Texas Road Rash

April 24
This is the first year Donnie and I didn’t race elimination. Donnie broke his shoulder; I failed to convince the organizer to reverse course direction.

April 25
I was thinking of racing half, but legs recovered quicker than anticipated. I wanted to skate with my teammates, and it’s wave start. I hesitated before checking the “pro master” box on registration.
It was a beautiful Austin day. I had no personal ambition; just wanted to enjoy the day. I felt blessed standing next to so many familiar faces. Debbie was one of the last racers getting to the line; she had matching boots this year.
Coach Mike led the team for our own pace line, letting the long bungee cord speeding away. Mike and Timo controlled our pace as we slowly pick straglers. We reeled Candy in. Timo suggested she should join Texas Flyer.


[photo by Donnie Lucas]

I started having difficulties setting left skate down and decided to leave the pack after a final pull. Mike told me the exact point he expected me to lead. It’s nice to have clear direction some times. The pack slowed as I finished popped off. I stayed with the pack.
Final lap. Ryan couldn’t contain himself and accelerated with Timo. Ryan had matured as a speed skater. I’ll probably never fly by him again, regardless how much my helmet looks like a sperm.

Not to waste the brick opportunity, I put on running shoes for a lap. The quads were a little heavy after skating; it took couple miles before body adjusted.
Post race: I walked downtown streets and fantasized moving to Austin and train on Veloway for Montreal 24 Hour solo.
Had my annual dinner with Ray, Jenny, and baby Asher before the long drive home.

Granbury, TX 4-17, 4-18

Planned 2-day run: 38 + 25 miles

Day 1
Nothing went right for the organizer: the road was rough and busy, some sections got torn down for resurfacing. It was cold and rainy. I put on my triathlon outfit. How wet could it be.

The first day route was scenic. Slightly over-hydrated. Andy drove the SAG van following me. Other guys hopped in and out of van biking different sections. Cows and bulls seemed to enjoy our visit. Every time I started walking, I felt Andy getting hopeful: “the stupid runner is tired and we'll going to a restaurant.”

A sagger commented watching the runner was as exciting as watching paint dry. 35 miles into the run, I stopped running by popular demand. Everyone wants a warm meal in dry cloth.

Fried fish was great. We sat by a fire after dinner. We shared bacon flavored chocolate for dessert.


Day 2
Lower back a little tight. The hotel has a nice lobby for breakfast. I made a waffle based on steps as clear as Chinese electronics instruction.

I reduced the planned distance and broke away from the group. The trip was to test legs; no need to force everyone watching paint dry. I ran through the airport, big-screen theater, skating rink, football stadium, supervision and correction dept, and downtown skyline dominated by 2-story buildings. I was delighted the legs cranked out 10:00.

2/27 Cowtown Ultra

(photo by D Lucas) Tanisha and I signed up for Cowtown 50k. Neither of us was up to a PR marathon this time of the year. A slower pace 50k was something to check off the list. Goal: 1. keep Tanisha company 2. See how body reacts after mile 20--AKA the marathon half way point. Plan: Tanisha wanted to start with 10:00 pace and eventually finish in sub 6 hrs. I set my Garmin to 10:00 pace. I brought 2 packs of Gu. I reasoned at this pace, carb would be a non-issue. Training: Runner’s World Smart Coach 7-week for 3.5-hr marathon. The long runs were approx 9:00 pace. Several sessions were skipped due to slippery road condition. It’s been an unusually cold Texas winter. 10:00 pace felt easy up to mile 15 or so. The course was a little hillier than I was accustomed to. The terrain broke speedy Seth, who slept under a tree around 13-mile mark waiting for his sister and me. I never came close to run out of carb but got hungry around mile 18. The Sneaker Bar on the course was among tastiest foods I’ve consumed. We changed the pace to 10:20 at mile 15 and lost more speed around mile 20. We started to take walking breaks. A few quarter-mile splits were slower than 11:30 pace. Seth would run way ahead of us and wai. The weather was nice; course reasonably marked; Biff showed up on a bike and kept us company. It was an enjoyable day. I should do more of these relaxing runs instead of GPS-geeking all the time. Last 2 miles, Tanisha picked up the pace. I initially thought she was playing around, but she held low 8:00 pace regardless of grade. I didn’t anticipate to dig but decided to share the horse barn syndrome. We held that speed rest of the way and briefly dropped Seth on the last big hill. 24 hours after the race. Calves and quads weren’t bouncy. Feet hurt. Rest of the body felt great. Went for a bike ride 7 days after the run. Unable to keep up with my usual pack. Feet still hurt. Foot pain mostly went away after 3 weeks. Shortly after the Cowtown, I talked to cousin Andy about running a 3.5-hour marathon in 2010, maybe at the same race. Wheel sport started late this year. Quads lacked power on skates and bike as of late March. I’m planning on a long run with Pegasus friends the week before Road Rash. If the run goes as planned, I will suck badly in Austin.

