Trifit Duathalon Relay

The Fit-triathalon was quite an event yesterday at Siesta Key, Florida. There was Sprint distance tri and duathalons as well as international distance tri and duathalons. We signed up for the relay with three mixed teams. The international duathalon was a 5K , then 26mile bike, and 10K to finish. The run was on the beach and the other legs were on the road. They had a huge turn out of people. All ages, sizes and shapes. From finishers to very competitive racers. Mountain bikes to high tech tribikes. There were a lot of families as well. The setting was beautiful on one of the most beautiful beaches in Florida. The swim waves were fun to watch with their different colored caps running into the water. The swam a challenging course in the gulf on pretty calm seas. The water temperature was about 85F. The 5K run was down the beach which is very flat with hard packed sand. The challenge was coming out to the road for transition in the soft sugary sand. The bike leg looped twice around the key which is quite scenic. The 10K went .25mi on trail then down the beach road and back. A little hot by mid morning but nevertheless a pretty run. We had a great time cheering each other on each leg of the race. Everyone gave there best effort.
Most notable was the anniversary of Howards first shock. Four years ago my friend developed a near lethal arrhythmias that required multiple defibrillations as well as multiple procedures to correct the problem. A lot of people would have quit there and then, and lived a life in constant fear. He has resumed an active life and has been training hard to get himself in bike racing shape. His effort was admirable. Another friend had angioplasty 4 months ago and is also back in racing shape. Both have changed their lifestyles but neither had to change their motivation. Both lead quietly by example.
There were a lot of heroes there yesterday in the heat. Some you think would have had trouble walking to get the paper completed the events smiling. There were daughter-dad teams and children and parents competing. It just goes to show you that we can all compete. It just takes the will to get out there. It is my hope that I can encourage people to get out there and tri or du or just run

Greetings from Boston

Well I finished in 5:02:44. Not one of my best. Not one of my worst. Back to my book of stupid tricks I guess. Just as I thought maybe had things sorted out-bang.

When we arrived in Boston on Friday it was cold and we even saw snow. This prompted visits to the expo to gather more warm running gear. The expo was huge. We even got to hear some of the Boston legends talk. The AMAA meeting was excellent. The first talk was on sudden death and running. We decided no high fives because that seems to happen just before the runner drops. It was great hearing about the running accomplishments of fellow physicians. I was particularly inspired by Dr.Walter Bortz II who was running his 40th marathon at 80. I still have time to get it right.

Boston is a great town with very friendly people. It was especially great to have dear Bostonian friends show us the sights. We kind of ate our way through the town so to speak. We didn't eat bad and had plenty of carbs so that wasn't the problem.

On to the marathon. Great weather. Sunny 44 to 55F. No wind to speak of compared to our training. I ate my timed prerace meal three hours before the presumed start. Plain bagel first mistake. Also a banana and Infinit sports drink. Hindsight: plain bagel with little fat or protein equals gone before the gun. Walking down to the start line I yawned. I was not bored. I was low glucose lethargic. With a gun time of 10:30 am and actual take off time of 10:50am I was missing morning snack and soon to follow lunch. Depleted before I started. I was so afraid to overload that I under loaded. When we took off it was fantastic. Huge crowds were screaming as though we were the elites instead of back of the packers. I wanted to be conservative to start. 10:30 to 10:40 pace was good. Soon I felt as though I had no energy and no motivation. Sluggish. I took a honey stinger gel with no improvement. I repeated it in 40 minutes no better. The next 40minutes I tried a tropical Heed gel. Figured the caffine my boost me. It did. I felt a little better. I just could not push the pace. Stuck in low gear. I then switched to Infinit sports drink. I had concentrated it in my flasks. I took a few swigs every water station and it seemed to be helping but I also started to develope some belly cramping so I backed off. By mile 15 I was falling rapidly. I admitted this was not my day but I was more than capable of finishing at a slow pace. Better to waddle in then go to the woods with "GI issues". I kept taking the Infinit and mixed it with water at the aide stations. I took the PowerGel with 1x caffeine at mile 17 with a boost in my energy. Still slow but ok. I never walked up a hill. My heart rate never got out of control or near threshold. The crowds remained fantastic. As I was going up the hill at 21, I asked "is this heartbreak" to a spectator. They yelled yes you have this. It was the most excited I had been. I felt great going up the hill giving all the BC kids high fives ( it was ok because it was not at the end). I gradually picked my pace up a little and enjoyed the last few miles crazy as it seems.

