Know Your Craft 5K Race Report

Usually early in the year I will do a 5K.  I didn't really have one on the schedule until I heard that some of the EPT Racing folks were doing the Know Your Craft 5K.  EPT (Epoch Performance Therapy) is kind of a sister team to Big Sexy Racing.  At least I like to think so.  I swim with a bunch of their team.  Epoch Universal also sponsors their team.  This year, EPT is getting all of their training and racing gear from Big Sexy Gear.  So I knew that I would know a lot of people if I did this race.

The race was at Triple C brewing.  Triple C brewing sponsors EPT racing, how cool is that?  I've been to Triple C a few times. Good Stuff.  I got there a little early and parked on Youngblood street.  The parking is a little scarce there with all the apartments and condos they have built up over the last few years.  Plus I hadn't gotten my packet yet, so I walked over to the little expo they had setup in the Triple C Parking lot.

Expo

Several of the EPT team was working packet pickup, so we chatted for a bit.  Some were racing as well.  I wandered over and checked out the rest of the setup.

Eventually I got back to the car and got my bib ready.  I did a full 2 mile warmup because I knew some of the guys up front were gonna be quick, and also because it was a 5K.  You gotta hammer these.

Soon, it was time to head over to the start.  I eventually lined up in the second row.  After a stirring rendition of the National Anthem by Emily Brinkley (EPT Racing and Race Co-Chair), we were ready to go.

Essentially you make a big loop.  The first mile was slightly downhill and with the wind.  Plus I felt pretty good.  I came flying through in a 5:20.  I was pretty happy with that.  I knew it was a little fast, but I kinda wanted to see what I could do.  I think I was in 8th or 9th at that point.

There was a little bit of wind as we headed up Tryon.  Then when we made the turn onto Tremont, we had wind and a slight uphill.  I know, excuses, excuses.  Plus I basically trained through this race.  It was a "B" race, right?  On a side note, that always cracks me up.  You're either racing or your not. Every race I have goals.  Every race I want to win my AG or Masters.  I don't care if its a 5K or 140.6M. Every race is a "A" Race.

Around the 1 Mile mark, EPT cheering me on

So I got my butt kicked in mile 2 with a 5:50. I did pass a couple people, but the guy in the pic above put some real distance on me in mile 2.  I tried to push as much as I could down that flat stretch by the light rail.  We ran on the wide, almost walking trail like cement that runs next to the light rail.  Good idea for a race, not tying up a road, just cross streets.

That section was pretty flat and the wind wasn't bad.  I gathered myself some on the last mile, not wanting to get passed.  I just concentrated on trying to push.

Making the turn near the finish

The last little bit was winding, with some uphills and such.  Luckily no one made a big push to pass me.  I held them off with a 5:38 final mile.  Definitely felt pretty tired that last bit. But I made a good push to the finish.

Free Post Race Beer

I came through the finish officially in 17:48.  Full Results Here.  6th Overall and I also won first Masters.  That's pretty much my goal now in every road race.  I hinted at this before, that "it's nice to be old".  I'm not going to make the overall podium in big races anymore.  So for me, the overall masters award is more prestigious than winning your age group.  So there's that.

The Masters Winners

So being at a brewery, we got to hang out and drink beer.  Yes, it was 10am.  Yes it tasted oh so good. It was nice to hang around with the EPT people as we waited for the awards.

The EPT Crew

I really like the t-shirt.  The fit and fabric are the kind that just works with my build.  They are made out of similar stuff as my BSR shirts.

For the overall Masters, I got two pints. One has a nice Triple C logo and the other is a beer running one. Then I got two $10 cards to Omega, and a $30 card to Inside Out Sports (that didn't last long).  Then later they mailed me a check for $20.  That's a lot for a $25 race entry fee. #sopro

The Spoils of War

Definitely a fun time.  I'll be putting this race on my calendar next year.  Maybe I can get some of the family to join me.  You know, so I can have designated driver.

SunBelt Swim Meet Race Report

I've never done a swim meet before. Like, Ever.  As is exceedingly obvious, I did not grow up swimming.  Especially not competitive swimming.  Some people have done/been to hundreds of swim meets.  Not only have I never competed in a swim meet, I had never even been to a swim meet. It's just the way things happen.  I've been to hundreds of track and cross country meets, and I'm sure some people have never been to any.

Reita Made Shirts for Everyone at MSA who wanted them

So I've been swimming with the Mecklenburg Swim Association (MSA) for a little over a year now.  Coach Patty has been a competitive swimmer her entire life.  Competing in swim meets is something that she encourages everyone to do.  I had never really thought about it before, and before a few years ago, I'm not sure I knew these types of meets existed outside of high schools, colleges, and the olympics.

