Between MTS and SLO Half-Marathon

After MTS (read my race recap), I took a few days off, then hit a short run and some pool time. On the Saturday between events, I got in one long, 10 mile, run just to make sure that my feet and legs were up for the distance. I knew I had the cardio. Heck, I just did 3 hours in MTS, so a two-hour run shouldn’t be a cardio issue. I haven’t written about it here, but my left knee has been bugging me, so I was concerned about the turn around. Any run over 2 miles has been causing some serious pain in my left knee (yes, I will get it checked out, no I don’t think I’m doing any permanent damage), making it harder to train just for running. To finish out taper week, I did a 4 miler on Tuesday and a treadmill 2.6 miles on Friday. Every run left me with some knee pain, but it was manageable with RICE post run.

Pre-Race

When Saturday rolled around, I was focused on all my normal pre-race routines. The race started very early at 6:30a, so I was in bed by 10p, up at 3:45a for breakfast and out the door by 5:10a. Right on schedule. I was surprised by how many people were standing around or warming up in the staging area. While small compared to races like LA, Boston or New York, the SLO Marathon was the largest race I’ve been around, with about 3500 runners. When the marathoners took off at 6a, I turned in my sweat bag and walked over to my pace corral and started warming up.

There were two other runners from my office participating in the half, which meant not only were we wearing our Rosetta race shirts, but we spent a few minutes having fun and being silly. This really kept the butterflies at bay. At 6:15a I took my Gu, prepped my playlist and finished my warm ups. Let’s do this!

Race

When I planned out the race, my goal was to run a 2:10, so I joined the 2 hour pace group. I thought if I could stay comfortably with the group then not only would I finish ahead of my goal, but I would make sure to keep a consistent pace. Every race is a mental battle at the start so as not to get out too fast and end up with nothing left at the end. I was wearing my heart rate (HR) monitor and kept an eye on my it to make sure I wasn’t pushing too hard. I felt good and my HR wasn’t high, so I ran comfortably, which actually put me ahead of the 2 hour group. Mile 1 ended with an 8:20 pace. Solid. Some time around mile two, my knee already began to hurt and I realized it was going to be a long run. As we ran through downtown, mile 2 finished with an 8:17 mile. What’s the key? Consistency.

During mile 3, we hit our first hill of the run, Johnson Hill. I’ve run it many times on lunch breaks, so it didn’t scare me, but controlled pace and HR and not getting caught up with the energy of people rushing up the hill was my goal. Mile 3 finished on a down hill with an 8:27. I slowed a little on the extended downhill as my knee wasn’t happy, but hit mile 4 at 9:05. The course winds itself around the eastern edge of the city with all the wineries and ranches along the rolling hills. Mile 5 was nice and flat, maybe even a little decline, but the end of mile 6 begins the uphill climb into mile 7 for the turn around. Considering the terrain, the times were pretty stead at 8:15 (5), 8:52 (6) and 9:03 (7). I was pretty excited at my 6 mile time and as I took my Gu, I considered the possibility of a sub-2 hour finish.

Heading back into town I realized there was still a lot of running left and reminded myself to control my pace and HR. Mile 8 was great at a 8:38 mile pace due to much of it being down hill. While my knee wasn’t happy, I was starting to pick out people to pass, which made me very happy. Mile 9 and 10 had a slight incline and I wasn’t paying much attention to my HR, I was just running. Looking at my times now, I’m a little disappointed, but overall it wasn’t bad at 8:52 (9) and 9:03 (10).

Heading through mile 11, I saw some friends which encouraged me to pick up the pace, and picking people off one by one, was encouraging. Many people were starting to slow down and I didn’t want to be one of them. I finished mile 11 at a nice 8:30. However, even picking off runners and knowing the end was near, wasn’t enough to keep from slowing down some, I finished mile 12 at 8:54.

