What a Weekend!

As far as weekends go this one just gone must rank up there with the pretty good ones. Friday night started by watching the Marriotts Ridge High School Girls Varsity soccer game of which Natalie is the coach. Unfortunately they lost 2-0 but it was cool to watch...we even managed to get back to the bar to meet Matt for a couple of drinks as well as the last period of the Capitals season opener (they lost as well!).

Saturday morning was the 10th annual Run for Kathy, a local race I have done ever since 2004 when we moved to Bowie. Having never actually won the race, was this going to be the year? I was 2nd last year and 3rd the year before that....I even managed to have Bib No.1 this year as last years winner was not running. The extra cool thing was that Sarah had entered as well and this was going to be her first 5km in a while!

The No. 1 bib must have had a heavy burden attached to it as I managed a 3rd place finish in 17mins 01secs. It was only 6 secs off last years time and with the emphasis solely on long-distance endurance training I wasn't too disappointed. It did hurt though, 5km at full blast really does hurt and I had forgotten how much....give me long distance! Sarah had a great race as well blitzing her pre-race prediction of 30mins and finishing in 26mins 34secs....just outside the places for age-group :-(

We managed to make it back from the race in time to watch the pre-race build up to the Ironman World Championships and then after a short bike ride I was back in time to watch the first guys and gals exit the water and head into T1. To be honest I think I could have sat in front of the internet all day and watched the race but I am not sure if Sarah would have been as enthusiastic. In the end I was prized from the computer screen and we headed out to have a bit of lunch and a walk along the boardwalk in North Beach.....when it is a nice sunny day there are not many better places in our area to taken a wander.

Before heading out to the cinema to watch "Body of Lies" (which I would recommend), I squeezed in some more internet watching and saw that Macca was out but all the contenders were in with a shot as the bike leg was ending.....the only guy off the front, as per 2007, was Sindballe! As per all the predictions Chrissy Wellington was looking strong despite the issues with her flat tire.

Coming back from the cinema, we saw that Chrissy had blasted the field on the run to win by 15mins and "Crowie" Craig Alexander had lived up to his billing and had run from behind to take the mens race by a few minutes from Eneko Llanos. It was good to see Rutger Beke come back after his race last year and finish in 3rd. My pick of Chris Lieto had some issues on the run (a leg injury I believe) but stayed in to finish. Once the pro's had finished then came all the good stuff of the age-groupers and seeing either friends or people that I race against coming across the line. It appeared to be a hard day out there on the Big Island (when isn't it....it is the Ironman World Championships afterall) but watching the race made me more determined than ever to get there.....one day, one day!

The great weekend weather continued through to Sunday and after a good 4 hour brick, we headed out to the ABRT/Team Latitude end of season BBQ. It was great to see everyone (without a cycle helmet on!) and enjoy a few beers and some BBQ while chilling in the Fall sunshine. On the way home we even managed to get the last Rita's Frozen Custard of the season before they shut down for the winter.

Just one more race to go and then the off-season can start properly!

17 Minutes of Pain......

17 minutes of pain.....it must be 5km season again and I have the first one of the Fall this coming Saturday. It is the annual Run For Kathy held at one of the local parks in Bowie. I came second last year in 16mins 55secs, not sure if I can top that this year with a severe lack of speed work coming from ChesapeakeMan....we can only try though.

We also have the inaugural ABRT End of Season BBQ on Sunday so should be a good time with some beers, football and even a DJ......will the two kegs be enough though!

Run For Kathy 5km Race Report

This was probably my last 5km of the year and therefore the final chance to get under the elusive 17min barrier. I had gotten close in the past few attempts and knew that this was a relatively flat course. The weather on race morning was almost ideal....a cool 50 degrees and no wind. Milling about at the start it was good to see that the winner from the previous year was there and so I could have someone to pace with.

So at 9:00AM the gun went and as I always seem to do I took the front of the field and led them out of the park onto the streets.

The course is pretty much an out and back with a short loop in the middle. I wasn't focused on anyone else in the first 1/2 mile and just concentrated on the pace and making sure that I didn't go out too hard. About 3/4 of a mile into the race I could only hear one set of footsteps behind me and without looking I sensed that it was last years winner....the battle was on.

Mile 1: 5mins 21secs (5km pace = 16mins 35secs) I was still in the lead and only had one other for company, the rest of the field was a good hundred meters or so back. Having competed in this race for the past few years I knew that the 2nd mile was the most difficult as it has the only noticeable hill. I was still leading the race and was feeling relatively good. I made a small surge on the hill to gain a few meters of space from 2nd place but the surge wasn't significant enough to get a clear gap.

Mile 2: 5mins 33secs (5km pace = 16mins 54secs) Coming past the 2 mile marker I was still leading and had just about 6mins and 1.1miles to get me under the 17mins finishing time. Now back on the main road, the guy behind in 2nd made a effort to take the front and unfortunately it was enough to get a few seconds on me...perhaps leading the first 2 miles had been a bit optimistic with someone pacing off me and doing no work.

Finish: For just under the next mile I was a) trying to catch up for first and b) trying to get under the 17minutes......I knew it would be close and coming back into the park you can see the finish line. With just 5 secs to spare I crossed the line for 16mins 55secs and 2nd place. First place was a mere 6 secs in front.

So the race was a success....I got under the 17min barrier and also managed to snag a $75 gift voucher for a Washington D.C. steakhouse. Not bad for 3.1miles of pain!


Next up is this weekend's Long Course Duathlon World Championships in Richmond, which take place on Sunday morning.