Turning miles into smiles

Michelle and I got down to business last weekend and ran our first triathlon of the summer. The BASF Smile Train Triathlon is a sprint distance event held in Wake Forest, North Carolina and is the same event we did last year as our first ever triathlon. A sprint triathlon is generally around a 250meter swim, a 12 mile bike ride and a 5k run which is the distance of the Smile Train race so we have trained over the spring with those distances in mind.

Overall, our races went great and we both improved our finish times from last year. Race day temperatures were nearly identical to last year as was the race course. It may have actually been hotter which made the run all that more challenging considering the fairly hilly 5k course.

I have trained for this race by primarily running this spring with an occasional ride and only working on swimming a half dozen times over the past month. Last spring, I worked considerably harder in the pool and the difference in training really showed last weekend. My pool time for the 250m was slower than 2009 and I actually got tired half way through the 10 lap swim. Both Michelle and I improved our finish times with faster transitions and faster bike rides though. I equate the faster transitions to our use of speed laces in our shoes and in my case, less changing of clothing and gear. My transitions simply involved changing shoes and putting on a shirt after the swim than grabbing a hat for the run.

The 12 mile bike ride went by quite well for both of us and we each took about 5 minutes off our time from 2010. I think both of us are stronger from all the running and that translated to an easier time on the ride. The only exception was for me; at about mile 3 of the ride, a beetle of some sort flew into my mouth as I was sitting up after securing my bike pump lock to the frame. I had just loaned my pump to another rider mid-race. It was awful feeling as the hard shell and legs of it were wedged in my lower throat down in my trachea and all I could do was cough, hack, gulp my drink and spit trying to dislodge it. After about 10 minutes, while I was still riding, it seemed to free itself though I felt it still there or a cut from it for the rest of the day.

Michelle's parents came out to watch and cheer for us again which is where these photos came from. It was nice to have them there for us and to hear a familiar voice cheering at the finish. At the end, I finished in 1:21:43 compared to 1:25:08 in 2009. To my surprise, my run time was 28:08 compared to 27:09 last year. I had expected to improve my run this year so I blame the difference on the heat. Despite my slowness, my 5k run was still good enough for 87 out of 193 males and my overall finish was 117 out of 193 males. Considering I suck at swimming in a race and I ride a greenway hybrid bike, I feel pretty good about my finish and overall improvement on time. Michelle deserves kudos for doing the same and I am especially proud of her for working on her running and finishing the hilly run with a smile.

While I am not a seasoned triathlete, I am fairly experienced participating in running events. Based on that experience, I can say this race is very well done. The organization of race check-in, the transition area, the pool, the course-workers, water stops and the finish was fantastic just as it was last year. The finish line crowd and support at the start/finish of the bike was also very good; especially considering this is not a large scale event. It makes all the difference having spectators and volunteers cheering for you as you finish the ride and the run.

And finally, for you craft beer enthusiasts out there; particularly the ones who are coming to my blog from the Draft Magazine Beer Runner's weekly blog entry profiling me, we celebrated our finish with a swing-top 22oz. bottle of Mocha Coffee Stout homebrewed by a friend that has aged since filling it back in February. Cheers!

Time to get serious

Moving on from the disappointment of The Doughman relay quadrathon result from last month, I am now focused on my race schedule for the rest of 2010. Over the late winter and into the spring, I've really stepped up my running from where I normally am at this time of year. Having intended to run the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon in February, I was able to maintain my running through December and January unlike other years where I started my winter break around that time. Taking a few weeks off in the second half of February and returning to a semi-regular schedule by mid-March for the first time, allowed me to comfortably up my mileage over the last couple months to well beyond my norm for April and May. With that came a few fun, short races that I've mentioned running since February including the Krispy Kreme Challenge (4 miles), the St Patty's Run Green 8k, the Old Town 5 Mile Beerun and the Doughman. There has been a theme of fun and silliness with these races but now its time to cut out the silliness and I'll be focusing on the my racing and of course; having fun!

My biggest obstacle to maintaining my plans this year will certainly be staying injury free and avoiding getting a cold come marathon time. More than ever before, I plan to research new ideas on avoiding injury as well as using the techniques I have learned from experience.

