Observations of UltraBrad

Yowza...30??!!! Really? In one year???

2012-01-28T05:00:00.000-08:00

Scott and Liz have begun an ambitious, adventure of the grandest scale.

I've known Scott since March 2002...wow, going on 10 years. Great runner, great guy. I'm very excited to follow their progress this year and am rooting for them!

30 100-mile races in 1 year. Impressive!

MackFest 5k/10k Course Preview: Race Date June 1, 2012

2012-01-27T04:00:00.000-08:00

This was another one of my side gigs - measuring and certifying the courses for the MackFest 5k and 10k races that are scheduled for June 1st (that's right, Friday night) in Burlington. They moved the races to a Friday night this year in order to have a band, (possible) fireworks, and cooler temps. The race is hosted by the City of Burlington and starts and finishes at Lake Mackintosh, just southwest of the City.

This is a rural course, mostly on two-lane roads. Both courses start on Huffman Mill Road and are slightly up-hill for the first half mile, then flatten out to the 1 Mile mark, after a left turn on Beaver Creek Road. The 5k turns around just after the right turn onto Beaver Hills Road, while the 10k continues into the Beaver Hills neighborhood, running all the way to the back before turning around. There are some beautiful homes in this neighborhood! The 10k then turns right onto Beaver Creek, going downhill to a bridge and about 200 meters up the other side before the final turnaround. From there, it's uphill back to Huffman Mill Road, then a nice flat-downhill back to the Marina. Once inside, the last quarter mile has a good downhill, then a final steep uphill (30 meters or so) before the last flat 100 meters to the finish.

They'll have plenty of refreshments and a band for a nice Friday evening for the family. On The Mark Sports will be timing the event and will have a link to the race in the next month or so. I'll update this with a link to registration when available.

All over the place

2012-01-26T04:00:00.000-08:00

I'm going to try to do a better job of writing more regularly about random topics of interest (to me). This act will help me document some of my ideas for future reference and maybe, if anyone reads this, will help flesh out some of the idea "skeletons".

Today's idea is bike touring. I haven't done a long bike ride since 2009 when I did my version of the Boogie Ironman, or Boogieman to avoid any trademark similarities and such (think "Eat More Kale"). Anyway, all of my long rides have been one day adventures: once to Greensboro, a couple times to the beach, twice to the Boogie, and once up to my sister's wedding (though it wasn't that long, at 65 miles, it was LONG for my fitness level at the time.)

My idea is a 3 day adventure taking me from Raleigh to Greensboro, Greensboro to Marion, and finally, Marion to Canton, and tie it in with a visit to Andrea's "where she's from". Probably a summer, Thursday-Saturday and riding back on Sunday or Monday in the car.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Wanna come?

Running the Vines 10k

2012-01-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

One of the things I do to earn a little side income is to measure running courses for USAT&F certification. It's a pretty sweet gig...getting paid a little to ride my bike and do math. I even ride around with a calculator...scary. Anyway, this past weekend, I measured a 10k for Shelton Vineyards in Dobson, NC. It's a rural course, 2 lane roads, point to point, that ends at the Amphitheater at the Vineyard. It's not a super fast course, as there are some hills, but on May 12th, it will be incredibly green and scenic.

If I weren't timing a race on that morning, I'd be there and would probably stay around for a tour of the winery and an evening concert. Would make a nice getaway. Link to the active.com registration is here:

http://www.active.com/running/dobson-nc/shelton-vineyards-running-the-vines-10k-2012?int=29-6

A course map is also available online.

In an effort

2012-01-24T18:23:00.000-08:00

to be a little more frugal this year, or at least cut out some unnecessary expenses, I've made an effort to cut down how frequently I buy coffee "out". Until today, the 24th day of the month, I've only bought one cup, and that was a celebratory cup for a buddy going to work overseas (at an undisclosed location).

However, my knee hurts, so my lunch-time runs are temporarily out. But, today was a beautiful day, so I decided to go for a walk and ended up walking to Starbucks, about a mile away. Very seldom do I actually walk anywhere (mostly because it's so slow compared to running). It was very enjoyable! I had a nice 30 minute stroll, got some sun, and a good mug (because I took my own) of coffee for the afternoon.

Silver linings...

Use it or lose it...

2012-01-24T08:57:00.000-08:00

...is a very important concept when it comes to athletic training. I did 10,000+ pull-ups last year, working up to a max set of 21. I've slacked off since I hit my goal in early December and last night I struggled to do a set of 10. I've got work to do...

43

2012-01-23T06:48:00.000-08:00

Not so much the number of licks to get to the center of a tootsie pop, but rather, the number of consecutive days I can apparently run before getting hurt. Ok, 41 is the real answer. On day 42 my knee started barking when I was rolling around on my bike. I ran (or limped) 6 miles. On day 43, I jogged a mile and a half, painfully and decided the streak was over. I did not bring running clothes to work today. I'm not running. I don't enjoy running with pain. It's not worth it.

With a 40 mile race in 2 weeks I might be freaking out, but there's not really anything I can do about it. So, I'm just resting. Hopefully the knee issue will clear up in a few days and I can get back to jogging. I might just have to revise my ambition, I don't have the patience for this stuff.

Looks like I'm hitting the weights tonight!

Numbers

2012-01-10T06:29:00.000-08:00

Running is such a simple sport. That's, perhaps, the reason I love it so much. It's just running. By simply putting one foot in front of the other (then repeating, alternating which one goes in front) one can cover vast distances. So, someone says they ran 21 miles today. 21. There's so much more to the story than that. 21 miles takes time, first of all. That person had to make it a priority to find 3 hours of his day to devote to running. Then, there's the effort. It takes a pretty good amount of physical effort (even if it was a slower run) to cover 21 miles on foot. I might run 12 miles today. But after the first 5 mile run, the second, a 7 miler, might not see so abstractly easy. Sure, it's 7 miles. But by then, I'll be a little more tired, perhaps a little sore or stiff (getting older these days, after all).

