Local 10k - experimentation with slight inebriation

This was not one of my finer moments as a "follow my lead" coach but I also stated that this was a semi experiment, as well I had multiple goals from this race. My first goal at hand was to meet Justin Mohl in the AM to chat about the 10k race and what too expect, while also providing some feedback to him about his form and etc. Secondly, I wanted to see if at all possible I could try to pull an all nighter and see with a proper warm-up routine it made it possible to race at a decent level. With the third goal in mind to review the course for Race director Paige Hauff to offer any recommendations going forward.

With the secondary goal in hand, I began my night with a cookout at my place to celebrate the departure of my friend Glenn Carroll to New Zealand, followed by an adventure into then uptown charlotte nightlife. After an amazing night of time with friends and busting a move on the dance floor, we managed to waste some time by people watching after hours which is a comedy in itself. After arriving home around 3:50am, i had a mere 2 hours to remain awake, just that simple. Well I tried to get online and watch TV as well but I was just exhausted and couldnt maintain my "All nighter". Even back in college I had to have a few hours of sleep, never pulling an all nighter. I was proud of myself to make it to 4:30am or so before I drifted off.

Worried about sleeping in, I actually woke up one minute before my alarm went off at 6:01am. I didn't feel too great but I grabbed a couple tylenol and some endurolytes along with a couple shot blocks for breakfast. Chugged some much needed H2O and hit the highway. It felt like a long journey to the race but I made seemingly half asleep (not recommended). Upon my arrival, I spotted a few familar faces and only could manage a wave. It was about the time I had to meet Justin, so we got to chat and I convinced him to jog around the block for an extra 3 minutes with me. So much for a "good warm-up routine" as planned. I just didn't feel good and well I was wrapped up in chatting with Justin about his goals, so my warm-up hit the back burner.

The race started about 10minutes late for some reason, but then all of a sudden we hear, on your mark, set, BANG...the race was on, I was about 3 rows back and I knew my hips were pretty tight and as usual lately my calf were stiff. Just the day before I received a massage based around my calf and neck essentially, so it was the typical 3 days out freshing massage. As we rolled down Randolph, I was pushing fairly hard and realized that my shot of staying with Jay and Aaron was shot. They blazed down the hill in a glory and I was left in the dust basically. After about 1/2m I just made up my mind that I needed to catch them NO MATTER WHAT. One consolation was that I agreed to meet Justin at 3 miles and run the rest in with him. "Chris, come on all you need to do is run for 3 miles with these guys" is what I said to myself. Legs feeling heavy, breathing feeling a bit shortened and my stomach churning, I gave it a good ol' college try and managed to close the gap on the leaders.



Upon my tagging along with the pack, Aaron noticed that I closed the gap and mentioned to Jay that I was in the group now. Knowing the faces of the other guys in the group from UNCC, i figured it would be a long shot for anyone to break up there 1-2 punch. They looked essentially effortless at this pace, we were half way chatting back and forth but I knew I had to focus more to maintain close for 3 miles because the adrenaline seemed to be non existant. At 2 miles they gapped me again up a hill and I nearly just called it quits there but made one more go at it and quickly caught up. The UNCC guys surged a bit it seemed as I looked at my garmin shooting out 5:06 pace, they gapped our group and Jay gapped Aaron and myself also. I chatted with Aaron and told him I was bowing out at 3 miles, so I decided to surge to wish jay goodluck the remainder of the race. I was happy to hit a split of 16:17 at 3 miles with Jay, not sure what the conversion is but I am pretty sure its a sub 17 5k effort.

Once Justin reached the 3rd mile marker, I really got to observe his actual motion and tendencies while racing. We often as coaches look over someone's form at practice or while doing strides, but you really don't quite understand someone until they are pushing that limit in the race atmosphere. Justin did excellent as we had a goal to catch a particular person and over the last few miles he managed to do so and even put a nice gap on him down the straightaway. All in all it was a great day to be out there, Justin did a fantastic job pushing through some respitory problems and it was nice to see some local guys take home the hardware.