My tentative race schedule for the rest of 2010 includes the following:

• BASF Smile Train Sprint Triathlon - Wake Forest, June 27
• Historic Beaufort Road Race 10k - Beaufort, NC, July 17
• UNC Wellness Super Sprint Triathlon - Chapel Hill, August 1
• Sportsplex Super Sprint Triathlon - Hillsborough, August 21
• Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon (New half) - Myrtle Beach, October 24
• Richmond Marathon - Richmond, November 13

I also have plans for two bike and beer rides in the Triangle area this summer - time and dates TBA ... to protect the guilty. 

Carpe Viam!

Doughman wrap-up

It has been nearly three weeks since the Doughman relay quadrathon in Durham and I'm finally getting my thoughts together regarding the event and my team Foodicidal Tendencies results. The unofficial result was we KICKED ASS and finished 14th out of 67 teams that made it to race with a time of 1:40:07.....the official result is that we were disqualified after the race for a "Traffic Violation." 

My team was made up of myself and three other good friends plus Michelle as our team driver. Our team was two males and two females who split the running, biking, paddling and eating events around Durham and Duke north campus with a finish in the Historic Durham Athletic Park - a place I love and grew up in attending ball games as a kid.  

The race started with racer 1 eating a yogurt parfait, riding close to 10 miles to a BBQ restaurant where he ate a serving of NC chopped BBQ, hushpuppies and a fried chicken leg than riding another mile and passing off to racer 2. Racer 2 ran to a local bar, ate half a veggie pizza and than ran close to 2 miles to a Duke pool where I waited. Racer 2 jumped into the pool and paddled in a donut to the other side to tag racer 3. Racer 3 which was me, ran about 1 mile to another local bar (where the Doughman race was founded) and ate a goat meat Italian sausage sandwich topped with marinara sauce, onions and peppers than running almost 2 more miles to meet racer 4. I tagged racer 4 who ate a Mexican-style cheese, egg and green sauce casserole and than had to run nearly 2 miles to the ballpark where us other 3 racers were waiting. We had a slight miscue at this point as our driver forgot to pick up racer 2 at the pool so we had to wait at the ballpark for racer 2 to be brought to the finish before the 4 of us could eat the desserts and run the final stage together around the ballpark to the finish line. Even with the miscue, we only lost a couple minutes and maybe a couple places in the finish. Otherwise, we were within range of a top 10 finish. 

 

 

 

The race was a lot of fun and preparing for it with my team of awesome athletes was even more fun. We had a fantastic time meeting other race participants and seeing friends who also competed on some of those teams. I even met a celebrity contestant while waiting at the pool, Rebecca from last season's The Biggest Loser was competing in the Doughman with her boyfriend and two other TBL contestants. After chatting with her, I also saw her team cross the finish later that morning and congratulated her on their finish. 

The main reason for the Doughman in theory is to raise money for Durham charities. This year, the selected charities were two that benefited kids - one that was a program to teach kids about healthy eating and helps them to grow their own food and one that allows them to take part in drama and acting. I thought these were outstanding benefits and it was really nice to see and hear some of the kids in these organizations that were at the finish line festival. The raising of money for these charities was optional though as the $100 fee each team paid to register and the $20 ticket fee anyone paid to attend the post-race "banquet" were also going to these charities I believe. My team chose, perhaps it was my decision - to skip the fund-raising and focus on the actual race. After all, we are racers. I've had my share of fund-raising recently having raised over $2000 myself for a cancer research foundation last fall for my running of the Marine Corps Marathon. I didn't feel inspired to do it again but I respect every team that did. 

My first complaint of the many to follow below about the event was that the race disorganizers decided after registration to annouce that those teams who raised a minimum of $200 would be given an unspecified time bonus at the start. Essentially, this allowed any team to buy-in to their finish time. I am not sure what the actual time bonus was but I have heard it was only 1 minute. My irritation was at the start, I heard someone shout that "if you want to write a check to get your time bonus, do it now." As an experienced racer and charity runner, I was a bit unamused at this unfair advantage given to teams. I have never heard of giving a time bonus to anyone regardless of their charitable donation size.

I've held off on blogging about the race until now as I have tried to contact the race disorganizers to understand the reason for our disqualification. Along with our team, six other teams were also DQ for the same reason, for exceeding the time limit or because a team member got sick. I have a pretty good idea on the actual violation that Foodicidal Tendencies committed and I was probably that specific offender; however the details of our supposed violation are a result of the terrible organization, course work and officiating by the Doughman race itself. 

