Michelangelo/Leonardo

I started a new book yesterday written by Ross King entitled Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling.  Today I coincidentally came across a NYT story about a search for a long lost frescoe painted by Leonardo da Vinci using some high tech 21st century sleuthing methods.  The book, despite the title, actually references this lost da Vinci fresco as it explains that da Vinci and Michelangelo were each commissioned to paint on opposite walls of a council room inside the Palazzo della Signoria which was a government building in Florence in a sort of competition with each other on a scale of twenty two feet high and fifty four feet long each.  Amazing how inter-connected life can be sometimes.  Here is a link to the NYT article:www.nytimes.com/2011/08/27/arts/design/leonardo-mural-in-florence-may-be-revealed.html?_r=1

Even more interesting than the initial reference in the book to this da Vinci fresco is that the author goes on to state rather offhandedly that neither fresco was fully completed by the artists despite rave reviews to the sketches that each completed prior to beginning work on the frescoes themselves.  The plot thickens!  Looking forward to hearing how this story ends in the 21st century. 

The Touchpad fiasco

Last week I was amused to read a short story about the touchpad from HP being discontinued due to low sales and how Best Buy had sold only about 25k of their original 270k stockpile.  I mused on whether there were "discussions" between these two companies about whether to get rid of them via a fire sale price or send them back to HP.  Apparently the powers that be at HP opted to give consumers a great deal by dropped the price about 80% rather than incur additional transportation costs.  However, I missed the announcement on this deal until about Sunday when the web was abuzz with everyone discussing where they might still be able to find one.  The huge discount suddenly made this the must have item of the season.  I hadn't really planned on buying a tablet before this sale, but mass pyschology being what it is, suddenly the chase for a great deal took over and I started scouring the web for a retailer that still had them for sale.  For 99.99 for the 16 gb tablet or 149.99 for the 32 gb version I assumed I would easily get my money's worth using it as a web browser at a minimum.  Slickdeals.net was reporting that Barnes & Noble was still selling them so a few minutes later I had a confirmation number in hand from B&N and looked forward to joining the throngs of folks with yet another tech gadget.  I then proceeded to go online shopping for a few accessories for my new yet to be received touchpad.  I snagged a carrying case and a specially designed pen designed to write on a tablet.  Needless to say, the best laid plans of mice and men and/or Mr. Murphy showed up with news reports on Monday/Tuesday indicating that B&N may have taken more orders for the touchpad than their inventory could possibly meet.  By Wednesday I finally received an email from B&N cancelling my order. HP was initially reporting that there were additional inventories at one or more of their warehouses and their website suggested that consumers sign up by email to be notified when additional tablets would go on sale later in the week.  To date, the HP website has now been changed to reflect that the tablets are out of stock and no email has ever been sent out nor have any additional touchpads been offered for sale by HP.  There are tons of lessons to be learned here from corporate America and quite a few op-ed pieces have been written so far on this mess.  I came across this clip which was modified from a movie about Adolf Hitler that pretty much sums up the fiasco: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eah8OafpBxE 

Snowball Series Finale and Bootcamp workout

After running the 12 mile trail race on Saturday it was a brief 24 hour interlude until I was pulling on the winter gloves and hat yet again for the final Snowball series 10 mile race on Sunday morning.  Due to racing hard the day before I had opted to just try and run this event as a training effort.  Thus, the plan was to just get in the mileage and run easy--no racing allowed.  I shot some pictures before the start and of course took the camera with me during the race.  I didn't look at my watch throughout the course and managed to finish in about one hour and twenty nine minutes---or just under 9 minute per mile pace.  Here is a link to the photos from the event plus a few of some friends who got together at the Bread Company after the race; 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=33757&id=1742185097&l=d28adf5f08

Sunday afternoon I drove down to the city to partake in a bootcamp style workout.  It has been a few months since I managed to make it to this particular group and on this occasion the trainer, who normally works out with us, was injured so we opted to stay at her house and do a kettlebell workout.  Here are some pictures from the workout:

This is one of my favorite groups since it is usually only a handful of dedicated folks who show up, and you never know what the exercises will be on any particular day.  Normally if the temperature is 40 degrees or higher we are working out in Tower Grove Park with small hand weights.  However, when the weather is bad we will work out in the trainer's home.  In the past I have taken a 20 lb. weight vest with me to make the workout even more challenging.  However, since I hadn't worn it to this group in a few months I left it in the car to try to slowly ease my body back into the old routine.  Here is a picture of me just after a session with this group from the summer of 2010 with the vest plus some ankle weights:  