The Huntersville Facility was quite nice

The Sunbelt Meet is one that typically most of the MSA people do every year.  It is a 2 day meet, usually in late January.  Since I coach my son's basketball team, I knew I would only be able compete on Sunday.  Looking at the Sunday events, I figured I could do the 50 Breast, 100 Free, and 500 Free. Coach Patty said that we would also do some relays as well.

They have a diving program there

The weekend of the meet was forecast to be a big snow/ice storm.  They postponed the meet that Thursday for the first weekend in March.  We did end up getting some precipitation Friday night, so I think they made the right call.

The Starting Blocks

Sunday morning I drove up to Huntersville and got to the pool around 7:30 am when the warmups started.  I probably didn't need to be there that early but I wanted to check everything out.  I was pretty nervous the night before and in the morning.  I did a warmup in the pool to check out the turns.  With the movable bulkhead in the pool, the turn there was a little tricky.  I kinda snuck up on me a few times.  Then I tried some diving.  We did a little diving practice on Friday at Blakeney.  I really wasn't too sure about going off the blocks.

A little warmup

So swimmers use these starting blocks.  I guess they are kind of like starting blocks for sprinters in track.  Although in track, you are not jumping head first, trying to keep your goggles on.  The jumping head first part I got.  The keeping the goggles on part, I didn't.  I tried like 6 different times with varying ways of putting the goggles on.  I guess I just couldn't get them tight enough.  I mentioned it to Coach Patty and she said to try this competition pair she had.  They were super tight.  Like, it was possible they might go through my eye socket into my brain, tight. So I practiced a little with those and they stayed on.  I may think about getting a competition pair.  I would never wear those in practice.  I'd have a headache real quick.

The competition clock/scoreboard

So I was ready.  I didn't feel ready.  But I was about as ready as I ever will be.  I was in the first heat of the 50 Breaststroke.  With all the old guys. Seriously.  The other guys in this small heat were 58, 60, 66, and 58.  Anyways.  They keep the heats going.  I mean after the last heat of the girls, it was like 10 seconds and the whistle blows to get on the block.  You get 3 whistles to get ready.  You get up on the block and luckily you don't have much time to think.  They say set and the horn blows.

Coach Patty in the 100 Back

So I jump.  My goggles stay on (Yes!).  And then for a millisecond I forget that this is the breaststroke, but I stop myself before I embarrass myself.  I'm off and running doing the breaststroke.  I make it to the turn and, it's not pretty, but I make a legal breaststroke turn.  I try to push as much as I can.  I actually got kinda tired near the end and pushed for the pad.  And it was over.  That quick.  I did a 44.95, a new Personal Record! (Nevermind that I have never actually been timed in the 50 breast before).

Jeremy in the 400 IM

Then I had a good bit of time until the 100 free.  The 50 breast was event #32.  The 100 free was #44.  I ate a banana and a protein bar and went to the bathroom.  I had to go to the bathroom a lot.  Nervousness, I guess.  For the 100 free, I was not in the first heat! Obviously they go from slowest to fastest for these.  I was in the second heat.  Everyone in my heat was at least 8 years my senior (up to 78 years old).  I got on the blocks, got a good start, goggles stayed on, and I just tried to push.  I got kinda sideways on my flip turns once, and kinda misjudged that bulkhead once as well.  But overall it wasn't too bad.  I came home in 1:19.80, a new Personal Record!

Then Coach Patty threw me into a 200 Free Relay, event 46.  I swam the anchor leg, after a bunch of old guys.  Pretty fitting, really.  It was kinda fun standing there on the pool deck cheering on my teammates.  The fast MSA team swam in our lane in the next heat, so we all just stayed there and cheered them on.  My split for the 50 was 35.35, a new Personal Record!

People hold lap numbers for the 500

Then the next and final event was the 500 free.  This event, they go fast to slow. So I was in the second to last heat.  Nice to have teammates to hold the lap counters.  Again a good start.  I just tried to stay focused and swim hard.  It went by pretty quickly.  My lap counter didn't quite stick the board down far enough for me to see it underwater.  I peaked up once or twice to see where I was.  I kinda kept track for the first 200 then didn't worry about it.  I did pretty well on my flips, but not so well on my streamlines.  I'll have to work on that next year.  I finally saw the orange counter, which meant 25 yards to go.  I pushed for the finish and touched at 8:23.82, a new Personal Record! Unbelievably I got 3rd in my age group.  Nevermind that there were only 3 participants in my age group.

