spin / second sole multisport team

Anna Barry in her debut in SSSMST gear. Nice socks!

I suppose it’s no secret that SSSMST has been out at the races. 

However, it seems the race reports have been staying secret!  Well, I’m unleashing them now for your viewing pleasure.

Some of the places SSSMST has been seen are Youngstown, Serasota Florida, and Michigan.  And of course right in downtown Cleveland for the St. Malachi 5-miler.  I’ll save those reports for another post though.  Click through to see what we’ve been up to!

First was the Youngstown Half Marathon.,(or the Mill Creek Classic race, depending on who you ask).  Jen and Aaron ventured down for the early season distance race on the racecourse with 19 hills in 13 miles (ouch).

Says Aaron:

This is favorite race of mine.  In the past, I have run really well at this race.  On Sunday, I ran really bad   I need to get motivated and get in shape.

Jen had a bit more to say:

Decided Friday night to sign up for this race at the encouraging of a few running friends. Good thing I signed up for it then as when I awoke Sunday morning the wind was howling and snow was flying! It was a rough drive till I got over to the eastside to carpool, then just wet, thank goodness! I have never done this race, but knew it was very tough-19 hills! But I have been feeling good about my running so I figured this was a good test and training run. Fortunately, it was mostly just wet with a few sloppy areas and not too slippery. My goal was 8 min pace which, I know, doesn’t sound fast for a half marathon, but given the course, that’s a decent pace. There were some tough hills, some rolling parts, and it was very scenic. The final mile was so hard! Almost all uphill until the finish line. I made it just under 1:44 which I was pleased with. I was really glad I made it out to this race for some good training and company. Oh and saw Rood there in the bright blue and green! I think this may become a race I’d like to do each year…just gotta be in decent shape early in the year!

Anna went down to Florida for an annual vacation and decided to make the most of it by running a half-marathon.

First race with the team was a success! Nothing like starting the season out with a PR. The main goal of this race was to be able to finish with entire race WITHOUT bonking at 10 miles. I’ve only done 3 half marathons and as soon as 10 miles rolls around, I crash and burn. I decided to take it out slow, as I usually get too excited about passing people early on and pay for it dearly later in the race. I was on pace to break my old PR (or close to it) the entire time-because you cant just have the goal of not bonking, a time HAS to be involved…Overall, it was a nice race, very organized and plenty of the things you want in a race-gatorade, water, GU’s. Plus, it was in Florida and my race weather was better than St. Malachi’s. Finishing 0.15 seconds faster would have been cool but hey, now I have a goal for the next one 🙂

Last weekend, Marty ran a 5k – the Bridges to Recovery run – with his family.

A small local 5k race is just what I needed this chilly Saturday morning. I haven’t run anything less than 5 miles in a race in a very, very long time. “The pain is intense; it just doesn’t last as long.”, sums up my morning.
I was very pleased to run my wife, Lesa, and oldest son, Noah, in to the finish line. This was their very first race, and they had a great time. Almost immediately upon finishing, they asked “when is the next one”.  I think they are hooked.
A word to everyone: Include your family in your passion.

Scott continued is attempt at getting into the Guiness book of world records by racing more than anyone on the planet at the Fools Run in the Cuyahoga Valley.  He ran the 25k and didn’t have much to say, but Mark (who was there volunteering) did:

I volunteered at the race as a course marshall and found that standing in one spot for five hours in 30ish degree weather can be cold, very cold.  I thought a few of my piggies were going to be casualties but luckily common sense set in and I started to walk around which brought them back from the brink.  Also, Zubricky looked like he has been training, because he was crazy fast out there.  Not sure how he did, but by the looks of things I would guess pretty well.  A shout out to Rood who let me borrow his SSSMST jacket so I could fly the colors while standing in the woods.  Scott, nice job!

And finally, a bike race!  Bruce and John went to Michigan for the Barry-Roubaix bike race, called ” The Killer Gravel Road Race.”

Bruce said:

It’s always good to get a training race in early.  It lets you know just how much work you have to do.  Travelled up to Michigan friday night to race in the Barry Roubaix on Saturday morning.  Only thing I really knew about the race was that it was gravel/dirt roads, rolling hills, and cold.  We got to the race to check in and it was about 16 degrees.  Thought I would go out easy on the first lap and ease into it.  Rolling start, and then it got fast.  I saw Willse for about the first 10 minutes, then came the rolling hills.  By rolling, they mean out of the saddle climbing.   I was struggling about 20 miles in, and the climbs got more and more painful, add to that the water bottle froze, and it was really tough to get a drink.  Rode and got dropped by a number of groups, and spent much of the second half of the race suffering on my own.  Bad leg cramps, sore back, but I finished in just over 4 hours.  Willse rocked it on a mountain bike, and big congrats to Sam Brode who took home 1st overall for the women and a check for $500.  the good news: 10 kegs of founders brewery beer at the finish line, and a new set of cross wheels in the raffle.  Thanks to the guys at spin for getting the bike ready for the 4 hours of abuse.

Whew!  That’s a lot of racing.  Great job guys!

Filed under: 2011 |