Bear Cupboard 5K

RACE DAY!  Ann's been very motivated and a couple days ago said...."Let's do this!"  We've been upping our workouts and runs so I thought it would be a good precursor to next weeks triathlon.  We arrived, stretched, warmed up, and were ready to go!  I kissed Ann and waited for the horn.  I took off and had good pacing going.  The first mile I was flying (at least for me!) at around the low to mid 7 min mile range.  Mile 2 took me down to around a 7:45 pace and in the third mile I fell to an 8 min plus pace.  I finished at 7:56 per mile pace for a total time of 24:37.  Sad part was I missd the podium by 27 seconds.  I waited for Ann and was hoping he training was going to pay off.  Time went by......Ifinally saw her and after she crossed she said she tripped on a board on the trestle that goes over the lake and fell brusing ans skinning her knee pretty bad.  I took her to the first aid station and they iced it.  Now it's rehab time for Ann and she hopes she can race next weekend.

Swim Training day!

Well, the weather is finally cooperating a little and it turned out to be a nice day for a swim.  Time still isn't coming down much but we have been working on form.

South Wood County Triathlon Race Report

Well, I FINALLY was able to get the first tri of the year in. This is a very nice small event with around 150 entries.  I haven't done a tri in the rain before and I really didn't want to do this one in the rain.  Forecast didn't look good.  That morning I decided to drive down and do it regardless.  The drive was about 2.5 hours but we got here in plenty of time.  I registered, set up my transition area and was feeling really good about things.  It started to rain more but I was now committed.

With about 30 min before race start I got my wetsuit on and did some warmups in the water.  My wave was 4th so I was able to gauge things and see how people were doing.  I remember thinking "that doesn't look like a1/4 mile swim....".  My wave's turn came up.  The horn sounded and I was off.   I was in a really good groove, swimming with the pack about in the middle. At a certain point I thought "this is easy!"  At that point I looked up and realized a only went about 1/4 to 1/3rd the way!  At that point, I looked down the lake to where the turnaround was and it felt like Mt. Everst to me.  I struggled, couldn't get my form right, couldn't breate right and even had to stop and take breaks.  It was a complete mental breakdown!  i finally put enough of an effort in to make it back to shore.  I wasn't the last in my wave but close.  It felt like 15 minutes went by.  I came out of the lake, ran up the hill to T1.

By now it apparently was raining pretty good but I honestly don't remember it raining at all.  Was I in a zone or just exhausted and mad at myself over the swim.  Who knows. I mounted my bike and took off.  I knew I had time to make up so I pushed it.  The course was flat so I knew I didn't need to worry about hills.  I was passing people like they were standing still.  My goal....don't get passed and pass everyone!  It seemed like I did.  I was even pasing guys on very expensive bikes with disc wheels.  It's a great feeling blowing by someone that has spent 3 or 4 times what you have on their equipement!  By about halfway through the bike the rain ended.  So in the end I think I passed roughly 0 people and was never passed once!  As I came into T2, I went to dismont and my entire right hamstring and calf locked up!  I haven't had this happen in a while.  Poor bike fit or did I push it too much?  Hobbled over to the rack and got shoes on.

As I headed out of T2 I had to take it easy since I was on the verge of cramping.  After about a 1/4 mile things got easier and I was able to run halfway decently.  I had a couple guys go by me that I knew were in my division.  The run was pretty good, good heart rate, not cramping but my time wasn't as fast as I wanted.  I paced a guy almost the entire run and about 2/10ths of a mile left he started to slow down. As I came up on him he saw me and put the turbos on.  I wan't going to beat him today.  I came in and felt pretty good until I had to stop to give them my chip, then the leg cramps came back.  Walked around a bit, ate and congratulated another guy in my division who came in ahead of me.  I wound up 11th out of 16 in my division, 63rd out of 147 overall.  The one good thing out of it was I ranked 30th overall in the bike.

