Off The Couch Guy: March 2011

Monday, March 28, 2011

1 percent at 100 percent

This past weekend I ran 1% at 100%. How?! I was 1% of the Charlotte Running Club's (CRC) World Record 100 x 5k relay and I ran as hard as I could for my 12.5 laps.

Visit my background story to see what it meant for me to be a part of this relay.

My 'adult PR' before the sign-up for this run was 19:40 and run on a perfectly flat course at Lowe's Motor Speedway a year earlier in March. And while training for an ultra in the fall, I logged a 20:54 on a hilly local 5k course. When it came time to register to see if I could be chosen for this relay, I had to guess that 19:59 would be my best given the circumstances (running solo, on a track, in any weather, on very few base miles in training). I was barely selected and had a few months to prepare to run my best and shoot for a PR. As one of the slowest times accepted onto the relay, I knew I had to train and not just barely break 20 minutes, but do some damage to my PR and run a great race.

Not feeling fully prepared, I ran a couple 'tune up' races (Cupid's Cup & YoungLife 5k at the Speedway) and clocked 19:06 at both. A big improvement, but I heard the Cupid's Cup course may have been short (and the final 1.5mi was downhill) and the YoungLife 5k was on a flat track with other runners around in ideal conditions. I adjusted some of my racing goals, let Ben Hovis (CRC Competition Director) know he could lower my estimate from 19:59 (he picked 19:15), and eventually I decided to shoot for 6 minute 1600 pace (~18:45 5k) and see if I could hang on for the full distance.

I arrived at the track well before my estimated start time around 1:40am and made a feeble attempt to 'warm up' in a cold relentless rain that had plagued our relay almost from the start. Just before hopping on the track, I let Paul Mainwaring know that I was hoping to hit 90 second laps, but that it would be an aggressive goal. I was fine with slipping to as much as 12:08 at the 3200 mark which would still give me a shot at breaking 19 minutes.

I grabbed the baton and was off... 80 seconds... DOH! I finally settled into my pace, and I hate to admit that the remaining 11.5 laps were a bit of a blur. It was still cold, but the rain had let up, and I was moving pretty well. Days before the relay when I saw the impending bad weather, I said numerous prayers that God look after our little relay, and if rain needed to fall, that it all could fall on me during my leg of the run. Better 1 runner than all 100 right? Well God has his ways, and that included giving me a mostly rain free ring around the rosie.

There weren't many people there at 2am, but those that were there (maybe 10 total?) provided much needed support as I looped past again and again and again. Going into this, I wanted to run this race for my 16 month old son (Alekzander)... for my wife (Ashley)... and for those who don't have the ability to walk, let alone run a 5k. Thinking back, I feel a little selfish as the only thing constantly running through my mind was a childhood me. I was on the track running this 5k, but it was me as a little kid. I could see my little smiling face as he/I looped around the track lap after joyful lap. I heard Paul calling splits, but the numbers didn't mean much and barely made sense. I was wearing my Garmin GPS watch, but I don't know that I even looked down at the pace. The only time I was brought back was hearing people cheer as I passed by and hearing Paul tell me I was on pace after he would call out the unrecognizable numbers that were supposed to be my splits.

I snapped out of it as the baton left my hand to the next runner and tried my best to hide my joy that had overwhelmed me. I had to silence the little tow-headed kid within to keep from being embarrassed, among such seasoned runners, about how happy I was to have participated in the relay. For me, I made it more about my new 'adult PR' of 18:49 and started doing calculations on splits, pace (6:03/mi), and the overall group's estimated finish time. I made it about these adult things that young Andrew wouldn't have cared about... mainly to silence him for a bit. Writing these blogs has brought it back out, and I have to apologize for stifling the kid that carried me for 12.5 laps. I couldn't have done it without him.

