Ironman Louisville

the Louisville Ironman was on sunday and here's the video Ironman made for it. I will be there at some point in the next few years

Run For Your Lives 5k

I almost completely forgot to tell you guys about the zombie 5k I did this weekend in St. Louis. It was a whole lot of fun and completely exceeded my expectations. So here's the deal, I'll tell you guys about it and then tell you guys about what kind of stuff to bring and how to prepare because as far as I've seen there's no list of helpful stuff to bring.

For an event that focuses on zombies and beer I was pleasantly surprised at how amazingly organized the whole thing was. Everything from the parking to the course itself ran very smoothly. The course wound through a trail in the woods with a plethora of roots and loose gravel to trip you up, so if you're like me and have weak ankles definitely wear ankle braces. It started out winding through the woods and everybody was running at first. I've replayed every zombie encounter in my mind and I can't decide which ones were the hardest because they were all EXTREMELY hard (mainly because I'm not a sprinter and I'm not built for it either). It was really hard when you'd come out of the woods after going up and down on the dirt trail and see a whole field of zombies. But that was also the most fun too because it was only about a 100-150 foot long section which was round shaped so there was a lot of room to try and avoid the zombies getting your flags. Hands down the hardest part was a very long skinny part where there was an insane amount of zombies. The worst part was that it was slightly up hill and once you got through them you turned the corner only to see a good 1/8 mile more filled with zombies after you were already really winded (it's the part where the guy falls in the video I'll post below, but he doesn't put the second part where you turn the corner in the video). The scariest part was the ones that would pop out of the woods and there was no where to go but into the trees (as evidenced by my scraped up right leg)

I was so close to having one flag left. But unfortunately at the end the very last 2 zombies ganged up on me and took my last flag. I heard her go "Yeaahh!!" behind me when I ran away, it was very disheartening. Note to self: that's what I get for 1)putting my last flag directly in front instead of in back and 2) for trying to run in between two zombies when I'm the only one going. It was extremely tiring and I can't remember the last time I did something that anerobically and aerobically challenging (and that's coming form an aspiring triathlete).

Here's some hints and stuff to bring if you're doing it in the future:
1. All you really need to do is practice agility and sprinting. You end up walking a whole lot of it since it's through the woods and you're really tired. Honestly I don't think just jogging 3 miles did much of anything for me. Practice sprinting down the long side a 1/4 or 1/3 mile track and you'll be golden
2. If at all possible don't wear your best pair of running shoes because you can donate them to a charity (I'll put up a picture later where you see all the muddy shoes in a pile).
3. Miscellaneous stuff: a whole change of clothes because you can get hosed off at the end and you don't wanna be walking around wet, a bit of money, sun glasses if it's sunny, a camera with a whole lot of battery life (my unfortunate mistake) because there's a bunch of hilarious people and zombies which make for great pictures, a towel to dry off, a bag to carry clothes/keys/phone in, a towel/chairs to sit on (because when you're done with the race and want food there's not a whole lot of open seating.

The moral of this story is that it was absolutely awesome. And if it comes to St. Louis again I'm gonna try in every way to be a zombie because that would be super fun.

Here's the good part: the pics and video

This isn't my video, it's courtosy of jamatthews86
 

The entrance area

the main area

The starting line/entrance thing

The end. You absolutely couldn't get any grip because it was so muddy

The super awesome and slightly muddy medal you get at the end

Right before the end. That guy is cheating. And unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries at this point so I don't have any actual cool pictures for you guys

Here's the pile of donated shoes. This picture is from the Run For Your Lives facebook page. They have some great pictures on there if you want a better collage of cool pics

Funny Chrissie Wellington

this is why Chrissie is the best pro triathlete out there today. She knows how to have fun.

hilarious sailing announcer

In the spirit of the Olympics, here's a hilarious Irish guy commentating on the sailing race