Good Run in Des Moines

I joined the family in Des Moines for my mother's birthday party. It was another great Iowa weekend. The weather was warmer, I got a great run in on Saturday, and saw some good friends, and enjoyed great family time.

Here was the run:


I took off from my parents house and took the back roads down to the old location of Raccoon Valley Little League. This is where I played 12 summers worth of baseball. It has since been moved because it was in the middle of a flood zone and didn't make it back after the floods in 1993. It's now part of water works park and they have a nice little disc golf course there. It was strange running through there as I couldn't even place where the different fields where.

The whole run was enjoyable. I enjoyed the expanded bike path and was pleasantly surprised by all the flowers on the route.

• Quick note: Tomorrow is Patriot Day. I am looking forward to seeing how my good buddy Ryan Hall does in the Boston Marathon.
  

2008 Hy-Vee Triathlon Report

Hello strange blog world. Sorry for the slight delay in posting the tri report. It has been  a very busy couple of weeks.  Overall the Hy-Vee Triathlon was a good day, but I need to learn how to better rid myself of stress and errands on race weekends.  Maybe it was the swim/no swim drama of the race, but I don't remember ever being so mentally not prepared to race. 

Prerace
Melissa and I drove to Des Moines on Friday for Sunday's race. I worked a full day so we didn't arrive in Des Moines until past 11.

I had only heard a few days before that the swim was back on.  Race officials had announced about 10 days earlier that they had to cancel the age grouper swim due to flooding.  Needless to say, I simply stopped practicing the swim when they made that announcement.  This wouldn't have been such a big deal, but Lake Michigan has been so cold this year that I had only two open water swims under my belt at the time of the race.  

Saturday we were up early and had a long day of running errands.  They included a trip with Melissa to the farmers market in downtown Des Moines, a quick swim in Chuck's fastlane in his backyard, the typical prerace packet pickup activities, lunch at Manhattan Deli, picked up a battery for the camera, and going out to drop off the bike and T2 supplies at the triathlon site in West Des Moines (there were two transition areas).  The real highlight of the day was dinner where we had the big first meeting of the parents (Melissa's parents came down for the race and met my folks for the first time).

We didn't get back home until past 10, but I don't think it really interupted my sleep.  I only slept for 20-40 minute incraments the whole night. Either way you look at it, it wasn't a good race prep the day before.

I left bright an early on Sunday (4 AM).  The only people on the road had USAT stickers and bike racks on their cars.  They had the athletes park at Valley West Mall, which was about 2.5 miles from the finish and about 5 miles from the start.  The shuttle was full of nervous energy, or maybe that was just me.  I am a talker by my nature, add a little bit of butterflies to that and I am just looking to make new friends.  At 4:28 AM, most athletes don't want to make new friends.  I suffered through. 

Once at T1, I made a quick trip to the bike stand.  Said hello to my old friend Andy Lueck, who checked the air in the tires and removed my embarrassing reflectors that were on my wheels for a year.  Then it was back to my transition spot to set up my gear and struggle into my wet suit.

As I was fighting the wet suit, I quickly looked around to realize that they had organized the transition area by age group (which is good so you can see how many bikes are gone when you get out of the water), and also that the fellas around me seemed to look much more serious than I did.  Now considering I only minutes before removed reflectors from my wheels, this probably isn't saying much, but I was a little intimated.  

[From stage left, enter KT]

"Yo Murph, what's up man?"

I don't remember being so pleased to see someone.  Kevin and I went to high school together, played little league together, and have shared a few sips of whiskey over the years.   Now he is living in Des Moines, and has been doing tri's for a few years.  He is actually a damn good triathlete and also just as friendly as they come.  Since we were a few miles from any spectators (they told all the spectators that there wouldn't be space near the makeshift swim area, so to stay up by the high school to watch the bike and run), I was glad to have a friend there.  

As I managed to get into the wet suit, talking to Kevin really let me relax.  By the time Charlie and Bikal ran into us about 10 minutes before the start, I was feeling good, ready to go.  A few minutes later the first group went off.  A few minutes after that, our horn went off and were off into the water.

I remember thinking what a perfect morning it was.  Very pretty sunset.  It felt good to be back in Iowa.

Race

All those pleasant thoughts were kicked away the first time I was kicked in the face in the swim.  Still, after last year when I got significantly off course during the swim, the kick and subsequent beatings I took were good indications that I was headed the right direction.  In fact, if I didn't feel someone passing me by going over me, I began to worry I was off course.

I managed to do much of the first half of the swim without stops.  The wetsuit made a huge difference.  The course was triangle, but felt a lot like an out and back as it was so long.  The water was a typical Iowa lake in that it was VERY merky.  

After the turnaround, I started to get tired.  I would stop, tread water, and adjust my goggles a little more often that before, but I continued to make progress.

I made it out in pretty good time (17 minutes faster than last year), but I think a lot of it has to do with the wetsuit advantage (and some might be due to swim lessons and training).


After a pretty uneventful T1 I was out on the bike course.



[In a related note, I make really funny faces on the bike.]

