Heatbreaker Half-Two Alarm challenge

Results:
1st half: 1:57
2nd half: 2:25

This race takes place inside the Pettit Ice Arena.  Pettit is the place where the winter Olympic qualifiers take place for speed skating and other events.  There is a track running the perimeter of the ice and 1 lap is about .28 mile.



We signed up to run two of the four available half marathons.  Each half is 47.5 laps and they started every three hours with a 2.5 hour time limit.  The time limit was not strictly adhered to, there were some women in our first heat that were allowed to run for over three hours.  This made our second heat start later than scheduled.

We carpooled to Milwaukee in Terry's minivan, he was nice enough to drive us both ways.  My training leading up to this race has been inconsistent and inadequate for a race of this distance.  I should have treated this as training for a marathon, but due to my class and work schedule, I was barely fit enough for a single half marathon.

To compound my fitness problem, I had to take almost 2 weeks off running leading up to the race due to a broken sesamoid bone in my left foot.  I resolved to run the first half at a slow pace in the hope that I would at least be able to start the 2nd half.

The races:

Running 47.5 laps is not boring as you might think, I concentrated on hitting my 2:30 goal lap times to keep my pace under control.  This first half went along very well, Adam and Terry lapped me several times.  They were running under 8:00 min/mile pace, so they finished about 15 minutes ahead of my 1:57.  After the race we had access to a shower, but I just changed clothes, iced my foot and ate some food to prepare for the next half.

Adam looking strong after the first race

We had about an hour to prepare for the second half.

Terry getting changed for race #2

Race #2 stared late due to the issue with the women.  Once under way, it was apparent to me that this would be a long, painful race.  My legs were stiff and tired.  At lap 20 my quads started to cramp up, I had to stop and massage them for a few minutes.  This was the point where I thought about dropping.  A nice guy noticed my struggles and offered me some salt tabs.  I accepted and ate 2 salt tabs and guzzled a bunch of water.  This was my first ever experience with salt supplements of any kind and it seemed to really help.

An hour after I took 2 more salt tabs and I continued to pound down as much water as possible.  Once I hit lap 30, I knew I would finish this thing.  I began a routine of running 3/4 lap and speed walking 1/4 lap to stave off the cramping.  This technique netted me a time of 2:25 for the last leg of this journey.  I was very glad to finish and I consider this a great accomplishment considering my injury and poor training leading up to this.

Adam and Terry both finished strong at about 1:45, I was glad to have them cheering on the sideline while I slogged though the last 40 minutes.

There were several people running two of the races and there was one woman running all 4.  Overall I give this event an A+, the race director was a really nice guy and the bathrooms were nice and clean.  The post race food included bagels, muffins, chocolate milk, pretzels and some great cookies made by the woman running all 4 races.

Our prize for completing 2 races is a nice embroidered duffel bag.  All finishers got a medal too.

Shure SE215 earphones

I normally use this blog to chronicle the races I do, but today I am going to review some earphones that I use for running.

I have never been a fan of running with headphones for two reasons: They always fall out of my ears, and running on the streets without full use of hearing seems dangerous.  I am always on the look out for headphones that will stay in my ears while running for use on the treadmill or on trails.

I came across this article recommending the Shure SE215 for great sound quality and security in ear.  I have always used cheap earphones that you can buy at the gym or Target so I was not familiar with the more high end products like Shure, Etymotic and Klipsch.  My friend owns an audio supply company and gave me some Shure SE215 earphones to try out.  The consumer site is:GAP

Immediately out of the box you can see and appreciate the quality of these earphones.  They have 3 basic parts. 1. Ear foam acts like an earplug and blocks out almost all noise. 2. The driver produces the sound 

3. The cord that attaches the driver to your music of choice.

The driver

The cord attached to the driver with a nice positive click of the proprietary connector.

They come with this nice case.  

The cord is very nice, it is almost impossible to tangle up the cord due to its construction.

After a 5 mile run the earphones are solidly in place.  I never had to adjust them at all.  I have found that the key to success with these ear phones is the fit of the earplug part.  They come with 6 different sizes to fit any ear canal, so fitting should not be a problem for most people.

3 sizes foam and 3 sizes rubber and 1 tool for cleaning out the driver canal.

The noise isolation is really great with these earphones as well.  I have used a pair of Beats Studio headphones and these earphones block an equal amount of ambient noise for 1/3 the price.  The SE215 would be great to use on an airplane or anywhere you don't want people to bother you.

