Been a while

I have not posted to this blog in a bit, been kind if busy lately. We have been producing events, timing races, and planning for others. I thought I would get started back, by giving a few updates.

Max Performance Triathlon Series- Everything went very well with the series this year. The weather cooperated much better than it did last year. The biggest difference this year was from the closing of a road that had always been part of the bike course. It ended up being a fortunate event, because all the athletes seemed to like the new course much better.

Heart & Sole- The sprint triathlon that takes place in Versailles each April is one of the most beautiful courses we have. Falling Springs Recreation Center was as always a pleasure to deal with.

One Bad Week- We had an open water swim planned at Taylorsville Lake that was to be a training event for the triathlon. We had to cancel the the event due to rain and 40mph winds. We had the first Time Trial planned for the following Wed. Once again rain became an issue. We had a break in the weather and we went ahead with the event for the people that showed. Not a good week for business.

Fort Knox Red Cross Run For The Red- This is the first year we have been involved with this 5 and 10K run. There were about 600 participants and everything went great. The Red Cross and soldiers who helped worked hard and made everything wonderful.

Taylorsville Lake- This race never fails to amaze me. 4 years ago we did this event just for fun with 24 local athletes. The next year we had 47, then 102, and 147 this year. Even though this race keeps growing it has kept a very laid back atmosphere.

That is a few of the things we have had going on. I will try to make entries on a more regular basis in the future.

Louisville's Lovin The Hills

This years Louisville's Lovin' The Hills was an amazing thing. We had tornados a week and a half before the race that littered the course with trees. The staff at Jefferson Memorial Forest did an outstanding job of getting all the trails cleared and ready for us. When we marked the trails a week before the race everything was already passable. The night after the trails we finished being marked we had a snow and ice storm that tore down many of the markings and several trees that had markers on them. Once again everybody involved worked and got everything ready for the race.

At this point I would like to give special thanks to Ed Kirk. Ed ran the race, but is also works on the trails at Jefferson Memorial and lives along the course. He helped with marking the course keeping us updated on conditions and started his own blog for all the participants.

On the morning of the race ice and snow still covered most of the trail as the runners headed out. Latter in the day the ice had all melted and was replaced by mud. I am very happy to report that there were no serious injuries. Lots of scrapes and bruises, but nothing major.

Ryan New won the 15 miler with a time of 2:10:15.38. Jared Bierbaum and Chad Waggoner were second and third. In the womens race Andrea Doogs won in 2:31:11.63. Suzan Ribenboim was second and Emilie Pradera third.

The 50K was won by Russ Goodman in 5:06:12.82. Second was Tim Barnes and third was Troy Shellhamer.

In the women's 50K Ellen Erhardt finished in 5:18:04.96. A time that made her not only the first female, but the third finisher overall. Kara Shellhamer was second with Tanya Cady third.

Obviously if we had a team competition the Team Shellhamer would have won.

Amazingly we had only 2 DNFs. That is increidible considering the difficulty of the course and the sloppy conditions.

Thanks to Cherokee Road Runners for letting us put on this event for them.

The Trail store was the main sponsor and provided the Buffs for everyone. They also provided the really cool framed topographical maps for the winners.

Hammer Nutrition supplied the Heed and Hammer Gel at all the aid stations.

Remember the sponsors make these events possible. Support them so these events will continue.

Cynthia was the brains behind this entire adventure and spent months preparing for it. She did everything right down to making all the soups with her own two little hands. She deserves a lot of credit for bringing it all together with the all the conditions of the last few weeks.

Max Performance Race #1

Well the 2008 triathlon season in Kentucky is underway. We had a geat race yesterday. The weather was outstanding as were the participants and competition. I hope everyone had a great time. We had 40 more participants this year than last.

I will be posting photos in the next day. Hopefully I can get a video together in the next few days also.

Thanks to Max Performance Physical Therapy for sponsoring the race and making it possible. Thanks to Shelby County Parks for allowing us to use their facilities.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from Headfirst Performance Services.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season and is ready to get back to training and racing. We look forward to seeing everyone at the races this year.

We have several things going on this year as well as some exciting changes to our current events. I will be updating information on these items as details become available.

One thing I am working on is getting some videos online. These will include such things as course tours and race videos. Other things may include rules and helpful information. The first ones may be a bit rough, as I have no idea what I am doing an am a slow learner. If anyone has any ideas for topics let me know.

Headfirst is always looking for ways to improve our events and are always open to suggestions. The main way we have to add improvements to our events is to increase sponsorship. If any one is interested in learning more about available opportunities of have any suggestions please contact us.

See you at the races.

