Root Canals, Master's Swim, Feb Challenge, Science Fairs and Stanky Creek!

Root canal!  How many people does that phrase scare? Well, I have the mother of all root canal stories to tell because this thing was a 2 part adventure! Last Thursday I went to my dentist to get the root canal done. Now my dentist does not do a lot of root canals, but he thought he could get mine done in the office. It was to be performed on the very back bottom tooth of my left side (#18 for any teeth weirdos). Long story short, he could not get it all cleaned out so on Monday, I got to go back to another dentist  who specializes in root canals and get it finished. Then after that appointment, I got to go back to my dentist while I was still numb and get a temporary crown! My mouth was numb for hours all the way up to my ear! All in all, both dentists did a really great job because it was not painful at all, it was just tough being in a dentist chair all morning. Thankfully they both had some really good nitro oxide for me, very relaxing!

MASTER"S SWIM!

Let me say this, just because I go to a master's swim class, it does not make me a master at swimming. It has been a long time since I attended one of these classes and I was anxious to go. It started out well, then we went into our kick set. I have a horrible kick to my swim. I went form being one of the first ones done to the back of the pack when we focused on our kicking. The coach on deck came over and told me "most triathletes have a horrible kick, so if you work on it some, you will be that much more quicker in the water". My take from that remark was this:

I SWIM LIKE A TRIATHLETE! BOOM!

I think the Master's class will definitely help my swim, since I am only swimming twice a week for the Olympic race in May, I think I will hit the class a few time a month and then work on my endurance. I was able to swim a 1:35 to 1:40 100.

February Challenge:

I am still going full steam ahead with my challenge in February. I am looking forward to it actually and I have challenged my Brad D to post my before and after pictures on the blog, because he says he is doing the same. (I will give people fair warning on that post, don't worry).

Science Fair

These are the two words that scare me the most, not root canal! I was never very good at science in school and I do not remember ever building a science fair project, but middle 6th grader and I are attempting to build a simple electric generator out of cardboard, a nail, some magnets and copper wiring. Please pray it works!

Stanky Creek 8K

Sunday was the 3rd race in a series of trail runs I have been doing. An 8K race through the trails of Stanky Creek, and yes, the creek was a factor in this one. Luckily for us, it was pretty low, and by pretty low, I mean my shoes did not get wet. The race was going great for me until I took a tumble about 1.4 miles into it. I was passing a guy and just tripped over a root and went flying! It scared me a little and really threw me off my vibe. Trail runs are hard to race. You can never see what is coming up due to the person right in front of you, and this was a narrow trail which made it difficult to pass people. i also twisted my ankle on something at about mile 4 which freaked me out also. Only thing I ever worry about on a trail run is twisting an ankle, and I thought my season was over. Luckily it was just sore for a day, and is feeling better. I finished the race in 45:31, which was good enough for 14/45 AG, 98/433 OA and left me in 13th place for the series in my AG. One more race to go in that series in two weeks!

I Do Not Have A Catchy Title.

I have been feeling pretty lazy lately.

My grandfather passed away early last week and the family made a whirlwind trip to go to the funeral on Thursday and Friday. We drove over 700 miles in 2 days, and that time in the car does not include the hour we spent at a McDonalds in Atkins Arkansas trying to get the mini van swagger wagon started! So we spent about 12+ hours in the car.

My last good solid workout was Thursday before we left. I did a 1000 yd swim in 18 and change then I followed that up with a 4 miles run in under 35 minutes. (Then I sent a trash talking video text to Brad D at Brad's Ironman Journey, because he has been sending me mean video texts, so I had to fire back!!) Then I sat in the car for hours and hours it seemed. Sitting in a car seat for an extended period of time always stiffens my joints up! So I have not been to fired up about doing any training.

Even today at my teams basketball game (I am coaching my son's 12-13 year old team), I was wearing my Ironman Branson 70.3 shirt for some motivation. One of the refs called me over and started asking me questions about doing IM races. Usually that fires me up, but for some reason, I was still unmotivated. And I am down 5 pounds since Christmas! What gives??

Well, I don't drink, but other than that...

I finally told my bride that I know what I need to motivate me.I need to sign up for my Olympic race. I spend the money, then I know I will train harder. That's the way it works isn't it? Is that true motivation? I am not sure that is the thing that would motivate me, the spending of money, but more of a deadline. So, maybe when I am officially entered into the race, it will light a fire under my butt. Or maybe the driving wore on me more than I thought. I do have a 5K trail race tomorrow I am going to run, so maybe that race will get my juices flowing again. I just know it is way to early for me to be thinking of missing workouts already!!!