Meh, there's not much point to this. I ran out of coffee to drink today well before getting sufficiently caffeinated. Not sure the the best way to convey what I'm thinking about, but the point is, mileage is just a number. But there's so much more behind the number.

Tags: Pointless

5k/wk/u-20

2012-01-03T06:05:00.000-08:00

One of my goals for the year is to be more consistent with speed work. Instead of making it a vague goal, I've put detail to it by committing to run a 5k each week of the year (that's 52 of them) in less than 20 minutes. My PR is 18:21 from a couple years ago, so while it's not particularly earth shattering, it's a good effort for me, not something I can just jog through. I'm hoping to get a little faster each month to set a new PR by December. Most of the runs will be on the track local to my house at West Millbrook Middle School, though a few of them will be actual races (on certified courses).

5k/wk
Week 1: 19:27
Week 2: 19:28 (harder effort, due to mileage of last week)
Week 3: 19:01 (good run, hard effort, but felt strong, didn't realize I was on this pace)

10,000 and beyond

2011-12-12T07:52:00.000-08:00

My one goal for this year: do 10,000 pull-ups - was completed on the first of this month.

It has illustrated to me that working consistently towards a goal can yield physical improvements.

Now, for a goal for 2012...

I go back and forth...bike to work XXX times, run X,XXX miles, lift xxxxx, run a sub X:XX marathon...

Though I would like to do all four, they work against each other, to some extent. I can't run a fast marathon if I bike xxx days to work. I won't have the energy to run the required amount. Similarly, if I lift a lot, I won't have the energy to run a few thousand miles. If I run a few thousand miles, I won't have the time or energy to do much of anything else more that half-heartedly, and at an amount that won't be worth anything.

So, for 2012, I'm going to focus on

1. Bike commute more
2. Run a sub 20 min 5k each week
3. Do sit-ups every day
4. Pay off $10,000 of mortgage principle
5. Run more and aim for 3000 miles.

9490

2011-11-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

Only 510 pull-ups to do to meet my goal for the year. I'm going to do one big push and get them knocked out this week.

I've also got an idea for a big goal for next year. Building on the consistency of doing pull-ups weekly in order to do 10,000 for the year, I'm thinking about running a sub-20:00 5k each and every week of 2012. Ambitious, but will demand consistency that I need in order to improve my speed throughout the year.

Marine Capt. Eric D. Terhune, KIA June 19, 2008

2011-11-08T06:12:00.000-08:00

On June 19th, 2008, God needed a boost to his Heavenly Security Forces and called up Marine Captain Eric Terhune for eternal duty...no, that won't do....

I've come up with a dozen or more lines to write to share the nearly 3 and a half year old news that a buddy of mine died while fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. None of them work when I see them in black and white. Terhune was a real Marine. Our lives crossed paths at Officer Candidate School in the summer of 2000 in Quantico, Virginia. He was an enlisted marine at the time, most of the rest of us were college juniors. He was real. He slept in the bunk above the one next to me for ten weeks. He was strong as an ox and used to amaze us with his handstand push-ups. Not like some stupid cross-fit shit with back and feet up against a wall, but real, up on his hands, arms extended, in the middle of the barracks, legs providing all the balance he needed, rep after rep. He was a scout sniper. He had his SSN tattooed on his torso. We got to know each other as well as guys can when they're constantly sleep deprived.

Andrea is running the Soldier Half Marathon on Saturday in Columbus, Georgia and advised that they had an option to run for a fallen hero. I was curious about it and followed the link here:
http://www.militarytimes.com/valor/. At the moment, I could only recall a few names from 11 years ago. Terhune was the third one I typed in. Sutter - no results returned. Sibley - no results returned. Terhune - his picture and obituary. Shock. Sadness. I really didn't think that it would be him. Proof that the enemy doesn't care about the quality person they take out. Don't get me wrong, I know war is bad. I'm not naive enough to glorify it, regardless of the reason for it. I'm also not naive enough to think that this hits me nearly as hard as his family and friends, more recent and intimate than 11 years ago. All the same, it brings a face and name to the conflicts our Country is engaged in across the world, for reasons unapparent to many, including myself. So, on Saturday, Eric D. Terhune, Captain, USMC, will be represented in the Soldier Half Marathon.

Finn asked me who he was. It took me a couple minutes to compose myself before I was able to respond..."He was a Marine who died two weeks before you were born."

Later last night, I got out my papers from OCS and typed in the names of every other candidate from my Platoon. He was the only one who showed up. At 34 years old, he was a Marine for almost half of his life. And, quite frankly, died doing what he loved doing...being a Marine, wearing the flag of the United States of America.

The next time I'm in Lexington, KY, I'm going to make the short drive to Nicholasville to the Camp Nelson National Cemetery, Section S, Site 516, to pay my respects. And maybe, by then, I'll be able to knock out some hand stand push-ups for his entertainment.

Inexpensive Dinners this week

2011-09-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

We've had a pretty tight food budget this year as we've revised (and actually developed) our budget. I made three budget friendly dinners this week, so I present about what I made, not recipes (because I don't really remember exactly what I did...I'm good like that.)

Tuesday night, I made Spaghetti-spaghetti squash. I used a large spag. squash ($2.31), 12 oz. whole wheat thin spag ($1.45), a 24-oz can of sauce ($.99), and some spices. It fed our family of three (toothed-eaters) with extras for lunch or another night for $4.75.

Wednesday night, I cooked a crock-pot chicken with carrots and potatoes and served it with steamed spinach. Whole chicken was $5.31, carrots and potatoes cost maybe $1.00 for what I used and the spinach was about $2.00 for the amount I used. So, this dinner cost $8.31 for our family, but we had lots of chicken left over as well as four cups of carrots/potatoes left too. In addition, I used the bones, etc and made chicken broth for...

