Real Florida 10K trail run

Warren Popp, Park Manager, with me after the race.

This is the 3rd time I've run this 10K in my training ground of the Wekiwa Springs State Park and it was the toughest.  While the course was slightly different, I pushed as hard as possible after last year's loss by 5 seconds.  ( I didn't know anyone was ahead of me mixed in with the 5K finishers.)  Since I'm on the board of the Wekiwa Wilderness Trust, I was at registration at 6:30 to help out.  At 8:00, I went out to warm up for the 8:20 start which was then delayed until 8:30.  I started out very fast to get as far ahead as I could before the first singletrack section at mile 1.2.  I kept my splits up around 8:30 and went through the usual fatigue/recovery phases.  I did something new, not carrying a bottle of Hammer Perpeteum with me as I drank one 250 calorie one during registration plus a half bottle right at the start.  Picked up the pace at mile 4 past the sinkholes and headed towards the finish.  I was flying for the last 500 yards and finished at 53:22:80 with an 8:36 pace per mile.  This gave me a 7th overall out of 91 finishers and a first out of four in my age group.  Very pleased!

Warren with Don Philpott, WWT President

Debbie, Sue, & Scott

Inaugural Celebration Marathon

Sunday, January 26 was the inaugural Town of Celebration Marathon and Half Marathon in Celebration, Florida, known as the "Disney Town".  Conceived of 20 years ago by the Disney Corporation as a New Urban community, this was their first ever Marathon and Half run at this location.  This was held as a charity event for the local schools.  I signed up for the marathon, which would be my 5th in 10 years, and friends Kevin Casey (half) and Ashlee Curran (full) signed up too.

The race morning revealed perfect weather for us, 55 at the start, 65 for the finish, with a light overcast through much of the event.  With a total of 2,200 competitors, this was definitely a lower key event than Walt Disney World's 25,000 two weeks earlier.  With such a small field, I started the clock only 50 seconds after the gun.  The marathon was a 2 loop course, which wound through the town and the greenbelt areas that are interspaced in the community. The course was relatively flat with some long straightaways and some twisty parks in the neighborhoods.  There were also 2 areas where we ran on boardwalks through wetlands.  The volunteers were very vocal in their support and it was great to run through a town where many residents called out encouragement from curbside and their front porches.  Little girls cheering in oversized pajamas were especially cute.  I felt strong throughout the run (fueled by Hammer Nutrition!) and paced myself well. My goal was to PR at 4:30 and discovered at the first bathroom break that I had forgotten to disable the Autopause feature on my Garmin, so it paused everytime I did.  I kept guessing at my times based on the few race clocks on the course and just trusted on my luck. 

After the split at Mile 12, the 2nd lap course got very quiet as the majority (75%) were doing the half.  Something interesting happened then; with a solitary run, I began getting into the zone.  I was running along steadily and evenly and felt very focused.  After mile 15, I was looking at my GPS every 10 minutes and watching the miles click by.  I never felt so smooth and confident before in a long race.  I began reeling runners in, one at a time, and nobody passed me again. My strategy of sticking with descending mile splits was working fine.  I caught the 4:30 pacers at mile 20 and stayed with them until 24 when I picked up the pace and finished with a 4:29:21 for a new PR by 2:47.  My Garmin showed 4:20:56, so I lost over 8 minutes on bathroom breaks and water stops.  The correct chip time gave me a mile split of 10:17; my Garmin also showed I ran 26.46 miles which meant the course was measured a true 26.2 mile marathon distance.  In addition, it displayed a caloric burn of 3,693 calories!  I took in about 1500 calories, Hammer Perpeteum and Hammer Gels, during the race.  Kevin set a PR for the half with a 2:28 but unfortunately Ashlee had stomach issues at mile 16 and had to drop out.  Better luck next time Ashlee.

My previous marathon times;

2004 Disney 5:18:56 (age 50)

2009 Disney 4:51:33

2010 Disney 4:32:08 (26 degrees at 6:00 AM start!)

2012 Disney 4:38:53 (ITB at mile 22 after the slanted ramp)

There were 1,575 finishers for the Half and 506 for the Full, a trend seen as of late as half-marathons have taken off in popularity.  This race was very well run for a first time event and I'm looking forward to next year's Celebration Marathon.  Nice medal too.

Books: No Meat Athlete & Faster plus Winter training

 

 I found an interesting book called No Meat Athlete by Matt Frazier.  It's full of information and stories by Matt and a host of Ironman triathletes and ultrarunners.  If you want to go vegan and still compete this is the book.  There is plenty of other great data that pertains to nutrition in general.  I'm not sure if I'm ready to go vegan.  A friend, Dr. Deva, is vegan and that's what got me interested.  I stopped at Hoover's last week and bought 4 packets of vegan protein powder.  Compared to the Publix Whey Protein Powder I have been using, these are pretty bland.  The Vega Sport was the only one I would use again but I'm sure they all would work in a fruit smoothie.  All the directions had me mix them with water but almond "milk" might be better.  My friends at Hammer Nutrition have a new line of vegan products so I may try those too.

