Pineland Farms Trail Challenge Recap

This past Saturday we ran a 5k at the Pineland Farms Trail Challenge. The event has multiple races, everything from a barefoot 5k to a 50-miler. While we like running, and trail running in particular, we're nowhere near ready to try running for 50 miles. 

The weather was a big question mark up until the race. The forecast was for rain and temperatures in the mid-50s. Thankfully it was just overcast and in the 60s or so. In other words, perfect weather for a run in the woods. 

This was the first running race of the year for both of us. It was the perfect start to the running portion of our season. The trails were great, not too hard but also not really muddy and the atmosphere was fantastic as well. The course was pretty much a U in terms of elevation as it twisted and turned through the woods.

Someday I'll learn how to pace myself better and not go out too fast in the run (my last mile pace was almost two minutes slower than my first). That said, I had a pretty decent run and managed to place first in the "Mohawk division" (at least according to a few spectators cheering me on along the course). 

We're definitely coming back to this race next year. We hope to see you there!

All ready to go!

Katie finishing strong.

Celebrating a great time post-race.

Next up on the race docket is the Pirate Tri on June 8th.

Long run

Just under two years ago we made the roughly 9 hour car ride from our home in Alexandria, VA to our new house in Maine. The trip is about 555 miles, give or take. Today, less than two years later I completed the trip again - running.

Let me explain. Thanks to the marvels of modern technology I've been able to track every mile I have run since April 1, 2013 (that was my first real run since moving up here). Today I passed the 555 mile mark all-time. So, in a manner of speaking, I have run the distance from our old home to our new home. In doing so I have had some great runs, some really difficult runs, and some new races. I have been able to show my kids the importance of staying healthy and I have been able to see some awesome views. I have run in two states and two countries. I have run to find a cure for multiple myeloma.

And, to top it all off I passed this milestone by running a personal record for the 5k. Not too shabby.

-Andrew

New Logo

Since we started ME Against Myeloma we knew we wanted a logo to go with the effort. The logo would be a way to brand our efforts and quickly let people know who we are, what we stand for, and our positive attitude about the fight against multiple myeloma. 

Well, thanks to the efforts of Lauren Hight we now have one. Lauren, a college junior minoring in graphic design, created the logo for us. Here it is:

The thumbs up is not just any old, stock thumbs up. It has a lot of meaning for us as it is taken from a picture of Mike at his first treatment (see below). The thumbs up shows that we're going to beat this. It shows that attitude is everything. It shows that nothing is incurable.

First treatment, 2012

Polar Bear Triathlon - Recap

Our race season kicked off this morning up in Maine with the Polar Bear Triathlon (ME Against Myeloma's season was started a few months ago with Nate's run up the Empire State Building). The weather is still way too cold for open water swimming so the swim portion was in the pool at Bowdoin College (interesting side note: 3 or 4 of the pool records are held by Hamilton, our alma mater).

Pre-race selfie

Swim: Originally I was scheduled to be in Wave 11 with an expected start time of 10:20am - about two hours after the start of the race. Because the transition area was closed at 8:15, this meant I had about two hours to sit around and wait. Thankfully there was an opening in Wave 4 and I managed to start closer to 8:45/9am. The pool swim was only 525 yards but it got off to a rough start for me.  That said, I still managed to do the swim in about the time I thought, though I know I could have gone faster.

T1: After the swim it was a quick dash to the transition area for T1. While my transition was quite a bit faster than in my tri last year, it was still pretty slow. I need to get some tri specific bike shoes and get used to wearing them without socks.

Bike: 

Excited about my (early) Father's Day present

The bike was going to be interesting no matter what. It was chilly; I was wet, a potentially interesting combination. Also, and more importantly, I was on a new bike. They say to never tryout new equipment during a race, which is why I went for a 5 mile or so ride yesterday. That said, the tri was really the first time I got to take my new tri bike for a real ride. Three words: "It was fun." While I am definitely not in the best shape for riding (this has been the winter that never ends), it was still a decent bike split and a good experience getting used to the tri bike.

T2: The second transition went much smoother than the first, in part because I didn't need to put socks on and I didn't need to mess with getting a helmet on, just off.

Run: Of all the events I was worried about the run the most. Not because it's a real weak spot or because the course was really tough. No, I was worried about it because earlier in the week I had managed to tweak my ankle a bit. Not a sprain, but something wasn't 100%. Thankfully I didn't really actually feel the twinge in my ankle the entire run. Once again, my time wasn't the greatest, but I'm satisfied with the result.

Results: My final time was 1:09:57.1 which was good enough for 72th place out of a field of 258. I didn't fare as well in my age category (8th out of 13).

Post race: After the race I got home and got to hang out with the family. Both kids talked about how they were going to do their own triathlon on the driveway. That alone makes the triathlon a success, regardless of how fast I actually was.

Pictures from the race will follow once the race organizers get them online.

Post-race ice cream with the family

500 miles and running

The alarm went off at 6am this morning (Saturday) and by 6:20am I had taken the dog out and was out the door on the way to putting over 500 miles on my running shoes. The morning's run wasn't anything special, just over 4 miles, but a milestone was accomplished nonetheless.

This is the first time I have put anywhere close to 500 miles on a pair of shoes. The 500 mile mark was also reached in record time (for me at least): It took me less than 13 months to do it. As I gear up for my racing and money raising season it still amazes me what I have been able to accomplish. The need to raise awareness about multiple myeloma and to find a cure has been an extremely powerful motivator over the last year.

Here's to the next 500 miles.

-Andrew

A nice little morning jaunt along the coast of Maine.

I feel the need, the need for speed...

The weather and scheduling finally cooperated today and I was able to go out for a ride on the bike. This was my first ride of the season and only about 20 miles all told. At the halfway point I stopped at L.L. Bean for a bike fitting to ensure I was getting the most out of my ride. It turns out that I'm probably a little too big for my current bike, but it is still set up so all of the angles are what they should be. The good news being that I don't necessarily need to go out and get a new ride. The bad news is that I potentially have the justification to do so. Talk about a dilemma.

Another neat thing was that I got to put on my new aero bars. For those unfamiliar with the term, aero bars allow the rider to tuck into a more aerodynamic position during the ride and thus go faster with less work. The bars, given to me by a neighbor who doesn't need them anymore, will take some getting used to (the bike is a lot more sensitive to movements), but man are they fun. I am really looking forward to getting out on the rolling hills of Maine (and elsewhere hopefully) and trying them out some more. The only problem is, now I want a dedicated triathlon bike. Maybe one of these (he says waiting for the money tree to be planted...)?

Felt IA FRD LTD, list price of too much

Rack on

Slowly but surely we're getting ready for spring - and racing.