OrthoCarolina Classic
USATF Certified. Registration No. TBA
Charlotte, NC 8/21/2010
UNOFFICIAL Results by QUEEN CITY TIMING SERVICES
RESULTS POSTED ON www.queencitytiming.com

10K

Place Div/Tot Sex/Tot Name Ag S Bib City St Guntime Pace
===== ======== ======== =================== == = ===== ========= == ======= =====
1 1/8 1/105 Adugna Deneamo 23 M 348 Charlotte NC 33:02 5:19

2 1/17 2/105 Jason Holder 26 M 134 Charlotte NC 34:29 5:34
3 2/17 3/105 Alejandro Arreola 28 M 3 Charlotte NC 35:28 5:43
4 1/9 1/81 Caitlin Chrisman 24 F 43 Charlotte NC 36:33 5:53
5 1/26 4/105 Aaron Linz 37 M 180 Charlotte NC 36:52 5:56
6 1/24 2/81 Emily Potter 31 F 346 Southern NC 37:54 6:07
7 1/17 5/105 Robert Heck 42 M 127 Charlotte NC 41:05 6:37
8 2/26 6/105 David Price 38 M 325 Charlotte NC 41:17 6:39
9 1/16 7/105 Derrick Hewett 33 M 323 Charlotte NC 41:45 6:44
10 2/17 8/105 Marty Lohr 40 M 184 Lexington NC 41:45 6:44
11 2/16 9/105 Nathan Stanford 31 M 362 Huntersvi NC 41:59 6:46
12 3/17 10/105 Daniel Fulco 40 M 104 Charlotte NC 42:40 6:53
13 1/5 11/105 Mitchell Rippy 48 M 233 Shelby NC 42:50 6:54
14 3/26 12/105 Adam Morris 35 M 339 Charlotte NC 43:37 7:02
15 4/17 13/105 Allen Strickland 44 M 259 Cornelius NC 43:49 7:04
16 3/17 14/105 Jeremy Johnson 29 M 153 Charlotte NC 45:06 7:16
17 1/4 3/81 Mary Dore 46 F 73 Charlotte NC 45:10 7:17
18 4/26 15/105 Christopher Tapia 37 M 263 Davidson NC 45:29 7:20
19 1/4 16/105 Sam Baucom 51 M 14 Charlotte NC 46:30 7:29
20 2/8 17/105 Dan Serianni 19 M 363 46:56 7:34
21 4/17 18/105 Christopher Lampers 28 M 312 Charlotte NC 47:20 7:37
22 3/16 19/105 Justin Mohl 32 M 210 Charlotte NC 47:20 7:37




The 5k had some odd conflicts I found out as I finished the race from one of the patients I work with at Greenapple sports and wellness. Apparently they turned the leaders around at some point and then made then jump back in or something. It basically translates to being the police officers fault because due to some lack of communication, no one knew the correct course apparently. Kudo's to Justin Ratike and Paige Hauff for putting on a fantastic race, that I hope will grow into the future. Shout out's to Aaron Linz, Jay Holder, Justin Mohl (and his wife), Bob Heck, Nathan Stanford(who must have started the race late) and Alex Arreola for pulling through with great performances on a very difficult course.

M.O.M ( miles of mooresville)

This blog is a quick summary the Miles of Mooresville which was the 1st stop on the "last second signup" 2010 tour on August 13th at a late 7:00pm start

I certainly prefer later starts especially since about 90% of my training is done in the evening time, minus the weekends on occasion. During my chaotic week leading up to the "M.O.M", I had so much on my plate, i figured it up that I had been working 60+hr weeks with all of the commitments I had made at my various jobs and my actually physical fitness was diminishing due to my exhaustion recently. After working at Greenapple Sports & Wellness on Friday I booked it to OrthoCarolina to meet up with the race director of the "OrthoCarolina 10k" to review the proposed course. (to note, I had bright kineseo tape on both legs while cycling and running)