On one occasion during the summer of 2010 we ended up running approximately 3 miles plus some plyometric movements all with yours truly wearing the vest.  That was a tough workout trying to keep up with everyone else since we usually take a few breaks to do exercises where I can recover but on that occasion it was 1.5 miles of straight running each way!  The group usually meets several times a week but Sundays are free so my frugal nature usually has me attending the Sunday sessions whenever possible.  However, the cost of a Monday through Saturday session is only 3 bucks which is by far the best cost to value proposition in the St. Louis area if you are looking for a bootcamp style workout.  Let me know if you are interested in joining the fun sometime--no weight vest is required!      

Frozen Feet 12 Mile Trail Race 1/29/11

I recently ventured into the wilds of Wildwood Missouri to run a first time event sponsored by the local Parks and Recreation Dept.  They had announced a 12 mile trail race some time ago and I think I heard about it initially through Big River since they were scheduled to provide timing services for the event.  Late in 2010 I decided that the new year would see me committed to change up my racing habits so this brand spanking new race in January seemed like a perfect opportunity to follow through with that pledge.   New races tend to attract a much smaller crowd than those that have been held for many years so I wasn't surprised to see only around 125 runners sign up to compete. 

The race began at Lasalle Springs Middle School just off highway 109 in Wildwood.  I had picked up my number and pull-over hoodie the night before at the Big River store since I was worried I might sleep in and wouldn't have time in the morning.  I was kind of surprised that I was seeded in the first heat with all the fast runners.

The first wave runners a few minutes before the start.

  However, the organizers had asked us to send in a 10k time which generally means I will be seeded higher than if I had sent in a half marathon time.  My relative performance to my peers is always better the shorter the distance I am racing.  If I were truly smart I would probably stick to racing 400 meters to perhaps 2 miles at most, but I am either too obstinate to stick to what I am good at or just not that smart.  Anyway, the weather on Friday was warm---I had run 5 miles the day before the race and then biked about 15 miles to take advantage of the warm temps and the heat wave continued into the morning for our race---it was probably in the high 30's or low 40's at race time which was pretty nice running weather for January in Missouri.

I ran into a few friends at the Lasalle school before the race and took a few pictures (of course).  We lined up in groups of about 20 or so and since I was in group one I tried to snap a bunch of pictures right before the gun and then a few as we were getting underway.

The view from the middle of group one.

I hung back near the middle of the pack trying to run a conservative pace.  I didn't have my Garmin with me (I have managed to misplace it since getting it back from a friend) so I was running based totally on my own sense of pace.  The first mile was probably a tad bit fast but nothing out of the ordinary.  The first part of the course involved running down a bike path that was actually part of a 100 mile hilly bike ride I completed over the summer so I was familiar with the start of the event.  We ran through a tunnel and the path had quite a bit of crunchy snow and a bit of ice which fortunately wasn't slick for the most part.  We then made a right turn and headed toward a little park and the Al Foster trail.  Ha!  I had made it to this point on a few occasions from long runs begun in Castlewood State Park but had never been at this location with my car nearby---so it was nice to see how to get to this point by driving if I ever want to start on this end and run toward Castlewood. 

Once we hit the actual trail some portion of it was usually covered in snow and part of it was relatively clear from the muck, so I tried to stick to the cleared portion as much as possible since it was generally faster to do so.  Nevertheless, at least half the time we were running on crunchy snow and/or ice.  The race organizers had told us before we started that there were mile markers on the course but warned us not to count on their accuracy---I wasn't looking closely for them and the first one I remember seeing was at the 4 mile mark.  It wasn't surprising I missed the first three since they were on white paper with blue lettering and only about 4 or 5 inches tall and my guesss it that they were sporting a white snow background.  Very easy to miss.  No worries though since this was a 12 mile race and I was just trying to run hard and my splits were not all that important. 