CRC 100 x 5k Relay Results - 30:56:49 (avg mile 5:55, avg 5k - 18:23)
Previous 100 x 5k World Record - 37:12:53

Leg #65 (me) - 18:49 (avg mile 6:03) - PR by 17 seconds and 1:10 faster than initial projected time!

Lap1 - 80.4
Lap2 - 88.1    800 - 2:48.5
Lap3 - 91.3
Lap4 - 91.9    800 - 3:03.2     1600 - 5:51.7
Lap5 - 92.3
Lap6 - 93       800 - 3:05.3
Lap7 - 93.4
Lap8 - 93.6    800 - 3:07        1600 - 6:12.3     3200 - 12:04
Lap9 - 92.5
Lap10 - 91.6    800 - 3:04.1
Lap11 - 90.8
Lap12 - 89.5    800 - 3:00.3    1600 - 6:04.4
1/2Lap- 41   (final 400 - 85.7, final 800 - 2:55.2, final 1600 - 5:59.3)

As you can see from the splits, I definitely think I left something out there if I was able to dig deep enough to increase my speed that much at the end... or maybe I just drifted off into my childhood a bit too much in the middle portion. Either way, I'm very happy with my individual result and of course couldn't be happier about the overall result from the other 99% of the relay!

Charlotte Observer after breaking record

Guinness Book of World Records!

As a kid, one of my favorite books in the elementary school library was The Guinness Book of World Records. I would look at the pictures of bizarre people with their amazing and often very odd 'talents'. This was before the Internet, so where else could you learn about the tallest man in the world, the longest fingernails, fattest cat, and most jumps on a trampoline while juggling chainsaws continuously for 1 hour? It was also always impressive to look at the records for running/sprinting and see the limits of the human body and what it is capable of.

Throughout the years, I would revisit this book and often think about how cool it would be to break a world record and possibly be in the book. The funny thing is, I never thought of doing it as a runner. As much as running had become a huge part of my life, it never crossed my mind that the two could ever be put together. The thought of making the book was always coupled with some outlandish plan to be the first to execute a pogo stick backflip over a moving car, solve a rubics cube underwater, or something crazy along those lines.

The dreams start to fade as you realize that you can't solve a rubics cube without removing the stickers and you've never really been on a pogo stick. I did try and use a basketball as a pogo ball once in an attempt to see if a record would be possible by bouncing on it for a certain number of times. This ended badly. I barely got what could be considered a bounce when my face decided it was going to be the first body part to catch my fall on the concrete sidewalk. Luckily it wasn't videoed and YouTube wouldn't exist for another 10 years.

Fast forward to adult Andrew. I work for a small school. We have a small library. In this library we have 2 copies of The Guinness Book, and they are worn out terribly. These 2 books get checked out more than just about any other book and show the wear and tear from countless hours of little eyes pouring through their pages in awe and wonder. It makes me happy to think that even with the vast expanses of the Internet, these kids still turn to the pages of this book. I have to admit that when I've seen it in the return book pile, I've pulled it out to thumb through the pages myself. A lot of the records have changed and there are many records that didn't exist in the old 1980's copy but the feelings are still there. 'Cool'... 'Awesome'... 'Wow'... and that's just looking at the updated cover.

Fast forward to this past weekend, and I found myself lacing up my racing flats (an old pair of Asics from HS/College days) and toeing the line to be part of a Guinness World Record... no pogo stick, rubics cube, scary long fingernails, or chainsaws... I would be running!

The Charlotte Running Club (CRC) caught wind of a club in Florida setting the Guinness World Record for a 100 x 5k relay and decided Charlotte could give it a go. The club solicited members and runners from the Charlotte area to submit their 5k PR (within the past few years) and what time you estimate for running a 5k run alone on a track at any hour of the day (the relay is planned to last well over 24 hours). I didn't want to admit how excited I was about the possibility of being picked for the relay but if you read above... this would be my chance to fulfill a childhood dream. Needless to say, I was excited to get selected and found my projected time (19:59) barely made the cut (I think I was third from slowest) and my 'adult' PR of 19:40 (run on a completely flat Nascar track) didn't put me up the list much further. Ego and laughing comments about being the 'slowest' of the 'fast kids' aside... I had made the cut and was picked!