My Results

I'm super glad I did this swim meet.  It was fun hanging out with teammates most of the day.  The meet was over by about 1pm.  I really just did this meet because I had never done one before.  But I definitely will be doing it again next year.  The goal for next year is to not be DFL in my age group in every single event.  Now it's time to focus on the tri training.  I have a good 3 week block coming up before the Bridge Run.  Let's do this!

A little GoPro Fun

Joe Davis Memorial Run Race Report

This is the 4th year of the Joe Davis Memorial Resolution Run.  I haven't run it before, but obviously I am aware of it since it takes place right in Fort Mill.  It starts about a mile from my house and half of it is on roads and pathways I run all the time.

This run was started by Melissa Davis Boyd, who is the sister of Joe Davis.  It benefits Keystone, a substance abuse services company. Melissa is a local runner and she encourages all the local groups to participate.  My wife is a part of Fort Mill Fast feet.  All of her friends were doing it, so she invited me to come along and join in the festivities.

So another 10K, much like the final leg of the Thunder Road Marathon Relay that I ran back in November.  Better than doing 5K's like I usually do this time of year.  You don't have to leave early for an 8am race that is 5 minutes from your house.  So that's nice. We parked over by the credit union and walked over. There isn't much parking right there, but plenty in the surrounding areas.  They were expecting 700 people between the 5K and the 10K.

We made the local rag

Chilly Morning

We walked over to find all the Fast Feet people, and hang out with them.  I spent a few minutes there, but then went out for a warm up run. It was a little chilly, even though the temp was in the forties.  It had rained during the night and was still kinda foggy/misty in the morning.

Coffee!

After my warmup, I stripped down to my running singlet, but opted to wear some gloves.  I got to the start line with about 10 minutes to go.  We got some photo opts with the Fast Feet people.  Then it was time for the national anthem and the gun.

National Anthem

Don't forget to start your watches

I started about the second row back.  It thinned out pretty quickly.  After a 1/4 mile or so there were only a handful of people ahead of me.  As we came down the first stretch on McCammon, I felt pretty good. As I was passing people, one guy is like "nice pace". I go "well the first mile is down hill, then they all go up".  So I came through mile 1 at 5:44, but felt fine because it was net downhill.

In the this race, you start at the top, go down to the bottom, and then wind your way back up to the top.  So as we're winding our way back up the the top, I find myself in 4th place.  There are 2 guys out front and then a women who is running strong.  The 2 miles climbing back up to the top really weren't that bad as I split 6:04 and 6:07.  I came through 5K roughly about 18:55.

Elevation and Pace

Mile 4 is basically flat/downhill.  I tried to make up some time there. Unfortunately, I only split a 6:04, so I kinda knew I was in a bit of trouble.  But as we're coming down 160/White Street, there is a little out and back on Ardey.  There is also an out and back (that you hit twice) on Sidney Johnson Street, but that one had a timing mat.  On Ardrey there is not a timing mat.  The woman aheard of me  starts to go straight across Ardrey.  The volunteer is waving at her.  I'm only like 20 yards behind, so I yell, "she's gotta turn".  She didn't.  She waved her hands for some reason but went straight on through.

Cadence

So me and the guy next to me do the out and back and keep going.  Not sure what was going on there.   It's like she knew but decided not to turn. Anyways, as I was saying I hit 4 miles in 23:58 and was happy about that.  But we had to climb the last two miles.  The guy running next to me was really strong on the hills.  I tried to make up time on the flats and downhills, but couldn't seem to pull away from him.

Mile 5 did me in.  I died to a 6:21 (after running a 6:04 on this stretch on the first loop).  He got a little bit ahead of me and I couldn't quite close the gap.  I pushed a 6:11 on the last mile, but didn't close at all.  The hills had gotten really tough at that point.  The last stretch after 6 miles I ran at a 5:23 pace! But that didn't catch him.  I had to settle for 4th, finished 7 seconds behind him.  Full Results Here.

But the good thing about being old is that if you just miss the overall podium, you are guaranteed First Masters.  So I congratulated the guy on a great race.  I grabbed some water and talked to a few people.  I decided that it was my civic duty to inform the timers of the woman cutting the course.  I just said, did anyone tell you that the first woman cut the course?  They're like, no?  I said, well she was number 327 and she skipped the out and back on Ardrey.  The volunteer told her she had to turn, but she didn't.  To their credit they wanted to talk to her and not just take my word.  So we went looking for her but couldn't find her.

