A little late in writing about the Inside-Out Sports Classic 10K from Sunday morning but I was waiting to see if the organizers found my time, which they unfortunately didnt.  Somehow my timing chip malfunctioned or was lost in the system, I was contacted today by the race officials for my estimated time which I figure to be somewhere between 48 and 50 minutes.  Like always I sprinted to the end and spent a minute or so catching my breath and drinking a water.  I was so out of it at the finish I didnt even notice if they had a finish clock and used my heart rate monitor timer.

It was pretty cold in the morning and I actually was smart enough to take the free long-sleeve shirt they gave me and put it on under my running shirt.  With no wind it felt like I could get away with short sleeves until I was actually out there walking around a few minutes.  The half-marathoners started out first with the 10K going about 15 minutes later.  I looked for my friend Adam Perez who had said he was doing the race also but never found him.  The race started out up a hill and should’ve been a warning of what was to come as after we crested that hill we begin a steady downhill run till about the second mile.  After the second mile or so the course changed into steep rolling hills, hills I hadnt realized were in Cary.  It was a constant up and down for the next three miles.  I kept myself paced by my heart rate monitor keeping it right around 80% of my threshold.  Since I hadnt trained up enough I figured I wouldnt push myself too hard.

Right after the first mile the rain also set in, a steady cold drizzle that when combined with the already cold temperatures made things a bit miserable.  With the running i wasnt shaking or anything but was definitely chilled but the constant movement kept me from being completely frozen.  I stopped only once to drink a gatorade at the last water station walking breifly before picking the pace back up.  There was an older gentleman that I would pass and then would pass me on the hills.  At some point I decided he was the one I wanted to finish ahead of even though for the last mile in I was pushing my heart rate way up.  It didnt help that the entire last mile was uphill without even a false flat to fool you into thinking it was ending.

With a half mile to go my heart rate monitor strap popped loose which drove me nuts.  I kept running and trying to fix it for a block or two before finally pulling it out from under my shirt and carrying it.  In that interim I lost the guy I wanted to beat as he was gaining ground steadily while I was goofing with my strap.  We made the final turn onto Cary Parkway which was a bit steeper than the previous section and I could see the CVS where the finish line was.  I didnt think I had anything in the tank but when I saw the line I was able to pick up the pace considerably.  It definitely helped my monitor was now useless cause it probably would’ve been going nuts with my effort.  I was able to close down the distance on the guys group quickly, passing 3 racers in the effort.  When it came down to it though and we turned into the CVS parking lot he was out of reach.  He got me by about 10 feet while I passed another runner right at the line.  I doubt he knew I was chasing him but it definitely helped me to have a “rabbit” to hunt down.

I was spent at the line, stooped over for a few before ripping my chip off and dropping it in a volunteers bucket.  I grabbed a water bottle off a table just past the finish and downed the whole thing then remembered that even though my monitor wasnt recording my heart rate the timer was still going and showed me just under 52.  I figured that Id get the real time online later and would know my exact pace.  I headed back to the store and even though it was stil raining I decided to hang around for the awards ceremony when I heard someone say it was only a half hour away and I had nothing to do.  The finishers were generally one racer way in front for first and then second being a few minutes behind.  When they announced my age group the winner was around 43 minutes which I realized if the trend followed I shouldve been close to that.  I didnt expect the top three but held out some hope.  When I wasnt there I decided to go look at the finish sheet to see where I stood.   Thats when I found out that my time wasnt recorded and told an official who took my information and estimated finish time.  This is the first time my time hadnt showed up but I guess there’s a first time for everything.

While Ill never be a fan of getting up that early in the morning the race was pretty fun and the most challenging 10K ive done.  That could be either due to the hills or lack of preperation but either way it was a good challenge.  It helped I had my mind focused on one thing the entire race to keep me busy.  Sometimes it sucks to have a monkey on your back but sometimes that monkey you think about will push you and make you better.  Guess we all need our monkeys to keep us going.

This Saturday is the first, of a hopefully annual event, the Le Tour De Femme. This event is an all women’s cycling event that consists of a half-metric and full-metric century. The tour was put together by my friend Ron as a fundraising effort to raise funds for both the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the Angel Fund of Rex Hospital. As of now he has over 50 riders registered to participate in the tour and has raised over $4000 so far. This is an amazing turnout in both participants and fundraising for the first time Ron has organized an event and the first time the event has taken place. When the 24 Hours of Booty began in Charlotte it consisted of one lone rider and has grown considerably year to year. Here’s hoping the Le Tour De Femme follows that precedent.

