Cape Henlopen Duathlon: A Success of Modern Medicine

Despite the fact that I could barely walk all day Saturday, a clutch disposable heating pad and some ibuprofen forced my left leg and back to be compliant for my Sunday morning race.

Going into the race, I ran a whopping total of 10 miles and biked 31 for the week, pitiful to say the least.  Though, I guess some recovery never hurt anyone.

This particular duathlon, a sprint distance was to be quick with a 1.5 mile run, a 13 mile flat course bike ride and a 3.1 mile run.  Temperatures were absolutely perfect at the start.  I racked my bike in a rather large transition area, warmed up, and went to the start hoping for the best from my uncooperative body.

Both run legs took place in Cape Henlopen State Park, on the paved trails which made for some good running.  The bike leg went out on the roads in the surrounding area.

This was the first duathlon in a while where I actually got a fight out of some of the others on the first run.  I went back and forth with two other guys and came flying into transition in 8:49, 5:52 pace which was honestly a little slow.  I can blame it on the fact that I was a bit rusty coming into the race.

The other two runners were hot on my tail, but I got out of transition in 57 seconds, still in the lead.  My glasses had fogged up while sitting near my bike, so I was completely blind as I ran out of transition.  After mounting my bike, I did manage to clear them.  Certainly made things exciting...

Before this race I had bought a water bottle with a straw that sits between my aero bars to make drinking easy.  I only took a few sips the whole way on the bike, and didn't eat anything.  With the flat course, you just need to keep going without any interruptions.

I got passed by two people early, but it turns out they both went off course and lost the lead.  I think I could have still caught them both on the run.  Regardless, as we continued on, I got passed by someone else who then proceeded to crash right next to me.  I saw it coming, as he didn't take a corner hard enough, drifted out into a hedge and then fell into the road.  I moved over just enough so he wouldn't take me out too.

I thought of stopping for a moment, but realized if that had been me and someone stopped, I would have told them to keep going.  These are top spots we're talking about, even if none of us are elite athletes...

As I continued, I slowly got more comfortable on the bike and was able to increase my speed. Instead of hovering in the 21-22 mph range, I was able to keep it over 23mph for most of the second half.  I'm not sure why it always takes me nearly half the race to get into a bike groove, but hopefully with more training it will get smoother.

I got passed by two more bikes along the way (frustrating isn't it!!).  When I finally got back to transition, after blowing through a rather technical part of the course, I dismounted cleanly and ran into transition, dragging my bike for a moment as it fell while I was running.  I knew I had runners to catch, so I was dragging that bike if I had to!  It was on grass, so no scratches.  The bike leg took 35:12, at 12.75 miles as measured by my computer, it works out to 21.7mph.  I really wish it was faster.  It was good for 14th overall.  With the exception of the fastest time of less than 31 minutes, most of the times were not that far off from mine, just a minute separated the next 10 riders.

I was out of transition in 49 seconds, just behind someone who finished on the bike right next to me.  I made quick work of him and came through mile 1 in what seemed like a real slow split.  My legs were exhausted as I clearly pushed it on the bike.  My left leg was cooperating, so I at least had that going for me.  I managed to track down and pass another runner at about mile 1.5.  I got a glimpse of the leader on an out and back section, and I knew there was not enough ground left for me to catch him.

Regardless, I knew I was in second and thought things were locked up.  Then as I was approaching mile 2, I could hear foot steps getting closer, and closer, and closer....

I've done many duathlons to date and have never been passed by anyone on either run leg.  I was shocked to hear someone catching me.  It turns out it was one of the guys from our early pack, so I knew he could run.  Clearly, he had run a better second leg than me to this point, and apparently, we were even on the bike.  The only problem for him was that as a runner, I have way too much pride.

He passed me and got about 5 strides on me.  I was still stunned that I had even been passed at this point.  I hesitated for the briefest of moments, only to summon all available energy I had left.  I then told myself I was going to break this guy, I would run him right into the ground, and he would regret ever trying that move.