Laura and Patricia

I ran back to the car to get my phone to take some picks.  I went across the field and saw my wife make the turn into the park.  She looked pretty good and set a 10K PR by 5 minutes!  After that, she went and did 5 more miles.  Soon it was getting close to awards time.  I heard them announce that they wanted to talk to bib 327.  They announced it a few times.  I do not know if they ever did talk to her.

When they did the 10K awards, she was not mentioned.  So whatever happened they eventually DQ'd her.  Start2Finish Events handled it very well.  They listened to what I had to say, investigated it, and then made the right decision.  I have done a few S2F events, and they were all handled flawlessly.  This race had volunteers at every corner.  They had cones setup on the road throughout the entire race.  I've never really seen that before.  It made it (almost) impossible to make a wrong turn.  But with a course with all these turns, maybe they deemed it necessary.

#ISpyEPT

So it's always nice to win Masters.  It was good doing a local race and knowing a ton of people.  Some of the Epoch Performance Therapy Racing Team was there.  They kicked butt in the 5K with a 2nd OA woman and 1st Woman Masters!  I got in a good 40 mile ride that afternoon.  Watts don't feel so bad when your pain threshold is heightened.  Well the next race is a swim meet.  That's right.  Sunbelt in Huntersville on the 24th.  That's gonna be a first!

2015 Race and Training Year in Review

Sometimes I do a 'Race Year in Review'.  Sometimes I do a 'Training Year in Review'.  This year, I'm doing them both, together.  Efficiency.  Make a note of it.

First, the training, because otherwise the racing isn't for crap.
Swim:
347,014 yards (197.2 miles)
Time 142:22
Biggest Month:  39,400 yards (January)
Biggest Week: 10,500 yards (Jan 26th)
Longest Swim: Kona (maybe that was my problem)
So less yardage than last year, but more time.  I guess that means more instruction?  Definitely more kicks, different strokes, and drills, so there's that.  I don't really know if I've gotten any faster.  My Kona swim was abysmal.  However my rankings at Eagleman and Knoxville weren't bad, and my Stumpy time was 3:20 faster than 2 years ago.  I am making some progress.

Bike:
5,787 Miles
Time 277:04
Biggest Month: 977 miles (August) (woah!)
Biggest Week: 316 miles (September 14th)
Longest Bike: 150 miles
Got some serious miles in this year training for Kona.  500 miles more than last year (which had been my biggest to date).  A lot of long slow stuff, so power didn't really increase that much.  6 Century rides in training.  Topping it off with a 150 miler at 21.1 mph average.

Run:
1,637 Miles
Time 199:32
Biggest Month: 184 miles (August)
Biggest Week: 60 miles (August 31st)
Longest Run: 23 miles
Similarly with the run, I got in 200 miles more than last year.  Which is a lot considering I trained for an Ironman last year too.  It felt good to get some miles in and not be injured at all.

Strength:
Time 23:30
This blasphemy will never end.  Never!

Totals:
7,621 Miles
Time 642:28
Biggest Month: 84 hours; 1,177 miles (August)
Biggest Week: 27 hours; 381 miles (September 14th)
A 9.6% increase in total mileage, and a 8.8% increase in time.  Looking forward to 2016 when these numbers will be way down.

2015 Races

02.28 Banks Trail Middle School 5K 18:46, 1st Overall (129 Finishers)
Had to defend my title against a bunch of preteens.

04.11 Charlotte Racefest Half Marathon 1:23:15, 4th / 1268 (1st Masters)
I had a great time going until that wrong turn.

05.17 Challenge Knoxville Half 4:33:30, 3 / 41 AG, 7 / 205 Overall Male Non-Pro
My first "Challenge" race.  Just like the all the Rev3 races I've done.  The pointy end of this race was pretty competitive.  Ultra hilly, probably wouldn't do it again.

06.14 IM Eagleman 70.3 4:37:08, 3 / 251 AG, 16 / 1350 Overall Male Non-Pro
Had a good bike until the penalty.  Slow run, but still made the podium

06.24 Rock Hill Time Trial 23:05.83, 2 / 23 Overall
Finally did one of these.  Plan on doing more next year.

07.04 American 4 Miler 23:40, 10th / 343 Men, 1st Masters (816 finishers) 
Not sure how I got talked into this one, but had fun winning masters.

07.11 Stumpy Creek Olympic 2:18:42, 3rd Overall (124 Men)
Nathan talked me into this one.  I still don't like this race, but was happy to make the overall podium.