2009 White Rock Half Marathon

2009 running goal was to complete Huntsville 50-mile trail race, which was canceled by economy. Paul Smith recommended “Runner’s World” Smart Coach: “you only need 17 weeks to train for a marathon.” Back spasm prevented the idea. I resorted to Plan C: running a 1:40 half marathon. 100-minute is a nice round number.

_Tools
14-week program: Thursday fast run, Sunday long run. I substitute most easy runs with cross training.
Garmin Forerunner 305 was indispensible.

_Race Plan
Set Garmin’s virtual partner to 7:36 pace. Ignore everything else. Stay within 300 feet of the electronic pacer for 6 miles than play by ear.

_Aggressive training
I was skeptical whether the training program was right for me. I seldom ran faster than 8:00 pace. The tempo runs and speedworks seemed more intense than calves could recover. “Give it a chance,” I kept telling myself.

My confidence bottomed 1 week prior to the race. It took legs longer to recover from the final 5x1600 than what seemed reasonable.
What did I expect with 14 weeks? Garmin freaked out that week for the first time. Without the battery-powered device, I couldn’t pace to save my life. The 100-minute goal felt fragile.

_Erratic Pacer
To my relief I saw the 1:40 pace balloon at the start. I decided to follow the human pacers. It was easier to follow the group moving at the same speed than fighting the crowd alone. It’s difficult to keep any constant speed at first mile of an event with 20000 runners.

To my dismay, the balloon started at 8:50 pace and picked up speed slowly. Around mile 3, the pacer started what felt like surges. Soon the group dwindled down to 5, including the 2 pacers. I struggled by mile 7. I was unprepared for sub 7:15 pace going toward the highest point of the course.


[dropped by 1:40 pace baloon]

_Support
Biff showed up at mile 8 as promised. He knew I was in trouble and set a more moderate tempo. My heart rate dropped below 90% as the pace balloon disappeared. By mile 10 I recovered enough that we gained on the 1:40 pace balloon.

[focusing on not losing Biff]

Biff left the course after 4 miles. Paul came out with his SLR and skates and kept me company throughout Katy Trail. It was helpful to have friend lying to my face about how good I looked. I hoped the hot spot at bottom of each foot wouldn’t blister. This oversized shoe theory wasn’t working out.

_Extra Distance
I thought I was home free when GPS said mile 11. I had 17 minutes to run 2.1 miles. Then I noticed the mile-11 marker; the GPS was 0.25 miles off. I panicked yet legs wouldn’t turn faster. I seemed to be the slowest person on the trail. I focused on staying with each passing runner with no success. “I’m so getting my ass kicked.”

[struggling while topless guy and really short girl passed me]

Paul continued to shout encouraging words. I recalled having too much left in 2007’s event and the sub 7:00 final mile. I reached the finish arch as legs refused to sprint. GPS says 13.35 miles in 1:40:00.45. Avg/max HR of 86 / 92%.

Official time is 1:39:54, exactly as Runner’s World program eerily predicted.

_Post Race
Except 1 calf cramp immediately after the race, walking hasn’t been an issue. This is a far cry from previous 3 running seasons. I want to believe I’m better conditioned; somehow I feel I could’ve gone a little harder.

2009 Houston Inline Marathon

_Off Season Event
I focus on running after A2A. Tiffany warned years ago, “skating helps running; running doesn’t help skating.” My leg never felt recovered from A2A, despite plenty of time off skates. GPS and HR data said I was in better skating shape than I felt.
Thanks to weight control this time of the year, I was unlikely to do well in Tour de Donut (http://www.tourdedoughnut.com/), which was worth going only if I could make complete ass of myself safely and cheaply.
It’s wrong distance at wrong time, but I signed up for Houston IM. It’s a relatively local event of a sport I wanted to support. Mike and Brenda unexpected showed up, and we had 7 Texas Flyers in our own paceline. It was great being yelled at by Mike again.
Our agenda was to do our own pace. 7 is a big number at an event of this size.