Thursday night, I made crock-pot split pea soup using chicken broth I made the night before, a pound of dried split peas ($1.09), garlic, two cups of left over carrots/potatoes, some hot sauce, 8 oz dried barley ($.49), and some shredded cheese ($1.00). We invited my parents over and I made some grilled cheese sandwiches as well, call it $2.50 for these and so for the dinner for five, it cost $5.08 and there's enough left over for one more meal. I did pick up a six pack of Big Boss Pumpkin Spiced Ale to go with it though, but I'm not counting that in the cost of the meal.

Tonight will be left-overs, as they are, or I may make quesadillas, using left over chicken.

Eating healthy on a budget is possible, I guess that's the takeaway...

Get busy

2011-09-12T07:14:00.000-07:00

"Get busy living or get busy dying."

-Shawshank Redemption

Embrace it, live it.

Life Energy

2011-09-12T05:45:00.000-07:00

Finished reading "Your money or your life" last week and it got me thinking. (Note: it's a worthwhile read but some of the details seemed a bit tedious for my detail impared mental capacity.)

Anyway, one of the exercises discusses evaluating money and the amount of life energy (we only have a limited amount of time on earth) required to get it. I've realized, yet again, that similarly, we only have a certain amount of life energy for which to budget during our daily/weekly/monthly lives. For example, a month only has 720 hours in it. Of those, we spend, give or take, 240 hours sleeping. Of the remaining 480 hours in a month, nearly 200 are spent working (or getting to/from work, getting ready for work, or taking lunch at work). So, that leaves about 280 hours, per month, for everything else (cooking, eating, cleaning, relaxing, family time, taking care of kids, errands, etc). Add in a part-time weekend job, and daily, non-allocated time drops to a couple hours a day, tops.

It's a bit sobering to look at just the time constraint on our lives. The next ingredient to add in is actual energy required to do all these things and then some, especially if "and then some" includes training for and competing in athletic competitions.

It then becomes imperative, with the small window of time and energy available, to focus our life energy on only a few things, in order to get some return on our investment. The key is to determine what "things" to focus on and which to say "farewell". That's my dilemma now. I want to be so many things, to do many things well, but the older I get, the more I realize how impractical that is, and how some of my things compete against each other for life energy.

I don't mean for life energy to be some quasi mystical idea. It's actual a very real concept...think about it. It takes both life and energy to do things, it's just a matter of how much. I guess the exercise that should now follow this realization is to go through my life and determine which things rob life energy from those things that I want to spend it more on. (Example: most endurance training I do requires time away from my family, but if I want to spend more time with my family, I need to cut back the amount of time I spend away. Obvious, you say, but it does require a major resetting of goals and ambitions and decisions on where to spend the limited amount of time and energy we have. The same scenario can be said about work, spending time with friends, or any other of a host of habits we have.)

This post, I guess, is then a prelude to some self-examination and prioritizing of activities that consume life energy. I would imagine, then, that at the end of the exercise, there are some things I put away for a while, until a time in which I have more free time???

2012 goal

2011-09-08T04:56:00.000-07:00

My #1 goal for 2012 is to bench press my marathon time.

I'd be happy to meet this goal with a 2:59- marathon and a +259# bench press, but in reality, I'd love to go sub 3:00 in the marathon and over 300# in the bench. The two have to be done in the same weekend to count.

Good thing that I have 15+ months to get there...

Sustainable Change 2012

2011-08-16T09:25:00.000-07:00

Link here: Sustainable Change 2012

Though I've adopted a policy that places a 24 hour waiting period on outwardly discussing thoughts and ideas I get while running, I've decided it doesn't apply to walking. And, I went for a walk at lunch today (mostly because I dropped my car off for an inspection and was told it would be "a while".)

I got to thinking, for whatever reason, about my 30 day challenges and that I need some new ideas. (So, if you've got a suggestion, anything but yoga, I'll think about trying it out for 30 days. Email me or comment.)

Anyway, I was thinking about how most people (if they're anything like me) have things about themselves they would change if only they had the right motivation. This led to a thought about a collaborative effort throughout the year 2012 to actually make changes that will lead us one step closer to the person we want to be. The idea is to commit to make one small change in January. Then in February, make one more (while continuing the first), so that by the end of the year, you've made 12 small, SUSTAINABLE, changes. 12 small yet distinct steps to getting out of the rut we commonly find ourselves in. 12 small steps, I've decided, equal one BIG step towards becoming more of the person we want to become.

I think I want the idea to gain traction (keep in mind that I want the idea of biking to work to gain traction, too, so I might be wanting too much), and was thinking of getting shirts made up with the "Sustainable Change 2012" slogan on them.

It's just a coincidence that 2012 is an election year, but together, as individuals, we can make more of a change in 2012 than all of the political offices throughout the country ever could. Imagine if this idea took off. What impact could we make if we all became healthier next year? What if we became closer to God? What if we got out of debt? Showed compassion? Forgiveness? What if we were more responsible as adults, family, society? That's some potential for change that does not come from a ballot. That comes from us.

If you're in, please let me know. Email (bdsmythe78 at yahoo) or comment and I'll keep you posted as this gets started in November and December ready for January 1st.

Update

2011-08-12T05:29:00.000-07:00

Lots going on in life these days, time flies by.

The last event I'm putting on this year was last weekend. The Bad Idea 40 Mile FA was run in horrible weather...but it could have been different/worse. It started raining as soon as we started running, around 4:09 a.m. Thunder and lightning were constant companions throughout the pre-dawn darkness. Waded (or swam?) through a chest deep, 200' long tunnel. NOT A GOOD IDEA! Kind of really stupid, actually. At least there were five of us guys together, with at least three of us having some sort of triathlon/swimming experience.

I've biked to work six out of 10 days so far this month. One thing I've been keenly aware of is the changing of seasons. It was once bright and sunny out at 6 a.m. No longer. There's a bit of coolness to the air as I roll out of the driveway...and I love it. It won't be long before winter is here. In fact, there are a few spots on the greenway where freshly fallen leaves litter the trail. It gives me hope to know that there will be a fall at the end of this typical summer heat and humidity.

Liam rolls over another month tomorrow...that will make 8. He's no longer an immobile lump. He wiggles, rolls, crawls and will be walking and running before too long. Time is one force that constantly marches forward.

