Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Running and Stuff

Doug-

The moment I've been waiting for ever since we found out about the Twinkies; I finally got to break out the Chariot and go for a run.






It works very well for the most part, and the girls seem to like it. Only two trips so far, but both resulted in a good workout, sleeping babies and Mom got a much needed break.

So needless to say, my training opportunities this year have suffered due to a lack of sleep and a lack of time. Sandy originally gave me a hall pass to try and do a Half-Ironman triathlon in Boulder this summer (same one I did two years ago) and I have been giving it a valiant try, but last week it became apparent that it probably wasn't going to happen. I just can't get out consistently to ride or swim, at least not at the levels I was hoping for (or need to do for a Half-Iron). So my goals have been tempered somewhat; I am still going to do an Olympic distance tri in Boulder with Derek in July (the Boulder Peak), but that's about it. Should still be fun, and my training volume can be about half.

As for the year so far, I have been able to run a bit, but not consistently. I did a 5K in town in February and ran a 22:03; I was pretty happy with that. Then I did the local sprint tri and discovered that it really does help to actually train on the bike before doing the bike. That was pretty much a disaster. Then I paced Scott in the Cherry Creek Sneak (5 miles) to a 44:12 finish. I followed that up with a local "10K" trail run on Mother's Day. I did that one 2 years ago and was just hoping to beat my previous time of 51:14. I wore Sandy's GPS watch and by the time I hit the 4 mile mark I was pretty pissed off because I was way behind my goal time; I was at 43 or 44 minutes or something and wasn't sure I would come in in under an hour. I started to come up with all kinds of excuses for why I had fallen so far off my form from 2007 when I realized that the course was just about to rejoin the road and there was actually only about .25 mile to the finish ... at 4.75 miles. Turns out the course is actually about 5.1 miles, not 6.1 and I beat my 2007 time by 16 seconds (50:58). Now here's the thing, I know it's a trail run and the distances are not going to be exact, but come on. If its a 5.1 mile course, call it a 5 mile run, not a 10K. Finally, I did the Bolder Boulder on Memorial Day and surprised myself with a 44:58. This was just 6 seconds slower than my PR for that race which I apparently set in 1998. Oddly enough, I have zero memory of that day. Anyway, not bad for a 40 year old, I just wish I had known I was so close; I might have been able to find another 6 seconds somewhere. The highlight of the Bolder Boulder, however, was Derek running it in his Santa suit.

Now I'm trying to decide if I am capable of running a Half Marathon in 2 weeks with the jogging stroller. Thoughts?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Doug -- nice work. I signed up for a metric century on the bike, after riding exactly once since last September. On the up side, its supposed to be very flat. -- Brian

Sandy and Doug said...

When is the event Brian? And how many laps would you have to do around Central Park to add up to a metric century? Where else does one ride if you live in the City?

Scott said...

Didn't you get beaten by a woman pushing a jogging stroller in a half marathon? so yeah - it's certainly possible to do it.

Sandy and Doug said...

Same half marathon too. But she only had a single.

Scott said...

Isn't it downhill? I would think the double could be to your advantage.

Sandy and Doug said...

It is a net downhill, but there are still lots of uphills.

Problem is, I'm not sure I can do it on my own right now even without the stroller.

But if I do, I'm tempted to register the girls as well so they can get their first race results.

Anonymous said...

Sandy - the ride is this Sunday, on the North Fork of Long Island -- beaches, farms, vineyards, should be awesome. On the extra-plus side, I have to be on 34th street at 430 AM to get the bus/bike transport out to the island. So, yes, I will be sleeping in on Monday.