HAWAI'I

State #38 Hawai'i

Hibiscus Half Marathon

Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawai'i

In my previous blogs I have talked a lot about goals.  If you have read any of these posts you will likely understand that I am rather goal oriented in my life and as it pertains to running.  It is not at all uncommon that my goals change over time.  In most instances, I achieve my goals and continue to "raise the bar", effectively increasing the goal to be able to achieve more and more as I progress.  There are a few instances, however where the goal changes altogether into a new direction.  

As you may recall, I have goals and mini goals, and then new goals.  Concerning the 50in50in50 goal, I am on track and projected to complete this goal by June 2020.  Hawaii was state #38 and it is now complete.  One of my mini goals for this "project" was to run 1:30 for a half marathon which is a 6:52 per mile pace.  So far, I have only been able to muster a pace of 7:21 per mile which translates to 1:36.  I, by no means think that this is bad, but it is not quite enough to achieve the goal of 1:30.  At this point I still have twelve more races (13 if you include Washington DC.) to be able to achieve this goal, but it appears as if I am not progressing as rapidly as I had hoped.  It is possible that I am not going to be able to achieve this goal in the time frame that I have allotted.  I certainly have not given up, but I am facing the reality that it may not happen.  This is a tough pill to swallow, and I will continue to work toward this goal, but it seems that I will have a significant amount of work to accomplish this goal.  Maybe, just maybe it is possible that this goal may need to change.  As I type this, it just "sounds" like a copout.  I guess we will have to see.

One of the goals that have snuck in to this endeavor is to spend some time enjoying the different parts of the country as I travel around, especially when I bring my family along with me.  There was no way that my wife and kids were going to allow me, without a fight, to go to Hawaii without them... and I very much enjoy having them along.  So, off we went to Hawaii.  Valerie, the kids, my mom and Grampi.  We decided to spend a week on Maui prior to the race in Honolulu.  Aside from the snafu's of traveling American Airways to Hawaii and being trapped in Tempe, Arizona far longer than anyone would hope, we really had a great trip.  There was a fair amount of relaxation as well as a bit of adventure.  For an entire week, we were on vacation.  There was no race, there was no work, there were no pressures of our everyday lives.  My mom secured a beautiful house for us all right on the beach.  We could not have asked for or imagined a more beautiful venue to spend our time.

The sunsets were nothing shy of incredible.

We went on a waterfall rappel trip where we rappelled down three separate waterfalls and hiked through the forrest.... somewhere 1/3 the way up the road to Hana.

We took another tour, a sunrise tour up to Haleakala.  We arose early, and when I say early, what I mean is 2:30am.  We took the tour bus up to Haleakala and watched the sunrise.  It was spectacular.   

From there we road some mountain bikes back roughly 26 miles down the winding roads from the mountain top to Paia.    It being an extremely small world as it relates to the people, we happened to see our former next door neighbors on Maui - Steve and Ellen Short.

  We explored the beach and saw all sorts of critters. 

We had a private tour in some nice snorkeling spots, with some cliff jumping.

One of the reasons for this trip, aside from vacation and my race, was Keeley's graduation.  Keeley was given the option of participating in one of the homeschool group's graduations, pr having her own, "private" graduation.  As you might imagine, she chose to have her graduation ceremony in Hawaii.  We had a nice little ceremony at sunset on the beach.

In all, we had a very nice time.  I do not believe that any of us were terribly happy to leave.

Of course there was a race on O'ahu, so we packed up and headed over to Oahu and spent the day ond evening on Waikiki Beach and at the Marriott.  The next morning we got up and walked over to the start of the race.    The race was not my best.  Although I did train every day while we were in Maui, I was not able to keep the pace that I had intended.  The temperature was about 75ºF at the start and began to rise from there.  The sun comes up early this time of year, although if I am being hones, I am not certain the heat and/or humidity had much to do with my lack of performance.  Maybe I was still on vacation.    I was able to finish, with a time of 1:49:49.  Not exactly what I had hoped for, but  in retrospect, I had a really nice time in our 50th state for a week and am happy to have had an opportunity to spend some good quality time with the family.

As I type this, I am in Jackson, Wyoming after my next race (state #39) that was yesterday.  The Grand Teton Half Marathon.  I am on my way to Seattle for the week, and I will update you on this race later in the week.  Spoiler alert... ELEVATION!!!! UGH!!!!.