09.12 Finish Srong Half 4:34:53, 1st Overall (53 finishers)
Always fun to crush the field in a small race.  Big fish, little pond?

10.10 IM World Championship 10:15:21, 86 / 291 AG, 400 / 1549 OA Male Non-Pro
The pinnacle of it all.  Man that was a tough race.  A trip and race I will never forget.

11.14 Thunder Road Marathon Relay 3:18:57, 3 / 62 OA, 1st / 41 Mixed Division
Definitely a lot of fun hanging out with everyone.  And a sprint finish.

11.26 Baxter Turkey Trot 17:39 (2.88 miles) 1st Overall (?400 Finishers)
Technically not really a race, but a fun morning with my wife.

Kona

In 2015, I made Ironman's All World Athlete Silver again.  I don't put much stock in the ranking, but it is nice to have the ranking to get a low race number and a sweet spot in transition in 2016 races.  I will take full advantage of this as I'm doing 3 Ironman 70.3's this year: Chattanooga, Muncie and Augusta.

And finally, after years of David Hall beating me in the USA Triathlon Male 40-44 rankings for South Carolina, he aged up into M45-49.  I actually beat him this year, too (my 97.363 to his 96.359)! But alas it doesn't really count since he's old.  Well, I'm old, but he's older.  I will take solace in the fact that I finished 2015 ranked #1 for M40-44 in the ENTIRE Southeast Region.  That includes the states of South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and the panhandle of Florida.

Yeah, it was a good year.  So let's set the goals for next year.  Much like 2014, there is only one goal: Qualify for the 2017 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Chattanooga, TN. (and don't get divorced)

Baxter Turkey Trot "Race" Report

The 3rd Annual Baxter Turkey Trot takes place in the Baxter Village Community right here in Fort Mill, SC. It's more of a charity "gathering" then a race.  Everyone is encouraged to bring canned goods and clothes to donate in exchange for the race.  Right, there is no entry fee.  It's a free "race".  You get a bib number and they have a course and they tell you when to start.  So, since there is no timing, is it really a race?  I'll leave that up to you.

Race Director and Baxter Activity Coordinator

We parked right next to the Baxter Town Hall and pool.  They said they had 600 people signed up, but I believe that most people walked from their houses.  They had a 1 mile run/walk, and a trail run, in addition to the 3 mile course.  We milled around some.  I didn't even do a warm up.  They made some announcements, and we all mosied on over for the start.

Heel Strike Big or Go Home

We crammed into this side street and started with an immediate right turn down Richard's Crossing.  I run this road all the time, like once or twice a week. We had a guy on a mountain bike escorting the 'leaders'.  My strategy was to just go as fast as I had to to stay with the leaders.  Yes I had a strategy. Yes, it's basically an untimed fun run.  Yes I tried to stay with the leader.  Don't Judge.

The first mile felt a little awkward: a 6:01 with no warmup.  But it was slightly downhill.  They guy in front was talking with the mountain bike escort guy.  I'm sure they knew each other.  The runner had an M-Dot tattoo on his calf.  I saw him prerace with his Ironman Florida paraphernalia on. That was pretty much motivation alone.

I kinda got into a groove in the second mile, and it wasn't so bad. It felt like the 2nd half of that mile was downhill.  We came through 2 miles sub 12 minutes. I was a little surprised to be within a few yards of the leader.  But soon after the 2M mark, we hit a hill to start climbing back toward the finish.  At this point I thought, well here is where he's gonna drop me.  I tried to hang tough, and he really wasn't pulling away much.  We slowed on that last mile quite a bit.

Coming to the final stretch

We kept coming up the hill and he just wasn't pulling away from me.  We came around the curve close to where the finish was.  I wasn't sure if we were going to make a turn and loop toward the finish, because we were only 2.7 miles in.  I got right up on the tattoo's guy hip and the bike didn't make a turn.  We headed straight for the finish.  So with like 10 yards to go I strode past him and crossed the finish line first. 

Making 'The Move'

I only had 2.88 miles on my watch, but that was it.  What do you want for a fun run?  I walked for a little bit and then started heading back down the course to see my wife coming up.

#tonguewag

She's was having a great race and needed some cheering going up that last hill.  She looked good and would have had a 5K PR had the race actually been a 5K.

Wife finishing

The Three of Us are at a Lot of Races Together

Afterwards, we got some water and talked.  It was a really nice morning, so we just enjoyed it.  Soon it was time to head back to the house and check on the Turkeys.  We had 2 birds going as we were hosting 19 people for Turkey Day.  The Baxter Turkey Trot was a great start to the day.  Gobble Gobble!