Another trip to Crystal Lake

Well last night I got back on the bike after over a week off. I put some new straps on the pedals called power grips. They work great. I do not have any $ to buy pedals and shoes right now, so they will do. (thank you state of Maine for providing me with a $220 speeding ticket). I did 20 miles and averaged 17 MPH. I hope to get a 40 - 50 mile ride in this weekend... My toe / foot is feeling better so I may be able to get a short run in and see how it feels..

This morning at 6:00 AM, (yes I was up at 4:45AM again) I met Kyle at Crystal Lake for a swim. Air was 54. Water was mid 60's. It is funny how water in the 60's can feel warm. I got in my 1/2 mile swim. After that, Kyle headed off with his buddy to do another mile or so..

I was really tired during the swim. I only had a bagel for breakfast and had just biked 20 miles the night before. Excuses aside, I need to spend more time in the water if I am going to swim 1.2 in the Pumpkinman in September..

No Urban Epic for Me

So, last Friday I got up 4:45 AM so I could drive to Gray to go to Crystal Lake. 4:45AM is way early for me. Way early. I had everything all laid out from the night before.. Wetsuit, goggles, towels, clothes to change into at work etc... While scrambling around the night before, I stubbed my toe really bad. It literally brought me to the ground for a couple of minutes. Then, right before bed, I stubbed it again.. To the ground again I went...More to come on that..

I left the house at 5:15. I was at the Lake at 5:45. There were already 10 other cars in the lot. Kyle, a guy I work with was also pulling in at the same time. He is doing the Peaks to Portland swim in a few weeks.. By the time I got into the water, there were about 20 swimmers. You start the swim at the boat launch. There was a guy putting his boat in to go fishing. He asked, "Is there a race or something this morning?" Someone answered, "Nope, just our Friday morning swim"

At Crystal Lake, there are basically 3 different swims you can do. A small across and back -1/4 mile, a swim to a point on the shore and back - 1 mile and swim the whole lake and back - 2 miles.. Needless to say, I did the 1/4 mile twice.. The water was not too cold. The first across and back I was by myself. On the second one, I joined in with to girls. Their pace was similar to mine so that worked out great. I am going to head back up on Thursday this week for another. Next week, I hope to make it up there twice. 4:45AM is rough though...

Back to the stubbed toe.. Over the weekend, we went to Acres O Wildlife camping. I could barely walk due to my stubbed toe. It is now Tuesday and is still very sore. Swelling has gone down, and pain has subsided. I am unable to run on it though. I was going to still try to sign up for Epic and run it this coming weekend though. On Monday, I went to sign up. I had not researched a lot of the details yet. When I went to sign up, I realized they were charging $105!!! ($95 for USAT members).. I am not going to spend $105 for a sprint race. That is crazy..

So between my bad toe and high race price, I will not be entering the Urban Epic this year. I will however be doing a full swim/ bike / run in Hollis on Saturday or Sunday to simulate the race. If anyone is interested, let me know.. No charge!!

The pic is Crystal Lake at 5:45AM. Notice the steam. Air was about 60. Water about 68. Summer in Maine!

LL Bean 10K finish...

LL Bean 10K Recap

First off, how can anyone not sign up for this race. The first 400 entrants get a free pair of decent running sneakers. Hats off the Beans and New Balance....

This was a great race. I had heard it was hilly. I think it is overall about the same as Beach to Beacon. The starts was crowded and slow. I really pushed hard after it opened up. I hit mile marker 1 at 7:40. This was gun time. I was 35 seconds before i crossed the start line. So this was a little over a 7 min mile. That is cruzin for me...

I kept this pace up until mile 4. Wheels started falling off. This is also about the time a person juggling past me.. That was humbling.. Mile 4 to 5 was tough for me.. I started picking up again at mile 5. I had energy again. Then the crowds started to appear as I got close to the finish. I sprinted the last several hundred yards. Great race. Gun time was 48:48. Chip time was 48:13.

My father in law Reggie also ran in the race. He beat his time goal and also never had to stop. Great job Reggie. My neighbor Renee also ran. She did great also after overcoming an injury recently.. This is definately a race I will sign up for next year..

Time to concentrate on Urban Epic tri in a couple of weeks..