It was a well run event and I will do it again!  I have 3 weeks now to get watever mind games happened on the swim behind me.  More water time should solve that.

Setting up transition

Swim start

T1

Leaving T1

Coming into T2 and cramping

Coming in!

results

Hoka Bondi B shoe review

Well, I wanted to see what all the hype was about regarding the Hoka Bondi B2 shoes.  I’ve done the research, read others reports and was curious if they are really that good compared to some of my trusty running shoes. 

Over the past two years my “go to” shoe has been the Asics Gel Nimbus 13.  This is a nicely cushioned shoe but also has a tall heel stack at around 12mm.  After going to a run clinic this spring I realized I’m a classic heel striker.  My initial response was I wanted a shoe with less stack between the toe and heel.  I settled on a pair of Saucony Ride 5’s.  I liked the weight of them; the wide toe box and they had a heel stack of 8mm.  I went on a couple runs and did a 5K in them.  I was shocked at how much more beat up my body felt after running in these compared to my Gel Nimbus!  I was upset that this experiment was a failure so I went back to my Gel Nimbus’s until the Hoka’s came in the mail.

Saucony Ride 5 weight 10.6oz

Asics Gel Nimbus 13 weight 10.4oz

Hoka Bondi 2 weight 11.1oz

 Now depending on where you buy them, Hoka has a 60-day no question asked return policy!  Pricing is a little higher than a standard running shoe.  I paid around $120 for both my Gel Nimbus and the Ride 5’s, the Hoka’s were about $150.00 but with the return policy I figured what’s to lose!  They showed up in the mail, I quickly put them on and took off!  I was AMAZED at how these things felt!  It was like running on pillows.  Some believe the height of the show makes them more unstable compared to a standard shoe, but that’s not the case because the overall footprint of the show is larger making the shoe very stable.  Some argue they like to “feel” the ground and pavement but I think there is still enough “feeling” to know when you are uneven surfaces, gravel, etc.  The toe to heel stack is also lower, coming in at around 4mm to 5mm.  They put more cushioning in the midfoot of the show and the heel is “rockered” allowing for a more seamless transition from planting to take off.   

Ride 5 on Left and Hoka on Right

Gel Nimbus on Left and Hoka on Right

Notice the larger footprint of the
Hoka over the Ride 5

Gel Nimbus footprint vs. Hoka

Notice the "Rockered" heel of the Hoka vs.
a more standard running shoe

I have now put some good runs in on these from a duathlon race to a 10K and my body doesn't feel as beat up as in the past.  I don't think they are any “faster” of a shoe than my previous ones but I did have a very good first run in my duathlon and PR’d.  I have no idea if the shoes helped or not.  If I have any criticism of the shoes I would say that my feet get a tad warmer in them but not much.  Overall I think this may be the future of running shoes.

Chris

First Duathlon of the year!

Cooney Duathlon!

Well, this year we traveled down to Oconomowoc to take part in an early season race, the Cooney Duathlon.  It was a 2 mile run, 21 mile bike and another 2 mile run.  The weather was ok.....cool, around 50 and cloudy, but it was quite breezy also.  At least the rain held off!  Woke up at around 4:30.  Thought it would be easy to find a cup of coffee in the hotel, I was wrong!  Searched everywhere, wound up make a single cup in the room.  Woke up Ann around 5:30.  Found out no breakfast until 7AM on a Saturday, good thing I was prepared and brought oatmeal and bananas.  Got ready, dressed and loaded the bikes. 

Arrived at the event.  Weather was cool, around upper 40's and cloudy.  It was fairly breezy out too.  Got our tribags and bikes off the rack and headed to transition.  Found our spot and prepared the area for T1 and T2.  About 40 minutes before race start I got in line to go to the bathroom one last time.  Ann jogged around warming up  There were only 4 porta toilets, so I stood in line until about 10 minutes before race start so I didn't have as much time to warm up as I wanted to.   

