Caffe Gelato Fundraiser coming
On Monday, November 14th, Caffe Gelato is having a wine dinner. Eight people are currently going as members of PCVRC. For each person who does go as a member of the club, $22 will come back to the club. For more information on the dinner, see: http://caffegelato.net/reservations/special-dinner-events/. Be sure to communicate that you are signing up for the dinner as a club member. Additional details to appear in future bulletin about how to meet up as a group.
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Louisiana Marathon
Before posting the following note, this editor will mention that I knew about this last week and inquired about a discount, for which the race director provided a code. However, my going was contigent on being able to share expenses for a room and a car rental. The person from whom I learned about this is taking his wife and spending extra time in New Orleans. I’d still be interested and would split the savings of the code, as well as room and car expenses, with a male runner who is interested in mainly traveling for the event and coming back within a day, i.e., staying no more than two nights. If you would like to make more extensive plans, then use the discount for yourself.
My name is Craig Sweeney, Race Director of The Louisiana Marathon. Last year we had our Inaugural event and we had runners from 46 states and 11 countries. We are 14 weeks away and we have 45 states and 9 countries We have yet to secure a runner from Deleware. I thought I may reach out to see if we can influence your base to come down to our event. Happy to provide a nice code as incentive.
Craig Sweeney, Race Director
LOUISIANA MARATHON, JANUARY 20 // 2013
(504) 237-7774 thelouisianamarathon.com
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Submit your results
Editor’s Note: Numerous times I have posted the policy I use for including race results. The first rule is: If you want something printed, let me know, because I don’t post every club member’s results from every race. I do try to post all members from: club events, USATF events, and race distances that are longer than 10K. We’ll post multi-sport events – if those involved let us know about the results. All this being said, I still miss or overlook names when searching through hundreds of results to find club members. When that happens, let me know and the result will get in the following week. At year’s end, I will turn the editor’s position over to another. But I’ll still help out with the results. Maybe with two people searching for results, there will be less missed people. All I know is that it was never my intention to slight anyone, much less cause people to quit the club (which I have heard has happened). If you know anyone who has left because of my oversight, please urge them to re-join, secure in the knowledge that I won’t be the editor any longer. By the way, with Carll’s result now acknowledged, that make five people I originally missed in the DDC results. In all the club had 36 participants in the 15K.
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DDC 15K + Empire State Half Marathon From Carll Human:
Just a quick note that I appear to have been missed on the DDC15K results, too… I was a little slower than previous races, as I was a bit less prepared. I had taken five months without running, to recover from a double fracture of my right Tibia. But, I was able to train a little and finish the DDC15K in 1:22:42 (gun time).
Yesterday (10/21), I completed the 2nd annual Empire State Half Marathon, in Syracuse, NY in 1:55:55. It¡¦s a fast and flat, out & back course. Very well organized. My fiancé (not a PCVRC member) ran the full marathon. It¡¦s the same out & back course as the half, with a 13.1 mile loop inserted at the 6.55 mile point. The loop had a fair number of hills, which was somewhat challenging. But, having the first and last 6.55 miles fast and flat allowed her to set a nice pace in the beginning and finish strong. It¡¦s a small race, with only 1,351 half marathon finishers (526 men & 825 women) and 542 marathon finishers (314 men & 228 women). They were calling for rain and wind for the entire morning. But, it turned out to be partly cloudy, in the low 50¡¦s and a stiff breeze (~15mph). Overall, a very pleasant race, for my 14th halfer (10th state).
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Queen of the Roses From Dan Feldstein:
Chestertown, MD was the running capital of the world today. The very famous Queen of the Roses run was held today and I finished third in the 55-59 division, which means I won a plaque. Although it was a hilly course and with a strong head wind against me on the way out, I did much better than I did two weeks ago.
There was a big barbeque after the race with all you can eat hamburgers and hot dogs, plus all the pizza you could eat, plus delicious cake and cookies. There were hundreds and hundreds of participants and they had
a DJ too. All in all this was the race to be at. My time was 28:36, but as soon as I finished the race I said to somebody that I thought the course was a little long and sure enough-two people with GPS watches had the course at 3.14 miles. So it looks like it was about 70 yards too long.
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Cape Henlopen Triathalon From Theresa Kauffman:
I did the Cape Henlopen Triathalon and was 4th in the 50-54 woman. My time was 1:35:04. I’m happy to get one in after my surgery. So slowly, but surely, its nice to come back and run without pain.
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Niagara Falls Marathon From Lori Culnane (about club member Leonora Wagner and her daughters):
The Wagner family finished the Niagara Falls Marathon, 1st marathon for all of them, in style on Sunday!! Lenora and Alex crossed the line together and Christa was right behind them!!