_Sunday morning pace line
I don’t recall being this relaxed at the start. I had no personal ambition and was looking forward to skate with the team. With enough cooks in the kitchen, I turned my brain off and blindly followed the red-gold jerseys. With a very safe start, Mike dictated the pace; we ended up swallowed everyone except 5 or so racers; we spitted most of them out the back. Mike, Timo, and Casey did most of the work. Mackowski and I contributed a little.


12 U-turns allowed us to see the race develop. Simmons’ Rob and Alex controlled the lead. Brian from DC was allowed to hang as long as he shared the pulls. Brian was dropped during last lap.
Truesdell’s boots didn’t cooperate that morning. He still ended up with reasonable time. Grenda was a steady mover everyone wanted to skate with. It was good to see Sam in action again. You could see the little energy dot bouncing miles away.

_Race mode
Mike eased off the throttle at the back end of the final lap. I turned brain back on. 65-year-old Bob tried a breakaway at a weird time and was quickly neutralized; 2 Vegas teens wasted energy in the process and made slightly aggressive moves to cut back in. I let them—no need to risk crashing. Doug and I simply moved toward the front on safer part of the course. So nice to have teammates.
Final turn. Speed increased, no one committed. All the sudden someone attacked with insufficient acceleration. A few younger racers took off. The break died with a crash. I left my draft to avoid braking and pulled even with Mike. Mike said go. I didn’t have the legs to hold off everyone and ended up towing Casey and Red Confusion’s Brandon. I saw red/gold jerseys in the corner of my eyes. I eased into the finish arch safely, making sure Brandon stayed behind me.

_Cool down
I put on running shoes and did the scheduled 9:02-pace 9-mile run. It ended up longer and faster. Award ceremony with no hardware was a little disappointing.
Hiked 6.7-mile at Huntsville State Park in the afternoon; brought back memory from the ultra run last winter. The hike ended in full moon in the woods before Double Dave deep dish hitting the spot.

A2A 2009 38-mile race + 51-mile group skate

After skating Ragbrai 2009, A2A called my name. My body wasn’t conditioned to go hard for 4+ hrs. I was uncomfortable on Atlanta’s rough flats without a Chuck. I signed up for 38-mile.

_Plan
The long hills and the number of skaters made time-based goal impractical. I sought ways to win the 38-mile race, which included Dillon and Chance Martin. They were among the top skaters of their generation and raced as teammates for Powerslide. I averaged 1 practice per week, usually short and unfocused.

The 38-mile winner seemed a foregone conclusion. I had nothing to lose--might as well go down in flames. I’d skate with the lead pack for a few miles then play by ear. It’s always fun to watch pros. I lasted 6 miles in 2007; would try farther this time. With luck, a small group would peel off for me to work with. Who knows, the boy wonders could have a bad day. Their sponsor didn’t have the best wet-wheels.

_Climber and RAAM soloist
The shuttle from the airport to Athens was filled with skaters. Herb introduced us to Marcy the climb demon. She made effort to look modest. I don’t recall anyone else radiating this much confidence at A2A.

I sat next to John Silker, who completed RAAM before aerobars became popular. I was awe-struck and full of questions. The math teacher graciously shared personal details: body fat, donuts, lubrication. Ultra athletes are often people who see the destination as a mean to the journey.

_The poser
Race morning, I lined up next to the giant poker costume. I was pumped with nervous energy and doubts. Did I run too much, lose weight too quickly, skate enough hills, choose the right wheels?
I felt each pulse. I love racing.

I settled into 22nd position. The lead skater looked tiny; the Martin brothers were pushing the pace. Luis Carlos and Eddy popped out of the line a lot, minimizing the chance of being taken down by their fans posing as speed skaters.
Carl Yee towered couple spots in front of me. No wonder Ragbrai cyclists thought the skater shrank in size. I wanted to chat with Carl but decided to concentrate on task at hand. Eddy was near the tall guy when interviewed by the camera crew on motorcycle. I watch Eddy not breathing hard as my heart rate slowly redlined. The peloton spitted me out at mile 12.

