Friday, November 27, 2009

Frank Fay's awesome Bolt

Frank Fay was aiming for 35 minutes on the Blvd Bolt...his gun time was 35:03, but his chip time was 34:59! You couldn't have cut it any closer than that. Seven minutes per mile pace.....great work, Frank!

In his words:

Here is a comparison of last year's Bolt times and this years. I had been training with you for several months by the time I ran last year.
Mile 1 8:05
Mile 2 7:40
Mile 3 7:50
Mile 4 7:54
Mile 5 6:57 Final time 38:32


This year used good race psychology (ran my race) somewhat comfortable pace miles 1 and 2 with an eye on the end of the race
Mile 1 7:17
Mile 2 7:10
Mile 3 7:04
Mile 4 7:06
Mile 5 6:14 Final time 34:59

Can you believe on my last mile I had enough to knock out a 6:14? I was thrilled to say the least! Over 3.5 minutes faster on a 5 mile run is pretty sweet. Thanks for your help Stephen.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

...And the runners have it!

JFK 50 Mile Trail Run
Nov 21, 2009
Washington County, MD

Rick Hempel finish time 11:08

Rick ran this race to celebrate his 50th birthday. It is also notable that he did the JFK 50 Mile Trail Run exactly 2 weeks after completing his first iron distance triathlon at Beach 2 Battleship. Enjoy that off season, Rick!

Flying Monkey Marathon
Nov 22, 2009
Percy Warner Park, Nashville, TN

Hara Hackett finish time 4:11.

Congratulations to Hara on a personal best time for the marathon, and a dramatic improvement over her time last year of 4:54. Hara is working her way towards BQ, so we will choose a slightly flatter course for the next marathon.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Nashville Half Marathon


Nashville, TN
November 14, 2009


Photo: Libby Pietrzak on her way to finishing her first half marathon with a time of 2:43:47.

Catherine Dewberry 1:43:06
Walter Harris 1:53:35
Lora Fox 1:53:49
Cynthia Kern 1:54:02
Jamie Day 1:59:10
Gregory Bartram 2:02:28
Aaron Gauger 2:03:36
Ricky Thomas 2:04:25
James Garges 2:06:33
Alex Tolbert 2:07:31
Robert Cain 2:08:43
Barry Smith 2:12:50
Merideth Musgrove 2:19:30
Shannon Fry 2:22:08
Jonathan Kelsey 2:22:42
Dara Oglesby 2:29:54
Bob Weber 2:33:50
Beth March 2:36:16
Libby Pietrzak 2:43:47
Bonnie Titre 2:47:28
Marie Birdsong 3:20:28
Fergus Taylor 3:28:53
Dave Anderson 2:32:33
Renashia Davis 3:39:18
Brandy Schmidt 3:39:18



Photo: Greenfleet Messenger Service (Jason Haggard) provided lead bicycle duty. This is Jeff Edmonds with a signficant lead in the men's race.



Photo: Jim Garges having fun.



Photo: Jonathan Kelsey.






Photo: Barry Smith--super nice guy--running strong.



Photo: Joleyn Smithing got a little motivation from her friends.



Photo: Bob Weber finishing his first half marathon. Next stop: Ironman New Orleans 70.3.





Photo: Dave Anderson giving the double thumbs-up: "An event I never imagined I would participate in (and hopefully the first of many.)"


Photos: Some of my friends and athletes from the free run training group I lead.



Photo: Cynthia Kern won her age group!

Taste Success.

Kevin Clouse: First Time Iron Distance Triathlete


Photo: Kevin Clouse after finishing Beach 2 Battleship Iron Distance.

I like to share my client's experience in their own words whenever possible. Here are excerpts from Kevin's race report:

"At the beginning of the year I had only thought about ironman as being possible maybe in 1 or 2 years. My goal this year was to complete the swim in Chattanooga without dog paddling and possible do a ½ ironman race. I had heard Coach Stephen speak at several triathlons and wanted to start training with the group because I had done what I could on my own. I started training in March 2009 not sure what to expect, but after meeting the people in the group I knew I was in the right place to learn how to do triathlons.

