August 2025 Race Recaps

My racing season slowed down a bit in August with only 2 races on the schedule. Even with the lighter schedule, I've continued to train hard and improve my fitness. 

Summer Sizzler 5k

At the end of May, I decided to focus my season on breaking my 5k PR of 27:51. In late June I took the first step towards this goal by beginning a 5k training block, with a new program, focused on getting faster. I had a couple of chances in July, during the 8 week training block, to see where I was at and I did well both times. While the progress what apparent, I had my focus on August 16th and the Summer Sizzler. My goal was clear, a sub-30:00 5k requiring a pace of 9:39/mi. 

Even with an early start time of 7:00am, the race lived up to it's name with a temperature of 75 degrees at the start and extremely high humidity to go with it. In addition, I had tweaked my lower back while working at the cabin the day before and it was very stiff and sore when I woke up. I arrived at Gray's Lake plenty early to pick up my packet and ensure that I got a close parking spot. I did a half mile warm up before changing into my brand new New Balance FuelCell Supercomp Elite V4 racing shoes and getting in a few strides. 

   

I lined up closer to the start line then normal to avoid as much congestion as possible to start the race. I knew that I could not hold anything back, and I had no intentions of using my hurt back as an excuse after training so hard the past 8 weeks. I took off fast right when the race started and really pushed the pace. For the first half mile, I had to navigate through other racers but eventually the field got strung out a bit. Luckily my back wasn't bothering me at all and I just focused on my form and breathing. I came through mile 1 in 9:36 and was overjoyed to be ahead of pace. I kept pushing hard as the race headed around the west side of the lake and into an out-and-back section towards MLK. My split for mile 2 was 9:37, still ahead of pace! I could feel my legs getting tired but with just over a mile to go I kept pushing. Mile 3 was a little slower at 9:47 but I had a great kick and managed to finish with a 9:37/mi average. The race was a little long, at 3.15 miles, so I didn't quite make it under 30 minutes, finishing in 30:18. 

Hero Hustle Sprint Triathlon

Even though my focus is on a 5k PR, when Adam proposed a trip to Manchester to race the Hero Hustle I just couldn't pass it up. I raced the Hero Hustle Triathlon in 2023, and that year it was a bit of a break through race for me. Going into the race I had to acknowledge that I've only been focused on running so I tried to keep my expectations in check. Even without dedicated training, I thought there was a good chance to race well due to my drastically improved fitness. 

Adam and I headed for Manchester after lunch on Saturday. After settling into our hotel, we headed out on a very windy bike ride to stretch our legs a bit. We rode to Schram park to check out the race venue before riding a few miles of the bike route. After the ride and a shower it was off to dinner and driving the whole bike route before an early bedtime. 

Other than the wind, I don't think I've ever raced in nicer weather. We woke up to temperatures in the low 50s and low humidity on Sunday morning. The race didn't start until 9am, so we checked out of the hotel and headed for the park around 7:00. With plenty of time before the race, we took a stroll around the pond and I double and triple checked my transition set up. 

The triathlon started with a time trial format and I lined up towards the back, in fact there were only 6 people behind me at the start. The swim was 400 yards, but then there was an additional 100 yards to transition. I swam hard and felt pretty good in the water. It wasn't very fast, but I managed to finish in 12:35. I passed several people during the swim, but there weren't many bikes left in transition when I got there. I managed to get through T1 in an impressive 1:30 before heading out on the bike course. The NW wind was at my back for the 8 miles out and I took advantage of it passing a lot of people on the way out. The turn around was at the bottom of a hill and headed back into a wind. The next 2 climbs into the wind were quite challenging, but I just kept my legs moving until things flattened out for the last 4 miles. I passed around 50 people on the bike course, so I knew that everyone was struggling with the wind a little. I finished the 16 mile bike course in 51:53 good enough for the 38th fastest time in the field!

I got through T2 in less than a minute. My legs felt a bit heavy heading out onto the run, but I took a GU and downed some water and everything loosened up about 3/4 mile in. I came through mile 1 in 10:51 but was feeling really good. I picked it up quite a bit for the 2nd mile going 10:14. As I turned onto  the road into the park, with less than a mile to go, Adam was waiting for me and ran with me for about a quarter mile. He told me that I was looking really good and that gave me a boost of confidence. Mile 3 was 10:02 and I finished the 5k course in 31:21. I finished 68/137, a very rare top 50% triathlon finish for me. I also managed to beat my 2023 time by 2:43. It is no surprise that my run was the highlight of the race. 

Wrap Up

I'm very pleased with how well I've raced over the last couple of months. My fitness continues to improve and I'm starting to look forward to fall races. Next up on the race calendar is the Black Hawk YMCA Sprint Triathlon in Waterloo on September 6th followed by a 5k road race and 5k trail run later in the month. My next target race is the Spooky Sprint 5k the first weekend of October. I'm currently on week 2 of a 7 week training block with a focus to average 9:15/mi at the Spooky Sprint. 

