captainchas

Running Tri'ing Flying

"This is about limits. Reaching them, exploring them, exceeding what you thought yours were. Then coming to the conclusion that there aren't any limits."

captainchas - Running Tri'ing Flying

Category Archives: Race Recaps

Comrades: The Night Before

It’s the night before Comrades. The Ultimate Human Race. Bib #37312 is scared, but only a fool wouldn’t be scared, and both of us are. Excited, too, though. We’ve talked to various runners and listened to their advice: Mostly, start SLOW! They say that it is easy to get caught up in the excitement, to go out too fast. We must avoid that to finish.

They have “bail busses” which have very beautiful people on them, and the number one temptation we must avoid is getting on one. For one runner, it was the greatest regret of his life. Do not be tempted!

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Comrades, South Africa – “Enjoy the Journey”

I haven’t even run the race yet, and I can already feel that Comrades is beyond any race I’ve ever experienced, or ever will again unless I return. If you have ever finished a marathon, 1/2 marathon, or even a 10k, then Comrades is truly the ultimate experience unrivaled by anything else in the World. Last year, over 14,200 runners finished the race from around the world, making Comrades Officially (According to the Guinness Book of World Records) “The Greatest Ultramarathon in the World.”


Just some quick notes from South Africa, Pre-Comrades Race:

* People walk the same way they drive – You enter on the left, and exit on the left.

* The volume knob on the radio is on the right, not the left

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Napa Valley Triathlon Swim Turns “Brutal”

The NAPA Valley Vintage Triathlon started out ominously for me three days before the race. I don’t know what I ate (I think it was the shrimp), but on the Wednesday prior to the Saturday, April 30, 2011 race I came down with the worst case of food poisoning in my recent memory.  I went to sleep on Tuesday feeling fine and woke up Wednesday not only feeling horrible, but not knowing which end to point toward the toilet. Continue reading →

Race: Salt Lake City Marathon

On April 16, 2011 I ran the Salt Lake City, Utah marathon. I was both excited, and a little worried, about this particular race. Although I knew I could “easily” finish 26.2 miles, I didn’t know in what time – and this wasn’t my “A” race, it was merely a “training run with AID stations.”

Elevation Chart...

Fortunately, the course is mostly downhill, and the the small uphills were nothing compared to some of my other training. My finish time would have been much better (4:26) except that I stopped to use the facilities about five times. Continue reading →