I’ve volunteered to help with the rest stops during the ride and have been put up as team lead on the first rest stop. Since Ron and I have done four different events together he feels that I know what a stop needs and how to set it up. It should be a fun morning even though it means being there at eight in the morning. It’ll be good practice for the 10K the next day which starts at 7:45 in the morning, a mythical time that I rarely encounter. After my rest stop closes Ill probably move on to help with the next stop and then back to the start/finish to help there as well since my afternoon unexpectedly opened up. Might as well put the free time to use and help out so that some good comes out of it.

With Austin behind me and the cool weather settling in here in NC the running races have picked up. Ive decided, reluctantly, to do the Inside-Out Sports Classic 10K. I had no plans to do this race until today but what I wanted/planned to do this weekend was shot down, so to speak. Id rather have missed it for the plans I had already made and not had the option of doing it, but I want to keep out of the house.

Hence I havent really done any training for the 10K since I was expecting my next race to be a 5K in three weeks. I do however know that Ill be running, cycling, and probably hitting the gym this week to keep myself busy and essentially wear myself out for a little while. With that mentality running 6.2 miles as fast as I can go sounds extremely appealing. A little self-abuse never hurt anyone right? Ill still lay off pushing myself biking since my knee still obviously has issues but it hasnt acted up running yet so its time to put it through the ringer on pavement.

This race is part of the Second Empire Grand Prix, a series of five races in the RTP area that give awards based on points earned by participating in three of the five races. I have already done the Second Empire 5K and planned to do two more so that I would qualify for the point total. Now it looks like Ill be doing four out of the five which means that Ill be in line with all the other participants since the lowest race is dropped and I missed one which gave me 0 points. Right now Im not even in the top 20 of my age group and have 594 points and the top 20 ends at 620, the top 20 males overall end at 799. So Im pretty much out of the running of having a top 20 finish unless I pick up my pace and other racers miss out on doing the required three.

Im thinking that Ill run at least six miles first thing tomorrow morning, of course that depends on how many beers I end up drinking tonight. Keeping up my trend today we lost our soccer game, among other more important things, so im having some Shiner Bocks on the couch before crashing for the night.

Waking up at 5 is not an experience id wish on anyone, its an ungodly hour that is best left to itself. We woke up and cycled through the showers and grabbed our bikes and gear to head down to pick up our minivan from the valet. When we got down there about 6, there were bikers everywhere loading up their bikes and heading out to the Livestrong Challenge. We got our names in line with the valets as Ron ran back to the room to grab some things. While waiting I talked to a cyclist who borrowed our pump. He had done the Southern California Livestrong Challenge and said while it was a good ride there were a lot of stops and starts with lights and turns. I assured him he wouldnt have the same scenario in Austin but there would be hills everywhere which would be challenging.

We got out to the Expo Center where the Challenge was starting a little after 7:00, with the cyclists set to start at 7:45. We ended up parking next to the same Trek representative who had told us about Six at the Livestrong Challenge. We snapped a couple pictures and headed up to the start/finish line and grabbed a quick snack and water before the race was set to begin. We found out that Lance was there and had given an opening speech that we had missed unfortunately. He set out with the 5K runners as we formed into our lines and waited the five minutes for our race to start.

Ron and I had talked over the weekend and he said that he was shooting for a nice easy ride at an average of 18-20mph. This seemed fairly in line with what I felt I could handle so we decided to try to ride together. We got out cleanly and stayed together for about 10 miles. We ended up picking up the Trek representative in one of the groups we passed and he and Ron started chatting it up while i hung behind. As we were riding we past a guy whose crank arm had broken off and was still going with one leg pumping. Dont know how far he made it but he was definitely in for a long day. As we moved pack to pack Ron was picking up speed which put me back into my big gear which I hadnt planned on using because of my knee issues in the MS 150. When we were pulling about 26mph I decided to bag the idea of staying with Ron as I was already able to feel the effort and my knee was slightly stiff. So after 30 minutes I was on my own again like last year. I made it into the first rest stop and decided to stop and see if Ron had possibly waited but he hadnt. I ate a Power Shot and took an Endurox tablet, a routine that I kept up every hour as well as drinking one water bottle and one Cytomax/Powerade bottle. I got back on the bike after a five minute break and headed out solo to the next stop.

