Costco is putting the Garmin Forerunner 305 on sale again for $159.99 delivered and it can also be purchased in stores. This is a great price!
This sale starts on 11/14/08 and ends on 12/15/08.
This is a great little GPS training tool for those that like to measure heart rate, pace, distance, and many other potentially useful parameters on an easy to read display. I have had my 305 since May and have been completely happy with the purchase.
I am a bit late in getting this out but better late than never I guess. A couple weekends ago I had the pleasure of running my first 50 mile trail run in Palo Duro state park in west Texas. This is an area of the state that is very arid and desert-like and contains its own unique beauty with an edge.
Small Cactus Throughout The Area
Packet pickup occurred the evening before the race and included a pasta feed that included salad, spaghetti, bread, and dessert.
Race morning had some great conditions; clear skies, mid 40s, nearly a full moon, dry air (duh), and no wind. I was able to hook up with some kind racers at the hotel race morning so Wendy and Griffin could rest a bit more and come down to the race site later in the day.
As I sat in the back seat getting to know my new friends I knew we were in for something special as we drove into the light-less park at 6:15 in the morning and I could barely see the dark shadows of the canyon walls raising above me as we continued to descend to the base. My heart began to pump a bit fast and I started to sweat a bit. Unfortunately this was mostly due to the sudden car-sick feeling as we wiggled through the canyon as I sat in the back seat. I was about to open the window and stick my head out when we parked! Interesting start to the day.
After parking, it was a short little walk to the start/finish area where someone was playing bagpipes which was kind of cool. I quickly checked-in and set up my transition bag and before long the 50 mile/km runners were corralled at the start area.
The course consisted of four 12.5 mile loops within the canyon along some really nice hiking/recreational trails. The footing throughout the course was nicely packed red dirt. I maybe noticed two roots throughout the entire loop. Since we stayed within the canyon, there were no major climbs. My Garmin Forerunner 305 had ~5000ft of both ascent and decent for the 50 mile course.
I positioned myself towards the back as I did not want to push any sort of effort for the first two 12.5 mile loops. I blew myself up a bit six weeks ago by pushing too hard and bonking during the first 25 miles at Superior trails and had little interest in experiencing that again. I was going to force myself to start off slow and eat like a horse (or similar mammal).
As the race started with stars and headlamps twinkling all around, I slid into the pace-line as we moved onto a narrow single-track portion of the course. Being in the back of the pack at the start forced me into a speed walk-a-jog session but I was OK with that.
I moved along gradually along the rolling terrain as the sun slowly began to light the sky and I could see the beauty I was running in. I was not disappointed. The canyon walls completely surrounded us with their rusty red, tan, and even rainbow-like colors.
I kept my pace real easy and made no passes. I just sat in the group and my heart rate remained in the 130 bpm range. (Pedestrian pace for max HR ~195bpm) My plan was to take in 200-250 cals per hour that consisted of both HEED and Perpetuem combined together in a hand-held water bottle. My stomach was having no problems with the amount of calories and it was all feeling very easy.
The Trail Ahead
As I approached each aid station there were motivational messages posted along the trail. Nice touch!
After finishing lap one, I took a quick pit stop in the men’s room, grabbed some more of my pre-made Hammer Nutrition calorie baggies and camera. The camera was the second step of my run-slow strategy. I would take all of my pictures during this lap and ended up taking 70+ pictures. I was able to keep my HR in the 130-140 bpm range for this lap. This was exactly where I wanted to be.
Through lap two I observed some interesting rock formations which appeared to look very similar to some other well known mammals and American objects.
Side Profile Of Eagle Eating Food with Wings Spread above Its Body
Side profile of lizard with Its Head on Left Side of Rock or Camel with Head on Right Side
NFL Super bowl Trophy
With the race located in a desert-like climate, everything has to be tough to survive, this even includes the aid station volunteers. With all of the rainbows of sugary items at each aid station, passing bees got a whiff and told all of their friends. So starting on lap two each aid-station had bees surrounding everything; food, garbage cans, and fluids. It was a bit unnerving to refill my bottles but fortunately they seemed to leave people alone.