It is amazing what nutrition can do to you. My training had been good. Not perfect but certainly adequate for a 10 minute pace. The result was disappointing but the straight stretch to the finish was great with all the crowds cheering. I will definitely strive to qualify and return someday. I will be more aware of my prerace fueling with regards to time of day. I will continue to use Infinit sports drink and probably switch back to PowerGels. My hat is off to Boston, its people and the race director and volunteers. A class act. I'll be back.

Count down begins

We are well into taper mode. Did 10 miles easy on Saturday. Today just 3.2 miles to keep loose. Starting to track the weather. I am hoping for high 50s and dry. I still have a little discomfort on the ball of my right foot. I think it is just a little tendinitis and it gets better as I run. I have decided on my fueling strategy I will mix my Seabiscuit fuel concentrated in two containers which will provide about 700 calories. Seabiscuit fuel is a custom blend of electrolyes , carbohydrates and amino acids from Intuit Sports Inc. They formulate your drink based on your size, effort, sweating and absorption issues. The other 200-300 will come from the Gatorade on the course and a couple of gels. My goal is less that 4:36 and I figure about 200 calories per hour. Usually I go under just because it is hard to ingest much after a while. I will be wearing the Brook Launches and the rest of the kit to suit the weather in Boston.
We will be attending the AMAA medical meeting in Boston over race weekend. Hopefully, will learn some interesting things about distance running and health issues.

Boston marathon and a MRI

What would training be without an injury or setback. I have had a very mild discomfort on the ball of my right foot that has gradually progressed. Nothing on top but the dreaded stress fx thought has entered my mind. It seemed to have started after a longish run in the Brooks Ghost. I got them thinking that they were a compromise between the minimal Launch and the maximally cushioned Glycerin. Were the Launches causing a problem? no. The Ghost have a little more arch. I think they pushed my foot to supinate a little more. For most part I am a neutral midfoot striker. Anyway, a little tenderness started after the long run and has progressed. I ran the Gasparilla relay in the Glycerins for 19miles with essentially no problems. I have been running in them a little more trying to stretch out the Lauches for the last 100miles. I ran the Sarasota half in the Launches without much problem. Last weekend I developed pain in my right foot at the end of the run. Much like muscle spasm. We did 20 miles a week early just because it was only a little further than 17.3 miles and the weather was good? It did provide for good psychological reinforcement for Joules 2 and 3 that they still had a 20 miler in them. Nevertheless, the nagging pain has persisted. Worse after a run then during. No pain on top with minimal pain with running. Because Joule 3 is a radiologist I was privileged to get a peek at the injury with an MRI. No breaks just bruising around the second metatarsal joint. That was a relied. I figured I was going to run anyway but would drastically taper if there was evidence of a stress fracture. It is Boston. I think I will stick with the Lauches and break out the new ones for the taper and race. The Ghost will sit idle and the Glycerins?

