So, although I have done a number of endurance events, I had yet to complete a full marathon. So, this year I decided it was time and since Paris is only a few hours away, it was destination: Paris Marathon 2008.
The plan was to race with Anna, me and our good friend Jen (unfortunately, her husband was in southwest Asia and unable to join us). Also unfortunately, Anna had a complication part way through her training and couldn’t join in on race day. But, luckily for Jen and me, she was willing to photo-document the event.
This was the 32nd running of the Paris Marathon and it was huge. There were about 30,000 runners and 200,000 spectators. It was the biggest event I’ve been a part of. We were running in a crowd the WHOLE race. That made the torture of 26.2 miles (or 42.2 kilometers) pass rather quickly.
As you can see, we lined in front of the Arc de Triomphe in the Place de l’Étoile. We queued according to expected finishing time. My goal was 3:30 and Jen’s was 4:30. For reference, the elite (read: professional) runners finish in just over 2 hours.
Jen and I looking a little nervous before the start.
As you look across the sea of people, you can see Jen in the lower center of the image.
It was a little chilly waiting around for the starter’s pistol. So, race organizers solved that problem by giving each competitor a plastic bag to retain heat and stay warm. Unfortunately, that meant that there was a HUGE mess to clean up.
Some groups and individuals really dressed up for the race. From about mile 8 to mile 10, I was running next to Superman.
Jen ran next to this guy for quite a while. He had quite a stride!
A whole legion was waiting to clean up…
And there was a lot to clean up.
Of all the photography stations along the way, this is the only one that got an image of me…
Hail the conquering heroes!
We made it all 42.2 kilometers (or 26.2 miles). Actually, because I was in a crowd the whole time, I ended up running a bit farther (almost 27 miles on the GPS). Jen and I were almost exactly on our goal times. I finished at around 3:40 officially (3:36 unofficially) and Jen “ran her little heart out” for a 4:32.
Some interesting facts about running a marathon. Of course, it’s an homage to a Greek messenger who, according to legend, ran from the port town of Marathon to Athens, warned the senate of impending invasion, and died on the spot. Fortunately, as far as I know, no one died in this race, but it was certainly a grueling race. In fact, most endurance runners hit a ‘wall’ of sorts at around mile 20 in a marathon. Since I had already hit that in my training and other races, I knew what to expect, but it was still a bit frustrating. I wanted my legs to work faster than they were.
As a bit of biological background, the carbohydrates a person eats are converted into glycogen by the liver and muscles for energy (or calorie) storage. Glycogen burns quickly to provide energy. Runners can store about 2,000 calories of glycogen in their bodies, enough for about 30 km (or 18-20 miles) of running. Not surprisingly, this is also the point where most people hit the wall. When glycogen runs low, the body must then burn stored fat for energy, which does not burn as readily. This is the point when physiologically runners experience dramatic fatigue, or ‘hit the wall’. Jen described it vividly as “a bad dream … like a monster chasing you and for some reason your legs aren’t running fast enough and you can’t will them any faster.”
Although we both hit the wall pretty hard, we were close to our goals and pleased with the result. We weren’t number 1 (Tsegaye Kebide from Ethiopia who ran it in 2:06:40 was the actual winner), we certainly felt like champions.
Since we’ve had some time to reflect on it, we’re already plotting out the best race for all four of us to compete in. So, stay tuned to the results from the next marathon.
Both before and after the race we took some time to see more sights of the city. Here is Jen looking particularly French.
Jen caught me taking a picture of Anna…
Near our hotel was the very pleasant Luxembourg Garden.
I love all the random works of art throughout the city. Here you can also see the Panthéon with its panoply of French patriots buried inside.
We also visited the light filled Sainte-Chapelle on the island of the city (near Notre Dame). It is a glorious Gothic chapel built by Louis IX (the name sake of St Louis in Missouri) between 1242-1248. Gothic architects loved to use light and this is perhaps the highest realization of that ideal. Also, there are 1,100 Biblical scenes represented on the stained glass (amazingly, two-thirds of it is original).
Suffice it to say, this place is amazing inside and out.
Here are the girls looking cute, but perhaps a little cold.
I love the motto of the French Republic: Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood.
We also visited the reverse designed Pompidou Center for Modern Art. It is filled with fascinating art from perhaps the most fascinating and tumultuous century in the current era, the 20th. I think it’s still waiting for the world to catch up with it.
