Was sitting around on saturday afternoon on the couch watching alpine skiing thinking of my route for my 90 minute tempo build run on sunday morning to be followed up by a 5400 yd swim set, when it dawned on me that I should run the RnR Half Marathon in my backyard. It was 4:15 in the afternoon. I pinged Jesse for his opinion--he said DBAP. I went online, and the website said the expo closed at 5pm. I was there and parked by 4:45--good thing I live close. Got signed up. I figured why not run a little harder, get a little free catering during my run, etc, etc.
On saturday morning Johnna and I did a nice 5 hr ride with 7,000 ft of climbing including a trek through the slush on Mt Wilson. I knew my legs would not be fresh for a fast time, but my run training has been going great, so why not put in a fast effort. Worst case, I'd slow in the final miles.
Got up at 6:15, had a yogurt and a banana and a gatorade. Johnna dropped me off at 7:00am -- as I was getting out of the car, we noticed this woman get out of a car in front of us. She jumped to the curb--more like a hop--pulled out a cigarette and lit up. I guess that's called lung strength training. Run 13 miles on half lung capacity. You can't fix stupid.
I headed to the start, got my warm up in. I saw Chaney and Ku, but no PTC Peeps. They were all camped in corral 1 I guess. I got relegated to Corral 4--what a mistake. I ran an extra .2 miles zig zagging my way through the first 2 miles.
In the first mile, I had a demon pop up on my shoulder and say, "Hey dude, your legs don't feel too fresh do they?" I basically told him to f off, and told myself to ignore that crap and just run. Didn't see that demon for the rest of the day.
Started strong despite the meandering crowd in front of me. It's amazing how many people can't run straight. Where was Marvin when I needed him? Course was cool. Lots of little hills. Ran strong. Came in at 1:41:19, about 50 seconds off my PR at RnR LA Half in October. Got to the finish--didn't see any of the PCT Peeps or the wonderwoman trailer. Bummer.
Johnna picked me up after her swim--not running due to torn calf muscle--will be upgraded to eligible very soon. We hit Panera, took a nap, and then headed back to the RBAC for that 5400 yd set. Luckily it was mostly pull...
Would definitely do this race again. Sub 1:40 next time I run a half.
BarryMan
Monday, February 18, 2013
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Year of Barry not going to end...
Thanks to the lovely Trophy Wife Johnna for a great "Year of Barry." I'm pushing for this year to have 1080 days...
Turned 51 today, and they decided to have the Super Bowl on my special day. We had dinner with Pam and Erich at Sushi Roku the night before. This morning, got up ran a great tempo descending 11 mile run and swam 5400 yards in the hot pool.
We joked all year it was the Year of Barry--I can't complain, here are the highlights:
December 2011 (appetizer for Year of Barry) - USC Trojans win 4th National Championship (Jack's third) and he played unbelievable defense.
January 2012 - Got married to Trophy Wife Johnna
February 2012 - Turned 50. Rode 100 miles that day and came home to a smashing surprise birthday. Even Connor made it back from Jacksonville for the celebration. Awesome.
March 2012 - Ironman New Zealand. Johnna and I headed to New Zealand to race an Ironman and see my relatives. Fantastic 2 week trip.
June 2012 - LA Kings win the Stanley Cup.
July 2012 - New dedication to triathlon training. New regimen, new focus, new goals, new Coach.
August 2012 - Took Brandon and Christian (and John and Larisa) fly fishing in Montana.
October 2012 - Vacationed in Kona Hawaii and spectated at the Ironman World Championship. Awesome trip.
December 2012 - USC Trojans win 5th National Championship in a row in a nail biter against UCLA 11-10. Took lead with :40 to go in game. Unbelievable.
December 2012 - A week later, PR'd at Tucson Marathon.
January 2013 - Jordan Corke's trip to the US and visit to YNP.
Awesome year so far, and here's to keeping it going...
Turned 51 today, and they decided to have the Super Bowl on my special day. We had dinner with Pam and Erich at Sushi Roku the night before. This morning, got up ran a great tempo descending 11 mile run and swam 5400 yards in the hot pool.
We joked all year it was the Year of Barry--I can't complain, here are the highlights:
December 2011 (appetizer for Year of Barry) - USC Trojans win 4th National Championship (Jack's third) and he played unbelievable defense.
January 2012 - Got married to Trophy Wife Johnna
February 2012 - Turned 50. Rode 100 miles that day and came home to a smashing surprise birthday. Even Connor made it back from Jacksonville for the celebration. Awesome.
March 2012 - Ironman New Zealand. Johnna and I headed to New Zealand to race an Ironman and see my relatives. Fantastic 2 week trip.
June 2012 - LA Kings win the Stanley Cup.
July 2012 - New dedication to triathlon training. New regimen, new focus, new goals, new Coach.
August 2012 - Took Brandon and Christian (and John and Larisa) fly fishing in Montana.
October 2012 - Vacationed in Kona Hawaii and spectated at the Ironman World Championship. Awesome trip.
December 2012 - USC Trojans win 5th National Championship in a row in a nail biter against UCLA 11-10. Took lead with :40 to go in game. Unbelievable.
December 2012 - A week later, PR'd at Tucson Marathon.
January 2013 - Jordan Corke's trip to the US and visit to YNP.
Awesome year so far, and here's to keeping it going...
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