July 2025 Race Recaps and Running 100 Races

After a very busy race schedule in June, I slowed down a bit in July. Early in the month I completed my Ironman in a week challenge but otherwise I've been hyper focused on my current 5k training block. I ended up racing 3 times during July, 2 5k races and the Bix 7. That brings me to 22 races this year and the Bix marked my 100th race since starting back in 2014. 

Cubbie Bear 5k

A Sunday morning race in downtown Des Moines at Principal Park. Training had been going very well and I was excited to see what I could do. I rode with Adam to the race and we arrived plenty early to pick up our packets and ensure we got close parking. The temperature started off in the 60s, but the sun was intense and the race didn't start until 9:00am so it got hotter quickly. 

The starting line chute was pretty narrow and I started off way too far back. I tried hard to push from the start but had to weave in and out of people for the first half mile before we got onto a road and things widened out. I was disappointed when I came through mile 1 in 10:18 but kept the peddle on the gas. I was very surprised when mile 2 was slower at 10:21. I gave it everything I had for the rest of the course and pushed hard as I ran around the warning track inside Principal Park heading to the finish line. I crossed the finish line in 32:17, about 45 seconds slower than I had hoped. 

Even though I feel that I should have run faster, I couldn't be too disappointed with the time. This was my fastest 5k of the year and fastest since 2019. 

DSM Corporate Games 5k

The race was run with the Clive Running Festival 5k on Saturday, July 19 at Campbell Park in Clive. The course was changed from past years due to the construction and bike path closure for the current Interstate 35/80 construction. I woke up to severe thunderstorms and a tornado warning that kept me from leaving the house to pick up Adam. Eventually the warning ended and I headed to pick up Adam. When we arrived at Campbell park it started pouring rain. They ended up delaying the race for 30 minutes to let the storms pass. 

The race started going straight up hill, but it was on the road so there was plenty of room to space out. At the top of the hill we turned onto a side street before connecting with the bike trail that took us through the park and onto an out and back section. There was a lot of puddles to dodge and late in the race the sun came out raising the humidity a lot. Similar to the previous week, I pushed hard from the start coming through mile 1 in 10:12. I was extremely happy with that split given the uphill start. Navigating the water station at the turn around slowed me a bit but I came through the 2nd mile shortly after with a split of 10:07. I turned on the jets for the last mile running my first sub-10:00 mile of the year in 9:47. I crossed the finish line in 31:05, averaging 10:00/mi. 

This was the performance that I had hoped for a week prior at the Cubbie Bear 5k and I was ecstatic at how well I raced. 

Bix 7 and Race #100

When I started running back in 2014 I would never have predicted that I'd complete 100 races or that I would still be doing it 11 years later, but here we are. On July 26, 2014 I officially completed my first race at the Bix 7. I was just a few months into running and extremely overweight, but I was determined to run it. That race was hard, REALLY hard, but I kept putting 1 foot in front of the other and eventually I reached the finish line in a time of 1:47:47. I was very proud of that accomplishment and still am today. 

I had no plans to run the Bix this year, but a few months ago when my mother-in-law Mary asked if I would be there to run it, I took a look at my schedule and quickly realized that it would be my 100th race. I just couldn't turn down the chance at a story like that. My 1st race was the Bix 7, and my 100th race would be at the Bix 7 exactly 11 years later, to the day 

The forecast for Saturday morning did not look good. Storms and rain overnight continued into the morning. For the first time in 51 years, they decided to delay the start of the race by an hour. While the chances of thunderstorms cleared out, the rain did not. Mary's sister, Lisa, was also going to be walking the Bix so the 3 of us piled into Mary's car and headed for the race. We stayed in the car as long as possible before walking through the rain and dodging puddles to get to the starting corrals. 

After a short wait, we heard the horn and we were off and headed up the Brady Street hill. I've raced this course enough times to know how challenging it is, but knowing doesn't make it easier. I took it easy going up the hill to both conserve energy and not fall on the wet pavement. After turning off Brady, the road essentially turned into a flowing river from all the rain and my feet were soaked immediately. My mile splits were slower than I had hoped, but my legs felt good through the 3.5 mile turnaround until about mile 4. After 4 miles, I struggled to find any extra effort to push so I just tried to keep a consistent effort for the last 3 miles. I came into the race hoping to average around 10:45/mi and finish under 15 minutes but I ended up finishing in 1:17:41, a few minutes short of my goal but still my 2nd fastest Bix in 4 attempts of running it and over 30 minutes faster than the first. 

After the race I endured a huge downpour while waiting for Lisa and Mary to finish. Once we reached the car, it felt so good to get the wet shoes off of my feet and a dry shirt on. I've had some time to reflect since the race and have become more pleased with how I performed. While I didn't hit my goal, my current reality is that I'm in the middle of a 5k training block. This race was the farthest I've run since early April 2024, before I injured my ankle. I haven't been training a lot of hills, but I still handled them quite well during the race.

Wrap Up

Things slow down a bit in August as I only have 2 races on the calendar. I'm nearing the end of my 5k training block and am excited to see what I can do at the Summer Sizzler 5k on August 16th. My goal for that race is to run sub-30:00 on my way to a 5k PR attempt this fall. For now, I'm continuing to train hard and work towards that goal getting a little better every day.