Categories
Race

Great Bay Half-Marathon

This past weekend I went and did the Great Bay Half-Marathon. I think this is the 4th year in a row that I have done it. It is one very hilly course! Looking at the profile map can be very deceiving. When looking at it you think I just have to get mile 4.3 and it is bascially down hill!! WRONG. After that it is basically a series of up and down hills. Some of them very steep. There are very few places on the course where it is flat and you can just zone out and relax and run.

Great Bay Profile
Great Bay Profile

 

 

 

 

Like every year I was planning on running with my friend Ray and his buddy Pete. Pete wanted to start out at 7:45 and that sounded good to me. Unfortunately for Ray though he sustained a calf injury earlier in the week and it flared up on the run. I noticed he had a little limp going on early and then I guess at mile 4 he was toast. To his credit he gutted out the race and finished. Pete and I continued on at the 7:45 pace for about another mile or so and then I picked it up a bit on the next hill. Miles 7 and 8 were my fastest miles, one being 7:10 and another 7:15. Once I got to mile 9 I knew if I just held 7:30s I would be able to come in under 1:40 so I just concentrated on keeping a steady pace. Finished up at 1:39:19 7:33 pace. Pete finished right around 1:42 right on his 7:45 target pace.

Past Results

2012 – 1:39:19
2011 – 1:42:39
2010 – 1:42:30
2009 – 1:57:45

Weight: 156.5 lbs

 

Categories
Triathlon

You don’t want that!

As I mentioned last week, I’ve been trying to lose weight for the upcoming season. Unfortunately things got a little bit out of control this past week when I got the stomach bug that my son managed to pick up from school. That’s a quick way to drop some serious pounds quick. Last Monday I posted that I weighed in at 162, this week the weight loss continued and I was 161. However, the last couple of days I was as low as 158. Clearly a large part of that was just being “empty” from being so sick, but also a bit dehydrated too. They always say to drink plenty of fluids, but that is easier said than done. Now that the stomach is feeling better hopefully I can continue the slower weight loss descent.

Fins

I bought some fins last week to try out in the pool and finally got to use them this morning. I was actually able to keep up when we did the kick sets today. Usually I do about half the distance everyone else is doing. Looking forward to using them more and building up my kicking strength. I should be able to hit the pool 3 times this week since the Prep will not be at the Y Wednesday morning.

CompuTrainer

I did have a few good rides on the CompuTrainer, but after being sick it was a tough weekend. I attempted to do Thursdays session on Saturday morning. That was ok and I made it through, but my heart rate was way higher than normal, topping out around 170-172. Usually for that ride it is 160-162. That left me pretty much wasted for the Sunday long ride, where I managed to eek out a mere 1 hour and 50 minutes. I’m hoping tomorrow will be a better morning. It is the last week of this 4 week build up and the hardest of the sessions I will have to do.

Also need to start picking up the running now. Great Bay half is 2 months away and I’m barely running 10 miles a week, if that!

Weight: 161

Categories
Race

Great Bay Half-Marathon

Had a good run today at the Great Bay half-marathon. Wasn’t sure how it was going to go because I haven’t been running as much as I did last year to get ready for it. I’ve been on the bike a lot more and in the pool, but that doesn’t always translate to better running. So I was pretty happy to see that I was only 9 seconds off my time from last year.

The rest of the Ironman group came out today for the race today and had some pretty good times, especially when you consider they were on their bikes for 3 hours and 30 minutes the day before! I’d have to say the most impressive performance of the day was Brian for coming out just 6 days after crushing two fingers and having 6 pins put in his hand. That would have been excuse enough for me to stay home and watch tv!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/77009422

Weight: 165