Four weeks and counting to the Chicago Marathon!

The Chicago Marathon is coming up faster than I realized! Since I've been splitting my attention between triathlons and other local races the last couple of months, I haven't solely focused in on the marathon until now. How am I feeling? Nervous! I'm hoping that the training I've done up to this point will propel me to not only finish the marathon, but to do so injury-free and at a pace I'm satisfied with. I have my 20 mile long run to complete this week, so that should be a good gauge of where I'm at. I also have to try to resist the temptation to try to cram in too many miles in the remaining time because it might end up hurting me in the end.  I guess I'll just have to trust my training plan and wait and see what the results are.

So, what have I been up to the last couple of weeks? I raced in the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend during the Labor Day holiday. I also just completed the Tri For Real triathlon in Pleasanton, CA.

Here are short race recaps of both:

Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend:

I signed up to run in the Dumbo Double Dare which consisted of the inaugural Disneyland 10k race on Saturday and the Disneyland half marathon on Sunday. A total of 19.3 miles for the weekend! What was kind of weird though was the climate. It was not only hot, but somewhat humid! Being in California, I'm not used to humidity anymore. Even though this wasn't as bad as say, southeast Asia, it was still noticeably uncomfortable throughout the weekend. Regardless, both races were fun as you got to run through both Disneyland and California Adventures. There were Disney characters within the parks that you could take photos with along the way. The half marathon also took you throughout Anaheim where you got to run past sights like the Honda Center and through Angels' Stadium. There was a ton of crowd support, especially for the half marathon!

What also made this special was the opportunity to run the races with family and friends. I was able to run alongside my wife during the half marathon. It was also her second-ever half marathon! I also ran the 10k with my sister-in-law, cousin-in-law, and another friend. There was also more family that ran the 5k race as well! 

Another cool part of the weekend was being able to meet up with some Endurance Sports Connection friends at a special expo on Friday afternoon. I also participated in the ESC's 3 Little Pigs Challenge where I ate 3 pieces of bacon right after my half marathon. All in all, it was a great time!

I finished the 10k in 46:18 and was #100/7840 overall, #82/2705 men, and #15/445 M35-39.

I finished the half marathon in 2:26:31 and was #4380/15872 overall, #2404/5854 men, #411/969 M35-39

Family photo after the 5k/10k race

Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead after the half marathon

The weekend's bling!

Tri For Real Triathlon:

This was my last triathlon for 2013 and also the longest triathlon I've raced in. It was in Shadow Cliffs Regional Park in Pleasanton, CA, site of my previous two triathlons. The course was familar, but just longer. The race consisted of a 700 yd swim, ~16 mile bike ride, and a 4 mile run. The swim portion was kind of daunting as I had to squint just to make out the buoys in the distance! Before I hit the water, I decided I just wanted to make it though this swim. Well, during the early stages of the swim there was some excitement, as my goggles got kicked off of my face by a flailing leg. After putting them back on, I immediately went to the breaststroke and continued on swimming, alternating between freestyle and breaststroke. I eventually made it through the rest of the swim without any further issues and went through T1 without any incidence.

On the bike, I tried to not expend too much energy, since I didn't want to be left with nothing on the run. The bike course was the same as the Tri For Fun races in the earlier months, but it was two loops this time around. Other than getting passed by a lot of cyclists on tribikes, the bike portion went okay, without anything major occurring. I took in some nutrition by drinking ~16 oz of some GU Roctane energy drink during this time.  After my second loop, I headed into T2 and got into my running gear with no problem.

The run was the same kind of "maze" like the previous races. It was mostly dirt trails with some hills thrown in. It took about a mile before my legs felt like they were finally in gear. I was tired, but not exhausted, but I kept an 8 min/mile pace to make sure I'd have enough energy to finish. When I got into the last 1/2 mile of the course, I started picking up my pace and sprinted that last 1/4 mile. Overall, I didn't feel too bad afterwards and I think I could have run or cycled harder.

I finished with a time of 1:45:46 and ended up #81/271 overall and #9/24 in M35-39.

I also got to meet a couple of new friends from the Mountain House Running Club which was cool.

Representing the Mtn House Running Club!

In 2014, I'm hoping to focus more on triathlon and step up and compete in an olympic distance race (1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run) and possibly a half ironman distance race (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run).  Hopefully I'll be able to step to the challenge! But until then, I have a marathon to prepare for!


 

SF Giant Race and Tri For Fun #3 race recaps

SF Giant Race

As part of my ongoing training for the Chicago Marathon in October, I ran the San Francisco Giant Race Half Marathon on August 4th to sub for one of my long runs. I went into this race with little to no expectations since honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect from my body. I had some ups and downs in my training up to that point, mainly with my long runs. I even had to pull my iPod out of storage to provide some inspiration to my long runs. Nothing pumps me up more than 80's new wave and contemporary synthpop :)

The race course was pretty cool with lots of SF sights along the way.  The starting line was right outside AT&T Park (home of the SF Giants) and finished up inside the ballpark. The course followed the outer edge of SF up the Embarcadero all the way down past Chrissy Field where you got a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge before turning around. Along the way, we passed the Ferry Building, Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli Square, Fort Mason, and the America's Cup Park and Village.

Overall, the race went much better than I expected. It helped that the morning was nice and cool and the course was mostly flat with the exception of two small hills. I took a GU gel somewhere between miles 4 and 5 and another one between miles 9 and 10. I was able to keep a pretty steady pace throughout and even managed a slight negative split. Overall I ran the 13.1 mile course in 1:39:04 (7:33 min/mile pace) and came a minute short of matching my PR! I was very happy to say the least!



Tri For Fun #3

I raced in my second triathlon of the year on August 17th at the Tri For Fun #3 at Shadow Cliffs Regional Recreation Area in nearby Pleasanton, CA. This was exactly the same race course as my previous triathlon the month prior. 

The swim went much better this time around. I was able to get some open water swim training in beforehand and in the end, it helped quite a bit. I was more relaxed and started out at a more manageable pace. I still got caught up in the crowd of flailing arms and legs, but I managed to remain calm. I ended up finishing the 400 yd swim almost a minute faster than my previous swim.

This time around in transition, I decided not to clip in my cycling shoes beforehand. I didn't feel like doing a flying mount/dismount and also wanted to see how big of a difference it made. It did end up taking a little extra time to get my shoes on and to get out of transition, but it wasn't a huge deal.

The bike ride was the same as before and I felt a bit more comfortable overall. I remembered my own water bottle this time and had it filled with some GU Brew. I decided not to take any additional GU gels for this race to see if that would help keep my stomach settled. I was able to maintain a ~19 mph avg pace (which is fast for me) so I was pretty happy. I was also glad that no one in red speedos was ahead of me on the bike :)

My T2 was pretty straightforward and I got into my running gear pretty quickly. The 5k run was pretty uneventful which was good, because the last time out I was having all sorts of GI issues. This time though, I was in decent shape and was hoping that I would be able to break the 1 hour mark. Unfortunately, as I headed towards the finish line, I saw that the hour mark had passed, so I just tried to finish as fast as I could. I ended up with a total time of 1:01:47.5 which was 2 minutes faster than my previous time, so I was pretty satisfied.


Next up: The Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare!!