The race started in waves, we were last which I don't like because it makes me feel like I'm back of the pack!  LOL!  The buzzer went off and so did we.  I was wearing my new Hoka's and trying to run with my new "faster cadence" stride.  I felt a little winded but held out enough and made it to transition.  Time - 7:51mi.  Grabbed my bike and off I went!  Heading out I knew I needed to practice more transitions.  I had a hard time getting my feet into my shoes and took longer than I should.  These early season races usually give me a reality slap or two!  As I kept pedaling, I realized I made a HUGE mistake.  A few days earlier I posted my fit on ST and had responses of "Your seat is to high".  So, I lowered it almost 2 cm and then it rained and I had no time to test it out prior to race day.  The entire 21 miles felt like I was under powered and too short on my peddle stroke.  I also made the mistake of not trying out my new fabricated water bottle mount  prior to race day and couldn't get anything out of my drink tube, so no hydration!  The roads were ROUGH with potholes and it was windy which didn't help.  Result?  One of my slower rides clocking in at 19.7 MPH.  I had every intention of hitting a constant 21+MPH day.  Came into transition, racked the bike and off I went.  My lower inside quads were really sore (from too short seat height) and I was exhausted from the bike and knew my run wouldn't be great.  It wasn't.  I posted an 8:35 per mile time.  Came into the finish line and frankly was happy it was over, grabbed some water and a protein bar and watched for Ann to come in on the bike.  A few minutes later she came in and looked tired.  The wind and rough roads got to her also and her magnet came loose on the front wheel so she had no clue what her speed, or anything else was.  She looked like she needed a little push so I started to give her   some positive reinforcement that she was doing great and to keep it up!  She asked if I would run with her.  I hesitated because I was still tired myself but I sucked it up and did.  She did great and finished.  All in all it was a learning experience.  I thought my run would suck ( I  suck at running ) and my bike would be good.  It was the exact opposite!   I broke every rule of racing (don't do anything new on race day) and I paid the price for it.  It wasn't my worst race, but one I will remember.  Next up....a Sprint tri in a few weeks!

Start!

coming in from first run

coming in from first run

coming in from bike

heading to transition

finishing!

Journeys Marathon 5K Race

Well, my second race f the season is under my belt and Ann's first.  The weather was HORRIBLE with temps in the 40's, cloudy and bone chilling wind.  I don't know why I look to doing this race every year but nonetheless we needed to do it to get more race time under our belts.  I felt better about this race compared to the one I did 2 weeks prior.  I did have a tendon on the top of my foot acting up and thought it may be a problem but it didn't cause too many issues.  The gun went off and we took off.  My first mile I felt good and my time was looking good, in the mid 7 min per mile range.  As I got into mile 2 I could feel some asthma kicking in so I had to really concentrate on my deep breathing.  My time lipped a little to upper 8's low 9's per mile.  By mile three I was feeling a little better and getting more into my groove which is what typically happens in a race for me.  I could tell my endurance is still down compared to last year.  I came in and didn't like the time but they had me clocked a little better, a 8:35 mile.  I waited for Ann to come in and she did well considering it was her first race of the year.  I looked at the unofficial times for us and saw I was 48th in a field of around 300 but didn't think I would podium so we left since it was just too cold to hang around.  Yesterday I looked online at the results and wouldn't you know it....I came in second AGAIN in my age bracket!  Damn!  I wish we would have stayed now!  Oh well.

First Race of the year.....

Who had the worst 5K time in his career yet podiumed for the first time ever?  This guy!    Maybe I should suck more often!  Seriously though, this was literally my second outside run of the year with a 1.5 mile run the day before.  I knew my time was going to be bad and I used this as my gauge to see where I need to be once the season is fully in gear.  I have a series of 5K's coming up in May that will hopefully buildmy base and my race preparedness for my first Duathlon I want to do at the end of May.

Chris