2012 Boston Athletic Association Half Marathon 13.1

Entering the 2012 Boston Athletic Association’s half marathon had been in the talks amongst my Optometry colleagues for a while. During our first year here in Boston, a few of us would occasionally run together, but nothing consistent and certainly with no event in mind. This slowly began to change towards the end of spring semester, and eventually came to us all agreeing to sign up for this race when we returned from summer vacation.

The B.A.A. 13.1 took place in early October, throughout Boston’s “Emerald Necklace” park system. Most of the race proceeds went to the Dana-Farber and Jimmy Fund Organizations, both dedicated to beating caner. The start/finish line was at Franklin Park in Jamaica Plain, a suburb of Boston. Come race day I was glad to see how organized everything was, especially for there being over 7,000 athletes participating. It was pretty neat getting on the Boston subway at 7am Sunday, only to see 100’s of other half-marathoner’s decked out in race attire. Once we arrived, we passed off our extra jackets, phones, etc and made our way to the starting line. With this many people in one area, I guess it’s no surprise we ran into a familiar face or two (what’s up Doc Zimmerman?). The course was an “out and back” along this series of parks, lakes, and other scenic areas I would have otherwise never known about. The turning point was located at Boston’s Back Bay Fens area, where a few others in our class came to yell & cheer us on (Thanks Katrina, Kate, and Spencer!). A few highlights of the course included passing by the Arnold Arboretum, and Jamaica Pond, as well as through the Franklin Park Zoo towards the finish line (where we ran past lions, peacocks, and swans). Post-race amenities included medals, t-shirts, and lots of food. A+ on the French toast and chocolate chip bagels, BAA! Later that night, we continued the post race excitement with celebratory Burgers and Beer!

Due to conflicting schedules outside of class, we didn’t get to train together as much as we would’ve liked. Despite this, we all managed to arrive @ the starting line on race day ready to rock and roll. We also got together for a tasty carb dinner the night before. We chowed down on pasta w/ chicken and pesto, as well as plenty of toasted bread w/ olive oil (including Corinne’s frantic baguette/brushetta concoction).



Hangin out after dinner. Talkin about tomorrow's race,  random Optometry jargon, and singin Jack Johnson songs!



After the subway ride, we then boarded a fancy shuttle bus that would bring us to the Franklin Park starting line. At this point, I felt like I was definitely on my way to an athlete-exclusive theme park or something similar.




Post Race Flexin!



They say “You experience your 1^st race, and race your 2^nd one” about almost any athletic event. Being my 2^nd half marathon, I realized how true this is. I learned a lot from my 1^st half, and was eager to see if I could improve my performance on this one. Going in, I pretty much just wanted to beat my old time of an hour & 56 minutes, and maybe break into the 1:40’s. I believe this was everyone’s first half marathon, with the exception of me and Lai.  

 Sam - 1:54:57

Monique 1:54:57 - "Ms. Renegade Runner"

Corinne - 1:36:17 - 15th place, out of 508 in age group!

Ali - 1:56:56

Kevin - 1:43:42 - New PR, Whoooot!

Lai - 2:12:10

Esther - 1:56:16

These were the only shots taken on race day



Congrats you guys!

Lucky's Lake Swim, Orlando FL

When's the last time you met a medical doctor, avid swimmer, holder of the world's largest yo-yo collection, special Olympics coach, science fiction author, actor and film producer, all in the same day? Well this is Dr. John "Lucky" Meisenheimer, and he is a character to say the least. The dermatologist lives on Lake Cane, here in Orlando. 6 days a week, he invites the world to come by and join him for a morning 1 kilometer swim across the lake and back. 1st timers get to sign the wall of fame, receive a patch and bumper sticker "I Survived Lucky's Lake Swim". The guy never misses out on a swim, between his leisure pool, lap pool, and lake. If its storming out? He'll go inside and jump in his endless pool if he has to. The gates to his house have swimmers on them. Most holidays he'll even invite everyone over, every 4th of july there's a midnight movie followed by a swim. Every time I've stopped by, there are well over 100 swimmers/triathletes there, and usually a magazine or newspaper doing an interview. Fun times!

Optometry school colleague, Ting, came to visit FL from Colorado this summer. She insisted on going to the lake swim before her early morning flight. Congrats Ting!

