Ozark Valley Triathlon Race Report

I have finally decided to sit down and write my race report from the Ozark Valley Triathlon over by Wedington, AR. The last several weeks have brought some challenges and time has been impacted. First, I got a letter from some lawyers back home that my Step Grandmother had passed away and I was in the Will. Nice of someone in the family to let me know about it. Will was driving our van, which we had for a month, and got into an accident and totaled it. Thank God no one was hurt as Shannon was in there with him. I then attempted to do the Tulsa Triathlon and 4 miles into the race on the bike, my front derailleur snapped off. Race over. Last, but not least, our air conditioner died last week and we spent the entire week without air during the hottest week of the year so far. Nothing like a lot of challenges to make you stronger. To try and redeem myself, I signed up for the Tri over in Arkansas.

We decided against getting a room the night before and got up before the crack of dawn and drove over to Lake Wedington. The drive was not bad as it only took about 1.5 hrs to get there. Not much action on the drive over, but when we got to the Turnpike to pay, they had no one manning the overnight station. You had to use all change or get change from the changer to pay. Luckily, I had a few dollars for change and was able to pay. I guess this is part of the State Cutbacks? The rest of the time was spent trying to stay awake. Although, when we went past the Casino on the border, a car with a bike attached, obviously heading to the race, went whizzing past us, and at 5:30 AM, a police officer pulled out and headed their way. Hopefully they still made it to the race on time.

We made it to the Lake by 6 AM and did the packet pick up, headed to transition to set up, and sat around getting ready. The transition area was monitored very closely and had very specific instructions. All items had to be to the right of the bikes. I heard several people getting called back to transition as they did have everything set up properly. I am not sure if I liked the total control or not. Any way, by 7:30 it was time for the pre-race meeting and then last minute checks before the swim started.
The Lake was isolated to the area and we had absolutely no boat traffic and had the Lake to ourselves. It was the typical wave starts and I was to start at 8:05 in the second wave. I have been working on my swim and made some modifications and was curious to see how I was going to fare. My last swim at the Tulsa Tri was in choppy water and I lost several minutes trying to re-attach my chip as it got knocked loose during the start. I finally had to decide to keep moving or let it sink to the bottom of the lake. Because of that, I had a really slow swim time, not that I am fast any way, but loosing several minutes, just compounds the issue.

The swim was a 1,000 yard swim and the water was calm with the only problem being that we started swimming directly into the sun and you could not see the buoys. I had a horrible time sighting at the Tulsa Tri and lost several minutes as I am sure that I swam more than the 1,500 meters. At 8:05 we were off. That is me in the picture, the third from the left, no not that one, the other one.

I started out pretty decent and before I knew it I was around the first buoy. I passed several people and felt like I was going good. At the Tulsa Tri, I didn't pass anyone. As I started heading West, I passed several people from the first wave, Males under 40, and that lifted my spirits. I am not a great swimmer, yet, to actually pass some people was pretty cool. I made the last right hand turn around the buoy and headed towards the shore. I was going to make it.
I got out of the water and started running on the long carpet towards transition. I passed several people walking, while I ran by. Come on, it is a race! My swim time was 22 something, which is a little faster because of some modifications I had made in swim technique. Time to get on the bike and head out.
I got everything loaded up and headed out of transition. We were told that that we had two no passing zones coming out of the park and we had to obey or be disqualified. I hung back a little as we got out on the road and I heard, "On Your Left", so I guess we were out of the no pass zone. I was like, "Heck No", and took off and passed the lady and never saw her again. The bike loop was a 19 mile loop through the countryside around the park. It had one major hill that was not real long, just steep. I was passing a whole lot of people on the bike because of my slower swim. I passed one guy on the bike and he said, "Go on and git ya sum." That definitely brought a smile to my face as all I could think about was banjo's and Deliverance. My cadence increased after that.

