Pere Marquette Trail Run

How would you like to be cold, wet, muddy all at the same time? Well, I had my chance at the annual Pere Marquette trail run on December 8th. It was my first run at the park and the conditions would be much different than any race I had participated before. The temperature was in the 40s with ice and mud on the 7.5 mile trail, with multiple hills to get through!

Since this was a trail run and there were 600 runners, the start was staggered in waves every 30 seconds to break up the faster runners and to spread the line out a bit. Therefore, the early runners had the distinct advantage of a clean trail, unlike the rest of us who galloped our way through a mix of ice, snow and mud during the entire race.


I did my best to during the flatter stages but the hills were difficult to climb (as most people would walk the hills) as I had to maneuver around the walkers on the slippery ice and snow to get around them, so most times I walked just to get my heart rate down. The cold air just zapped the strength but managed my second wind around the 4 mile mark when the trail was at its muddiest, where each step was like thick, chocolate pudding which stuck to my shoes adding more weight to my stride each time. Too bad the temperature wasn't below freezing where this mud would have been easier to run on.


Toward the end when we climbed some huge steps for what seemed like hours, my legs were starting to feel the pain and as finally reached the summit and I began my descent back to the finish, I put the body into overdrive and through caution to the wind and pushed myself to get to the finish line at 1:20. (10:46 minute/mile). This was the most difficult run to date as the conditions made it difficult to open up during the entire run.

Well, here's to some mud in your eye..... ;-)


Mr. Red Horse




Brett

First Half Marathon!

28th St. Louis Track Club Half Marathon

It was inevitable. After a few month of training (should have done more) I decided to try a half marathon. Yes, 13.1 miles (21 km) 6918 feet, anyway you measure the distance its a long way!!

The run was in St. Louis in Clayton and ran through Forest Park most of the route. It was more hilly than I expected and quite warm for November 11th. The race started at 8:oo am sharp with over 400 participates at the start. I didn't have my Garmin (see Chicago Urbanathon blog below) but some of the check points had digital clocks to measure your progress. I drank two Ensures before the start and felt good at the 6.5 mile mark, pacing myself at a constant 9 minute mile. Toward the second loop as we climbed more hills I slowed down a bit continued on my pace to finish before two hours. The last two miles were painful as my body had never gone this far before while running. My mind wanted to finish but the body wanted to stop now!!

I finished with a time of 1:55:08. This was good as my goal was to finish under two hours and I kept the pace below 9 minutes.

Next goal is the full marathon baby - 26.2 miles ( 42 km) Nothing schedule yet....

Brett

the red horse

Chicago Urbanathlon!

A wild finish in the Windy City! A few friends and I drove up to Chicago to participate in the first Urbanathlon! I was a run with multiple obstacles during the race along Lake Shore drive starting in Grant Park. With five different obstacles this made for an interesting challenge for everyone involved.







The first obstacle was at the end of the Navy Pier. These were the Jersey Barricades with culverts in between. This was quite a challenge after running about 4 miles and with my heart rate maxed, it was true pandemonium for everybody to get through.








The second obstacle was the most difficult because it was after running for 5 miles up Lake Short drive and these Marine Hurdles were over 6 ft tall so many individuals (women) had a difficult time getting over with out help. Fortunately there was sand to cushion the fall on each hurdle.







After running for 9 miles it was time to do some climbing - Soldier field style!! Yes, we starting at the entrance and worked our way all the way up to the nosebleed seats and it was timed as an individual stage. I was able to finish in 5: 44 which was 455th out of 850 total. This part could have been much faster but as you can see, it was single file up to the top so it was hard to speed up and pass. By far, this one tasked the heart the most, it was the heat of the day and after 10 miles we were getting tired!

Yes, we had to jump, slide, roll, or whatever you could do to get over the Taxi cabs. At the end of the race even the windshields were broken. This was by far the easiest of the obstacles but it was the most fun too. I jumped over the cab, much like it pictured here, I didn't have time to do a Bo and Luke Duke slide!

After jumping over the taxis we were confronted with this very colorful wall to get over. At this point my adrenaline took over and I just grabbed the rope and scaled it like superman! Some of the women needed assistance but most were able to make it over after running a gruelling 12.2. miles!

Well, there you have it. The first Urbanathlon in Chicago, we came we saw and we conquered the Urbanathlon! No age group winners though, however we all finished with respectable times. We also had a great tour of Chicago afterwards although we were all very tired. Time to start training for next year and then we will be ready for the Nija Warrior in Japan! Boo Yahh!

the Red Horse

Brett

Live free and fly!