The bike course we a good Iowa course, some hills, a stretch on a country road, a couple of hot laps around a mall parking lot (could have done without the last part). I pushed it hard thinking that I had been riding more and should keep a good average mph (also known as "not thinking"). There was a part in the ride when I remember feeling somewhat tired, never a good sign.

On thing that made the whole event better was my awesome crew. Good look'en too!



On to the separate T2 area I had a pretty quick bike rack and shoe switch, then tried to minimize the damage with a gel (unsuccessfully). Then it was off to the run.

I don't need to go into much detail, but the run was hot and my legs felt like bricks. I was spent. All that lost sleep and crappy prep week, plus bad hydration and nutrition, plus probably not running enough, and my run when from an enjoyable Iowa morning to looking forward to stopping.

In the end I finished well and slightly improved my time from last year's tri.

Overall, I have to say I liked the 2007 course better, but I think that is clearly because I grew up in the city of Des Moines vs the suburbs. I did hear from a number of people they liked the West Des Moines course better because the downtown run was too confusing. Either way, they run a top race there. They changed the entire course on a flip of a dime due to the flooding, and it was run very, very well.

I was also pretty pleased with my performance. I didn't drown, Melissa's parents and my parents got along well in their first meeting, and I dropped a ton of time in one year. New PR in the swim (37:47), the bike (1:18:11) and the run (54:05) and overall (2:55:41). 

Flooding Might Move Hy-Vee Triathlon? (UPDATED 11:30 PM)

Unless you are living in a cave, you probably know that there is a lot of excess water in the midwest right now.  With the Hy-Vee Triathlon is now only 11 days away, there seem to be some concerns on how the flooding will affect the event.

The Hy-Vee swim takes place in Gray's Lake in Des Moines, which exists in the flood plane of the Raccoon River.  See a specific map of the race from Google Maps here.  Additionally, the run crosses the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers a number of times.  Now according to reports the Raccoon River itself is not necessarily flooding, but it meets the Des Moines River about a mile from Gray's Lake.  The Des Moines is nearing record flood stages, and because it is so high, it is creating a dam like affect upstream on the Raccoon.

Now that all being said, 11 days is a long time for water to receded, although the water is still rising and they expect more rain later this week. Even if the water recedes there exists other concern of bacteria contamination that officials will have to make sure is safe prior to the race

Moral of the story, if you have ever been to Des Moines when there is any flooding at all, you know its always bad near Gray's Lake.  Gray's Lake Park and the adjacent Water Works Parks are flood plains.  And even if the Raccoon stays behind the newer (1993) levees, the Des Moines is currently so high that they have closed the downtown bridges over it (where the run was scheduled to cross it a number of times).

Thus, from reports I have read, race officials are scrambling to figure out a solution.  They have not made an official announcement yet, as they do not want to release any misinformation, but I suspect something will come out later this week or early next. As Hy-Vee is the last of the US Olympic Trials, they need to do a swim-bike-run for the pro's (vs. changing the format to a duathlon, were you would run-bike-run).   Of course, even if they decided to change the race to a duathlon, they would need to change the course considerably with the original transition area being flooded out, and a bunch of the run course not usable due to river crossings.

There are other lakes in the Des Moines areas, and from the reports I read, it looks like officials are looking into an alternative route should Gray's Lake not be ready by race day.   Of course many of these lakes are at flooding levels themselves, and they also might present challenges for the size race that they are trying to hold. I don't envy race officials right now, although I am sure they will do the best they can.

Of course, I should note that this race is one of the least significant outcomes of this flooding. People are loosing their homes, possessions, and businesses. I will certainly keep them in my thoughts and prayers, and pray that it dries up a bit so water levels can drop.

Either way I am looking forward to going to Des Moines for the race. I do hope I can do some type of a swim, seeing that I have been working on that for some time now. In the event there isn't a swim assocaited with Hy-Vee, I might look to do an additional tri this summer, although I am really running out of open dates.

Notes:

• There is a good discussion going on over at Slowtwitch on this subject.  You will find it here.
  
• The Des Moines Register is also doing a great job of covering the flooding in Iowa right now.
  
• I will update WND with a new post as more information leaks out. 

Tonight:

Going to Lake Michigan for a swim in the new wetsuit.  Brrrrrrr

Hy-Vee Tri Update (11:30 PM CST):

• All indications are pointing to moving the event from Gray's Lake to Easter Lake. It will take some rerouting of the course, but it sounds like the event directors are on top of it.  [Update, no route announcement, but the age groupers will be a "dry" race (a duathlon).  See my update post here.]
  
• The Des Moines Register wrote a quick bit quoting the director of communications from Hy-Vee corporate (which by the way is a grocery store chain those of you not from the area). Looks like a decision is going to be made soon "“I can’t say until the (release) is approved, because we’re waiting for one more phone call.”
  
• One of the local news channels, KCCI, did a spot on their evening news. 
  
• Check back here at after the 10 PM news in Des Moines is over. I will update this post when if an announcement is made.  See the updates here.

Drake Relays on the Road Report

I apologize this report is running so late with this report. It has been a busy couple of weeks around the house.

