Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Waterloo EndurRace 8K - April 26, 2014 Race Report

This 8K was the second race in the 2014 Waterloo Running Series EndurRace challenge.   The first race was the 5K two weeks ago which I finished 3rd overall and won my AG.

The temperature for this race was quite a bit cooler than it was for the 5K.   I think it was around 4 or 5 degrees and a decent wind blowing at times.

Similar to the 5K, the race started at 6pm at the Lions Club up in Elmira and followed much of the same route, except we had to go a bit further south.






The race kicked off right on time, and just like the 5K, a whole bunch of runners shot off the line like they were doing a 200 yard dash!   I pretty much found myself sitting in 3rd place after a few hundred meters, and shortly after the 1K mark, I passed the runner that was in 2nd place overall.   The lead runner was Brendan Hancock, another speedy Health & Performance runner.   He slowly but surely pulled away over time, and I really had no chance of catching him.   He's just faster than I am!





The first few K were pretty quick, as we mostly headed south on Arthur street before making a right hand turn onto Whippoorwill street.   I'd say the wind was mostly out of the NW, so running along this stretch was not too bad, as we were protected by some forest and some subdivisions.   Near the end of this street, it opened up and we were hit with some decent winds.

Near the end of this section, coach Sean Delanghe was ripping around on his mountain bike talking to a few of the runners, including myself.   Here is some video he took during the race:


We eventually turned right onto Barnswallow drive, and this was likely the toughest part of the race.   It was mostly into a headwind and the pavement on this road was terrible.   You had to be quite careful with your footing or you could easily go over your ankle in a pothole!

Still holding 2nd place overall, we made the right turn onto Church street and out of the wind.   This section was fairly fast, as it was mostly downhill before climbing back up to Arthur street again.   Back on Arthur, we headed south and retraced a bit of the course over again before making a couple rights onto First street and then Synder Ave.

Getting a police escort down Arthur Street in Elmira


The final push back to the start along Synder was a bit tough as we battled the wind one more time.

I eventually made my final turn back onto South street and crossed the finish line 2nd overall in a time of 29:39, a new 8K PB for me and the first time in a race I have run under 30 minutes for 8K!





So yah, I'm 41 now and just set back to back 5K and 8K PB's.   I guess training has been going well.   I think the key right now is (knock on wood) I am not dealing with any injuries and have been getting some steady, consistent training in across all disciplines (Swim, Bike and Run......remember, I'm a triathlete, not a runner!  LOL!).

With my 8K result, I also had the fastest combined time for the 5k and 8K (I guess I'm just lucky that none of the guys who beat me in both races also ran the 5K and 8K!).




After the race, I got a quick massage (since I was running the Waterloo Half marathon the next morning in about 13 hours) and chatted to other team members and friends while getting a bit of food into me.   I left right after the awards to get home, fuel some more and rest for tomorrows race.   Given the success of these two races, I was hoping to keep things rolling in the half marathon.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Waterloo EndurRace 5K - April 12, 2014 Race Report

After the long cold winter, it was great to see warm conditions for this local race.   Unlike most races, it started at 6pm up in Elimira, instead of the normal morning start.   This meant I had to watch what and when I ate my food on Saturday so that I didn't start the race with much in my stomach, which would not have gone well.

Once again, I was racing on the Health and Performance Open team, as well as the Parent/Child division with my 10 year old son Holden.

We got to the race site about 45 minutes before the start, so Holden and I did a bit of warming up prior to getting to the starting line.


With Holden at the start

My wife Deanna was at the start, so she got some video of the race start as well.


When the gun went off, it was crazy to see how many people sprint off like they're doing a 100m race.   After a few hundred meters, I was likely still in about 20th or so overall, but slowly but surely started passing these sprinters as they ran out of gas.

Mike Piazza, also from Health and Performance was doing a great job of sticking with me, as we went through the first kilometer in about 3:32 (even though I did hear him say yikes or something like that after we heard the time from the volunteer yelling them out).  

Luke and Mike moving through the field
By now, we were in the top ten and were still moving steadily past other runners.

Just before the 2nd kilometer marker, I made my move past another runner into 3rd overall in the race.  

Not long after that, I got a bit of a stitch in my side, which isn't surprising given the fact that I was running much faster than I normally do, except when doing intervals.   Luckily, it didn't last long.

From here on in, I had a nice young lady on a bicycle basically pace me around the course through until the finish.  

The final push to the finish line
 I held my 3rd place spot right to the end, and crossed the line in 18:12, which is a new PB for me at this race distance.   Holden also had a great race finishing in about 23 minutes, which was good enough for us to secure the Parent / Child team race also.   Here's a great shot of Holden finishing up his race.   Awesome form.  If only he trained!

Holden has great form sprinting to the line!

Holden and I winning the Parent / Child team event




Our Health and Performance team also won the Open division (only one team though), but I think anyone else would have been hard pressed to beat us.   Our top 5 runners were all under 20 minutes and our top 3 under 19.   We had 3 of the top 6 overall finishers!   Solid team effort for sure!

Next up is the second part of this race, the 8K run April 26th.   There are awards for the fastest combined time between the 5K and 8K.   I hope to have another decent run there.  

The next morning I am doing the Waterloo Half Marathon, so that should be interesting.