Saturday, April 26, 2008

RHINO AND RIVALS

There was a rhino on the loose in downtown Cleveland today.

That was me. All 193 pounds of me, running in the Hermes 10-miler-5 k. I ran the 5k. It was one of those goal races, I had on the calendar. My news is good. The news on my son, Patrick is way, way better. Set it up. Warm overnight, but cooling just a bit before we raced. It even rained for the first 4-5 minutes of the race. No biggie. My goal was to average 8:10 per mile.

Mile #1, 7:33. Thats good. Patrick ran with me the first 200 yards and then, I said"Don'l let me drag you down". He agreed and was gone in a flash. I knew the 7:33 was a bit quick and I naturally slowed down in mile #2. Hit that mark in 15:57 total. Slowed down a little bit more in the third mile and finished in 25:06. My average ...8:06 per mile. I just beat my goal!!!! Good enough for a 43rd overall out of 175 runners. I was 4th in my age group, out of...4 guys..but hey, I would have won the womens 30-34!!!! Should I get that sex change operation???? Anyway, I felt I ran it as hard as I could have. There was not much left. Patrick, who only 2 and a half years ago, was a smoker and not much of an exercise guy, turned in a perfect average of 7:00 per mile. He was 10th overall and won his 25-29 age group.!!!!!! I am really proud of him. Last year, he got into triathlons, and finished 2 sprints and one oly. His oly was 2:35 at Portage Lakes. He is doing incredibly well.

Doctor Jodi ran the 10 miler, and I was unable to stick around and see how she finished. I checked her results online and I figure she will drop a post on the race, so if you are able...stop by her blog and see how she did. (Jodi Blog Link)

The past weeks training was as good as the one before. I had 3 long runs at North Chagrin. The longest of 1 hour 45 minutes. 2 Spin classes and one long weight session. The nicer the weather, the more, I head to the trails and I would rather hit the hills than a gym.

Next race??? Rite-Aid Half Marathon on May 18th. Goal. 1:53. We'll see. Soon, the triathlon season will be here.
RIVALS


You see Ali. You see Frazier. Those two were the perfect rivals in boxing in the heavyweight division. Rivals are the rocket fuel that propell the intensity of sports. In my neck of the woods, its the Browns vs the Steelers. Ohio State vs Michigan. I grew up in Euclid, Ohio. Back then, it was my Euclid Panthers vs the St. Joe Vikings.

Rivals have the ability to transcend sports. In triathlon, we hear of Macca vs Norman Stadler, but the battles between Mark Allen and Dave Scott were legendary. This link takes you to a video of the 1989 Ironman. There are 4 or 5 parts. That year, Mark Allen broke through and won. It was the first of his 6 titles. Scott also won 6 times. They had epic battles on the lava fields of Kona. Their rivalry overshadowed everything else in the sport.

Who do you recognize as your fierce rival??? What competitor brings out the best in you??? Or is it just the distance that you measure and strive against???

25 comments:

TRI TO BE FUNNY said...

Nice work dude! Way to blast your goal out of the ballpark!!!

As for my rivals-in a tri it's any female with a 30-34 on her calf. That is, until next month, when I move up to the studly 35-39age group and have to start all over again!

tracie said...

way to go!!! congrats to both you and patrick!

monica and i are planning to be cheerleaders at rite aid so hopefully we'll see you out there. keep up the training! :)

oh btw, is the sex change op really worth it? ;)

rocketpants said...

awesome race and congrats on your son's time too! Especially that awesome transformation from a few years ago!

Biggest rival...the distance and myself.

Jodi said...

Great job JT! You should have no problem at Rite-Aid. Just have to endure the pain for a little bit longer. You can do it!

As for my rivals... I don't really have any either. I'm my biggest rival. My goal in every race is to beat my last race. If I also beat some other girls along the way, thats pretty awesome too...

:-)

Jodi

Marcy said...