6 Mile Aid Station Before The Bees Arrived
Through the end of lap two, my energy levels remained high and I was feeling great. The temps began to slowly heat up during this time as there were many miles of exposed trail.
So Per-tee
At the start of lap three, I got rid of the camera and decided to race by feel a bit more. I still kept things pretty controlled but no longer had any picture pit-stops. My heart rate was elevating a bit more during this loop and I was seeing 135-150 bpm for much of it.
The final three miles of the loop were mostly flat so I mistakenly decided to push a bit during this easier stretch. By the time I started the final loop (4), my stomach was getting crampy and I was not absorbing my nutrition. Dang it! After the race I looked at my HR data and noticed I was averaging in the 160 BPM (with max near 170) for these miles. With the amount of calories I was taking in to keep my energy levels up, I was not able to properly digest at this effort.
The Flats
Arghh! My stomach hurts!
So I spent the first half of the final lap managing my stomach issues. I had to walk quite a bit and even sat on a bench and talked to a hiker for a couple minutes as I tried to reset my stomach. He thought we were pretty nuts to be running since 7am. In some ways, he may be right but I think that is part of the lure.
After about six miles of nursing myself back to health by eliminating all calories and sipping a bit of water, I was able to get back into a steady trot. My knees were a bit tender at this point so I had to take the downhills very easy. I just focused on a controlled effort for the remaining miles.
Seeing that finish line was a great sight! Wendy and Griffin were waiting just across the banner. It was great to see them both and get off my feet. My finish time was 9:54:33 (11:53 min/mile pace). This was good enough for the 16/40 place overall for males and 19th overall. The overall male-female win was taken home by married professional triathlon couple Jamie Cleveland (7:23:48) and Andrea Fisher (8:25:30).
Griffin Playing With Cars And Dancin’ At The Finish
The RD and volunteers were amazing. I am grateful for all of their effort in providing a wonderful day for all of us runners. With race distances of 20k, 50k, and 50 mile, there is a distance for nearly everyone and scenery that will not disappoint.
I feel like I took another step in understanding this distance. My nutrition and hydration were solid throughout the race until I messed up my pacing on lap three. The bonk-monster never showed up which was kind of nice. Now I need to experiment with managing my effort (HR) and calorie intake during the back half of the race. The journey continues!
Here is the complete set of pictures from the day.
After recently reaching the “halfway-to-40″ age of 35, I am grateful for another year of life experiences that has included:
Gaining experience at new job
Getting laid-off from a job
My son’s first birthday and the journey of fatherhood
My eight year wedding anniversary
Completing my first trail run event (50k)
Participating in my first Boston marathon
Completing my first 50 mile trail race
Let us not forget the most important endurance sports highlights of this age:
I am now in the 35-39 age group for races. Unfortunately these athletes are not any slower.
My Boston marathon qualifying time has increased by 5 minutes. (3:15)
Turning 35 in the US also allows me to live in this house based on society and/or corporate-elite consensus. I wonder if I could put a running track or trail throughout the grounds…hmm.
I recently changed the feed provider for EnduranceBuzZ so if you subscribe you may want to re-subscribe just to make sure you receive all the new posts.
If your feed reader posts match with the actual site, then you probably don’t need to do anything.
50 mile Ultrarunning Trail Run Registration: $60-$100 typically
If the Ironman event interests you but it doesn’t quite fit in the budget, you may want to give ultrarunning a try. I have completed both Ironman and 50 mile ultrarunning trail events and they offer many similarities.
finish times of 8-16 hours
challenging
scenic locations
a personal journey
great people
great support
a lot of fun
Of course with trail running you won’t get to swim but you may have to wade across some streams/rivers. The bike, well, leave it at home or save it for after the race when walking just plain hurts.
If Ironman really interests you, save your pennies and go for it! I am still a big groupie of the sport.
