ConocoPhillips 10K Rodeo Run Race Report

This was my 4th running race of 2010 already.  It was the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run 10K.  Every year Houston hosts the largest Rodeo in the country.  Literally millions of people come to enjoy concerts, BBQ, games and off course, rodeo.  This is the race that kicks off the festivities and it is followed by a parade. Over 12,500 racers participated in the 10K and 5K fun run. To the right is a picture that Annie snapped about a .5 mile before the finish.  Even though it was only about 45 degree you can see from my shirt that I was working hard ... passing an elderly dude!

This race was slated to begin at 9:30am, which is a welcomed later start time giving it a chance to warm up.  Once the sun came up over the city skyline it really helped with the otherwise chilly morning.  In the past I have moaned about people slotting themselves at the wrong pace markers.  With over 12,000 racers I figured this would be a problem again so I lined up at the 5:30/mi pace marker (yes, I am aware of the hypocrisy of slotting myself wrong..hehe).  I was probably about 40 yards from the starting line and as I looked around (runner stereotyping - we all do it - leave me alone!) noticed that probably 90% of the people were once again slotted incorrect.  With the shear volume of people in the streets it would be impossible to even attempt to move up.  We were packed like sardines!

The gun goes off and it takes about 45 seconds to get to the starting line.  From here I put my head (and shoulder) down and take off.  Yes, I clipped and side-swiped a couple of people and make no apologies for doing this - tough love - maybe next time you will start were you are suppose to!  I was not alone either because some very fast world-class runners were in this race.

My first two miles were done at 6:46 and 6:44 respectively.  This is about 15-20 seconds faster than I am accustomed but I was still feeling pretty good.  Then as mile 3 began the course took us to an overpass of Hwy 59.  This thing was long and steep.  The uphill portion lasted about a .5 mile.  The down hill was much more gradual because it took us to another uphill.  This wasn't as bad but was still pretty steep.  It really slowed my pace as mile 3 was 7:15.   My 5K split was 20:50, so this is moving for me!

Then at about the 3.5 mile mark my stomach started to cramp - bad.  Not side stitch cramping - GI cramping!  Really I cannot think of a reason why this happened?  I was well hydrated and my nutrition was the same as it has always been.  But it was so uncomfortable that at the mile 4 water station I actually stopped and dry heaved over a garbage can - nothing came up.  However, I did garner some very disgusted looks from the teenage-aged volunteers manning the water station - so I had that going for me!  At this point I figured it was only about 2 miles to go and I could HTFU and just finish.  Without getting all gross and descriptive on you - since the vomiting didn't work - lots of "clinching" was done for the last 2 miles!

Mile 4 split was 7:53 (stopping didn't help!).  Mile 5 was 7:59.  Mile 6 was 7:41.  The final .21 was at a 6:16 pace.  For some reason the pain subsided some with about a mile to go and I was able to get a nice kick to finish strong.  Hello finish line and hello port-a-potty.

My final time was 45:37 this is a 7:20 average pace and was a new personal record surpassing the 46:20 that I did in 2009.  Even though it is a PR I am a little disappointed in my results. I really think if my stomach would have cooperated I could have done this in 44:00 - 44:30.  Heck, I wasted 30 seconds dry heeving.  But, this is a good learning experience because it shows that things do not always go as planned and you need to sometimes suck it up and make decisions on the course.

Overall, this was a very well done race. The post race party had a ton of things to do.  My friends came and brought their kids and they had a bunch of games for them to play.  Sponsors had tons of drinks and fruit and bagels.  Just really well put together event.

Here are my final stats:

Chip Time:  45:37

Overall Rank:  333/5520 (top 5%)

Gender Rank: 280/2818 (top 10%)

Age Group Rank:  44/478 (top 9%)

Race Day Pics:

Would love to see my time with this guy running behind me!

Pre-Race Crowd

Newly shaved headed Jeff at Start line

Bayou Place - start location

Only in Texas!

Annie and I pre-race.  My "toss" sweatshirt.

This is George (aka - Tater). We are dog sitting him this weekend!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

10K Tomorrow and H20 Audio Trial Today ...

TGIF! 

Long week my friends.  Very tired and very glad February is almost done.

I just got back from the pool and tried out the H2O Audio earphones.  It worked very good and I was impressed with how well they actually stayed in my ears.  Might have to go download some good audio-book thrillers for the longer swim days!

Tomorrow I am running in the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run 10K it is down by Minute Made Park and supposedly 13,000 runners are participating.  That is huge for a 10K!  My PR for a 10K is 46:20 but at that time I was running 35+ miles per week.  But my overall fitness is stronger now so we will see if I can beat that.  My plan is to start toward the front so I do not have to play the zig-zag game.

After the race we have to get home because we are dog sitting a little English bulldog puppy.  My pugs are not going to like that at all.  But once they settle down I am going to try and get in a couple of hours on the trainer.  Should be a good day and our weather is supposed to be around 60 degrees.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Swimming just got a little less sucky ...

What is the most mind numbing, bang your head against the wall boring activity?

