New Site!

Hey everyone, just wanted to make a quick post to mention I've migrated this content over to my own hosted site, aaronmfj.com

I'll be bringing this down in the next couple of months or so. The new site is going to be much better and more consistent  than this blogger. So, stay tuned and make sure you follow things over there!

http://www.aaronmfj.com/

USA! USA! USA!

So, where were we? Oh, right, I had just run an FA 50k and was well on my way to my first official ultra race. I haven't been updating as much as I would like but I've been queuing up some thoughts and things to write about so I'll have more regular updates.

With the FA 50k out of the way, I had my sights set on the MST 50k race here in Raleigh (Wake Forest). Before MST, I registered for Wrightsville Beach Marathon with a friend of mine. I figure it would be a normal training run and on top of that, I haven't run an official marathon since my first one in 2008. It all sounded great until I realized I got the dates mixed up. I was now scheduled to run a marathon and 50k on back-to-back weekends. Oh boy...

Wrightsville Marathon 2015

Wrightsville came and I decided that I was just going to take it easy with my only goal being to beat my first marathon time of 4:10. My friend David and I were standing at the start, in the dark parking lot of Wrightsville and we start talking about paces. I planned on an 8:30 mile pace for the first half, then an 8:00 pace for the second half with a 7:30 kicker in the last couple of miles. Then the gun goes off and it all goes out the window as we start to talk about, "what if we qualify for Boston?!". I only had a couple of miles above 8, the rest were all sub 8. This was also my first official race using Tailwind Nutrition. I had a leaking reservoir of water, 2 soft flasks for Tailwind, and a supplemental Hammer gel every 20 minutes.

The crowd really got me pumped up. You see, every aid station was manned by volunteers and different colleges. So there was an NC State station, UNC, etc. Get a bunch of college students in groups during a big event and you get the Megazord of support. Couple that with the fact I was wearing American flag shorts and rocking a sweet trail beard and you have a recipe for chaos. Every station I ran by echoed the calls of dozens of students chanting, "USA! USA! USA!" and/or "SWEET BEARD!" This usually got everyone around me pumped up as well. Good times.

Mile 25 or so. USA!

I only stopped once to pee and otherwise felt great. I did have some chaffing from my hydration pack (more on that in a later post) and I ended up running out of Tailwind towards the end. I used the aid station grab-n-go cups of water and Gatorade. The last couple of miles I was still feeling alright and posted 7:30s for mile 25 and 26 with the normal adrenaline-fueled .2.

Overall I'm incredibly satisfied with that time. Old PR of 4:10 to new PR of 3:26. While the excitement of going all out to try and get a Boston time was fun, I knew it wasn't realistic with my lack of speed training and increase in the slow-and-steady distance training, so I didn't go for it. I was supposed to take it easy and use it as a training run since I had MST 50k the next weekend. Oops...

OK USA!

Post Race Info

Strava Details - https://www.strava.com/activities/272298514

Lessons Learned:

• Steady pace until half way and then reevaluating for faster pace in the second half still works well for me.
• I'm still too small for the extra small vest I had on. Can't wear tank tops/singlets with it. The chaffing is real.
• Will not use soft flask bottles for main race bottles ever again. They sag into the pockets.
• I don't enjoy repeat loops in distances races.
• Almost dialed into a new nutrition plan. Confident I can use only Tailwind and be fine. It just works.

Gear List:

• Shoes - Inov-8 Trailroc 235 (discontinued...)
• Pack - Salomon S-Lab Advanced Skin3
• Nutrition - Tailwind, Hammer Gel

Next episode

MST 50k recap and I spontaneously sign up for another 50k two weeks after MST...

Ultra Combo

The past couple of weeks have been easy and slow -- low mileage and feeling sick last weekend. My training has been building mileage on three days/week. Trying to hold a steady weekly mileage at 50 is pretty tough with only three days, so I've been starting to run daily with a rest on Friday.

