Pirate Tri Weekend 2012

Had a great time this past weekend at the Pirate Tri on Sebago!

Took a sweet ride from the shop and biked towards Maine. Biked illegally(unknowingly) on a highway to get there, and as Murphy's Law would have it, I flatted. I also had no deep dish 80mm tubes. So, after getting a stern talking to from a NH State Trooper, I ran to the next exit with my bike and full pack on.

After about 4 hours of running and walking, my buddy Troy of Northern Physical Therapy picked me up. Went to bed late, and woke up early for the race.

Because of the heavy pack I was carrying, I opted for no wetsuit. Bad choice. The water was so cold, I couldn't stop hyperventilating. I haven't swam that slow since my first triathlon. Awful. 140th "fastest". Always a bad sign to see everyone's bike already gone when you get to transition after the swim!

Onto the bike. I was happy to have a road bike instead of a time trial bike on the crazy hilly course. I passed just about everyone on the course, and when I hit the transition area, I was the first to rack the bike on my group's rack. Always a good sign. 8th fastest bike. Time to run.

I found that spot just below wanting to puke and stayed there. Passed a handful of people and just rolled along. Not sure where I pulled out a 19:40 5k(6th fastest). Not that a 19:40 is super fast at all, but I've only done one speed session, and certainly nothing in that pace range. Speed isn't exactly a priority when training for the Deca. Nevertheless, I was happy with my race at 14th overall and an age group win. Kind of kicked myself for my swim. It cost me a top 5 finish overall, but that's ok. This was nowhere near a priority race, so the turnout was way better than expected.

After a beer with Troy, I got my pack on and headed back to New Hampshire, arriving just before dark. Awesome weekend.

krp

To Run

To run is to flip the middle finger to the world.

The trend is fat and sloppy.
The norm is to work yourself to the bones and buy the next new thing.
The next new thing will always be "EASIER, BIGGER, BETTER!"
The next new thing will always yield the same or worse result.

Society wants to make you lethargic about life and stressed about obligations you've created just to fit in with them.

To run is to be free of it all.
They can't catch you out there. They're too weighed down by it all.
They hate that you have your own mental space. They can't touch it or take it, or find their own, and it makes them crazy.
They call you a "fanatic" because you have a passion outside of their cubicle world.

You have seen a place where all that exists is movement and food and water- and this is all that matters... all that should matter.

To run is to simplify.
To run is to live.

"The thing I treasure most in life cannot be taken away
There will never be a reason why I will surrender to your advice
To change myself, I'd rather die
Though they will not understand
I will make the greatest sacrifice
You can't predict where the outcome lies
You'll never take me alive
I'm alive"
-Disturbed

Shoe Review: Skechers Go Run

As many of you know, I recently started a job at an outdoor outfitter. And while I peddle gear, I am not a "gear guy". I don't like having tons of stuff. I don't get excited about new technology. I commute 30 miles each way every day on a 1993 Trek 1100, with a plastic messenger bag I got for free at a convention 7 years ago. The zipper is broken, so I use a trash bag on rainy days. Just some background.

On my first day, I met Nate Sanel, an ultrarunner and motorcycle shop owner. We chatted a little bit about running and shoes.
He brought up his ties to Skechers, and I stared blankly at him, totally unaware that the company had even considered breaking into the running industry.

Nate was adamant that these things were the real deal. To be honest I was skeptical, given Skecher's history of such inventions as the Shape-Ups "toning" shoe. He mentioned that they had sent him a test pair of a design called the Go Run that was a tad big for him...and that size just happened to be mine.

A couple weeks later, Nate dropped the shoes off for me. I immediately tried them on, interested to try a pair of shoes that hadn't hit the market yet, and curious about the rocker design.

First thing I noticed was an uncomfortable lump in the middle of my foot. Second thing I noticed was how unbelievably light they were. I spent the last few hours at work analyzing just what in the heck the purpose of the lump was.

On my first run, I figured it out. The Go Runs are not meant for standing around at work. They are meant for running. That lump is nonexistent while running, as the shoe's design forces you into a more efficient running style- not just landing mid to forefoot, but landing under the hips.
I am a midfoot striker already, but what I found is that while wearing this shoe, my turnover increased. As you may or may not know, fast leg-speed is much more efficient and leads to faster speed overall.

I generally do not wear socks while running, so I also found the the super-soft upper material to be a plus.

There is very little structure in the mid-sole, other than the lump I referred to. The rest is soft foam, and the shoe has no torsional rigidity to speak of. Think old-school Nike Waffles.

Bottom Line: I believe in the biomechanics of the foot and the body, but am skeptical of most minimalist shoes. However, the Skechers Go Run is a shoe I can hop on board with... at this time for shorter distances of marathon and under. Runners accustomed to the minimalist experience would be able to go long in this shoe. I would recommend using them in speed workouts and tempo runs, and gradually working them into longer runs.