It was one of the hottest recorded days of the year and here I was riding a calibration bicycle all around plaza midwood w/my friend Michael Heafner in the heat of the day. After a few passes of the proposed course and some examining we were covered head to toe in sweat. We wrapped up the course work at 5:44pm and attempted to make the start of the M.O.M. Luckily there was no traffic at all but we still seemed to get lost on the way there somehow. Once at the race site, we ran up to the registration booth w/15 min left just in time to grab a bib #. Once the 1st mile started Todd Mayes jumped out to an early lead as he was pushing the pace to break the 5 minute barrier as I hung in the back just hoping to warm-up. We hit the hill on the course and I thought, "Todd lied to me, he said the hill was NOTHING!" HA. Once Todd and another runner gapped me up the hill I focused and closed it up on flat ground then at the 3/4m mark I increased the pace w/thomas on my shoulder. I knew he had some wheels so I was just waiting for him to kick and he did, we took it to the line and I barely edged him out.

The 2 mile break was pretty long so I managed to mostly stand around and chat w/people gripping about the hill and how tired I was. Yea, no one wants to hear it, but i really felt exhausted@! bang, the 2 mile goes off, I group up with Michael and Todd, until I see my garmin showing 5:47 pace, then I knew I had to take off to a quicker clip. I took home the 2 mile in a fairly slow 10:50 but at least I had a big negative split on the last mile! The 3rd mile came up and I could tell there were less people on the streets. I told Michael I wanted to run together and make it a competitive yet fun race. Todd, Michael and I ran basically the 1st 2 miles together and the crowd loved our small front pack. At the 2 mile mark I took off with a goal to perhaps break 5 the last mile, even though far fetched, why not? I was churning it down hill and began lapping people, pushed the hill hard and then had a straight away to the line. I kept it controlled because of my recent calf issues but I didn't hit my sub 5 mark, closing the last mile in 5:13.

All in all it was a fun time, Michelle and Thomas managed to sucker me into a 18 minute cool down, but it was great. Fun times with good people, you can't beat that. I haven't been training but I have been getting lucky at some recent races and notched a fe "W's" on the belt somehow. I didn't prepare for this race as I would normally but I just wanted to have fun after a long day, with the hopes of throwing my self into the mix up front. Shout out to Michael Heafner, Michelle Hazelton, Thomas Eggar, and Todd Mayes for representing at the race.

Lake Logan Sprint tri w/the Heafner's

After a someone outstanding race on Saturday, Michael, Stacey and Ryley Heafner let me tag along with them in Asheville. We stayed at the days inn and I even got to take a solid nap which was very much needed. For dinner we hit the olive garden and it was outstanding, I think I had 5 breadsticks because Michael kept count. Michael was very anxious to try out his new Felt road bike and to see what he had in the tank. I knew without a doubt he is one tough competitor and he would be difficult to beat despite his lack of triathlon experience.

We hit the road earlier this time and arrived with enough time to really set up our transitions which were basically next to each other. I was pretty tight from the day before and VERY tired but I tried to GEEK myself up. We hit the water and the field was MASS, i didn't realize we started with the aquathon as well. Once the gun fired Michael took off and that was the last of him I saw on the swim. I got in no man's land this time w/no feet to get behind and just tried to stay smooth. I felt like I had a decent swim even though my arms were burning the first 100m pretty good. Existing the water, I began running to my bike pretty quickly and noticed Michael was already gone from T1, oh no!

I grabbed my stuff, ran up the path and jumped on my bike. There were a couple relays around me, but I just took off w/them. I was rolling people up pretty quick and saw Michael after about 2 miles or so, I knew I had him. Once we hit a big decent, I took gamble and just ROLLED past him. 2 miles later, he was next to me on the bike along with 3 other guys. We basically all rode near each other the whole bike section and I decided to stay content around them because I wasn't feeling particularly great. When he hit the HUGE climb that killed me the day before I actually felt fresh and just started attacking, leaving everyone behind me.