Lenora. 4:54:34
Alex. 4:54:35
Christa. 5:02:37
What an amazing feat for such an incredible family!!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
A picture of the family with their medals in front of the falls and a rainbow is posted on the club’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/289855916248/
Beach to Battleship Ironman & Half Ironman
A number of club members of the Rebel Runner contingent planned a group trip to Wilmington, N.C. to participate in the Beach to Battleship Full and/or Half Distance Triathlons. Here is Trish Szymanski’s account. The times are posted in the Results.
As I sit down to write this, I started thinking about the last time I wrote up a race report. It was June of 2009 for my 1st Half Ironman distance, Eagleman. I recall when I finished that race that I was asked (think by Lori) if I would ever do a Full Ironman and I said ¡§Hell No¡¨!
Well as all of you now know, I did just complete my first (and last) Ironman distance!! My race report is as follows:
Early 2012 ¡V the training begins ƒº For the first time, I not only followed a training plan but hired a triathlon coach as well. I didn¡¦t think my ¡§me too¡¨ plan would get me through 140.6 miles. For those of you who don¡¦t know this plan, it¡¦s showing up to run and asking your friends what they are doing for mileage that day, they say, for instance, 18 miles, and I say..oh, ok…¡¨me too¡¨~! The second thing I did that was a ¡§first¡¨ for me was hire a personal trainer. Due to my knee injury (ok..nice way to say OLD knee), I had to limit my running to no more than a couple of days a week and speed/track work was a no no. So I needed to build a strong core & body to give me the additional strength needed to do this event.
A lot of fun (um..ok..for the most part!!) weekends riding long with Darlise and Andy ¡Kcan¡¦t ever imagine training alone and being able to train with great friends was a huge benefit. All of which led to…
Race week:
Big week is here..all the Rebels descend down to the ¡§other Wilmington (NC)¡¨ and Darlise, Gelsamina and I head down first on Wednesday. And, whew..glad we did because there was SO much to do and prepare for! Holy Moly, it¡¦s surprising I found any time to be nervous at all (trust me I did¡K). Between picking up packets, stuffing bags (1 for bike transition, 1 for swim transition, 2 special needs..ah yih yih), dropping off bike the day before, preparing another bag for race morning, etc, etc¡K.whew¡K¡K
Saturday – Race Day
4:00 the alarm goes off and of course I needed the alarm because I was sleeping so soundly (sounds of sarcasm..can you hear it?!!) and it was time to eat and get ready. My morning starts with cramming as much food in as possible, which means pancakes, pancakes & pancakes, followed by yogurt, banana, blueberries, strawberries, mango and milk smoothie. Just when I think I¡¦m ready to throw up..I know I¡¦m good to go ƒº Darlise, Andy and I met in the lobby at 4:45 and headed to catch 1 of 2 shuttles to get us to the swim start!! On both rides I felt sick to my stomach¡KI¡¦ve never felt like throwing up before..is this a good omen or bad? I¡¦m not sure¡K. As I write this, my stomach is kind of queasy¡K.not kidding!
We are in the dark at the beach, waiting for the sun to come up so we can start the swim. We make our way to the water and as the sun appears, the play the National Anthem, then as Eminem blasts out of speakers, the gun goes off and I¡¦m off (along with about 600+ others participants) for 2.4 mile swim.
The Swim:
Water conditions are perfect and I¡¦m very calm and relaxed going into the swim ~ despite my initial concern of a ¡§mass start¡¨. The channel was so big that my concern for the kicking, slapping, swimming over top of people in the water, like I¡¦ve experienced before, never happened (ok¡Kpartly because I stayed and started in the back..!!). My main concern and focus was to avoid cramping. I had been fighting toe, foot and leg cramps the week leading up to the race. I have to say I prayed a lot during this time to get through without cramping. I did start to feel my toes cramping and prayed harder that it didn¡¦t go any further than my toes. When I could see the finish, my entire right calf seized up on me and I flipped over on my back and prayed even harder. I told God, just make this go away and I wouldn¡¦t ask for His help on the bike or the run. I don¡¦t know how many of you know how bad a Charlie horse/cramp can be, but it¡¦s debilitating in the water and beyond painful! I breathed slowly, turned back around, and tried to keep my legs as still as possible (I tried to barely move my legs at all in the swim portion because of the cramping) and pulled as hard as I could in the water with my arms to reach the ladder. Success! But, I also knew that it was doubtful I¡¦d be able to climb out as a result of the cramp. I did attempt this, my calf seized up, I fell back into the water taking the guy behind me right down with me. The volunteers were on me in what seemed like forever (but I¡¦m sure it was seconds) and pulled me (complete dead weight) out of water with me screaming. I couldn¡¦t stand, let alone walk and they started pushing on my ¡§tennis ball¡¨ bulge immediately. When I could stand, the volunteers were supporting me on both sides but I was like..ok..thanks but I have to get going now because I haven¡¦t even crossed the finish mat!! I had to grab my shoes and experience the ¡§wet suit¡¨ stripping. They told me to sit down so they could rip off my suit, but I was afraid to take my right leg off the ground because I was afraid of cramping again. Wetsuit off, shoes shoved on my feet and off to cross the matt and get to the transition area for the bike!