I knew it was an out and back kind of course with the final section veering off to the right hand side on the way back.  A thoughtful race volunteer had pointed out the spot where we would be making that turn on the way out (about 3 miles later).  What I didn't notice before the race began as I quickly perused the map was that the "turn around" was not the usual cone placed at one spot but was a half circle that was probably around 3/4 of a mile in length.  Thus, my normal plan of shooting the runners ahead of me on their return trip was nixed by the course design since they weren't far enough along to complete that stretch of the trail before I began it.  Oh well.  By the time I finished the half circle some of the runners in the later heats were coming through in the opposite direction and I started shooting some of their pictures.

Runners heading in opposite directions on the main trail.

It was also on this half circle section that some of the faster runners from the second heat caught up to me including my good friend Al Beers.  He and I have battled it out in a few epic trail races including during Pere Marquette and Castlewood Cup but today was all Al--he dropped me hard!  Good for him.  I assume his run training is going quite well based on how he looked and how quickly he was out of my sight.

Al catching up to me from wave two and about to pass by with ease.

I actually felt better once we started seeing other runners and I was able to focus on looking for friends and shooting pictures.  I was feeling pretty good between miles 4 through 6 but once we made the turn onto the right offshoot section of the course the fun factor dropped precipitously.  A major element was a lack of both crowd support and competition since by the time I reached that point most of the racers were fairly spread out.  For about two minutes I was completely alone on the course, not able to see anyone ahead of, or behind me and I started to wonder if maybe I missed a turn.  In addition the course started heading ever so slightly uphill and about that time the two leaders came flying by in the opposite direction---Sunny and a guy I didn't know named Andrew (I looked up his name in the results).  They were chatting up a storm as they passed by me......if I hadn't started the race with Sunny I would have sworn she was just on a training run due to the ease with which she appeared to be talking--not breathing hard at all.  I snapped a quick picture as they ran by and then I started coming across the other top runners on their final few miles heading back to the finish line.

Sunny and Andrew around mile 10----I wonder how the cost benefit analysis turned out?

  Did I mention the course grade yet?  I think so...but at this point things for me really started going uphill---there were several major inclines with a doozy just before you made a left hand turn and things turned flat in the parking lot of another local school where an aid station had been set up.  My legs felt trashed and I was out of breath so I handed my camera to one of the volunteers to shoot my picture.  If I wasn't feeling like the grim reaper was watching from the sidelines I might not have taken the time for a photo op but I thought it was a good excuse to kill two birds with one stone; get a pic of myself and recover a bit.  Erin almost walked right in front of the picture as the guy snapped the shot and I didn't even know she was there.

  Erin with a classic OMG look on her face. 

I drank a bit of water and then headed back down the hill.  Some people say that running down hill is hard.  I think those people are mental.  Running downhill is a piece of cake compared to going uphill.  When I was young I remember reading about a one mile race in either New Zealand or Australia that was entirely downhill and the course record was something like 3:20 or so......much faster than the world record on a flat surface of I think 3:46 at the time.  Yeah, sign me up for that any day of the week.  So, I was enjoying the downhill section and was still snapping pictures on the way back to the main Al Foster Trail head.  I felt pretty good between mile eight to eleven but was still trying to keep things rolling along without falling apart by going too fast. 

The last mile and a half I tried to maintain my pace but a couple of runners caught up to me with about 400 meters to go since I was really ready for this race to end by the mile 11 marker.....I was just going to let them go by...but the competitor in me hates to get beat in the final stretch of any race so I managed to stay with them as they picked up the pace and then threw in a surge of my own with about 75 meters to go....yeah I beat all three of them to the line.  However, I think they all started in wave two or three so the victory was more symbolic than anything else since their overall times would have been faster than mine anyway.  Sometimes it is the small victories that you have to cling to though to get you through. 

I finished in 46th place and ran the 12 mile course in one hour forty five minutes and 56 seconds or 8:50 per mile pace.....which is slightly slower than the pace I averaged in the Go! St. Louis Marathon last year.   I really wasn't focused on time or place---I just wanted to go out there and push myself which I did while getting in a 12 mile run.

I hung around the finish line for quite a while shooting pictures of the finishers and cheering them on, while chatting with some of my friends.  I ended up missing most of the awards presentation though.  The organizers did provide the racers with ample water, gatorade, bagels, plus a bunch of other stuff and even Imo's Pizza so it gets a big thumbs up on the quality of the free goodies.  Overall it was a pretty good event and I will likely be back next year if they hold it once again. 

