Thursday, July 2, 2009

More Marathon Pics

OK, so this is the first time I've been able to post all week. it's been that kind of nuts around here. Last weekend was uneventful. It was the first time in 4 weekends we didn't have anything solid planned. Monday and Tuesday I had to be in atlanta for work. Then yesterday I just got slammed. I have still been reading blogs for the most part, but haven't been timed to comment much. All of the iron girl atlanta reports from last weekend were awesome!
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I also haven't gotten in much training at all. I did get in a 7 mile long run on Saturday, and it felt great. I could have gone farther but decided to be lazy instead. hey, I just ran a marathon a few weeks ago! I'm ok with being lazy for another week or two.
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Speaking of being lazy, I've got June's totals:
Swim: 1500 meters = one race
Bike: 41 miles, 4 rides (inc the 24 miles in the triathlon)
Run: 50.72 miles, 6 runs (in the 10k in the triathlon and 26.2 in the marathon)
Strength: 2 hours total.... this is pathetic but I'm supposed to be lazy
Yoga: 3 hours because it's easy and fun
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So that's about what I was expecting. Two "A" races and not much else. My official training plan for the Half Ironman starts 7/6 which is Monday. So I can chill this weekend and enjoy the holiday. then it's time to get back on the horse, and I can't wait! This unstructured, get in whatever whenever thing is not letting me get in enough miles to keep me sane. And the half ironman distance is going to ramp up a lot of endurance goals on the bike and swim parts that I have really been looking forward to.
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I have seriously been enjoying running lately. Being unstructured I can get in any type of workout I want to. And with the 60 mile Ceasar's Head climb coming up at the end of this month, I thought I would be choosing the bike more. but every time I end up just running. Tonight is another time trial bike race from the Greenville Spinners if I can get out of work in time. Tomorrow I've got the day off from work, and there's a run with the local Hash House Harriers kennel I'm thinking about doing. Those always seem like fun, but I want to talk Kelley into doing it with me, and she's not convinced she wants to run in this heat.
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I'm really looking forward to having a long weekend. I've got tons of planning to do. We're trying to work on the details of some repairs to the house, moving to North Carolina, swimming, you name it. The girls both start their swimming lessons at the YMCA next week. That's going to be fantastic! They are going to love it.
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I don't want to do it, but I have to give some props to Glaven and his stupid fat eye problems. Kelley made me take out some more life insurance before the triathlon. And when I was laid up in the emergency room after the marathon I was glad I had that new policy in place. But G started running to get his cholesterol under control after the eye doc found some extra lipids in something. The new life insurance policy did a physical with bloodwork, and for the first time ever my cholesterol was below 200! The last time it was checked, the total chol came in at 265 and the doc was talking about drugs. My dad has to take chol drugs every day and he hates it. But with our family history of heart disease it's something we have to take seriously. So Kelley found my last bloodwork results, and the total chol was down from 265 to 194, the good chol was up, the bad chol was down, and the triglycerides (sp?) were way down. So that is fantastic! We all know that regular excercise is good for you, but to see it actually pan out in the numbers is freaking amazing. Glaven had the same thing happen after he started running, and he's been talking about it some lately.
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Finally, I carried a disposable camera with me while running the marathon, so here are some pics from that camera.


The starting line and crowd




About a mile in, the crowds are starting to thin out some. remember, there was only about 400 people in the whole race.

This is the kind of scenery we were running through. The roads got really small, this bridge was very scenic. And the mountain backdrop and the Tug river on the side made for really unique race conditions.



They told us about some flooding on the course, and we might see some mud maybe on the course. Bull, this road was completely washed out! The mud was as deep as any trail after a rain, and just as slick. it wasn't just walking, it was tiptoeing and trying not to fall. I'm sure there was more than 7 minutes of that crap, which affected my 5:07 finish time.


