4th Annual Godparent Home 5K

This past Saturday, April 17, 2010, some of us ran in the Godparent Home 5K here in Lynchburg. The race was actually held on some of the trails that we regularly train on, so we were all well aware of what was in store for us. The first half of the race was all down hill, though the incline wasn't steep, we simply turned around and ran back up hill for the second half of the race.

On the night before the race, Alexis began to feel ill, and on race morning was unable to race. It has since been confirmed that she does have Strep Throat. So, Erin and Todd were the only two members of the team to run the race. Here are our results:

TODD - 21:57

1st in age group (men 35-39)

29th overall (out of 467 finishers)

7:05 pace

ERIN - 29:00

8th in age group (women 30-34)

176th overall (out of 467 finishers)

9:22 pace

MARCH - Quarterly Training Summary

2010 is now officially 25% behind us. The race season is now in full swing. The weather is now much more suitable for Training. And we still have a busy year ahead of us.

This is what we've done so far:

RUNNING

Todd 130.5 miles(March) 256.5 miles(Year) 85.5 miles(Average) 47 miles(Team Average)

Alexis 92 miles(March) 171 miles(Year) 57 miles(Average) 47 miles(Team Average)

Erin 50 miles(March) 172 miles(Year) 57.5 miles(Average) 47 miles(Team Average)

Jordan 17 miles(March) 64 miles(Year) 21.5 miles(Average) 47 miles(Team Average)

Tyler 2 miles(March) 39.5 miles(Year) 13 miles(Average) 47 miles(Team Average)

BIKING

Alexis 109.5 miles(March) 208.5 miles(Year) 69.5 miles(Average) 33.5 miles(Team Average)

Todd 36 miles(March) 131 miles(Year) 43.5 miles(Average) 33.5 miles(Team Average)

Jordan 26 miles(March) 92 miles(Year) 30.5 miles(Average) 33.5 miles(Team Average)

Tyler 10 miles(March) 66.5 miles(Year) 22 miles(Average) 33.5 miles(Team Average)

Erin 0 miles(March) 5 miles(Year) 1.5 miles(Average) 33.5 miles(Team Average)

Rowing - Tyler was the only team member to log rowing distance this month, bringing his yearly total up to 16 km.

That is where we are. I think that as a team of dedicated athletes we could get our monthly averages up a little. I know that we're not all training for the same goals, but we are all training for our own goals. We, as a team, have a lot of potential, and I think that we're going to have an amazing year racing.

(Also, I'm not sure if everyone is logging all of their training, as well as race distances to the training log. For simplicity I think that we should stick to the protocol of everyone logging their own distances, and not assuming that someone else will.)

Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k

This past weekend the team ran, among 37,000 other participants, in the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k. It was the first 10k for each of us and I know at least a couple of us were anxious. However, it was a mostly flat and scenic course through downtown Richmond and I believe that all of us did a great job in what we set out to accomplish.

Bellow are the results as they were posted here.

Alexis

51:13

4007 th to finish out of about 37,365 (exact number of finishers undetermined)

230 out of 3129 in age division

975 out of 18506 women

Todd

51:14

4013 to finish

3036 out of 18859 men

Jordan

56:27

7581 to finish

2483 out of 18506 women

Erin

1:06:05

14408 to finish

6415 women to finish

As for a recap of the race? It was flatter than I had anticipated, which was nice. It seems that everything we run around here has hills that can be at least slightly debilitating. The old buildings, monuments and cheerleaders were of what advantage? To me, little. I focused on the cobble path or my husband's coaching words for the entire 6.2 miles. My Garmin was dead so I couldn't use it to calculate splits, I had to do the simple math in my head using a regular stopwatch. However, at four miles I knew 33:40 was way ahead of where I needed to be to finish in my goal time of 56 minutes. It was also 12 minutes faster than my first race last fall, the Virginia Four Miler. I almost stopped and danced a jig right there. And I probably would have, if my husband hadn't been running backwards shouting 'are you really that slow?'. I had to speed up just to keep him safe from a rather large athlete who looked like he was ready to pounce.