It's good and important to take time, every so often, to reset priorities and get things back in line. I'm re-reading The Purpose Driven Life. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. 40 days (or nights) of 5-10 minute readings that actually mean something...a BIG something.

No real big running plans for the year, I think I'm pacing a marathon and running a 50k, but am hoping to get in some training and run a "fast" marathon in January.

July results/August goals

2011-08-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

July was not a very good month as far as my goals went. Of my five goals, I fully met one of them. I took a fish oil supplement every day.

July goals:

1. Bike commute each day: I bike commuted 6 days in July (but the last three in a row) out of 18 for 33%
2. Run each day: 21 out of 31 for 67%. The heat and humidity as well as a late month surgery took their toll. July was my lowest running mileage month so far this year. Ugh.
3. Run 31 miles at sub 6:00 pace. I really enjoyed this challenge. I was on pace on July 20th, with 23 out of 23, but didn't run another one. The high heat and surgery limited this one.
4. Limit non-work driving to 100 miles. Hand in hand with goal 1, I failed big time and drove about 300 miles.
5. Fish oil supplement: this is the goal I met. I didn't notice any benefits so I likely won't continue this one.

August goals:
1. Return to 50+ pull-ups each day
2. Run each day
3. Bike commute 18 days

Let's see if having 3 goals gets me closer to 100%.

How much tax do I actually pay?

2011-07-28T05:18:00.000-07:00

With all the talk about taxes and federal debt, I got curious as to the amount of taxes that I pay. Not just income tax, but all kinds of taxes that I can find. I'm going to keep a running tally of taxes paid through a year. We're generally a lower-middle class family with one income for a family of four.

Taxes I can think of:

1. Federal Income Tax
2. Social Security
3. Medicare
4. State Income Tax
5. Sales Tax
6. Gasoline Tax
7. Property Tax (house and vehicle)

What else?

This might end up being pretty tedious, because it will require receipts for everything, but I think will be a worthwhile exercise.

65 more bike commutes for a new bike

2011-07-27T08:07:00.000-07:00

I now have a spouse-approved goal.

We decided yesterday that if I biked to work 67 days over the rest of the year (and had the money) I could buy a new bike. These days are in addition to the 54 days I've biked/bused/run to work so far this year. Yesterday counted...66 to go...and I biked in today...65 to go.

I've got my eyes on the following steeds: Masi Steel (a couple models), Vassago Fisticuff, Surly Crosscheck, or the Cannondale 'cross.

Thoughts?

2011 Huck-a-Buck MTB Race

2011-07-25T05:05:00.000-07:00

No, I didn't race my mountain bike. That would have been crazy. Instead, I got to time the event for my part time gig. I'd heard about the races over the last ten years or so, when I might have been more willing to race it, but never got over to Lake Crabtree for the festivities.

The Happy Fun Racing guys were a blast to hang out with and put on a great event. In total, we had 170 racers with an additional 15, or so, in the kids race. There was a minor mishap during the second race where a line of tape got removed and some guys did a slightly shorter lap, but all-in-all, it went very well.

And...I heard they're thinking about doing it next year too! (That would be year 11.) I hope I can go back! Results will be posted at www.onthemarksports.com this week.

If you knew...

2011-07-22T09:29:00.000-07:00

...what your actions affected, and to what effect, what are the thresholds that would make you change your ways? Let me illustrate with an example...

If, for example, it was scientifically proven that the more you drove your car, the more the globe would warm, how hot would it have to get before you made the decision to drive your car less?

How high would the price of gasoline have to be before you cut back the amount of it that you used (a significant amount), an amount that would require a real change in your life.

What magnitude of physical unfitness would you have to achieve before you changed your habits in a meaningful way?

How far in debt would you have to be before you decided to get out of the whole...for good?

How deep in sin would you have to fall before you decided enough was enough and made hard changes to lead you out of it?

How quiet the silence between friends, family, spouse is it before you decide to save the relationship?

Meaningful change can happen on a dime. YOU just have do decide to make the change, charge full-steam ahead, never look back, never relent...

I've got work to do.

How should I start running?

2011-07-13T04:24:00.000-07:00

That was a question I got yesterday at work. Kind of caught me off guard, but here's what I suggested:

- Start slowly and at a short distance. It takes a while to strengthen muscles, tendons, and various other body systems.
- Be patient. You're not going to be an olympian in 6 months
- but make goals for 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, a year, etc and cross them off as you accomplish them
- Do what you can do to be consistent with it, that's the only way you'll improve
- Don't get confused by all the gadgets out there. Shoes, socks, shirt and shorts. Keep it simple. You don't even NEED music (gasp), and should probably not listen to anything while you are learning how your body works

Running is a very, very simple activity. It is work and is not necessarily easy, but it is simple. Enjoy it.

Running blog again. New Race Idea.

2011-07-12T05:17:00.000-07:00

I've decided that this will now be a running blog. Where I talk about my running. And other running things. Like race timing. Or course certifications. Or anything else, running-related that I do. Or think about.

The thought I had while running an easy 4 miles last night was about putting on a race in North Raleigh, with the guys and gals from Church, who are runners. I was thinking a 10 miler or 10k, but decided that a 10k Hot Chocolate run would be a good one to have in December. Custom Hot Chocolate Mugs would be the finishers awards with gallons of hot chocy available after.

Would you come run a 10k in December on a fast course with hot chocolate at the end?

The good thing about having my OWN blog...

2011-07-08T06:14:00.000-07:00

...is that I can write whatever I want to. That's sort of the point, I suppose.

So, there are two big guys in DC who have to compromise. One won't give up on one thing, the other won't give up on another thing. The only way for them to reach a compromise is for them to realize that not compromising isn't an option.

So, here's how you do it, and pay close attention. Guy D - give up half of what you want to get. (You'll have to make some entitlement cuts. You can't expect to leave this huge budget item sacred. It's just NOT POSSIBLE.) Guy R - give up half of what you want to get. (You'll have to approve some tax increases. You can't simply CUT 27% without major, major problems.) See what's left. You ought to be close to where you need to be. If not figure out what's left to deal. You're there to do this job.