Over the course between the second and third rest stops I began to feel my knee twinging and occasionally hurting. I was still pulling an average of 20mph but I was definitely slowing as time passed. I ended up finally latching onto a group that was pulling 18mph which was tough for me to keep up with especially on the hills. I had to stand on any hills to keep my pace high enough to not get popped off the back. It was these times that my knee would hurt, if i was sitting it tended only to feel stiff but not hurt as much. We pulled into the third rest stop 35 miles in under two hours and I stopped to decide what to do. This rest stop was the split between the 70 mile and 100 mile course and once i decided there was no turning back. It also didnt help that my knee didnt hurt standing or walking, it only hurt pedaling. The rest stop was still being setup so I mixed some Powerade and wandered around going back and forth on which course to take. Logic said to do the 70 but I really didnt like giving up on the 100 and I kept remembering an Armstrong quote I read in the Livestrong Village that said basically you forget pain but not quitting.

I was heading back to the bike still debating when i glanced up and realized i had walked into the path of a cyclist. I jumped back and said “Sorry trying to get out of the way” and put my hand on his back and guided him past me while he said “No Problem” or something similar. I took another step, froze and realized who it was then said no it couldnt be. I turned to the corner about 20 feet away and Lance Armstrong had stopped and his friend College pulled up behind him. I had almost knocked Lance down and then guided him past. How freaking cool is that one? He stayed on the corner for a minute as the whispers started through the bikers “There’s Lance” and they started inching forward. He looked over at College and said “Guys we need to go ahead and get out of here” and headed out on the 70 mile route. I realized if there was a sign of what to do that was going to be the best I got so I turned onto the 70 as well.

The 70 turned out to be exactly what I should’ve done as there was a hill right after the turn that burned my knee up as it had stiffened up during the break. As usual I was on my own and wouldnt be able to catch a group the rest of the ride. At what would have been about the 80 mile mark I hit one of the hills I had been dreading. I have a triple on my bike and I had been told that basically it was looked down upon to have one and even moreso to use one so I never went under my middle gear. This hill was killer on my knee as I ended up slowing down so much that I was positive I was going to fall over. I passed a mother and daughter that were pushing their bikes up it. I would’ve used the “granny” gear if I felt I could stop and put it in. I managed to make it up but I was spent and my heart rate was through the roof. Over the next mile the fastest 100 mile riders began to pass me.

My biggest fear and one of the factors in choosing the 70 mile route was a hill that was on the end of last years course which it seemed we were riding again. That hill was twice as long and just as steep as the hill that hurt so bad above. I guess they got complaints about that hill because this year the route was moved to leave it out. I can honestly say if they had asked me I would’ve said to toss it too. It was a cruel and punishing climb that I almost didnt make the year before and that was on a good knee. There were a series of short long climbs that were difficult but I made it over each of them, though each was slower than the one before. I pulled into the start/finish line and rode no handed with my arms in the air celebrating. A definite switch from the year before when I was about to collapse and worried about crashing into the barriers. I even had practiced riding without hands on the way into the finish since I had never been able to successfully do it for any length of time.

In the end my mileage was 75 miles at an average speed of 17.4 mph and a saddle time of 4:18:22.  My average speed was up .7 from the year before.  I parked beside the finish line to wait for Ron who I figured should be about 45 minutes to an hour after I was done.   As I waited I started to regret not doing the 100 mile course because I had finished in relatively good condition and as usual while I was standing my knee wasnt hurting at all.  As time passed though, especially in the evening, both my knees stiffened to the point where it hurt to get up and sit down so by then I was satisfied with the 70 and not doing any more damage than I already had.  After an hour and a half passed I saw two riders from the group that I had latched onto before the third rest stop cross the line.  That worried me a little because they were with me which meant they were slower than Ron and had finished the course before he had.  So either something had happened mechanically, Ron had bonked, or he had finished without me realizing.  Fifteen minutes later he crossed the line and told me that 10 miles from the finish he had seriously cramped up and dropped to a crawl.  A fellow rider had done a Mr. Miyagi on his leg to loosen it up and he rode with her the rest of the way and when she bonked he pulled her to the finish.  He agreed that I made the right decision on doing the 70.  We snapped some photos and headed to the van to change and pack up.

We walked around the post-ride party after changing and each had a couple burgers and a coke.  I was feeling extremely satisfied so I had a Shiner Bock, Ron passed as he felt like even one would put him in a condition he couldnt drive.  We tried to get a massage at the massage tent but they shut down right when we headed over.  After wandering around we headed back to the hotel where we took naps and cleaned up for the afternoon.  We went out to the same restaurant we went to the year before, Texas Land and Cattle I believe was the name, and had steak quesadillas and ribeyes for the each of us.  Afterwards we packed up the bikes, with me actually boxing mine myself as I watched Ron do his and copied everything he did.  To end the night and pretty much the weekend we headed up to the rooftop at Six where I had two margaritas and a Jack and Diet and Ron had three seven and sevens.  We felt it was well deserved and even moreso necessary.  It was a fitting ending to the weekend, the flight back isnt worth mentioning.