I surged, closed the gap and passed him cleanly.  He let me go by opting to run behind me instead of alongside.  He fell right into my hands.  I held the surge the rest of the way, and picked it up even more with 1/4 mile to go.  He was barely holding on as it was, and with the second surge, I could hear him back off as I ran hard down the final straight in an open grass field (cross country finish!).

This guy ended up just a few seconds behind me.  My 18:55 second run was good for third on that leg.  This guy I just raced had 2nd, and the 1st place runner was one of the cyclists who went off course, got back on, rode real slow back in, then with fresh legs, was able to run the second leg hard.  I don't know if I can count that time!  But, I'll take 3rd on the second run.


Overall, I finished 2nd with a time of 1:04:44, just over 2 minutes behind the winner, with no crashes or going off course.  Not bad.


My leg seems to be moving in the right direction, so I am going to attempt to resume normal training this week.  Either the NSAIDs and heating pad did the trick, or time has healed it.  I'm really anxious to get back on the band wagon.  One down week is fine, but two is pushing it.

Slight Frustration

I am no doctor, but I think my left leg pain is due to an aggravated nerve.  It is certainly not bone because I sure as hell know what that feels like.  It also is not really behaving quite like a muscle strain, since I also know what that feels like.

My only possible conclusion is that a nerve has been pissed off, which is causing pain to radiate a bit in my left quad.  I ran and biked once a piece this week on Tuesday and Wednesday, about 10 miles total with 1 mile at 5K pace, 2 miles at tempo pace, and 1 mile at faster than 5K pace (5:16, 11:19, 5:06).  I also biked 32 miles at 20mph the following day.

I can run and bike on it, the bike seems to be more agreeable, but regardless, I threw caution to the wind and took Thursday and Friday off.  I can't really tell if its getting better.  I also spent 8 hours total driving today, which probably didn't help.  I certainly have no interest in taking 2 months off after suffering a significant injury, so I'm listening to my body now in hopes that it will work itself out soon.

I have decided not to change my weekend plans.  On Saturday, I've got 3 hours of easy riding for a charity event and a sprint duathlon Sunday, 1.5 miles running, 14 on the bike, 3 miles for run 2, all on flat terrain.

I'll reevaluate again Monday morning.  I've got no more races currently scheduled between this Du and the Philly marathon, though I may try for at least a 10K in early November.  Additionally, I am in wonderful shape right now and a few days off isn't going to kill me.  I can only hope that whatever this issue is will work itself out sooner rather than later.

I also have no plans of dropping out of my marathon pacing duties, 3:30 at Baltimore as a Geico Pacer next weekend and 3:25-3:30 at Marine Corps as someone's "personal" pacer.

I've been very smart about my training this season, running more than I did at this time last year, but still much less than what led to my stress fracture in the Spring.  Just as the weather was getting perfect, this mysterious issue had to come up, but I have to just take it a day at a time....

I am not a slave to my training schedule...I am not a slave to....

I had a pretty solid workout tonight, the perfect workout to compliment a good weekend.

2 mile warmup, followed by a 1600meter right around 5K pace, followed by a 3200m at tempo pace, then another 1600meter with whatever was left.  Rest was a real slow 400m jog.  Certainly easier than last week, but hard enough to make you work to get it done.

5:16 for the first mile
11:19 for the 2 miles
5:06 for the last mile

I was chasing someone for the 5:06, but regardless, it felt surprisingly "right."  I didn't feel like I was murdering myself to hold that pace which shocked me.

Unfortunately, despite taking Monday off completely, and not running this morning, my left leg is still not very happy with me.  It is definitely muscular.  My glutes are fine now since I haven't been sitting on my ass driving or flying so I am hoping that with a couple of days off from running that my leg will get better.

I certainly will not make the same mistake of trying to run through recurring nagging pain.  A few days off won't do anything to my running, but another two months off would be unthinkable.  I've got something real, real good going for me right now and I won't ruin it!  Training is a means to an end, and not something that should get in the way of what matters...the times....