Cheshire, Connecticutt

Cheshire Half Marathon

Cheshire, Connecticut

State #37

This was a bit of a no frills race.  Don't get me wrong, the race was a well-run race and had many of the amenities of other races, but my treatment of the race made it no frills.  Allow me to explain:

The race was Sunday, April 28, 2019.  I flew out on Saturday morning.... alone.  I did not have to take off from work.  I did not have to rush to the airport.  I did not have to coordinate anyone's schedules or fend for anyone but myself.  Valerie drove me to the airport, dropped me off and picked me up when I returned Sunday evening.  I flew Southwest non-stop.  I was in the B boarding group.  Boarded the plane, picked a seat, watched a movie and after a few hours arrived at my destination.  We flew into Hartford and I rented a car, and economy car.  It cost me $23 per day.   I had only a small carry-on, so I simply walked over the rental car shuttle area and waited. It was fairly cold when I got there.  I was wearing shorts, flip-flops and a short-sleeved shirt.  I had to put on a jacket to wait for the shuttle.  I picked a car, drove 40 min or so to the hotel, checked in, slept, awoke, raced, drove back the airport and flew home.  Simple.

The packet pick-up was at the local tree nursery.  There were two people working the table.  No frills.  "What is your bib #?", "I think it is 547.",  "You Jeff?", "Yup.", "OK, you're a Large.  Here is your shirt.... Men's Large.  Have a good race.", "Thank you.  Bye." 

I had initially entered the hotel into my phone and followed the directions.  I was taken to a neighboring town and pulled up to the Welcome Inn.  I was a bit nervous as it was a little seedy looking.  Rather than checking in, I decided to go on to the packet pick up and then find the race start and figure out all of the logistics.  I did not want to spend any more time in that hotel than I had to.  I was surprised to find the packet pick-up and the race venue was 15 minutes away.  After packet pick up, I drove to the race start which was at Cheshire High School.  As I drove there I noticed another, nicer Welcome Inn.  I entered the hotel info back onto my phone and it showed properly the location as right in front of me.  phew!  Anyway, I found the race start and decided the start was close enough to my hotel to walk in the morning, so I went to find some grub.  A pre-race meal.   I drove around for a while trying to find a grocery store.  Finally found one, purchased some food for dinner and breakfast in the morning.  Driving back to the hotel, I noticed there was a grocery directly across the street.   GPS was clearly not working with me in this little town.

I binge-watched Criminal Minds for about 4 hours and went to sleep.  I slept very well.  It was cold outside, ~40º F.  Fortunately I remembered my "yoga pants" and my gloves and a jacket.  I decided not to wear the jacket, and as it turned out, I could have gotten away without the pants as well. (I would have worn shorts, for those of you that just poked out your minds eye thinking I was running without any pants.)  I walked to the start.  I should have driven.  Parking was minimal, but I think I could have found something.  Oh well, I told myself, this will be my warm-up.  I arrived at the start about 15 min prior to the start.  It was a simple start.  The National Anthem was sung by a young lady with some special need.  She was sweet.  I think most of the race support was provided by the High School students, and I think she was one of the students.  Anyway, there were no corrals, nor pace signs.  Just line up where ever you like and when he says, "GO!"... Go!  So, I went.  I was very close to the front and immediately got passed by what looked like the women's track/cross country team, but then I got passed by others.  Others who did not appear to be the type of person who would ordinarily pass me.  They looked like back of the pack runners.  One by one, around ten of them over a period of 5-8 miles.  I checked my pace, thinking I was dragging, but the first mile I ran 7:08, then 7:15, then 7:19.  So, I was keeping a fair pace, but still being passed.  The trend though was not a good one.  After mile one, I thought I should settle in to my pace.  7:15 was what I was hoping to average.  So, at mile two I was dead on.  At mile three, I wasn't bothered by 7:19... It was close enough.  Then came mile four at 7:24, then 7:33, then 7:35.  This is not good, I need to pick it up, but then I got a cramp at mile 6.  It took me 4 miles to shake the cramp, then another cramp at mile 10.  This one I got rid of after a mile or so, but now I was down to 8:30 something.  Positive splits is not what I was going for, and the people that were passing me?   They were increasing.  This was a fairly fast crowd for a small town and I was slowing steadily and they were not.