It's cooler here in Florida now and I've been training for the Town of Celebration Marathon coming up on January 26. I've stepped up my road and trail running and am aiming for a PR of 4:30 there. The course is a double loop, very flat, and is a Boston Marathon Qualifier; for my age, that is 3:50 so I'm not even close.  On December 21, I did my fastest trail run, 14.45 miles with 10:30 mile splits and early Christmas morning, I ran my fastest 5.5 mile road loop in the park (with hills) in 49:55, translating to 9:05 mile splits.

 

I found another book about triathlon called Faster by Jim Gourley.  Lots of practical information and advice on how not to spend money on things which will not improve your speed.  He found that on the bike, an aero helmet has more benefit than aero wheels and an aero frame has little benefit at all.  A properly positioned rider is the best aerodynamically.  He also found that trail running is 43% harder than road running, a notion I agree with.

 

 

# 125 Fall Festival Olympic Triathlon at Moss Park

I had a great race this morning at Moss Park, southeast of Orlando.  It was an Olympic-distance event and was combined with a sprint tri which started after me.  It was nice to have a crowded bike and run course because of my enjoyment in chasing people down.


Beautiful sunrise!

Swim, Bike, and Run!

The .9 mile sunrise swim took me 32:39 minutes and the water was warm on top and cool a foot down.  The temps were in the low 70s at the start of the 22.6 mile bike and I pushed as hard as I could to average 20.0 mph for the distance.  There was a new competitor in my age group who I had never seen before and was unsure what to expect from him.  However, after not seeing him on the bike, I took off on the run and cranked out 8:40 minute miles hoping to catch him, if he was ahead.  I spotted one guy with 62 on his leg but as I closed on him, it turned out he was doing the sprint distance.  My finish time of 2:34.26 was one of my best there and I discovered after the results were posted, that my competition was 4+ minutes behind me after the swim and fell further back all during the race.  I'm glad I drove myself as hard as possible anyway because you never know who mught be closing on you.  I was glad of the win too and met several other "Jeff Cuddeback coached people" as we were wearing the same kits.  One guy, Luis Pou, took 1st Overall!  Another, Charlie St. Cyr Paul, grabbed 2nd OA in the Tri Sprint.  Luis' wife Pam was racing also.


Jack with Luis and Pam Pou

# 124 Moss Park Olympic Triathlon

Today was the 4th Annual BelieveStrong Moss Park Olympic-distance Triathlon in Orlando.  The field was small today and from now on all the Epic races will have the Sprint and Olympic on the same day.  One cool incident at the start was the announcer couldn't get the Star Spangled Banner to play so one of the competitors sang it acapella; she was great! 

My longtime rival, Bill Floyd from Tampa, was there and he beat me by 4 + minutes as my finishing time was 2:35:13.  We were the only men in 60-64, so I got second.  I had a great race, feeling strong throughout.


Jack and Bill Floyd

At the same time in Winter Park was the Celebration of Running 5 K and my friend Kevin Casey (see photo from last race) had his whole family run with him including 5 year old Kyle.  The picture below shows Kyle with his mother Linda and sister Rachael in the background.  He finished the race and had a great time!

Kyle and Linda race to the finish!

# 123 Clermont Sprint Triathlon

Thursday, August 8th, was the 20th Anniversary of my first triathlon, way back in Chicago.  This Saturday was the 3rd in the new expanded Clermont Sprint Tri Series.  Kevin Casey, a co-worker I've been guiding through the world of triathlon, made this his 2nd race ever, as well as his first hilly event.  I surprised him by showing up too.  His wife, Linda, and their 3 children came out to.  Longtime competitor and friend Ken Junkins was there too, albeit at 59, he was 1 year and 1 age group behind me.


All dressed up and ready to go!

Kevin Casey and Jack

The weather was warm and clear at the start, with quite a big field (347!) participating.
Kevin was in the 3rd wave and I was in the 5th.  Lake Minneola was flat and warm and we both exited the water together.  I lost sight of him after that and began the hilly bicycle portion.  The hills did not disapoint as I crawled up some and hit 38mph on the biggest going down.  The run leg through town has some nice hills too and I kept feeling better and the last mile felt like I was flying.  I never saw anyone else in my age group so I was surprised to find that I placed 1st out of 7, my 21st win, with a time of 1:19:11.
I wore my Central Florida Tri Club kit so I posed for pictures with the other members who placed,  Kelly, Karen, and Luis.


Jack, Kelly, Karen, and Luis

# 122 Inaugural Sylvan Lake Triathlon in Sanford

Pushing hard on the bike!

This morning was the first ever triathlon in Seminole County at Sylvan Lake Park on the south edge of Sanford.  About 150 people competed as the first race in a 4 race series.  The few glitches didn't dampen anyone's spirits and everyone looked like they were having a great time.  I met up with Cerena and Valerie from the Central Florida Triathlon Club and was very pleased when Cerena won her age group...by 2 seconds no less!  Billy Price and the Seminole County Tri Club was much in evidence too and I did get to chat with an old friend, Deanna.  My race was OK, with a 4th place finish after I thought I was getting a 2nd to my old nemesis, Randall Brown.  Better luck next time!

Valerie flying along!

Cerena, Jack, and Valerie