I'll take the bike for a spin Wednesday afternoon and see if my leg approves of that activity instead.  I hope it does, because the weather is supposed to be awesome the rest of the week, and I could use some bike miles with only one ride last week.

Another day...another half

This weekend was certainly one of the more interesting ones I've had in a while.  I got back from New Hampshire Saturday night, watched a couple of episodes of Futurama on Netflix, and then just passed out for about 7 hours only to wake up at 5AM to get ready to do it all again.

This time, I was to be the runner on a triathlon relay team covering the half Ironman distance; though the Ironman phrase was no where to be found since this was not one of their events.  Its a good thing there is not a company that owns the phrase "marathon."  Anyway, this race, the Half Full Triathlon had the half, as well as an olympic triathlon, and relays for both races.

The half required 0.9 miles of swimming, 56 miles of biking, and a half marathon run.  My team was "sponsored" by Cerasport, a small company that makes its own rice based electrolyte drink.  We got a free entry ($270 for the team) and tri jerseys to run in, as well as a bunch of free cerasport mix.  It actually tastes pretty good; not as sweet as Gatorade.

Of course, 0.9 miles of swimming and 56 miles of biking takes a really freaking long time.  So although I got to the race at 6:30 (advantage: parking near the start), I didn't actually start my run until about 11:15.  It was also rather cold to be standing around outside waiting, not to mention I needed a big breakfast to actually survive until the race.

After having an awesome breakfast from one of the race day vendors: eggs, bacon, hash browns, peppers, onions, mushrooms, and cheese, I went to my car and basically slept in warmth until 10:20AM.  Maybe not the best pre-race meal but like I said, I was hungry!

By 11:20 my cyclist handed the chip off to me and I was off to the races.  It was hard to tell of our exact position (turned out we were 5th off the bike), and I had no idea who I even needed to pass.  There were individuals, a couple of relay divisions, and the course was two loops.  I figured if I just passed a lot of people, we would gain a few spots.

I went out rather relaxed since this was basically going to just be a marathon paced run.  I got an awful lot of comments about how strong I looked (some of them in a very condescending tone, because apparently running well is offensive) even though I wasn't really running an earth shattering pace.  Silly multi sport athletes...

I actually started my watch in the wrong place inside transition...it should have been when I got out and a couple of the mile markers seemed like they were off, not to mention that the whole course may have been slightly short (though running out of transition probably made up for it).  I've actually noticed this a lot in multi sport events; courses don't always seem quite as accurate as road races.  But whatever, it was close enough.

My average ended up being 6:09 pace for a 1:20:35 overall.  I actually continued to feel stronger as the race went on and slowly picked it up as I was not on marathon pace initially.  I felt rather refreshed at the end of the race, which is how I should feel if this were a marathon paced run.  Combine my 1:18:45, and I've got a "2 day marathon" time under 2:40.  I have no idea what that means, but it certainly shouldn't be a bad thing, and can't be any more worthless than Yasso 800s for measuring marathon readiness (yea I said it).

As it turns out, I pretty much sandbagged the shit out of this race.  What I intended to do Saturday actually happened Sunday in much more dramatic fashion.  Our team ended up winning, and apparently the next closest relay runner's time was in excess of 1:40.  Yea....

We got some beer mugs and got to stand on top of a podium, so that was fun.


Overall, I'm pleased.  My only concern is my left leg.  My left quad which was tight last week seems to have been re-aggravated by all the flying/driving I did this week (lots of car ride time in NH).  It might be my left glute that is causing the issue since it hurts to sit down on it sometimes.  It may be so tight that it is pulling on my leg or something.

Regardless, it felt better during today's race than yesterday's.  Stretching helps, as does staying warm and not in freezing cold rain; recently I've been lax in stretching.  I'll probably take Monday off unless I suddenly feel better and see how it is Tuesday morning.