Only a couple of people passed me towards the end and a lot of that is because I am not that great of a climber, but on the flat sections, I can fly. There was several little rollers and they would pass me on the hill and I would reel them back in on the flats. Before I knew it I was back in transition and time to get the run on. I ended up averaging 21 mph. Not bad, but I always feel that I could have went faster on the bike when I finish.
I made it into transition and switched into running shoes for the 4 mile run. My right insole on my shoes bunched up, and I tried to fixed it three times and just decided to go with it as I was losing a whole bunch of time. I headed out on the run and I was not feeling it. My time was not bad, but the legs weren't feeling the love. I made it to the start of this monster hill and managed to run it part of the way up, and started an Ultra power walk up the hill. I do not walk hills in races, unless they are Ultras, but this hill was killer. I did not see anyone running it. I finally made it to the top and the turnaround and headed back downhill. We have the huge downhill, a slight uphill, and then loop back around to the hill again. That's right, it was a two loop course with the same hill. That's sucks! So, I power walked again. Some were still try to run it, but my Ultra walk was just as fast. I made it up again and back downhill to the aid station and then uphill to turn right to home.
The run to the finish was slightly downhill and that was the best part of the whole run. I think I was getting under 6 minute miles on that little section. I had a horrible run, but still managed to have the 27th best run time overall. My total time was 1:50. Not bad, but out of the money for an age group award. That is the thing about Tri's, I am so used to getting an award for running, but when you have to put all 3 disciplines together, it is a lot tougher. My main thing is to improve the swim. Once that is there, look out.

Overall, it was a great race. It was very well organized, had great swag, and the location could not have been better. One of my biggest complaints about the Tulsa Tri is that there is nowhere to get out of the sun or for people to really hang out. I know it is because of the lake area, that there is not much you can do about it, but at this lake you had plenty of shade for lawn chairs, picnic tables, catered food, podiums for the award groups, and great announcing for when people finished. I would recommended this Tri to anyone, but you had better be prepared for the monster hill that you have to hit twice. The results can be found here.

Something Cool Came in the Mail

Got my award for the OKC Marathon. Really beautiful award.
In taper mode for the Tulsa Tri this weekend. First full Olympic Triathlon. I can't wait!

Running Hope Through America

With much anticipation and goading by TZ, I have finally sat down today to write about my experience last Saturday for being OK State Captain for Lisa Smith-Batchen's attempt at running 50 miles in 50 States in 62 days. I am amazed that anyone reads this blog, let alone is waiting to read my report. I have not had much time to blog lately, but I will try to do better for those of you who do read it.
At about 1 AM this past Saturday morning, the RHTA crew rolled into Tulsa. This is the start of fruition of many months of planning and coordination between people I have never met and making sure that their needs were met. I understand the dynamics of what it takes to complete Ultras, but what it takes to complete 2500 miles in 62 days is another thing. This all started because of a thought on Lisa's part to raise money for Orphans worldwide. Lisa does not think small, so instead of just running across the country and just hitting a few States, which is still a monumental task, why not do all 50 States. Her plea went out across the Internet and I threw my name out there by saying that if they happen to need someone to help in OK, I would be glad to help. Not knowing or expecting that I would ever be chosen to head things up, but I am glad I was.
Lisa does not do this on her own by any means. Her main job is to put one foot in front of the other for 50 miles. One of her main friends and crew support is Sister Marybeth. You may have heard of the flying Nun, well she is the running Nun. Fully clad in habit and outfit, she logs at least 20 miles a day or more with Lisa and tends to her needs. Sister and Lisa go way back to when Sister Marybeth was coaching girls cross country and was needing a coach and Lisa applied for the job and the rest is history. Sister puts most runners to shame by the amount of miles she logs all while wearing wool, which she did at Badwater to help Lisa. One of the many great things of the day was Sister was looking for a place to attend Mass and we found a church off of 49th & Peoria, which is at least a good mile or so away. She said she would just walk over there. I felt really bad about letting her walk and offered her a ride and she said that it was not that far away and she preferred to walk. This was after already doing about 20 miles that day. Truly amazing.
One of the main reasons this even took place was because Brian & Kathy Hoover stepped up and volunteered to help with the aid stations, publicity, and anything else we needed. When I knew that I was going to be in charge of this, I knew immediately that I needed to get TATUR and Runnersworld involved. If anyone was going to know the needs of an Ultra, it was them. They both put in countless hours sending out e-mails and posting things on the website to make sure that the word got out and it did. The are truly one of the most giving people I know and the kindness that they have shown my family, really got shared with the RHTA crew.
At 5:30 AM, there were a few introductions and Lisa said, "which way do we go?" The crew that had assembled headed North and it was to be a long day of 50 miles. Lisa starts out walking the first 10 or 15 miles to get her legs feeling good and then starts mixing in walking or running, depending on how she feels. The amazing thing about this was the amount of people that showed up, but more importantly the amount of people that stayed with her all day. Several comments were made about that this the largest amount of people that stayed with her all day of any State. We have such a good group of runners here in Tulsa. I am very proud to be a part of them.

