Sudbury Rocks Half Marathon Race Report

So first of all here are the main stat of the race. Temperature was 2 Celsius and windy with snow starting in the last 5km when we were running into a headwind.

Time: 115:42 | 16.8km in 58:50

Max HR: 176, Avg HR: 171

So the day before the race I followed my normal pre-race routine. For a running race this consists of a 30 minute run in the morning followed by a 15 minute run later with a series of drills and strides. I felt really good saturday and was flying during the strides which gave me some good confidence. For lunch I had quinoi and corn, about 600 calories worth along with a gatorade G2. Then for diner I enjoyed a simple pasta.

The day of the race I woke up at 4:45 for a 7:55 race start and ate a bagel with peanut butter and jam along with  a banana. I then sipped on a G2 until the race start. 20 min prior to race start I had a powergel. Race morning I felt good until I looked outside and saw the conditions. It was 1 Celsius, raining and windy. However I decided that everyone had to deal with the same conditions so I had to manage them the best that I could. Therefore I dressed well for warmup although I messed up with what I wore for the actual race where I went with a singlet, arm warmers, running shorts and compression socks. BAD idea! As you will see later this caused me some major issues.

Sudbury Rocks Startline

So the race started off well. There was a pack of 4 of us and I sat in front but allowed one of the others to set the pace. I was sitting behind but I couldn’t handle it there as due to the wet roads I kept getting my feet soaked. I stayed nice in control until about 13 km when I began to get some fatigue in my legs but I was still feeling really good. It was at the 16km mark where I went from feeling good to being dead. This may have been from 2 factors, fatigue and the cold. I wore shorts when tights would have likely been a better idea as I could feel my quads and knees cramping up. I could feel my knees cramping up along with my quads both cramping up. From 17-20km the wind and snow made me feel like I wasn’t moving. It almost felt like I was simply driving my knees and arms to move forwards. The other 2 runners felt the same and they simply handled it better and were able to make a surge to drop me. I tried to make up the gap over the last 2km but just could not make it up. However I am really pleased with how I handled this race, I ran it smart and just missed the surge but I feel in different conditions I could of held in.

 

Finishing the race – snow stopped at this point but you can see pain on my face

I finished the race and instantly froze. I got a blanket from EMS a couple of hot packs and then ran into the sauna to warm up. This is the most unpleasant I have other felt after I finished but it definetely taught me a good lesson. DRESS TO THE CONDITIONS.

I then recovered with First Endurance Ultragen to get myself ready for the next workout.

Also, id like to congratulate everyone who finished the races as those were some interesting conditions and you had to love running to compete in them. Also Sudbury Rocks is an incredibly well run race with great volunteer support. It may not be the easiest sport but it is definitely one of the best run races in Canada.

Award picture

Thanks, Devin Wittig

Now prepping for woodstock on may 26th!

U23 World Championships and Paper Write up

Thanks Timmins Daily Press for the write up, looks good.

http://www.timminspress.com/2013/04/23/wittig-runs-personal-bests-prepping-for-worlds

Devin Wittig placed third in his 20-24 age group competing this weekend in the Toronto Yonge Street 10K running race

TIMMINS - A Timmins triathlete achieved a personal best competing in a 10-kilometre running race in Toronto this past weekend.

Devin Wittig finished with a personal best of 32:19, placing him 20th overall and third within his 20-24 age group. He was only 20 seconds behind second place in his age group.

His first five kilometres was also completed in personal record time.

Wittig was competing in the Toronto Yonge Street 10K – Canada Running Series Road Race.

More than 7,000 athletes participated in the event which opened with a sombre start. There was a moment of silence in honour of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.

Wittig has been training with the Northern Ontario Triathlon Squad in Sudbury.

Training this winter in and around Northern Ontario has posed a challenge, but challenges are something Wittig knows well.

Moving into an “elite” status requires years of training, dedication and perseverance. The Timmins native has been preparing himself mentally and physically for a couple of upcoming world class events which Wittig has qualified for this year.

One is the World Duathlon Championships being held this August in Ottawa.

That race features a course that combines running, then biking, then running again to the finish line.

Wittig has also qualified for the World Triathlon Championships being held London, England in September.

That race combines swimming, biking and then running.

Wittig will be at that event representing home community of Timmins as well as his native country Canada.

 

Yonge Street 10km – 32:19

So this past weekend I ran the Yonge Street 10km using it as a test of where my fitness was at in the longer distances. I entered with the mindset that I was going to really race this event and not worry about time. I really wanted to see what I could do against a world class field and this was the perfect test.

