Late last year I applied to race for Team4Mil (T4M), a team of all military and former military members on an 8 man Race Across America(RAAM) team.  I was notified in March that I would be asked to ride with the team and I jumped at the opportunity. Most of you have heard of RAAM through the ABC Wide World of Sports and then into the present day because it was all about crazy men and women riding sleep deprived across country in 8-12 days.  It is still that, but now there are some growing team categories.  This year, there are 18 eight-man teams and it a competitive race .  Team4Mil was second last year to another all-military team from the U.K. that shares a primary goal with T4M of raising awareness for wounded warrior programs.  Military precision and discipline are pretty important to this race because both teams are back this year both with a good shot at breaking the course record of 129.5 hours or 5 days 9 hours and 3 minutes.

RAAM is an intriguing event that I doubt I will ever do solo, but it is one that I always wanted to grab my seven best friends/cyclists and head across country as fast as we could.  I now know that this event is VERY complicated and I am not so interested in trying to organize a team anymore. I am finding being a part of another extension of the military into the sports world the best mix.  The founding aspect of this team is it’s connection to the Wounded Warrior Project.  Therefore we are a 501.c3 and will be pushing out the idea of WWP opportunities and funding for their programs.  It truly is the best of all worlds for me, as I do some true giving back to the warriors I once led.  If you are interested in giving please go to the Team4Mil page www.team4mil.org and look to the PayPal link and donate.

In the coming weeks I will talk a little more about RAAM and my training.  If this is your first time back to my site, you will notice it is recently re-done. This the first blog since the re-work.  I hope you like it.  The photo on the front is from Ironman Wisconsin 2011 (hopefully I will go back this year) where my performance was not so great, but I got a chance to shed some pride and show my patriotism on 9-11.
More soon.

If you have been following my twitter or FB, you would see quite a few really good run times over the past six weeks.  I am going to call them really good run times because they impress me and I am my biggest critic.  At age thirty-four, my biggest concern in running is that I may be seeing my pure speed disappear and that I am beyond run PRs.  However, after the last couple runs, I know that I still got the speed that could eventually result in some PRs in at least a open half marathon or marathon, maybe a 10k?

HOUSTON 5k

Lara, Paige, and I went to the Marathon Trials in Houston to be spectators.  We are huge fans of the endurance community and our top-notch friends (especially Joanna Zeiger and Amanda Scott). We went to spectate, but opportunity to toe the line the following day in a low key 5k presented itself, and we jumped on it. The race ended up having about 5000 runners. Lara was the instigator, but I could not be helped and salivated at the test of sea level speed.  Who cares if I was going to be tired from running/walking around watching the trials, it was just a 5k.

I went out with a group and we sailed through the first mile in 5:05, not too fast, but as fast as my legs would go and I figured my end was near.  However, aerobically I was never spent and went through the next mile in 5:09 and finished with a 5:07 for a 15:53 finish.  I was not even out of breath at the finish, but my legs had moved as fast as they could.  It was cool to hold close to 5 minute pace for 5k.

FAST AND FLURIOUS 4 MILER

In Boulder, there are a lot of really elite runners that are prepping for the National XC Champs each year and the best preparation race is an annual four mile XC.  Four miles is just about the right distance here at altitude to test your speed and strength, but not totally kill your legs or lungs.  I had been encouraging good friend Joanna to run the race, in her XC preparation, and then she pointed out it would be a good prep for my upcoming half marathon.

She was correct and I ended up running my best executed XC race of my 25 plus years of running cross country.  My mile splits are a little skewed by some miles having more hills than others, but they went as follows: 5:36, 5:21, 5:28, and 5:15 for a finish time of 21:57 (the finish was 100m past the 4 mile mark).  I was in probably 30th place or worse in the opening mile and ended up in 16th, within fairly respectable distance of the guys that only run- the really skinny dudes.

SURF CITY HALF MARATHON

This past weekend Lara and I did one of our favorite trips to escape a bit of the winter here in Boulder.  It is a short pleasant weekend to visit her parents and get in a sea level half marathon.  The Surf City Half and Full Marathons are a fantastically well run event in Huntington Beach. I highly recommend the race, especially to my Colorado friends.  It is held each year on Super Bowl Sunday and a very short trip to sea level and the warm Cali sun.  This year I thought I had it in me to challenge my PR of 70:04 for the half marathon.