Im out of town for the weekend but will post an overall wrapup when I get back.

Even though we tried to sleep in we were unsuccessful and were up and showering about 8 in the morning. By the time Paul, Ron, and I had rotated through the showers it was past 9:30 and we headed out to find a Starbucks so that they could get some coffee. I on the other hand loathe coffee so planned on getting a Chai Tea. Since we had no idea where one was we headed over to Sixth Street and headed downtown. If there’s one law of a downtown area its that you’ll find a Starbucks if you go down the busiest streets. If we had been smarter we would’ve read the sign in our hotel that said there was one there. Afterwards we swung by the convention center and realized that the Livestrong Village wouldnt open till noon so we grabbed Paul’s car to head over to the Austin Bicycle Sport Shop to get some supplies for the ride.

If you go to Austin I highly recommend the Austin Bicycle Sport Shop as its one of the nicest bike shops ive been in. We went there last year and I imagine it will stay a necessity every time we go to Austin. They’re also one of the sponsors of the Livestrong Challenge and last years Ride For The Roses, probably more than those but since i was only there for them can only say those for sure. Since my knees have been giving me problems since the MS 150 in New Bern we looked at some Speedplay pedals which Ill probably move to soon. Ill be getting the stainless steel X2’s before I attempt another distance ride such as the Livestrong Challenge. I also decided to get some Buzzkills, these are a special kind of endcaps that you put into your handlebars which will dampen road vibration. I remembered several sections of rough road from last years Ride For The Roses and decided it would be a good investment for as little as they cost. I can attest now that they were well worth the money and you should get some if you havent yet. Other than that we just picked up some CO2 cartridges for our flat kits since we couldnt take ours with us on the plane and Ron continued to try to talk his friend Paul into buying a bike and riding with us next year.

By that time it was time for lunch so we hit Chuy’s for some burritos. If you dont know about Chuy’s you probably havent read Lance Armstrong’s books. He loves the place and eats there often so last year for the Ride For The Roses we had to check it out. The foods good and the place is decorated with sculpted fish, elvis decor, and a psychedelic paintjob. Its a quintessential Austin experience that one should take in when in town. This year Ron and I decided to do a warm up run so we headed by a local running store so Paul could pick up some running shoes before heading back to the hotel.

By the time we got back to the hotel the Livestrong Village was open and we headed over so that Paul could see what the ride was about and get a sense of what was going on. Ron and I also wanted to head over to see if things had picked up since it was so slow and small the day before, in the end it hadnt. Our views on the village may have been tainted by the Roses ride last year since it was so large and over the top. If we hadnt been the year before the village this year might not have been below our expectations.

We changed into our running clothes and headed up Congress Street to the Capital building and past that onto the University of Texas at Austin. Ron had a request from a friend for a flex fit Longhorns hat so we figured around campus would be the best area. In the end we ended up in a shop called Tyler’s directly across from campus which turned out to be a great find. Inside we found a box of Nike 10//2 Lance apparel all marked down for clearance. Anyone whose bought these shirts know they run about $30-$40 dollars and we got several for half price. In the end Ron never found the right kind of hat but we did get some cool clothes.

We all took another round of showers and headed up to the Spaghetti Warehouse to carb load for the ride the next day. Basically we were following our footsteps from the year before when we had also eaten there. Its a pretty good restaurant with tons of pasta obviously and which is needed before undertaking a ride as long as the Livestrong Challenge. Apparently we werent the only ones with the idea as we had a 45 minute wait so headed over to Six next door while we waited for a table to open up. The day before a Trek representative had told us about Six. Its a restaurant that Lance opened after his sixth tour win and apparently his friend College sometimes works the bar. It just happened to be attached to the Spaghetti Warehouse so we headed up to the open air rooftop to get some drinks. It helped me come to the conclusion that I love rooftop bars and every city needs them.

After dinner, where i had a 15 layer lasagna and chicken pasta combination, Paul packed up and headed back to Houston while Ron tried to conk out for the ride.  I used the time to knock out my accounting homework problems since I had finished the reading.  It all balanced out because Paul ended up forgetting his laptop bag after he had driven an hour and came back to get it so we had to wait up for him to get there and grab it before crashing for the night.