I hit T2 quickly and had some trouble w/my shoe insert. The insert was folded up inside, so I said screw it and took off anyways. Today the goal was not to really hold anything back after the turnaround up the mountain. I passed a lot of people but had no clue what my position was because of the aquathon mixed in. After the turnaround I noticed a guy about 1/3m ahead of me and he looked about my age so I just took a breath and hammered. I looked at my garmin at one point and it said 4:18 for pacing on the last mile. I didn't run that fast but I still managed to pass the guy just before the line and also run 5:03 for the closing mile. All in all i ended up winning overall because that guy I was chasing was a relay and Michael Heafner came out of no where for a HUGE 2nd place showing!


Outstanding day, we even got to take a dip in the river to relax the legs after. Great effort Michael, keep it pumping buddy!

Lake Logan: Olympic recap

After a training hiatus for about 3 weeks, I weakly planned out the trip to Lake Logan but was fortunate enough to have a good friend lend a hand. Scott Helms kindly offered a ride to the mountains since he was racing Saturday and then we just ended up staying at some hotel just off of the local highway, which ended up being just enough for what we needed. Friday morning arrived, I woke up and hit the road for a quick run before work and before the mile I just had a pounding headache. Eventually I had to walk the last 1/4m back home totaling 1.6 miles for my run. Since my head was pounding, I decided to lay back down and notify the office I would be in a little late. After some additional sleep, coffee and breakfast I felt much better!

Scott and I hit the road, missed the packet pick up and just decided to get in a short swim, to see how the course was. The water was great w/no current and felt smooth. We ended up going to Sagebrush for dinner and got to listen to these people at the bar chat about their lives, it was interesting. I got some kind of a new cheeseburger w/a sweet potato and ended up drinking nearly a pitcher of Miller Lite ha. After preparing for the race morning I realized I had no contact solution and drove all over looking for some before everything close, made it back to the room by 11:30pm and passed out before our 5am wake up.



We planned out the drive poorly perhaps and were in a rush once we got there especially since I was in the 1st wave of people. With a minimal run, I squeezed into my wetsit, had someone mark me w/5min to go till the start, ran to the water, jumped in and had 30sec to go. Everyone took off and I kept my eye on Rob Dietz who has always been a great swimmer, eventually we crossed paths and after the turnaround buoy, i kicked it in and hammered home. It was a 3 min swim PR for me! I hit T1 fairly tired and tried to catch my breath. I hit the bike pretty hard catching several people within a few miles, before I managed to drop my sunglasses and run them over. Fortunately this time i had no chain issues and tried pushing with what I had. MY left TFL just is out of whack from my lack of riding lately, so the ride ended up being less than Stellar.

Hitting the last hill I was DEAD, and everyone left me basically, I coasted to T2 and totally forgot how to dismount for some reason. After grabbing my shoes, I hit the run pretty smooth and conservative, hoping to save some energy for the last 3 miles. I picked off one by one up the mountain and kept counting the people. At the turn around I counted 8 in front of me, the 1st two guys were worlds ahead of everyone else and looked like they were FLYING. After the turnaround I turned it on and began catching more people, 7th, 6th, eventually 5th and then 4th way ahead of me. I dug deep but could not close that huge gap. I ended up finishing 6th overall because someone in a wave behind me went faster. This was a 13 minute PR for me in an Olympic distance race, I was pumped!



shout out to Dr. Ryan Danner, Rob "Deep pockets" Dietz and Scott "Gotta get some more GU's" Helms for stellar performances!

Thank you's go out to Greenapple Sports and Wellness for keeping me healthy as well as Lance Leo for giving me faith and an amazing training regimine
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Quick Race Recaps: 1st Xterra Tri Experience & The Lake Wylie Disaster

My 1st Off road triathlon experience was a blast looking back afterwards. At the time I thought otherwise because it beat me up pretty good including a fall near the end of the bike portion. After borrowing my good friend Lat's mountain bike, I attempted 2 off road rides the week of the race just to make sure I can even ride trails and especially with Clip in pedals.