Wow homie!! You TOTALLY rocked out on that 5K!! AWESOME ;D ;D

As for rivals? I have one and only one Nemesis by the name of Lisa (aka JavaMom Keeps Tri-ing) We go waay back, she'll tell you LOL

Kim said...

aJT, you are so funny, your rhino comparision just cracked me up!

Great race for you today!! Way to meet your goal! And congrats to Patrick also!!

I don't really have rivals while racing..although when running a marathon and under, I do find it fun to see how many guys I can "chick" (pass) in the last mile of the race. One guy got really mad and just blasted past me in a 5 miler last year. That was funny!

Rainmaker said...

Very nice work! Congrats on the job well done, and also a big congrats to your son for pulling in a top AG performance!

I like the name of the "Rite-Aid" Half, how appropriate.

Donald said...

Very nice job at the races for you and your son!

Ahh, rivalries ... the spice of life. I used to live on Tobacco Road, where Duke/UNC loyalties are cast and dyed in the womb. There's a great book about the rivalry called "To Hate Like This Is to Be Happy Forever" - The title pretty much says it all.

RunBubbaRun said...

A rhino is not to bad, better than having a real cougar running around the middle of the city in chicago..

Great job on your race..

Hmm, rivals, last years "me", my worst critic and instigator.

jahowie said...

Great job on the 5k. You put me to shame!! I have a rival. He is my boss. He ran a marathon last year, and now he likes to talk down to the rest of us who run here. He will be running the HM that I am doing on June 1st. I know that he will probably beat me, but I have him in my mind everytime that I train. :-)

Kurt said...

The sex change operation is a bit extreme option. Your wife may not like it either.

Good race. The important thing is you did it!. One day I will be in Cleveland and we can race at the same time.

Wes said...

Great job on the 5K! I hope to break my PR at my next one. I only race against me :-)

I'd hold off on the sex change operation until you get to the NEXT age group ;-)

triguyjt said...

Whoohoo...
just realized, come mid june, I will be in THE NEXT AGE group....
55-59...yahoo!!!!!

Still researching surgeons!!! ha

Mnowac said...

Nice job at the Hermes 10 miler! I'd hold off on the sex change for now.

Steve Stenzel said...

HA!! I'd consider the surgery if you're serious about racing...

Wait, no I wouldn't.

Nice run!!!

Formulaic said...

Way to go on your run. But I think that I'd hold off on the sex change for a little while. The wife might have something to say about that.

Way to go for your son. You should be real proud. He did great!

Lily on the Road said...

Way to go JT, nice job and congrats to Patrick, good job and it was really nice you two could run together for awhile! ;)

Rival, well, age....my marathon is the last race in my current age group, I'll be in the 55 - 59 age group three days after the marathon! Yikes, time marches on!

Beats the alternative

:^)

SingletrackJenny (formerly known as IronJenny) said...

8:06? that's awesome!!!

BreeWee said...

This might be one of the most hilarious blogs I have ever read... this post has me cracking up. I just love all the little humor and smile! How refreshing! And of course the photos help create a little more to laugh at!
Cheers to you!

Smithposts... said...

Great race! Congrats to you and your son. What a great story to go from smoker, non-exerciser to 1st in his age group in a short 2.5 years!

Shan said...

JT-thanks for the comment on my blog! I've been following yours for awhile - love it!! :) Congrats to a great race!!

Triteacher said...

:-) Love the sex change remark. I was about to give you the go ahead but then thought better of it. Just about the time you'd get all -- er-- fixed up, the 50-54 guys would run 8:07 miles. Ya know?

Congrats on beating your goal.

Kevin said...

Congrats on the great race.

For me I am my own rival. I push every day so I never return to the 320 pound smoking couch potato

Christine said...

Looks like you have a big schedule coming up. Too bad I'm not in Ohio. I would totally do Maumee Bay Tri. Maybe next year? See ya at the Cleveland half...!!

Viv said...

Great job! You are too much a rhino. I will tell you that for sure there will be a rhino from TX in Cleveland on the 18th..LOL!

WTG Patrick!