The Bike:
Transition area ~ Rebel sightings!! It was great! Inside the transition tent I saw Darlise! Then I changed, put on bike shoes, helmet and shoving a sandwich in my mouth, ran to get on my bike for a quick 112 mile bike ride! I saw my Mom and sister as I was biking out of the area..yah! Bike plan was to be comfortable the whole time, if I felt like I was working too hard, I would shift to an easier gear or even get into the small ring if needed. But I could not leave it all out there on the bike and not have anything left for the run. The severe cramp I got in my leg added some new stress for me on the bike. I, of course, figured it was from dehydration (still really don¡¦t know why this happened when I took in extra potassium and liquids all week) so the plan was to drink as much liquid on the bike as I could and massage my calf as often as I could. I couldn¡¦t even stand up on the bike until at least mile 40ish but knowing I that I could stand up without it cramping, meant that guzzling all that fluids was working. This also meant I had to get off my bike twice to use the bathroom¡K.which I was hoping to avoid. Bike was boooorrrinnnngggg !! And you can¡¦t really talk to other bikers except to say ¡§on your left¡¨ so, for someone like me that made it really tough. Leg turnover was good, felt better about my calf and just settling in and getting it done when a car pulls up beside me and it¡¦s Rich, my sister and Mom!! That was awesome!! Then I saw them again and again and again! They found me all over the course and at least one time, they were out of the car on the side of the road at one of the water hand off stations!! Wind was definitely out there on the course..booo¡Kbut it was expected and I was just waiting for the part when it was at my back. I don¡¦t recall that happening!! By mile 90 some, I was ready to be off the bike. We finished at the convention center, as I was riding into the finish chute, I saw my family again! Dismounted the bike, gave it to a volunteer and off to transition two to get ready for the run.
The Run:
Darlise and I again were together in transition ¡V this was so GREAT! By this time, I was suffering from all that Heed (like Gatorade), Cliff Bars (swear I¡¦m not eating another until next year!), etc., and I just hung out for a bit trying to get my stomach settled and rethinking my original plan to run and walk through all water stops to change to walk and run through water stops. Nonetheless, I did head out running to cheers from my family and the rebels! Since I read that the water stops were 1 mile apart (and my plan to walk them), I was super excited to hit the first one so early ..that mile went by super fast. Well, the first stop was definitely NOT 1 mile (darn it!), but the 26.2 trek had begun. I was searching for something to settle my stomach (now that I think back on it, I just needed REAL food!) so I took in flat coke and broth at the stops and several salt tablets and Advil. My legs were feeling just fine (how scary is that!) but couldn¡¦t get my stomach to get in synch w/ my legs. However, the longer I ran, the better I started to feel and as I closed in on mile 13, I was feeling much better. Rich popped up on the course (he was riding his bike) and it was a delight to come out of a Port a Potty stop and he was there. He rode along beside me quite a bit and we chatted and he can attest to the fact I was kinda cheery¡Knot miserable at all!! He has video of this..it¡¦s true!! It was so nice to finally TALK to people at this point and it was a looped course (too many inner loops within the big loops!!) so you got to see lots of people and I saw Dar so many times on the course.
There were a few inspirational markings and signs along the way¡K..a couple of my favorites ¡§just breathe¡¨ and ¡§the body will do what the mind wants¡¨ ƒº The best pick me up was pizza at about mile 16 which was right next to the folks hanging out on bleachers in front of a bar. Ok..so you know what¡¦s coming next¡K.YES, I did ask for and get a BEER! I have to tell you that after the pizza and beer, I felt 100% GREAT! And it was a short time after this that I got to grab my glow stick necklace (um¡Kyeh..it was getting dark!), and started to actually give some thought to my finishing time. Now, I had a goal of 13:00 hours but I knew everything had to be perfect and the stars all aligned to actually achieve this time. I did not set my watch, but because it was a mass start, 7:30 was the start time so kind of easy to figure out time from there. So, I look at my watch and thought..oh my gosh, I may actually finish around my goal time!! Wow .. A FIRST for me!! And¡Kas the miles were ticking by and I was feeling better and better, I started thinking, I could probably finish close to 13:00 hours ..I would be ecstatic to finish in 13:00 hours and some change; and figured I might as well push hard to come as close to 13:00 as I could. So the last 4 miles I skipped water stops completely (and even passed up the beer stop again! I had told them that I would be back for a beer on the way to finish but I just kept cruisin¡¦!) and just kept running. As I turned down the final hill and into town, I glanced at my watch and thought¡Koh my gosh, I¡¦m going to do this in 13:00 hours¡Kand that¡¦s when emotion started to hit me and I felt the tears coming. But, then I thought ..oh no, no tears, I have no extra fluids left, I cannot cry ! Then, imagine this (cripe, I¡¦m starting to cry now ¡K..), I am closing in, I hear the crowd screaming, I hear my name being shouted from my family and friends, and what I hear very loud and very clear from the announcer is¡K..YOU HAVE 20 SECONDS TO GET IN UNDER 13:00 HOURS!! And then I see the clock, and I sprinted (um..maybe I flew?? Someone can verify that!) to finish 140.6 miles in¡K¡K12:59:59. I AM AN IRONMAN.