1. Running on the Treadmill
2. Riding on the Trainer
3. Swimming Lap after Lap after Lap

Pretty sure most of you would vote for the Treadmill and before I became a triathlete would have agreed.  But now that swimming has become part of my life swimming laps wins the contest.  Well, today lap swimming just got a little less sucky ... when these showed up on my doorstep:

What the heck is that contraption you ask? 

They are waterproof headphones that attach to your goggles.  Insert your iPod Shuffle into these suckers and you have music -- while swimming -- freaking genius!

Here are some pics of how it works (yes, I am aware that I look like a Chia Pet and need a hair cut):

My Swimming Goggles

H20 Audio Head Phones

With iPod Shuffle in the back (little silver thing) of H2O Audio

The company that makes these suckers is H2O Audio.  I just got them so have not had a chance to try them out.  I heard about them at the highly entertaining FatCyclist blog.  They cost $99 but Fatty has a discount code on his site so you can get them for $79. 

The system is supposed to come with 7 different sized ear-buds so you can find the right fit.  However, these were missing from my box when I opened them up today.  I left a message for H20 Audio about the missing ear-buds so we shall see how they handle it! Will let you all know how H20 Audio's customer service rates very soon.

Today was my rest day and it is feeling pretty darn good.  I have been busting my hump at work and am quite fatigued and feel a cold coming on so this was a good day to put myself on the bench.  Back at it tomorrow with a swim and bike.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Week 11, Day 2: 60 minutes Bike

The schedule called for 60 minutes and that is what it got.

I played a little game with the trainer today.  I started at 5:30 which is the exact time "The Office" begins on TBS.  Every time a commercial break happened I jumped to the big ring and just mashed at an RPE 10 level.  When the kids from Dunder Mifflin came back it would be back to the small ring and an RPE 4 range. Then "The Office" is on Fox again at 6:00 so I just repeated.  These are the things that need to be done to keep my sanity on the trainer - even if it is somewhat insane?  As soon as a commercial would come on I'd yell at my Pug, who lays next to the bike every ride, "GO! GO!".  Every time he would look up at me like I was a nut-job.  Such memories these hours on the trainer are creating!

Couple Thoughts:

- Watching American Idol right now.  Not really enjoying it that much.

- It is freaking freezing in Houston right now.  I am all for Congress investigating Al Gore.

- Lost is on right now but I like to wait like 20 minutes to watch so I can skip the commercials.  The DVR maybe the best invention in the last 10 years.

- Thinking if I do the 10K Rodeo Run this weekend that I am going to race the hell out of it.  My last 10K was done in 46:20 and I raced that hard.  Thinking I can do it in 44ish?  I've taken one race easy (Sugarland 1/2 Marathon - 1:55:xx) because I didn't want to "lose training time because of recovery" ... got a new perspective on that - Races are for racing...biatches.  But I reserve the right to channel my inner John Kerry and flip-flop on this as I see fit!

- Do any of you guys use tempur-pedic neck pillows  I tried one at the mall this weekend and it seemed awesome, but it is like $85?  If that type of cash is going to be dropped I'd love to hear a positive review or two?

- How's bout LaDanian Tomlinson and Brian Westbrook both being released.  IMO, very solid move by both teams.  Youth is king in the NFL!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Week 11, Day 1: 90 minutes Indoor Trainer (27 miles)

According to my training plan this is to be a big week on the bike.  Here is how the numbers break down:

Mon - 90 minutes Bike
Tues - 60 minutes Bike
Wed - 75 minutes Bike
Thurs - Rest
Fri - 60 minutes Run + 30 minutes Swim
Sat - 90 minutes Bike + 30 minutes Run
Sun - 150 (2.5hrs) minutes Bike

Totals:  30 min Swim; 7.5 hrs Bike; 1.5 hrs Run

This is actually a very good week for me to be stuck indoors. Here in Houston we are supposed to get snow tonight and into tomorrow.  The temperature is going to get down into the low 30's and we could see a couple of inches?  I really do not even know how to react to this weather news, it is almost laughable at this point of the winter. 

On Saturday I might run in a 10K downtown.  The Houston Rodeo begins this week and they have a 10k run by Minute Made Park.  My buddy and I are going to try and do it but the online registration is closed so I have to stopped by the sponsoring running store and see if we can still sign up.  If we can't get in it is not a big deal it is just fun to race!

I had a pretty decent Trainer session.  The plan called for keeping it around an RPE of 3-4.  I drifted out of these zones to got higher a few times but overall stayed with the plan. 

Watched a movie called The Taking of Pelham 123.  It starred Denzel Washington and John Travolta and was about a group of criminals (Travolta) that hijack a NYC subway train.  It was an OKAY movie (2.5/5 stars).  Travolta is just beginning to look like a freak to me anymore.  He had a shaved head and goatee in this one and was screaming and ranting throughout the entire movie.  Seemed rather forced and unnatural.  But Denzel was his normal convincing self and Tony Soprano played the NYC Mayor well.  The movie had a couple decent action scenes and enough suspense and drama to keep me occupied while sitting on the bike, and that is all I can really ask for!

Today is going to be a long day of work for me but when I get home I'll put the butt down on my Adamo seat for another hour of trainer fun.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff