Pedal for Puppies

Dirty Du

    

95 mile relay from Mount Bonnell to Enchanted Rock. This was pretty intense! It was an overnight relay, and I chose to run the 2am-4am shift, nearly 15 miles through the Texas Hill Country. With only the moon and a headlamp for light, this was a very neat experience which gave a runner the ability to feel safe running down the middle of an old Texas highway in the middle of the night/early morning. The race was a charity event benefiting Batten's Disease, and our team raised over $5,000. Though only 4 team members in this photo, Team Chupik's Cannonball Express had a great crew that consisted of Randy Chupik, Dave Hampton, Michael Rogers, Woody Sitz, Conley Covert, Matt Wayne, and Jim Welch. Though I didn't feel to peachy come Sunday morning, I would recommend to anyone participating in this event in 2012. It was very well organized, especially for a 1st year event.

Mellow Johnny's Classic 2011

It's not every day you get an invite out to Lance Armstrong's Hill Country Ranch. Even if he does charge you $40 + $10 to park, this race is well worth the drive and hit to the wallet. Because it is a private course, the trail doesn't get enough rubber to get the "beaten path" effect most would prefer. Though a soft course, it's still very enjoyable. There are a couple hairy bottlenecks, but overall, not very technical (2.5 out of 5). The loop is close to 10 miles, moderate climbs, fast downhill sections, and is roughly a 1 hour ride.

This is a big production. Lots of great vendors providing freebies, and the race draws a big crowd due to the Pro's that race after the amateurs. This is a great event to invite friends and family too.

Capitol 10K Results

This is a fun race! Not to many opportunities to run down Congress Avenue at free will. If you strive to be competitive during this event, it's a good idea to pre-qualify to start at the front. Because there are so many people that run the race (+-23,000), the masses will slow you down out of the gates.

45:50 race time. Unfortunately I registered for the event too late, and was unable to have a timed run. I had a gentleman's bet going with a friend (who was timed), and started with him and subtracted the start clock time from the finish.

My strategy for this race was to start fast, catch my breath, and then finish strong. It worked! What I realized is you will always have enough adrenaline to finish, but will lose too much time if you pace yourself on a race as short as a 10K. While training for this, you will get your heart rate up to a very high level, which is the best way to cut body fat.

Calavera's Duathlon (San Antonio)

I got up at 5:30am to drive to San Antonio last Saturday morning in the rain. I got on the road at 5:45am and couldn't help but think, "what in the hell am I doing?". For all of you out there who have had second thoughts about fulfilling a commitment you've made, I have one piece of advice for you... start a blog. Making my goals public was the only motivation I had for not turning the car around to climb back in bed. If you are a person that feels it is important to "put your money where your mouth is", blogging is your solution, even if no one is reading.

The temperature was in the 60's, so the rain was somewhat refreshing, you just had to be careful on the turns while on the bike. I didn't really have a goal for this race, and now I regret that. I really paced myself giving about 75%, and believe I could have placed a few spots higher if I would have given closer to 90%. This wasn't a very difficult race for me, and frankly, I found it rather boring. I will choose more adventurous type events in the future. My idea of a fun race is all about the terrain and scenery. This was pretty bland, and I won't participate in this event in the future. Great T-Shirt though!

I placed 6th in my division with a time of 2:04:13

Miles of Discomfort - Results

The weather turned out better than predicted, and I was content with my finish. I took an unexpected spill about 20 minutes into race on a downhill cruising in the low 20's while hitting a soft spot causing a front tire slide. I couldn't have picked a better runway to make a crash landing on, but I had to move fast before being trampled by the traffic behind. I gave the bike a bear hug and rolled over twice to get out of the way.

My back brakes were trashed after the spill, but I didn't figure that out until the next downhill. After a quick brake tune, I was on my way to a clean finish. I didn't meet my goal of under 3 hours, but I'll let the 3 minutes and 11 seconds slide due to crash.

This is a great race, and I plan to participate in 2012. I need to work on my cardio, as that was the only thing holding me back from being more competitive. In the past I've always trained for an event, and then laid low several months post. I very excited to have the motivation to keep it going this year. My next race is in 17 days.

 

Results:

http://www.tmbra.org/results/marathon_11/comfort/m20.html