The Official Digg on the Big Pig Gig

Pigman Splits: (19 out of 60 in age group)

Overall time -- 5:41:44

Swim -- 36:20

Bike -- 3:10:40

Run -- 1:49:04

Oink! Most things that start with the word half are lame by design. They denote something not even close to complete. Half done. Half Hearted. Half Eaten. Half Assed. All are less than complimentary terms for something that could have been so much more. So you would figure a half-ironman would be an easy event for a me to do on a whim. I mean, it's not like doing a whole one. You really don't even need to seriously train right? I figured maybe I'd just get lucky. Well, here's what I noticed about the whole "luck" concept. Luck played a much bigger part before and very early into the race. Luck, meant I got a great place in transition area. Luck got me cloud cover. Luck put me in the last wave. But as the day wore on, luck almost didn't exist at all, at least in the "good" form. A crash, a flat, a broken bone or a stroke were still un-lucky possibilities as the day wore on. Luckily, that didn't happen.

The big Pig Dig this year was marked by driving rain and winds at the start. This made the bike portion challenging for all. By about 11 am the weather improved and the rest of the afternoon was pretty good for racing.

Team Faster Than Schroff pulled off a big upset and destroyed Team Way Faster than Schroff. Shev came down from Wisconson having ridden 96 miles of the Ironman Wisconsin course to swim for team Way Faster Than Schroff. Being the good parents we are, we left the kids in the car during this part of the race (hey it was raining). They paid us back by completely de-pantsing our vehicle (all in a matter of about 30 minutes). A water bottle was filled with Germex. All the band-aids were used up. Crayons were smeared into the upolstery. Food wrappers were used to polish the dashboard and my phone battery was completely used up by my daughter calling her best freind who recently moved back to Britian. I can't wait to see the roaming charge for that call.

Back on the course, I was still in transition, shivering uncontrollably and waiting to get started when shev came up to wish me good luck. She had started and was out of the water so fast I think she must have cut the course. "Honey, you better get going your missing this!" was my first thought when I saw her. My official start was supposed to be 7:50, but at 8:15, I was still on the beach waiting. Being one of the few without a wet suit standing in the pelting rain and wind, I wasn't so much concerned about how much faster all the rubber guys in my age group might swim than I as I was envious of how warm they seemed. Purple lipped, I tried not to look too cold. As it turns out, Shev had already beaten me by plenty on the swim. Still, the whole race was really fun and cool. Once I got going, I was not cold again. The highlight of the day for me was actually spotting both teams on the run after a whole morning of racing. Helgeson and Krause were on thier way back home when I saw them. I was still going out to the turn around on the run. I was too tired and to high five em. I believe I saw Mike H at about mile 4 for me (8 for him) and Krause about a two miles later. The upset came in spite of Schroff's flat tire on his debut bike race. Which lead one to wonder; Can Shroff be Faster Than Schroff? The concept sounds zen.

Emily Dewalt, a local girl turned bad ass super hero tri-chick mananaged an impressive 2nd overall for the women beating me by almost an hour. Thoughts of me racing her in the Firecracker 5k two years ago come to mind. That was the first time I ever heard her name. She was having a terrible race, and I was having a pretty good one. Back then, I was able to stay in at least same solar system as her. Yesterday was an entirely different matter. Shev thought about putting her picture in her cubicle at work after she gouged out the eyes and wrote bad thoughts on it but then reconsidered. She's not convinced that even voodo hexing will do any good. She's WAY to fast for even the witches to fix this.

Reid Hansen had a great day as well taking 3rd in his age group. I tried to bow down before him in the parking lot after the race but was afraid I might not be able to get up. Anothere notable local was Anna Breaux who placed 4th in her age group. Mike Gudat thumped me soundly by about 20 minutes. He had an epic swim and bike. Way to go Mike! Larry Grenvik had a great race placing in the top 20 of his bracket. Other locals of note, Beth Haynes placed 6th in her age group and Carlton Admas placed 10th. Way to represent Peoria. Go Tri-P! I was pleased with my debut at the half ironman distance. I know now, that I can do this distance and I have a relative feeling of how much it hurts. Another first for me was doing a half marathon run barefoot. I have much more confidence about being able to hoof the longer distances and my ability to run pre-barefoot paces is getting a lot better. My feet were sore but not too beat up. The worst injury came 1/2 mile from the finish. I was running in the grass and mud. I nicked my foot pad on something sharp embedded in the mud. It really isn't too bad. It just hurt at the time. I managed an 8:20 something pace and finished with a decent 1:49. Now, that's much slower than my best 1/2 marathon but given the 4 hours of racing prior to the run, I don't know that I'd have been much faster had I worn shoes. My feet didn't hold me back nearly as much as my legs.

Overall, a great day and I can't wait till next year!