I did not head out on the first loops, because I wanted to make sure that everything was coordinated and that we were providing them all the support they needed. Michael Evans, one of the support crew from Idaho, went out a few times for a run and I joined him and Elaine Palmquist for a few Zink Loops. I managed to get in 16 miles, while still maintaining coordination of all the activities. I had a lot of good help from Brian and my wife. With them helping, things were going smoothly.

They predicted a washout of rain all day, but instead we just got some mist and overcast skies, which made for a great day of running. You could not have asked for better weather to run in. After our tornado on Thursday and massive storms on Friday, it was not looking good. We made sure and prayed for better weather and we were blessed to have it.
The RHTA crew had a table set up by the RV with some information about the run, the causes, and a jar that people could donate to. It is amazing that amount of people who stopped and dropped in some money. Thank you!

So, what does Sister Marybeth do while Lisa is still out running, what any smart Nun would do, catch a snooze. No, she is not praying. I cannot imagine the stress of all the traveling, let alone the running takes on you, so I would be catching some Zzzz's whenever I could too.
Why are all these people really excited, it is because they are headed for this.
The finish line. After a long day, 12 hrs., and her 22nd State, Lisa was finally done. The day went by extremely fast, but a lot happened during that time. A lot of stories were shared, some lives were changed, and history was in the making. That is one thing about running, once it courses through your veins, it is hard to get rid off. It pulses throughout your body and life, molding and shaping, and changing the fabric of who we are. No matter our backgrounds, lifestyles, upbringings, or current circumstances, running peels away that very existence and for one one moment in time makes us all part of a very special group of close knit people who can come together for one special purpose. To raise money for Orphans around the globe.Once the run is done, another State is marked off the list and it is time to pack them up and head them out.
But, before you go, how about a massage. I was able to have good friend Dr. Peace come out with his massage therapist and give Lisa a free massage to help her in journey across the USA. Thank you Dr. Peace for coming out and being a good friend.
Well, the OK journey for Lisa was finally over, but her mission still lives on. Her fight for those who cannot necessarily fight for themselves goes on as she travels across this great land of ours bringing awareness to their plight. I thank God that I am a runner. What running has given me, is something I can hardly put into words and give the proper voice for how it has changed my life. Because of that, I the least I can do is give back to what has given so much to me. Please consider that also, by going to runhope.com and giving something back to help those who are less fortunate than us. God bless Lisa and crew and may God bless all the runners, volunteers, and people who donated on Saturday. Thank you all so much for making this happen and it is my privilege to call you a friend.

Friday 4/30/10

Rode the trainer today for 1.25 hrs with the looming storms clouds outside. May lift some weights at the Y later.

Ran an easy 5 miles yesterday. The calves are loosening up and starting to feel better from the OKC Marathon. Swam at the Y for a half an hour.

Tomorrow is the big MIWOK 100K race in SF. Hope everyone has fun. Very stacked field and I hope that Tony Krupicka tears it up. I am sure he is using this to get into Western States.

A lot of triathlons tomorrow also, Escape From Alcatraz, Ironman St. George, and others.

Kids are doing the Renal Run tomorrow night downtown.

Also, tomorrow is the Kentucky Derby. I watch it every year. This all started from when we lived in Kentucky. The experience around it is awesome. Have a great weekend!

OKC Marathon Race Report

I had the privilege of running the 10th Annual OKC Marathon this last Sunday. This was my third time running it and something about it keeps drawing me back. I have never had a real good run time here as the weather has played a factor in times past and that is why some people prefer to do the Little Rock Marathon in March. Despite all that, there is something mystical about the race. The way the city comes out and supports it is truly amazing. I really appreciate how all the volunteers encourage you and say Thanks for coming out and running the race. The city really embraces it and supports it. It is very evident when you are out on the course. The Route 66 Marathon here in Tulsa could learn a lesson from them about how to put on a great race.
We left Tulsa early Saturday afternoon and rolled into OKC about 3 pm to see things like this. Unfortunately, the expo was the same day as the OKC Thunder basketball game against the Lakers. The game wasn't until that night, but people were already lining up. The Cox Center is where the packet pick up is and it is right next to the Ford Center, where the Thunder play. Not to be out done, the annual Arts festival was in the park next to the Cox Center. Traffic was backed up way back on Robinson all the way to I-40. I had never seen the packet pick up this bad. They were expecting record numbers this year and it showed. We hurried up and got our packet and headed south to Moore to our room. It was time to get some food and relax. 3:45 Am was going to be early.

