Training got off to a late start in 2014 due to moving into a new house and business travel. Once we got settled and the dust cleared it was time to get active and decide what to train for. That question seemed innocent until I really thought what I wanted to accomplish for this year…triathlons? cyclocross? 5k, 10k marathon?

I finally decided I would dip my toe into the marathon arena and complete my first marathon. Personal note: I have never had the burning desire to run a full marathon – why?, because it is FAR (26.2 miles).

While I trained throughout the summer I penciled in some “fun” activities to break up the monotony of marathon training. Below are some of the races / events that made up my summer schedule:

Tour De Cure: This was a fun 50 mile bike ride that raised money for the education and research for diabetes. I personally was able to raise over $250.00 and truly enjoyed the event. The bike route was well planed with easy to follow signage (always appreciated). Once you completed your selected distance there was a catered lunch provided by Old Carolina BBQ (if you have not had there BBQ, do yourself a favor and try it…yum). With many different distances offered (25, 50 and 100 miles) the route got a little lonely at times, nonetheless, the beautiful scenery and weather more than made up for it.
I would certainly recommend this event for both a great ride and a great cause.

Sweet Corn Challenge: I wanted to take this opportunity to both support our sponsor’s race and never road 100 miles before – perfect combination. A small group of friends decided to take on this challenge and make a nice day of riding.

We started a little behind most of the 100 milers due to a technical error. Our group was waiting for a starting announcement over a PA system; however, for this ride, participates just got their information and could take off. So we tried to play catch-up a bit.

As the day rolled on, it was clear it was going to be a wonderful day. The route took riders though great areas and nice roads. The course itself had some “challenging” spots including the last 15-miles. Those last 15 miles made me realize why it’s called Sweet Corn “CHALLENGE”. Our group did take a couple wrong turns, taking our total mileage to 106.

Tour de Doughnut: A must for anyone who is a fan of cycling and doughnuts. Truly a one-of-a-kind race where the winner doesn’t have to cross the finish line first. It is held near the Dayton area in a small town. There are over 1,800 riders and it is classified as a race (albeit not everyone is there to race). You can choose a 32 mile race or this year they offered a tow loop option. Each “loop” offers two doughnut stations where a competitor can eat as many doughnuts as they choose. Each doughnut takes off 5-minutes from your overall time (4-stops for the two-loop course).

We had a group of six travel down on Friday and camped out in a local park making the experience all that more fun. What turned out to be a “fun” ride turned competitive with our 64 mile “casual” bike race averageing 22.3 mph. This was with strong winds and overcast conditions.

Our group split into three “teams” of two that quickly formed our own strategies. My group decided less doughnuts – more speed. One team was less speed (although still fast) more doughnuts and the other was just out for fun.

In the end I placed in the top 10 for crossing the finish line (the 64 miler had 300 participants); however, placed 14th with the doughnut time adjustment. The group that focused on eating doughnuts…they beat us! I will have to adjust my strategy for next year. (BTW: I ate 4 doughnuts – disappointing, our groups doughnut leader ate 12. The winner took 4:21.00 to finish but ate 48 doughnuts – that is crazy).

MiltonMan 2.0: I had an itch to do at least one triathlon this year and after some wonky E-coli readings in Lake Erie, decided to do Machine Head.
It was an awful, rainy morning but I was there to make the most of it. I was glad to see many Team ER members and really liked seeing all the friendly faces.

Overall the race went well. I have done no swimming this summer (except for fun) and was able to still come out of the water first. On the bike I was passed by two athletes but was able to keep my place in the run giving me the third place overall in the sprint.

Our team had a really good showing and it was nice to see Alex before he left.

Next up – Columbus Marathon – wait…cancel that.

I have been running on a sore heel for the last month. With mileage and training ramping up for the last few weeks, I decided to meet with my friend and athletic trainer, Jason Vickers at Concorde Therapy. Heading into the appointment I thought it might be Achilles Tendinitis but later found out possible calcaneus stress fracture (Dr. Goff).

Long story short…rest and no more running. Columbus is most likely off the table. (I still have in my head Columbus is a possibility, but we shall see).

Side note: Dr. Goff says he sees runners “all the time” but only sees one or two triathletes a year. That could mean: 1. We are stubborn and never go to the doctor or 2. Cross training helps our bodies recover and disperse the impact of training / overtraining.

While I am disappointing my training season has come to an anticlimactic end, I am eager to get healthy and begin training for triahlons again (notice I didn’t say marathons).

Best of luck to everyone racing in the fall!!