What a run! Last weekend I participated in the Music City Half Marathon, and man was it tough. I mean it could have been the fact that I haven't ran over 3 miles since December. Even then I think the most I had ran was 6 miles, but I knew I could push myself to finish. Which I did! My goal was to finish without stopping and I succeeded. The race had many hills, they weren't very steep, but gradual hills are just as horrid on a long run, 13.1 miles to be exact. This race was definitely harder to finish than the Navy Seal Extreme Off-Road Challenge, probably because we really just tried to have fun on that race, but I pushed for pride on this one. I had been told that my legs tiring out would be the worst aspect of the race, and I assumed that since I had been working my leg strength up since I was 10 that it wouldn't be a problem for me. Wow, was I wrong; by the end it felt like I had just finished about 5 P90X leg workouts in a row! Around mile 7 my legs started to burn like no other, and those dreadful hills didn't help much either. But, about every mile or so there was a water and Cytomax (kind of like Gatorade) station, and if it weren't for those little drinks to give me the extra burst of energy & an intense adrenaline pumping song along the way, I might not have been able to reach my goal. I finished in 2:01:23 according to the website and came in 4003 out of approximately 32000. It truly was an experience I'll never forget, running with that many people, but it will be awhile before I compete in anymore races.
"A lot of people run a race to see who's the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts."
- Steve Prefontaine
Friday, April 30, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Boredom
So I was bored the other day and decided to mess around with my webcam. I thought the pictures looked funny so I showed them to Samantha and she came up with this montage. Enjoy! :-)
( . . . Hey is that aliens . . .? )
( Holy Crap it's aliens! )
( I better just kill myself now . . . )
( No. . . I must stand and fight! Take that aliens! )
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind"
- Dr. Seuss
Post - Navy Seal Extreme Challenge
So last weekend was the race, and man was it awesome! It was absolutely the funnest race I have ever competed in. When we arrived Friday to set up camp we met Dan, the leader of the Smoky Mountain Endeavors Organization & a 20 year Navy Seal Veteran; he was a really cool and surprisingly laid back guy. There was 1 team already there and about an hour later the next team rolled in. We never talked much to the team that arrived before we did, but we sat around the campfire and ate hot dogs with the other team; they were a team of 4 with 3 of their friends there supporting them.
When we woke up the next morning there was already nearly 50 people there. Luckily we had one of the camping areas higher up and away from the parking. As the race progressed we climbed several near vertical hills (the first two being a 600 ft altitude change within .3 miles), completed the uphill obstacle course, ran some more hills, crossed through an ice-cold water tank (body of water), went creek slogging (running along a creek bed w/ flowing water), & completed a practically vertical rope climb. Me and Cory were in fairly good shape for this race, so we had a lot of fun with it, however we talked Scott into competing a week before the race, so he was not in as good of shape. For the short length of time he had to train, he did well, but he did throw up twice. I give him props for pushing himself through it though, however, since we had to cross the finish line as a team, we were there supporting him throughout the event! We finished 4th as a team and were very pleased. Here are some of the pictures from the race, some aren't of us, but in order to show more aspects of the coarse I had to put in some of other people hope you enjoy. :-)
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
The Navy Seal Extreme Off-Road Challenge!
So a couple weeks ago my friend Cory found this race online called the Navy Seal Extreme Off-Road Challenge. After visiting the website and viewing the coarse trail it sounded like a nice challenge so I talked Scott into doing it with me and Cory. And with that our team "Two Zoomies and a Civ" was born, zoomies standing for someone in the Aif Force.
The coarse is very difficult, it is around a 5.6 k, has a 2400' elevation change throughout, slogging (running through small bodies of water), an obstacle coarse, and a near vertical rope climb! Now at the time this sounded like a nice difficult challenge, but still manageable. However, yesterday I looked at a few of the emails that past runners had sent to the man that organizes it. To my surprise I found that many of the runners had more difficulty with this race than with races like the Big South Fork 17.5 mile trail run and the half-Ironman Triathlon! So you can see how I am now trying to train like crazy for this, but I know I have the will-power to succeed, I will just have to dig down deep and strive for the finish. I will be uploading pictures as soon as I receive them after the race. :-)
"I wouldn't say anything is impossible. I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and put the work and time into it."
- Michael Phelps
The coarse is very difficult, it is around a 5.6 k, has a 2400' elevation change throughout, slogging (running through small bodies of water), an obstacle coarse, and a near vertical rope climb! Now at the time this sounded like a nice difficult challenge, but still manageable. However, yesterday I looked at a few of the emails that past runners had sent to the man that organizes it. To my surprise I found that many of the runners had more difficulty with this race than with races like the Big South Fork 17.5 mile trail run and the half-Ironman Triathlon! So you can see how I am now trying to train like crazy for this, but I know I have the will-power to succeed, I will just have to dig down deep and strive for the finish. I will be uploading pictures as soon as I receive them after the race. :-)
"I wouldn't say anything is impossible. I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and put the work and time into it."
- Michael Phelps
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Spring Fever
Yes, finally. . . Warm weather! I was getting so annoyed with snow and bone-chilling wind. With this new warm weather comes a lot more outdoor activities as well. Scott, Ethan and I have been going to the fit lately on Thursdays to play racket ball, set in the sauna, and swim some. We get the same results as if we would have done Kenpo X, since they are both purely cardio. However, now that it's warm out we can go to the park and ride the long trail, which ends up being a fairly hardcore leg workout; and not to mention the awesome frisbee golf coarse they have there.
My friend Cory and I went to Knoxville yesterday to buy some running shoes from Fleet Feet. They are amazing! I've never had running shoes feel so comfortable, however I've never went through such an in-depth process to pick my shoes either. The skilled employees measure your foot sitting down, standing up, watch you walk barefoot, and watch you run in slow motion on a treadmill with your possible shoes. The result for me was some awesome Nike's and for Cory some Saucony's.
The whole reason we went to get new running shoes was because Cory is running in a half-marathon this Sunday. I would have, if I didn't have to work. But, we are thinking about participating in a race called the Navy Seal Ultimate Challenge in the Smoky Mountains. It is a 5k with hills, obstacles, water crossings, and rope climbs, and all with a 2400' elevation change. It would be fun, however, we also want to run the Music City Half-Marathon 2 weeks after that, and I'm just not sure I will be ready and recovered within that short time span, but we shall see when the time comes.
"If someone says, 'Hey, I ran 100 miles this week. How far did you run?' Ignore him! What the hell difference does it make? . . . The magic is in the man, not the 100 miles.
- Bill Bowerman
My friend Cory and I went to Knoxville yesterday to buy some running shoes from Fleet Feet. They are amazing! I've never had running shoes feel so comfortable, however I've never went through such an in-depth process to pick my shoes either. The skilled employees measure your foot sitting down, standing up, watch you walk barefoot, and watch you run in slow motion on a treadmill with your possible shoes. The result for me was some awesome Nike's and for Cory some Saucony's.
The whole reason we went to get new running shoes was because Cory is running in a half-marathon this Sunday. I would have, if I didn't have to work. But, we are thinking about participating in a race called the Navy Seal Ultimate Challenge in the Smoky Mountains. It is a 5k with hills, obstacles, water crossings, and rope climbs, and all with a 2400' elevation change. It would be fun, however, we also want to run the Music City Half-Marathon 2 weeks after that, and I'm just not sure I will be ready and recovered within that short time span, but we shall see when the time comes.
"If someone says, 'Hey, I ran 100 miles this week. How far did you run?' Ignore him! What the hell difference does it make? . . . The magic is in the man, not the 100 miles.
- Bill Bowerman
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