Race Results are in

It is one day after the 4-Yeti Wrecking Crew hit the streets of Louisville for the 1st Annual Shirley Stufflebeam Memorial Race Against ALS 5k/10k, and the results are up on Active.com. I waited until the times were official, mainly because I still can't believe how quickly Brian and I finished the 5k.

The times for the four of us were 23:41.21 (me, 23rd overall), 23:42.09 (Brian, 24th), 27:30.56 (DD, 39th), and 29:11.55 (Gibby, 52nd). Everyone of us met our goals for the race. If I may say so, we were pretty awesome.

Let me recap the morning of the race. I met Brian and DD, and we biked over to Slugger Field, site of the race. Halfway across the Ohio River, Gibby drove up next to us (he had a coaches meeting to attend after the race, so he drove), and we met up at the Field. Gibby let us stow some stuff in his car (helmets, backpacks, etc.), and we got our registration packets. After that, we had to take our race shirts and packets back over to the car, which was fine since we still had plenty of time before the race started.

Slugger Field was open, and they had fruit, bagels and powerbars to eat, and also bottled water. Brian and I each had a powerbar that wasn't much to look at, but actually tasted okay. After a half-ass stretch, we listened to the dj spin some tunes. Then it was off to the starting line.

The organizers got the 10k runners started first, and then it was time for our group, the 5k crowd. We took a spot near the front of the pack, and we were off. This run felt more like work than the last one we did. My feet felt like fire, my arms were sore, and for some reason, I decided to bring a camera with me on the run. It took me a while to find a comfortable way to carry it, but it was a way bigger inconvenience than I thought it would be. But then again, without it I wouldn't have the wonderful pictures to accompany this blog.

Like last time, I found a "target" at the start of the run that I set out to finish ahead of. He pulled ahead of us by a decent margin, but never out of sight. At one point, he started walking, but we didn't overtake him until the last 1/10th of a mile. Brian and I saw the finish line and the clock, and we couldn't believe it had only been 23 minutes. Actually, I still can't believe it. But, anyway, he said it was now or never if I was going to pass the target, so I reached a little deeper and we finished almost 5 seconds ahead of him (at least I guess so; the next person after Brian was over 4 1/2 seconds back). That felt great. My lungs, legs and nearly everything else, however, didn't. But, one bottle of water later, I was feeling good to go.

Brian and I were then on Lookout detail. We spotted DD less than 3 minutes behind us, and then Gibby about a minute and a half after that. We all finished in under 30 minutes! I was really proud of our little team.

After a little cool down, we went into the ballfield for some bagels and fruit. It was a nice treat after our efforts. We stuck around for a bit, waited to see what the winning times were, then got our stuff from Gibby's car before he had to leave. Brian, DD and I stayed a bit longer, then decided we had had enough.

The bike ride home was all right, except, of course for that dreaded hill along Walnut Ridge cemetery. I don't think I will ever get used to that.

That will most likely be the last tune-up for Team Sweaty Yeti before the EEC. We will keep on running at lunch time, but most likely no more 5ks until the big one. If so, it was a good one to go out on.

Stay tuned for more Yeti updates.

Chris

Early on the 23rd

Hello Faithful Readers,

It is around 6 a.m., and I have been awake for over an hour already. There is just something magical about trying to adjust to a first-shift schedule after working the graveyard shift through the week.

Of course, part of the reason I couldn't sleep is because the Yetis are running a 5k across the river. I would hate to oversleep and miss out on that! Brian, DD and myself are biking over, and Gibby will be joining us after driving over.

The run training was a little rough this week. I felt like a bit of a sluggish fat-ass most of this week. I was slower, winded and my knees were almost always aching. So, I took a day off from work on Thursday, and tried to acclimate to the family's schedule, which is a normal, wake-in-the-morning and go-to-bed-at-night schedule one day earlier than usual. I was also going to use the time to rest my legs.

So, I catch a few hours of sleep Thurs morning after work, get up, go pick up the kids from school, and coach my 3rd grader's volleyball practice. I was feeling good, knowing that I could sleep all night instead of go to work. I must say, that is a very nice feeling.

Anyway, Friday, I rise and shine with the family, see them out the door, do a little light housework, and get on the elliptical trainer with the intention of putting in an hour of cardio. My knees felt fine, legs felt great, all was well. However, I must have mentally checked out early, because I was done after 30 minutes. I know I could have gone longer, but I also wanted to be somewhat fresh for the run this morning. It was a pretty good workout. Nothing like actual road work, but it was good for the heart and lungs.

Other than that, it was an easy-does-it day for me.

I will have a race report, along with pictures, later today if time allows.

Good luck to my fellow Yetis! Stay tuned for more updates.


Chris

Today's Secret Ingredient: Hills!

Saturday morning, I went for a bike ride with a few of my friends. It was the same group as last week, with the exception of new-to-the-group rider Scott Z.

I met Z around 6:25, and we waited for the rest of our crew (Brian, Gibby and Double D). And we waited some more. Apparently, Double D was running late, and nearly got left behind. However, he made it in the nick of time, and showed up with Brian and Gibby around 6:40 or so.

We didn't have a destination in mind (DD had mentioned biking to Henryville, but that was a 35 mile round trip, and our schedule probably wouldn't have accomodated that), so Gibby led us to Utica. We ended up biking out to Quarry Bluff, which was interesting. It is a residential area inside of an old limestone quarry. That was the site of our first set of hills. One rather steep hill just to get to the quarry, then another one on the inside of the quarry. Yay!