Why This Run?

I should probably start in how I picked this race to run. Originally I was was planning o running the Country Music Half-Marathon in Nashville. I ran it last year. It is a very well run race, and despite a hilly course I managed my personal record in the half.  I had a fun time with my friends in Nashville, but I have to leave right after the race and didn’t get to fully honky-tonk it up (I had to get back to for a friend’s wedding).

This year I decided I wanted to lead a CARA pace group in training for a “spring” half marathon. I knew it would get me into shape a little sooner, and I really enjoyed running with groups. Well what I didn’t know is how bad this winter would be in Chicago. It was brutal, and the Winter Training Group for CARA was not very popular this year.

My group (8:30 pace group) consisted of the other group leader, Ellen, and Rob. Yep, there were three of us. Others sometimes joined us for a run, but for the most part it was just the three of us.
Well my group was pretty small, and only Rob was planning on running in Nashville, and I couldn’t convince my other friends to get in gear to train for it. I also realized how expensive it would be to either fly or drive down and hotel it in Nashville.
Then I found out they ran a half-marathon for the Drake Relays on the Road that same weekend, and it would be the perfect excuse to go see my parents and my friends in Des Moines (where I grew up). 

This was actually the 40th running of the Drake Relays on the Road.  It started as the Drake Relays Marathon, but was shortened to a half in 1994.  They have also run 8 and 10ks as well. 

Whenever You're Ready… The Race Report?

Right. WND Gal and I drove to Des Moines from Chicago Friday night. Up early on Saturday, my dad drove me to the start area at 6:50 for a 8 AM start. I got there, registered (only $30), looked for the gear check (there wasn’t one, used a bush in the parking lot), and tried to find the rest room.

I have run a few of these races in Des Moines on my “vacations” home at my parents’ house. They are a refreshing break from the gigantic races in Chicago. This race had 1900 participants, half of which ran the 8k that had the same start. No chip, no crowd, just a bunch of people out for a run.

Not that everything went smoothly. I did not feel well from before I went to bed, and didn’t shake whatever it was when I got up. I was tired and had stomach issues. It was a about 37 degrees with a decent wind. The hour before the race I was really wondering if I should really go out and run it.

And that feeling didn’t go away…

The start was right in front of the Drake Stadium, where they were holding the rest of the Drake Relays. The first couple of miles did not feel good. My legs felt heavy and it was cold. Maybe it was just that I was not awake yet and cranky, but I was not having a good time.

Then comes the 8k turn-around. No, I didn’t do it, but I sure thought about it. 

About a half mile later, around mile three, I saw my sister, father, and WND Gal. I decided I was warming up enough that I could lose the pants. At that time I told my dad that I wasn’t feeling well and that it was going to be a long day.

“Well you are on pace, so keep going.”

Yep, sure enough.  OK Pops.I felt a lot better in shorts. I also knew the roads for the next mile or so (having gone to high school in that neighborhood). Oh, and it was also the downhill portion of the run.

I also met a nice guy from Northeastern Iowa running in a distinctive cowboy hat.  Turns out this was my kind of fellow.  He had done some pretty cool ultra runs and we were about the same pace.  We ran for a couple of miles together and swapped cool running stories to pass the time.

Of course, what goes down must go up, and once we started back up the hills around mile 6.  I wasn’t really in the condition to keep up much a conversation, but still was not too overwhelmed by the hills.  I kept thinking of the bike ride I had done the week before where the trend had been to work hard up the hills and coast to get your breath going down.

WND Gal and her two chaperones for the day (my sister Patricia and my father) did show up at miles 6 and 9. It is always nice having support like that on these runs. I keep thinking with all the training and races I do, that one day WND Gal will get sick of it, but she seems hanging around (as long as I don’t make her run them).  

I had read some stuff on the internet about a big hill near the end of the race, so I knew right after I saw Team Dave at mile 9 (see photo with the three other guys) that I would have to do one major hill then I would be home free. As we ran up a hill at Beaver Rd towards Forest Ave, I assumed was the big hill everyone talked about near the end. Of course, it wasn’t. It came right after mile 10 going up Forest towards 46th Street. Not only was it a pretty good size hill, but it came with a pretty strong head wind.

But by this time I knew I had enough gas in the tank to get home. My game plan for the day was to run a strong 10 mile race, and then see what I had left for the last 3.1 miles. I wanted to run an 80 minute 10 mile run, and at the 10 mile mark I was just under 1:22. So I was pleased. So while I was tired, I tried to push the last 3 miles to see how I could finish.

I finished with a pretty quick mile. It was nice to see WND Gal at the end. Right after I finished I went into a pretty big coughing fit, but after I caught my breath I was fine.

I finished the race in 1:46:47, which is only 10 slower than my PR in Nashville last year. I still think I have a lot of room to improve, and I think the Bayshore Half in Traverse City on Memorial Day weekend will be the perfect time for a quick PR.

Later that night we had dinner at my parents house with my folks, sister, WND Gal and my best friend Charlie, his wife Catie, and their newborn James. It was really a great evening and fun weekend overall.