In all, I finished 1:44:13.  An average mile pace of 7:54.  Not really what I was hoping for.  I did not feel great.  I struggled most of the race after mile 2.  I am not sure why, but it was just not my day.  I think if I had to blame it on anything, I would say my nutrition was not stellar.  Oh... and there were some hefty hills.  They called this a flat course, but I certainly did not see it that way.

The race ended with a 3/4 lap around the High School track, which was kinda nice.  Plenty of fan support.  So, I picked up my finishers medal, grabbed a turkey sandwich, a banana, and some chocolate milk.  Then walked back to the hotel.  Shower, rest, pack and off to the airport.

At the airport, I had about 4 hours before my flight, so I walked.  Sitting at the airport after a race makes me stiff and sore, so I tend to "mall walk" the airport.  Boarded the flight again in the B boarding group, watched a movie and Valerie picked me up at the airport.  

No frills.

Next race is in Hawaii.  I have it in my mind that I want a PR in Hawaii.  Why?  No reason, just think it would be nice. I need to progress and I haven't had a PR in a while.  So, I think I am due.  I guess I'll just keep running.  Hawaii should be fun.  

Cycling and it's related expenses

A while ago and in multiple posts, I wrote about how I erroneously believed that running would be relatively easy and inexpensive.  That is to say, I thought a pair of shorts and some shoes would be all that I needed to go out and run, whether it was a training run or a race.  It became clear very quickly that it was not at all simple or inexpensive.  Multiple pairs of shoes ~ $150 each, fancy wicking socks ~$15 each, specialized, anti-chafing running shorts ~ $85 each, calf sleeves are super expensive, running sunglasses, blue-tooth earbuds, Garmin running/triathlon watch -- multiple hundred sof dollars, running visors, lubricant, nipple protectors, running shirts (I purchase them when I run the race included in the race fee).... I recently purchased a hydration running vest - a vest that is designed to hold water bottles....  I have easily spent $40,000 on running gear, races and travel associated with those races.  THAT IS RIDICULOUS.  Not inexpensive at all.

So, to make matters worse, Valerie bought me a bicycle for Christmas.  We have had some discussions about triathlons and so she decided that it would be nice to get me a triathlon bike.  She is aware that I would not likely have ever spent that kind of money on one of these bicycles for myself.  It is an insane amount of money for a vehicle that you must pedal yourself.  So, she purchased this bicycle for me.  I did not take possession of this bicycle until like February.  It is really a nice bike.Way more expensive than I think a bike oughta be, but what the heck do I know.  Anyway, I got the bike in the beginning of Feb and rode it a couple of times, but it wasn't fitted to me, so I had to get it custom fitted.  I rode it to the bike store and got a custom fitting.  Prior to that, I purchased some cycling shoes.  -- THEY were $400.  OH.... MY..... GOODNESS!!!  so, I rode it to the bike shop and got fitted, then rode a few times.  On one 20 mile ride I punctured my tube on the front wheel.  Fortunately a friend gave me an emergency kit that contained a spare tube, a CO2 cartridge, some tire tools and a $10 bill.  So, I punctured my tube, pulled over and changed my tire.  It took me about 30 min.  Then I used the CO2 cartridge to pump up the new tube and heard a pop.  I guess I did not do it right... so, now I really am stranded about 20 miles away from home.  Fortunately I had my phone with me and called my wife and she came to rescue me.  So, I bought some new tire tubes.  They cost about $8-9 each.  While I was waiting for the tubes to arrive, I took the bike in to the bike shop to have them install a new tube for me to make sure it was done correctly this time.  So, I went for a ride.  This time I was about a mile away from my house when I caught a pice of glass and punctured my front tire again.  I still had not received my tubes that I ordered, so I went back to the bike shop and bought some tubes from them.  A week went by and I was riding my other bike to work when the pedal fell off.  So, I took it to the bike shop and they basically informed me that it would cost me more than the bike was worth to fix it, so I had to look at purchasing another bike.  I was not too happy with that, so I did nothing.  I starting riding my tri bike to work... until I was out riding and got another flat tire.  So, I changed my tube and rode home.  I decided that this was not any fun, so I was looking for a way to fix it.  So, I went back to the bike shop to discuss it with them.  They had a used mountain bike that was in good condition and "refurbished" in their shop, so I bought that.  It cost me a couple hundred bucks, but by this time, I was spending that much money on tire tubes anyway.  While I was there, I discussed with them the option of getting some "bullet proof" tires for my tri bike and using those to train and then changing to the racing tires if and when I decided to race.  So, I bought some sturdier tires and some tube protectors as well.  They add some weight and slow me down a bit, but they are fine for training... maybe even better, as it would make me work harder when I train.  So, I took my new tires and tube protectors out for a spin.  I had travelled about 25 miles when I heard a clang, clang, clang.  I thought I broke a spoke.  Upon inspection, I found a nail in my rear tire that was stuck in my tire and clanging against my frame.  New tubes on order, to arrive the next day and all the other tubes punctured, I was once again stranded.  The nail went through my sturdy tires and through the tube protectors and into my tube.  The one day I have no spare, I am once again stranded 20 miles from home.  My wife, once again, came to my rescue.  Humiliating.  So, I  take the bike back to the bike shop to have them check out my frame and my rim to make sure the damage was only to the tube and not the bike.  Lucky for me, they were able to simply replace the tube and get me back on my way.  The next day, I rode my mountain bike to work, worked a full day, then went to ride home and noticed I had a flat tire on that bike.  I took it back to the bike shop, because I could see nothing that looked like a puncture, just a flat out of nowhere.  They took it apart and showed me a hole in the tube and replaced it for me, but refused to charge me... saying something about kicking me while I was down.  So, I came up with another idea.  I decided to get an indoor trainer.  You remove the wheels off your bike and connect them in the same way to a machine that gives resistance and even raises and lowers the front of the bike to simulate an incline or a decline.  I figured it would be impossible to get a puncture in the house when the wheels were not even on the bike.  So, I signed up for Zwift, which is like a virtual reality game that simulates a real-time ride while on the trainer.