Since my last post, it's been business as usual. I decided to participate in a FA (Fat Ass), specifically the 7th Annual Falls Lake FA. I set out to get a long, single-track trail run with the goal of getting in a marathon -- my longest run since 2008. It was a cold, cloudy morning with light rain and very muddy trails from previous rain. At the same time, I decided to try a whole new nutrition plan. Previously, I used a Hammer gel every 20 minutes with some water. Occasionally I would use a Hammer Perpetuem with water. This time I decided to try out Tailwind. One pack per 20oz bottle, trying to consume one bottle per hour. I also supplemented with Hammer gel every 30 minutes or an occasional Stinger wafer. Let me tell you what, I felt amazing. 

Just before start, I'm center blue.

I stayed a tad behind with a friend of mine as we made our way through the, at times, ankle-deep mud and calf-high water. Hopping over rocks and negotiating rooted hills, we made it to the marathon turnaround. My buddy tweaked his hip a bit and decided he was going to turn around. I evaluated myself and decided I felt too good to stop now, so I continued on to the 50k turnaround at 15.5 miles in "what's 2 miles, right?!"

Making my way through the woods with a pack of four, including myself, we hit 15.5 miles. Two of the pack were continuing on to the 40 mile turnaround while myself and another decided to turn around. I evaluated again and thought I could probably do 40, I didn't want to push it since I had a long way to get back and I was already charting new mileage. We started our trek back at a comfortable pace, only stopping at the donated aid stations (three in total). After awhile my newly befriended ultra runner decided to break off in search of a bathroom, leaving my in my lonesome.

It never really bothered me to run by myself. I've spent most of the last five years training by myself. Having an extended amount of time to reflect on one's self and other various life events has always been relaxing. I usually don't listen to anything -- just me and my thoughts. The only time it starts to get somewhat weird is when it's dark out or when I've been out for hours. While the sun was still up during my FA run, having been running for 4+ hours and at the time, by myself, things started to get a little weird. Much like when it's dark, I start to see things that aren't always there; my mind conjuring up whatever it can in an attempt to identify my unfocused surroundings. "Is that a person? Is that a deer? Was I already here? Did someone call my name?" Nothing life-altering and it's not like I was out there for 10+ hour 50 mile run - just something I started to notice as I attempted to auto-pilot my way back.

About 4.5 hours in and about 10 miles away from the finish is when I started to not want to eat anymore. I was drinking the Tailwind but I was out of gels and needed to continue eating wafers. However, just the thought of it was disgusting. On top of that, I was on the caffeinated Raspberry Buzz flavored Tailwind that I was absolutely not a fan of. So while I was baby-sipping the Tailwind, I was breaking off pieces of the wafer trying to eat them without gagging. I ended up getting a mouth full of water, then taking a bite - mixing it in my mouth and swallowing. I was able to eat half of one but didn't eat anymore for the last 6 miles or so. I was terribly off schedule for nutrition and my body was depleted. 

After a few uninspired miles I made it to the finish. Despite being energy depleted, my muscles felt better than anticipated. Looking down and seeing 30 miles on my Garmin was surreal. My feet were wet during the entire run, my hands were freezing, and the tips of two of my toes were hurting every time I went down a hill but man was it fun. It's not much more than a marathon, but it sure was a hell of a lot harder. My post long run meal is usually a Sofritas Chipotle burrito but my stomach still didn't want anything. I downed some tomato soup, Coke, and a grilled cheese. Overall it was a great experience and I was happy to basically run the same course as my 50k race in March. My confidence in the distance was boosted and now I'm sure I can do it. I was on my feet most of that night and most of the next day, including a one mile recovery run and a seven mile run two days after that. I learned a few lessons along the way as well (carry some extra socks/s) that will help me on race day.

You can check out the run on Strava if you're curious.

Time: 5:24

Avg Pace: 10:25

Distance: 50k

Nutrition:

20oz bottle of Tailwind mixture every hour.

1 Hammer Gel every 30 minutes - Substitute wafer (half per half hour) as needed to mix it up.

Sip from second water source after every gel and Tailwind drink.

Random unmanned aid station cookie.

-AaronMFJ

Return of the Jedi

Wow it's been awhile, eh? Turns out I have a bunch of saved drafts for blog posts that I just never got around to completing. Oh well. Starting fresh here.