It was time to change things up a bit and try something I had never done before: skydiving. It was something I always wanted to try but never had the nerve, until a couple crazy guys talked me into it. What better way to spend a day then to jump out of an airplane!

It was on a beautiful October weekend, an extended summer this year so it was a hot day. We all drove out to Archway Skydiving, out in Vandalia, IL about an hour away from East of St. Louis. We decided to do a tandem, jump mainly which means the instructor is connected to you on the way down wears the parachute, all you do is enjoy the ride. The hardest part is, of course, jumping out of the plane!

We went through a myriad of paperwork to sign so that to save us the time and money in trying to sue them if something went wrong. We also viewed a video to enforce that point again. After that we dawned our flying gear and some preliminary instructions on how to fly and land! Yes, very important. During this time we were being video taped for DVD prosperity which is great idea for the first jump!

The plane itself was small, enough to hold about 10 people with some gear and the pilots. The jump window was just a round rolodex type window that rolled up and there was the outside. No locks, no bars, no nothing, just the windy outside! Once inside, and somewhat comfortable, the plane was up in the air gaining altitude slow according to my newly altimeter that I was wearing for the trip. At about 6k, two divers rolled up the window and jumped out! Wow! I was going to do this, I was feeling a bit nervous but not enough to just not do it. Both Jay and I looked out side to find the two early jumpers and watch as the roads a became smaller and less visible through the clouds. The sun was getting close to setting, but it would still be a few hours yet for that and we would be back home to Vandalia within the hour.

We came up to 14000 feet and it was time to jump. The girl with us went first, she didn't see reluctant, her instructor moved her toward the rolled up window and like, that -- they we were - out and gone! Then, Jay went next, my heart was starting to beat faster now and he was gone. Now it was my turn. I noticed that the instructors didn't waste too much time as we got to the open window. We rocked a few times and then out I went -- into the cold air (probably less than 20 degrees) and just like that I was flying, probably faster than my car would ever get up to, viewing the clouds, sun and the video guy in front of me while we turn a 360, it was an amazing feeling of just falling and just like that it was over! What seemed like 10 minutes was only 60 seconds of free fall at near terminal velocity was short but quite exhilarating than any other sport , circus ride I've every done!

If you ever have the chance, step up and do it!

the flying Red horse

Sandy Creek Century

Hello again, another fun-filled day of biking, heat, sweat, water and tasty liquid goos to report about today. Yesterady, I did the the last 5 Star Century series last Saturday in Hillsboro, MO. For October it was unseasonable warm, especially for an early 4:30am wake up time.






It was a dark and humid morning for this last 100 mile bike ride. Also, it was an hour drive down to Hillsboro, Missouri so it was going to be another adventure just to find the starting location. Alas, I had better directions and an hour and 15 minutes I made it to the starting point.

After 5 century rides this I was beginning to get into a routine to prepare for the ride so I'd not forget any item, like shoes, gloves, sunglasses, body glide, etc. I had already pre-registered so the paperwork was done, just needed the map and some sunlight to lead the way. Along with my biking pal, we punched are time cards in at 7:01 am and started out with a low temp of 82 degrees! It was going to be a very hot day! The ride was setup at two loops, one for the mourning and another loop in the afternoon. The first loop was going to be 64 miles and then we finish off the 36 miles in the afternoon. It was a nice ride for the first 20 miles as we averaged a respectable 17 mph but we always tend to be faster at the beginning part of the ride as we are fresh and the heat hasn't zapped are energy yet! We tried to minimize stop time as much as possible, filling up the water bottles and moving on. It was temping to sit down but then I would not get back up so it was important not to rest too long.

The interesting part of these long rides is sometimes lost as I always focused on speed and not so much the scenery that I passed along the route. Since this ride was going to be slower I relaxed a bit and noticed more of the interesting points along the ride. At the 36 mile mark along West Rock Creek road we saw Stonehenge Estates complete with massive stone monoliths much like the ones at the real Stonehenge, a funny thing to see in that area of Missouri. There was a another interesting site as we rode in the valley of several miles of sod fields being watered and taking in the morning sun. It looked very much like what you see in the foot ball stadium accept on much larger scale. A plastic mesh protected the top of the sod (from what?) and it had a perfect painted color of green along the entire stretch for miles to see. The hills slowed us down and along with the two rest stops we managed to finish the first loop at 11:30. After a short rest and a quick bite to eat we were off for the afternoon loop of only 36 miles!