NOW WAIT JUST A SECOND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE:

I wrote this post on Saturday night, and Sunday after church, I did run the Winter Off Road Series 5K at Stanky Creek. A nice little trail run that I hit a new PR!!!!  25:51 on the trails! I am so stoked about that, an 8:20 pace through the woods!!!!  That placed me 15/42 in my Age Group and 95/499 Overall. For the overall series, I am in 14/58 place in my age group! Funny how things work out, but I am over that pity party and ready to train!!!!!

I Got STANKY!

I ran Stanky creek in Sunday. I ran a 5k trail run through woods as part of a winter cross country series put on by the Memphis Runner Track Club. This is one of the runs that I have a love/hate relationship with. I love the fact that it is a trail run and something different from the normal 5k's, but I hate that it is out on the woods. If I could find a climate controlled indoor 5k, then I'd be all in!

This is after the mud dried!

It was a beautiful day for this race. I ran the race last year and finished in 28:06, so I know I had to "Bring It" and beat last years time. Trail runs are tough to PR for me. In years past, I always have started towards the back of the starting line and hoped that would calm my nerves, I figure this way I can just pass alot of people and it will trick me into thinking I did well. Well, I took a new approach in 2012, The Year I Bring IT!  (That will be a noticeable theme throughout my posts this year)

The temperatures were in the upper 40s, lower 50s for the race and the sun was shining. I never really know what to wear for these type of races, but I figured I would warm up once I got going, so it was shorts and t-shirt for me and an older pair of Brooks Glycerins. (next race if the weather is right, I am rocking my newest tri top). I got to the race site about 20 minutes prior to the start of the race and jogged a little bit and talked to my boy Mickey. We postitioned ourselves about 1/4 of the way back and before I knew it, we were off and running.

The first 200 yards or so were on pavement till we made the turn into the woods. I knew that the bottlenecking would happen soon, so I started out faster than I normally would. To me, it seems like trail runs are like intervals. You run, stop, then run faster to make up time and then stop again. So needless to say, there was a lot of stopping and waiting to cross the bridges and ditches. At one point, I stepped on a rock or something and twisted my ankle. I just knew that I had lost my season. I thought I had tore up my ankle, so I took my time and figured out that I was OK and could start running again, which was a huge relief. So then it was just a matter of planning my passes and trying to get around people, which is one of the toughest things about a trial race. I did not wear my Garmin, because I knew it would not give me good information once I was in the woods, so I went with the old stopwatch. The trail was in good shape for the most part, but there was a lot of mud that I went through.

The toughest part for me was avoiding the trees!

When running through the trail, I was more focused on the ground, looking for roots, rocks and mud. Several times I would look up just in time to zig out of the way of a tree that was in the middle of the path. It seemed like they were popping up like in a a shooting range or something, and I did not want to get taken out of the race because I ran into a tree!

I was really happy with my over effort on the race and just kept focusing on my pace. I passed people when I saw the opportunity and stayed upright. I was shooting for somewhere int he 26 minute range, but I finished in 27:32. This placed me 21st out of 42 in my Age Group and 163rd out of 650 overall. I finished with an 8:52 pace. That beat last years time!  So far in 2012, I am 2 races into the season and I have 2 PR's already. I kinda like saying that!

Ever Been To Stanky Creek?

I have been doing a winter cross country series that started in January. It consists of 4 races, a 3K, a 5K, an 8k and a 10K. All of these races are trail runs. So far they have been a lot of fun, but also a lot different from regular road runs I have done.

Here is a map of Stanky Creek:


There are several factors that go into a trail run that you have to consider if you want a good place and or time. The first thing you need to do is get near the front of the pack when the siren blows. This is also where all the fast runners start, so do not get up there if you can’t hang with them. Another tip is to take short steps because with the wet grass, leaves and mud everywhere, you are going to slip, fall and maybe twist an ankle, but that’s what makes it exciting! The third thing you need to know about is the potential for stopping due to the number of people all trying to cross the same bridge as you. The trail winds and the path is narrow, so I find myself playing NASCAR and plotting the right time to pass people on the inside or around a curve. And lastly, be prepared to get muddy and wet. I know that this upcoming 8K has a creek to cross. Someone will fall in.

I personally think that trail running is a little more challenging than running on the roads, especially when it is wet and lots of leaves everywhere. I have been pleasantly surprised with my times though. I was able to finish the 5K in 28:08 and hold around a 9 minute pace. I admit, I have not been running that much lately and was using these races as my motivator to get me going, so I wasn’t sure of what to expect. It has given me a good feeling going into my tri season. I really think that if I focus on my running I can get my pace down to under 8 minute miles after the bike, which is a goal of mine.

On the 5K I finished 17th in my age group out of 37 and 127th overall out of 400+ people.

This Sunday is the 8K race at Stanky Creek, and I think this distance will be tough due to my lack of running, but it should be fun.

I start my 16 week run focused triathlon plan Monday and I will blog more about that soon.