The Florida club had laid down the record of 37+ hours (avg 5k time ~22:30) and CRC had assembled a list of 5k assassins ready to average 17:45! Even with my slowness bringing down the average, we were estimated to not just beat the record but to destroy it.

I ran my leg of the 5k as runner #65 around 2am and managed to crush my 'adult PR' with a 18:49 on a track... alone... in less than ideal conditions (rainy, cold, windy and did I mention on a track?!).

For details on my 5k portion you can check out my 'race' post... WARNING: Blog post probably contains more detail than you could ever care about (including 400m chip timed splits over the entire 5k).

Our first runner started Saturday morning just after 6am and the final runner finished mid day on Sunday... we demolished the previous record (by over 6 hours)! 100 runners ran back to back at all hours and conditions (mostly cold and rainy) for 30 hours 56 minutes 49 seconds and averaged a 5:58 mile pace over the entire 311 miles (18:23 average 5k)

For group records like this, my name will probably never grace the pages of The Guinness Book of World Records, and CRC will be lucky to have a picture make it to print. For me, it doesn't take away from the fact that I was part of a World Record.

I could feel/see childhood Andrew smile a lot during my 5k and it only grew after the record was broken. Official results have been posted and paperwork, pictures, videos, and everything else is getting shipped off to Guinness as we play the waiting game for the record to be made official. For all intents and purposes though... We did it! And we didn't even need any rubics cubes or pogo sticks.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Edible Celebrations

{Personal Record + World Record = Rock Star}

Not every girl has a husband who will be in the Guinness Book of World Records!

This weekend, Andrew was part of a team of 100 runners

which completed 100 5K's on a local track in less than 31 hours.

{The previous record, in sunny Florida, was over 37 hours.}

Of the 100 legs of the relay, 200 feet ran 311 miles in 30 hours and 56 minutes.

Most of them ran through the miserable, cold rain as well!

What {amazing, fast, inspiring} rock stars!

(Originally posted by Ashley @ http://aswistakstory.blogspot.com/)

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Sticker Trail

In first grade, I was "teacher's pet" {surprise, surprise}. One of my best friends was the class troublemaker who got his name on the board everyday. My mom sent me to school with a pack of good-smelling smiley face stickers that I used to bribe my friend into behaving. It seemed intuitive to me ... do well, and you will be rewarded. Don't get your name on the board, and you will get a sticker. I think I remember this sticker initiative working for a while. When the stickers weren't doing it anymore, we upped the ante to pencil erasers and candy.

Fast forward 23 years and I now have eleven middle schoolers {some who were born when I was a freshman in college!} vying for stickers to fill up a CD donning their name to prove that they're "rock star" students. A sticky celebration of good grades, hard work, goals met, extraordinary organization, or on-the-ball preparation. Earn ten stickers and get a sweet treat or a Dollar Spot/Target special prize. Cheesy? Perhaps. Effective? Absolutely.

Six year olds, pre-teens, and soon-to-be 29 year olds ... motivated by stickers?! I will admit, in a pursuit to train for and run a 10K road race, I am earning stickers (and a generous $1) for each mile I run. In my 4 weeks of training, I have earned $36 ... and 36 stickers. Andrew started this incentive for me and it makes me smile. BIG. Last night I came home to a course map drawn out on a poster board with landmarks flagged with stickers. Cows, horses, trees, and giant fish stickers to represent farms, forests, and ponds along the course in Wine Country. I got to satisfactorily place my 36 stickers along the course before I went to bed. When I woke up this morning, the poster was decorated even more with Bible verses and additional landmark stickers. My loving coach might want to reconsider his career in IT and become an elementary school teacher. He also might earn a few stickers for good behavior and creativity!