I was really ready and still know it, but I think I may have over done it in the week prior to the race. I ended up running a very even paced 71:46. I was really stiff the whole race and struggled to get under 5:20 pace even in the opening miles (keep in mind the 5k race I did in Houston).  It was only slightly disappointing, because I held just under 5:30 pace the entire run.  I gave it all I had and ended up with a solid result. No regrets, because I had such a fun time, and the race did not disappoint. Plus Paige got to visit with her grandparents, and Lara got to see some friends, truly a great trip.

CONCLUSION

Interestingly, after doing some research last week I noted that in 2005 I ran 71:44 at the tough Colonial Half Marathon the day after I rode my bike 118 miles!  I still have that speed, it is there and needs some awakening from time to time to remind myself mentally and physically. However, if I want to go faster than my best off the bike speed, it takes a little better taper and monitoring.  I won’t admit to getting older, but my body does need more time to recover from really fast efforts before making another go at true run speed.  The best note is seeing I am still “the Kid”- at each race I was either the guy with the greatest age or second greatest age in the top 15.

I am off to USNA this week, so perhaps an update from training the Mids will be upcoming. Stay tuned!

New Energy Found at the 50k

Late one Thursday evening, I met up with several older kids for my first run in Seashore State Park.  It was 1988, I was 10 years old and was at my first run with the New Energy youth running group.  The older boys included Pat Hunt, Tommy Holland, and several girls to include Dawn Grab, Lori Temple and Tami and Tracy, twins who would run for Bill Bernard at Kellam and set his high school coaching career in fast forward. I was in awe, as a young runner I knew each one of them by name and reputation and now I was going to run with these kids, a few of my idols, who were all about four years older than me.
We set out on a loop of Osmanthus/Lagoon (now just Ostmanthus) and completed the first loop at a moderate pace. Then the girls decided they would break from the boys and do a shorter loop.  I distinctly remember that it was getting dark and I did not know the trails at all. However, the challenge was laid down at dusk, “Well, Billy, you can go with us, or run with the girls.”  I was intimidated as hell, but made the decision to follow my running idols.  What occurred was a survival run back into the growing darkness of Osmanthus, as I desperately tried to keep the older boys in sight and would sometime make it back to my mother and sister waiting in the car for me.  As the boys pulled away, I would lose them in the twists of the far portion of the loop, the sounds of the night and the muddy swamp were a bit scary for this ten year old and his foray on these foreign trails.  I was dually in flight to escape the swamp and fight to follow and not be lost for good.  Finally, the trail straightened and I could see Tommy and Pat and pushed one last time, blasting on to Bald Cyprus and then into the parking lot just behind them and safely to my ride home.
This past Saturday I returned to Seashore after a three year hiatus from one of my favorite running spots in the country.  It is where I have logged more miles than any other in my twenty plus years of competitive running.  My father laid down the challenge in September to come back and keep up the string of New Energy runners winning the Seashore 50k: Tommy Holland, Danny Tepovich, me? It was fitting that I spent the first 20 miles running and chatting with Drew Midland, 10 years younger than I and also a veteran of New Energy.  I wanted to just enjoy this run, and we talked about all the locals and drew connections from current Strider leadership to Strider running legends.  At the 64th street aid station (20 miles), my lack of fall base miles prevented me from keeping up with Drew and he pulled ahead.  For the next 10 miles I went through good and bad patches drawing on my ironman and ultra biking experiences to push through my longest run to date. At one point on White Lake, I even go to within 10 seconds, but then faltered again scarfing another Gu in hopes of drawing some energy from my nutrition.  People were kindly giving me splits and encouragement, when at the final aid station before Osmanthus (about 28 miles) was told that Drew was well over two minutes ahead.  Selfishly I begged out loud to Drew, “One more BAD patch, Drew!?”
My desperate crawl and tumble along Osmanthus brought me back to chasing the older New Energy boys.  I drank cola from my bottle and washed down salt tabs fighting cramps and the failure of my quads and hip flexors.  Going uphill was nearly impossible and downhill was clown-like.  I just wanted to finish the last long straight stretch on Osmanthus and shoot for the main trail and then get back to the finish to end this thing.  Then before my eyes it happened again, my physical hell was replaced by competitive elation in the form of Drew walking.  I took some more salt, another guzzle of cola and with race tactics that would make Bill Bernard grin ear to ear, I blazed past Drew like a gazelle thinking in my mind, ‘out of sight out of mind, GO!’  Drew even congratulated me, but I feared another bad patch for myself and I ran as hard as I could over the final mile escaping the figurative darkness of Osmanthus and flying down the road to my mother, father, and my daughter Paige waiting to see daddy finish up his long morning.  Although my time was weak compared to Tommy and Danny’s efforts, I was more than pleased to take the win and complete my longest run to date.  I don’t know the root of the name New Energy, but it only seems fitting that the memories of running with New Energy provided just that, new energy, to get me through successfully.
Thanks to Bill Bernard who started the youth distance running movement in this area and in our club. I got to run by Coach B as I ran the first loop of the course, shouting back at him his favorite inspiration, “ARMS, ARMS!  Go to the ARMS!” The running lives of those from Tommy Holland through to Drew Midland and on to those who run with Mr. Celescia have Bill Bernard to thank.
Finally, congratulations to Mel Williams, another childhood running idol of mine, and his crew on a great third annual event.