With the good sound isolation comes one drawback.  They act like earplugs, so you can hear everything in your head.  It is impossible to use these earphones while eating, the sound of your own chewing is immense.  While running there is also a constant boom boom boom with every footfall, this may be distracting for some, it was easy for me to ignore.

Overall these are some really great earphones and I would recommend them to anyone who wants great sound and good sound isolation.  Buy them here: GAP 

Bunny Dash 2012

This is the fourth year for this race and I usually do pretty well here.  It is a nice course in a forest preserve in Palatine, IL.

Jack's 1 mile race-10:00  we think 4th place
My 5k-29:58
Hey I was pushing 2 kids in a stroller, so maybe it's not all that slow.

Jack's pirate face

picture from dad's cell phone

Max speed

Had to walk for a bit 

This year was quite different for me.  My son ran his first race, the 1 mile. He was very excited for it and he had a great time too.  He ended up running the mile in about 10 minutes flat, that put him in about 4th place for boys.

The other reason this race was different for me is that I am in bad shape.  There was absolutely no hope of running a personal best here this year.  That is why I decided to run the 5k while pushing the boys in the BOB stroller.  I put them in charge of photography during the race.

Since I had the stroller we had to start at the back of the pack.  This was a real pain in the ass because most of the people in the back were walkers.  So I had to be patient for the first half mile until I could actually run.  The race is on a small paved path, so passing was a challenge at first.  After the first mile the crowd thinned and I could run my own pace.

Mile 1-11:20-Stuck in the crowd
Mile 2-8:48--breaking free
Mile 3-8:15--unfettered good mile
Mile .1-1:35

The boys loved being passengers during the race, I even slowed down at one of the water stops so they could grab a couple cups of water.  This resulted in a soaking wet stroller, but it was fun anyway.

My dad also ran the 5k with us as he has done each of the 4 years.

I ended up catching up with dad even though he had a head start

After the 5k we visited the petting zoo and had a great time during the egg hunt.  Of course we got the obligatory Easter bunny photo.

This llama was very soft and good for petting

Siberian Express Trail race

Results:
7.55 miles
1:00:20
66th place overall


This is my 2nd year running this race.  I made the 3.5 hour drive with Lindsay and my 2 boys.  This year we stayed at the Hampton Inn which is right next door to the hotel we stayed at the year before.  The hotel was almost identical to the Holiday Inn Express, same pool, similar rooms, free wifi, free breakfast, etc.

The Worst Chile Rellenos Ever:We drove down to Danville on Friday and had a mediocre dinner at a place called La Potocina.  This place had the most vile looking and tasting chile rellenos I have ever had.  It was just a pool of unidentifiable meat and cheese with a couple scraps of green pepper.  Gross.   The rest of the food was just average crappy Mexican food.  The highlight of La Potocina was this picture I took of the boys in front of the place riding a burro.

Jack with a happy ranchero

The morning of the race we drove to Kickapoo State Park after buying some much needed sunglasses.  I lost mine the week before on our trip to the Field Museum.

The race is 7.55 miles on a trail of mostly single-track and a couple of little hills in Kickapoo State Park.  Kickapoo is a really beautiful park with a great trail system. I wore my screw shoes for better traction and this was a great decision.  The trail was a bit muddy and loose due to the warm weather we have had this winter so the screw shoes gave me a great advantage on the downhill sections.

Coming up to the finish

I ran so fast my shoes caught fire!

I finished the race at 1:00:20 which is 15 seconds faster than last year.  My training for this year's race was not as good as it was last year, but I ran a faster time.  I really have no explanation for this.  I have run less overall mileage, done less speed work and done shorter long runs.

Finisher medal

I decided not to wear my Garmin for this race because that seemed to work out well for me in my last race, an 8k Turkey Trot.  I think this is a good thing to do from time to time.  For me, running based on feel is a better gauge of fitness than trying to be a slave to my watch during a race.

Again this year I missed the cutoff to get a free long sleeved shirt by being one of the first 50 men to cross the line.  I did get a nice shiny medal which they didn't have last year.  After the race I went to the post-race party and bought on the long sleeved shirt I missed getting by skill and fitness.

Cool shirt

Then we went to Schroeder's Drive in for a greasy hamburger and some onion rings.  Shroeder's was like an old style fast food place, I thought this type of place was extinct with the proliferation of all the other junk food places across the US.

As I did last year, I went back to the trail the next day to re-run the course.  Last year I got lost and ran the course in reverse.  This year I got lost and ended up running the 1st half of the course twice.  Oh well.