To be specific, I believe I ran across a city street near an intersection while the crossing light was red. I did this at the direction of the corner worker near the finish of my run who advised me it was safe to cross. While on my 2+ mile run, I passed one other corner worker who also told me to cross the street as it was safe to do so. I was also not directly at an intersection with a crossing light at that time. I believed at both times that I was within the rules of the city and the race. Some might say, I still technically jaywalked however this draws into question the entire race course and the lack of monitoring or enforcement for ALL participants. The reason I suspect I was the offender on my team was that following my run, I overheard one female judge tell another that they would have to DQ all the teams that she just saw cross the street which included me. However, I stood there and watched more runners do the same within minutes of my finish and only one other team in our time range was DQ. Perhaps we should have raised or given some money to the charities... 

 

During my run, I watched other runners ahead of me run blatantly and directly through red lights, down the wrong side of the road, also jaywalk (or jayrun) and one who ran directly through the middle of a five way intersection. The cyclist on my team saw other cyclists ride through red lights and some that even cut in front of a moving ambulance with its emergency lights flashing. Again, perhaps we should have raised or given some money to the charities...

My point is that the race disorganizers were so ill-prepared to conduct a safe, fair and organized event - they have NO right to DQ my team or the others for a supposed violation reported by one of their few observers when that supposed violation was a result of direction by their course volunteer. 

To highlight the amateurish operation that the Doughman is, I'll also mention that nearly none of the entire bike or run course was marked or staffed to allow riders and runners to safely navigate the city streets of Durham. The race disorganizers said they marked the course the night before with 'dots of flour' - a method only known to hashers - which are not a group typically concerned with safety or obeying laws. The use of flour dots might have been acceptable had the forecast for the evening not been for lots of rain that would obviously wash away their flour dots. The only signage I saw on course was two 8x10 printer sheets that said Doughman with an arrow that were actually laying in the street and pointing the wrong direction of the course. There were no spray painted arrows, no course workers to point you in the right direction, no police officers at major intersections, no signs mounted on posts or trees, no yellow tape or cones - nothing at all to prove that the disorganizers truly wanted to or were capable of putting on an official and safe event. Therefore, I find no reason at all for why they believe they have the right to DQ a few teams for a violation that they caused and that most every team committed in some way. 

I understand that there were documented rules before the race however given the amateur and unsafe operation of the event, I could only assume the rules were to protect the race disorganizers from liability if a participant were to be injured on their unmarked, unmonitored and unsafe course. Sending a bunch of competitive racers out on a course and allowing them to decide when and if they would break or follow the rules is truly unheard of in my experiences. 

The one positive thing I can say about the race operation was the amazing job the Durham restaurants and bars did at providing food and the space to the race participants at each stage. Each of the 5 eating stops located at restaurants was awesome and for the most part, the food was actually very good. I know I truly enjoyed the goat meat sandwich that I destroyed in less than 90 seconds. If there was a ray of shining light in our DQ, it was that my team had a fantastic time running the race and enjoying the food during and the beer after the race near Durham's Duke campus. 

The Doughman day did not end here though as the much publicized and sold out "banquet" was held that evening at the Durham Athletic Park. I'll leave out all the details but essentially, only one of the 6-7 participating restaurants actually brought enough food to feed the number of paid guests that attended. Michelle, her parents and a friend of mine from out of town attended and while the beer selection was pretty good including 5-6 draft beers from 4-5 local breweries, the food was minimal at best. Some of my guests really didn't even get a whole plate of food as the slim pickings were gone within the first 30 minutes of the "banquet" that was billed as lasting from 6:30 - 11. The banquet was fun but another disorganized way to end the day. 

All in all, I had a blast preparing for and running the Doughman, however I will not participate in it again nor do I recommend it to any serious competitor. My discussion or publicity of the race ends with this blog post and I can only hope that if it continues into year 4, the race organizers take some of my comments to heart and find a way to put on a more legitimate and fair event that truly cares about the safety of its competitors and doesn't just haphazardly enforce the make-shift rules when they feel like it.