Why is it so hard for people to do the job they were selected for? You're only up there for the current term anyway. Make your legacy one that will actually benefit the rest of the country after you leave as opposed to serving to get yourself re-elected.

Real life is probably more how the Mommy describes...

2011-07-07T05:44:00.000-07:00

A couple of interesting description of polar opposite daily schedule descriptions. Reality is probably somewhere in the middle, though it is important to note the apparent differences in life stages. Which one is more like your life?

First, from Mark's Daily Apple:

Sunday
7:00 AM – Big cup of coffee (always French press, Starbucks – anything extra bold) always with heavy whipping cream and a teaspoon of sugar. Read paper, did Sunday Sudoku and Crossword (Primal Law #10 “use your brain”).

9:00 AM - Breakfast: Three scoops of Vanilla Crème Primal Fuel with ice cubes and water in a blender in anticipation of a big Ultimate game.

10:00 AM - Two hours of Ultimate (Frisbee). Warmed-up with some easy runs and throws, and then chose sides for 7-on-7 game. Great game (rained a bit during it) and excellent workout. Most fun I have all week. Probably did 20 full-out sprints of 40+ yards, with lots of stop and go or side-to-side mixed in. My team lost 25-21, mostly due to throwing errors. I always play in VFF Treks (Treks have more grip for grass than most other VFFs).

12:30 PM – Back home after game, stood in unheated pool up to mid-thigh (high 50’s – low 60’s temp) for 10 minutes. It’s part of my new repair and restore program.

1:00 PM – Lunch: Four egg omelet with onions, cheese, and red peppers, mineral water.

4:00 PM – Snack: Handful of macadamia nuts (20ish). Macs are the only nuts I eat anymore – they are so superior to all others.

7:00 PM – Dinner: One pound of ground lamb mixed with sautéed onions and peppers, steamed asparagus spears drenched in butter. 2 glasses cabernet sauvignon. Didn’t quite finish the lamb, but Buddha made quick work of the rest.

10:30 PM – Bed

Monday
6:30 AM - Big cup of coffee, read newspaper, did crossword.

7:30 AM – Work

9:30 AM – Breakfast: 4-egg omelet at desk.

10:30 AM – Gym: 3 sets of: 30 reverse rows + 40-50 pushups (with one minute walk/rest between sets)

3 sets of: 12 wide grip pullups + 15 parallel bar dips (one minute walk/rest between sets)

3 sets of: 10 narrow parallel grip pullups + 15 easy dumbbell curls to overhead press @ 25 pounds

2 sets of shoulder rehab stuff (circles, front raises, side raises, etc., with light dumbbells)

11:15 AM – Work

1:00 PM – Lunch: Big-ass salad. Mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, avocado, red bell peppers, browned slivered almonds, large dollop of tuna, dressing with EVOO as base. Ate at desk.

4:00 PM – Snack: Handful of cherries.

5:15 PM - One hour session with Michelle, my pilates/yoga/stretch guru, holding long, easy hip-opening poses.

7:30 PM – Dinner: 1 glass cabernet, 10 ounces grilled Bison “New York Cut”, 2 cups of Brussels sprouts with Hazelnuts (p. 142 PB Cookbook), 1 more glass cabernet, wedge of artisanal cheese.

8:30 PM – Game of Scrabble with son Kyle.

10:30 PM – Bed

Tuesday
6:30 AM – Big cup of coffee, caught up on news, crossword.

7:30 AM – Work

9:00 AM - Breakfast: Three scoops of Chocolate Primal Fuel with ice cubes and water in a blender. No easier way to get 30 grams of protein and a bunch of healthy coconut sat fat.

9:30 AM – Gym: 20 minutes on Precor stationary bike, started easy, gradually increasing resistance until maximum effort at 20th minute. Easy 2 minute recovery spin, then started 8 reps of: 20 seconds at max effort (high resistance and 110+ rpms) with 40 second easy spin rest between sets (lower rpms and a few notches down in resistance). Drenched. Grok squatted for a few minutes after. Went home and stood in the cold pool for 10 minutes.

10:30 AM – Work

1:00 PM – Lunch at local restaurant. Giant pork chop with mushroom sauce and asparagus tips, iced tea.

2:00 PM - Weather was awesome, couldn’t avoid going out for 1.5 hour stand-up paddle session. Should probably have worked, but my friend Eric and the board beckoned. OK. Shouldn’t have worked if my goal is truly to have more fun.

4:50 PM – Snack: Handful of macadamias.

8:00 PM – Dinner: 14 giant shrimp, each dipped in melted butter (maybe my favorite dinner). Steamed broccoli (same butter). 1 glass chardonnay (Sonoma Cutrer). A few pieces of 85% dark chocolate.

11:00 PM – Bed

Wednesday
6:45 AM – Big cup of coffee, caught up on news, crossword, Sudoku.

7:30 AM – Work

9:30 AM – Breakfast: Three scoops of Vanilla Primal Fuel with ice cubes and water in a blender.

9:45 AM – Hiked up Puerco Canyon with wife Carrie and Buddha (my Yellow Lab, if you hadn’t gathered that by now). I wore a 20-pound weight vest to equalize the effort (she’d had an emergency appendectomy 10 days earlier. 1:15 up and back. 10 minute cold soak in pool to mid-thigh.

11:30 AM – Work

1:00 PM – Lunch: Big-ass salad, with cold shrimp left over from dinner as protein source.

4:20 PM – Snack: Half-tin of sardines.

6:00 PM – Dinner: Chicken and fennel stew (PB Cookbook page 84)

7:30 PM – 90-minute deep tissue massage, which I try to get once a week.

10:00 PM – Bed

Thursday
6:20 AM – Big cup of coffee, caught up on news, crossword, Sudoku.

7:30 AM – Work

9:30 AM – Breakfast: Four egg omelet with the works. Basically, very low carb.

