The Story of Running and the Triple Crown

August 16th, 2009 No Comments

Today I completed my first Triple Crown. When I take a step back to think about it, I am amazed, especially when I recall that I have only been running since October 2008.

I started running because my personal trainer at LA|FITNESS recommended that I try it, just to mix things up. I had been “stuck” in the gym lifting weights. My spinning had already drastically decreased because of my cycling on the road.

I’ll never forget my first training run on October 12, 2008. I wanted to turn around and go home after the first 15 seconds. My muscles were so unused to running. I was amazed at how out of breath I was given that I had recently achieved a level of fitness that allowed me to complete a 100-mile bike ride. Despite the initial pain of learning to run, I didn’t give up.

A few weeks after I started running, a co-worker suggested that I run a half marathon. I politely declined. I was satisfied with just short distances like 5Ks and 10Ks. She then told me about the Triple Crown and the cool medal you get when you complete it, and the rest is history. I made that my main goal for 2009.

And so that is how today fulfills a goal I set for myself 10 months ago.

AFC 2009

August 16th, 2009 No Comments

What an amazing race for me, my third half marathon and the final leg of the Triple Crown.

Official Results:
Time = 1:43:14
Gun Time = 1:45:01
Overall Place = 624/7070
Division Place = 74/473

Pre-race: Last night I went to bed at about 8:30 PM in the hopes of getting 8 hours of sleep. But even with Benadryl I managed to sleep fitfully, waking up suddenly before midnight, and then falling back to sleep until 3:00 AM. Sleep total, about six hours. But I felt rested anyways.

I decided to leave home early so that I could get to Balboa Park early. The race information sheet stated that athletes should allow 30 minutes for parking. Buses taking athletes to the start line start at 4:30 AM, and we had to be in line for the buses by 5:30 AM. I was out the door by 4:00 AM, and on a  bus by 4:50 AM.

Have you ever tried using a porta-potty in the dark? That’s not fun. Neither is waiting around for the race to start for two hours.

I met up with my MBA colleague, Daniel Rio, who was planning to pace the race to finish at 1:42:00, a 7:46 min/mile pace.

Honestly, despite my rigorous training with Breakaway Training, I doubted whether or not I could sustain that pace for longer than four or five miles, which is the longest distance I’ve sustained those speeds at the track workouts.

The Race: Because there were over 7000 people running the half, it took about two minutes to cross the actual start line. On the Garmin 310XT, I pressed the Lap button instead of the Start button, so my timer started a few seconds after I crossed the start line. The beginning of the race from Cabrillo Monument was downhill out of Fort Rosecrans. It took Daniel and I two miles to clear the lollygaggers and have room to run freely. I think the first three or four miles were downhill, and so I followed my original plan of blazing a trail downhill.

What surprised me about the downhill portion was that although I wanted to go fast early on, I was concerned that the pace Daniel was setting was too fast at 7:15 min/mil. We ran at that pace for about four miles or so until we reached the flats near Harbor Blvd.

Once on the flat road, I knew that I needed to maintain a speed of at least 8 mph to reach mile 11 where I knew the final climb to the finish line would test what I had left in my legs. Unfortunately, I dropped my buddy Daniel. Later I would find out he just couldn’t sustain the pace.

Much to my surprise, all the training I’ve been doing paid off. I kept my pace at 8 mph and hovered at a 7:40 min/mile for next seven miles, reaching mile 11 at about 1:23. I knew I had about 15-20 minutes to make the ascent if I had any chance of finishing in under 1:42.

I thought I conquered that hill after a half mile or so. Is that all you got?

And then it got steeper. The thoughts I had of finishing in under 1:42 were slipping away. As I headed up another climb, I started to lose hope. I mean, I knew I was going to set a new PR and probably beat my original time goal of 1:45. But for a brief time I thought going under 1:40 and even 1:42 was possible. Looks like I need to work on my power while climbing hills.

When I had resigned myself to my original goal, I heard, “Go Gerry!”. And there was one of my buddies from Breakaway, Jay Simbulan, cheering me on, running with me up that hill, and taking pictures. That was exactly what I needed at the time, and I sped up as fast as I could.

I finally reached the summit and the entrance to Balboa Park. With less than two minutes to spare at 1:40 I began a final sprint trying to make up 3/4 miles. With only a few several yards from the finish line, I saw the elapsed time on my watch passed 1:43. I had beaten my goal of 1:45, but was just shy of 1:42.

All in all, I am very pleased with my race. I know I have what it takes to sustain that pace. I’m ready to do it again and see if I can get my time into the 1:30s.