2014 Reviver Challenge

Last Saturday, I competed in my first obstacle course type race at the Reviver Challenge in Cumberland, Rhode Island. It was a short enough run (2.5 miles) that I knew I could do it, although I had no idea about doing the obstacles. I have only run 4 miles (2 last week) since my last snowshoe race, so I was hoping that the ElliptiGO miles I have been doing would pay off.

I had a special reason for doing this race, last year my sister Joy and her best friend Mike were working the wall at this race encouraging racers to get over it. Two days later, on his 50th birthday, Mike passed away. My wife, Sarah, and I were going to support my sister, Joy, at the newly named "Mike's Wall" this year. I was going to race the course with my two daughters, Emily and Hannah, my niece, Jenna, and Hannah's friend.

Mike and Joy at last year's Reviver Challenge

There were three races (all the same). I started in the first race which was for the faster racers. Soon after starting we had to climb over a pile of tires and then crawl under a monster truck. Already, my lack of running was showing as I was way back from where I used to be at the start of a race. Then we had to run up a really steep hill. Well I ran, but most of the other fast starters were already walking. I recall a tube we had to go through. I had to get down on my hands and knees and they had watered the grass and mud inside the tube so I got a bit muddy. Then it seemed to turn into a running race. I ran like an old man, but continued to pass people. Eventually we left the road and headed into some woods. It seemed that we ran about a mile on rocky trails. I didn't think there were many hills in Rhode Island, but this was hilly. It reminded me of a tough snowshoe race, except there was no snow. There were plenty of steep sections to climb and again, most people were walking as I ran (ElliptiGO training?).

The trail was covered with rocks and I found that it was  just like a snowshoe race zig-zagging up and down and through the trees. My hip (or balance) won't let me run downhill safely. I had to be very cautious and almost tip-toe down the steep sections. Of course, all the runners I passed on the uphills would bounce on down the hills and fly right by me. I did notice a couple of older gentlemen (about my age) and decided to key off them. They would get ahead of me on the downhills so that they were out of sight and then I would try to reel them in on the flats and uphills. Eventually we made it down the final hill and right into Mike's Wall. Happily I found I could get over it easily, and headed off to the two smaller walls and the other large wall. There were other obstacles: trees to zig-zag through, two more mud tunnels, sacks of sand to carry up and down a hill, an inner-tube slip and slide, and a long stretch of two by fours nailed into sections of trees that you had to cross, some balance beams, and other things I probably forgot, plus zombies and people shooting water guns. It was all pretty much fun and I enjoyed all the obstacles. Somewhere along the way I had passed all the older looking guys, but there were two more races to be run. My daughters ran in the second race and I was at Mike's Wall cheering on the competitors in that heat and the final and largest heat.

Later at the awards ceremony, my name was called for winning the 50-59 age group. I was thrilled as I had a secret wish to try to win it for Mike. It was his age group and he never got to enjoy one day of his 50s. I really enjoyed running the race. I ended up in 43rd place out of almost 700 racers (results). This is a fun family race, so lots of kids were entered. I look forward to racing it again. I will say that every competitor looked like they were having a great time!

Attacking Mike's Wall

Emily after crawling under the Monster Truck.

Hannah getting muddy.

Emily through the tubes.

Hannah is a little too slippery.

Emily carrying the sand bag.

Emily on her favorite part of the course.

Hannah walking through the trees.

Finishing my race.

Age group win (dirt and gift card)