Finally, what visit to a major city would be complete without a picture of its subway system. I love European mass transportation.
So, until the next adventure…
–Jim
Category: Races
Cocos Crossing
This Memorial Day weekend was the 16th annual Cocos Crossing. This is a chance for a couple hundred slightly masochistic people to get on a ferry way too early in the morning and ride two and a half miles out to Cocos Island off the southern coast of Guam. Then, get in the water and swim back to Guam. Perhaps I am doubly so, because it was the second year I did it. 🙂
Here’s the island and the approximate swim route.
Anna stayed on the big island and hung out waiting for us to return. The winner made the trip in 42 minutes. He was a swimmer from Japan. I, on the other hand, took an hour and eight minutes to make the crossing. That’s a couple minutes faster than last year, so I was pleased. Especially since I hadn’t been in the water since April 1st at the Saipan X-Terra triathlon.
Here I am coming in and getting out of the water.
This year, we even had Miss Guam Tourism on hand to congratulate the finishers. Of course, Anna made me get a picture with the girl in the tiara. 🙂
It was a fun race, and the really only issue was about 400 meters from the finish, I got a little jellyfish sting. Don’t worry, it was no worse than a bee sting and went away relatively quickly. 🙂
Here are a few of the ladies from the base who also did the swim.
It was a good morning, and I didn’t feel bad at all having a large fried breakfast!
Until the next adventure…
–Jim
Guam’s Southern Loop–Bike Race
This weekend, I got back on my road bike for the first time in a couple months. I had done a couple mountain bike races last month, but that is entirely different (of course). So, as you can imagine, it was a little rough and since this was a true road, I had to take my aero bars off. That’s only a big deal because I was riding a majority of the race by myself and it’s MUCH more comfortable with the bars on. Oh well.
Anyway the ride was the “southern loop” of Guam. It was a 52 mile race, and a rather hilly course. At least, that’s my excuse for why it took me just over 3 hours to finish.
Here’s a map of the course.
Here’s the group as we started the race. It was a neutral start, meaning that we rode as a group for the first 10 miles or so.
Here are a couple of the guys in the race. The one closest is our neighbor Fred.
This is a picture of me and Tara (another friend) chillin.
Thanks go to Mark, who brought his camera, so we could get some shots actually on the race course. So, thanks, Mark!
So, until the next adventure…
–Jim
XTerra – Saipan
This weekend, our adventure de jour was a trip to Saipan for the highly touted XTerra off-road triathlon.
I have to say, it did not disappoint in the adventure category!
The one thing I will say this weekend taught me (before I launch into the story in earnest) is that I discovered, I am not a mountain biker. At least, not one to be competitive at these kinds of races!
We began the weekend with the short 120 mile flight over to Saipan on Friday afternoon. We met up with the large Guam contingent (there were 32 athletes from Guam competing … plus family members). Anna decided that she would like to come watch, and support.
Friday night, there was a pre-race dinner for all the athletes, but Anna and I opted out to go back to the SandCastle show. We had already gone New Year’s 2005 when we were last in Saipan, but since Anna had free tickets, it was hard to pass up! 🙂
The show, as usual was excellent. The magic in the show was particularly noteworthy. Since we weren’t allowed to take pictures, I have no visual, but suffice it to say, it was a nice dinner, with a very entertaining magic and dance show.
The next morning, we got up after a full night’s rest. The start time was a late 8:00AM (which meant that it would be plenty warm on the course).
Here I am setting up all my gear.
Some of the other Guam triathletes:
The whole Guam contingent, ready to race!
Here we are in the water. Those of us in the yellow swim caps were doing the “championship” length, while the green means “sport” (or slightly shorter) and the blue is professional. Yes, we had about 10 professional triathletes in our midst. In fact, I actually stayed close to a couple for the first half of the swim … but that was it.
You may be curious, how long is this race? Well, the championship distance was a 1.5K swim, a 30K bike and a 12K run. That converts to about a 1 mile swim, an 18 mile bike and 7.5 mile run. Not too far, right? Well, the terrain we covered made it a little tougher. No worries, though, since I am typing this, AFTER the race, you can tell, I survived. 🙂
The swim course was a 2 lap triangle (each one was 750 meters long). Here is our friend Jude coming out of the water, ready to get started on the bike.
Here I am making my way up the beach.