9:45 AM – Gym: Repeat Monday’s workout, adding 50 deep air squats to second series (so x 3) and 90-second planks to third series.

11:15 AM – Work

12:00 PM – Business lunch: Half a free-range chicken and steamed spinach at local restaurant. Admit that I picked at a few potatoes, too.

4:20 PM – Snack: Handful of macadamias.

7:30 PM – Dinner: 1-2 ounces cheese, Kale salad, grass-fed beef rib eye, steamed broccoli drenched in butter. 2 glasses syrah. Who needs desert!

10:00 PM – Bed

Friday
More good food, easy hike up Bush Canyon.

Saturday
More good food, took day off to attend Los Angeles Fitness Expo. Just like the circus only wilder.

Secondly, from Rant's from Mommyland:

Five Universal Laws of Mornings

What is it about the morning routine? Why can't we get through one measly cup of coffee and *possibly* the gossip section of the paper before the Giant Clusterf**k of Whacktacularness washes over MommyLand, turning our mornings from a Norman Rockwell stroll to school into a Norman Bates "what have you done??" stabbiness that sends us peeling rubber out of the school parking lot.

Rule #1: The Decibel Factor

Why is it no matter how much I plan ahead, pack lunches the night before, and have your clothes out and backpacks in the car, I still wind up screaming you guys stupid. Every furkin' morning. Please. It's a simple list of five things: eat, brush, dress, bed,and stuff. Just do those things and Mommy won't lose her schmidt. Problem is, the more I yell, the less this crap gets done. Why? Because now we're wiping noses and drying tears and making last-minute bowls of cereal because we burned the eggs because we were busy yelling.

Rule #2: The "I Forgot" Clause

It's now April. We have been going to school for EIGHT FREAKIN' MONTHS. Why are you still looking at me like Long Duck Dong when we ask you "where is your backpack?" It's not in a big lake. It's hanging on the peg in your bedroom. Right where I hung it last night when I found it on the driveway. And now we're at school and you're saying "AUTOMOBILE??" and my eye is starting to twitch.

Rule #3: The Entropy Effect

Why? Why is there always a mess? Either there's a bowl of cereal dripping down my dining room table, or a spilled carton of orange juice slowly seeping into that teensy space between the counter and the refrigerator where magnets apparently go to die, or you've changed clothes so many times that your bureau thought it was auditioning for The Exorcist and Linda Blair-ed all over your bedroom. The other day we all got out the door with the kitchen and bedrooms intact, and I came home to find the dog had made a lovely buffet of used kitty litter, a dead mouse (or bird...it was hard to tell), regurgitated toilet water and a box of Maxi pads. My house now smells like the inside of a shoe.

Rule #4: The Daddy Variable

You need to get out of my house. Immediately. And stop
looking at me like that or you're getting a lap full of tea.
Dear My Spouse, You need to be gone by the time the children wake up. We'd both like to think that you could be helpful in situations such as these. And you -- you dear, sweet, kind, clueless man -- actually do believe you are being helpful.You're helpful in the way that speed bumps are helpful, and that's in ruining my speedy transmission. You just slow everything down. Rather than being the guy who finds and places the missing shoes on the barefoot child, you're really just the fourth voice outside the bathroom door asking me where said shoes are when I'm trying to hurry up and poo. Do us both a favor. Leave. And leave a nice big pot of coffee for me when you go. Chances are, you do that, there's a good chance you can get a peek under the hood tonight.

Rule #5: The Time/Appearance Dichotomy

I showed up at school once with a fork in my hair, a t-shirt that said "I love it In&Out" on it, and a pair of stilettos. It didn't matter that that the fork was actually an improvement over my forkless hair. Or that the t-shirt was for a chain of hamburger restaurants. Or that the shoes were the closest ones to the front door. All that mattered was that, for the twenty-seven people who saw me that morning, I was a deranged hooker who had just gotten off work and was desperately trying to feed the disembodied Lord Voldemort in the back of my head.

All I need is eleven uninterrupted minutes. To do those five little things - eat, brush, dress, bed and stuff - and we're good for the day. And you get off to school happy and fed and with matching shoes. And I get three-to-seven blissful hours where I am Perfect Mommy. A trait that can only be achieved when you, my children, are not here.

Until then, I'll be contemplating how to get that fork out of my hair. A big pot of cold coffee outta help.

Biked to work today - Yay

2011-07-06T05:24:00.000-07:00

It dawned on me this morning on my ride into work that in order to keep a certain level of physical shape up, one has to work on that aspect constantly. If I slack off for more than a couple days, I start to feel it. I suppose it's a good thing that I like exercise for exercise sake and not as a means to fitness, because I just can't maintain it without using it.

I am continually amazed when I'm slightly sore after a run, when I haven't run for 3-4 days. Biking fitness is lost in a week or so. Pull-ups feel awkward after only a couple days off. In reality, I know the total fitness is there, I just think I go into a repair phase and the body is reluctant to shift out of that, back into a more rigorous work phase.

Maybe I'm just getting old.

Presidential Prayer

2011-06-30T12:47:00.001-07:00

Instead of all the negativity, how about us Christians rise above? Here's a start, regardless of what policies you think are best:

Prayer for Our President

O Jesus, in Your Holy Name, I lift up our president to You. I know that our leader's heart is in Your Hand, so I ask You to guide the head of our nation in the way You would have him go. Lord, I pray that You would surround our president with wise counsel--men and women of moral integrity who place Your agenda and the good of this great nation above their own and whose motives are for that which is right.

I pray that You would give our leader discernment, understanding, and knowledge so that our country may know stability internally and abroad. I give You thanks for our president according to Your Word, and thank You for working in and through his leadership so that we might lead peaceable lives in godliness and honesty.

Amen.

June Grade/July Goals

2011-06-30T06:54:00.000-07:00

Strictly statistically speaking, June gets a 81% score as far as my goals go. That's actually better than I thought it would have been.