If you would like to see if there are any ultrarunning trail events in your area, you can check out some of these calendars. Unfortunately there isn’t one main source (that I have found) for all of the running events.
The marathon challenges thousands of runners every year. It is a distance that creates both fear and excitement for many runners. Some athletes have good experiences and some a bit unpleasant. I feel with a bit of preparation and understanding, all athletes can set themselves up to have their best day possible. They may even finish with a big smile on their face.
I have noted a few key areas that I believe can increase the smile-factor and lead to a enjoyable marathon experience.
Set Race-Pace Based On Current Fitness Not Dream Race-Pace
Yor want to run a 4:00 marathon yet your body is in 4:30 shape. You can rarely fool your body over the 26.2 mile distance. Go with what fitness you have and try to maximize it on the day!
How do you determine what kind of shape you are in?
I really like using Runbayou: Jack Daniels VDOT running calculator because it provides projected finish times for 1500m all the way up to the marathon based on your current fitness level. It determines your current fitness level by using a recent race result. I would recommend using a recent 10k or 1/2 marathon result if possible. I also like that the calculator provides some training pace guides as well which can help reduce over-training and injury.
If you are not into the VDOT thing, McMillan Running highlights some marathon predictor workouts you can use to provide some feedback whether you can run the pace you desire. The predictor workouts include FastFinish Long Run, Long Distance Race, and Yasso 800s.
For various template training programs you can check out my Training Resource and Gear page which contains links to various marathon plans which can help with the endurance and speed work.
Proper Nutrition
Some amount of calories are required for everyone running a marathon. The individual amount must be worked out during your long training runs. A decent guide would be 100-150 calories per hour. I like to use gels (Hammer Gel) because they digest easily.
During my first Ironman I ingested nearly 500 calories (don’t ask me why) in the first mile of the marathon. Bad, bad idea! I had major stomach issues the rest of the race.
I would also experiment and determine the calorie source you are going to use during the race and practice with it during some of your long training runs.
Hammer Nutrition’s fueling handbook also provides additional nutrition insight.
Proper Hydration
Hydration needs is another one of those individual components that I would recommend to test out during your long training runs. You may want to naked-weigh (exciting) yourself immediately before/after your long run to observe the amount of water loss. You really don’t want to lose any more than 2% body weight as performance and health can be greatly affected.
Also various weather conditions (hot/cold/dry/humid) will also affect hydration requirements. A general recommendation is 20-24 oz/hour. Find what works for you!
Hammer Nutrition’s fueling handbook also provides additional hydration insight.
Cruise-mode For 3/4 Of The Run
Your perceived exertion (PE) effort better feel like easy/moderate (”cruise-mode”) effort for the first 17- 20 miles. Being honest with yourself can often be one of the biggest challenges of race day but if your effort doesn’t feel fairly easy early on, drop your pace into that easy/moderate level. I would go as far and say it should feel mostly easy through mile 15. From miles 15-20, you can start creeping into that moderate level.
During my best executed marathon, my PE was easy up to mile 15. This early effort allowed me to save mental and physical energy for when it got real tough during the final 10k. Without this extra reserve available, I probably would have been walking.
At the Boston marathon I noticed my PE was above easy at mile seven. There was no way I was going to be able to handle the current pace for the rest of the run so I had to back off. Unfortunately I didn’t back off nearly enough and paid for it during the rest of the run. Remember that honest assessment idea I was talking about.
Do your best with what you are given on the day!
Light At The End Of The Tunnel
It is almost a guarantee that you will have at least one tough patch during the race. This is just the nature of longer endurance sports for most of us.
When you mentally or physically start feeling like poo, send your attention to the basics; nutrition, hydration, and running form. If those are all properly addressed, just keep moving one foot in front of the other and know that it will get better. For every down, there is an up. It will pass…really!
You may also want to open yourself up to the event and bring it into your awareness.
See the people cheering - say thank you
Thank all of the volunteers you pass by
Thank your body and mind for being healthy to start this event and finish it
Talk to a fellow runner (The other runner may or may not be interested, but you never know until you try.)