The only negative things I have to say about the race? I can't believe I'm going to say this, because it was also the thing that drew me in to begin with. There were almost too many runners. Not during the run, but beforehand. Imagine 37,000 people on any small section of downtown road in your neighborhood. It can be a little overwhelming. That and the post race 'party'. A little disappointing for such a large run. Security guards to make sure you only took one banana and bagel. Really? I just ran 6.2 miles. If I take another banana, and you try to chase me, I will outrun you. Sprinting tends to be a strong suite of mine. So there.

All in all, I will be registering for the 2011 Monument Avenue 10k. Ukrop's or no Ukrop's. Whether or not I do it in the 50 minutes my husband has allotted me, well that's another story.

TRAINING DAY

On July 24 we're going to be running our first Adventure Race. A Sprint race put on by Odyssey in the mountains of Virginia. The race is going to be 20-25 miles in length (4-6 hours) and includes Mountain Biking, Trail Running/Hiking, Flat Water Paddling, and Orienteering.

Yesterday, Alexis and I decided to take advantage of a babysitting offer, and go out and get some hard-core training done. So we loaded up our bikes and gear and drove to the Blackwater Creek Trail system and did just that.

We started out with a little run. About a 60/40 mix of paved trails and forest paths. We ran a total of 11 miles, which qualifies as the longest run of the year for either of us. We maintained a 10 minute pace, finishing up in just under two hours.

Then we transitioned to bikes. We took about twenty minutes to switch gear and fuel up, which is something we need to plan better for. We didn't bring much in the way of food, and ended up eating stale peanut butter crackers that had been in my pack for almost a year.

We rode for 14 miles, only a little over two of which were off-road. We finished up the biking leg in about 75 minutes. In the future we're going to start adding more off-road mileage, especially as Alexis' confidence on a bike seems to be growing exponentially with every ride.

I know that it wasn't race conditions, there was no navigation or paddling required, but we still did 25 miles yesterday in 180 minutes (3 hours), well under the expected finishing time of the race coming up in July. So, training on target? I think so.

Shamrock Hill 5K in Roanoke

This was a fun, festive, and fast race. A lot of people (including Alexis) came out ready to run wearing colorful St. Patric's Day clothing. Of the just over 400 registered runners, 367 runners finished the race. Complete race results are available here. We knew going into this race that it was going to be a mostly flat street race (with an uphill finish of course) so we were prepared to give it everything we had and try to get some baseline times to work from this year. Well, we ended up both setting new personal records, and both wishing that we could have just been 5 seconds faster.

Alexis placed 3rd in her age division, and 86 overall, coming in at 25:02 (8:04 pace).

Todd placed 6th in his age division, and 36 overall, coming in at 22:03 (7:06 pace).

It seems that Alexis is going to start placing in a lot of races, holding the rest of us to a higher standard. I have a time goal for 5Ks, and I'm still a few minutes off, so I know I've got my work cut out for me. On the agenda for spring time training is Hills, Hills, and more Hills.

EXPLORE YOUR LIMITS TRAIL RUN

Here are the official race results for the Explore Your Limits 5K Trail Run, put on by Mountain Junkies. This was a fun trail run that the whole team was able to run. More mud than snow this time thankfully.

Todd - 24:33 - 13th overall - 2nd in 35-39 mens age group

Alexis - 27:18 - 25th overall - 2nd in 25-29 womens age group

Erin - 31:56 - 52nd overall - 2nd in 30-34 womens age group

Jordan - 32:32 - 54th overall - 5th in 20-24 womens age group

Tyler - 37:37 - 84th overall - 3rd in 20-24 mens age group

I for one look forward to more of these Mountain Junkies races. This course was beautifully scenic, with winding trails, Indian villages, muddy slopes, and torturous hills. Everything you could want in a good trail race, with the exception of some fire obstacles.