_Strong chasers
Like 2007, John Charbonneau was there to pick me up. This time he came much quicker with Marcy, Jessica, and Lenny. I couldn’t hang on. I wished I knew K2/Asphalt Beach and Bont’s plan before the start.

2 Flying Fossils materialized a few minutes later. “Welcome to the 3rd pack!” Yeah, everyone knew exactly where they stood. They took me in and were easy to work with. We stayed together ‘til Dacula. My Street Fights rolled slower than the other the 2 wheelsets, but aerodynamics negated the disadvantage. John Garrett and Larry Griffin reached Piedmont Park in 5:44 with modest pack mass.

Race #’s
Distance: 38.5 miles
Avg HR: 170 bpm
Max HR: 185 bpm
Avg speed: 16.2 mph
Max speed: 41.1 mph
Total Ascent: 3359 ft
Total Descent: 2931 ft
Liquid consumed: 15 oz
Traffic stops: 0

My teammate Duane skipped another A2A this year. He waited at Dacula with Mrs. Duane. We watched a non-jean wearing Naomi skated by. She looked beautiful in skinsuit on 100-mm wheels. Casey came in a few minutes later wearing his I-survived-my-first-A2A smile. APRR Chuck greeted me. He didn’t race due to injury. We discussed future event pretending not to trash talk.

_Cheap out the $10 bus ride
The Dacula-to-Atlanta bus would be a long wait. No rain in sight. Skating to Atlanta seemed logical.

Wondergirl was supporting 3 racers and checkpoint hopping; she informed me of Luke’s progress. I wanted to skate with my Montreal-24 buddy who helped me during a difficult hour.

I rolled slowly and barely had time to sort out nutrition in a Walmart bag before Luke’s group showed up. We moved cooperatively and waited for each other. Herb took a short break from dominating the 52-mile race by joining us. The top 2 52-mile ladies stayed in the pack a little longer.

_40.0 mph
Someone whined as Silver Hill approached. The pack agreed the downhill train was optional; we would regroup at the checkpoint. I took the lead. The long descent felt slow. I look between legs and discovered Luke was the only passenger; should’ve sprinted at the top….

_I went to the hill. The hill was there.
My legs turned jello on the climb after checkpoint 5. Déjà vu. I resorted to hip swing and choppy strides, the technique I learned from French skaters. Probably looked comical, but the quads didn’t melt.

_City skate
Atlanta traffic grew hairier, and road hazards multiplied each time I skated it. The stop-and-goes took out everyone’s desire to fly. John Silker stayed at the back behind a big gap. The football-player’s 200-lb frame was getting minimum draft and was chucking along. He seemed to have enough in the tank to skate back to Athens. I fantasized breaking his 24-hour record (http://www.skatelog.com/skaters/john-silker/)

We reached the feared rough flat where Herb and Bob dropped me last year. The road was paved with black ice now.

_Quick stop
The group decided to finish together after jumping the curb at the restaurants. 2 skaters started to orchestrate hand-holding details. Bob Ryan was all by himself in front when he wobbled for no good reason. The helmet banged against a little tree; branches shook. Ambulance wasn’t in the script but was all the sudden a very real possibility. Things were going so well 5 seconds ago. Fortunately he got up and recovered quickly. 8 of us reached Piedmont Park, hand-in-hand.



_Results
Martin brothers took the top 2 spots in 38-mile.
Herb won 52-mile. He time trialed the whole way.

Luis Carlos was the top full-distance man in 2009.
Eddy repeated top-3 performance.


Marcy lived up to expectation and took the title.
Jessica came in a minute later.
Naomi got 3rd, demonstrating it’s possible to master 2 very different wheel sizes. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS-blZ8jb_Q&NR=1)

I beat the Dacula-Atlanta bus to the park.

Dacula to Atlanta #’s (with missing distance due to GPS issue)
Distance: 49.6 miles
Avg HR: 139 bpm
Max HR: 165 bpm
Avg speed: 13.4 mph
Max speed: 40.0 mph
Total Ascent: 5023 ft
Total Descent: 4980 ft
Liquid consumed: 80 oz
Traffic stops: 12+ minutes
Water break: 1

Bob handed me a cold Guinness at the park. Beer earned is sweeter than beer bought.