I was spooked a bit for this 2nd run because there was a sign at the trailhead that stated the area was restricted to hangun shooters only.  This scared me, I was not in the mood to get shot so I decided not to run the trail at all.  Then I saw a woman who manages the horse tours in the state park and she said the hunting wasn't happening until the following weekend.  So I ran the trail, but it still made me nervous.

Year in review

2011 Summary

Classes:
Gen Bio I                           ->   A
Pre-calulus                        ->   A
Anatomy&Physiology I     ->   A
Anatomy&Physiology II    ->   A
Calculus I                          ->   A
Organic Chemistry I          ->  B

Organic Chem was my 1st B since starting school again.  I overloaded myself during the Fall 2011 semester and this B grade is the result.

I will be applying to dental school this summer and I feel like my chances are very good to get into the school of my choice.  The average GPA of students in the UIC dental program is 3.55.  My GPA is 3.9, so as long as my DAT score is average, or above, I should have no problems getting into dental school.


Running:

Total miles:  906
Races:          6

Siberian Express Trail Run 7.55 Miles 1:00:45

Bunny Dash 5k  22:44  2nd in AG

Human Race 5k 25:31

Stepping Up to Wellness 10k  48:30

Run for the Hills Half Marathon  1:50:21 2nd in AG

Turkey Trot 8k  36:18 PR  (Garmin was dead)


Due to my class and work schedule, I ran 600 miles less than last year.  I hope to rectify this situation in 2012 since I have learned from my mistakes of overloading on classes.  I have embraced running at night in the last 2 months.  It has turned out to be a very convenient time of day to run.  Running at midnight after work is peaceful and there are no obligations to get home.

Festival Foods Turkey Trot

This was my 4th turkey trot and the anniversary of my very first 5k in 2008. Since that first race I have run many races of all kinds of distance, but the turkey trot is always my favorite because the weather is always cold and the people are always extra nuts.

This race was a nice 8k and I ran it in 36:18. This time far exceeded my expectations and I am very happy with the result.
my Festival Foods Turkey Trot - Fox Cities 2011 - 5 Mile Run results



We were in Appleton to visit my brother-in-law for Thanksgiving, so I thought it would be great to continue my turkey trot tradition in another town.

I got to the race about 30 minutes before the start. I had to park about .25 mile from the start area, which actually worked out perfectly for a quarter mile warm up jog. Unfortunately my Garmin 305 was totally dead when I tried to turn it on so I had to run with out knowing pace or distance.

I ran at a comfortable pace based on my breathing rhythm. I felt like I was running about 7:45 minute miles, but there were no mile markers or clocks along the course so I had no idea how fast I was going or what mile we were on.

Coming up to the finish line I saw 36:10 and I thought the clock must be wrong, I did not feel like I was running it that fast. If I had known how close I was to the finish I would have pushed it a bit to make it under 36 minutes.



After the race I got a free 6 inch pumpkin pie. If I had run about 10 minutes faster I could have finished in the top 5 and won a free turkey. Maybe next year.

Run for the Hills Half Marathon

As per my modus operandi, I was under prepared for this race. I signed up for this race and proceeded on a half-assed 8 week plan to get ready for it



It is a race run entirely in the Moraine Hills State Park, a beautiful park that has had some crime troubles recently. There was a runner whose car was broken into while on the trail. Her wallet, keys and cell phone were all stolen. Apparently this is a popular spot for some transients during the summer months.

The race has limit of 300 runners due to the width of the trail. There was a staggered start. We started in groups of about 25, organized alphabetically. This led to solo running for most of the race since you do not start with people of your like speed.


2nd place medal

As the name implies, the course was hilly, but this is Illinois so the hills were very tame and I used them as an opportunity to pass while going up and down. I've found people are overly cautious on the down hills, I like to take advantage of gravity and just let my legs fly.


Pops coming around the last turn

Due to my questionable training regimen, I set a goal to finish under 2 hours. I started out nice and easy. The first 10 miles went by very easily, then I opened it up for the last couple miles when I knew I was in no danger of hitting the wall.

The scenery was great, this time of year in the mid-west is easily my favorite. I love the cool/cold weather and the fall colors are unbeatable.


landscape


My finish of 1:50:07 was well under my goal time and earned me 2nd place in my age group. This was very surprising to me since my age group is usually very competitive. I was walking to the refreshments table with my dad after he finished and I heard my name over the loud speaker, luckily I was still there to hear it.


Pops

Aside from the strange start procedure, the race was well organized and a good value. For $45 we got a nice long sleeved T-shirt, finisher medal and water bottle. I love long sleeved shirts.


Finisher medal

I hope to get back into PR shape after this semester, but for now I am happy with my fitness considering my schedule limitations.