          

consistency in my run training

Monday I finally returned to the Big River Monday night run---I had missed the past few weeks for various reasons.  It was good to be back in the swing of things and there was a young lady named Carrie who was looking for someone to run the 7 mile loop with, so I volunteered as we were getting underway.  She looked pretty fit and fast and said she was looking to run around 7:40 pace....yikes!  I think I normally run between 7:30 and about 8:00 minute mile pace when I am feeling great and the path is free of obstructions.

On this particular day the River Des Peres trail was still covered in snow.  I managed to keep up with her for about 2 miles before she took off shortly thereafter to run with a couple of guys ahead of us.  Yeah, nothing like a fast woman dropping me in the snow to bring into focus the fact that I have my work cut out for me training for the Go! St. Louis Marathon.  I ended up running solo for the last 5 miles and Matt Gibbs and company finished right behind me by about a minute or so.  It was a good effort since I usually run that course between about 54 to 56 minutes and this time I completed it in about 61 minutes which I thought was great considering all the snow and ice we had to trudge through and I was running somewhat conservatively on the path to avoid slipping and falling.

Wednesday evening I also made my debut with the Big River Running training team for the Go! Marathon speed work sessions.  The workout was set up to run loops around Francis Park which is 1.2 miles from point to point around and we were going a maximum of eight miles.  Ben and Tim were gracious enough to set out cones and read us splits at each mile which was great.  I started out running with Kevin Jackson who was planning on running 4 miles while I had in mind trying to complete 6 miles, if possible.  Ben advised us all to pick a distance between three and eight miles for this workout and only a handful were going the full eight, including Gibbs.

I was trying to run between eight to nine minute per mile pace since my previous best marathon had me averaging 8:45 per mile and the goal of this workout was to focus on running near your goal pace.  However,  I was somewhat out of practice focusing on running marathon pace, and in any event I usually run faster than my ultimate average race pace for the first 20 miles or so during a marathon only to slow down dramatically over the final 10k.  For example, during the San Antonio Marathon in 2009 I was averaging 8:28 per mile pace at mile 20 and then fell apart running the final 10k averaging a less than world beating 13:14 per mile. 

In other words, I can run a decent pace for 10, 15 or even 20 miles.....but I tend to fall apart over the final 10k.  Although that is a dramatic time discrepancy, my other races bear out a similar pattern, albeit in less dramatic time differences.  Experience has taught me that training to run race pace at something as short as 6 to 8 miles isn't that helpful for me.  I really need to focus on doing long runs up to the marathon distance and in particular focus on either maintaining the same pace throughout or even picking it up slightly near the end of the run.  I don't say that to slight the workout itself, which has merit, just less so for me than perhaps others who don't know what their race pace feels like.

Thus, I found myself early in the workout running almost even eight minute per mile splits which is probably faster than my ultimate race pace will end up being.  The first mile was right on at 8:00 minutes, second one was at 8:02, third at 8:08, fourth at 7:45, fifth at 7:54 and finally I finished the sixth mile in 7:43 to conclude the workout in 47:32 or 7:55 per mile average pace.  Kevin was a little amazed/surprised I could run such even splits without a Garmin but I am pretty good at maintaining pace early in a race or training effort like this, provided I don't go out too fast.  The final two miles I considered skipping since running with Kevin wasn't particularly easy but as he was peeling off another runner, Heidi pulled up behind us and we ended up running the final 2 miles together.  It was interesting because I was sucking down all the oxygen I could get breathing heavily and working hard and she seemed to just be coasting along which I was trying really hard not to find slightly annoying.  I don't think I heard her take one deep breath during those last few miles....so she is clearly ready to run a pretty quick time. 

The weather in St. Louis on Thursday and Friday was pretty nice hitting the 40 degree mark so I ended up getting out on my own and running over 6 miles on Thursday and 5 miles on Friday before my scheduled 12 mile trail race on Saturday morning at the Frozen Feet event sponsored by the City of Wildwood and timed by Big River.  It should be fun since at least a few of my friends are scheduled to be racing there too.

In looking back over the week I managed to run over thirty miles on at least five days worth of running which is the most consistent I have been so far this winter.  I feel like I am finally starting to feel some motivation to get out the door and run on my own.             