The 4 Joules at the Sarasota Half Marathon

March 14, 2010 was a beautiful day in Sarasota, Florida. The am temps were 58F as the Joules stood together to start the running of the Sarasota Half. This was our last race before Boston. It was my daughter, Addie's first half marathon.
We took off before sunrise on the side streets of Sarasota to the bay's edge and then down 41 and across the Ringling Bridge. There was some wind but not nearly as bad as we have experienced in recent training runs. We were pretty far back in the field as we emerged from the mile long porta potty lines so the first mile was mainly about dodging walkers and run/walkers. The race went smooth after that and the sun was coming up by the time we hit mile 4. The course is quite scenic and familiar so the miles clicked by. I tried a new drink mix made by Infinti. You can have your own blend made and name it. My is called Seabiscuit fuel. I mixed in a concentrated form for about 300 kcal in a 10z flask. It is a mix of cho and a little protein and essential amino acids. There are also added electrolytes. I squirted a small amount into a cup of water at every other aide station. It seemed to work well. No cramping or GI issues. I finished in 2:02 which was 37/154 in my age group so not too bad. I felt good and could have gone a few more at that pace. The Joules came in in succession all smiling ready for breakfast. Off to the Egg and I we went to enjoy our post race celebration. A great day to be a runner in Florida.

Gasparilla Relay Marathon

February 28 was the final voyage of the Gasparilla Marathon. They site not enough entrants into the marathon as the reason. They needed at least 4000 to continue. It is hard to believe that a marathon as well run as Gasparilla could not make it. A fast, flat Boston Qualifier in a nice winter climate city with an international airport could not attract the numbers.
Nevertheless, the day was perfect with respect to temperature and sunshine. I saw a few complaints about the finishing headwind but really it was nothing compared to weather we have been having this winter. Team Joule was ready to go more or less. Addie was elected to go first with a seven mile leg. We gave her three weeks warning after basketball season finished. We didn't tell her it would be in the dark as the marathon starts at 6am. (she is afraid of the dark)
As for the rest of the Joules the plan was for us to run together the last 19 miles as a training run passing the torch as we crossed the check points. Meanwhile, Rom developed an Achilles problem pretty much like I had last year and an upper respiratory tract infection the week before. He finally decided to settle for running the last 12 and was definite about running the park 8 loop to get revenge for last years wrong turn. The day before it was decided we would do this as a training run. Not for time or speed. Yeah right. Carol always blames me for dragging her but it is not true. She is dragged by shear determination and grit that never slows.
Race morning we sent Joule 1-Addie off in the dark. Mistake number one- we went to Starbucks the hour before we ran. Coffee and a granola bar. Off we go to meet Addie. She finished strong and smiling. It was her first experience in the crowds of a marathon start as a competitor and she loved the excitement. Carol and I took off happy to get warmed up in the low 40s F temperatures. We took off-fast. Our usually long run pace is 11 to 11:15 min miles for our training runs. My last marathon pace was 10:36. We were running 9:30 to 10 min miles. Carol was leading. We slowed to 10:15 to 10:30 but in the end averaged about 10:30. This was not so good in the end for Carol who started having some GI issues about mile 8 which got worse about mile 12. We met Rom anxiously waiting at mile 14 ready to go. We kept that pace until about mile 12 which called for a bathroom break for the both of us. Rom went ahead afraid that his Achilles would lock up. My stomach was rumbling and I was afraid to take much in the way of gel for fear I would stir things up. I was carrying a flask of heed that was mixed a little strong which did not help. I decided to stick with the water. I did take some amino acid tablets and endurlytes. They eventually kicked in and I was able to pick up the pace at a mile 13 to 14 and took the band from Rom four the last 4 miles. Addie met me to run the last .25mile and we crossed at 4:45. Carol and Rom were about 10minutes back and finished strong.
The post race party was one of the best with food from Columbias and Mich Ultra. We sat in the sun and planned our next run. A great day to be a Joule.
I think that was my last coffee before a marathon. Also, I am going back to the strict rule of eating 2 hours or more before the start. I think the Heed is ok. The endurlytes and amino acids definitely. Not sure about the gels Still a work in progress.
We have the Sarasota half marathon in two weeks as our next run. I plan to race that run if all is well. We hope to get 2 more twenty milers in if possible before Boston. I wore Glycerin 7s for this run. I think I will were the Launches for the half and possibly for Boston.