See you on the trails.

February Training Summary

February is finally over. Lets hope that March brings some weather that is more conducive to training.

Todd - Ran 35 Miles and Biked 14 Miles.

Alexis - Ran 37.5 Miles and Biked 27 Miles.

Erin - Ran 61.5 Miles and Biked 5 Miles.

Jordan - Ran 22.5 Miles and Biked 59 Miles and Rowed 5 km.

Tyler - Ran 21 Miles and Biked 39.5 Miles and Rowed 6 km.

Team Totals for February - Running - 177.5 Miles - Biking - 144.5 Miles.

Having completed two whole months of winter training our monthly averages are 41 miles/team member running and 32 miles/team member biking. With race season upon us and the weather on the verge of breaking, we need to continue to work hard training. It's going to be a busy racing year for this Madness team, and we're all going to run races that are longer, harder, and more grueling than anything we've put ourselves through before. So let's all try to keep in mind that the more time and energy we invest in serious training, the better our racing experiences are going to be. Train Hard.

Candler's Mtn 5k Trail Race

Yesterday, we ran our first official race of the year, the Candler (Liberty) Mtn. 5k Trail Race. We had received an email on Thursday informing us that the race had been adjusted because of parking requirements and the massive amount of snow still covering the ground. The email said the race was not going to be your 'typical 5k' race. They were right.

The course was covered in snow, ice, slush, and mud. It was more of an adventure than a 5k run but it was exhilarating. Those of us who ran it (Todd, Erin and Alexis) saw no improvement on their 5k times but agreed unanimously that trail runs, especially those with obstacles like snow and steep elevation changes, make for quite a bit of fun.

Here are our results:

Todd 33:03 7th out of 21 (age division 30-39) 29th out of 152 overall runners

Alexis 39:08 9th out of 24 (age division 20-29) 79/152

Erin 45:07 7th out of 9 (age division 30-39) 114/152

Alexis would like it to be known that she was the oldest in her age division by 3 years. That's how she is coping with coming in 9th anyways.

Overall, it was a fun run and we were happy to be outside and running. We came home and immediately signed up for race #2 of the year, also a 5k trail run, the Mountain Junkies Explore Your Limits 5k in two weeks.

January Training Summary

January is over. One month closer to Springtime.

Todd - Ran 91 Miles and Biked 81 Miles.

Alexis - Ran 41 1/2 Miles and Biked 72 Miles.

Erin - Ran 60 1/2 Miles.

Jordan - Ran 24 1/2 Miles, Biked 7 Miles, and Rowed 7 km.

Tyler - Ran 16 1/2 Miles, Biked 17 Miles, and Rowed 7 km.

This Team Ran 234 Miles, Biked 177 Miles, and Rowed 14 km.

Madness Publicity!

Gargoyles posted some cool pics of Madness representing their product in the Red Energy 18 Hour Adventure Race in AZ.

Sponsorship Benefits

Madness Adventure Racing has managed to pick up some pretty cool sponsors, and those sponsors have been kind enough to give each Team Member some pretty cool gear. Sponsorship gear is better than regular gear in a couple of ways: It being free or reduced cost (of course); but also because it says that these companies, that make gear for the type of racing we do, think that we are worthy enough to carry their names out in front of thousands of people at the races we run.

We, the members of East Coast Madness Racing, have received or will soon receive gear from three of Madness' sponsors: Hi-Tec outdoor/adventure footwear, Gargoyles sunglasses, and Nuun nutritional supplements. It is still early in the year, and the training conditions around here have been abysmal as of late, but this is my preliminary performance review of the gear which I have received and had a chance to test on the trail.