Winter Weight Training----Legs

I few friends have asked me recently about my weight lifting regimen during the winter--particularly focusing on the legs.  I try to hit the legs at least 3-4 times a week (usually every other day) for the following core exercises for my legs, though sometimes I will mix things up, here is my standard workout these days:

5 x 100 seated calf raise machine with 120 lbs alternating leg position after each 100.
5 x 100 hip abduction machine, start with 70 lbs and add 10 lbs for each 100 completed.
5 x 100 hip adduction machine, start with 70 lbs and add 10 lbs for each 100 completed.

5 x 100  leg extension machine with 35 lbs.
5 x 100  leg curl machine with 40 lbs.
5 x 100 squats with 40 lbs barbell


I take as many breaks as necessary during each set and between sets because for me the main goal is to reach the 500 total reps.  However, recently I can almost always go through all 100 reps without a break and sometimes can go through several hundred reps at these weights without stopping.  I don't recommend this workout for everyone and be aware it took me some length of time to work up to this many total repetitions, but I like the feeling I get from doing so many reps at what are mostly relatively light weights for me. 

American Triple T Ohio Race Report Part Five

Half Iron Distance Race Sunday morning

It felt a little weird going back to the transition area for a standard swim, bike and then run format after the craziness of the day before with all the leg cramps from doing the events out of order. I set up my bike and shoes and thought that the bike leg would probably severely test me. The olympic distance course was tough but only 40k in length. I knew I could push my way through 40k of anything on a bike, no matter how hilly. However, if the 56 mile course was anything like the 40k course I figured this was going to be a tough and long day. Again, I didn't have the luxury of driving the course so I opted to try and ride conservatively on the first lap of the two lap bike leg. I didn't really give much thought to the swim leg ahead of time since the 1.2 miles was only slightly longer than the 1500 I swam twice the day before.

With my moderate expectations of just being able to finish the swim I again started near the back of the pack. Once more there were several people who ended up swimming into me, especially on the first lap, but I was getting used to it by that point. I felt a little twinge of the leg cramps from Saturday's afternoon race but nothing nearly as severe.  Rather, it seemed more like a faint echo of my pseudo-torture from the day before. I was able to walk the last few meters at the turn around buoy and then starting the second lap.  At some point during the swim it all just started to click and my body seemed to go on auto pilot.  I don't think I was any faster than normal but the effort necessary to maintain my pace seemed to diminish. I felt pretty good exiting the water and excited to get started on the bike.

We turned right out of the parking lot so I had a few miles of roads that we drove down on the way from Portsmouth to the race start. After a few miles we turned left into another state park and I was then in virgin territory. Fairly soon we starting going up a massive hill and once more it was granny gear time. I was able to pass some of my fellow racers on the hills but everyone was crawling--it was just a question of degrees of slowness at that point. At the top of the mile long hill there was an official photographer snapping pictures which was nice. This would be a two lap bike course so I knew I would be visiting this scene later on in the morning. However, I tried to put that out of my mind. The good thing about this course compared to Saturday was the relatively sparse traffic we encountered and the fact that there were no riders traveling in the opposite direction. I think there were less than ten vehicles that were on the entire 56 mile course so you could really just focus on your cycling. There were more stretches of flat pavement so you could get your speed going but when you hit the hills they were tough and unfortunately plentiful.

Eventually we left the park and skirted some semi-residential areas that backed up to the park. There were race volunteers at each corner where there was a turn, plus with arrows painted on the roadway I never felt in danger of being lost. Nevertheless, there were points during the race when I was all alone on the road for a few minutes before I either caught the rider ahead of me or someone would come up on me from behind. Eventually we turned back on the main highway to repeat the final miles from the 40k rides on Saturday before entering the transition area/turn around point. Mostly those miles are flat but there were a few hills that kept you honest and reminded you this was suppose to be a challenging course. Message received. We went all the way down to the transition area and the race organizers had set up a bottle exchange/pickup area directly in front of the transition area. I dropped off an empty bottle and picked up a fresh one filled with water. They also had HEED in water bottles but I wasn't really a fan of that option myself. In addition, there was a table to set out your own bottle(s) pre-race, but I opted to just take what was offered.

