My Introduction to Racing

After talking to my wife and some friends, I decided to follow my wife's lead and start a blog about my everyday training in multisport. I started running, along with my wife about 13 months ago to get into better shape because of a chronic back problem. I have 5 degenerative discs in my lower back, which, when complicated by carrying 30 extra pounds, was a constant source of pain. I had lost a little weight through weight training and using an elyptical machine in the garage, butit wasn't getting the results I was looking for. My wife and I discovered an app on the iPhone called "Couch to 5K", which we tried. In less than 7 weeks we were running 3 miles every other day and were dropping weight and getting toned.


We did our first 5K in October last year. It was a great race, Seasons for the Cure sponsored by the 4 Seasons Hotel and the Nevada Cancer Institute. I finished in 32 and change. I liked the experience and it was a family thing because myself, Renee, Justin and Ryan ran it. We decided to keep it up and do some more races.


ROCK 'N ROLL HALF MARATHON: LAS VEGAS

In the meantime we did a couple more 5K races and were talked into doing the Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon in Vegas on Dec 5th, 2010. Until that day the farthest we had ever run was about 7 miles... once! It was chilly that morning standing out in front of the Mandalay Bay on the Strip. I loved the atmosphere though.. it was very exciting! The Blues Brothers were playing on top of the start line platform and there were about 25,000 people jumping, warming up and jogging back and forth. I just wanted to get to the halfway mark and then split the rest of the race up into 2 5Ks to make it through. I was telling myself I just needed to get done in time for the Bret Michaels concert at the end of the race, 4 hrs away. We started way back in corral 35 and took a nice leisurely pace through the first few miles. After we knew it, we were at the halfway point and still had tons of energy! We told ourselves we would just take it nice n slow and walk if we needed to, but we never needed to! It was tough though, after mile 10 it started getting really hard. My thighs were killing me and my feet were sore too. I had run a few distances in the Marine Corps, but never more than 10 miles before. I started thinking that we could actually finish the race without stopping! We kept up the same pace and before we knew it we were at mile 12 and coming up on Tropicana Blvd, and nearing the finish line. The Mandaly Bay was just ahead and I was nearing exhaustion.. Renee was dying too.. when we got to the entrance on the hotel, there was no finish line in sight yet! Renee was about to stop.. and I turned to her and said "knock that shit off! You're almost there!" lol... I knew that she would be disappointed in herself if she ran 13 miles just to stop with 1 tenth of a mile left to go. She stuck it out and we crossed together at 2:38:35.  We were very proud of ourselves!


No real training, just running and we completed our first Half Marathon. The Bret Michaels concert afterward rocked! And we accomplished probably the most difficult physical endurance event of our lives. Seriously, it was more difficult in comparrison to anything I did in the Marine Corps, and we did some serious hikes back then. All I used during the run was a PR bar and some cytomax and water. What got me hooked besides the endorphins and the sense of accomplishment was the big ass medal! I love the Rock 'n Roll medals. The more you do in one calendar year, the more medals you earn and you get mutiple medals for completing multiple events. I highly recommend the Rock 'n Roll series.