This was a bridge on the golf course going over the Tug river. When running over it, the bridge bounced about a foot throwing you into a tough running position. Who has that kind of thing 18 miles into a marathon course?





I turned the camera around after passing the mile 25 marker and took this shot. Nobody behind me, nobody was in front of me either. That looks is called the "marathon death march".


Have a great weekend! Happy independance day!

17 comments:

Sun Runner said...

Hells yeah, that's an awesome "face of suffering." You gotta have it in the final miles of a marathon. Yours is great. Almost cute, even. I like the hanging tongue effect. I just looked like I wanted to die.

Enjoy the long weekend!

Jess said...

That is really awesome news about your chol. levels dropping below 200! Congrats on a really great accomplishment!

Love the pictures from the race! Esp. the last one lol!

Jess said...

Congrats on getting your cholesterol down!

Great race pics! Looks like a beautiful area.

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

O, Sweet Baby Jee-Bus! How did you ever get a woman to have sex with you with that face? Hahahahaha! You look like an extra from Hee-Haw!

265 cholesterol? Your f*cking eyes shoulda blowed up! Mine was never that high! Still, good job getting it under 200. Nowadaze, if your good cholesterol is high enough, your total number can be well over 200 and no one gives a f*ck because it's more important to have a high number in the good cholesterol dept. Running does that for you - lowers the bad, raises the good.

Of course, my good cholesterol never went that high. Higher, but not WAY high. F*cking bad genes on that front.

Enjoy your long weekend, brother.

Wes said...

Congrats on the positive cholesterol results!! I had mine taken long before I strated tri, and my bad cholesterol was abnormally low. I blamed it on years of alcohol abuse :-)

Great pics bro!! Thanks for understanding about the meet up after work thing on Monday. I was just not up for it.

We will meet soon. I just knows it....

carrie said...

Ah, nothing better than a death march photo!! Have a great weekend, CJ.

Mel-2nd Chances said...

Great job on the cholesterol levels! Your self-pic looks the same as what mine would have... no one behind :) Happy 4th, and enjoy your weekend!

Missy said...

I can't believe YOU gave G props. It is SO going to his head.

Nice job on the numbers - big in our family too. You have to be happy about that.

Get ready for B2B - met with my coach last week to get my master eeeeviiiilll plan together. Can't wait.

B.o.B. said...

Awesome photo. I imagine I look similar after/during races. You are a brave man to document it. ;)

Amber said...

Great pictures! Can't believe you're training for a new event again already!

What a great idea to bring a disposable camera with you, I was kicking myself for not having one in my half last weekend the scenery was SO beautiful! I will have to do that next time!!

Michelle said...

Hey bro I love all the photos you took ESPECIALLY the last one!!

Big props to you for getting your chol levels down with running! Isn't running the greatest??

Unknown said...

Marathon death march, that's funny. YAY at the improved cholesterol, isn't it amazing what exercise can do. You had quite a month! Hope you guys have a great weekend.

Badgergirl said...

Congrats on the cholesterol results!

Love the Mile 25 pic!

Runner Tammy said...

Have fun this weekend relaxing and resting.

Your marathon pictures are pretty amusing. That picture during your death march cracked me up...I have a few self portraits like that but they never see the light of day:-) although my husband says I should carry my camera and do a video of my overnight death march ala "The Blair Witch Project".

It's really great that your cholesterol is down. Keep up the running/exercise and it hopefullly will stay down forever.

Unknown said...

That last picture of you is the reason why I am not thinking about the marathon at all!

Can't wait to hear about your training starting Monday!

Sarah said...

Oh my gosh. iI would have quit for sure. I'm super impressed! That's a long lonely run

Chris Barber, SeriousRunning.com said...

That's a great finishing face. Sounds like a pretty rough course with the muddy trail and the bouncing bridge. I bet it made it a lot of fun though, changing up the running surface although finishing without anyone in front or behind you doesn't sound too much fun. Racing in no-man's land is tough.