I set the alarm for 4 Am, but I was up at 3:45 AM and I was starting to get ready. We made it out the door and downtown at about 5:30 AM. Race start is 6:30 AM. I knew that I would have to make one last port-a-potty stop and I wanted to get there early as it is a typical race to where the ratio of runners to port-a-potty's seems to be off. I made it through the line and headed north to the corral a little before 6 AM. When I got there most of the people were huddled in the back with slower pace times and they had special black dot seating up closer. I got into the slower corral, not knowing what it all meant. I looked down at my bib and I saw a black dot. Hurray! I could move up. I made my way up and was able to get close to start. I talked to Wes Hollander who was pacing the 2 hr 1/2 Marathon group and then I ran into Darryl Stillson who was pacing the 1:45 1/2 Marathon group. I was standing around checking out the competition, when I got bumped into by good friend, Bill Richardson. Bill is a great trail runner and does have a Marathon PR of 2:47. He is a really great guy and talking with him, made the time fly by, which was good since I had on a singlet and it was in the lower 50's with the wind blowing. I was ready to get moving. One of the most poignant parts of the race is the 168 seconds of silence in remembrance of the 168 who lost their lives in the bombing. Nothing like 23,000 runners suddenly going completely still out of respect for those who lost their lives. Finally at 6:30 AM, it was time to go.

I set my Garmin for a Quick Workout with the Virtual Partner so I could just look and see where I was at. I set it for 3:10, which I knew may be a little aggressive, but what the heck. Finally, the gun sounded and we were off. In the first 1/2 mile I started feeling a little tightness around my chest and wasn't for sure what was going on. I was hoping it would go away, otherwise it was going to be a long day. A little while later it did go away to never return. My pace felt pretty good at this point, but around mile 4 I started to get some side cramps and had to take some electrolytes to have it go away. I thought it was a little early for this to happen, but every race is different. I hit the 10K in 44:20. A little faster than I wanted, but hey, just roll with it.

In between mile 8 and 9, just past the big Circus aid station is where I started to fade. I knew at this point, unless I started to feel better, 3:10 was out of the question, but maybe 3:15 or 3:20 was possible. This is where I can insert all the excuses as to why I couldn't make it. My running really hadn't been where it should have been. One of my problems is that I like to do too many things and should probably concentrate on just one thing, but I can't. I think for Boston next year I will try that over the winter months.
One we get to about mile 11 and headed West, this what we ran into, Wind. The wind was out of the West and was pretty strong. This definitely did not help my time, but I still made it through the half at 1:35. A little before mile 14 is where you hit Lake Hefner and this has to be one of the most boring sections of the race. Not only is it boring, but we were getting a cross wind. It reminds me of the section on Riverside from the Casino to 96th St. Boring! I am so glad to get out of that and head back into town. About mile 17 is where you head back in. At this point I am still clicking off 7:45 miles, but I know this is dropping my chances of even a 3:20. I hit the 32K at 2:29 and all I have to do is run a 50 minute 10K and 3:20 is in the bag. Yeah right! I really fell apart on this section. My average pace was 8:45. The little stretches of hills, especially the one up Classen was it for me. The hills are not very steep, but just enough to tick you off.

At about mile 25, I saw Darryl again and he ran a little with me and kept me going for a little while longer. Once I turned the corner and could see the finish line, I knew it was in the bag. I did not have a sprint left, but got passed by some guys from Tulsa right at the finish. If you had that much left, probably should have ran faster.
I was glad to be finished, but I did not feel really beat up. I just don't think I had enough good solid runs to get to where I needed. I am happy with my finish time of 3:23. I was 85th overall out of 2,597. I think I was 5th or 6th for all Tulsa area runners. This was my best OKC time, but not my PR. I still really enjoyed the race and the whole experience.
Once you get through, it is just a mass of people standing around at the finish reminiscing and trying to find family members and friends. I tried to eat back my registration fee in Carl's Jrs hamburgers and I think I succeeded. I think OKC has a good handle on this Marathon and I would recommend it to anyone.