 

http://luckyslakeswim.com/

http://luckyslakeswimblog.wordpress.com/

Video documentary of the swim
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVNwbdc56RQ

2012 Ironman 70.3 Vineman, Sonoma California

Well Optometry school finals were through and Summer 2012 had finally come. I knew this was the most free time I'd have for a while, so figured why not train for an Ironman 70.3 event. Consisting of a  1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run, I knew I had a lot of preparation ahead. Most of the April/May east coast events didn't allow enough training time, so I ended up choosing the Vineman in Sonoma California as my first Half Ironman race, July 15th. With relatives living there too, it ended up being one of the best family vacations!

We pulled into town a few days before the event.
Checking out the swim venue @ Johnson's Beach in Guerneville, CA.
Town population: 1000
Number of Vineman 70.3 Athletes Visiting: 2000+

Hangin w/ Uncle Paul & Alex, just before my swim wave. 1st wet suit legal race!

Being my first 70.3 event, I was trying not to have expectations on my times/performance, and tried to just focus on crossing the finish line 6, 7, 8 hours later. That non-competitive mentality didn't last very long. The out and back swim course was perfect, giant redwoods lined the Russian river and families were out on their docks cheering for us.

37 minute swim split, a little quicker than I had anticipated. In transition area,  getting ready to embark on one of the most scenic bike courses filled with vineyards, wineries and rolling hills.

Averaging 17.4 mph landed an overall bike leg of 3 Hrs 12 Mins

Towards the end of the bike, I was feeling pretty good. The bike course consisted of only a few hard climbs, but mainly rolling hills, and tons of vineyards. Having trained in flat Florida, I really didnt know what to expect my bike pace to be. Overall I was very happy w/ my time. I made sure calorie/fluid intake was sufficient on the ride, and was now "ready" to go run a half marathon. 

Thankfully I met up w/ Linda, a new friend from Alaska, on the run course. The 2nd half of the run was tough, with lots of hills and little or no shade. The course took us through a vineyard/winery. I don't think wine tasting would have been a good idea though, haha. We kept each other motivated and on pace. Here we are towards the finish line, legs feeling like 300 lbs each

Hangin w/ my personal cheer leading squad after the finish

My overall time was 6hrs and 27mins, a little faster than I had expected! Tracy (far right) ripped this thing in just over 5 hours, pretty impressive

Pulled over, beneath Golden Gate Bridge

The day after the race, we ended up stopping in San Francisco for lunch. During the car ride over, I was so excited to slip back into my wet suit and go for a short swim in the bay. Little did I know that the week after you do a Half-Ironman race, every muscle in your body head to toe is very sore. I got out of the car and realized there would be no swimming today. That's alright, "Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon" is next on the list : )

Instead of a swim, I settled on an awesome picture w/ Mom & Uncle Paul

Post-race, back to FedEx w/ the bike

Training for this was a lot of fun. I was @ the pool 4-5 days a week. Here in Melbourne, FL there is a large group of swimmers and Tri guys/gals. Occasionally I'd join the tuesday/thursday groups that'd jump in the river to swim for some open water practice. I'd have 2 or 3 "short" runs, and one long run on sundays. Average weekly mileage running was around 18. I'd also ride a few times per week, 25 to 40 miles each. Training in humid Florida really worked to my advantage on this race. On the west coast there was pretty much zero humidity and I loved it! If I would have done anything differently training, it would have been more hill running and more "brick" workouts (bike/run back to back). 

As part of my swim training, I joined the 50+ swimmers for the annual "Bridge to Bridge" 3.75 mile swim here in town. The swim was started over a decade ago by Dave Underill, an Optometrist who was training for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. Every year, he brings a generator to power a blender, serving pina coladas @ the end of the swim. 

Bridge to Bridge Crew - Break @ 1.5 mile Sandbar

I also did one local sprint triathlon in Melbourne Beach, "The Pineapple Man" as well  

Overall, I had an unbelievable experience, mixing family vacation w/ an event like this. The logistics of my bike, and myself, were a little more difficult than the local 5k, or sprint tri, but it was all totally worth it. I was told that after the race I'd either be asking myself what possessed me to do something like this, or I'd be 100% totally addicted. I'm pretty sure I'm hooked on this stuff now. Doing a full Ironman might be a completely different story. However, I have learned to never say never...........