Hi-Tec Multiterra Targa HPI

I got a pair of these amphibious trail shoes from Hi-Tec, and I love them. I understand that some of the other members of Madness had some sizing issues with Hi-Tec, but mine fit great. They are light-weight, airy, and I think that they will dry fast on the run. The day I received them I threw them on and took them for a quick four mile run. The soles are a little more solid than I'm used to in a running shoe, but will be great for running through creeks and rough trails. They are a slip-on style with a quick cinch instead of laces which will be nice for transitioning from one shoe to another during a race. Admittedly, I haven't tried many amphibious trail shoes, but my first impression is that these will work great. I like Hi-Tec's corporate attitude, not just their willingness to sponsor us, but the companies overall outlook, and I look forward to a good relationship with them throughout my racing career.

Gargoyles - Firewall

Gargoyle was generous enough to send me two pairs of glasses, a pair of these Firewalls and a pair of Rovers (go to Gargoyles website for pics and info). Unfortunately, I haven't really had much of a chance to wear the Rovers yet, but I have worn the Firewalls out for a good training session. A seven mile trail run followed by a ten mile bike ride in snowy/icy conditions.

The Firewalls are comfortable and light, I hardly even noticed them. It was very cold, and they never fogged up, and the polarized lenses completely cut out the snow glare. I hope that I like the Rovers as much as the Firewalls.

Nuun - Active Hydration Tablets

On that same seventeen mile training session, I used the Nuun Tri-Berry flavor tablets in my Camelbak. Following Scott's advice I mixed it weak, only using two tablets for 100 fl oz, and I have to say that was good advice. Early in the run I thought that the mix seemed a little weak, but the farther I went the sweeter it seemed and by the end I wouldn't have wanted it any stronger. All in all, the flavor was good, and I'm sure the additional electrolytes helped me stay hydrated.

Don't expect this hydration additive to really serve as fuel however. The only other fuel I used was a ClifBar between the trail run and the bike ride, and by the end I was almost totally out of gas. That was the closest I've ever come to Bonking, and I will definitely fuel accordingly in the future.

So, in review, all three products that I've received as sponsorship have performed well for me, and I look forward to testing them all harder in the future. I'm also on the look out for better performance fuels to try out, so if you've got any suggestions I'd love to hear them, and try them out. Stay tuned for more product reviews as I get the change to test different things during training and races.

Blackwater Creek Results

We got together in the rain on Sunday to run the second of our training 5Ks, and then ended up running a few extra miles. By the end everyone had run between 6 and 6 1/2 miles, in the rain. Trail conditions weren't that bad, only one or two icy spots, and the rain was really more like a drizzle or heavy mist most of the time.

Todd - 24:00

Alexis - 25:06

Jordan - 25:35

Erin - 28:00

Tyler - 34:22

Team Average - 27:24

With the exception of Jordan, everyone's times slipped a little since the last race, which we all agreed was the result of a more challenging course and the rain, and some cramping for some of us. So congratulations Jordan for the most improved time! Where everyone else added roughly one minute to their times, Jordan shaved off 1:05, which translated to about a two minute improvement the way I see it.

With the first real race of the year coming up in less than a month we all need to stay focused and keep training. We also need to make some final decisions about our race calendar and get a schedule hammered out.

This Team Trains Together

Sunday we all got together at Peaks View Park, braving 20 degree temperatures and icy trails, to run the first of our Motivational training races. Nobody wanted to be there, but we all showed up, ran a 5K through the park, and everybody ended up feeling pretty good about their times. Being the middle of winter, where it is hard to find time, appropriate temperatures, and the proper motivation to train we were all wondering what the times would be like.

Todd - 23:04

Alexis - 24:20

Jordan - 26:40

Erin - 27:20

Tyler - 32:55

Team Average - 26:52

Granted, it was a really easy course, I think that it gives us a good reference to base our training on. Also, it's just nice to get out in the fresh air (even if it is freezing) and run with your team.

So, with these encouraging results, we'll see how this coming Sunday's run goes.