The Rest:
I don¡¦t think it truly has sunk in yet. Could someone like me do this ~ and the answer is yes. How? you ask…
Duncan ¡V my tri coach ¡V thank you for helping me prepare for the greatest athletic event in my life! Thank you for creating a training plan that made it ok when I could only get my workouts in on the weekend and still let me know ..it would be OK..I could still get this done! Thank you!
Kelly Reph ¡V my personal trainer ¡V one of aces for sure! I had no idea you could make me so strong! Thank you for always working around my travel schedule every week to train me. I am a now a huge believer in strength training¡K.I ran 2 days a week (yes, I know I cross trained with swimming and biking) but yet felt very, very comfortable running 26.2 and anytime I had doubts, I would say, I¡¦m strong, my core is strong, I CAN do this. I used to have pain in my lower back when I swam, biked or ran for any distance but that was BEFORE and the AFTER was a strong ME ~ both mentally and physically ..for that ..THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!
My training buddy ~ Dar ..ok Andy..you too! Wow, no way I would/could have done all those very long weekend rides and running without you. I LOVED our popsicle and soda stops! The caramel creme treats, the hanging out in your living room stretching and talking while I recovered from what I was sure was a slow death at times! Love you guys!
And lastly, but certainly not least, my wonderful, amazing supportive husband Rich! The amount of love and support you gave me is beyond what I could write or articulate. I love you to the moon and back and continue to be blessed to have you in my life.
My Mom who as soon as she heard I was going to do an Ironman wanted to come, but never thought it was possible. She was diagnosed with stage IV cancer in the spring and went through Chemo at the age of 79 (for the second time). Even before this diagnosis, an 8 hour drive and then spectating for 12+ hours didn¡¦t seem possible. But, she was there, along with my sister, Tina! As soon as Rich knew Mom wanted to come, he told me that he would take care of it and that he did. She LOVED being there and I LOVED seeing her and having her out there.
Sorry for the long report, but then again, when compared to a 12:59:59 day, um…..not so much!!
Race Results:
Monster Mash Marathon:
7:10:43, John Schultz, 1st 80+
Wag -n- Walk and 5K Run:
19:23 John Costello, 1st Finisher with a dog, 2nd Overall
PPD Beach to Battleship Full and Half Ironman Triathlon:
I’ve copied results from an e-mail sent by Barbara Chelpaty. Participants are: Darlise DiMatteo, Tricia Syzmanski, Andy Jacubowicz, Gelsomina Paolini, Andrea Ladany, Kelly Reph-Jones, Jordan Fridman, Mike Reph, Lori Culnane, Karl Kalbacher, Jen O’Sullivan(non in PCVRC), and Claire Neilan. Names on teams are in order of which leg they did. Claire did both bike and run.
Caffe Gelato Ten Miler:
Trust me, no one wants to see the pictures April took of Bruce Hubbard after the race: two banged up knees with blood running down to his ankles.
58:40 Mike Digennaro, 2nd 30-34
59:44 Mudhillun Muqaribu, 3rd 30-34
1:01:17 Jay Coughenour, 2nd 45-49
1:05:18 Tom Steenkamer, 1st 50-54
1:07:09 John Costello, 2nd 50-54
1:09:08 Chris James
1:09:28 Mike Brown
1:10:47 Dirk Sweigart
1:12:35 David Baca
1:12:39 Ryan German (Thanks, Ryan!)
1:14:03 Dan Simmons, 1st 65-69
1:15:50 Sheri Herrmann, 1st 40-44
1:19:51 Jack Horowitz
1:28:07 Bruce Hubbard, 3rd 65-69
1:28:36 Jim Steele
1:29:22 Connie Montana
1:31:55 Dave McCorquodale
1:36:15 Bob Bennett, 1st 70+