CF Endurance Training

The whole Roper clan is headed down to Waco this Saturday to run the TNT trail run at Cameron Park . I shooting for a hard, fast 10 miler in 90 minutes on a very hilly course. We shall see!

Go get'm stud and studette, hehe! Todd and Elisabeth talk to me about this event asap! D

This is what's referred to in trail running circles as a race report, though I never actually wrote one when I thought life began and ended on the trails. It's got a smattering of this and that, maybe a little debriefing, perhaps some useful thoughts for next time. It may be longer than a normal blog, but I'll try to keep this as brief as possible. We left Fort Worth around 0600 and pulled into Cameron Park around 0730, so plenty of time to get registered, check gear, and take care of vital pre-race functions! This, like most trail runs, is a bit informal, so we just all gathered around the start line as the race timer neared one hour (The 50K runners had started at 0700; the 20 milers had started at 0730.) I started strong and began to pace off the race leader at a blistering 6'48" pace- fine for a short course, but could be catastrophic in a medium distance race with plenty of hills. We hit the first section of many sections of hills at about 3/4 of a mile. Yep, that's where I lost him and where a couple of folks passed me. Fourth place would still be pretty good. For the next six miles, I held pretty constant in pace with walk breaks of a minute every now and then, but, I've got to say, I didn't remember this many hills on this course. It was a beast. My pace was a lot slower than planned, but I was happy considering, oh, look, another hill! Two or three guys were coming on strong, one passed me and I tried to use him as a rabbit, but he was much smaller and faster (Think Miles in five years or so) so that wasn't going to work. But, I was doing pretty good holding off the other two behind me. My strategy was to run everything if they could see me and walk the hills if they couldn't! Which brought me up to my "rabbit" again. He'd caught a rock, limb, or something and snapped his ankle (sprain, strain, or break- not sure,) but he'd found a stick for a crutch and wasn't too far from the next aid station- and in a good mood to boot- he said go on, so I did. Those other two chasers finally caught me, but with "rabbit" out I still figured I was sixth or seventh. Then, out of nowhere, the woman's leader appeared, which confused the daylights out of me because she was second or third overall and I know I hadn't passed her. She gotten lost, went the wrong way, added about a mile to her race, and still passed me. What can you do? Keep moving, that's what you do. I figured maybe that POSE stuff might work on some of these flats, so I gave that a try. Worked pretty good, considering how tired I was gettin', but my cadence sure wasn't 90! I kept plodding along, still firmly in the top ten, going up and down these stinking hills, and somebody else shows up behind. Well, that's enough of that, I'm keeping my spot, thank you very much. Well, turns out he was using me as a rabbit (!), but had no intention of passing me. So we talked while we ran, which distracted me to keep running- We hit the last bad section of hills and I said he could pass; I was going to power-walk it. He said no, he'd hoped I was going to walk soon. A little more flat through a wildflower garden and we hit the straight away to the finish. He said "take it", so I did. Left everything there. Time-1:52:45, Pace-11:42 min/mile, Distance(according to my Garmin)-9.64 miles. Place- 6th or 7th, the official timekeepers were still figuring things out when we left! Ran this race in '07, but can't seem to locate my training journal for that year, so we're gonna call this a PR! Highly recommend this race for difficulty, convenience, and beauty. You'd be surprised there's such a tough course in the heart of Waco. And, of course, I must thank my beautiful wife and training partner for her love, encouragement and support. I know she wanted to be out there running a good course, but she came and rooted for me, even when she couldn't. Thanks Gorgeous! And, thanks to the fastest member of our family, Ranae, who also got up way too early on a Saturday and came down to cheer on dear ol' Dad :-) Both of my wonderful ladies took some great pictures that somebody with more tech abilities than me will have to download and send to Darin. Look for the big guy in the red CFFW shirt leading the way!
Yes, Eva came too. Did you think I'd leave her behind?

I'll be running another race in three weeks- Hell's Hills in Smithville (check the Tejas Trails site on the links section). Going for a 25K there, have run the 50K there before. Things I'm going to do in the next three weeks to have a better race: a gallon of water a day (I was dehydrated), drop alcohol consumption considerably (I was dehydrated and puffy), keep a closer eye on my sugars (puffy, again), and follow the CFE Rx for endurance sports (2 speed/ intervals, 1 tempo run per week) until then, or whatever D programs on here!

Todd, I don't care if anyone else reads this because this message is directly for you! YOU ROCK! This is what training for a race is all about. The challenge that sits before us and the preparation behind us. Way to stick it out there and leave it on the course! Your desire to win is the spirit of how we get better. Whether we win or lose, we win! In this, everybody gets a trophy society, winning still matters and the spoils go to the winner. 7 or 8 place is winning. The placing does not reflect winning or losing, what we give of ourselves in the midst of competition is where the winning occurs. We become better athletes with greater insight into ourselves and what to do next time. Here comes a great quote, get ready, "the lonely ones are the ones who leave their goals behind, the ones who say I can't, the ones who give the victory away, life is waiting for us to take what we have already been given, get our there and get you some!" Todd, way to get you some! Thanks for representing.

Way to go Todd. It's great to see our people out there representin. Great narrative too.

Todd, That is awesome!!!! This is an amazing race report, I loved every word of it. I want to learn more about the trail/hill runs, that sounds amazing. I have my Half road race tomorrow, will try to remember as much detail. Way to go and thanks E & R for supporting :)

Congratulations, Todd! I trained in Cameron Park for my 1/2 marathon and full marathon. Those hills are KILLER!!!!

