We all need encouragement from time to time. As the Pirañas ramp up the training on the way to several long races this fall, the heat and increased load are taking some getting used to. This morning was just an “easy” recovery run of 6 at the lake. We rarely have non-Piraña company at our pre-dawn runs (no one wants to get up that early to be abused!), but this morning we were joined by Mark Bravo, local running legend, television personality, personal trainer and athlete extraordinaire. (Bravo is the one showing off his chiseled abs)

Bravo might just be the most encouraging person we have ever met. He greets everyone with “hello athlete!” and finds some aspect of your current condition and pursuit to praise you for. After a hip replacement in May of 2007, Mark has returned to running and had no trouble pushing the pace with the Pirañas. 6 easy miles turned into 7 pretty fast miles (ok, we always say it will be an easy day, and we always push the pace and run too far. there, we admit it), but we all had a great time.

Thanks for coming out athlete!

Chisholm Dupree is not a Piraña. But maybe he should be. Monday morning at 6:00 AM local time, 8:00 our time, Chisholm started the Badwater 135. This 135 mile foot race across desert terrain, in temps as hot as 130 °F, is well known as one of the toughest races on earth. Chisholm beat the cut-off time of 48 hours, finishing in 43 hours and 21 minutes at 2:33 AM this morning. Chisholm is one of only three Oklahomans to successfully complete Badwater.

Here is the 6:00 AM starting group.
Chisholm is nearest to the camera on the right.

Here is part of Chisholm’s crew.
We recognize Nancy Shidler in the front:

The 6:00 AM starting group is off and running:

Chisholm on the road in the desert:

Again, the Pirañas salute Chisholm Dupree for his great accomplishment. Mav will want to talk to him when he gets back (Mav is thinking about Badwater himself…)

Yesterday and today were the 14th Annual Draper Lake Duathlons. The two day event includes an off-road duathlon on Saturday and an on-road duathlon on Sunday with special awards for those who du both.

Mav is the Race Director for both events and spent the days leading up to it preparing packets and such, then basically lived at Lake Stanley Draper from Friday until the end of the race today.

This was the debut for Sweet Tee in an adult multisport event. He helped Mav all day Friday and the better part of Saturday, then got up this morning and raced the on-road duathlon. The morning dawned to steady heavy rain, but by race time the rain had ceased and cool temps and cloud cover helped to offset the high humidity. Sweet Tee was a tad nervous on this his first adult du! He got his stuff set-up in transition and warmed up a little and then towed the line with about 150 other eager beavers.

When Don Garrett of DG Road Racing fired the gun, the athletes began the first of three times they would climb the hill to get up to the lake road from the Marina. Sweet Tee look relaxed and confident, and he never did throw up!

Sweet Tee finished the first 5K run in 23:22.6, just 9.8 secs behind the leader in his age group (Zack Lavergne):

who happens to be from Little Rock, AR. That is Zack’s dad beside him. Sweet Tee lost about 9 seconds to Zack and Jake Hooper in T1 (0:38.1) and they all went back up the hill on the bike for 14.5 miles around Lake Stanley Draper. Unfortunately, Sweet Tee lost time to both Zack and Jake on the bike and came in third in 51:56.6, almost 4 minutes behind. He lost another 5 seconds in T2 (0:27.7).

Out on the second 5K run:

Sweet Tee ran hard. At the turn he spotted Jake and told him he was going to catch him. He did. In fact, he almost ran Zack down too (25:12.6). During the second run Sweet Tee made up 5:30 on Jake and almost 2 minutes on Zack to finish second in his age group (1:41:37) behind Zack (1:39:49) and in front of Jake (1:43:29):

Congrats to P.I.T. Sweet Tee and Brother Mav. You both did great things this weekend!

They opened the Hefner Dam Road (part of the Lake Hefner Trails) today. We are glad. We don’t really like running up there, but it is nice to have the option again. The Pirañas were in attendance at the ribbon cutting ceremony along with a large group of Landrunners, Tri-OKC athletes, and several bike groups. The Hefner Dam Road is part of the Oklahoma City Trails system, and Hal McKnight (of Wheeler Dealer fame) gave us some good news about funding for upcoming new sections of trail as well as a bridge over the NW Expressway on the Hefner to Overholser Trail.

Here is Mav before they cut the ribbon:

And Mav again (T3 is taking the pictures and Goose is somewhere in the crowd) helping to cut the ribbon:

and the three Piraña Caballeros (from left: Mav, Goose and T3):

After taking this picture, Mav and T3 ran around the lake (about 10 miles) in the mid morning heat and humidity. While they were glad to have run the road on the opening day, and glad for the workout in the heat, they did not enjoy the run much due to the heat and their lack of sleep and preparation.

It is Wednesday. That means 5 @ 5, Happy Hour, trail running, fun. Of course, today it rained. actually it poured. Mav was elated when he called, “It’s raining!” he said. So we got our mud on. Here we are before:

The young man on the right is our newest P.I.T. (Piraña in Training). He is T3’s eldest son and will be 14 in August. He completed the first 5 mile loop with Mav and T3 and did very well. It was his third trail run. During the run we baptized him (in mud) and gave him his Piraña name: Sweet Tea.

This is us after we completed 8 miles. We felt and smelled a lot dirtier than the picture shows!

We are also dripping wet because in addition to the warm temp and very high humidity, it did in fact rain on us for the last three miles or so. Very fun!

Some of the brothers are considering getting some Piraña ink. No firm commitments have been made yet, but there is a lot of talk going around. For those not willing to make the leap of faith (or stupidity) and get something permanently etched into their epidermis we have decided to get some temporary tattoos:

Look for the Pirañas sporting their new tats at a race near you soon. (some of them might be real…)

This is a cool site. Simple idea; a six week training plan that gets you in shape to do one hundred consecutive pushups.

Check it out. Some of the Pirañas are going to take the challenge, so we will keep you posted on our progress.

Why do we run? No clue. Why do we run together? More fun. Why do we run together as Pirañas? WAY MORE FUN!

During an afternoon trail workout sponsored by the OTRA, Piraña brothers Weeble and Mac got in some good running,

along with Mav and Big. During the run it was noticed that in several places on the trail, Mav and Weeble were able to run under things that Mac had to duck to clear. Some good natured ribbing led to this:

Obviously, everyone involved had a good time. The OTRA is hosting “5 at 5″ (5 miles of trails at 5 pm) on Wednesday for the rest of the summer.

The Pirañas are beginning to ramp up their training for a rash of fall races. Currently on the calendar are:

Sep 14: Turkey and Taturs 50K
Tulsa, OK

Oct 11: The Spirit of the Prairie Heartland 50 Mile
Cassoday, KS

Oct 12: The Chicago Marathon
Chicago, IL

Oct 25: The Marine Corps Marathon
Washington, DC

Nov 8-9: The Mother Road 100 (2)
Elk City to El Reno, OK

Nov 16: The Route 66 Marathon
Tulsa, OK

Not all the Pirañas are running all these races, but some of them will run most of them!

Stay tuned for training plans and updates.