Mileage for the week...Mid 60s for running, only 55 on the bike; no time for cycling...

Check your Ego and Hubris at the door!

So I managed to run that half marathon up in Bristol, NH.  The scenery was awesome, the weather was ok (cool and rainy), the race was cheap ($45 for race day registration), and it was well organized.  It was also good to go up and see a friend who is busy teaching at Dartmouth for the fall.

As it turned out, I wasn't the only arrogant SOB who tried to swoop in for an easy win.  Three other competitive runners toed to the line with me.  After our 5:42 first mile I thought to myself: "Shit, this is a race."  Two of the three runners dropped off the pace by mile 3.

The hills also started at 3.  I should have known better that a race in New Hampshire though beautiful, was going to be a roller coaster of despair.  By mile 5, I had realized that I was going to have to kill myself and ruin my step back week to keep up with the remaining runner.  He was able to bust out the downhills better than me, and each time I had to work twice as hard on the flats and uphills to catch back up.  By 5 or 6, I realized that was it.  It also didn't help that I probably should have gone out at about 5:50-6:00 pace and then eased into the 5:40s on the second half of the course when it flattened out.  This was definitely a strategic race and not a time trial race, though I tried to run it like the latter.

So I backed off the pace, which had already slackened thanks to the hills and cruised through the rest of the race at roughly 6:05-6:15 pace (one slow mile thanks to a hill).  That allowed me to actually admire the scenery a little bit.


I crossed the finish in 1:18:45 by my watch; the official timer was off as they had tried to start the half at the same time as the full even though the half start was at the half way point of the course, so it was off by about 15 seconds.  The winner finished in a rather impressive ~1:15 and change.  I would have needed my A game to beat him if I even had a shot, not my "I just did a really hard workout Tuesday, signed up for this last minute, and thought it would be an easy win game."

I did end up 2nd overall.  My legs felt a little shot, partially because I was not prepared for such a hilly race, and partially because I've had 4 plane rides in the past 3 days which I have never, ever done!  I actually don't know if I got cash or not because the timing company was unable to present the final results due a malfunction of some kind, so all awards are being mailed.  I guess I'll find out...


Now off to half marathon #2, which is just going to be a run that happens to be during a triathlon, in which I get a free tri top and didn't have to pay anything thanks to Cera Sport, a company that has a line of electrolyte replacing drinks.  Since it's a triathlon relay, I won't even have anyone to race so I really won't get tempted to get away from my plan!  Just a shake out run at this point...

Light week...much needed

Mileage has been light this week as per my plans.  That killer workout on Tuesday made this a little bit less of a step back week as far as intensity goes, but mileage is still in check.

Monday: Rest


Tuesday: roughly 10 miles total, see 6 X Wow post

Wednesday: AM: 4 miles,
                     PM: 8 miles

Thursday: AM: 5 miles

Friday: AM: 9 miles

I'm about to go on a 60 easy bike ride, sadly my first of the week.  I just did not quite have the time the rest of the week thanks to the shorter days, my need to rest my left quad Monday (its all better now), and the fact that I had to go to Cleveland and back on Thursday for work.

This weekend is going to be "interesting."  At the last possible moment, I got convinced to fly up to New Hampshire to run in a half marathon.  This is more just to experience fall up there and see a couple of friends.  I also have some airfare credit up for expiration from missed races this Spring, so I figured, what the heck.  Now as it turns out, I may very well be that out of state jack ass runner that comes in and sandbags the shit out of this race.  There is a cash prize for the winner, yet the winning time last year was a 1:28.  I'm planning on just cruising at marathon pace unless someone decides to make a race out of it.  For now, this will just be a glorified workout.

Sunday, I'm running the half marathon leg of a "half" triathlon.  I was originally supposed to do the bike leg, but they needed runners, so I decided to be a good sport.  The race is free for me and I get a triathlon top which I desperately need since I only have one.  I will DEFINITELY not race this one and just do it for the miles.