The numbers:
23/30 days run
7/20 work days with bike commute
29/30 days of 50+ pull-ups
18/30 days of 50+ push-ups
31/30 days of Proverbs read
30/30 days without buying coffee

I'm a bit disappointed I've fallen so far off the wagon with bike commuting, so I'll carry that over to July.

July goals:
1. bike commute each work day
2. run each day, minimum of 3 miles
3. run 31 miles over the month sub 6:00 (can be broken into half miles for flexibility)
4. limit non-part-time-job-driving to 100 miles (non family miles, ie, miles on my car)
5. take a fish oil supplement each day (never have, but am curious to see what it does)

I'll be happy if I meet those...

Why I like pushing my boys in a jogging stroller

2011-06-28T05:42:00.000-07:00

I came up with a couple reasons why I really like pushing my boys (Finn, especially) in a jogging stroller last Sunday morning when we rolled into our church parking lot. Unfortunately, that has been nine days ago and I've forgotten some of the emotion behind the reasons. I'll do my best...

Reason 1: I like pushing Finn in the jogging stroller because it gives us time to connect and talk. He asks all kinds of questions, and early on a Sunday morning, it's quiet enough for me to hear all of them (most of, anyway) and respond between gasps for air.

Reason 2: It shows Finn that exercise is usual. Running and exercise have been introduced to him at such an early age, he won't think it's weird when he grows up. It will be part of his earliest memories. He won't think twice about physical effort.

Reason 3: We see things at a much slower pace than riding in a car. At 6-8 miles per hour, it gives him time to relax and look at things. Squirrels, rabbits, birds don't go rushing away at the first sight of us. We come upon them slowly which allows Finn to see things in nature. He can process their actions and can follow their movements.

Reason 4: This time when I'm pushing the boys gives Andrea a break. As a stay-at-home mom, she doesn't get a whole lot of vacation time, and these respites are about as good as I can do for now.

Reason 5: It's a really inexpensive "date" with my boys. We can go to the park, playground, store, library, church, or just around the block. Anywhere we go is an adventure. We can pack all sorts of things for our adventure and it doesn't add too much more effort.

Reason 6: It's hard. There's nothing like adding an extra 55-100 pounds of effort to a run. It's my opinion that this effort makes the run harder, but without the added stress to joints caused by running harder/faster. So, I get a better workout for less wear and tear on the old knees.

Reason 7: The jogging strollers are great for naps! Especially during a warm, rainy, summer afternoon.

Reason 8: It's just a fun way to spend time with my boys.

June update on goals

2011-06-27T05:48:00.000-07:00

I started June with 5 goals or resolutions.

1. Don't buy coffee for the month
2. Run each day
3. Bike to work each day
4. Do 50 pull-ups/push-ups each day
5. Read chapter in Proverbs each day

I started out well, for 12 days...then I couldn't bring myself to bike to work two days after my 50 mile race...and I haven't since.

I ran each day, the first 17 days...then a LONG work day left me too exhausted to run on the 18th. That has been spotty since.

I kind of stopped doing push-ups after the Army PFT test.

I missed one day of pull-ups (the 18th), and I think I missed reading Proverbs that night (though I made up the reading the next day).

So, through day 26, I'm about 50/50. And, I'm ok with that. I'm just about done with Proverbs, haven't bought coffee all month, and have some pretty nice and new callouses on my fingers from all the pull-ups.

For July, I'm still trying to figure out what ONE thing I want to focus on. Five is too many. Suggestions?

Full Boogie Report

2011-06-27T05:45:00.000-07:00

7:46, 3rd place, over an hour faster than my optimistic goal. By the grace of God, went I, because it certainly wasn't due to my training or fitness.

14-16

2011-06-16T08:19:00.001-07:00

Haven't biked to work yet this week, but am 15 for 15 with my other goals for the month. Nothing spectacular to report, other than the 2 mile run on Monday sucked big time. Each step hurt. Tuesday was a little better, and yesterday was better still. The only problem was that yesterday was the Army PFT, so I had to run the 2 miles hard. Luckily, the Army standard isn't "too" hard to nail, so even though I pushed, I didn't have to bleed to do it. Set a push-up pr which was good. Katie leads the comp by less than 2 points. I'll have to get her at the USMC test in 3+ weeks.

11-13 and Boogie

2011-06-14T04:44:00.000-07:00

The good thing about having 5 goals for the month is that if I miss one of them, I still have four more. So, that was a good thing yesterday (and this) morning when my legs hurt too much to bike to work. Like physical hurt. Not tired or sore, but actual pain.

So, I ran the Bethel Hill Moonlight Boogie 50 mile race on Saturday night. It went way better than I could have ever thought it would have and for that, I can only thank God. It wasn't me running out there, I wasn't in control. I have no idea how I was able to run a 7:45 on that course with the training that I have (not) done this year. Someone much greater than me was helping me. (And that's NOT DOPING.) The 7:45 was my 2nd fastest 50 mile race EVER, but actually, my 4th fastest 50 mile time (I've split faster in 2 longer races...). Still, on the hilly, warm, and humid Boogie course I am beyond thrilled with the result. I've got a couple scientific theories, but I prefer the faith-based one since it's really the only one that makes any sense at all. Oh, and I was the first MTC'er so I won a beautiful cast star (which dad referred to as, first, a star fish, then a moon. It was a late night.)

But on to the goals...still haven't bought coffee yet (and thanks to my silly "bet" with Joe, I'm covered for several more weeks), have read a chapter in Proverbs every day, have run every day (last night's 2 miles HURT), and have done 50 pull-ups and push-ups each day. So, successful so far, with the bike-to-work exception. That will start up again either tomorrow or Thursday.

Army PFT tomorrow night!!!

Days 8-10

2011-06-10T05:25:00.000-07:00

Still on track and not much else to report. Biked to work all 5 days this week, though I had a mishap on the ride home yesterday that resulted in a little lost skin. Was probably my fault, too. Anyway...