Smile - it helps, even if it is a fake one!
Before you know it, you will come out the other side knowing that you will finish this thing.
Luck Of The Irish
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”
Through proper preparation and execution you will increase your “Lucky” factor. This doesn’t mean you won’t have any challenges during the race but it does mean you greatly increase your ability to handle them.
Have Fun!
In the end all of the above means little if you haven’t been able to appreciate and enjoy the day. Be grateful for your heath, fitness, and support team(friends and family). Know that you have prepared to the best of your ability. All else is water under the bridge at this point.
Celebrate the day regardless of the result! Life is not only about results but the lessons learned along the way.
What additional focus areas have helped during your marathon(s)?
The Ironman World Championship in Kona Hawaii is happening on Saturday! The top pros and age-groupers will be battling it out anywhere from 8-17 hours.
If you like to watch live endurance sports, make sure to check out the live coverage on Ironman.com which will probably start around 10-11am CST. Best of all, it is free!
If you want to geek-out a bit, hook up a projector to your computer and enjoy the race on the “big screen” (sheet).
This video provides a nice glimpse into the special day in Hawaii. It almost makes me want to start swimming again…almost.
A few months ago, I was looking and researching a child bike seat for our 16 month old son so we could enjoy the falls days in the south. After a couple days of hunting the web, I ended up purchasing the iBert Safe-T-Seat. There were a few challenging moments when we first tried putting Griffin in the seat but since then we have enjoyed plenty of miles cruising around the neighborhood.
Why the iBert?
The iBert mounts in front of you! I liked the idea of Griffin sitting in front of me so we could interact (talk, point things out, etc) easier. With rear mounted child bike seat’s the child has to look off to the right or left in order to see anything plus communication is tougher especially for little ones that don’t have a large selection of words yet. The game-breaker for all of this is whether I would be able to mount it to my bike and still be able to ride it.
Setup
I really don’t think it can get much easier than this. The mounting bracket (stinger) easily attaches to the stem/steering tube of the bike using the included Allen wrench. Just line-up the stringer bracket with your top tube so that the seat will be perpendicular to the handlebars.
Next you slide the mounting bracket under the seat onto the stinger bracket. Pop in the included pin to lock the seat into place and you are ready to go.
I would recommend using a bike without a tight cockpit area so that you minimize the chance of bumping the bike seat with your knees or looking very bowlegged while riding, neither a good idea. I used my older Trek mountain bike and the iBert worked great with my long-legged body.
Safety Features
The iBert comes with a three point harness and a lap bar that holds the little one in place.
There is a bit of a trick with the harness so that the child will be more securely strapped in. Note, this may not always be needed and is dependent on how the strap was initially installed during manufacturing.
The key is to be able to move the sliding harness guide up and down the harness. If the length adjusting lock is too close to the sliding harness guide, you won’t be able to place the sliding harness guide into a position to more securely hold your child in place.
What did I do?
Rotate the harness until the length adjusting lock is positioned near the back of the seat. This will allow the sliding harness guide to “snug-up” the harness once the child is in the seat. Here are a couple pictures to show what I did.
Comfort
Griffin currently (~26 pounds) sits comfortably in the iBert child seat. It would have been nice to have some type of cushioning in the seat for the bumper and back area but Griffin doesn’t seam to mind. Maybe it is just old age that creates those desires. I did put a little hand towel down the center of the seat to provide a little bit more comfort, at least in my head.
The Ride
Placing an additional 20-40 pounds at the front or rear of your bike does require some additional attention during two main riding times - starting and stopping. Once you get moving, let the fun begin.
I have been really happy with the iBert and more importantly Griffin has enjoyed riding all around the neighborhood as well. Good times!
For those (one or two) that follow this blog using a feed reader, I have included a new menu bar item linking to various endurance sports pics over the years so if you want to look at me, me, me, you can check out Say Cheese.
Some of the pics include adventure races, triathlon events, marathons, and trail runs.
