My First 'Beer Mile'

So I got bored on Friday and decided to go ahead and do the beer mile. I've always had mixed feelings about this event, so I figured I would go ahead and try it to see what it was all about...

At around 6:30pm, 27 racers gathered at Bill's place along with their support crew (designated drivers) and spectators - so there were about 40-50 people in all. Sena was there to cheer me on.

There were going to be 2 heats, a slow group and a fast group - initially, I was going to be in the slow group, but was moved up to the fast group at the last minute to even the numbers out a bit.

The full moon on this clear night reduced the chance of twisted ankles during the 1 mile trek along suburban streets and through the woods to the local limestone track. Some people drove, but most of the non-injured runners took the warmup jog.

Rob explained the rules: women start running on GO!, men start drinking their first beer on GO!. After the each lap, everyone drinks a beer (except for the final lap). So men drink 4 beers and women drink 3 beers.

The slow group started at around 7:30. Confusion ensued - I couldn't make out who was winning or what lap they were doing. Nervousness about my own pending doom made watching this heat a bit less enjoyable than it could have been.

My heat started around 7:45. I struggled drinking my first beer fast and was the last of a dozen or so to leave the starting line and I didn't catch anyone during the first lap, burping like mad for the first 100 meters or so.

The next 3 beers went down pretty well, but the burping continued. I don't think I passed anyone on the track (most of these guys are pretty fast), but I must have passed a few during the drinking transitions, because there were several people behind me by the end of the heat.

I finished in 9th place, with a time of 8:51 (The winning time was around 7:15, and the losing time was around 14mins). No one puked - a good and somewhat respectable evening ; )

After the race, we cleaned up, and jogged back to Bill's house for the awards ceremony. Overall, a good time.

I got up early on Saturday and rode 40 miles with the WC bike club. I met a triathlete (Francios) from France - nice guy - he was really into the fact that I finished Kona. He invited me to Ironhill for a beer after the ride - I declined ; )

After the ride, Sena and I went for a 5 mile run through Strouds preserve. She wasn't feeling well at the start, but got better after the first mile.

Turkey Day

Like the turkey we ate hours ago, I'm stuffed. I managed to get some yard work done and run 6.3 miles at a reasonable pace before the festivities began. Sena out-did herself - the turkey was superb - probably the best turkey I've ever had!

Last Thursday I did 200 pushups while watching Survivor with Sena. I'm obviously a bit crazy, because I then decided Thursday would be 'pushup day' during the winter. I decided to make it a bit more difficult today by trying to do 200 pushups in 10 minutes, but could only manage 150 in that time. Ok, I'm obviously getting a bit stir crazy, but it gives me something to shoot for.

I ran a bit over 6 miles yesterday too at Valley Forge, meeting a guy from work (Matt), who did Lake Placid Ironman recently. He has actually done a bunch of endurance stuff, and is thinking about ultra running. He has a multi-year plan to get him to his first 100 mile run. Sounds interesting.

Tomorrow is the beer mile. I haven't done this race yet (drink a beer, run a lap, repeat 4 times), and I'm not sure that I'm up for it, but if I do it, I'll post the highlights here!

I'm missing my regular bike rides - I may have to get out soon!

Run, Bike, Podiatrist

I ran on Friday at Valley Forge - did about 5 miles or so (Garmin battery was dead). I was trying to run slow, but once I warmed up I sped up naturally. It was good to be out and getting some fresh air. However, when I got home that evening, I decided to call a Podiatrist to take a look at this nagging foot injury that doesn't want to go away, and seems to get worse when I stop running.

On Saturday I went out for a 40 mile ride with the bike club. It was good to get out - the fall colors were awesome! The last 10 miles of the ride I decided to pump up the volume and a couple of guys hung on till the end, which was good to see. I wasn't going extremely fast with my extra 10 pounds to lug up the hills, but I did ok.

Saturday afternoon, Sena and I went into Philly, shopped for Rachel's 18th birthday ring (we didn't have any luck), then we had a nice dinner.

Today Sena and I ran at Ridley Creek - read about that here

riding again!

So I'm driving down rt. 202 in traffic last night, listing to NPR and the high price of gas, and I really start missing my frequent bike rides into work. When I get home, I check the weather, and while not a great forecast, it would be do-able.