Race Report: This morning I ran in the inaugural Dallas Rock and Roll Half Marathon. I PR'd this race by a LONG shot. My last race was December 2, 2009 I ran a 2:03:31 and clocked 13.31 miles on my Garmin. Today I ran a 1:44:47 and clocked 13.17 miles. Yes, that is a 19 minute difference.

First, may I just say from running a few marathons and several halves, should you decide to do a long distance event like this...go with a big one. R&R is sponsored by GU, Garmin, P.F. Changs's, Sports Authority, etc. It was VERY well organized compared to locally sponsored races like White Rock or Cowtown (both of which I have participated in!) and the food/drinks were GREAT :)

Three days prior to the race, I stopped drinking coffee and drank at least a gallon of water. I stayed to my normal 95% Paleo dieting until yesterday, where I allowed myself some orzo with dinner and chips and one tortilla at lunch. This morning I had two pieces of French toast (haven't had bread in a while, yum!) WHY am I telling you these things...because these are the types of things that I have learned through Crossfit training that I believe made a huge impact in my results today! I didn't carbo load, I focused on balanced nutrition (including protein at breakfast) and hydration.

I went to the race with a 1:45 in my heart but a 1:50-55 in my head. I started out in corral 2, so it only took me a minute to cross the starting line and I was off. I was cold and stiff when we started...I honestly didn't stretch much. I wish I would have more, but it was cold and crowded, so every time I tried to swing my leg, I would kick someone. My plan was to run 8:15's the first few miles and then start getting faster...but when I saw my first 2 splits at sub-8, I got excited that I felt so stiff and was still booking. Mile 3 I had been following the 1:45 pacer, these guys are saints! They basically coach you along the race to run the time you want. At this point, I felt like he was dragging me back and I wanted to pass him, but I didn't want to be cocky and jinx myself! Then, I started thinking of Darin saying, "give it everything you have!" So, what if I can do a 1:43? So, I didn't speed up, just allowed my legs to carry me past him and kept going. Mile 1 through 6, my pandora was playing Brandon Heath, some great praise music! I was really enjoying the run. Drinking water at every stop (which I never, ever do...but I have read so much about proper hydration lately!) Then, I pass mile 6 and it's time to fuel up on GU chomps. Note to future GU users: PRACTICE running and chewing. I had to stop to chew and lost about 25 seconds and clocked my first non-sub-8 mile split! The pacer guy passed me while I was chomping on GU chomps...it had to be very unattractive. Grabbed some water and took off. My legs were starting to feel tight, I just visualized the GU filling them back up with carbs/electrolytes and kept trucking. At this point, I knew I needed some crunchier music, because now the work was starting, I was in uncharted territory, having not done more than a 7 mile or so LSD run in over a month due to all the rain and snow. I turned to Montgomery Gentry...some rocking country. Mile 9ish, finally started to feel refreshed legs again and hit a 7:45...whew, finally back to sub-8's. Still didn't have it in me to catch up with pacer guy, but I could still see the bright yellow sign, so I knew I was good, since he was ahead of me at the start. Mile 10, I realize I only need to run a 25 minute 5K to finish in under 1:45 and I am stoked! BUT let me say, this is where you have to start digging. My legs are tight and I am shutting down mentally...getting tired. I knew at this point, I needed some Box-crunchy music, so I turned to Def Leopard! Take me down to Paradise City.... When people ask me what is Crossfit all about, building your core? (because many of my runner friends are fascinated with my training right now) I want to laugh. It's about so much more....so, so much more. On the last 5K, I started visualizing things to help push me to those 8's...Jenny conquering box jumps, my amazing husband running his first 5K, Corey with sweat dripping off his face getting off the rower, Pete running on my heels, Mike doing wall-balls, Cesa fighting the rower, Tina doing crazy-fast air-squats, Erin doing pull-ups, Elisabeth on the GHD, Todd running hills yesterday, Dean teaching me kipping...I know I can't remember it all, but this is what kept me going. My team at home. I had the visions in my head of us all getting better at something - and I kept hearing Miles say to me "just think when you're running, that is all you're doing...no wallballs or pullups to do...you'll be free!" And as my legs were on fire and I could feel my hip flexors burning, I imagined in my head that I had just finished back-squatting and now running was the "easy" part...and I kept going. And I met my goal...the one in my heart!!! And I thought I might cry. It was an amazing run, the weather, the music, the memories of The Box...what a great day.

So, you see, in my opinion, Crossfit is so much more than building a stronger core...it's so, it's a community of encouragement to reach beyond yourself, it's learning about nutrition, it's learning about physiology, it's having a coach that you can call to celebrate and ask what's next...it's so many more things that made my race today amazing.

I ran into a friend of mine today that used to be my HS running coach. We were in the same corral. She said that she had another friend that had started CF and her running was really improving. When I told her I wanted to run a 1:45, she laughed and said, "there's your pacer!" When I called her after the race, she said, "man, you kicked my butt! I guess I need to work on my core! I tried explaining that it's so much more than core."

Another key factor for me today was hydration. I am the world's worst about not drinking water. My last few races have been awful recovery because of cramping due to dehydration. Today, I drank lots of water and a sports drink after the race and the recovery seems to be way better.

One final note: I have ran in at least 20 races where I have had to wear a shoe tag. At 4:30am (3:30am without time change!) I tore my tag apart - it's a two piece orange tag and handed it to Josh to put on my shoe. I didn't realize until later that I handed him the incorrect piece. So, unfortunately, I wasn't wearing a chip during the race and my times are not official, yet. I have a call into race officials with my Garmin data to hopefully be made official. Never make this mistake again!

Congrats! Terra Way to blow your PR! Awesome time! No doubt you made a few converts of Crossfit naysers. (It's hard to get your mind around Train less and DO More.)

Congratulations Terra! That's an awesome PR!!! Nice race report, too :-)