Race Report : Under Armour Mountain Running : Copper Mountain, CO - Sep 9, 2017

My Execute Director called me into her office and informed me that we'd be traveling to Denver, CO for mandatory managers all hands to go over 2018 initiatives, etc.  Internally I groaned since the last thing I needed as we enter the busiest time of the year for us is to be distracted by what might be coming next year!  But a thought struck me. "What IF by some small miracle there was a cool trail race around the time I happen to be in Colorado?"  It as in mile high county home of famous cycling and trail running territory.  So, I hit halfmarathon dot net and several other well known race calendars and I came across an odd race a bit far from Denver in a funky place called "Copper Mountain".  I hit the race director's summary of the race that it starts at 9745 ft and peaks at 12,040 ft. See link here.  OMG - this was not your everyday run along the beach or local state park in California. Not even by Tahoe standards.  This was a Rocky Mountain race at an average 10k ft. Oh heck yeah where is the registration page cuz I'm in!

Race Report : Wente Classic Cycling Road Race : Men 45+ Cat 4/5: April 30, 2017

Subtitle : "Runner survives first bike race!"

For years my favorite recovery activity besides walking the family dog has been cycling.  Immediately after a trail race or road marathon you just want to pass the finish line, high five friends and family then lay down with a beer in your hands.  Your legs are normally toast and you just want to not move for awhile.  Then there is the day after stiffness.

I found that if I walk the dog then go for a bike ride the day after and get all that blood pumping thought my body that I immediately feel much better and can start training again sooner.  This foot race / bike recovery pattern has repeated itself over and over again till I started doing weekend hill work outs on the bike just for fun.  Locally, my favorite ride in East Bay Area is the ~30 mile/~2200 ft Palomaras Loop (Strava Link).

Last year I did my first Duathlon (5k run, 20 mile bike ride, 5k run) and loved it. See Wolf Pack Events if interested. Started doing bike/run 'Brick' work outs to fine tune transition times and work on my cycling skills. One note is that per USAT rules you cannot draft other cyclists and have to leave a safe distance (7 meters x 2 meters).  And, if you pass you have to pass within several seconds or give up. Otherwise you could earn a '5.1 Position Foul' and be penalized time or DQ'ed.

Last month I participated in my first Triathlon. Loved the bike and run, barely survived the open water swim in 55 deg F water (27 deg F ambient).  I spent a far amount of time in the transition area checking out peoples tri bikes. Man I could have spent hours just looking at bike setups and asking questions.  Follow this link to learn more about HITS Napa.

Race Report : HITS Napa Sprint Triathlon - April 9th, 2017

50th birthday goals

To celebrate my 50th birthday, I decided on two birthday month events.  First was held just yesterday (Sunday April 9th) and was my first ever triathlon which happened to be hosted by HITS at Lake Berryessa in Napa County. The second will be my first bike Century rescheduled for later this year due to Primevera being canceled due to course closures and will report on that later in the year.

Road to first ever Triathlon

I first started running regularly in 2012 and have slowly added distance and/or speed every year since then.  Then to cross train I added road cycling which I found I also greatly enjoyed and have participated in several Duathlons and fun rides since 2015.  December last year was particularly wet which dramatically reduced my interest in outdoor cycling and trail running so I took the plunge and starting swimming at the locally (heated) outdoor public swimming pool.  First swim was exhausting and lasted maybe four 25m laps.  Three months later I’m still a slow plodder but can swim nonstop 800 m in ~25 min.  Finally mustered enough courage to try swimming same distance in local lake with tri-suite and cap and survived.  I had trouble navigating a straight line face down in water that had nearly zero visibility and would frequently pop my head up to take bearings.  The suite worked very well and I never felt cold. My face on the other hand had a hard time getting used to 55 deg F cool water.