Otter Creek

The 2007 version of The Otter Creek Trail Runs were alot of fun. A few athletes had way to much fun a the pasta dinner. Fun that hungover into the race.

We had a cabin that slept 30 people and dining facilities for the dinner. Cynthia had made her homemade pasta sauces for the evening. It seemed that almost everyone who walked in was carrying some type of adult beverage. All of this made for a night of good friends, good drink and some of the best prerace food you will ever eat. We had a few more show up to stay the night in the cabin than expected so Cynthia and I ended up sleeping on the floor in the nature center. Let this show what I will go through for you athletes. I camp quite a bit, but never in places where I know there a poisionous snakes just a few feet away.

On race morning everything was looking good. There was a slight drizzle, but it was very warm for December. Great running weather if you don't mind the mud. We did have the threat of more serious rain latter in the day. I thought this might hinder day of registration, but it seems I put to much faith in the sanity of runners (I should know better by now). Around 60 people signed up that morning. So we started with around 250.

The course is an 8 mile loop. As far as trail runs go this loop is not too bad. Most of it is very runnable. The views are breathtaking in several areas along Otter Creek and The Ohio River. The mud had made the course much more challenging. Take a moderate hill add wet leaves and mud and things get interesting. Everything I said about the course not being too bad does not apply to the first 2.something miles the marathoners have to run. This small loop sucks on a good day. The best part of the course may be the aid station at the Blue Hole. This station is stocked with all the normal fare plus homemade cookies and other treats. Staffed by my parents Mary Janet and Jim Heady many athletes find themselves loosing time eating and socializing. Most find it is time well spent.

The race got started on time or there abouts anyway. The 16 milers started and the marathoners went their own way. The 8 milers started 10 minutes later.

The winner of the 8 miler came through in less than an hour. Jason Crosby and Tracy Lightfoot were the male and female winners. Each received a certificate for a free pair of shoes provided by Ken Combs Running Store. Winners of the 16 mile and marathlon also received free shoes as did the last runner of the day.

The 16 miler was won by Mark Morgan and Erin Harper. For the complete results check back on the website.

Things started getting fun for the marathon. Dave Arnold was the winner. After spending most of the day locked in battle with eventual second place runner Tim Barnes, Dave finished in 3:44:16 a great time for a muddy trail run. Mary Siegel was the first female. The drizzle we had started the race with kept up until about the time the fourth place finnisher crossed the line. Then it all cut loose thunder and lightning with sheets of rain. The trails quickly became creeks with spots in them in some places knee deep. That fourth place finisher happened to be Larry Holt the owner of Ken Combs Running Store, who makes this race a possibility. Things do work out well like that somedays. The photo above taken by Brian Keller shows one of the hazzards added due to the rain. Some say this photos was doctored. I was not present when it was taken and can therefore make no assumptions.

After the race all athletes were treated to an increadible meal. Homemade soups of all kinds. Chilli, bean, tomato, and red lentill. There were also homade muffins as well as cheese, peanut butter and all the usuall fruits etc. Cynthia spends weeks leading up to the race in the kitchen making the food for the weekend with her own little hands. The food itself makes this race worth the entry fee.

I would like to express how impressed with the runners I was this year. In running the trail removing all the markers and signs I found almost no trash. Each year I find myself upset with you guys the day after the race for being so inconsiderate of the trail. That was not the case this year. I was very pleased. Thank you very much. The one of you that trashed the drink containers out there please clean up your act or stick to the roads.

Since the race on Sunday we have gotten many emails praising us for a great race. We do appreciate it. Even though we do take special pride in this race and tend to go a little overboard with the food etc we are still basically just doing our jobs as race dierctors. There are others who should be given way more credit. Larry Holt and Ken Combs Running Store which I have mentioned. Larry gave the shoes to the winners as well as all the socks each marathoner received. With out this support we would have to cut corners in other areas and the race would not be the same.

Jack West and the staff at Otter Creek Park provide us with a great location and wonderful hospitality. Jack is around from the dinner of Saturday evening till clean up is over on Sunday night. He even came in on Monday, his day off, to help finish the clean up.

Hammer Nutrition is with Headfirst Performance at all of our events and we could not do it without them. They provided the gels and heed.

These are the people that support you. Please retun the favor. Purchase from them whenever possible and don't feel shy about dropping them a note to say thanks.

We also had great volunteers. My Parents, who I have already mentioned ran the aid staion. Bobby Carey and Chase Wininger were out on the course helping with traffic and keeping the aid stations stocked. Grant Wininger took photos out on the course. Brenda Gutmann handled parking before she ran herself. Stacy Jensen and Thomas Watts helped with registration and getting all the food out for the finishers, and Kim Rauen who did everything all weekend.

