2013 Grand Rapids Marathon Report

The morning of the Grand Rapids Marathon , October 20 2013  weather was chilly but sunny and no rain . It rained hard the night before , with thunder and lightening. I am so glad it stopped raining . It made for a much more pleasant first marathon .  A chilly 40 degree start, but seemed perfect for running .  I started with the 3:44:00 pace group , and felt very confident .

Things were going great . I was on a great pace of 8:30 as projected . At approx. mile 4 we go over the bridges downtown . As you will see on my mile breakdown listed below on training peaks , I was on target thru 16 miles .  I have Timex GPS Trainer watch that works very well .

One of the exciting events of a race is going the Packet .  It's like a Halloween goody bag . It must be the unknown that is so fun . Anyway, we runners have this weird thing that we like to do. Lay out all the goodies and display them . So, ya gotta check this packet out:

Training Peaks has a great map and graph report . As you can see below, the actual Marathon course is on the left and my pace per mile is shown on the right.

The Finish Line was a great thing to see. Not sure how much farther I could have gone

Time to Celebrate!!!



2013 Grand Rapids Marathon Training

The  2013 Grand Rapids Marathon will be my 1st Marathon. It seems like a dream. But the reality has set in , as my training is nearing the taper point. My 20 mile run was last weekend , and was happy with a finish time of 2:59.  I ran with the Marathon Staff today , and am looking forward to the next 2 weeks of taper.  I have projected finish time of 3:50. I know they say to just go out and have fun, and don't worry about time on the 1st Marathon, but I am feeling good on a Sub-4 hr Marathon.
I will post more information as it is available.

2013 Reeds Lake Triathlon

The 2013 Reeds Lake Triathlon

Rhoades McKee Reeds Lake Triathlon & Duathlon

 

 

Saturday, September 7, 2013

 

John Collins Park

750 Lakeside Avenue

East Grand Rapids, Michigan

There was about an hour delay due to lightening



1/2 mile Swim results are:  22.26  and T1 time was 2:34.

17.2 mile Bike results are: 1:01 , avg. of 16.9 mph  and T2 time 1:35

 

My 4.9 mile run was 38:46, pace of 7:55.

 

This was my first Reeds Lake Triathlon. My final chip time was 2:06:29.

22.6 mile Triathlon.

Greenville Sunset Race

WE had fun at the Greenville Sunset Race put on by Striders in July. Nick took 3rd in his age group and I took 1st in mine there was about 100 runners  .

Grand Haven Triathlon-Sprint Distance

This was my first Sprint Triathlon in Lake Michigan .  I have to admit ,  the water was Brutal !!!

The anticipation to compete was very exciting .

The swim portion of the Tri started on the beach. With a 5-10 mile wind and 2-3 foot waves,  I was happy to finish .

 

My Results:

Swim: 26:06     .5k ( 545yds)

T1: 2:12

Bike: 42:35   17.3 avg.   20k

T2 :  1:07

Run : 25.58  avg pace 8:22

Total time :  1:38:18

Bayshore Half Marathon

2013 5/3 Riverbank Run Review

This year's 5/3 Riverbank Run was filled with that runner's itch that we runner's get . Training started in December , as I started to look at the month's ahead.

2013 5/3 Riverbank Run Training

This is week 15 of training for the 25k run. I am feeling very good about reaching my goal of 2:10. I will be continuing longer runs and a sprint day during the week. I think the sprints have helped. My 5k average is around 7:45 per mile. Persistence and commitment have given me the edge . I ran the Irish Jig a few days ago and had a 23:22 5k. A very exciting 7:32 / mile average. I placed 38 out of 201 runners in my age group, 45-49. I will let you guess my age . One hint, I'm not 49.

It is week 11 of my 23 week training plan for the Fifth Third River Bank 25k Run. So far things are right on track. I have some long runs planned in the next few weeks. I will post my results.

2012 Miles

 

 

 

• My 2012 miles added up to 1,250 . This is the best year I have had and am looking forward to 2013.  I was able to run consistanly in a 8:15-8:30 pace. I hit a few 7:45-7:50 pace 5k runs too. Here are my 2013 goals:                              
• Triathlon Goals: 1500 meter swim- 45:00

• 25 mile Bike- 75:00          6.2 mile run- 50:00 

• 1/2 Marathon Goal : 8:20 pace  .  1:48:00
• Marathon  Goal :    9:09  pace      3:59:00
• 25k   Goal :   8:20 pace                   2:09:00
• 10k  Goal :    8:00 pace                   49:36
• 5k Goal  :      7:35 pace                   23:30

 
Dailymile has been a great tool to Log all my miles and activity in the Tri- Sport.

2013 Training Plans

I am looking forward to this years race schedule:
May 11 : 5/3 Riverbank 25k Run
May 25 : Bayshore Half Marathon
July 7 :  Grand Haven Triathlon
Sept 7:  Reeds Lake Triathlon
Oct :  . Grand Rapids Marathon
I am very excited about 2013. I plan to
Update my blogger more often.