When I finished mile 12, I knew it was time to leave it all out on the course. This was the moment I was waiting for, when everyone was just trying to make it to the end, it was my time to finish strong. I picked out a runner and set off to run him down. Sliding into my groove, I attacked the last hill before the home stretch along the Madonna Inn bike trail. I finished mile 13 with an 8:07. Now, you’d like to think there was only 1/10th of a mile left to go, but ever since mile 2, my phone reported a different distance than did the signs on the road, and I wasn’t the only one. Two other racers concurred with me that the course was about 13.3+ miles. Oh well.

I barely saw my son, Harrison on the side yelling for me as I kicked to finish. I never did pass the guy I picked out, but I passed a number of runners trying to. The last third of a mile I ran a 7:22 pace, finishing the race with a total time of 1:55:30!

Post Race

Over all I was extremely pleased with my race time. I was shooting for 2:10 and ended with a 1:55. This was a huge improvement over my previous half-marathon at City to Sea of 2:36. Jamba Juice provided some nice Oatmeal and a smothie as a post race food, which was awesome and hit the spot. I also had an opportunity to enjoy some Ice/Compression treatment! It felt amazing. Finally, I hooked up with my family, enjoyed the expo and headed home. Happy, healthy and goals achieved.

Had an opportunity last night to try out a pair of Mizuno Wave Evo Cursoris at the Running Warehouse Pub Run. First and foremost, the run was amazing fun. It was the largest group I’ve seen out and was well-timed with my upcoming Half-Marathon coming up Sunday. We met at Laguna Grill and had a nice 3.5 mile trail run on the Irish Hills Trail. More on that in a minute.

After showing up, I had an opportunity to speak with the Mizuno rep and talked briefly about my running style. He recommended I try out one of their newest shoes, the Wave Evo Cursoris. They actually had them in my size! a 12.5. That’s a first for me. They were extremely bright in an almost florescent orange, but fit was great. A quick run around the parking lot confirmed they were the right size and would be fine for my run. No need to get blisters right now!

Heading out, the 50+ people broke into about two groups. I had never run the Irish Hills trail, so I didn’t know exactly what to expect. I found out quickly, that the trail is pretty much up, then down. Not really much in the way of flat land. You’re going up or down, the entire time. The trail, while well-groomed, is also really rocky. I typically wear Merrell Bare Access 2‘s, which only have about 4mm of cushion. The Cursoris have 12mm of cushion stack, and wow, I was happy they did. The marble sized pebbles weren’t an issue in the Cursoris. I could feel them at spots, but nothing to hurt my foot.

While the shoe isn’t a trail shoe, it was well-balanced and handled the trail just fine. Light at 6.8oz, I was impressed at the amount of punishment it took. The mesh upper allowed my foot to move around naturally, but I would recommend that you go a half-size smaller than you would in a traditional shoe. I noticed it when my toes were against the front of the shoe on the steep down hill of the trail as I slowed my descent. Unlike my Merrell’s, the shoe allows for a high-volume foot, so if you’re like me, you’ll be really happy with the fit over the top of the foot.

The only negatives I have with the shoe are the color choices, bright green and orange. I wear my running shoes for work and play after I retire them from running, and the bright green and orange just don’t work for everyday wearing. Would I buy them? I did offer to wear them this Sunday in the SLO Half-Marathon, unfortunately they took them back with them. I will definitely consider adding them to my shoe stable to wear along with my Merrell’s and handle those times when I’d like more cushion. You can pick up a pair at your favorite running store, or grab them now from Running Warehouse!

Preparing the day before is key for my race mornings. I got up at 6, since my heat didn’t race until 9:20a, headed downstairs for my traditional race morning meal; Moka Pot of coffee, white bread with peanut butter, banana and turkey sausage. Had my vitamins, got dressed and my wife and I were out the door by 7:15 to head to the lake. Weather was “chilly” at 45°F, which made the 1 mile walk from car to transition a little uncomfortable.

The transition area was huge. I picked a spot away from the middle where everything was crowded, and as you can see from the picture, had a ton of room. Sure, I could have shaved a few seconds by grabbing a middle row spot, but I liked the extra room.