My special thanks to Cynthia. She takes a special pride in this event and it shows in the event that everyone sees as well as the weeks of preperation leading up to that point.

Back To The Story

We show up at the transition area on Saturday morning to get everything set up. This is when real doubts start creeping into my mind. It seems that most of the other athletes had crews of several people and well stocked tables full of everything you could think of for a race. My crew consisted of my wife and a small cooler. For you that know Cynthia, you know at least I had a crew with as much energy as 3 normal people.

We drove up the river to the start. The roads were very narrow. Remember the big truck we were driving, Cynthia decided that she did not think she could drive back to the transition area. I had to inform her that she was on her own for that. I had to concentrate on the little 281.2 miles before me.

The race started with each athlete asigned their own Kayak to crew for them in the swim. The river was very intimidating. I had swam in rivers around bardges, but here there were actual cruise ships. We swam near an oil tanker that was docked. Although I was not all that close to it I remember not being able to see the top of the ship when I turned my head to breath. The current in the river was kind of crazy. I would be making good time and then I would be swimming in the same place for a time. All in all it was a good swim and I came out of the water in second place by about 10 minutes.

When I exited the water I could hardley walk. It took a few minutes to get my legs back under me. Happily, I saw that Cynthia had survived the drive back to the transition area, and had even found a double cheeseburger for me on the trip. I ate the burger drank something and mounted up for the ride.

The bike was what I had been waiting for. Things were going just as planned. I took the lead after a few hours. I was riding well. There were only 2 people on the course riding faster. The first was a member of a relay team. I do not know his name, but this guy was a freak. It seemed like every time I looked he was lapping me again. I was certainly glad he was not doing the entire thing. The other person who was riding faster in the begining was a guy from England, Arthur Puckrin. While it is not unusual for someone to be riding faster than I Arthur was 65 years old at the time. He is now 69 and has not slowed down much at all.

As the ride progressed I had a few questions. The first one being if I have to get off my bike every so often to go to the bathroom, why is nobody else getting off their bikes? As gross as the answer to that is, it really does save time. The second question was, why am I doing this again? I had not done much night riding so things got a little interesting after the sun went down. I had no real problems, but I kept hitting the same pot hole every lap. I increased the lead I had pretty well. I think as I mentioned that doing well on the bike was unexpected on me. By the time people realized I was a threat the lead was already fairly wide.

When I dismounted the bike I was ready to go. Running well along a beautiful river, and in the lead as a bonus. Life was good. Well it was good for a while. About half way through things started sucking really bad, but I just kept moving forward. The memerable things about the run were the people. A Swiss doctor, Beat, was doing the race. Cynthia ran portions of the race with me. Each time we would see Beat she would offer words of encouragement. His response was always the same "hi". We just assumed he did not know english. This went on over and over us cheering and Beat saying hi. With just a few hours left in the race we once again see Beat and offer words of encouragement. As a change of pace he responded is good english "my ass hole hurts". That may not seem real funny now, but at the time I almost fell over. Since that race I have learned that Beat not only speaks 6 languages well, he never is a lack for something to say in any of them. The next memorable thing was a girl for Puerto Rico. She was sponsored by Hawian Tropic. I only had a few more miles to go when she told me it looked like we would get to split the prize money as the winning male and female athlete. The great thing about that was that until that very moment I did not know there was any prize money. In the end I walked away with $750 Canadian. Not enough to cover the trip, but every little bit helps. A single iron was also put on during the weekend. We had met the person who ended up winning. With just 4 miles left to go he showed up to cheer me in to the finish. He brought his wife and dog with him. I stopped to say hi and to pet the dog. I finished the race in 24 hours and 7 seconds. I tell people I would have gone under 24 if not for that dog.

It was a great experience. All the local media were at the finish line. It is never a real good idea for me to speak to people after 24 hours of exercise with no sleep. At my best I don't look good or speak well. The best quote in the paper the next day was when I was asked what I was going to do next and I said I was not sure, but it would involve a steak and a beer.

I came home with a title, Champion of the Americas, many great memories and most importantly many new friends from around the world.

We interupt this story

We will finish the ultra story on Wed. There was an interesting happening today. USAT is thinking about changing the age group rule. They went to the current procedure of determining the age of the athlete on December 31 a few years ago. They are considering changing the rule back to determining the age by the actual age on race day.

Being on the Mideast region board I was asked about this. I gave my opinion, but I would like to have some feedback from the athletes. If anyone has any input let me know.

Remember that it is you the average athlete that pays the bills at USAT. If you have any ideas, problems, etc. Let your representative know. If you happen to live in Kentucky that would be me