So what have I been up to?! Please relax.. I'll tell you.

First of all, I've been playing a lot of video games lately. I finally beat Alien: Isolation and man, such a good game. Finally some fan service with an Alien game that focuses more on survival than guns-blazing. But you're not here for that. Actually no one is here so I can talk about what I want.

I've been running. A lot. Surprisingly my last, and only, marathon was in 2008. The more I think about it, the more depressing that is. I've been really active since then: half marathons, tons of 5ks, trail races, and even a half Iron distance race.

However, I have yet to recapture the distance and sense of accomplishment that comes with something as big as a marathon. So what have I really been up to? Well, I have a marathon in March (Wrightsville Beach Marathon) that I've been working towards. "Oh wow, good luck!" you say? No, get out of there with that. There's a bigger picture here. AaronMFJ is going for an ultra. That's right, an ultra marathon. That puny little marathon will be just another training run in my grand plan to do the Umstead 50 here in Raleigh. The ultimate goal is to be able to do the Umstead 100 but that is still a ways off. I'm currently in the 30 mile/week range and plan on keeping it increasing until around 65 mile/week.

Overall I'm pretty excited about it. Over the last few years I've been putting on miles then falling back down. It's been a pretty vicious cycle of increase, get lazy and decrease, increase, winter decrease. I know winter is just now starting, and suddenly, but I've been keeping with it pretty regularly with 3x/week running days. Moving long run to Saturday from Sunday has done wonders for me. It's not all ice cream and rainbows, my feathered friends. No no. I've been battling injuries here and there. Most of them either hockey related (knees) and currently a pretty sore ankle from rolling it on a trial run. All-in-all though, I'm in pretty good shape. Longest run so far has been 15 miles and I was almost sore-less the next day. Deal with it.

I'm excited about what is to come. I haven't yet chosen my first ultra. I mentioned Umstead 50 but that is sold out for 2015. I will try for 2016 but in the meantime I've got my eye on the MST 50k  which sounds pretty exciting, especially since I've been doing some long runs out there. Stay tuned friends, more updates to come!

-AaronMFJ

Race Report: Azalea Triathlon

TL;DR

Official Times:

• Total - 1:03:57
• Swim - 6:36
• T1 - 2:41
• Bike - 31:00
• T2 - 1:32
• Run - 22:09

Race Report
It was my first time doing the Azalea Triathlon, the season-opening race in the Setup Events Triathlon series here in NC. The Azalea was down in good ol' Wilmington, NC.

The enthusiasm of Market St.

It was a beautiful day despite the wind chilled morning. My start time was 10:24 which is unusually late but because it was a pool swim, each person started by number and about 15 seconds apart. I decided to head to Wilmington a day early and grab a hotel for the night; I don't like to be rushed and even though my start time was later, I still had to pick up my chip by 9:30. And because, dammit I'm an adult and if I want to get a hotel I will!

The morning of the race I woke up at about 6:30, packed up what I needed, then headed off to fill my morning race routine; coffee with hazelnut creamer and some plain oatmeal with cinnamon and sugar. More on that later. It was a little chilly that morning but it was mainly the wind that made it slightly miserable. Strong gusts of wind that went right through what I was wearing. I debated wearing a long sleeve winter sports shirt but decided against it. since that's one more thing to put on and take off. (I carried it in my bag anyways because I'm a baby and over prepare) I arrived at UNCW and rolled my bike to the usual checkpoints: timing chip, body markings, transition area, and start time board. One thing I wish more volunteers would realize is not everyone is a veteran. A lot of people don't know what to do next in terms of checking in and what to do next, but since race organizers do, they don't think like noobs. For example, body marking was inside but there was no actual reason to go in there, so if I hadn't of already known that it was a requirement I would have totally skipped it not realizing it was a step. Check in should point you to the next area to visit. This isn't always a problem for most places but it probably had a lot to do with how segmented the stations were.

Into the transition area to set up my spot. I had an outside stage so that was really convenient not having to worry about people on both sides of me and had quick access to the runways.