With the training over the next few months I went to Chattanooga and not only finished the swim without dog paddling, I cut my swim time from 40 minutes to 27 minutes. I finished the 2008 race in 3 hrs 28 minutes in 2009 I finished in 2 hrs 54 minutes! After having met that goal I was just going to finish the year with another Olympic race and the atomic man ½ ironman. That was when the plan took a dramatic shift. After swim class one night Stephen, Susan, Mindy, Matt, Richard, Libby and myself go for some dinner. The conversation shifts to Beach 2 Battleship. That night was the first I had heard of it. The ½ had been sold out so I did not really think about going to the event. That was when Stephen told me I should do it. I said to him, “I thought the ½ was sold out?” Stephen answers “do the full ironman”. At this point I had thought ironman was at least 1 to 2 years away. I had only done 1 marathon. Never ridden past 45 miles on a bike, and was just now getting comfortable swimming in open water. But after listening to Stephen and everyone that night I have to say I started to think seriously about it. I talked to family and friends about it they all thought I was crazy! but encouraged me to do it. About 24hrs later I decided to signup for it.

Now that I have signed up for this race I start think about it, 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 run. The enormity of this event left me wondering what the heck did I just sign myself up to do? Started training by following the workouts that Stephen had setup. The long bike rides on the Natchez Trace, the Time trials at bells bend, Dave Scott bricks. The list goes on. I have to say that the more I did these workouts and the length and intensity got longer, my confidence started to grow. What at first seemed impossible started to feel a little more realistic. When we started tapering 3 weeks out, I had just done my 2nd 20 mile long run and it was about then I knew I could finish.

[On race day] I just kept counting down the miles. I came over the last hill and get ready to turn the corner to go to finish and I saw Stephen on his bike and he says,” glad to see you, everyone has been worried”, I told him about the pain in my feet and knees and how it slowed me down, he just laughed and said, “welcome to ironman” I saw the finish line and turned to corner and did not feel anymore pain. I was now an IRONMAN!

I am typing this up 3 days after finishing. I don’t think the reality has set in as to what it means to finish that race. But I do know the race was just a small part of the whole experience of the last 9 months. I signed up for this group in March not sure what to expect. The experience for me has been life changing. Without all the encouragement from my family, friends and now the new friends I have made being part of this team none of this would have been possible.

Thanks

Kevin

Beach 2 Battleship: A Truly Epic Day


Photo: Namesake of the race, Battleship North Carolina as viewed from our hotel room.

Beach 2 Battleship Triathlon
(Half and Full Iron Distance)
Nov 7, 2009
Wilmington North Carolina


Gray Stahlman 6:44:12 (Half Iron)
Stephen Taylor 9:17:35
Jason Rinks 12:17:36
Mindy Craven11:42:51
Susan Howell 12:48:15
Jessika Poirier 12:56:55
Bill Polk 13:30:31
Rick Hempel 13:20:31
Carrie Rollins 13:12:15
Kevin Clouse 15:26:49



Photo: Pre-race briefing with our team.



Photo: Mindy and Jessika practice swim at the race start site.



Photo: Coach Taylor in T1 after a blazing :47 swim.



Photo: Carrie Rollins, always smiling, during the bike leg.



Photo: Mindy Craven on the way to her second iron distance PR of the year.



Photo: Coach Taylor getting revenge on the ghosts of past ironman marathons.

Photo: Gray Stahlman, proudly displaying his hardware in front of the Battleship North Carolina.



Photo: Susan saying 'cheese' after finishing her first iron distance.



Photo: El Gato and El Hempel (Bill and Rick) celebrating their first iron distance triathlon.



Photo: BF's Mindy and Susan celebrating the day.



Photo: Coach, with the amazing Kevin Clouse.



Photo: It was great being there to see my fiance Susan finish, but it was cold!


Photo: Cheer support Terry Walker (aka Nut Cup.) It was great having Terry, Matt M., Brad R., and other family there to support our madness.

Iron and Half Iron Racers

Miami Man Half Iron Distance
November 8, 2009
Miami, FL

Becky Sharpe 6:36:52
Lori Elam 7:23:47


(Note: Miami Man Half Iron was buffet by tropical storm winds this year. Winning times were ~25 minutes slower than 1 year ago. Nonetheless, Becky and Lori narrowly edged out their last year's results for this race.)











Ironman Florida
Nov 7, 2009
Panama City, FL




Matthew Cutrer 11:26:45











David Stock 12:04:00









Bart Freeze 15:54:41




Sunday, November 15, 2009

Do well in the local 5K

Local 5K's are fun to race. If you are an age group athlete with typical work and family demands, then this race format offers you an opportunity to taste some real competition. One of my workhorse clients Frank F. raced in a local 5K as a tune-up race for the Thanksgiving Day Boulevard Bolt.

In his words:

"Hey Stephen. Decent day for a run, don't you think. Here are the results....There were between 120 and 130 runners I think. I finished 13th overall and won my age group, 35-39. Don't know how many were in my age group. ...Used your race psychology to run down 2 of the 3 people I wanted to. Probably could have caught the last guy in another 1/2 mile...See you Monday.

Frank F