Normal Rockstar

First Triathlon in the Books

Yesterday I entered and completed hopefully the first of many triathlons. Team Magic runs a fantastic event on Memorial Day called the GJCC Memorial Day Triathlon. This is what's called a sprint distance triathlon, meaning all the distances are pretty short. This particular race included a 200m swim, an 8.5mi bike, and a 2mi run. My goal was to complete the race in under 60 minutes, and my official time ended up being 53:59. I'm thrilled with that! Here's how my times broke down (T1 and T2 are the different "transition times" - the time it takes for me to switch from 1 event to the other):

Swim - 3:27
T1 - 2;51
Bike - 30:39
T2 - 1:47
Run - 17:04

I actually ended up placing 4th in my age group (Beginners ages 30-34) and had I registered for the Clydesdale division (men over 200lbs) I would have placed 2nd.  So all in all, I was very happy with how the race turned out and spent a good amount of time yesterday online looking for the next one. My ultimate goal is to complete a full Ironman race (2.5mi swim, 112mi bike, 26.2mi run), but that's not going to happen this season. Although I'm eyeing a 1/2 Ironman the end of September... I'll keep you posted.

A big shout out to Randy, Ken, and Spence - they were my tri buddies for the day and all did fantastic as well. We're already planning on doing the race next year - want to join us?

Running Dreams, Reality, and the NYC Marathon

Today the New York City Marathon was run in - you guessed it - New York City! More than 38,000 runners filled the streets and participated (there were an estimated 2,000,000 spectators), using 360 Porta-Potties and 42,000 PowerBars (just for some random fun facts for you). As far as celebrities participating this year, looks like actor Ryan Reynolds and soccer player Brandi Chastain ran (Lance Armstrong and Katie Holmes participated last year). It really sounds like a great race - one I'd love to participate in someday when I'm not in the middle of a tour! The men's winner took home $165,000 - $130,000 for winning and $35,000 for finishing in under 2:09:00 (his winning time was 2:08:43).

My personal running dreams have recently had a run-in with reality. I turn 30 this December, and it was my goal to complete a sub-4 hour marathon before I turned 30. With our touring schedule the only time I had off to make an attempt at this was Thanksgiving - hence the Atlanta Marathon was my only option. Unfortunately, in order to accomplish this task I needed to train - and the last couple of months on the road did NOT allow for that one bit. So... reality has spoken and I'll be running the 1/2 marathon in Atlanta - my sub-4 marathon will have to wait for 2009. But it WILL happen in 2009 - hold me to that, fellow readers!

What are your running goals for 2009?

I'm Buying a House in Mongolia and Need Your Help

** UPDATE: I fixed the link - it should be working properly now.**

It has taken me a while to get this put together, but the success of my fellow Rockstar Runner Glenn put me over the edge and got me working on this. I am running the 1/2 marathon in Missoula, MT in a few weeks (July 13th) with my father-in-law and wanted to make it count for something other than personal accomplishment this time around. So, here's the plan: seeing as my parents are currently in Mongolia doing missions work, I thought it would be cool to raise money for a specific project in Mongolia: namely, a Mongolian ger. Click here to read more about the house I'd like to buy and how you can be a part of it. Let's together buy a house for a Mongolian family - I'll do the running, you provide the funds!

Snow... in Nashville?!?

Well, this was the scene about 5 minutes ago off of my front porch here in Spring Hill. The snow's still coming down... and I'm supposed to do a 20mi run this morning!! Geez - I guess I'm going to have to make my way to the gym without getting hit by a "what's this white stuff on the ground?" southern driver. It's going to be a LONG morning on a treadmill!

Marathon: The Day After

This is a fantastic video. For those of you who have run a marathon before, you'll get it. Those who haven't, it might give you some ideas, anyways... [HT: Spence]

"Spirit of the Marathon" in Theaters Thursday

For those of you who are runners or are considering becoming a runner/marathoner, here is a movie that would be a great one to see/support: "Spirit of the Marathon". It will be showing across North America this Thursday night at 7:30pm. Here's a brief description of the movie from the website:

"Spirit of the Marathon is the first ever non-fiction feature film to capture the drama and essence of the famed 26.2 mile running event. Filmed on four continents, the movie brings together a diverse cast of amateur athletes and marathon luminaries.

