Jersey Shore

CABS HERE!!!

IT'S T-SHIRT TIME!!!

The Real Jersey Shore, the One and Only LBI 18 Mile Run. October 10, 2010, the 38th Memorial and my third attempt in as many years. But, before I get in to the gory details of the race, here's what my training has looked liked since the 4th.

October 5, 2010
I headed up to CrossFit Morristown for a 6 a.m. WOD. Yup Pt. Pleasant to Morristown for a 6 a.m. workout. As crazy as it sounds I don't mind the alarm or the commute because it's a great BOX with great coaches and athletes. The original WOD called for 4 rounds of row 500, 9 ring dips, 12 shoulder to overhead Rx #135 (my weight #85), 15 box jumps. Unfortunately there are only 4 rowers and 15 athletes. Mike D, staggered us and alternatively planned to do a 400 (more like 300) run if the rowers got backed up. I started in the first wave and was 3rd off the rower. Which means I need to add that to my list of skills that needs improvement. I was also planing on not running but as it turns out after the first round I was out the garage door hammering a 300. Interesting who's on the streets in Morristown at 6 a.m. I was only able to get on a rower for the first round and I'm pretty sure a row, ring dip transition would have sucked way more. I finished in 18:38, rowing and lifts need improvement. In the afternoon I headed up to RBR to do a CF Mainsite WOD : 10 x 2 Bench Press w. 60 seconds rest. I was really sure where to start off but I know I haven't really bench pressed in a long time. So I opted on the lighter side; #115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 150, 155, 160. With a spot I'm pretty sure I could have gotten #175.

October 6, 2010
10.5 mile run with Craig Segal, ran 10 x 1 minute on w. 2 minutes recovery over the last 30 minutes. Feeling a bit run down in the afternoon I opted to bypass the afternoon strength and conditioning session.

October 7, 2010
A.M. WOD: I headed up to Morristown again and the WOD consisted of; 10 rounds for time: 10 MB clean #20, 5 HSPU (handstand push ups), 10 pistols (5 each leg). I completed the WOD in 14:33 and walked away pumped about the ease in which I did the HSPU. I also noted that I need to work more on my weakness and I added pistols to the list.

P.M. WOD : 5 x 40 : 20. This was a complete burner consisting of 40 seconds of all out sprint with 20 seconds rest. I warmed up with and easy mile of running followed up with 15 minutes worth form drills and active warm up. I finished up my warm up with 4 x 100 progressive sprints with full recovery. 5:40:20 was another WOD that appeared on paper to much easier then it actually was. Each 40 second interval I covered around 275 meters. I'm not sure if it was the wind or the workout or both but this one had my lungs burning.

October 8, 2010
Rest day : Spent some time working on the Snatch and did some easy running with the team during practice.

October 9, 2010
A.M. WOD : 7 muscle ups, 6 rounds of Cindy (5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats), 5 muscle ups, 4 rounds of Cindy, 3 muscle ups, 2 rounds of Cindy, 1 muscle up. Still a relative novice on the ring I moved through the first round of muscle ups dropping down to the ground to re grip each time. When I jumped back up on the rings a light bulb went off and I suddenly knew how to do a kip on the ring. Just like that I did 4 unbroken muscle ups and I almost got the last one too. I finished the WOD in 15:32. At practice with the team I ran 9 x 300 uphill. Probably not the best idea with an 18 mile race the next day but I figured why not. I made sure I ran at least one hill with each group or individual. After we finished practice I received some praise from the RBR Maintenance Staff. They were very impressed with how hard my team works day in, day out, rain or shine. It's moments like this, that make it all worth it and it's moments like this that reassure you that what your doing is the right thing. I had a similar feeling after I left Running Works in August.

Since I forgot to pick up my chip last year, I decided I would make the trip down to LBI to pre register so I wouldn't have to stress about it in the morning. In 2009 I signed up early, had my number but decided to bypass the t-shirt pick up to avoid the hassle at St Francis the morning of the race. As I was changing my shoes for the race my brother asked me if I had my timing chip. At that point it was to late to do anything to correct my stupidity and I ran without a chip. I ended up running a huge PR and finished 5th but the results of the 2009 race will never show that. Lesson learned, always pick up your t-shirt!

October 10, 2010
Race day was here and questions would finally be answered. How would my new training program translate to race results? The goal was to run 6:30 pace and be as comfortable as possible. Fellow MUXCTF alum Pat Dalessandro was also running as he preps for his first marathon in December. We talked a few days before and we both had a similar race plan so we agree to meet up and give it a go together. I didn't really warm up as well as I would have like and Pat was even surprised that I mentioned warming up. I usually spend the hour leading up to a race going through range of motion and form drills but only managed to squeeze in 20 minutes before the race. This was by no means my downfall.

We headed out at the start and I felt pretty comfortable and even though I was faster then I wanted to be through the early miles I still thought I was going to be able to maintain my pace the entire race. Through the early miles Pat and I clicked off splits in the low 6:20's. At some point Pat and I gained a third member of our group and this is when things took a turn for the worse for me. It started to bother me that mile after mile this guy was content to sit in and let Pat and I do all the work. Eventually I moved behind him and forced him to the front to to some work and with that he took off and Pat followed. The next mile split ended up being 5:22!?! I knew that paced had picked up but 5:22 was ridiculous. The mile mark must be off but even if it was, it wasn't that off. So, because I stopped racing myself and started racing people around me my race was completely shot and we hadn't even hit the half was mark.

At that point I realized I need to get back to my game plan which was to run 6:30's and be comfortable. I settled back into a rhythm and I tried to not think about the fact that I still had 9 miles to run. I had been taking Accelerade every 3 miles but looking back I probably needed another fuel source because somewhere around mile 13 my calfs began to severely cramp. At this point Pat and I had moved into the top 10. Unfortunately, I had started to do damage control and suggested to Pat to go for it. Pat continued on and ended up running a great race finishing in 6th. I on the other hand went in the other direction going from 7th to 11th finishing in 1:56.50. Of the 3 races I've run on LBI this was the slowest and I felt absolutely wrecked. I was flat backed for at least 10 minutes and was shoveling anything I could get my hands on into my mouth (oranges, potato chips, birch beer, gatorade) On top of it all I had to get in my car and drive to Toms River to train a client. Luckily I snapped out of it pretty quickly and by the time I arrived in Toms River I was feeling pretty good. My stomach was hurting but that was because of all the crap I ate when I finished.

The next day when I woke up I decided to enter the Atlantic City Marathon. The question many asked was why and the answers are to follow in my next update coming shortly.