After making our way out of there, we continued our eastward journey along the river, eventually making it to Longview Beach Rd., where we came to a dead end, and turned back. No hills there, but we thought we may have to rumble with pack of elders who were heading our way on foot. Luckily for them, they were a friendly bunch, and no blood was shed. Oh, except for when DD fell off of his bike AGAIN. No picture this time, since he was right back up on it in the blink of an eye. He also had a severe case of helmet head, but I am afraid my picture didn't do it justice. It was kind of a Dennis Rodman look.

So, after we passed Quarry Bluff on the return trip, we looked back for DD, but didn't see him. So we waited, and when he caught up, he said his chain had come off. Which was weird, since a little later Gibby's chain malfunctioned too. Voodoo, perhaps? Curse of the Yeti? Not sure.

Once we hit the Clark Maritime area, DD gave it all he had, and left us behind. We met him at Spring Street, and decided it was probably time to make our way home. Which brings us to the biggest and baddest hill of the day.

The climb started slowly, at Spring and 10th, and got brutal just past Walnut Ridge. The hill by the cemetary was long and hard (TWSS), and after that, we still had another mile or more of ups and downs before the road leveled off. Scott had left the pack, and headed to where his truck was parked, while the rest of us biked to Brian's house. I went so I could pick up my t-shirt from our West Louisville 5-k and a couple of DVDs.

After leaving Brian's house, Gibby and I rode out toward his house, and I took a shortcut back to my neighborhood from there.

Another good ride on a great morning. The weather was a little cool, but it got much nicer as the day went along.

Next weekend, faithful readers, is the ALS 5k, and DD, Gibby, Brian and myself will be there to run wild through the streets of downtown Louisville. I am thinking about taking my camera to add some pictures to the post-race blog. If so, you will definitely see and hear about our morning next week. Wish us luck.

Until next post,

Chris

Yetis Ride at Dawn

Early this morning, around 6:30 am, I met up with Brian, Double D, and special guest Gibby for our Saturday morning bike ride. We met at Ice Cream Willie's, then rode out past CCSA, and on to Highway 62. The plan was to hit Patrol Rd., which circles the old Ammo Plant, but every entrance to the road was gated and locked. So, like we usually do, we improvised a route.

We ended up riding to Charlestown, then took a left onto Highway 3, then a right onto 403. From there, we biked to Sellersburg. We hung a left at Silver Creek schools, then another onto Utica St., and then out onto 31.

I got the bright idea to ride out to Covered Bridge, but came to my senses early enough to change our course. From there we cruised into Clarksville, down Lewis and Clark to the end, past William's Bakery (where I wish I had stopped in for something, but didn't) through old Clarksville. Actually, we were kind of all over the place, and this post is boring enough without turn-by-turn directions. I bet Brian will map it out and post it to his blog, if my faithful reader(s) want to see where we went.

The weather for the ride was great. It was a little cooler than I like it when we started out. I actually doubled back to the house for a knit hat and gloves so I wouldn't be shivering for the first hour or so. I am very glad I did. I ended up peeling off that layer around the time we hit Charlestown.

We saw at least a dozen yard sales, and enough roadkill to fill a bathtub. Other than that, there wasn't much to see. Unless you count the four Yetis on bikes, that is. We looked good. See for yourself.

We were out for about 3 hours, so I am going to guess we covered somewhere between 25-30 miles. It was a nice ride, but we should probably have a plan and a backup plan for the next ride, so we don't have to make it up as we go along. It worked out okay, but like I said earlier, it wasn't very scenic, apart from that stretch of 403.

On an unrelated note, all four of us will be running the ALS run in two weeks. Its the 5k that starts/ends at Slugger Field in Louisville that I mentioned in a previous post. So we got that going for us, which is nice. We'll probably bike over to that one.

That's all for now. Will post with any updates to the training.

Chris

Saturday Morning Bike Ride

Just got back from a 3-hour tour, which took us over the river, through the woods, but nowhere near grandmother's house. Along for the ride were Double D and Brian (aka The Shrinking Yeti).

We met halfway between mine and Brian's house (Double D had driven over, with his bike in the Rendezvous), and started out for our first, and only clear objective, which was Louisville Slugger Field. We had to cross the Mighty Ohio River, and from there it was an easy ride. Total of about 35 minutes. We are running a 5k next month which starts and ends there, so we thought we would see how long it would take to bike over. Now we know.

After that, we rode out to the Cherokee Triangle area, then back up Bardstown Rd., back through downtown, and back across the river toward home. It was still early into the ride, so we decided to bike along the river, up Utica Pike, where Double D got a little off balance and took a spill.

It really freaked out the guy in the truck that had just passed us. He backed up, and Brian said he was shaken up, thinking he might have caused it. Nope, that was just our pal on his new bike. He said it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would. Looks painful, though. Luckily, Brian reminded me that I had the camera, so I can share.

So, after we had a brief break for water and to regroup, and Double D got his chain back on, we proceeded to bike the Pike.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful in comparison to the first half, but it was a nice ride.

I had borrowed my brother-in-law's Trek, and MAN that is a sweet ride. He told me that I would hate my bike after I rode that, and I hate to admit it, but he may be right.

Not sure how many miles we rode, but I estimate somewhere between 20 and 30. Not bad for 3 hours out and about.

Blog later.

Chris