I noticed a lot of people were placing towels near the pool exit, probably to dry off from the wind. I thought about it and decided I would wait until I got to transition. Not only did I not feel like stopping after the pool, but I didn't want to run with a towel either. So, I placed it neatly with my things. Little did I know I wasn't even going to use it.

On the start. I entered the pool area at the UNCW natatorium. Muggy and humid but not too bad. There were a lot of people packed in there but it was running exceptionally smooth. Kudos to the organizers here. The racers were interval starting in one side of the pool and the other was open to warm-up and practice. I swam a couple laps to get the feel for the water then got up and waited for my start. This was another area in which they could have been noob-friendly. This was my first pool tri and I had no idea what to do for the swim part. Luckily another bearded brethren chatted me up and told me what was going on, which was everyone gets in line by their race number and has a interval start. So, into the line I go waiting for my turn at a swim.

What would happen if I just jumped in now?

Time ticks on and finally I'm in the pool, ready to go. Guy in front of me gets ready-the race official starts, "5. 4. 3. 2. 1. GO!" and now I'm up. Goggles on, ear plugs in. "5. 4. 3. 2. 1. GO!" I push off the wall, gliding through the water with my head beaming the way like a dolphin glistening in the ocean. My dorsal fin guiding my way as I try to regulate my stokes, allowing my blowhole to surface for air at the right time. Now this is where it got a little tricky. 

See, swimmers go up a lane, turn around, and go down the next lane--turn around and go back up the same lane. Then on to the next. So each lane gets 2 laps. There was anywhere from 5-6 people in one lane at a time. I ended up gaining on the female ahead of me and since there were so many people, I was unable to pass by swimming around. This caused a line to build up behind me as well. Finally, she tells me to pass when she gets to the wall but I'm off-breath and a little too far from the wall. I hurry and touch it and push off to the next lane and now I'm extremely out of breath. Now the line is behind me and I'm definitely starting to slow down. I'm kicking fools in the face as they start nipping at my feet. I let one guy pass at the wall but that's all. The others will have to suffer as I pass 2 more people. I finally get to the end and climb the ladder - a tad disoriented from being out of rhythm. Now to run down a flight of stairs.

My estimated 100 yd time was 2:00. Not bad.

Down the stairs and outside finally. Ahh the sun, it burns us precious! No worries, some people stop to pick up their town and some stop to put on some clothes almost like a pre-transition.

Happy Feet

I keep on going, and into the transition area. My feet pitter-pattering on the ground like little duck feet. I love that sound. I said forget that towel business and just put on my cycling shoes, jersey, helmet, and during a momentary lapse, looked around for a second to find the bike start. Unload my bike from the rack and run over to the start.

T1 time of 2:42

I hop on the 'ol steed and start peddling while buckling then tightening as I go. My ears are hurting as the wind freezes my wet ear canals and my throat is killing me for the same reasons. My heart rate is trying to recover from both the adrenaline and the physical exertion from the "all-of-a-sudden we're doing things". 

The bike goes well. Well... All except the part where I ate a Gel and was drinking my water bottle during the first few miles and didn't dock it correctly to my bike. I watched it fall on the ground as I let out a "nooooooo" and watched that son-of-a-bitch sliding on the ground going the same speed I am. I watch it. There's nothing I can do but bid it farewell as I continue on. Pretty much flat the whole way but very windy. The aero guys had a big advantage here. Finishing up the bike I loosen my shoes and pull my feet out (something I need to work on more) so I don't have to worry about unclipping and taking off my bike shoes in T2. As I roll in I catch up to a lot of folks that are slowing down way to early on their approach. I tried to keep it fast until the last second of dismount, and then fling myself off like a rodeo.

Notice the time toward the end dive as I try to un-sheath my feet.

Into T2 was a breeze. Smash my finger somehow, propped my bike, then threw my shoes on. Took a sip of water from the extra bottle I had and then peaced out toward the run start. 

Putting on Vibram FF

The run started slow and my heart was starting to clam down. The run is my strongest area with my 5k PR being 18:50. Running for me is all about getting into the right rhythm. 

