of the ride was very challenging with lots of hills. I passed several more in these sections and had a good enough ride for 29^th out of the 57 that completed the course.

As I approached T2, I saw that Melissa and Great Mia had arrived and joined Jeff, Andrew and Breanna to cheer me on. That people are there to cheer for you is a mental motivator more than anything else.

I spent the majority of the time in T2 changing shoes, trading my helmet for a HeadSweats visor and trying to get the cramping that had begun in my quads to stop. I stretched for a bit and then headed out for the 6.2 mile run.

I ran by my “support crew” again and managed a smile and wave, although my body is already yelling at me to STOP! As soon as I got around a bend and they could not see me, I started to walk while I ate another Hammer Gel. Then I cam upon the race camera man and I told him, “If you are going to take pictures, I’d better run!” So I did for a while and started to get into a rhythm. Then I came across the hills at around the halfway point. I finished the rest of the race walking up the hills and running down. I was not alone. Everyone that was around me did the same on the difficult course. I finished the 10K, quads burning and cramping, with everyone cheering, with a time of 1:01:47, good enough for 43^rd out of the 57 that finished.

Overall, I placed 44^th, so I am not at all unhappy about it, but elated to have finished at all. And to have my soon to be 93 year old grandmother see her first triathlon and my first of this distance was priceless.

You can see the event results here. I will add pictures to this post as I receive them.