Delavan Wind-A-Thon

Sunday March 18, 2009

It was an incredible afternoon. There was a torrential downpour before the race and the trees were moving so vigorously they looked like monsters trying to break free. The winds were as gusting in excess of 50 mph. It was a race that not just favored those runners willing to work together. It was a requirement. The few folks who ran it alone were all but immobilized by the winds. Sub 1:20 half marathon runners were forced to walk and many abandoned the effort. I worked with John Havenga with who ever we could coolesce into the pack to work the windswept roads of the Delavan Frostbite.

Time Temp Wind Gusts
======================================
13:01 59.6 °F WSW 25.7mph 35.0mph
13:06 58.3 °F West 21.9mph 35.0mph
13:11 59.8 °F WSW 32.7mph 32.7mph
13:16 60.0 °F WSW 25.0mph 41.1mph
13:21 60.1 °F West 24.7mph 34.8mph
13:26 59.9 °F West 34.2mph 43.1mph
13:31 60.3 °F WSW 28.3mph 28.3mph
13:36 59.9 °F West 49.6mph 55.0mph
13:41 59.6 °F West 39.6mph 50.9mph
13:46 58.7 °F West 30.3mph 50.9mph
13:51 58.0 °F WNW 28.3mph 39.0mph
13:56 57.8 °F West 26.1mph 40.8mph
14:01 56.5 °F WSW 36.5mph 46.5mph
14:06 55.4 °F West 33.8mph 50.6mph
14:11 54.7 °F West 50.0mph 50.2mph
14:16 53.7 °F West 43.8mph 55.3mph
14:21 53.1 °F West 49.7mph 49.7mph
14:26 52.3 °F West 40.0mph 50.8mph
14:31 52.6 °F West 30.9mph 40.9mph

Unbelievable!!!!

The wind pressure was so extreme I could nearly put all my weight into it without falling. It was remarkable and unlike any conditions I've ever experienced. After the race however I developed a problem with my left knee. No doubt it was accumulating from all the miles and this event was enough of a stress to press me over the edge.

It's now been almost a week and I still cannot run. On Monday I was limping around like an old war vet and by wed I could walk around without any real pain. Coupled with the blisters that prevented my last weeks workouts this might be too much time off to accomplish my Boston goals but that's ok. I have a long term approach to the sport. I love to run and want to improve. Sometimes you have to give up what you love today so you can keep doing it in the future. You could say the same thing about my cholesterol and my diet.

Schroff did a fabulous job as the Race director. I appreciate how much he does for the local running community. Thanks Dave!

Rob's Pigs Burn While Kevin Bacon's Facebook Page Brings Down Internet

*** SHAMELESSLY PROMOTING Running Central HERE ****


Saturday was the big 20 miler. Have to say I was dreading it. I am so tired of the cold weather and having to go to bed at 9 on Friday night so I can live through another zero dark thirty meat grinding long run. I was doubly depressed because I got my cholesterol checked at my doctors office and the results were not promising. Basically my blood is the consistency of peanut butter. So when I get cold I figure its twice as hard as normal people to run. I had to listen to my doctors sarcastic comments. "Wow, Rob. Do you really run marathons? You've got the blood of Orville Redenbacher and Colnel Sanders combined!" Look, I said. I don't know. I eat ok. I must come from a long line of dead cholesterol gorillas, that's all.

McGangBang

Anyway. The run was tough. Neltner and Matt Eckberg beat the living daylights out of me for 20 miles made doubly tough for me because of the Kiełbasa sausage grease masquerading as blood and not exactly coursing through oozing through my arteries. I will say that if you have to run 20 miles. The Saturday point to point from the tower to the EP admin buildign is a great route.   IVS has this route with options for 9, 12, 16 and 20 miles.  We had lots of downhill running and that definitely helped me to run a great pace. I'm wearing new shoes! Adam at Running Central sold me these SWEET kicks! Basically they are a pair of spray on thin as paint flats made by Mizuno named the Universe 2.

I am really into the less is more philosohy of shoes. So when I saw these I knew it was love! The Mizuno rep Matt, later told me the longest recorded run he ever knew of anyone logging was 13 miles. Evidently I set some kind of freak show record that should help them stem a liability issue. I am willing to testify in court Matt if you need me! I gotta get the story straight from him but he mentioned they were intended as some kind of concept shoe and were originally priced through the roof. It was basically a $150 shoe to last 150 miles kind of thing. It was supposed to only be in production for about 6 months. That was 2 years ago. The shoe's categorized by the factory as an "expert" series running shoe. My wife fell on the floor laughing about that one (thanks for all the support honey).