IndyCar Series in the rearview

Last weekend, the 94th running of the Memorial Day classic Indianapolis 500 took place to mark the 99th year since the opening of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was another interesting and exciting race won by no surprise: a Target Chip Ganassi Racing car driven by 2007 winner - Dario Franchitti. Towards the closing laps, it looked like a non-Ganassi or non-Penske car might be able to get the win but as the fuel mileage game played out and the leaders slowed to conserve fuel over the final laps, it was not to be and a red car won yet again. Ganassi and Penske cars have now won 8 of the last 11 Indy 500s while also winning the bulk of the IndyCar Series races over recent years. 

On the white flag lap, the leaders were all running on fumes and slowing their cars dramatically to increase their mileage to the finish. Too many times before, we have seen the leader on the last lap of an IndyCar fuel mileage race than sputter and get passed for the win by a car running in 2nd. I sat on the edge of my seat awaiting such a scenario and hoping Dan Wheldon in second or a dark horse driver deeper in the field still running on full rich fuel setting would pass Franchitti for the win coming out of turn 3 or 4 on lap 200. 

Instead, the race ended under caution as Mike Conway, who had led in the closing 30 laps and was charging back to the front on lap 199 at full race speed around 220+mph, ran into the back of Ryan Hunter-Reay who had slowed to nearly 200mph saving fuel with the other leaders. Conway's car was launched into the fence and broke in two pieces as it crashed to the ground. Luckily, Conway remained conscious during and after the crash while sustaining a broken foot or leg and a back injury. Considering the tremendous impact and similarities to other fatal crashes I have seen before, he was lucky to survive. The breaking up of the car reminded me too much of Jeff Krosnoff's fatal Champ Car crash on the Toronto street circuit in 1996.

The next day, I read a few articles about just how slow the leaders had reduced their speeds to in the closing laps and it struck me odd that the Indy Racing League would think it safe and reasonable to allow cars to circulate this slow while other cars on track are running with full fuel at much faster speeds. The drivers running on low fuel at the front are the very same drivers that regularly complain about the slower drivers in the back being safety hazards and "in the way" throughout the season. While I do agree with them and cringe when I see Milka Duno getting lapped 5 laps after the start of a race, I think the league needs to remember Conway's crash in the future when cars are chugging along on fumes creating a hazard for faster cars charging from the back. 

Of note, with the win, Chip Ganassi becomes the first car owner to win the Indy 500 and Daytona 500 in the same season having also won Daytona in February with Jamie McMurray.

The other item I wanted to share was the 4 part article written by long-time motorsports writer Ed Hinton on the downfall of IndyCar and the Indy 500 during the reign of Tony George over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This article really hit home for me because it steps the reader through the agonizing years of IndyCar from 1995-2009 that fans and those involved with the series lived day by day, month by month, year by year. 

I remember each and every highlight touched on my Hinton in these articles as if they were yesterday. Some have criticized Hinton for being too pro-IndyCar and many more for being anti-IndyCar. I believe he is a motorsports journalist who calls it as he sees it and my respect for him and his colleague Robin Miller is tremendous. Far from political correctness, these two racing journalists normally call it as they see it and I have learned a lot from them over my years as a fan of open-wheel racing in America. 

If you are interested, take the time to read all of Hinton's four part series The Damage Done that I have linked below. He does an incredible job highlighting the battles fought during the open-wheel civil war and how it allowed NASCAR to become the most popular motorsport in America.

I. The Gathering Storm: Honor, blood and a brewing battle 

II. Getting It Wrong: May '96 memorable for wrong reasons
 
III. Digging In: Divide widens while fatalities mount

IV. Hell of A Vision: George's devastating victory

May the Centennial era and 100th Anniversary of Indianapolis Motor Speedway help rinse away the destruction dealt to IndyCar by Tony George's vision and the mistakes of CART / Champ Car's many leaders past.

Killboy Photos from the Dragon

On the Dragon - Highway 129, there are a few photographers that hang out along the road all day and take photos of every car that drives by. They than post the photos on their websites for enthusiasts to go and look at and buy copies of. 

After returning from our MINIs on the Dragon weekend last month, I decided to order a few photos from killboy.com - the original Dragon photographer. I also found a nice selection of photos taken by US129photos.com but decided to go with just a couple from killboy. I have posted scans of the two 5x7 photos I bought from them that they took of me during our morning Dragon Parade run and my solo evening run later that day. 

You can check out the rest of my pics in the galleries I created on their websites at US129Photos and Killboy