Dat outside forefoot strike

It started a little rough as I adjusted my sea legs to bike legs, and then to run legs. To top it all off I had that thick Skittle-spit--you know, after you eat some Skittles you have that spit that just bounces back at you? Without much water and that Gel sitting in me, I really had some spit coming. I gathered my saliva and got ready to purge the pallet and off it went! Or. So I thought. It sure enough Spider-maned me and came back onto my shoulder. Now I have an awesome string of web from my mouth and beard to my shoulder. I tried to grab it and get it off me but now I just had a crusty shoulder and a web hand. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuu! I was able to get most of it off and got into a good pace on my running. 

Training Effort is 5/5. Never hit that one before.

I started getting faster as I approached near the end, but I didn't realize how quick it came. The last part of the run ran through the swim transition, so there was some dodging required. If I had of known it was around the corner I would have given it a little extra in the last 1/4 mile.

Anyways, I finished in 1:03 and was overall a really good race. The overall winner was 43 min. The last tri I did was in 2010 and on a mountain bike, so this is definitely good practice for me to get back into the game. Hopefully doing Beach 2 Battleship in October. I'll keep you posted. :)

-AaronMFJ

Garmin race data here:

• Swim
• T1
• Bike
• T2
• Run

Ready to Tri?

     No more practicing on my mountain bike and no more borrowing road bikes -- I finally got sized and bought my own! It's more of a road bike because I wanted something that wasn't dedicated for tris. However, it is more of a race positioned bike so it's nice to get in the aero position. All I need are some aero bars and it'll be ready to race. 

Specialized Allez Apex M2 Comp

Swimming is still my weakest event. I can run a marathon, bike forever, but swimming is hard, man! Of course it'll get easier the more time I put into it. It's definitely the sport I've put the least amount of time in. I guess I better start swimming in the morning.

And now, more pictures.

Nathan #020 Review

Bag sits off the shoulders - post run.

I recently picked up the Nathan HPL #020 Race Vest from REI for some long distance running. I wanted something that would hold my essentials when out on the road and was also comfortable. I have an older Camelbak which I used during my first marathon and the training up to it, but I didn't really like the way it felt after an hour or so of running. Anyways, I read some reviews on running forums and decided to give the Nathan a try after Amazon, too, told me it was deliciously awesome.

So bam! I strapped on the pack and took it for a 10 mile test run on our Raleigh Greenway system. Immediately I noticed that it doesn't bounce around on my shoulders which is AMAZING! Nathan's website claims the #020 Race Veset (HPL 20) has a 3-way propulsion harness that prevents it from bouncing, and sure enough it works! No music, no cars; just the sound of penguin-like pitter-patter of my Vibram Bikilas on the pavement and the slight sloshing of the water in my HPL bladder. I stored some Gels in the front shock cord pocket and had my phone/ID in the front zipper pocket; all within easy reach of my grabby paws to quickly get a hold of and put back. It was also easy to throw my trash into as well. The front chest strap was adjustable and can slide up and down to give you more control of where you want it.

Back, with added reflecting bands.

To run it through another test, I removed the bladder to see if could fit my clothes into the bag which would allow me to run to work. Since it's 9 miles to work -- 1 mile short of my no water needed limit, I don't need the bladder. I drove to a shorter distance for the test run, packed my bag and headed off. As expected, everything worked well, and even with the extra weight of my clothes inside the bag, I still didn't have any issues with the HPL jumping my shoulders. I was able to fit a surprisingly large amount of gear into this 10oz bag.

Overall I would definitely recommend the HPL 020. If you're looking for a lightweight race vest for long distance, this is the way to go. Whether it be a 2 liter water-filled 20 mile run, or a 10 mile training run with gear, this pack will do the job. Nathan has an even more minimalist option for lightweight race vests, and a female endurance vest that doesn't get in the way of those lady bits.

A peak inside.

Front; cord pocket and zip pocket

HPL Unloaded: Jean, shirt, belt, ID, headphones, phone, and energy.

-AaronMFJ