Hotter n Hell 2009: 102 miles; avg 20.7 mph

_Unprepared
It’s been an unfocused year with no long distance training. I considered 3 options:
> Skate 50 miles.
> Bike time trial 100k at 18 mph.
> 100 mile ride at 20+ mph.
I was unmotivated to train.
Timo announced his 25-mile skate pace line plan. I was in. It’d be fun. I was looking forward to the shopping and the group lunch.
Then yoga-related back spasm happened => skating was out of question.
I decided on the “normal way” of participating HHH: road bike, padded shorts, suck wheels. Sciatica could be an issue; sag wagons are abundant for this event.


_Equipment
I put the nice wheels on Madone that had been on trainer the whole year. I was unsuccessful setting up the new iBike Aero 3 on the wired mount and settled on the defective Aero 2 just for distance and cadence reading. I also used the reliable Garmin Forerunner 305 for heart rate and pacing.

My cycling electronic life is frustrating at times, but it’s so cool to have the data on the 22” screen after shower while the ride details are fresh memory. This is the only way I can quantify the energy saved by taking the pace line risk.


_Expo
The 10000-cyclist event is my biggest annual apparel shopping day. Major bike stores dump excess inventory at the expo.
The fight at clearance shoe table was intense. I got the exact shoes and shorts I wanted at half price. I imagine this is how women buy LV and Gucci when discount is involved.

eSoles scanned people’s feet at their booth. The charismatic sales girl knew a lot about running and nothing about skating. She fit David Goggin! $50 gets me a scan + semi-custom orthotics. I was suspicious about the benefit but desperate enough to write it off as part of my medical budget.

I complained to the Polar rep: their power meter is an outdated piece of crap. He waited for the booth to clear before agreeing. Finland’s clear direction is to ignore that market. He shared the desire for GPS/HR/power integration.


_Cooler than Hell
The ride didn’t live up to its name having the most favorable weather in years. 1 guy from Florida was sorely disappointed.

I didn’t train for a 100-mile ride but the event went more or less as planned:
Step 1: say hi to skaters at very end of the line.
Step 2: go to the front and look for triathletes for pacing and drafting.
I spotted bunch fit guys with nice aero-bikes and practice wheels.
“You guys Ironmen?”
“Yep”
“How fast are you going.”
“Around 20”
“Mind if I suck your wheel.”
“No problem.”
Step 3: control the urge to go harder; no passing anyone while outside of slipstream.
Step 4: hang on to the pack and avoid crashes.
Step 5: survive.

The slow blocks before start line are always frustrating: skateboarding style.
After funneling through the start line, 40 miles of wheel sucking began. These guys train together year round and didn’t want me in front.
Mile 20: butt became uncomfortable on the rough surface. Everyone’s speed dropped. I recall sprinting this surface at 11 mph on skates at 90% HR. I was nuts.

The group stopped at mile 28 for a pee break. We spread out to spread while hundreds of cyclists rolled behind us. It’s great to be a guy.

Heart rate started to rise around mile 35. I thought it was the temperature. The Ironmen increased the wattage in anticipation for the long break at mile-40 rest stop.

I hid in a long and slower pace lines and recovered. Other than the well buttered butt, I felt great at mile 50 and considered dumping 10 oz of Accelerade. I correctly chose to carry the annoying disposable bottle for next few miles.

People dropped out of pace lines like flies. By mile 60, even the solo cyclists on aero bars became inconsistent. I got in a small pace line and finally had to work. Confidence soared by mile 80: legs turning, HR in range, 24 oz of fluid in cage. I debated about the beer stop at mile 98.

Mile 82: Quads became unwilling at each little climbs. This was initially resolved by smaller gears. I started to lose the pack at 103 rpm. One old guy repeatedly waited and paced me back into the pack. “Just 18 miles to go. You ain’t gonna get a better day for a personal record.”
I was touched.
I struggled.

Mile 88: melt down. I tried to take a final pull but couldn’t even get to the front.
I felt dejected yet proud for going this far--a lot like 2008 A2A when Herb Gail left me in the dust.
I limped to the mostly empty mile-91 rest stop for bathroom and annual pickle juice tasting.

Leg power returned only briefly. I rode many segments at 13 mph during the final 10 miles. I skated faster on the same road.

Finished with 4:54. Felt a lot longer.