Philadelphia Distance Run 2008

I still have some magic, and let it all out during the 13.1 mile Philadelphia Distance Run last weekend. Despite little training, I set a new personal best for a half-marathon. Perfect day. Perfect course. Magical pace of 7:26.


Chip time 1:37:24
Clock time 1:38:54
5k split 24:08:00
10k split 47:21:00
10 mile split 1:15:21
Average pace 7:26

Male 30-34: 176 out of 952 male 30-34 finishers
Male: 1,060th out of 6,509 male finishers
Overall: 1,277th out of 13,254 overall finishers

Flickr Photos Sep-Dec 2007

Dewey Beach Sprint Triathlon

Seven Fins participated in the Dewey Beach Sprint Triathlon held on Saturday, Sep 13
http://www.deweybeachtriathlon.com/
1/2 mile swim
7.2 mile bike
3.4 mile run



Why this was my favorite triathlon race ever:

I did it with six other Fins
We had a great support crew / photographers
It was my first ocean true ocean swim race
I swam mostly straight
I swam at a proper and consistent pace
Flat bike course ... I didn't need to shift gears
It was only a sprint distance ... no training or recovery time for me.



I finished 125th out of 491 overall men.

Swim - 290th out of 491 men; 20 minutes 42 seconds
T1 - 1 minutes 57 seconds
Bike - 248th of out 491 men; 24 minutes 36 seconds
T2 - 56 seconds
Run - 60th out of 491 men; 25 minutes 28 seconds

Confessions of a Lane Five Swimmer Part 3

Poodle Beach
Originally uploaded by reflexblue

I am firmly in Lane 5. My endurance is improving. I was able to do a set of 16 x 100 today. The first 9 reps were ok, but I went out a little too hard while leading the lane in rep #10, and the last 6 reps I struggled to finish.

I think I am doing close to 3000 yards per practice now. Yay!

Provincetown Harbor Swim for Life 2008

The sea was a lot calmer. So was I the second time around. My boat got to High Point early, so there was some time to warm up, socialize, and pee before the start of the swim.

My fellow Lane 5 Fins Kevin and I decided to stick together, and that was what we did. I swam for about 100 yards and stopped to look for each other. I zigzagged all over the place, so I probably added 1/4 mile to our swim. My brand new Nike googles didn't fit me, so every 100 yards I had to let water out.

Toward the end, Kevin took a rest by hanging on to a kayak, so I finished a few minutes ahead of him.

Dan and all the Fins participants were waiting for us! As I ran up to the dick dock, I felt like I could swim another 1.5 miles!

Cape Cod

I've surprised myself for having already logged about 40 miles running in Provincetown this week. I've ran just about every day since Saturday: twice with my housemates, and the rest just by myself. I completed my longest and most magical run this morning/ I left the house around 7 am while everyone was still sleeping. I ran toward the Cape Cod National Seashore, got on the trail, and ran to the Visitor's center. On the way back, the sun was up and I was burning up. I stripped down to my underwear and jumped in the ocean to cool off. That was something I couldn't do in Philadelphia.

Garden Party

P-town Project Runway
Originally uploaded by reflexblue

Sometimes the most fun things we do are the ones we stumble upon. We were at a Provincetown cocktail party thrown by fellow Philly guys who happened to vacation at the same week as our group. Some guys in drag showed up, and invited us to join them for a garden party. Of course it wasn't going to be a typical garden party. It would be a Provincetown Project Runway.
Each contestants had a budget of $20 to buy things from dollar store or supermarket to make a garden party dress in two hours! One of our housemates agreed to be a contestant, and it was "sew-time!" To support our housemate in the competition, we all came to the show in drag. We brought dresses at church yard sale, and our gracious hosts let us borrow their wigs.
The competition was fierce. The judges were bitchy. We all had a great time! Our housemate was the first runner up in the competition. We came away with the most fun we had had in P-town without stuffing a fish down our pants.