Philly Marathon

Earlier this week while talking to Kristen Roe, my business partner/coach we set my paces for Philly. To keep it simple my 1/2 was supposed to be 1:38 and full was 3:08-3:10. The next biggest obstacle was which shoes I would wear. This is huge for me and more than 95% psychological but none the less I brought 2 pair with me. The temp was supposed to be 40, which meant dress accordingly. I did that except
It seemed to drop in temp when the sun went behind clouds.
So everything was in place for a Big Bang to go out on and end 2012. I was within 10 seconds of my pace through the 1st 1/2 and felt like a million dollars. Picked up my pace to try for MY goal of 3:05. I was on my way to that when a guy dropped a Gu packet and if I didn't juke around him I would have trampled him. In doing that I got a sharp pain in my VMO. That was mile 17.5. It was ok on the up hills but shit luck would have it the hills were basically gone. So I really started getting in my own head and breaking down physically as well. So I ran into a good friend and he pushed me to keep running and ill owe him a beer for that I finished with 3:23:.... Not really sure what the official time is yet but cool to know many people have even asked for details. I know I entertain a lot of people with my race reports but aside from having a burger and beers within the hour of finishing the highlights as follows: chose to wear the Mizzuno Precision 13, and my feet were happy, saw a sign at mile 4 that said you have stamina, call me. My response was she should be closer to the finish if she wants "real" stamina, the fan support was awesome on the whole course, we stayed with a friend, Krista, who lived all of 2 blocks from the start/finish so it was a nice cool down walk with her back after to reunite with Beth, my nutrition and hydration was perfect, the weather was cool but I think that helped keep me fresh and most importantly I beat my last marathon time by over 1hr and 10 minutes. I guess I better mention how Orlin Howell, my Du inspiration pushed me, literally as he saw me break at mile 24 from the pain in my quad and continued to yell at me for the remainder of the race. It was all I heard until I hit mile 26 because he was sucked up by the crowds. I really couldn't have done it without him.
Now I'm on 2 weeks of rest which is my off season and then I start training for Alabama and the Duathlon Nationals. I'm very excited about how much progress I have made in the last year and will continue to make this winter.
In closing a special thank you to Orlin, who pushed me when I wanted to quit, Krista for her hospitality, Kevin for the awesome beer we drank, and most of all Beth who deals with my dumb-ass ideas and is willing to stand around while I suffer and then drive me home so I can type this.

Thank you to everyone on helping me have an awesome year and all of the kind words of support. They aren't ignored and I value all of your responses, wherever they come from.

Ed

Next Season

So this season hasn't ended yet but I am working on some things for next season already. I have put together what looks to be an awesome season of racing and can't wait for the marathon to come and go so I can refocus on my true love, duathlons.
Here is a quick run down of the races I will be doing and Beth is very excited to see how much money I am able to spend on travel and hotels. I think it will be time to start racking up the frequent flier miles and I plan on making next season the best yet.
I have a few new sponsors for next season and am still looking for a couple more. More to come on this as it develops. So here is a rough sketch of my races:

•         Prospect Park Duathlon
•         Double Oaks Duathlon (ITU Qualifier 2013)
•         Orange County Duathlon (ITU Qualifier 2013)
•         Apple Duathlon (ITU Qualifier 2013)
•         Wilkes-Barre Duathlon
•         Warrior Duathlon
•         ITU World Championships (Ottawa Canada)
•       USAT Duathlon Nationals (ITU Qualifier 2014)

Empire State 1/2 marathon

What a great fall day for a race. Being that it was 44 at the start and not raining I was super excited to have a great performance. Mostly because all of my long runs for the last 3 weeks have been in the pouring rain. I knew there would be a great field and Kristen and I decided on an agressive pacing plan. I wanted to test my legs and see how hard I could push since all of my long runs have been at tempo so I went out hard for the 1st 5k to see how my time has improved over the season and after hitting mile 3 in 18:30 I backed off the pace and settled in to my pace for the remainder (6:40). I finished with a 6:44 pace, 1:29:37 for 13.3 miles, and took 3rd in my age group. I was very pleased as there was some of the best local racers I know in the field and also in my age group.

Next up for me is Philly which will be the end of my season and after today I am really looking forward to getting in under 3:11. Kristen and I have set a goal of 3:10 but I am pushing for 3:05. It is flat and fast, same as today but the hard part for me is the mental breaks and turning off my brain. This is something to work on in the coming weeks.