It was a tough first lap and for a moment I felt like I would be content to call that a good effort and get off the bike and become a spectator shooting pictures rather than ride that super hilly lap once more before running a half marathon. Nah! I told myself let's keep going and see if I fall apart or can keep chugging along. Lap two begins and my legs were decidedly less zippy than lap one. The major hills were still there but this time I knew where to expect them. I expected to go slow on the hills, but what was disconcerting were some of the relative flat sections when I would look down and see my speed somewhere between ten to fourteen mph. Of course I think I was doing the same thing (going slow) on lap one, but it was perplexing because I was looking at the geographic contours of the terrain and roadway trying to figure out if this was just a gradual uphill that I couldn't see clearly or if the chip and seal pavement was somehow sticking to my tires slowing me down (kidding).....I couldn't figure it out. At one point I stopped to check my tires and make sure I didn't have a slow leak. Nope! I was just riding slow. Anyway, the hills were again plentiful and seemingly never ending. Lots of climbing and pretty scenery that kept my mind wandering.

The next eventful thing that happened was a loud pop and hiss around mile forty four. Flat rear tire on a short downhill section. It reflects on the craziness of this course that I was more upset that I had a flat tire on a section of the course where I was traveling more than twenty mph than the mere fact that my tire blew. I honestly would have been relieved if that happened on one of the killer climbs but to steal my meager thunder while going fast--how dare the cycling gods mess with me like that! I pulled the rear tire off, pulled the tube and replaced it. Used my CO2 and was back on the road in about 3 minutes. It was one of my faster changes on the side of the road. I was mentally prepared for it, so it really didn't throw off my race plan or rhythm at all. It was just one of those things that happen. I was so happy once we made that turn onto the final highway road because we had about five miles to go until we hit the transition area although there were still hills in that section too.

Once I reached the transition area I was truly looking forward to being off the bike. Now I only had to finish a half marathon. For the first time in transition I really noticed the heat and humidity. I could tell it was going to be a hot and humid day on the bike, but part of the course was shaded and the wind one could feel riding really helped cool me off. No such luck once the run started. The legs felt sluggish and heavy starting out on the run. I made a quick detour after only running a few steps to partake of some the liquids and nutrition offered once again by the race organizers just outside transition. I think I grabbed an orange slice and water but turned down the gu and heed etc. Once the run began I was surprised at how well I was able to still go in the first mile or so. Granted, I was certainly slower than my earlier efforts on the course but I was still running and passing a few folks to boot. I was stopping at each aid station on the way out to the turn around.

As the uphill sections mounted I was definitely feeling it. Once we hit the big uphill section I opted to walk up it. My legs just felt dead. After climbing back out after the turn around I knew lap two was not going to look pretty. These days I can tell when things go bad because at that point I stop being interested in taking pictures on the course. I think that happened on the way back to the turn around point to begin lap 2. By the time I reached the transition/turn around area I tried telling myself just one more out and back. It didn't work to inspire and motivate me to pick up the pace as I had hoped. I knew 6.55 miles is a long haul when you aren't feeling good. Ok....just had to suck it up and keep moving. I was running.....ok honestly it was more slow jogging the flats but then I started walking all the uphills. Frankly I don't know that my jog would have been much faster anyway.

Most of the second lap was just a tough death march for me. I wanted the race to be over but found myself  slow jogging until about mile two at which point I just had to walk.....my legs were toast. Previously I had stopped for refreshments at the turn around point to begin lap two and tried some coca cola. It tasted amazingly good at the time and did provide a short burst of energy. Unfortunately, my stomach didn't much appreciate the thought and decided to revolt about twenty minutes later. I intuitively knew this was likely before I actually drank it...but hoped my experience from high school and college trying to incorporate the stuff might end differently this time. No such luck! Sticking with what works makes so much sense, but sometimes you just need to try something and see what happens.

A popular past time was taking a dip in the water between races....which is what I was looking forward to once my run fell apart.

The truth is given how long it had been since I tried coca cola during a race I thought it possible my body might just be able to adapt to it. So, yes I was bent over on the side of the trail puking my guts out around mile 2.5 on the trail when history repeated itself. Good times! I walked the rest of the way after puking since I was feeling less than stellar by that point. I walked up the long hill just past the turn around and oh my gosh.....that felt much more difficult than I imagined to just walk it. I did of course have to stop again around mile 3.5 to puke yet again. Though the downhills were tempting to try and run my stomach felt like two kids had taken opposite sides of a see saw and were enjoying bouncing up and down ad nausea. So, I tried to focus on just making my way to either the next aid station or the next mile marker walking.