I get up an extra 15 minutes early and I'm on my bike by 6:15. Halfway down the driveway I realize that my handlebars are way off, so I go back and fix them (sort of). 5 minutes later, I start pedaling through the dense fog.

Everything is wet due to the fog and my brakes are slippery. My gearing is off, and I realize that I never adjusted anything after I took my bike out of the box when I returned from Hawaii, just sort of slapped it together. I had half a mind to return home and drive in afterall, but I kept moving forward.

After I warm up a bit and the muscles kick in, I remember how much more alive I feel when I'm riding my bike instead of following the long line of lemmings in my car. Heart pumping, cold toes, fall colors, so many smells, quick reflexes, great thoughts... really good feeling.

I'm glad I took some time off, but I really miss riding, so I'll try to ride into work at least a few times each month through the winter just to shake up the doll drums.

2008 Long Course World Championships

I actually did an hour on the eliptical machine tonight, ate some fish stew and watched the news (Sena and Rachel are both out with friends for dinner, so I'm on my own).

Then I check my e-mail, and this is what I read: You are being contacted because you have earned a spot on the Team USA roll down list for 2008 Long Course Triathlon World Championships because of your finish at the 2007 Musselman Triathlon.

Since I was in third place in my age group at Musselman, the first two guys would have to bail for me to be considered, but I got a kick out of it anyway. It's in Holland at the end of August - who knows? The whole thing is decided by Nov 27th - stay tuned.

I'm assuming the long course championship means a half Ironman distance - I don't want to do another full Ironman next year.

I do like the idea of representing the USA Team!

Orienteering Results

Published on the dvoa web site:

http://dvoa.org/sites/results/ev_show.php?event_id=RID111107

22nd out of 30 on the green course - man, I've got to do this more often so I get better at it. I really is a fun when you're doing well (kinda sucks when you're going in circles trying to find a control point).

Chris came in 11th out of 16, but the people doing the red course are typically much more skilled.

The next two events are pretty far - 2+ hours; I'll probably pass.

Orienteering at Ridley

Today I did some orienteering at Ridley Creek State Park - it has been a while since I've done one of these events. Here is a sample of the map we used...

It was an organized event - $7 for a nice detailed topo map of the park, $2 rental of the electronic punch. Pretty good deal, considering the effort it takes to place all of the markers, make all the maps, etc. Kudos to the guys at DVOA.org for a long-standing fantastic job.

I feel very fortunate to have such a strong organisation setting up events practically every weekend in my area. I've spoken to others in various places in the world, and it is rare to have such a strong orienteering organization.

So I met my friend Chris at 10 at the park - we both got lost on our way to the park, which isn't a good way to start an orienteering event. It took about 20 minutes to get ready and start the course.

We were going to do some mountain biking up at Jim Thorpe, but the weather forecast was sketchy and it is a long drive to do unless you can expect really good conditions.

Anyway, I chose the green course which was only 6.6km. Chris chose the red, which was 10k I think. The first control point was easy, but it took me a minute get my bearings and so it actually took 3 minutes instead of one minute to find it.

The second control point was on an embankment near the edge of a small stream. I walked right by it because I was distracted by another guy coming further upstream than I thought it should be. So I went to where he was coming from, instead of looking where I thought it should be. After a while I retraced my steps and found it, but wasted 12 minutes instead of 3 minutes.

The next 2 control points were fairly easy, but I really struggled on the 5th control point, taking a full 35 minutes to find it. I wasn't alone, there were about 6 people on the hillside looking for this well hidden marker. Finally I took a compass reading from a well marked boulder, and found it hidden in a brier patch.

My knees, hamstring and left foot were killing me at this point. I figured a month off of training, I wouldn't have too much trouble, but I felt like I had made no progress since Ironman.

The rest of the control points went pretty well, however going from the last control point to the finish took me 7 minutes instead of 1 minute because I started following another racer instead of looking at my map!

It was a fun experience. Great to get out in the wilderness, get some fresh air and test your skills. Unfortunately, orienteering season is almost over. Maybe I can do more of this next year when my broken body is healed.