Batesville and Back

     First off, was able to get out on my bike for the second time this week.  Haven't done that since last November, so a victory in itself.  M opted to cut her training ride short today and add a brick run (a brick is doing 2 of the triathlon sports in there respective order i.e. swimming then getting out onto the bike, or in this case we rode 38 miles then she got off the bike and ran for 6 more).  I was in for the ride but no run for me.  We had both been reading race reports form various HIM's (Half IronMan) and the most popular thing that people wish they would have done more of are bike to run bricks.  The weather was absolutely awesome.  Sunny, a little on the breezy side, but a temp of 60-65 kept the ride nice.  I tried to come up with a route she had never been on before.  We parked over at Azalea Park and took off through town and out 250 towards Ivy.  We took a shortcut on Bloomfield Rd and hit Dick Woods Rd. all the way to Batesville.  From here we circled back around via Plank Rd. and Old Lynchburg back to the car. 

One of the most interesting mailboxes I have seen in the Albemarle County area.

We cam across this dear just past the Miller School.  Clearly it was either injured , sick, or just very tame.  I couldn't resist the picture but hopefully the road crew down the road got him up and moving.

Coming down into Batesville, the view in the 2 pics above was sweet.  It felt like you were on top of the world.

The last mystery of the day came from these purple house looking things we kept seeing hanging from trees.  The appeared to be made out of metal.  All tolled I think I saw 5 or 6 of them between Dick Woods Rd. and Old Lynchburg.  If anyone cares to enlighten me on what these are, I would love to know.

     Ran across a great buy last night.  Found this deal that lets you get $85 worth of gear for $45.  I needed some new Jammers anyway, so this was perfect for some other free gear.  It also allows you to tack on an extra coupon code (source) for an extra 15% off (it was either 15 or 20 can't remember).  If you need any swim/bike/run gear check it out.  It ends in about 2 days.

     Working all weekend, but good luck to those taking part in the Park to Park Half Marathon in Waynesboro, VA.  Truly, this is one of the best running races I have done.  They do a fabulous job at a reasonable price.  Barring any crazy turns in the weather, I still plan on doing the Appalachian Power Smith Mountain Lake Sprint next Saturday 5/7, but will be a late registration in case it doesn't work out.  I want to try to fit in some extra open water swimming this summer before any bigger races and planning some family trips down there so its a good time to check out the lake.  Enjoy the great weather this weekend and give thanks to God, the one who makes each day possible.

Nothing Special

     Here is the Garmin details of my trail run from this morning with Scooby.  I think I have said before, but the Garmin 305 is the best piece of training technology that I have purchased.  Don't have a lot going on right now.  Was able to get to the pool this morning and get in 2100 yds and tagged along with M yesterday on her max training ride in her HIM (Half IronMan) training.  I took it easy and enjoyed my miles, she may tell you otherwise about the 60 that she did.  The heat is starting to take its toll this year which makes training that much harder.  The rides will have to get earlier especially when the kids are out of school.  Have another great set of photos from the ride.  This is undoubtedly one of my favorite routes.  I will spell out the route for the locals.  Old Lynchburg to Dudley Mountain Road, Dudley Mtn to Red Hill Road, Red Hill Road to Taylors Gap, Taylors Gap to Edge Valley (Bundoran Farm), Edge Valley to Plank, then follow Plank back over to Old Lynchburg and back home.

Dudley Mountain Road

Taylors Gap

My favorite house on Edge Valley Road (above pic is their barn)

Springtime in Virginia.  The sweet smell of manure.  Can't get any better.

     I don't think I would be human if I failed to recognize how awesome God's creation is around us when I am on these rides.  I have told M more than once that the solitude and time spent out in the middle of the country draws me closer to God.  When you see him all around its hard not to.  I feel blessed and am thankful every day that he has given me the opportunity and ability to participate in these activites.  Some days there are many answers that can be found on those lonely Virginia roads.

  

     I have been working on a couple things that I hope I can talk about soon.  I have read several articles lately about the affects of gluten/wheat on the body.  I will share the best article later, but I can't help but think that there are a large number of people out there being negatively affected by wheat/gluten that one might think.  The majority of them don't even know it.  I think the statistic I saw was 1 in 7 people are said to be gluten intolerant to some degree.  It seems like every couple weeks or so I run into someone new that has been diagnosed with Celiac or has chosen to try going gluten free due to other physical problems.  

     The badminton net is in full effect.  B put it up largely on his own the other day.  A great way to spend time with the family, as long as you can keep the dog from toppling the net.  Later

Around the Mountain

     Headed out yesterday morning to "walk quickly" a trail that will remain nameless.  I have not run on this trail before, because technically you are not supposed to run here (although when I was there previously I saw many people running, so not sure here).  Anyhow, I dropped off the kids at school and headed out.  I thought to myself, it is a short run of around 4 miles which should be perfect for my recovering legs.  I was mistaken.