As six unique stories unfold, each runner prepares for and ultimately faces the challenge of the Chicago Marathon. More than a sports movie, Spirit of the Marathon is an inspirational journey of perseverance and personal triumph; a spectacle that will be embraced by runners and non-runners alike."

I will be going to the 7:30pm show in Nashville at Opry Mills along with some other Rockstar Runners. If you're planning on coming to the show, let us know so that we can connect with you tomorrow night. And if you're not in Nashville, click here to find a theater near you. Make sure you come by to let us know what you thought of the show!

Disney World Marathon Results

Well, I finished. That's about the only thing I can say about my race on Sunday at the Disney World Marathon. I was shooting for a sub 4-hour race and was on track to accomplish that at mile 13. But it was SO humid that by that point both of my shoes were soaked with sweat and the balls of my feet were already blistered. I realized that this would not be the day that I got a PR and really backed off, just aiming instead to finish under 5 hours.

Some lessons learned:

1. Training, training, training - admittedly, I was not as prepared for this race as I should have been. My longest run was only 20 miles, and I simply didn't get enough miles in before race day.

2. Location, location, location - I feel like I could eliminate the humidity factor if I trained a little more frequently in humid conditions. In the month and a half leading up to the race the majority of my runs were done in Montana, Calgary, and Nashville (during a cold spell). I haven't run in humidity since the summer, basically - not helpful when you're running in Orlando.

3. Keep the shoes dry - it's time I figured out how I can keep my shoes dry (or at least driER) on race day. Any suggestions? I'm wondering if there are sweatbands for legs or something like that. I've got the "moisture wicking" socks - but they really didn't do much for me. This will be the thing I'm going to be working on figuring out in the next couple of weeks.

So, that's the end of that run - it's over, in the past, and now I've got to start thinking about the Country Music Marathon and 1/2 Marathon in Nashville in April. To read more about how the rest of the Rockstar Runners did, check out the website.

[This post is part of Works-For-Me Wednesday - check it out!]

Disney World 1/2 Marathon Update

Here is a quick update from  Orlando, FL where Erin and I are participating along with some friends/teammates in the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. More to come tomorrow - I've got to go to bed so that I can run my race!

Running in the New Year

Happy New Year! I realize I'm somewhat late with this, but it's taken me a little while to get back in the blogging groove after enjoying a wonderful time off with my wife and her family (you can read about some of it and see pictures here).

I have hit the ground running in 2008... literally. This weekend I will be running the Walt Disney World Marathon for the second time (the first was in 2004). My wife will be running in the half-marathon race (this will be her first time running in this particular race). It's a fun event with lots going on - I have great memories from the last time I ran this race.

Unfortunately, I don't feel quite as prepared for this one as I did the last time I was here. I am still hoping to run a PR ("personal record") which means I would have to complete the race in less than 4:04... but I don't have my hopes up. If you want to follow my progress on Sunday, you can sign up here to receive text message or email updates (be forewarned: the race starts at 6am EST). If you want to get updates on Erin on Saturday, you can sign up here.

Thanks - we'll keep you in the loop and post some pictures from Orlando as we get a chance. Welcome to 2008, and thanks for being a faithful reader!

Rockstar Runners running club launches

Today marks the official launch of the running club Glenn and I have been dreaming about for a while. If you are a runner or would like to START running but haven't had the desire or the motivation to get off your couch, we hope you'll join the team and allow us to run/walk alongside you. For those really ambitious folks, we are making our inaugural event the Country Music Marathon/Half-Marathon in Nashville on April 26th, 2008. If you sign up to join the team we will send you a discount code for when you register for the event.

So join the team - or at least check out the page at www.rockstarrunners.com!