Time to Try a Tri

Just do it, says Nike.  OK.  Enough thinking about trying a triathlon.  I am now registered for not one but two olympic distance triathlons -- Rocketts Landing Triathlon in Richmond on July 25 and Naylors Beach Triathlon in Warsaw, Virginia on September 26.  For those who are wondering, an olympic distance triathlon is typically 1.5km swim, 40km bike, and 10km run.

Anyhow, I know how to swim, I know how to bike, and I know how to run.  Now all I have to do is put them all together into one event.  How hard can that be, right????

Weekly Training Summary

Another good week on the road to recovery.  My last week of running just 3 times a week.  I ran nice easy 3.3 milers on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for a total weekly mileage of 9.98 miles --- and to think, I used to do that in one run.  I also walked 3 miles on Tuesday and Thursday, as well as 1 milers on Monday and Tuesday at home.  My wife is on a mission to walk at least 1 mile a day, in addition to the miles she runs (she's up to 3 weeks now).  We try to walk as a family after dinner -- good exercise for the kids, and keeps them off the TV and computer for at least 15 - 20 minutes!!

Anyhow, I rounded out my exercise with 1600 meters in the pool on Thursday and 3200 meters today (Monday was my youngest daughter's birthday, so I skipped the pool).  I tried out a different wetsuit today.  When my brother was stationed at Camp Pendleton, he competed on the Marine Corps triathlon team.  He lent me a couple of his wetsuits to use at my upcoming 1 mile Chesapeake Bay Swim race -- a Quantaroo and an Orca wetsuit.  Last week, I tried the Quanta, this week the Orca.  Although I think the Orca fit better under the arm, it was a bit tighter around the neck.  Not quite a choke, but I don't think I ever got my breathing right today (I did 3200 meters in 51 minutes with the Quanta, and 53 minutes in the Orca).  So I think I'll race in the Quantaroo suit.  If I ever do triathlons, I'm going to have to learn to get out of the wetsuit a bit quicker.  I swear it took me about 5 minutes of struggling to get that thing off.  How do triathletes have such short T1 times (T1 = transition 1, the time between the end of the swim and the beginning of the bike portion of the race)?

Training summary

Finished my third week since returning to running after the pelvic stress fractures, and I'm pretty happy with my performance so far.  The pubic area still gets sore, but no sharp pains and nothing debilitating.  9.91 miles this week, 9.64 miles the prior week, and 9.38 miles the first week back.

Basically, I've been doing a very slow (average pace 9:34) run along the Mall, from my building to 14th Street and back (about 3.3 miles +/-) three times a week.  Luckily, I've been able to run with friends at work who are keeping me on my pace and keeping my spirits up (when I would otherwise be somewhat depressed that my one-time 6.75 mile runs at a 6:50 pace are, for the present, history).

My doctor told me that my first 4 weeks of returning to running should be no more than 3 miles, 3 times a week, with at least a day in between.  So I've been running Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and walking 3 miles on Tuesday and Thursday.  Meanwhile, my wife and I have been getting a babysitter to walk along the C&O Canal (our version of Date Night).  So I'd like to think I'm getting my running muscles back into shape.

Thoughts on the Boston Marathon

This coming Monday (April 19) is the 114th running of the Boston Marathon. But what is Boston? For most runners, especially longer distance runners, Boston is a sort of Holy Grail or Mecca. To say you’ve run the Boston Marathon (or simply Boston) is to put yourself in a category separate from the rank and file. Few of us runners will ever run in the Olympics or even the Olympic trials, but qualifying for Boston is just within reach, if you work really really hard. The fact that you have to qualify is what adds the allure to the race. Plus the fact that it is the longest continually run annual marathon. Plus the well-known landmarks — the Wellesley tunnel, Heartbreak Hill, the Citgo sign. All add up to one magical race for those who can run a qualifying time. For the under 35 crowd, a qualifying time is a 3:10 marathon (3:40 for women), at age 35 the time goes up 5 minutes, and you get another at age 40, etc. etc. For me (age 43), I need to run a 3:20 marathon (which translates to a 7:38 mile).

My Running History part 9 (2009 to present and injury)

After the 2009 Boston Marathon, I took a week or so off and then back into training mode. However, my right foot on the outside was sore. I went to the orthopedist who diagnosed me with peroneal tendonitis -- most likely from overdoing it on the hill training for Boston and from doing long runs too fast. Most of the summer, I was in physical therapy once a week. My mileage never got back up to quite what it was before Boston, although I was running in the 40+ miles per week level.

My wife and I were training for Marine Corps, our fifth one (which would qualify us for the Marine Corps Runners Club). This would be my 10th marathon and my wife's 7th marathon. We have a display of our racing medals in the bedroom -- my wife call's it the shrine. Here's a picture:



Anyhow, training when on throughout the summer and early fall of 2009. On Thursday, October 1, I woke with a pain in my abdomen. Did I pull anything? At noon went down to the locker room, got my running gear on and started running. What the ....? I ran about 10 paces when the pain in my abdomen forced me to stop and limp back to the building. First time I had ever not been able to run. On Sunday I was supposed to run a 20 miler. Again, I couldn't run a step. In fact, it was painful just to walk. I took 2 weeks off and then tried to run again. Same debilitating pain.

My Running History part 8 (Boston 2009)

Boston is more than a marathon, it is an event. Boston is the Mecca or Holy Grail for runners. The entire city devotes itself for this weekend.

Myy wife (who also qualified) and I headed out Saturday morning to catch a 12:30 flight from National to Boston. On the shuttle from the economy lot there was another runner on her way to Boston! Waiting at the gate, we saw dozens of runners — all sporting some shirt or jacket from a previous marathon, wearing running shoes (some even in running pants, but we thought that was a bit too much). I’d say that at least half our flight was Boston runners or their families. Of course Logan Airport was full of runners making their way to their various hotels. My wife and I hopped on the T to the Hampton Inn across the Charles in Cambridge. After checking in (around 3:30), we decided to do the expo the next day and took a leisurely 2 mile walk to the center of Cambridge and Harvard University. We went to the Harvard Coop, walked around Harvard Square, rubbed the foot of the John Harvard statue (along with scores of other runners) (and those of you who went to Harvard, I know the statue is nicknamed the Three Lies — it isn’t John Harvard, he wasn’t the founder, and the date is wrong). Lots of touristy things. Then took the bus back to the hotel. Walked across the street for a big pasta meal at Cheesecake Factory.

My Running History part 7 (B&A Trail, MCM, ultras in 2008)

I had finished the JFK50 miler very strong and, but for a sore hamstring, felt strong in the 2007 Marine Corps. I planned to continue some hardcore racing in 2008 in my effort to break 3 hours on the marathon --- first up was the B&A Trail Marathon in Annapolis. After that I was planning to run Frederick Marathon in May, then start up again in the fall marathon season. Training for B&A was good --- I was incorporating weekly speedwork (mile repeats) and running weekly tempo runs as well.

Race day dawned sunny, no wind, and wonderful 40 degree temperatures. The course is mostly flat --- it follows a converted rails to trails path so is mostly railroad grade flat. There is a semi decent hill around mile 7 and then again at around mile 18/21 as the trail went up and over the highway on an overpass.