The swim went OK at best, I thought I would be up front the whole way and it didn't work out like I wished, but I came out with my friend Rob Dietz when we had to run to the next swim transition, so I was pleased knowing he was a good swimmer. Once I hit the bike, I was still fairly clear of most of the field but I knew once we hit the woods I was done. My body was dripping wet and my glases fogged up. Holding onto the handles was near impossible the 1st couple miles. I made it through the ride, got passed a lot and managed to pass a few people even. With about a mile to go, I was excited to see open gravel and i went for it down a hill then tried to take a sharp turn, BAM!!! I was on my butt, bleeding and shaking from the fall.




I managed to jump up and head to the transition area, where I was excited to be, since it meant i would be running. I took awhile in transition because I was asking for water from anyone since I did not have any water the entire bike ride. Upon leaving T2 some guy took off in a Florida Gators singlet and I was pumped to catch up. I ran down tons of people and almost ran my way into a top 10 finish even. My split was pretty good and it pleased me for the most part, it even ended up being 2 minutes faster than my friend who won the open 8k the day before...Big thanks to my friend Brian McMahon, Kent and Devon for cheering me on as well as Uncle Wayne for helping out along the journey

http://www.xterraplanet.com/races/view_results.cfm?race_id=1143


Swim: 15:27
T1: 0:57
Bike: 1:08:18
T2: 1:25
Run: 32:50
Finish: 1:58:55

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lake Wylie Triathlon recap

After getting an entry into this race, I knew the pressure was on since i was signed up as an Open male and the field would be stacked. At this point I had so much stress from moving and trying to juggle several jobs I have been taking on, so I was basically exhausted. On friday after a day of work i spent my time moving boxes from one house to another to complete my move. Moving houses while its about 100 degree's outside, just wears you down! I finally called it a night at 11:45pm to stop packing up and moving things.

4:50am came way too early, I hit the road with the old beater truck I am borrowing for moving purposes and it was hot even in the Am with no A/C.


After checking in and managing a bit of a warm-up I just felt off, I wasn't really excited, i just wanted to get it over. When I got to the water we all hung out forever, then they made us leave and then get back in. I got left after about 300m in the water, the wakes were really hitting me hard and fortunately there was another swimmer as bad as me in the open division.

After trying to stand up and walk in 100m from the beach, I cut my feet up and just swam the rest of the way A DISTANT ways back from everyone else. I hit the bike and picked off an elite woman right away who is a good cyclist, at least something was going right. I saw another person ahead so I attacked and then boom on a flat road. My chain just totally fell off on the outside of my big ring. I couldn't get it back on, so I stop completely after going 23mph, get passed and put my chain on. Once on my bike I work back up to the people I have already passed once and once I finally catch up to them, it happens again, chain OFF. I stopped and had to put my chain back on again. The final straw of frustration came on the bridge just a 1/2m from T2, I jumped in with a group of fast cyclist from the group that started behind me and when we passed a couple elite women, my chain came off AGAIN!!! WTF

By the time I got to T2, i just wasn't sure what to think, a bad swim, even worse bike, and now I am going to run to catch who? I hit the road w/my shoes on and passed a couple people on the 1st mile. After that, I just it in cruise control all the way, I kept a steady pace but certainly did not push myself because I just felt it would be best to save my body for a good training day and put this one in the books. Upon entering the final stretch, they call out my name and guy who is right behind me, he gives it everything he has and passes me before the line while falling over. I calmly slide my chip off and give it to the woman and say "thanks for being out here, I am going to get a cookie".

For anyone reading who watches my races closely and knows I typically do pretty well, this WAS a big set back for me. After the race, I lost my mojo, with moving, trying to work 4 different job angles, I just had nothing left for the sport of running, biking or swimming. Essentially I went on a training hiatus with a couple of occasional runs and rides. USA Triathlon Nationals went out of the window and any other race in between before leaving for Australia. I am not going to consider myself anything special, but locally I am towards the front of the endurance based community and with the combination of events, i just lost ALL confidence, it can happen, to ANYONE, I am living proof...........

I even took a picture of my bike with the thought of putting it on craigslist