It was hills like these that I did not anticipate that were punishing

The scenery was awesome, which is why I decided to share the pics.  My legs just did  not want to cooperate.  They still feel heavy and I can tell they are just not recovered yet.  I am 11 days post marathon and have taken numerous off days with almost no hard workouts.  I will continue on this schedule until the legs come back.  Having said all that, the trail was a bit hillier and rockier than I had anticipated.

an ankle buster 

     There is an upper and lower lake out here and about 2/3 of the way through my run I came upon the land bridge that crosses these 2 lakes.  There was another interesting structure that stuck out in the middle of the upper lake.

pump house?

land bridge

I can only guess that it is a pump house.  I thought it may be a fancy overflow drain, but there was a nice spillway off to the side to serve that purpose.  

     I concluded my run and headed off to the pool to meet M for some long course swimming.  Swimming is one thing I can do right now that is not a huge strain on my legs.  The weather is definitely heating up out there.   Make sure you stay hydrated even when you don't need it.  Once you get down on fluids it is almost impossible to catch up in a workout situation when it is hot out.

     The cool thing about this trail for me is I can make it over there almost entirely off road.  If you use the Biscuit Run trails and catch the Rivanna Trail you only have to navigate about a 2 miles section of gravel road to get there.  Might be good for an early morning long run this summer before it gets hot, but will have to check on the "no running" policy.  Later.

Events and Grace

     I struggle sometimes putting thoughts together.  A lot of times I think of these great topics when I am driving to work or out on a bike ride, but when it comes time to put them on the screen I blank.   Guess I need to start writing them down or making notes in my phone or something.
     B and P were fortunate enough to attend the yearly CYAC banquet for their swim team.  They had fun with all their swim friends and B had been waiting for weeks to get his regional medals, which he finally got.

Here is his display of medals (in the baggies) that he is so very proud of.  The big blue ribbon, however, is arguably the most important.  It is the team record ribbon which means he now holds the boys 9-10 year old record for the 100yd breaststroke for all CYAC members dating all the way back to at least 1980.  Humbled and proud.
     The workouts have been light lately.  I have been to the pool a couple times in the past few days, did my first 4 mile run with Scooby on Friday since the marathon, and did a 15 mile city loop ride today in the wind.  I am enjoying the diversity though.
     Last Friday I had the opportunity to help out Setup Events at the Rumpass in Bumpass Triathlon weekend with a few of my teammates from FCA Endurance.  We volunteer at various events to help them with setup, packet pickup etc... and they graciously allow us to put gospel tracts in the packets for each athlete to read.  A gospel tract is a small 4x6 booklet of sorts that explains how to come to Jesus and what he can do for you. Here are some pics from the race site on the edge of Lake Anna.

Transition entry/exit for the bike 

The swimmers enter the water to the left of this pic and exit the water to your right.

Registration tent

          Being holy week this week, I try to focus on what exactly it was that Jesus did throughout this week.  I look at his steps from his entrance on Palm Sunday to Easter morning when he rose and exited the tomb where they had placed his battered body.  I don't know why but this week I have been thinking a lot about the concept of grace.  I am ashamed to say it wasn't until early last year that I tried to look up and get a handle on what it meant.  Many people use this term on a regular basis: "thank you for being so gracious", "by the grace of God", or even when we say grace before a meal.  I was watching a documentary last week that involved the evolution of the military and some of the struggles they have faced.  In my mind, the similarity to the way Jesus must have felt is remarkable.  Think about our soldiers, fighting for their country and the freedom of all those in that country.  They come home from Vietnam only to be spit on, ridiculed, and told to go away after they just put their life on the line for these very people.  Even today, their are war protesters that dispute soldiers being in battle and openly condemn their actions with hurtful words even as these soldiers die in a country thousands of miles away from the ones they protect. I suspect this is how Jesus felt when he was crucified and I also suspect that he is treated this same way by many today.  It is only through his grace (magic word) that we are fortunate enough to know him.  Think about it, we are born into sin, not to mention the time we spend throughout an unspecified number of years ignoring him, and in some cases condemning him, yet he has enough grace to not only accept us but to love us, despite what we have done.  Grace, doing something for someone even when they do not deserve it.  Admittedly, it will take me a while to really grasp this one.

    

Carters Mountain Road Ride

Took a short ride with M today on one of her longer training rides.  I had 2 days off post marathon which was much needed.   My legs felt like lead and hurt like crazy.  Yesterday was the first day they felt better so I decided to hit the pool for a short swim to activate my legs a bit.  Today was nice out and I woke up with almost no soreness, so I thought I would get the legs moving and flush out some of those toxins from the weekend.  I ended up doing the ever so scenic Carter Mountain Road/Old Lynchburg loop. 

     If you live in the area, this is one of the most scenic rides to do.  We leave from our house and  ride up the crushed gravel Monticello Trail and pop out onto Rt.53 then on to Carters Mountain Road (which is what you see above).  The road is nice and the farms are beautiful.  The monster of the road used to be the expansive Kluge Estate and Winery.  It is now owned by the one and only Donald Trump.  Maybe he can set up an extra water stop for us this summer if he isn't busy.

Look close between the trees and you may see The Donald's new shack

Here is his small grape operation

Who could forget the gate out front.  We all have one of these, right?