Another one of our friends, Julian, ready to hop on his bike with a smile.
Coming out of the first transition:
Eric, getting ready to tackle the Saipan mountains:
This is one of the professionals, Jamie Whitmore. She was the 2004 world champion, and has won this race 4 times before. Last year, she came in second. Unfortunately, this year was a repeat, but nonetheless, she’s an amazing athlete who simply flew through this course. This shot Anna took, gives you a good perspective on how people feel throughout. The terrain looks pretty benign, but it was a long, sometimes steep up hill (about 10 miles uphill and 8 miles down). The downhill was almost all technical single track, but more on that later.
Here’s Jamie:
Here’s Keenan, one of the toughest teenagers I know.
Yes, they did have plenty of aid stations that gave us water as we went.
So, once we made it to the top of the mountain (which was just over 1500 feet higher than where we started), we began on the treacherous (for me at least) downhill portion. We had gone through a few technical sections (single track trail, anywhere from a few inches to a few feet wide). Unfortunately for me, I had already fallen a few times by the time I started down the “hard” part. So, I will abbreviate this story a bit and just say that I stopped counting once I had fallen for the 6th time. Eventually, it got so bad, that I simply walked my bike down large portions. That is where it really sunk in that perhaps I am not cut out for the whole mountain biking thing. In all fairness to the sport though, I really haven’t practiced as much as I should. This race was only my second really “technical” ride ever. So, perhaps if I were to go out and do it more often … but I probably won’t be doing that anytime in the near future.
So, while I was walking my bike down, the winner came across the finish line. Here’s a shot of him, Olivier Marceau. Now, this guy is a stud. He won by over 5 minutes and Anna said as he came in, he barely looked winded. Wow.
I, on the other hand, had a long way to go still. So, here I am back in transition (finally), after nearly 3 hours on the bike.
OK, I have no pictures from the run, but it was amazing. Instead of calling it a run though, it is more accurate to call it a scenic hike with running mixed in. At the very beginning of the run, I made a half mile detour (which took my total mileage over 8 miles on the run). Since I knew I was out of ANY contention in the race, I decided to jog/hike the rest of the way. That made the race a lot more enjoyable, as I was able to really enjoy my surroundings. The trail was very rough and at times more difficult than some of our hikes we’ve been on here in Guam! As expected, there was a long uphill section in the beginning and the trail wound it’s way through the jungle. Eventually though, we began to come back down hill by way of some very steep ravines and even through a man made cave. I wish I had a picture to show, but it was very pretty. Anyway, on the way down, I decided it was time to run again, so I picked up the pace and sort of cruised in to the finish. This is another guy I met about a mile from the finish. We started talking and decided to finish the race together.
Perhaps I make it sound like a walk in the park (so to speak), but nevertheless, it was a very challenging race (the toughest triathlon I’ve done, thus far). This one took me about 5 hours, when the last two Olympic distance road triathlons took me 3 hours or less. Those extra 2 hours made a big difference!
These cold, wet towels felt sooo good after the long, hot race.
That ended my XTerra race, and while I don’t need to do this type of race again anytime soon, it was a good experience and I am certainly glad I did it.
Now, to make this post a little longer, I will include some of the sightseeing pictures we took today as we drove around Saipan again.
This little island is called Bird Island.
These are the Bonzai Cliffs. Not only are they striking visually, but there are also some commemorative memorials for the Japanese soldiers of WWII who were killed in Saipan. It was sort of a strange feeling seeing these along side a number of Japanese tourists.
There are also some hardy souls who use the cliffs as a fishing spot as well.
So, that concludes our adventure in Saipan. Even though it was at times painful, it was yet another spectacular weekend.
–Jim
Guam Isla Triathlon
I know it’s been a couple weeks since my last post. Sorry, just we’ve not done anything website worthy. 🙂
Last weekend, however, I decided to continue my masochistic habit of triathlons. If you’ve been following the site, you’ll notice that last year, I was very active, racing something like 12 times last year. This year, however, is a different story. Perhaps it’s that I’ve been working too much, but I haven’t been out training hardly at all, let alone racing.
This is our last year on the island, and I have heard stories of how great the X-Terra Offroad Triathlon in Saipan is. So, to determine if I would be able to survive it, I decided that I should try another one first. That’s where the Guam Isla comes in. My goal in this race was survival, not placement. 🙂
The Guam Isla was an Olympic distance race, which means we did a 1.5K (about 1 mile) swim, a 40K (about 26 miles) bike, and a 10K (about 6.5 miles) run. The site was down in Merizo on the far southern end of the island.