The overall experience of the race is well worth checking it out. The people are great, the sponsors are great, and the atmosphere is astounding. When you get through with the race and you are hurting and then you go through the Memorial, you realize how minimal your pain really is. I may be suffering some temporary physical pain, but the emotional pain that others have endured does not even compare. God bless the families of those who lost loved ones on that fateful day and may God bless OKC.

Tulsa St. Patrick's Day 5K Race Report

I know this report is way overdue, but life has been crazy lately. With spring break, work, and my son Will's graduation coming up, it has been intense. I know, excuses, excuses. Oh well, what are you supposed to do?

A week ago last Saturday on March 13th, I had the privilege of running in the Runnersworld St. Patrick's day 5K benefiting the Special Olympics and the Tulsa Running Club. I do a few 5K's each year and this is one of my favorites. First off it it put on by Runnersworld, the best running store in Tulsa by good friends Brian & Kathy Hoover. Second, it kind of ushers in the spring racing season, and it benefits some great non-profit groups. I had the privilege this year of being on the race committee and was involved with of the planning behind the scenes. Plus, my youngest son has been bugging to me run the race and one of my team members at work was in the Couch to5K program and this was his first 5K to run. So, why not not see what speed I had left in my legs.
Here I am at the initial rooster strutting phase before the race. This where all the studs warm up and then sprint initially back and forth to show off our stuff to the fellow roosters. Quite the male ego challenge.

I had no idea what kind of time I was able to do. I had done some tempo runs earlier in the week and felt like I was dying. I wanted to make sure and get under 20, but I knew that the speed was not there after the 50 miler at Rocky Raccoon in February.
Here we are at the start. The guy on the left in orange won the race. I was talking with my swim coach, Duncan Wise, who was asking me if I had been swimming. Oops.
I am not for what Scottish kilts have to do with St. Patrick's day, but hey, I like them. There is something very spiritual about them.
The race started and I took off at my normal "too fast to maintain" pace and headed up Peoria. I felt pretty good through the first K, but in between here and the 2K, I knew it was not my day. As we headed up the little incline to the turnaround, I thought for sure that my day was just going to get slower. At the turnaround, I was able to see who was behind me and saw some runners that would be coming for me. All I had left was to hopefully maintain and not lose much ground. I was able to maintain about a 6:20 pace and once I got to about the 4K mark, I got passed by a fellow TRC board member, which made me mad, but there was nothing I could do about it. I held on and managed a 19:43, which is still good, but not where I wanted to be.
Wyatt ran a very good race and set a PR of 26:11. Not bad for an eight year old. Believe it or not, he got 4th in his age group and no award. Tough age group.
After all was said and done, it was time to celebrate my daughter Shannon's 11th birthday. Nothing is better on a birthday than an ice cream cake.
I am so very proud of her and it is very hard to believe that she is 11 and starting to grow up. Where has all the time gone. I hope you had a great birthday. Daddy loves you!

Scenes from Post Oak Trail Run

I spent the last weekend helping keep the aid stations stocked and set up for the TRC Post Oak trail run. Julie and the kids helped out both days at the aid stations and made sure that everyone running was taken care of. This was not an easy task and after all this, everyone was pretty whooped. Here some of the scenes.
Oklahoma Botanical Gardens, where we had one of the aid stations.
Part of the trail around Flatrock aid station.
Curtis and Kristi at the Botanical Gardens aid station on Saturday during the Marathon.
Runners coming up the trail on Sunday to the Flatrock aid station.
Runners re-fueling on Sunday. Great table fare.
Good friend and great Ultrarunner, Randy Ellis at Flatrock.
If you look real close, you can see white specks or runners, heading up Holmes peak.

Good friend and great runner Mike Adams after he finished up on Sunday after two days of running.
On Sunday, I think that I spotted Bigfoot. I could make millions in the tabloids with this.
Sorry, just a Zombie.
Great view of downtown Tulsa. Such a beautiful place.