New Year's Day Fun Run

This morning the girls of East Coast Madness (Alexis, Erin and Jordan) managed to make it out to the Riverside Runners New Year's Day Fun Run and put away five miles like it was (almost) nothing. The temperature was cold, the roads a little icy and the donuts all gone by the time we got back but nothing beats a group run and it was a wonderful way to start the year off on the right note regarding our training and our spirits. This year is shaping up to be a big year for East Coast Madness with triathlons, adventure races, and marathons (both half and full) filling up the calendar. We must keep on one another to stay on target with our training goals to see that this year is as successful as I know it can be.

A huge thank you to Chris who stayed in with four children under three so that we could start the year off on the right foot and a Happy New Year to all.

New Years Resolution

So after a few good training sessions and a few discussions about the 2010 Race Season, I believe that East Coast Madness is planning on racing the Angels Race in Lynchburg VA on the 25th of April. It is a triathlon with a 300m swim followed by 25k on a bike and wraps up with 5k on foot. I think it will be the first triathlon for each of us and we are already making additional resolutions about training for it.

How long is winter again?

Todd and I just returned from a quick 3.5 mile or so New Year's Eve run. In temperatures just above freezing. And it was raining.

I just want to say, give me cold, wet and raining over the treadmill any day of the year.

Oh, and come on Springtime.

Introducing the 2010 Madness Mid-Winter Motivational Series

With all of the cold weather and the total lack of races in January, we've decided to organize a couple of 5K races of our own. The 2010 Madness Mid-Winter Motivational Series will include two 5K races in January, and maybe another one or two in February. Everyone is welcome to come out and run with us, there will be no race fees, and they will be timed events. We will also provide after race refreshments.

The first race will be held on January 10, 2010 at the Blackwater Creek Trail. The race will start at 10 am.

The second race will be held on January 17, 2010 at Peaks View Park. The race will start at 10 am.

I expect all members of the East Coast Madness race team to be at both races, but I also hope to see some other friends and family there. I think that this will be a good opportunity to keep everyone motivated during these hard-to-train-in winter months. Spring will be here soon, and before we know it race season will be in full swing. Lets work together to stay motivated and keep training. Call Alexis or Todd if you have any questions.

Jingle Bell Fun Run- CANCELLED

That means I have one pair of elf ears, two sets of posable antler headbands, and two light-up reindeer headbands but no awards for most spirit. That means 8-16 inches of impending snow. It also means we will have to do something most dreadful this weekend.

Use the treadmill.

Winter Time Training Blues

I know that it's hard to stay motivated, and to keep training when the weather is cold and nasty. This always helps me maintain my focus whenever I get into a slump and don't feel like getting out to train.

I'd like to get a couple of really good team training sessions in over the Christmas Break when everyone is going to be in town. I'm actually up for training whenever we can find some time. Alexis, Erin, and I started exploring some of the bike trails at Blackwater Creek last weekend, and I'd like to get everybody out there together once or twice before Spring Semester starts up again.

30th Annual Peaks Of Otter Christmas Classic

Being our first race in inclement weather (it rained and snowed), most of the team was a little discouraged by their times, however I had read early that morning that running any course in the rain makes you 50% more hardcore than running the same course on a different day in normal weather. So keeping our hardcoreness in mind here are the results for our last race of 2009.

Jordan
36:04
12th in age group (18-24)
258/322

Alexis
26:44
5th in age group (25-29)
138/322

Erin
29:51
9th in age group (30-34)
196/322

Tyler
36:04
26th in age group (18-24)
259/322

Todd
23:15
7th in age group (35-39)
73/322

Our only other organized run left this year (other than weekend group training sessions) is next Saturday's Jingle Bell Fun Run at Riverside Runners here in town (their Christmas Party to speak of). Prizes will be awarded for best holiday spirit. I was thinking of going as an Elf but I figured the tights would be a little too cold for me and the elf shoes not the best for running, any ideas?