It was a floating start, so we all swam out to the starting buoy and did an out and back course. The water is very clear on Guam and this swim was quite pretty. I have to admit though … last year when I did the Cocos Crossing (a 2.5 mile swim from the small island back to the bigger island) a girl on the boat going to the start told me she saw a hammerhead shark in the channel from the helicopter she was flying just a few days before. I didn’t pay much attention then because we were only crossing the channel, not swimming in it. However, the swim course for this tri was entirely in the channel. Most of the time, I couldn’t see the sea floor (it was a pretty blue though) but the thought of the hammerheads in the water kept popping in my head and (here’s the admission) was a bit unnerving.
Anyway, here we are with the kayaker/jet ski support crews out in full force.
This is me on the left getting out of the water about a half an hour later.
It was a little harder to get through the transitions this time, since I was a rather out of practice. (yes, I did fix my helmet before I started biking 🙂 ).
Once we left on our bikes, it was over an hour before we’d be back, so this is what everyone did to amuse themselves. As you can see, they had a good time.
After a couple large hills, rough roads, and almost an hour and a half later, I came back in to transition to the run.
It was a long, hot, but fortunately flat run course. The only bad part was pyschcological … I got to the run turn around point and thought that the course was marked short (according to my GPS). So, I cruised in and pushed hard for what I thought was the last half mile or so. Unfortunately, when I got to the end (or so I thought), to my surprise they said, “keep going!”
Here I am right after I heard that … I don’t know if you can tell by my expression, but I was not pleased at the thought of running more. 🙂
So, in reality it was another half mile out and back. That was a minor point they forgot to point out on the course map. Oh well, it was only a mile right?
Here’s our friend finishing up. Way to go Mark!
FINALLY, here I am finishing up after just about 3 hours.
Can you see the relief in my face I am done?? I know I have done these races before, but this was by far the most difficult because I did it with no training and the run was a bit tough mentally.
So, looks like I am all set for X-Terra. We’re scheduled to be there for the race on April 1st.
Sometime after, I will post how it goes. 🙂
–Jim
Piti Triathlon
To continue my triathlon passion that’s developed here on Guam, here are pictures from yet another triathlon. This one is different for a couple reasons though. 1, this is an Olympic distance and 2, I did it as a team with Mark (who was kind enough to do the run).
So, here are a few pictures from last weekend’s race.
It was a longer race, so as you can see there weren’t as many people. I think we had 20.
Even though the water is over 80 degrees, it still feels chilly when you get in at 6AM.
I am the one on the left with the yellow swim cap on.
Off we go…the swim course was a L shape. The first buoy was straight out between the two kayaks. The swim was very pretty, and this time, I even saw an eagle ray. So, it made for an enjoyable half an hour. 🙂
Here I am coming back in…again, you can tell it’s me from the yellow swim cap.
Oops, watch your step….
Leaving T1 (I know, the picture’s a little blurry)
After the bike, Mark and I tagged off and he ran off to do the 10K.
Here he is at the half way point…
Mark was the race director for this race…he looks so official in the orange reflective vest…
His wife Lorena was hiding from the sun…
The Seay’s stopped for a quick chat as they were biking through (although not with the race).
No real surprise as Jude comes across the finish line in first place. Yes, he is holding his shoes over his head. He said they were giving him blisters, so he ran without any shoes the last little bit. He’s tough.
Mark pushed it hard at the end and got us to a 4th place finish. Way to go, Mark! 🙂
So, yet another fun race…next triathlon will be on Jan 22, 2006. It’s a shorter-than-sprint distance though, so it will be really fast.
Ok, until then, no more triathlon stories!
–Jim
Duathlon in Tiyan
Last weekend Anna and I participated in yet another multi-sport event. This was a short Duathlon (2k run – 20k bike – 2k run).
One of the volunteers there was kind enough to take these shots for us.
Here we are ready to go. As you can see it’s a pretty small grough (about 30). The event was organized to raise funds to help send some of the Triathlon Federation members down for an Ironman competition in western Australia. This race is a walk in the park compared to a Ironman distance race.
Here I am in Transition Area 1 (T1) after the 2k run.
Anna in T1.