Since this was my 6th century of the year, and surprisingly my body has slowly adjusted to the long stress of riding 100 miles during the day. This ride was no different as I felt good on the second loop even with the higher temperature and more hills to climb, there was no acute soreness that would have stopped me going another an additional 20 to 30 miles more after the ride. I was a bit tired toward the end but that was too be expected. We finally rolled in around 2:30pm after 6.5 hours on the bike, punched in the time card and picked up our Sandy Creek patch for the ride. The ride was about as difficult as the July Steel Legs Century, although not as hot we still climbed over 11,000 feet and still manged a 15. 3 avg throughout the entire ride.

So, the end of the Century season is gone. It was a great year for riding, with the new bike and the newly purchased Garmin 305 I have been able to log some impressive mileage this year. I plan to get in some more rides this year but no more century rides. I look forward to the next year's century rides!

Red Horse

Brett

Praire Dog Century fun

Last Saturday (Sept 22nd) was the 5th century for the Indian Crossing Century series. As I missed the August Century in Millstadt this was my 4th for the Century series and will do the makup century ride in October.
The ride was in St. Paul Missouri, north of St. Peters and not too easy to find in the dark. We all managed to get there and prep for the ride. I had signed up ahead of time which makes in processing much faster then the previous century bike rides.

So the start of the ride was later due to a later sun rise and someone was late.... Anyway the first loop (am route) was fairly hilly and we even meandered over to Wright City, MO where I was just a week ago for the Innsbook Triathlon. I stayed in the small group for the first 30 miles and then I decided to accelerate and push myself a bit on the last half of the mourning ride. I was able to manage a 19.1 mph/avg for the mourning ride. Unfortunately, I wasn't the first rider to finish as I saw other rider leaving to start the afternoon ride. I punched in (the card keeps track of your total time) and sat down to eat from the tasty buffet served in the Knights of Columbus hall. The food was great, lots of bread, ham, turkey and peanut butter and jelly served in small plastic cups!

The lunch was short (about 15 minutes ) as I wanted to finish the ride before the weather heated up and head winds started. The two loops for the course, one for the morning and afternoon intersected so some bikers would be from the morning loop not the afternoon loop. This made it imperative that you watched the road so as not too miss any arrows for any turns. Well, it turns out as I battled two bikers on the pm loop I missed a turn and ended up back at the start. I decided to restart the second loop again and after 20 miles saw where I missed my turn. I was already at 90 miles so I decided to bike back to the start and call it a day. After six hours on the bike I was tired, my legs were in pain and so was the rest of my body! I did a total of 95 miles which was close enough. I learned not to race through the course as I might miss a turn and get lost of even bike more miles! (which never happens!)


Till the next Bike Century....


Red Horse


Brett

Innsbrook part deux

Yes, here we are almost at the end of September! It has been a busy month. A bit late for my review of my last triathlon but here it is!

A few weeks ago, the Championship Tri was here in Innsbrook again. I and some friends of mine took the challenge and competed in the QuarterMax on September 16h. The HalfMax (a half IronMan) was the previous day but that will have to wait for next year!

Overall it was similar to the Tri in June, same course but now twice as long. I stayed with a friend at one of the condos at the private resort so I didn't have to make the 1 1/2 drive to the private resort out in Wright City, MO from Illinois. It was already a long day as earlier that day I was up in Springfield, IL visiting my brother's family for a birthday. After all of that I went home and checked all of my stuff and drove out to Innsbrook that evening. We relaxed and watched some previous Ironman videos to inspire us to greatness for the big event.

Sunday was warmer than the previous morning, and as we arrived at the transition there were a few dawning their wetsuits for the swim. I had no wetsuit and the water was still a warm 73 degrees so I wasn't worried. There was a moment of silence for former Triathlete Kevin Hunt who had died in previous Triathlon in June. His father was there to say a few words which had to take lots of courage but showed great respect for the sport.

After all of the prep work and training it was time to test ourselves and push our bodies to the limit once again. As we wading in the water anticipating the start (now there was a new option to start after the mass wave now) I wondered how I would do and if I could finish before 3 hours. It was possible, the temp was cooler so our heart rates would be lower, therefore resulting in a faster time.

The swim went okay, still having problems with the goggles (leaking during the swim) I managed to finish in little over 20 minutes (1000 meter) and off to the T1 transition were I dawned my helmet and bike shoes to tackle the 28 mile bike loop of undulating hills. The bike part is my strongest and I did well although I lost time behind a tractor trailer (ugggg!) trying to pass two other bikers so that slowed me down but still managed a 19.6 avg for the entire ride. Then it was off to the T2 for the fun run of 6.5 miles. I wanted a quicker transition this time and ran with no socks! I paid a bit for that at the end as I started some blisters on my right foot (doh!). I managed a sub 9 minute pace (8:46 to be exact) and that was more than 30 seconds faster than my June Tri at Innsbook with all of the hills and gravel on this run so that was an improvent (boo yahh!). My total time was 2:42:05 about 32 minutes behind the leader in my age group so I was 12th out 17 in my age group, which is not good but this was the championship weekend so this brought out all of the tri studs, which, as a beginner, am not.