One thing that I did different for this race was to make my own dinner for the night before and bring it with me. It consisted of quinoi,chicken and peppers. Very plain but gets me what I need in the correct portions. The way I see it is if you train like you race then you should eat prior to a race the same way to eat prior to training. This for some people may cause them to look at what they eat for training and bring it closer to what they eat prior to racing.

So that morning I woke up 3.5 hours prior to start, had a bagel with peanut butter and honey and a granola bar and then rolled on my trigger point foam roller for 10 minutes. I then simply put my feet up and relaxed until 7:30 when my dad drove me to the race start. Once there, I went to Starbucks and relaxed until 50 min prior to the start when I began my warmup. This is usually where I get nervous before races and overdo my warmup due to the excitement. However, I’m beginning to trust in my fitness enough that I can relax during warmup, let my legs come along and know that I will be ready to race. To be honest it’s a nice feeling and one I would like to continue building on.

After a 20 min jog, I put on my racing flats stripped down to shorts and a long sleeve and proceeded to go through a series of drills and strides to loosen up. One thing I really struggled with in this race is the fact that I had to stand on the start line for 5-10 minutes in chilly weather while the runners with elite certification were able to do strides. Somewhat frustrating considering I was right in the thick of things. Anyway, I was able to keep my head focused and managed to start off nice and strong. It was interesting to see 500m in that I was besides Eric Gillis. I did however drop back into my own pace at this point as I could feel that I was at 5km pace.

So for the actual race I was very please especially considering there was a big headwind and I have very little 10km training due to the work I’ve been doing on the treadmill. Ive done very little road running which may have contributed to the fact that I really began to feel the pounding in my quads.  Through 5 km I felt really good and was actually throwing in surges throughout to try and disrupt the group of people that I was with. However on the downhills I was getting time put into me with every strides. Also, I began to overstrike and added extra pressure to my quads. It was at 6km where I began to feel the pain. From 6-10km I put my head down, pumped my arms and focused on turnover. I did slow down but actually managed a descent turnover.

Crossing the finish in 32:19 I was quite pumped with my 20th overall finish and 3rd for 20-24.

Above is a picture where I accept my bronze age group medal in my new Sketcher Go Bionic. The finish of the race is well organized and I would like to congratulate the event on their classy moment of silence for the Boston Marathon Tragedy. All in all I’m very pleased with this event and excited for the season to continue.

max HR 184
AVG HR 179

5km 1542

Splits per km

300
- 500m besides gillis (kinda cool)
305
314
304
315
312

ENTER THE PAIN ROOM

326
313
323
318

Dutch Oven

Reblogged from FLOAT ON:

• 

A big fat DNF for Rotterdam.  My first DNF in a marathon and my second DNF ever. Both DNF's have come a few days after being quite sick. Sick to the point where a few days out I didn't think there would be any chance of racing and then convincing myself the day before the race that I was 'good enough.'

Read more… 639 more words

New Attitude – Not all About Yourself

First of all, I want to apologize to all of those people I have brought down from a high after a race. I understand how it feels to have somebody downgrade your achievement and it is not right. No matter how others do, and how yourself do it is never ok to make someone feel bad to make yourself feel better. What should be done instead is to congratulate the individual who beat you, and if you have feelings keep them to yourself or your inner circle. It is always important to remain professional and not doing so is a mistake I will never make again.

In conclusion, I will remain professional in all training and racing sessions. I will not make others feel bad to make myself feel better and if I win I will accept the honour gracefully.

To all those whose days I downgraded. SORRY

Devin Wittig

New Race Suit

Thank you to all my sponsors. Without you this dream would be impossible!

YMCA Indoor Triathlon

This past Friday was the YMCA indoor Strong Kids Triathlon raising money for Strong Kids and organized by my coach Buddy Green.

I went in with a hard swim in my arms in the morning and actually felt quite good after warming up.

This warm-up consisted of 30 min bike, 15 min run and 10 minute swim.

In the swim I went out hard and really began to feel fatigue in my lats and quads. However I managed to bring it in decently even though I went out way too hard.

SWIM: 1134

Then onto the bike I decided to hammer and really managed to carry it through. Marbe if I had drank a little bit more it would have been better. Some electrolyte powder may help.

BIKE: 29:51

Then the run was the portion that I really cared about. I havnt done any brick workouts in a while and was quite nervous on how I was going to handle this. However it went great, I stayed really focused and hammered out a 10 second 5km pb!

16:07

Total time for a sprint would have been about 59:30!

Pumped for the season