Completed ElliptiGO Every Day in May Challenge

The goal in May was to complete the ElliptiGO Everyday in May Challenge. You could ride every day for 5, 10, or 20 miles per day. I chose the 20 miles per day challenge and successfully met the goal with no day offs. I rode through rain, cold, wind, and one early morning ride to make sure I didn't miss a day. It wasn't bad at all. I actually averaged over 30 miles per day while hitting the minimum 20 every day and finished with 1004 miles for the month! My longest ride was May 31 when I went 63 miles. I rode my ElliptiGO for a total of 66 hours and did 24,537 ft of climbing. The biggest challenge was keeping my ElliptiGO GOing. It now has over 5500 miles on it and it needs a tune-up and some new parts. My gears were off the last week and my riding was not as smooth or as fast as it could be due to the gears grinding and skipping. I kept trying to fix them, but never got it right. I am close to being an expert at assembling the rear wheel and components now. That is not an easy thing on the ElliptiGO. The best part of the Challenge, besides just getting out there and having a challenge, was the support and enthusiasm of the ElliptiGO community around the world. We were all cheering each other on and barriers kept being broken as people did things they never thought possible or challenged themselves to ride farther than they ever thought they could.

I have now had the ElliptiGO for 11 months and have been thrilled with what it has allowed me to do. It provides an intense workout, but it is truly fun and pain-free to use. I actually enjoy it more than running, because even after a couple of hours of pushing as hard as I can in a workout, my body does not break down at all. I can feel fit and fast without feeling hobbled. When I got the ElliptiGO, I said I would give it a year to see if I could revive my running. I have run about 100 miles in the months I have had the ElliptiGO and most of those came in the snowshoe races I did this winter. It is time to see if I can get back to running! This weekend I am going to do a low key obstacle type race called the Reviver Challenge in Rhode Island. My sister worked the race last year with her boyfriend helping kids climb over the final wall on the course. A couple days later Mike died on his 50th birthday. We are going to support my sister as she work's Mike's Wall, but my daughters and I will also do the race. I am also looking forward to running the Falmouth Road Race again this August. I also realize that while I am pain-free these days, my tight weak glutes and hip stabilizing muscles get sore if I run and cause me to limp, I don't want to run with that pain so I have to get that fixed if I can.

I decided to go in for a Functional Movement Screen at Dynamic Strength and Conditioning here in Nashua. Today I had my first workout based on what they found. It took a lot of time to get through the workout and learn how to do the movements, but it was helpful to have a trainer watching me and showing me how to do things correctly. I like that they use some Postural Restoration stuff as part of their therapy. I have some experience with PRI a few years ago with a local physical therapist and I have written about PRI a few times in the past. Together with the strength drills targeted for me, I hope that this is the final piece that will get me back running. If not I hear there is  July ElliptiGO Challenge being announced soon!

Joining the Elites

Today was a good day if you wanted to race with elite athletes. Here are local news reporter tries to run with the top two Kenyans at today's Stockholm Marathon in Sweden.



And here a couple of cyclists mix it up with the peloton in today's fourth stage of the Tour de Belgium.

2014 Falmouth Road Race

I was trying to register for the Falmouth Road Race lottery the other night at the very last moment and registration closed before I hit submit, but thanks to the race committee I was given a lottery bypass number :) so I am officially in! I first ran Falmouth in 1975 and last ran it in 2010 a year before my hip surgery (and the very full last month of racing I had before I was sidelined by a hip labral tear). I will race it on mostly ElliptiGO training to see how that works, but I will have do a small bit of weekly mileage, at least more than the  2 miles of running I have done since the last snowshoe race!

When I bought my ElliptiGO last July, I gave myself a year of riding in hopes that I could get my running back on track. I have already gone over 5000 miles on the ElliptiGO, but have done limited running (about 125 miles since July). I ran the snowshoe races this winter basically on my ElliptiGO training. The one year mark for using the ElliptiGO is approaching and I am loving training on it. It will be interesting to see what I can do running wise come July and to see if my heavy duty ElliptiGO mileage will translate into being able to race Falmouth. I can't wait to see what happens and to do Falmouth again.

It was a lot easier to register for Falmouth back in 1975.
Check out the top right corner. Morning of race entries were only $2.00 back then!

Pole Vault Tricks vs. Finish Line Antics

I don't know why, but here you go: a short video of silly pole vault tricks.