So although it may appear I have two races this weekend, in actuality, they are just awesome runs, one of which I may score a pay day for.  I'm excited!

The World Record Debate

Since all the cool people are talking about it, so will I!

Very recently, the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF), the world governing body for running decided to change their requirements for what constitutes a world record in a road race.  They already have very complicated rules about what constitutes an eligible course and conditions.  This is why Geoffrey Mutai's time of 2:03:02 at the 2011 Boston Marathon is not considered a world record, but only a "world's best."  Since Boston is a point-to-point course, the start and finish lines are too far apart, making the course ineligible for producing world records.

Though it certainly complicates what should be a rather simple sport, there is certainly logical thinking behind the IAAF's world record eligibility rules.  All road races are very different, even ones of identical distance.  Some marathons are known to be tough, while others are known to be fast.  It has everything to do with the course profile and the prevailing conditions at the time (wind, temperature).  Track races on the other hand are much more controlled.  Though track surfaces and weather play a role, all track races are run on the exact same "course," an oval with specific dimensions.

With that said, the IAAF has handed down a very curious decision.  Paula Radcliffe is (or should I say was) the world record holder for the women's marathon with a time of 2:15:25 set at the 2003 London Marathon.  However, the IAAF has deemed that any women's race run in conjunction with a men's race and/or any women that use male pacers cannot be awarded the world record.  Furthermore, the IAAF is going back and rewriting history, taking away any women's road racing world records that were done with the aid of male pacers.  Radcliffe actually still has the world record because she has also run the 2nd and 3rd fastest marathon times ever by a woman.  Her 3rd fastest time of 2:17:42 is now the record.

The fastest women in the world do have an interesting situation.  In a mass start race of men and women, the fastest women will usually be surrounded by 2nd tier men who run near those times.  Low 2:20s in a marathon is lightning fast for a woman, but for a man, it does not even give you a shot to run at the US Olympic Trials.  I have sort of experienced this first hand at the Philly Distance Run a few weeks ago.  My 1:14:44 is decent for an amateur, but I was running alongside women who were going for a spot in the Trials.

The debate is endless as to whether male pacers give women too much of an advantage or help them too much with running faster.  The problem for the top women is that there really are not enough other fast women to help pace them, hence the use of male pacers.  However, the men do not really have this same problem.  The top men will be out front in a mixed race.  Additionally, it is common practice for men to use pacers in their races as seen in the recent world record set in Berlin by Patrick Makau of 2:03:38.  In fact if you watch video, this guy had a literal army of pacers for well over half the race.  The final pacers broke off at the 30K mark, a little over 6 miles before the finish.

It has been pointed out that this is a double standard of sorts.  Women are no longer allowed to use pacers (essentially since female pacers are almost non existent) but yet men are when pursuing world records.  Some of this trouble has been taken care of by many of the large races which these days have the elite women start 45 minutes ahead of the men.  This allows them to run the "women's only" race that the IAAF now requires for world records.

The debate of the fairness of all this and whether a faster male pacer offers too much assistance to a female runner is quite a complicated one.  As a purist, I think it is all BS and it should not matter who paces who.  The bottom line is that the runner still has to be physically capable of running the required pace whether they have a pacer or not.

Regardless, what I truly don't understand is the IAAF's decision to go back and rewrite history.  At the time of Radcliffe's world record, these rules were not in place and everything she did in running that time was legal.  So how can someone rewrite the rules now and then go back and decide that the world record no longer applies?  Had this rule already been in place, I highly doubt Paula Radcliffe would have used a male pacer on a world record eligible course at the pinnacle of her running career.

If the IAAF wants to put this rule in place going forward, then fine I can live with it.  Everyone understands what the rules are and if they want a world record, they have to do it without male pacers.  But, how can you go back and change what was already done?

I guess what we need is another female runner to go and beat Radcliffe's 2:15:25 without male pacers on an eligible course to rub it in the face of the IAAF.