You may notice in the above photos that the bike connected to the indoor trainer is not my tri bike.  It is a totally separate bike.  It is not the bike I broke or the one I bought to ride to work either.  It is bike #4.  I had to purchase bike number #4 because I was riding my tri bike on the trainer one day.  I was going uphill so, there was a lot of resistance and the front of the bike raised up really high.  I was standing up off the seat (saddle) and pumping in an attempt to pass some Asian gentleman (he was seriously from Asia somewhere) that I was riding next to on Zwift.  I suddenly lost my balance and fell over.  I yelled an explicative, but it was a rated PG explicative and then fell over whilst still clipped in to the pedals.  After I unravelled myself and assessed the damage, I noticed that I damaged the bike a bit, so I took it back to the bike shop AGAIN!!!.  Of course they tell me, after a week that they have discussed the damage with Trek and they have determined that I need a new frame and that it is NOT covered under warrantee.  A friend of mine told me I need to learn how to lie... but alas, it was my fault.  Trek did offer to cut me a break on the purchase of a new frame, but it was still going to cost me $3500 and then the labor and materials to put it all back together.  I was NOT going to spend that kind of money... no way!!.  So, I found a company that will repair it for me for $450.   I will get it back in mid May.  So, in the mean time, I decided to buy a bike to connect to the trainer.  It is a sturdier, aluminum frame.  It is heavier, but weight does not matter on the trainer.  So, when it is all said and done I will have a very expensive racing bike, a cheap (craigslist) trainer bike, (that I still have to buy new pedals for- they arrive tomorrow), a cheap mountain bike to ride to work and an old, broken mountain bike that I use for parts.  Then.... I was riding home from work on my new-to-me mountain bike and my chain broke.  I had no idea how difficult it is to repair a bicycle chain without all of the right tools, so after riding my daughter's Wal-mart bike to work and back for two weeks, I FINALLY got my chain replaced, and have my work commute bike back.  Now all I need is my racing bike back.

This is crazy.  Who knew that you must be a certified bike mechanic just to ride a bicycle.  And the amount of money that is required to purchase and maintain one of these vehicles, much less 4 of them... it is simply ludicrous.  I am going to have to begin to play the lottery if I want to continue to ride a bike. I do not even want to discuss the cost of cycling shorts, cycling shirts, helmets, gloves, etc....

I have a limited amount of experience in swimming, but so far it is much less expensive than cycling.  Maybe I should just be a swimmer.  Wish me luck, or better yet, send me money.