All setup, I was ready and waiting. This was my first triathlon where I used a wet suit. My normal warm up schedule really didn’t work. I started doing some light jog at 8:40, increasing some tempo 5 minutes later, but then I stopped to put on my wetsuit. It takes me a while to get into it and all ready. The goal was to be ready and get some time in the water to adjust to the 58°F water temp prior to the first heat leaving at 9. What I ended up doing was completely cooling down by the time I made it to the water. I got in the water and did about 100m of swim trying to bring my heart rate back up and get into a rhythm, forgetting I still had 20 minutes before my heat took off! Yeah. I didn’t really plan this out too well. I did one more 50m warm up swim between the prior heat and mine, but I think it was useless and just took energy away.

At 9:20a 26 men in the 35+ year old Olympic heat was off! This was the reason I chose MTS for my first Olympic; the age group size. I was hoping to avoid the majority of getting kicked and punched when starting the swim, but still got kicked in face around 100m which partially knocked off my goggles. I had to stop to clear the water and re-adjust them. The first 400m was really difficult. I could tell I was trying to get to race pace, but wasn’t warmed up. Breathing became right side only on every stroke, even though I knew that makes me slower and less efficient. I just couldn’t get into a groove. At the first buoy turn, I was feeling a little more in control, but then I started the worst 1000m back and forth with a fellow competitor I’ve ever experienced. I was trying to maintain a steady stroke pattern and speed, and while I’m sure I wasn’t completely successful at that, the other swimmer kept stopping, at which point I would pass him. The challenge came 20 seconds later when he would start to over take me and crawl up my side. I pushed him off me about 4-5 times. At one pass, he actually dunked my head. I yelled at him and told him to get the F away from me. I don’t think he heard me. At about 1000m I didn’t really see him any more, but I was getting tired. As I started my final leg towards the dock, I was having trouble seeing the edge of the dock through my fogged glasses. I took a few seconds to clean them and mentally prepare myself for the last push. The rest of the swim was pretty uneventful, until I got to the end. As I reached the launch ramp, I picked a spot where I was about waist-high in the water and tried to stand and walk/run in the rest of the way. Only challenge was, my hamstrings and calf muscles wanted to seize! I couldn’t stand. I finally swam/floated until my hands could touch the bottom and then tried to stand again. I wasn’t very successful. I fell twice before I was finally upright and started my run for T1.

Swim time: 34:03.9 My goal for the swim was 35min. I beat it by almost 1 minute and could have been even faster without some of the issues at the end.

For T1, I had trouble getting my wetsuit off. The tab closure kept closing over the zipper making it impossible to unzip. I actually entered the transition area with the suit still completely on. I was still in a fog and having trouble standing. Does this happen to other people? I finally decided to just stop for about 15 seconds and wipe my face and hands… Just something I could control before moving forward. I finished transition which included putting on socks and my cycling shoes. I need to get tri shoes and practice flying mounts, but until then, this is how I roll. I rand for the mount and off I went.

T1 time: 3:42.8 My goal was 2:30. I just need to practice more and I could get this down. Sub 2 minutes is probably only reachable with tri shoes.

The bike went mostly according to plan. Just like in training, I focused on cadence (80+ RPM) and found my groove. I started taking in my fluid (GU Roctane) and I felt great. The only real hiccup occurred about 25 minutes in while drinking, I dropped my bottle. Since I had planned out my hydration, the loss of an almost full bottle was a concern. I decided I would pick it up on the way back. It probably cost me about two minutes to stop, run across the street to get the bottle, run back, and get going again. What should I have done? I think USAT rules state that I can’t dispose of anything on the course… does a dropped bottle count? I had only 1 real moment of self-doubt, at mile 17 there is a really steep hill and as I was out of breath and felt like puking, I thought I might not be able to finish. I did make it up that hill, made the turn around and kicked ass all the way into transition. I was a little behind in my hydration and tried to make it up over the last 5 miles. This would be a contributor to a run issue later.