I hope you enjoyed the read, also stay tuned over the next month as I am getting the site re-done, finally.

First of all, I really need to be moving this website along and addressing some sponsorship and scheduling updates.  Hopefully that will all occur before I go and crush IM CDA, which is the next thing on my horizon.

Sponsorship interests:

-Gu is still keeping me fueled- can’t go wrong there.

-Zeal Optics is still helping me with that bright future….I gotta have shades.

-2XU stepped up big this year with a pro contract that is really having me looking good all through my races and even onto the bike with some sweet training threads.

-After a chance encounter at WF with Rob Dyer a fellow USNA/USMC, I got introduced to an ingeniously simple vitamin supplement, especially meant for deployed service members.  It’s dam cool idea and wish I had something like this while playing in the sandbox.  It still may have some utility at home.  Plus it has a great name, RuckPack, www.ruckpack.com

-Finally, my boys at Colorado Multisport are more than doing their thing by keeping my many bikes in good working order.  Recently I moved into some great shoes that Geoff Neoninger has been diligently helping to make perfect so I can motor 112 miles and suffer 1200k in August…

That was a segue because many have seen my facebook/twitter updates and have been wondering why I logged 1300k over the weekends in the past 3 weeks.  I was working on my qualification for Paris Brest Paris a 1200k ride, not a race, in France in August. This is a ride that is longer running that the Tour de France, but has not been a professional race since the mid-1900s.  It is held every four years and four years ago my tougher other half, Lara, completed this thing.  I have been longing to gain some ground in the toughness department at our house and this year seemed like a good time to do it.  Plus I figured I could incorporate the qualification (200k, 300k, 400k, and 600k) into my base training, which I lacked over the winter months.

In other news, that I should go back to:

-Paige is almost six months, yeah, my daughter, who has yet to grace my blog.

-My favorite group of ladies, Navy Tri Ladies, won the National Championship.  I could not be happier for a more deserving group of women.  My only disappointment is losing two of my favorites Tracy Fridye and BC Caroline Barlow to graduation.  Tracy at least got sent off with the first athlete-of-the-year honors since I have been the coach of Navy tri.  I am a pretty proud coach.

Recently I rocked a top 50 place at Bolder Boulder, ha, top 50, well, that is out of 50,000 and with a 34:45 less than 2 days after concluding my riding madness I am pretty proud of that altitude/hill speed.  I have another speed/strength test this weekend as I head up to Steamboat Springs with Lara to do the half marathon at 7000 ft.  Again, have to reset expectations (75 or 76, not close to the 70 min barrier as I would be at sea level) and hopefully contend for a top spot.Again, there is a lot more to add here, but for now, this at least explains the last couple months.