     

     M took off for some more mileage while I headed home on the rest of the 30 mile loop.  I got a flat tire coming up Old Lynchburg.  This seems to be a common occurrence with me lately.  I opted to CO2 it once and that was enough to get me home as long as I didn't let the wheels stop turning.  The pressure provided by the spinning wheel is enough to keep the air from leaking out very fast.  Either my tire is worn out or something keep busting my tube from the inside.  Never leave home without a new tube, a way to blow it up, and the knowledge of how to change the tire if need be.  It seems to go in spurts with me.  I may flat 2-3 times in a matter of a month and then nothing for a year.  Hopefully I have hit my quota for this year.
     On a side note, we checked out this new show tonight on TLC called Extreme Couponing, and these people are unbelievable. Talk about inspiration.  $800 dollar grocery bills for 40 bucks!

Charlottesville Marathon Race Report

    

First and foremost, thanks be to God for giving me the strength and will to finish this race.  In him all things are possible.  The race was awesome.  We could not have asked for a better day.  I will recount as much of the race as I can remember.

Pre-Race:  M and I got up about 5a, had a banana, and headed out into the cold night sky toward the downtown mall.  It was slightly foggy and about 45 degrees and race time was 6:30a.  I had woken up very early (around 4a) and not been able to fall back asleep, as is typical of me on race day, but felt pretty well rested with about 5.5 hours of sleep.  We checked out the arena which held all the pre-race packet pickup, vendors, and bag drop where I dropped off my backpack. Headed outside for the start.  M said a prayer for both of us while at the start then we were off.

Race Notes:  Headed out at a pace faster than I had planned but not faster than I anticipated.  It felt good but when I looked down and saw we were doing 8-8:15 miles I got a bit worried.  This is a hilly marathon and thought there would be no chance at all for me to break 4 hours.  I had planned on 4:20 with 4:10 being a good race and under 4:00 would have definitely been a surprise.  The miles flashed along and was still feeling good at that pace.  The first 13.1 is an out and back, which is nice because you get to see the leaders with the motorcade headed back in to town.  Also nice to see some of my other friends running the race when we pass each other.  The last 2-3 miles back to the finish line for the half marathoners is mostly downhill and they are all blasting to the finish line, so what better way to get ready for the pain and anguish of realizing you still have 13.1 to go than to blast with them (lessons learned).  My 13.1 split was about 1:51.45.  The half marathoners split off about 100 yds before the finish line, which is when you realize that about 3/4 of the field is done with their part of the race.  It became somewhat lonely after that as the crowd and people to look at died way down.  The second half of the marathon is comprised of 2 - 6.5 mile loops.  In retrospect, this makes for a very difficult race psychologically.  I was still feeling good and probably hitting 8:30-8:45 miles.  At around mile 17.5 a guy comes flying by me. It might as well have been superman, but it wasn't.  It was the race leader passing me on his second lap and looking as fresh as the morning dew.  I jumped out of the way of his entourage of motorcycles and continued on.  It started getting difficult coming back in on the first loop.  I think I dropped my pace on the way to completing the first lap knowing that I was coming up on an aid station where I could hopefully refuel.  This is about the point when I think to myself that I can break 4 hours if I can hold on til the end.  

Here I am at mile 20 chucking one of my fuel bottles to M.  Looking at this picture is the first time I realized I did not wear my sunglasses (which I usually run with) and that you cannot see my FCA visor.  Bummer. 

M ran with me for a couple hundred yards so I could steal some water from her leftover bottle then I was off for lap #2, let the suffering begin.

     Lap #2 on this 6.5 mile loop is a little bit of a blur. I know my legs started cramping at around mile 22 or 23.  It was from this point on where I start remember all the things people had told me about marathons.  I had always heard (and shrugged off) that the last 6 miles feels like another half marathon.  It did.  The pain in that last 6 miles was not something I have ever felt.  I think if I had run my original pace at about 9:30 miles, it would have been different.  But as many of you know, raceday brings a whole new gear in to play.  A gear that is not available to you at any other time than on raceday.  The choice at hand is to use the gear or not.  I decided fairly early on that this gear was feeling good and I was going to ride it for as long as I could knowing full well that I would have to deal with the pain that this gear would provide later in the race.  The wheels fell off (along with the gear) at mile 24.5.  At this point I see people walking, shuffling, running bowlegged.  I am at about a 10 minute mile now and trudging along trying to goo myself to the end with my stomach in revolt.  I am still trying to do the math in my head.  I was pushing to try and beat that 4 hour mark.  I checked my Garmin several times to check my time wondering if it was correct.  I pass the last aid station which means about 500 yds to the finish.  It was a long 500 yds.  I hit the mat at 3:54.27 (chip time). 

Me in the back heading up to the line.

 Everyone says smile for the camera when you cross.  Thats the best I could do.

     I was happy with the time and am glad I ran the race the way I did, but I have been paying for it since I hit that mat which was around 36 hours ago.  I am sure I will be recovering for the next week or so.

     M had a great race also.  She finished at 2:08 with it being a training race for her.  All in all it was a great morning of running.  Will include more tidbits later this week.

In front of the arena

Post race trying to get warm.