Bike time: 1:25:56.6 My goal was 1:20:00 which was probably not reasonable. I have never ridden that fast so setting that as a goal was silly. Strava reported that I had 4 PRs on the course and I averaged 17.6mph, so I did well. Continuing to improve power and cadence, and not drop water bottles will improve my time.

Entering T2 was great. Nothing really to report.

T2 Time: 1:19.3 My goal time 1:00. Flying dismounts and not running in cycling shoes would improve my T2 time. It’s inline with my previous T2 times in sprint triathlon.

Starting the run, I quickly found my stride and was off. I was a little distracted by my phone as I got it set to track my run. In this picture I look like a dork while racing.

My pace over the first two miles was really fast, probably too fast, but I felt good. I grabbed water at the 2mile aid station, but they only had plastic cups. I tried to get water down, but know I ingested some air too. Along with my drinking too late on the bike, this turned into a bad side stitch that hit around 2.5 miles. I did everything I knew to do; breathing through nose and raising hands above head while continuing to run. It would not go away. I finally decided to walk for about 2 minutes to try to relieve the stitch. It seemed to work and off again I went. The walk seemed to have affected my pace and I was unable to find the fast pace I had the first two miles. Around mile 5, there were a number of competitors and spectators leaving (Sprint athletes) and were actually on the run course. I had to yell twice to make room on the road to let me through. I didn’t have many issues, but I saw later a female athlete having to weave in and around walkers as she tried to finish her race. As I turned the final corner to see the finish chute, I turned on the after-burners, or at least what I had left, and ran to the finish. I saw my wife on the side and pumped my fist as I neared the end. As I hit the finish line, I felt like I was going to collapse. My hamstring wanted to cramp and I could barely breathe. Isn’t that how you want to feel?

Run time: 58:41.7 My goal was 54:00 and I should have been capable of achieving it. The stitch certainly cost me time, but pacing should have been better too.

As you might be able to see in this photo, I left it all out there. Literally had nothing left. THAT is the sign of a well run race!

All in all, the race was a success. My total time was 3:03:44.3, with a goal of 2:54:00. I learned a lot and can’t wait for my next Olympic in October. This summer, I will be doing a LOT of open water swims to really improve in this area along with dealing with my wetsuit. If you made it this far… wow, congrats. You deserve special recognition. Hit me up on Twitter at @TriHank and let me know you made it to the end.

I hate stopping during the ride, but have to get a picture! Here’s Baileyana Winery along Orcutt Road.

Are you socially influential? Maybe. How do you know? Or maybe more importantly, how do I know you’re socially influential? It’s this important question that Klout tries to answer.

Klout began with a very simple idea: Everyone has influence—the ability to drive action. Klout built on this idea to show anyone how he or she can influence the world and its future.

Klout was founded in 2008 to empower everyone to unlock their influence. We come to work every day inspired to help people understand the power of their voices and democratize influence.

Does Klout succeed? I think, yes. Does Klout do it well? That’s another question entirely. In typical me fashion, I wanted to answer this question.

My review of Klout started when I saw a job posting for a Social Media Manager position that required a Klout score of 55+ to apply. Confused about Klout and it’s importance, I had a brief conversation with the amazing Nicole Varvitsiotes of Rosetta Marketing about whether a Klout score was a useful way to know if someone was qualified for a Social Media position. While there is much debate about Klout, I decided to see if I could go from nothing to 55+ in 30 days to prove the point that a company making your Klout score a requirement for a job is ridiculous.

To be fair, I think it’s important that I be upfront about my social media experience. I’m no novice, but nor am I employed in any fashion as a social media expert. I’m just a guy that follows social media and it’s trends, probably just like you. On Facebook I have about 400 friends. When I started, I wasn’t using Twitter or Instagram. I have a personal blog (this one) that averaged about 3-4 visitors per day, and while I had a Google+ account, I never used it. Of course, I’m on LinkedIn, but I’ve primarily used it as a live resume, certainly nothing for communication or connections. Basically, I used Facebook like everyone else, to stay connected to friends and family and really nothing more. I’m just your average Hank.