Resolution Proposal for the Original Gangstas of Fitness

We're merely weeks away from 2012.

January 1.
New Years.

Soon, the gym you know will not be the same.
You'll enter at the normal hour, and the treadmill you always use at that time will be occupied.

Flustered, you look over towards the stationary bike you sometimes use, and are frustrated to find that again, someone has dominated your usual machinery.

Glancing around the gym, the scene is the same: sweaty people fumbling with buttons on the cardio machines, constantly adjusting equipment, eyes darting around self-consciously.

Ah, yes. Resolution Season is almost here.
And this is where I throw you off.

I've been participating in endurance sports all of my life. I cannot help but notice that the further I continue on this journey of fitness, the more jaded I become. I think this happens to anyone who experiences too much in one particular area.
Been there, done that, becomes the attitude.

Most Original Gangstas in the fitness community can't help but look at the Posers with disdain and disgust.
It's not because of their weight or their appearance, it's just drastic perspective difference. People that LIVE the fitness lifestyle look forward to and enjoy their training. Resolutioners look at their workouts like a chore, and value their workout about as much as they value cleaning their toilet. This is why they last until about.... mid February at best. As long as the thought of a workout as misery prevails, fitness will not.

Maybe it's time for a change of perspective for the OGs in the fitness world. It's so easy to be a prick, sitting there glaring at the people struggling to bench a bar with no weight on it.

Instead of counting down the hours and minutes until another Resolution dream is crushed, why not look at the influx of new people in the gym as a chance to create new recruits to the army of the fit?
I think most give up because they have no idea what they are doing. Ignorance is not bliss in the gym.
Why not give some tips? Exchange email addresses if the encounter is good, and hold them accountable.

I'm not saying make a new workout partner, but shooting them an email asking how their workouts are going once in a while is enough to keep some people going...maybe enough even to get over that mid-February hump.
One winter, I did something like this, and started a running group for beginners. Some of these people are now very good friends of mine.
To see some of them now running ultras and becoming serious athletes is more rewarding than my own accomplishments.

We OGs have this foundation of knowledge from years and years of living and breathing and dreaming fitness. Why continue on this odyssey by selfishly withholding information that might otherwise make something click in someone?
Of course, motivation cannot be coached, and some people just don't want it bad enough.
However, some do. They just don't know where to start.
That's where we come in.

Happy Holidays.
Thanks for reading,

kalerp

Multi-Day Racing, Detriment?

I'm still waiting on the word from Jorge down in Mexico as to whether there will be a Deca next year.

My 2012 race plans kind of hinge on that. He says it's very difficult to talk to the government about using the Parques Des Heroes, and the wheels turn slow.

I'm kind of caught in this mind-bending scenario where I want everything.
It was easy when the only thing I wanted in life was to race.

Now that I am living civilized and paying rent, all I want to do is STOP paying rent and start owning something... Racing stays at the forefront of my brain at all times, like a money-sucking leech.
The very real idea that I am going to have to do one or the other bugs the living piss out of me, and only adds to my manic training-working-no sleeping life.
Never can I dismiss my most expensive addiction. Is this sport a detriment to me? I think of the thousands of dollars of my own money that I've put into it over the last decade, and that's a down-payment on a house.

And then I think about the night I rode from Presque Isle to Bangor on a full moon, fully able to see Mt. Katahdin from route 2 in the shadows at 2 am.
Or the all night 50 mile run at the Relay for Life, when the miles came effortlessly.
Or the time Andy talked me into the winter version of the Death Race, and I chopped wood for 8 hours, then proceeded to carry it up a mountain in the snow....without snowshoes.
Or the blurriness of racing for 5 days straight, and how after crossing the finish line, everything in your life is so much clearer...even with a sleep-deprived mind.

Experiences like these cannot be photographed. They aren't tangible. My friends are all married with kids and dogs and houses and snowmobiles. I traded all of that for hardening experiences. I'm not sure whether this is good or bad. Who is to say?

All I know is that everyday I wake up and I'm surprised to find that during the night, a gigantic pansy has taken over my body like cancer.
So everyday, I put on my shoes and administer chemo.
Time for my daily treatment.

Quintuple Iron Finish

Quintuple Iron Race Report

The Commuter

doubting the world
i exhale, in the dark

pedaling. pondering.
both require spinning

i turn down main street
storefront displays alight
empty sidewalks

stoplights blink
at no one
and oblige my right turn

a leaf crinkles
during a night breeze
a hum of rubber tires
dismissing untold miles

but the moon prevails
in silence.




krp

i run on

brush past some prickles
blood seeps out my shin
branches with icicles
mud streaks on my chin

my thoughts are gone
so i run on

the only way to derail
from this crazy train
is to get on the trail
and stop my brain

my thoughts are gone
so i run on

my feet: scuffed and tired
keep going: the only choice
must use the inner fire
and ignore the quitter voice

my thoughts are gone
so i run on