The run course was a loop on the road, fortuantely, it was pretty flat so it went by quickly.
The bike course was also relatively flat (except one long slow shallow hill on the bike side). It was a loop as well, and we made three circuits to complete the course. The second run course was a repeat of the first.
Here’s Anna going by on one the laps.
This is me coming back into T2 as I finish the bike course. You can tell because I already have one shoe off. I tried to get the second one too, but started too late, so I came in with only one shoe. 🙂
I’ve learned that the ability to quickly change into or out of clothing is an essential skill to have doing multi-sport events. I certainly don’t have it mastered yet, but it’s fun to go as fast as you can.
These are pictures of some of our friends who were also competing.
Todd:
Mark:
Quincy:
Just after I crossed the finish line in 56 minutes and change. I finished third in the race overall, so not too bad.
Some other people coming in across the finish line:
Anna coming in T2
Anna finishing up the race in a little over 1 hour and a bit.
Rory, me and Todd:
Jolene coming to the finish:
Mary and Lorena:
Eric doing a great job as the race director and timing for everyone.
Here we are after another great race. I think that makes 11 multi-sport events this year for me. One more next weekend too…
–Jim
Mountain bike races and Ritidian Beach
These past few weekends there has been a mountain bike series race. Unfortunately, I don’t own a mountain bike, so I had to borrow from a friend and missed the first 2 races. Fortunately, I was able to make the last few.
I know it’s not too exciting hearing about my bike racing, so I will keep that part short. 🙂
However, it’s interesting to note, the first race was solely on the road…
After I finished the race, I was able to relax a little. 🙂
Our friends chillin’ after the race…
Auri and Lorena
Jude and Donna
Then we decided that we really wanted to relax, so we went down to Ritidian Beach with Mark and Lorena to cool off in the water. These pictures are a combination of ours and Mark’s (thank you, Mark!).
Here we are down at the beach…
Enjoying the water…
Lorena really wanted to cool off… 🙂
Here’s a good shot of Mark and Lorena.
Walking back to the car…it was a good day.
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Last weekend was the final race in the series and it was an actual off road race. In fact, it was my first “official” off road race. The set up was 6 laps around a short course…over muddy, slippery rocks and hills. I had fun, but partly because I fell twice, I wasn’t in contention for placing. Oh well. At least I only fell in the mud, not the rocks!
Ok, well that about does it for this race series….tomorrow, we’re going out on a friend’s boat. It’s only the second time we’ve taken a small boat out. Should be fun…so, we will hopefully get lots of good pictures to share.
Until then…
–Jim
Base Triathlon
This past weekend, the base had a triathlon. It was a shorter than sprint distance with a 400m swim, 12k bike, and 5k run.
This year I have decided I really like triathlons (as this is my 9th of the year). However, they have all been sprint distance or shorter. I would like to race in longer, so perhaps in November I’ll be able to convince Anna to go up to Rota with me (the small island 45 miles north of Guam) for a longer Olympic or half ironman distance. 🙂
This particular race was fun…it was on base (so you know the course is safe) and there were over 40 people racing, which is a lot for our small base.
Here are a few pictures from the event (from the base photographer):
Here is our friend Lorena getting ready for the swim…
We are getting race instructions before the start
On your mark, get set…..GO!
Of course, not everyone was watching the race…
All done with the swim.
The third heat is ready to go (I was in the second).
On my way back to the transition area after the bike course.
Getting ready to run…
Off and running…
Coming in to the finish…
Rob is very excited to finish the race!
Here I am after the race. I ended up finishing second, so I was pleased with the result.
It was a good day. After the race one of the couples invited about half the competitors over to their house for breakfast burritos. Another benefit of triathlons on a small island is that it’s like a big family. That’s true whether it’s a military or civilian race. We plan on participating for a long time to come. 🙂
–Jim
Spirit of ’76 Run
Today Anna and I ran 6.7 miles (yes, I know that’s the reverse of ’76, but nonetheless that’s how far the run was) to celebrate our nation’s birthday. Lots of hills, through the jungle, and terminating at the Agana Swimming Pool (where we started).
This is my first post to this website, so I am still learning how to keep it interesting. The earlier posts are back dated. 🙂
If you have any suggestions, please feel free to drop us a line by clicking ‘comments’ below….
Thanks!
Jim
Here’s us down by the beach; no reason to include it here, just thought you might like to see it…