When I first signed into Klout and linked my Facebook account, I was given a score of 10. That’s where everyone starts. I connected my LinkedIn profile, and then signed up for Twitter and Instagram. I was off and running. The only hiccup I encountered was when I wanted to link a Facebook Group Page that I help run to Klout. I didn’t realize that Klout was no longer looking at my personal page, and was only using the group page. After a few days, I deleted the linked page and re-linked to my personal account. Everything started to click and I was starting to change my interactions to elicit responses. Game ON!

You may be asking yourself at this point, “what is influence?” Influence, as Klout measures it, is the ability to drive action. In Social Media, driving action equates to engagement, interaction and discussion. Getting “likes” and comments on Facebook and Instagram, along with “retweets” and favorites shows people are paying attention, they’re engaging. This means, potentially, I have influence. To elicit these moments of influence, I changed some things about the way I interacted on the various social media fronts. Most notably, I changed my posts from statements to questions. Instead of saying things like “I love crunchy peanut-butter.” I posted, “Creamy or Crunchy?” I asked people to help create an 80’s song playlist; everyone loved 80’s music. I blogged more. I wrote about drinking 30 different beers in 30 days for Oktoberfest. I wrote about my training runs and rides. I was taking pictures of any time I could and cross posting everything. Integrating my social networks created a cohesive brand of “Hank” with a consistent message. This in turn generated more followers on Twitter, Google+ and Instagram. The beast was getting bigger.

In the first 2 days I hit 27, probably just due to the size of my networks on LinkedIn and Facebook. For the next week, things stayed steady while interactions were calculated and brought into the system. 10 Days after signing up on Klout, my score reached a respectable 45. I was only 10 days in and I was getting most of the way there! I began pushing ideas and interacting more, instead of just consuming with Twitter and LinkedIn. Then things really got exciting as my Oktoberfest beer posts began to garner feedback and interaction from the breweries I was drinking and posting pictures about. Klout loves engagement with “influencers” with higher scores, and my score climbed to 50+ at day 15.

You might think I was almost there, but Klout scores are logarithmic; as you move up the scale, it gets progressively harder to increase your score. What I’ve seen is us mere mortals can get into the 60’s, but beyond that lies the realm of celebrities and well-known personalities. It gets pretty tough to reach higher. Also, maintaining a score is work as well. Some well-timed interactions can increase your score, but just as important, quiet times will reduce your score just as quickly.

With my goal insight, I picked up the pace a bit and worked to get even the most silent of my network in to respond. I focused on interactions with those of higher influence and was rewarded on day 25 when I reached 55!

Now what? Was all of this effort to gage whether Klout measures ones ability to influence worth it? Yes. What I learned along the way was, while I was “gaming” the system some, I was also using my knowledge of social media and interactions. All of my experience with people and networks was put to the test. Isn’t this the true measure of influence? My ability to illicit feedback, responses, interactions, all show that I am trusted by my friends and social networks. If I say that I love Rogue Brewery Beers (and I do), the people who I know and love will try Rogue Brewery Beers. Maybe not all of them, but some will. It’s this ability to influence and engage people based on the established trust I’ve built up, to do things, try brands, get involved, that Klout attempts to measure.

In the end, what started off as a goal to prove Klout isn’t effective in measuring whether someone is good for a Social Media job, convinced me that if someone knows how to change their score, then perhaps they do know something about social media and the influence they or other brands have on the networks they connect with everyday. However, as far as jobs go, it’s important that the Klout score be used only as single point in the hiring process. Don’t blame me if you hire someone with a high Klout score and they don’t work out.

For balance, here’s why you shouldn’t care about what I just wrote.

For further information about Klout, check out this interview of Klout founder and CEO, Joe Fernandez by Brian Solis of Altimeter Group.