Full Beaver Moon 5k recap

Really was planning to be in Las Vegas today.  This weekend is the RnR Las Vegas Half and Full marathons.  I had a free entry for the race, but after Molly's surgery, I decided it was wise to abandon the travel plans and stay home to save money.

Ironman friend TJ Tryon is the race director of a new race in Noblesville, and when he threw out a $10 off coupon I couldn't resist signing up for a race with the name FULL BEAVER in the title (yes, I'm that immature)  Actually, it was just one more chance to race with my Ironman buddy, Chuck Alfrey.  The icing on the cake was being joined by my weight loss successor, Mark Culp, who is well on his way to losing more weight than I did and is finding a joy for running.


It was a cloudy afternoon, so the full moon was not visible, but the temps were in the high 50s and the winds were gusting over 20 mph.  Potter's Bridge park is a small area along the White river, and the bridge itself is a beautiful landmark to hold the race.  The athletes walked to the other end of the bridge to start the race and the first 0.1 of the race comes through the bridge before you begin the 1.5 mile out and back.  The 8 foot wide trail proved to be plenty wide to maneuver through the competition, and the hills were mild enough for my legs.

I ran hard on Alfrey's heels for the first mile at a sub-8 minute pace, but when I hit the turn-around I knew it wasn't going to hold.  Dropped mile 2 to around 8:30 and struggled to hold 8:45 for mile 3.  Final time was 26:08.  4th in my age group and 30 seconds slower than the First Choice 5k in April, and a full 2:30 slower than my PR from a year ago at Chase Charlie.

All in all a good fun race which is what I wanted.  Great to see friends and try to go fast one more time.  Yeah, I wish I was in Vegas this weekend.  It was a year ago that we were there for The Strip at Night and I shot my video at the expo that ultimately landed me my sponsorship with Team Refuel and Got Chocolate Milk.  Since we didn't make the trip, we decided to hold Carter's birthday party tomorrow.  Bowling with a dozen 6 year olds could be just as entertaining as the Vegas strip?!?  Okay, maybe not, but seeing my son smiling with all his friends is really all that matters!

An extra hour of sleep or an extra hour to RUN?

I walked outside this morning in prep for my morning run and saw my neighbor standing in his front lawn with a bottle of black shoe polish in one hand, and his penis in the other.  As I got closer, I realized that he was applying the black shoe polish all over his penis turning it a very dark black.  I screamed out to him, "Sir, what are you doing?"  He looked back at me with an innocent glance and said, "I'm just doing what you reminded me to do yesterday!" "No, no, no sir, that's not what I said.  What I said was 'Don't forget to turn your CLOCKS BACK!!!"

OK, so maybe that didn't happen, but what did happen, was Max and I set out for a GREAT 8 mile run.  The pup kept up with great pacing and I enjoyed 80 minutes together with man's best friend.  Much of my inspiration this morning comes from the 43rd running of the NYC marathon where my running friend Ted Johnson is realizing one of his dreams that was delayed for him last year by hurricane Sandy.  The NYC marathon is a bucket list race for me, and I've entered the lottery each of the last two years with no luck.  Emma told me this morning that the "third time's a charm".  I hope she's right! 

Changing the clocks is a pretty big deal for me.  Most of you that have followed me for quite some time remember my post from March 2010 when we changed our clocks and I made the commitment to change my life.  Days like this give me a moment to reflect on how far I've come.  Certainly the weight loss is the most proud accomplishment, but that is kind of a thing of the past now.  I've maintained the weight loss for over a year (within 5%), and continue to work hard to keep it off.  I continue to add races to my resume, and while I enjoy every second of it, this was a year of very few PRs!   I added another marathon (which I did PR) for a total of 4, and added 4 half marathons (No PRs) for a total of 15!  My 5k and 10k PRs were both set last year as well.  So, am I getting slower?  Perhaps!  But...my triathlon accomplishments have come around.  I did PR my Half Ironman distance at Ironman 70.3 Muncie in July.  And I did PR my Olympic distance in June.  And, oh yeah, I did complete this little race called Ironman Louisville, which I'm just a little proud of (I guess we can call that a PR too). 

And so the story continues.  Still not sure what the next chapter looks like.  There's still so much I want to do!  Continue with triathlon?  Refocus on running?  Set a new low on the scale?  Or maybe, just maybe, it's time to "fall back" and give my body a well deserved rest...maybe?  ;)