1. Vaulting double back off a 10 metre cliff in Mt Gambi 2. Vault over high bar, catch into giants with dismount3. Vaulting double back4&5. Football mark over the bar6. Vaulting backsault full twist7. Hopping pole vault - 7 hops, 3.60m8. Two person vault on the one pole (with Blake Lucas)

I guess those are better tricks than the premature celebration that London Olympic 1500m gold medalist Taoufik Makhloufi performed before crossing the finish line in the 1500m at the Shanghai, China, IAAF Track and Field Diamond League earlier this morning.

ElliptiGO Every Day in May Challenge

ElliptiGO is running an Every Day in May Challenge this month. The goal is to ride every day for one of three challenge levels: at least 5 miles a day, at least 10 miles each day, or at least 20 miles each day. I chose the 20 miles per day challenge. At first I was a a bit hesitant thinking I might burn out, but now I feel strong and am enjoying doing all the miles and extra miles. So far the weather has been kind, but I am ready to go out and ride even if there is heavy rain. This week I set a new personal record for miles ridden in one week on my ElliptiGO. I hit 254 miles and every ride was over 30 miles. My total for May so far is 357 miles.




May 1- 25.7 miles (Cape Cod Marathon/Falmouth Road Race courses)
May 2- 23.2 miles
May 3-  24.0 miles
May 4-  30.1 miles
May 5-  30.1 miles
May 6-  33.0 miles
May 7-  36.3 miles
May 8- 30.2 miles
May 9- 30.0 miles
May 10- 52.3 miles
May 11- 42.6 miles

Here are a few photos I took of Hollis, NH while I was out riding one day this week.

Actually this old dead tree in is Pepperell, MA. 

The Ibera Clip-On Quick-Release Bicycle Handlebar DSLR Camera Bag with All Weather Rain Cover
on the front of my ElliptiGO is an excellent camera bag. It snaps easily onto the front handlebars and can be just as easily clipped off and used as a shoulder bag. It holds my camera and a telephoto lens securely with extra room. It has easy access zippers and pockets as well as a clear window to put maps under. I think I will use it not only for days where I just want to relax and takek photos, but also for food and drinks when I am doing a century. Now, I just have to be willing to stop and take pictures when I ride.

Clipped onto the cover of the bag is a Nathan Strobe Light I got for under ten dollars at the Boston Marathon Expo. I have been finishing some of my rides at dusk and if it starts getting dark, I just clip this to the back of the collar of my shirt or jacket and hit the button (once for solid LED lights and again if I want them to blink). The lights are quite bright and I feel a whole lot safer coming home with this blinking a warning to cars that may not see me.

How Meb Keflezighi used an ElliptiGO to win the Boston Marathon

I think that Meb won the 2014 Boston Marathon mostly on training, heart, and brains. All the elite runners do the training, but Meb knows exactly what he needs to do to race to his best and his does it. During last few miles with Wilson Chebet gaining on him rather quickly, I believe he ran with so much heart knowing he "had" to win Boston. Meb is very attentive to details and one of those details is training on an ElliptiGO. No, he doesn't just pose on one for pictures! In this Runner's World article: How Meb Keflezighi Trained to Win the Boston Marathon we learn some of the many details that led to Meb's success including how he used the EllipitGO in his training before Boston.

“I know I have to have my body prepared to handle the pounding of the marathon. You can’t ignore that. But I also have to stay healthy,” says Keflezighi, who has a history of injury. “I do my main run in the morning, but then for my second workout I often would rather be on the ElliptiGO than take the risk of a 30-minute run in the afternoon.”
Keflezighi typically rides between 10 and 20 miles on his ElliptiGO, which is one of his sponsors. “I ride at a pretty good effort,” he says. “I wear my heart rate monitor just for fun. It’s usually around 117, 118,” compared at 118-122 for a typical easy run. On days when he runs twice, he rides the ElliptiGO around noon, a couple of hours after finishing his main run of the day. During his peak preparation for Boston, he rode the ElliptiGO most days in a 9-day cycle.

Here Meb goes into more detail into his cross-training on the ElliptiGO for his buildup to Boston.



From Meb Minutes an 8 video series on Meb and his buildup to Boston.

I am happily using my ElliptiGO to help me recover my stride!