I think this was at the halfway point of the half marathon....when I had 6.55 tough miles to go. 

Interestingly, just before I reached the final aid station around mile 5.5 the girl who was "working" the aid station sauntered up to me on the trail heading deeper onto the course about 200 meters passed her post and asked me, " How far to the next aid station?" I was totally mystified by the behavior since I seemed to recall she was all alone on my way past her station maybe 30 minutes ago....but I assumed she ran out of something and was heading toward getting resupplied???? It was about a mile away I replied and she just kept walking past me. So....I found myself all alone at the abandoned aid station and though there was water on the table, no one was manning the area....it just looked eerie to me. It seemed like a scene out of a scary movie where the police might roll up any minute to begin investigating the disappearance of a race aid worker. I was also struck by the idea that gosh----I must really be slow if the volunteers feel comfortable walking away from their aid station while I am still technically racing. It was my very own version of the racing D-list.

This was a picture taken by J.P. when I was about a half mile from the finish line.....I was beyond toast by this point and just wanted it to be over.  Thus, I didn't mind stopping for a photo op. 

I didn't want to tempt my body to puke yet again so I skipped the water this time and trudged on. It was only about three or four minutes later that a van with race volunteers passed me on the course heading toward the abandoned station so I assume they were on the way to resupply it. I was ecstatic when I finally left the fire trail and waiting for me at that point was my friend JP who had already finished. It was great to see her and we walked together for a bit after she took my picture. She jogged ahead to shoot me crossing the finish line which was good news because I was worried she would try to jog in all the way with me. I knew my body wasn't up for that kind of effort. However, I was able to run in the last few meters and truly appreciate JP being there to document the moment with a few pictures.

About to cross the finish line

After finishing the race I again took in some liquids and pretzels and a banana offered by the race organizers. JP was kind enough to retrieve my race sandals from the transition area and I slipped off my running shoes, put them on and then walked out into the stream which was directly behind the transition site. It felt pretty good, though obviously a little cold and there were several other folks in there doing the same thing.

Finally taking a soak in the water after completing all four events of the Triple T

In summary of this final race, I finished in 334th place out of 346 total finishers in the half ironman distance race with a final time of 857:29. My 56 mile hilly as all get out bike split was 423:32 while my half marathon time was a pitiful 339:52, but I managed to finish and actually was the final finisher of all four races in my division in 65th place out of an initial 91 racers who began the event on Friday evening. Thus, 26 racers in my division alone either didn't start, or couldn't complete the half ironman race on Sunday which translates into a 29% failure rate. 

Final Thoughts

Having reflected on the experience over the past several weeks I am definitely glad that I participated in the American Triple T Ohio. I am scheduled to compete again at the Great Floridian full iron distance triathlon in late October. The Floridian course in 2009 was my first experience with a hilly bike course at either the half ironman or full ironman distance so that was part of my initial motivation to tackle the reputed hilliness of Triple T. I figured that if I could manage to survive Triple T's hills I would be prepared to tackle the full 112 miles in Florida with less vertical climbing (I think). However, given the crazy weather this spring I can say in retrospect that I didn't ride nearly enough on hills leading up to this race. Still, I was able to finish while several folks had to accept a DNF, including some who have completed a full ironman race. I think I will be back to race the Ohio Triple T again, but at this point am considering doing so every other year. The course is just too tough to want to tackle it every single year in my humble opinion, though I am sure some folks would disagree.

Post Script: Due to a shoulder injury sustained over the summer I was unable to complete any additional solo triathlon races after mid August including the Great Floridian Triathlon in 2010.  However, I did compete at the Ironman Branson 70.3 as a relay with a friend swimming for me while I tackled the bike and run legs.  For comparison purposes I would say that the Triple T half ironman bike course was significantly harder than the Branson course.  The hills of Branson were long but not necessarily steep.  The Triple T hills were more numerous and less predictable in their grade but often were much steeper.  On a scale of 1 to 10 I would rate Branson a seven and Triple T a nine in terms of level of difficulty, though admittedly my judgment might have been influenced by tackling the three prior races before the half ironman on Sunday.