A Good Week And A New Age Group

It's the first week in 2011 and I already have so much to talk about. I had a birthday which put me into a new racing age group (for most of the larger road races). Also I joined in with a Biggest Loser contest at work. Not that I could lose enough to win anything or that I really need a contest because I usually lose a good percentage of weight as spring arrives.

I just figured it would be fun and also give me a bit extra incentive to get down to a more conceivable racing weight for the spring. last year I never really trimmed to the point I wanted or knew was best for me.

I weighed in the lightest of the group at work but a full 10 lbs heavier than my scale at home. Granted I was fully dressed and wearing boots but the number still surprised me.

Our heaviest guy was 300 lbs and I weighed in at 198 .....so I suspect I am at a bit of a disadvantage even when figuring percentage of weight lost. My best racing weight in the past was 165 so I have about 25 lbs of wiggle room I guess.

My plan is simple, cross train a bit more,monitor the calorie intake to keep it around 2000 per day and get in a long workout/run on the weekend. I have quite a few options for cross training, besides having a weight room, I also have a stationary bike,a treadmill, a gazelle and a rower.

All week I worked out each night and kept my calorie intake around 2000 without deterring from the occasional beer or giving up the foods I like. It went well and as luck would have it the GAC Fatass was on Saturday.

My son Kev came home the weekend and decided to run GAC with me, he was just starting to ramp up his mileage (coming back from injury) and figured a 12 miler at my slow pace would be perfect for him.

There was a lot of Trailmonster talk the week leading up to the GAC 50k so I expected to see plenty of trailmonsters Saturday.....as it ended up, I didn't see one. Part of that was caused by the large turn out and the fact that I ended up starting in the rear of the group with only a couple people behind me.

Kev was lagging with his attire (I pulled 8 screws out of my shoes for him)then he opted for a bio break at the last second. I could have waited but the group was already heading for the woods and he assured me he would have no trouble catching up to me.

The first half mile was pure murder and the walk / run surges drove me crazy. The second half was only slightly better though I did manage to pass a couple dozen runners. Later when checking my pace, I figured I lost more than a full minute in the first mile.

I was glad to see the trails were much better than last year but wasn't sure how much faster I would run because my condition this year was lagging compared to last year and the ground was extremely uneven with frozen ice and snow causing more stress on the legs and ankles.

Kev ended up starting 6 minutes behind the group but was still able to catch up to me at the end of mile three. This put him at about 9 minute pace for the first three miles. I was running about 11:30 pace, which felt good and by mile three I had passed at least 20-30 runners.

I handled the single track hill in mile four much better this year and felt really good until about mile nine and the second run up the single track hill. The next two miles were a bit of a struggle at times but the ease of the open tar trail of the last 3/4 mile allowed me to pick up the pace and feel like I finished strong.

I was glad to be done and was happy that I crushed last years time on both laps. Our plan was to hit some god awful greasy, fat filled fast food place on the way home to celebrate our calorie usage and decided on KFC.....it was fantastic and left me with no guilt feeling what so ever.

Overall 12.4 miles 2:25:03 (11:42 pace)
My first lap 1:10:18 (11:20 pace)
splits:
13:10...145-162
11:27...152-158
11:57...151-160
12:51...150-159 (largest hill)
11:35...150-154
10:33...152-156
10:17...160 (last .2)
Second lap 1:14:45 (12:03 pace)
Splits:
12:00....146-158
11:43....152-158
12:51....150-159
13:47....153-160 (largest hill)
12:20....153-158
11:38....155-161
10:16....160-162

Last year was 2:53:54 (13:59 pace)