To all my friends, supporters, sponsors. Thanks for caring and here’s to hoping I can get this rolling again.  I would really like to explain my motivations for doing the PBP and how this bit of fun helps me to a rockin time/place at IM CDA in three weeks.

later,

billy

  At about 0100 and 500+k into ride eating a big mistake that was the only thing that at the time seemed good- fried chicken stead sandwich with cheese- dam I was tired.

This is the two CPUs from my final 400k out of Colorado Springs where I spent much of my day battling winds and 8000+ ft of altitude all solo on a road bike, I love aero bars.

Going a bit backwards, this was the 600k brevet card that got signed all over the front range and plains of Colorado.

My little one on the phone with Grandma and Grandpa sitting in my lap.  Yeah, she is a cutie, like her mommie.

I guess after six years in the Marines this pride, professionalism, and desire to do more with less has transferred to how I conduct myself as an athlete and coach. It was a source of pride in country and more so in Corps to push alongside or past the Army with its long logistical trains in Iraq. There were days that we kept up our drive to Baghdad clearly pushing beyond our originally given resources. My first shot at the Marine Corps Marathon as a part of the Marine Team was 48 hours after a week long field operation (little sleep, lots of movements with loads on my back, and tons of MRES to eat). I was proud to be testing my physical mettle alongside others who had been sleeping in big beds and eating good food all week. I find a lot of athletes that I train and race amongst since leaving the Marines don’t have this ability to get the job done when facing more obstacles than they have trained for.  Honestly, over the years, I have started to forget that flexibility to get the job done with my resources and time.  Its great for me to reflect every year on my life as a Marine and push myself to go back to utilizing every resource given to me and get the mission done no matter what- militarily or athletically.

As a coach, I enjoy working with athletes cramming workouts in amongst classes, family time, and intense work environments or the hardworking physical overachievers.  It’s all about what you can do with what you are given. For example, most of the more talented athletes I have worked with are part of the military and it is a source of pride to help these men and women to compete at the highest level with late night workouts and restrictions on getting to races between military obligations.  My other favorite athletes are those who may not have the perfect genetics or deep athletic history or have some physical limitations, but are working twice as hard as those with the perfect athletic pedigree.

On this November 10th, the 235th Birthday of the Marine Corps, I am proud to have served with such a professional group in the Marine Corps.  I will walk a little taller today, and renew some of those ideals I learned in the Marines and how it continues to drive me. Today, I remember how we did so much more with less.

Semper Fidelis!

Racing Kona 2005 for the Marines

At the Marine Corps Marathon 2005 (2 weeks later)

Coaching/motivating 2009 USNA Tri Captain Derek Oskutis. He currently is doing more with less, as he looks towards the 2016 Olympics and serves in the Navy as an EOD officer.  Note the USMC jersey ominously faded in the foreground. 

Ok, for those in semi-shock for my apparent idiocy, let’s put this in perspective.  Yes, I did do IM Placid last weekend and IM CDA five weeks ago.  Yes, I am still planning on an ironman or two before the year is out. Yes, I rode with a group that turned filtered into just one other dude by 150k. Yes, I rode all day, from 0400 (requiring lights for several hours) to about 1830. Yes, my butt is a little sore because I spent 12.5+ hours attached to my seat.  No, the pain in my butt was not the worst and my legs were never really tired.  It was the pain in my feet in that last 20k that nearly knocked me off my bike.

However, what I did yesterday pales in comparison to Lara’s accomplishment in 2007.  In 2007, Lara completed Paris-Brest-Paris, a 1200k ride to the west coast of France and back.  It is an amateur cycling ride held every four years that requires completion of four brevets of distances 200, 300, 400, and 600 kilometers before you can start the 1200k (that must be done in 90 hours). She completed all these rides in the mountains of Colorado then suffered through three days of 50 degrees and rain to go 1200k with 5000 starters and over 25% failed to finish.  In 80 hours on the roads of France, Lara proved that in our house she is the toughest.

Believe it or not, there is an increasing overall interest in doing this ride to include my own for the 2011 event. Lara is the best bad-idea influence in my life sometimes. In order to get myself a decent shot at registering, I needed to complete an official brevet of distance over 200k in 2010.  This weekend, seemed to be the best option and if it were not for the ridiculous heat on the plains of Colorado in the afternoon, it was a good course and good conditions. It is way too early to make solid plans for 2011, but I am considering a run at a fast ride for PBP in 2011. I thoroughly enjoy ironman/triathlon training and racing, but I would hate to pass up all other endurance sports opportunities along the way.

I could go into more detail about the actual ride (maybe some other time), but I am go back to enjoying a relaxing day and taking the Bogart for a swim.

Ok, let’s get critical…I wanted more and I am not so happy.  I thought I had the legs to get back to it, I was wrong.  Experiment was a failure, not a complete failure, but a failure.  The non-wetsuit swim really hurt me and showed off my inablity to get it done in the water, STILL.  My bike numbers were good (not great) the first lap and fell off in the second lap (fatigue finally getting the better of me).  I came off the bike within striking distance of the top 10, so I ran what I needed to run for the first seven miles.  At which point, IM CDA jumped on my back.  It was not a fun last 19 miles, and I was not in a good way personally when I finished.

The beauty of finishing where I did, allowed me to run with a good friend, Tim Tapply, who won his age group, and another one of his buddies Pat who took third in the same group. I witnessed Tim Snow run into fifth and had Caitlin pass me on her way to second overall.  All this happened on the second lap, and I got to be cheerleader which lifted my spirits and got me through the day.  I was so stoked for these Bostonites, especially for Tim and Tim, they so deserved it.

I am glad I did the race because on paper I could have easily sat at my computer in Boulder and penciled myself into 5th place.  The reality was I did not have the chops to do the quick turnaround.  My numbers were actually better going into Placid than going into IM CDA, so there are possibilities that I over did it even when I was trying not to.  These are things Dr. Phil and I will have to work out for the future.  I have no regrets, because one should never go through life saying “what if.”

For now, I am thinking about the Rev3 ironman, not quite a 100% yet, TBD by late next week.  I don’t want to do another ironman half-assed, but the season is actually drawing to a close quicker than I would like.  Between now and September, I got some fun stuff.  Tomorrow, well… I will blog about tomorrow next week.  In two weeks I will likely do the Pearl Street Mile and then I fly home and I might do the Striders Mile.  The Striders Mile is going to be on Pam’s track and how cool would it be to go and run fast for her even as I am in the midst of this ironman adventure.

To all my supporters, Gu, 2xu, Dr. Phil (physfarm.com), ZealOptics, thanks for another good race.  Most importantly, I have to thank Brandon (the wrench) and Colorado Multipsort.  On Tuesday(before the race), the rear derailleur hanger broke on my P3.  Within, 5 hours, I had gotten a frame and Brandon had rebuilt my bike so I could fly out early Wednesday morning.  Many people think the bike shops in Boulder are sub-par for the amount of cyclists we have.  Yeah, that is very true, but Colorado Multisport, the shoebox sized store, is really too small for its great people and helpful service.  I was asked if my predicament stressed me out, answer, “NOPE! I got my CMS boys to take care of me.”  Thanks for the good work, I apologize for not doing better this go ’round. You guys keep the vehicle in top condition, let me get the engine right for next time.

In the past, I have criticized others for chasing ironman times and seen these people crumble. I realize that my second ironman is not only tougher, but also going to be much harder on my body. Placid taxes you on the bike to mile 111 and the run is brutal if you run it hard. I will be running it hard, storming the hills like the runner I am. In the recent history, I have also noticed the trend of getting back to racing a week after a half or two after a full and seeing success.  It is going to take some restraint each day of training and confidence in the plan that Dr. Phil has made up. However, four weeks is going to be a fun little rest, train, and taper period.

Finally, my biggest draw to Placid is being excited to race again. I really enjoyed my trip to CDA and the race. I also had a great time at Placid last year. I know the course and the venue. Despite having moments on the run where I literally wanted to quit the sport, it was the last several miles of the run where I knew that I was going to be looking forward to my next ironman. Sunday evening after the race, I explained to Lara that my legs felt good and without hesitation she told me to go race Placid. Ever since, I have had a growing thrill for another 140.6.  Thanks Lara, I can’t wait!

I was pretty fit and focused for this race.  IM CDA has been the primary goal since the collegiate season ended and I put most of my tri focus back on myself. Going into the race, my swim has been pretty comfortable and I have enjoyed swimming all this year thanks to my work with Karlyn Pipes in January.  Dr. Phil (physfarm genius) has really helped me dial in the bike, getting me closer and closer to my potential over the past 18 months.  The run training was not great this spring and fall, but as we all know, I can always run.

The swim was not bad, as I had a good start and a good pack for the outbound section on the first loop. I could have done without the age group wave pounding me on the second loop and causing me to lose a ton of momentum.  Having already swum through the chop and rollers on the far end of the course in the first loop, it was less of a shock to me on the second. Unfortunately, the crowds with me nearly stopped at points as they tried to navigate the far turns. I actually found myself not moving a couple times.  Lesson: get a faster swim, so you don’t have to deal with that!  A 35 minute head start seems to be WTC’s intention for the future and I actually kinda like it, minus yesterday’s 2nd loop debaucle.

The bike leg was set-up great, as I had two guys leave transition with me. I really felt I could use them to keep myself in check and then launch by sometime late in the loop. They were crushing it, but I stayed back (legally) even pushing a few more watts than I wanted to maintain contact.  One guy was just killin’ the hills as I spun up close to my LT watts.  My little group, 20 minutes off the front of the lead, was being watched carefully by an official from behind.  On one steep hill the little dude passed me and I dropped back chuckling at his crazy riding, but apparently not in time. I was assessed a four minute red card penalty for not dropping back to 10m in 25 seconds.  I was not upset about the penalty but the fact that the official was not in position to assess distance and it was a hill going about 12 mph.  I feel like I was 10m back, but she did not.  She was off my left back quarter and there was nothing on the road to judge distance.  Jimmy Ricitello has been pretty clear at meetings on how these penalties would be judged. I just wish she had been really looking at the distance to clearly make the call and also noted that I was not going to get an advantage on that incline.  Nothing I could do, no complaints on the road, it wasn’t worth my energy at the time, I just sucked it up and took my four minute break at mile 28 with a grain of salt. I really lost momentum at this point due to losing my mini group.  I then poorly paced myself over the following miles since I was over excited to be riding again.  It may look like I even split this race on paper, but I spent 4 minutes eating a power bar, drinking juice, and stretching in that first loop.  Lesson: Groups are good, penalties suck (spend the downtime wisely), and keep the day as a whole in perspective when bad stuff happens.

I got off the bike well over 6 hours and knew my original goal of 9 hours was pretty much out the window. I found some new mini-goals: course PRs, getting into the top 10, etc.   I ran really well for periods, but also had some SUPER low points.  I had some mid-marathon miles in the upper 7 min range and some late miles close to 9 min pace.  This could be assessed as a pacing issue, but when I closed with three 6:45s, it was clear I had not kept on my nutrition.  I had the legs, just not the energy for short periods.  I was eating and drinking AFTER the lows and had not kept on it in prevention of those points.  Lesson: Eat and drink better before I am tired (I am so good about that on the bike).

The finish was great, as I had the street to myself to sprint downhill with the amazing CDA crowds. CDA is definitely one of the best venues in North America for ironman. All the people are so happy.

Throughout the day I had the support of my very, very gracious homestay and Lara.  I am afraid to mention Rich and Melanie Houghman for fear another pro is going to request them as a homestay in the future.  They were rockstars all weekend.  They could not have made my stay in CDA more relaxed.  Did I mention Melanie had chocolate chip cookies out at all times?  Lara and I enjoyed sharing stories of military life (their son in-law is a Marine lawyer), athletics (they both have multiple bikes and many ironman and marathon experiences between them), and happy life in athletic minded communities. They also pointed Lara and I to Paul Bunyan for post race milkshakes.  Finally, but most importantly, my amazing Lara flew in early Saturday morning and drove to the airport at 0400 today flying home after supporting me to make it back to work this morning.  Seriously, she does an awesome job giving me an opportunity to pursue my goals and dreams.

One ironman down, two, or maybe three, more to go in 2010. I really enjoyed my weekend and the ironman racing.  This is where I thrive and am considering some more long racing closer than ever before. Check back to see what that might be.

(sorry no pictures of this weekend)

later,

billy