SO WHAT if I top out at a svelte 170! So I am not exactly what you might call thier "target" demographic, but I thought I'd try em out and go long. Game on Mizuno! I'm putting 400+ miles on these puppy's! I have to admit my feet were barkin pretty good when I reached the EP Admin building. I definitely had some skin in the game this Saturday. I don't blame the shoe but rather the fact I just haven't done much barefoot running because it's been so cold. My pigs are winter wusses!


So Sunday I spent nursing the wounds and checking the internet out. I cant think of a better way to kill a perfectly good opportunity to do something useful. I like to check out Facebook to see what everyone's doing. Guess they are all wasting their time too. Now, I've been using Facebook for only a couple of months.  Krause first told me about it.  After a few weeks hoping none of the really strange people in the world that I have wronged would find me.  I started just accepting everyone who wanted to be friends.  I think I am up to 6.  No kidding. Then my sister Karye found out about Facebook.  THen she told my sister Gayle, then my DAD! Arrrrg!  Then my mom.  Whoa! Enough is enough!  Can you hear the fun being sucked right out of the ethernet?!?  



Now, with all these people, I gotta watch what I say.  Only here in this corner of cyberspace is it safe to write my most intimate thoughts....here alone where I enjoy total and complete privacy....here where I can hatch my evil plots and not be detected.....(come back rob, you're getting distracted)

Then I started to wonder.....remember those crazy 6 degrees of separation sayings they used to talk about? You know the ones with Kevin Bacon?  It was one of those first date topics back in high school.  As the theory goes, it's said you can tie anyone to Kevin Bacon in 6 degrees of separation or less?  His facebook page would be a thing of wonder! Would it tax the limits of cyberspace?!?  Any you thought the stock market crash was big news.  Stranger things have happend.

 

Canal Connect 2008

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Not having a good day? How bout you try being more negative! - By Glenn Latimer

(Glenn Latimer tells Rob what it takes to be faster than Schroff!)

Rob

 

Greg asked me to comment - see his post below

 

Depending on the marathon race course, even splits or negative splits are the way to go in a marathon - otherwise you feel you are "hanging on" and trying to survive/get through the last third of the race.

 

As Blair and Greg have correctly identified, it is training and simulation which allows one to do this type of racing.  I always preach "have your wheels under you at 30k"  - i.e. you can still control your pace when the race comes to the tough part.

 

Liken it to driving your car - you either control the accelerator pedal, or the car controls you.  Most people running a marathon do not have control of the accelerator pedal, and therefore the race is controlling them.

 

Elites train to run different paces, make injections of pace, and recover.  Most elites and sub-elites know exactly what pace they are on by experience and by feel.  There is no reason why everyone can't get the feel for pace, whatever speed they intend to run.

 

Age brings wisdom (maybe?) - when I ran another marathon when I reached 50, I ran the first 10M at a controlled pace, the next 10M at about 15 seconds per mile faster, and the last 10k was the fastest per mile pace of all. Wish I had practiced that when I was racing with Greg!!

 

Elites run within themselves through the first half of the race. Then the race really starts between 25k and 30k.  The fittest, well-trained guys run even or negative splits usually. 

 

The guys in Chicago last weekend got a crazy idea about 15k and ran a couple of miles at 4:36 and 4:38. As predicted it buried most of them, and lost the winner the chance of a course record. Too much too soon.

 

Next April in London we are planning a first half of the race in 62:00  - that is not too fast if you can run 59:00 for a half marathon.  Extrapolate accordingly to whichever level you run at, as the same principles apply.

 

Consult with the experts like Greg and Blair on how to do this sort of training simulation.  Greg correctly identifies that most people in training don't simulate, and therein lies the key. Put yourself under stress to learn to simulate and "control" of the pace.  Remember this is complex because you need to be able to control the pace (maintain or pick it up) just at the time when you body is "changing tanks."   Consult with the experts in Greg and Blair - they can help you.

 

Hope these comments help.

 

Regards

 

Glenn

 

Fallujah's First 5K Road Race a Great Success

Gateway Pundit: Fallujah's First 5K Road Race a Great Success

Some great pictures at this blog. (Un)fortunately no IVS runners were around. Enjoy!

El' Danimal Set's Sights On Schroff

Dan Johnson sets his sight to be faster than Schroff on Saturday, May 24. He is competing in the Chillicothe River Run held by the Optimist Club. It's a pancake flat fast 5k along 2nd street through Shore Acres park and back into town. I am guessing Schroffy will need to run 16:50 or better to take on the Danimal. Both are capable of such times. I ALMOST wish I wasn't running just so I could get a video of the fun. This picture was from my bud Matt Stevenson. We all ran a race in Morton a few weeks ago. Winner was featured in this traditional sombrero! I haven't been able to catch him in a 5k.......yet. Thanks Matt. Just a suggestion Dan, I'd lose the hat before the start unless you get a really strong tail wind.