Lots of fun, good food and lesson learned for the next Tri race. I enjoy the course there at Innsbrook although it would be nice if those country roads we biked on were closed as this can cause problems sometimes. Overall I gained some more experience and hope to fine tune my T1 and T2 times for the next Triathlon in the future. For now, I will concentrate on my run as this is my biggest weakness and where I lose most of my time.

till next time....

Red Horse - Brett

Today I registered for....

The IronMan Wisconsin in 2008!!

Guess I had better start training so I can finish and qualify for Kona!*
*Kona is where the IronMan started - Hawaii Baby!

Lake Saint Louis Triathlon

Yes, its been a while since my last post. Busy busy busy.... Anyway, on September 1st was the Lake St. Louis Triathlon in, of course, Lake St. Louis. I had been there last year for the triathlon, but only as a sub for the long course swim. This time around I signed up for the short course which this 500 meter swim, 12 mile bike and 2.5 mile run.

This was one of the biggest Triathlons in the St. Louis area, with 750 participants this year. This was also the 25th year anniversary of this triathlon for Lake St. Louis! Had heard that there were four individuals that had participated in all 25 triathlons and they were here today! Wow! What an achievement! Will I be doing triathlons for the next 25 years? Wait 25 more years and find out!

Because there were so many participants this year I had to get there early! So I was up at around 3:30am in the morning (everything was packed the night before) and was on the road by 4:15am! I arrived at Lake St. Louis at 5:15am and was able to get a good parking spot near the transition area. I picked up my packed, (number 651) and prepared my short stay in the transition area for the big race.

This was a lake swim and a relatively hilly bike and run course so it was going to be a challenge but my goal was to finish under 2 hours and to better my transition times.

Here are my posted results: Swim - 8:46 Bike 37:58 and Run 19:53 total time 1:10:25

I placed 16th out of 224 participants.

Total time for both T1 and T2 was 3:37 which was a huge improvement over my last triathlon for the Stoneman in Springfield. The bike average was a measly 19 mph but there were hills and a turnaround spot where we had to stop! ugggg! And of course the run, just slightly better than the Stoneman and at least a sub 8:00 min/pace. I had changed the routine for the transitions, no Garmin Edge 305 and no socks for the bike or run. So with those changes I was able to shave off time for both this time around.


later,

Red Horse out

Brett

Can you tame the Babler Beast?

Today was the annual Babler Beast Triathlon in Wildwood, MO Its your basic triathlon, 500 meter swim, 12.5 mile bike ride and 2.8 mile run. The difference here is the that there are some huge hills out there in Babler park. If you biked or hiked out there you know what I'm talking about!

This year, the pool was open (last year it was closed due to storms) so it was a normal tri. My start time was at 9am so it was going to be a hot one. This is the dog days of summer here in the St. Louis are so by 10am the temps are already in the 90s with that wonderful humidity index added in so you must drink down the sodium to keep from cramping.

I did well in the pool but my transitions are terrible. I wanted to were my Garmin 305 but had problems while on the bike. From now on no more Garmin, only for training purposes only. I did very well on the three laps on the bike, averaging about a 19mph with a max speed of 48 mph down those steep hills. Since I didn't have the Garmin I don't know how fast I ran but I finished the race in 1 hour and 10 minutes. I was forth in my Age group and 27th overall. It was a hot day and if I did better in both transitions I could have gained some more time. Lesson learned and will work on that for the Lake St. Louis Triathlon on September 1st.

Brett

Steel Legs

What is a century? 100 dollars? 100 years? 100 miles?

In this case the correct answer is 100 miles! This ride was called the Steel Legs organiazed by the Ghisallo bike shop in Chesterfield, MO The ride is named due to amount of hills during the ride. Needless to say this was the most difficult century ride I had every attempted. The heat, plus the hills made it a very long and strenuous ride. I still managed 16mph plus average which is good speed for such a hilly, hot, humid ride.

My First Post

Welcome to my blog Live Free Tri. Yes, it's a cony title but what it works and it was available! I believe in living free and trying harder in whatever you do, in my case Triathlons. This log will chronicle my triathlons, training and whatever adventures come my way.
Enjoy!


Brett