Geo

Phoenix, AZ, January 15, 2006:

Today, in an impressive display of committment to "Hey, Wait For Me Racing" I competed in an alternate form of endurance racing. I ran the Phoenix Rock n' Roll half-marathon in 3:00:07, truly a time worthy of "Hey, wait for me...."

Just goes to show two things:

1) You can be slow at any sort of racing and enjoy it.

2) It's all about being out there (I suppose that could be taken two ways ).

Don't worry about being fast or slow. Just get out there, regardless of what form the racing takes! There's fun for everyone.

Jack667

Congratulations, George!!!


I may try a half-marathon this year for the first time and my goal would be just to finish. I moved my workout distance from 5k to 10k recently and I'm getting in 4-5 runs per week.

Bill L Seifert

Just tell people that you did a marathon in 3 hours and 7 seconds, that's a great time for that. If running 13 miles ain't a marathon, I don't know what is. If I tried to do that, I would ride the last half in the back of an ambulance. Congrats

Hey, by the way, have you heard anything about the 944 8v going to ITA

Jack667, is your car a 944S?


Bill Seifert

1987 944S Race Car

bobt993

I have done 1/2 and full (ughh). If you can run 13 miles, you can do a full, but it is all mental after 20 miles ( and you tend to lose toe nails). Follow a training program online for the Marine Corp Marathon (you need to get up to about 35/40 miles a week). Biggest mistake I made was not to cross train with weights. Good Luck! Best bonus: eat whatever you want while training, no salad before the big day ( refuse to comment).

Jack667

Bill - my car is a prepared '88 944, not an "S". Fell free to PM me if you want more details...

JPhillips-998

Congrats Geo,
I ran that last year as a "surprise" for my girlfriend (she is in the 1:37 range). We were in AZ w/a couple of her running friends and I signed up that day. The guy we were w/thought it was nuts and asked, what my long run was, I said don't really know, but I did an hour on the treadmill last week....finished 18 minutes behind him. It was great fun and I didn't run for another 6 months.

sweanders

I used to do Triathlon (not the full length) and as a swimmer and biker the running bit was just about surviving. It is surprising how long you can go on pure will.

Bill L Seifert

Jack

I am building an S is the reason I asked. Hey PBOC is having a race at Barber Feb 25-26. You would run in our class R8 for na 8v 944's (My S aint done yet, I'll be in my 83 8v n/a)) Barber is a neat track, and PBOC is a good race group, and you can run one race on your PCA license. PBOC is kinda run-what- you brung. All 944 8v n/a's run R8 (ITS, PCA I, PCA H prepared, (not 944S's) 944 Cup etc.) In Novermber there were 5 of us in R8 2 ITS cars one PCA H prepared and 2 PCA I cars, we were fairly equal, with track knowledge being to thing that seperated the cars. The only thing is that R8 is the tail end group, (ALL race cars, from 911 GT3R's, Radicals etc down to us run at the same time) We get lapped a lot.

Anyway, try it, you get 2 1/2 hours of race time, plus about 1 1/2 hours practice and qualifying.

Bill

Dbltime

Good job George! I never wanted half of anything so my first full marathon (1978) was 4:17.. 26 marathons later I was 65# lighter and running 3:09-3:11 for 26.2. I am slower now 3:22-3:27 but I am also old and damaged (like my car).

bobt993

Slower..... your running times that 30 years olds are hoping for. I am happy breaking 4hrs. I hope to call 3 hour marathons slow someday.....

Geo

Thanks everyone.

This was my 3rd half. It was also my worst half for time. But, my training got buggered up in November with a suspected 3rd stress fracture (only turned out to be garden variety shin splints) and a minor medical issue that took me out of training for a week. In the end I lost 3 weeks and never got back on track. I had originally planned to do the full and in fact was supposed to do an ultra-marathon last month. But I decided to be smart and cut things back.

I broke the cardinal rule of marathoning and tried something different on race day. I took some salt (worried about hydration in the desert) at mile 9 and instantly got stomach craps when I started to run. Walked a bit and then when I started to run again I developed God-awful leg cramps. That was the start of a long 2.5 mile series of hills with only short flats in between. At mile 12 I started running again with a run/walk and at 13 I sprinted in at (surprisingly to me) my track pace. My legs came back more than I thought.

Now starts a long, slow build-up to my next full marathon (I've done two before, my first being a year ago this weekend) in my hometown of Rochester, NY in mid-September. I'm hoping with the long, slow build-up that I'll be able to run the entire 26.2 miles with only walk breaks for water stops.

Bill W., awesome times. Have you ever run Boston? That's a wild, hairy goal for me, but considering that my first marathon was a wild hairy goal at the time (I had to roll off the couch to start running) I'm hoping it's possible before I croak. Like you, I don't like half of anything. On the bus back to the hotel I was talking with someone who asked which I preferred and I definitely prefer the full marathon. It's just that much harder and I really got into this to challenge myself. The first half of the marathon only gets you into the real race - the second half, which feels twice as long.

BTW, we already entered into the 2006 Marine Corps Marathon. I am SO looking forward to it.

Bill S., while some ITAC members have apparently been talking about things they shouldn't, I'd rather not. I'll only tell you right now that a decision should be made public rather soon. I am pretty reasonably happy with the decision, so I hope you are as well.

924RACR

Good work, Geo! Thanks to you and all for the tips; I'm hoping to work up to my first half this year - nearly did it last year (Detroit) but got lazy as the time approached. Hope to take it a little more seriously this year, as long as a bent ankle I'm fighting right now from hockey doesn't put me too far behind come spring. Of course, my first concern is whether or not that's going to interfere with my racing season! Gotta take that ITB Championship this year!

Bill L Seifert

Geo, thanks for the info, obviously we will live with any decision. That's one reason I'm building the 944S, and use the 83 944 for PBOC. I'm flexible.

Vaughn, be sure to keep us posted, I would sure love to see a 924 win an ITB championship. Hope it's fast enough that you can go to the ARRC at Road Atlanta, and do well, though that is a long pull for you, but I sure would like to see a Porsche do well in any class.

Bill