My face was touched by a razor for the first time in over 2 months last night, carving the beard for Saturday's coffee collection. Looks pretty silly, but I suppose that's the point. Almost there, still have to trim the middle strip out, but certainly manly, if not total biker-ish.

50 mile run through the June night on Saturday, birthday and Lifepointe bash on Sunday. Going to be a good weekend!

Day 3-7

2011-06-07T04:37:00.000-07:00

I'm still on the wagon with my 5 goals for the month.

On Friday, for the fourth year in a row, I ran the Army Birthday 10-miler at Fort Bragg. It is a pretty tough race, hilly and warm and humid, but I enjoy going down and competing. They usually get 1000+ soldiers out there, so there's a pretty festive atmosphere. My race sucked, but I finished and after a quick bite to eat was on the road.

I measured a 5k course in Pinehurst on the way back which took much longer than expected, but was home around 2:00 in the pm. I didn't stop for coffee all day, despite how badly I wanted to. I got my pull-ups and push-ups in at home and read Proverbs before bed. (3 for 3)

On Saturday, Andrea and I went out for breakfast with Liam, since Grandma and Grandpa picked up Finn early. The rest of the day was spent doing things around the house and birthday shopping. It wasn't until the evening that I got my run and push/pull-ups in. (4 for 4)

On Sunday morning, I pushed Finn in the jogging stroller the 5 miles to church. After church, I spent some time doing a side-job project and cooking Andrea's birthday dinner of grilled Carolina shrimp and fresh sides. We had cake after Finn went to bed because he didn't finish his dinner and I didn't feel like eating cake in front of him and listen to his..."I want soooommmmmmeeee." (5 for 5)

Yesterday started back the work week and I biked in early. I got my run in at lunch and did my exercise and reading late in the evening. Also spent two hours on the way to/at the doctor's office for Liam's head wound from Finn's flying air plane. By "flying" I mean Finn threw it and it hit Liam right in the middle of his forehead. Blood everywhere. (Two head wounds in the house in two weeks. Ugh.) Anyway (6 for 6).

Today, I biked into work again and stopped for a set of 12 pull-ups at the lake. Good start to the day.

Day 2

2011-06-02T04:25:00.000-07:00

Biked to work today (2/2)
Stopped at the lake for 13 pull-ups. Did the rest on the way home and when I got home (53/50)

Read Proverbs Ch. 2 upon arrival at work. v10 & 11: "When wisdom enters your heart...Discretion will preserve you." -advice for the ultrarunner (2/2)

Made coffee at work (2/2)
Easy 3 mile run at lunch to pick up some PK nails.
Push-ups done (53/50)

I've got a 10 mile race early in the morning, so I don't want to do too much today.

This is going to be a good month for some easy base miles. With this heat and humidity, there's just not much else I really want to do.

Welcome back

2011-06-01T06:21:00.001-07:00

Public again.

Day 1

2011-06-01T04:06:00.001-07:00

Biked to work today (1 for 1)
Stopped and did 16 pull-ups at the lake and the rest at lunch (50/50)
Did 25 push-ups upon arrival at work and the rest at lunch (50/50)
Made coffee at home and work (1 for 1)
Read Proverbs, Ch.1 v.33: "But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil."

Day 1 good.

One month at a time

2011-05-31T12:41:00.000-07:00

Don't know why it's never occurred to me before, but a new year resolution could just be a compilation of 12 month-long resolutions. Deep, I know. Anyway, here are June's resolutions:

1. Run every day in the month, at least 2 miles.
2. Bike to work each day I work.
3. Do at least 50 pull-ups and 50 push-ups each day.
4. Read one chapter in Proverbs each day.
5. Make my own coffee every day (no buying coffee out).

That's it! It starts tomorrow!

time to actually run

2011-05-10T07:01:00.000-07:00

looking back at training logs, it appears my better races come after a couple months of running 60 miles a week (on average). so, with some races coming up in the 50 mile range, it's time to actually focus and start running 60 miles a week. it doesn't really seem to matter too much what makes up the 60 miles, so i'm not going to really worry too much about it. i'll need to do at least a long run of 20+, and maybe a faster workout. it seems like the one thing that is critical for performance is the volume. so, that's what i'll focus on. with only 3 miles yesterday, i've got some work to do the rest of the week!

analogy

2011-05-05T05:04:00.001-07:00

so, i thought of an analogy yesterday during my run...

regarding health...you can only diet so much before you have to work on the exercise part of the equation.

analogy:

you can only cut spending so far before you have to work to bring in extra money

people and government: you can't just cut and expect things to heal themselves. you have to be proactive, exercise, bring in additional revenue. but, only if you want good, positive results. otherwise, just carry on.

random

2011-05-04T05:46:00.000-07:00

"its time to move on, time to get goin
what lies ahead i have no way of knowin
but under my feet the grass is growin
its time to move on, time to get goin"

-tom petty

my buddy, adam casseday's, "theme song" for his AT thru hike started this morning.

best of luck man, i'll be thinking about your grand adventure at my desk each workday.

____________________________________________________

another thought i had this morning...a lot of people talk about training smarter, not harder.

why not train harder? why not ditch the calf sleeves on every run, vibrams/minimalist shoes, gps on your wrist, heartrate monitor, and any other gimmick you use to avoid training harder. just train harder. this shit ain't rocket science. if you're tired rest extra, if you're not tired train harder.

tell you what, you go ahead and train "smart". i'll try to train hard (as my schedule and life allow, of course). i will likely experience more discomfort, pain and suffering. my body will recover, heal, grow. yours will be smart.

internal conflict and adapting to changes

2011-04-28T10:24:00.000-07:00

lots of stuff going through my mind on the run today, most of which i've since forgotten. disappointment has a way of eating at ones self until acceptance and adaption has taken place. it affects more than just the person who experiences the disappointment. i'm trying to get over it and know i will, it just sucks.

moving on. there's another source of conflict that only just today have i decided to mitigate. i've been trying a 12 week marathon training program in response to my dismal performace at tobacco road marathon. the program, i'm sure, works, but it's hard. the first few weeks were ok because it was new. then, i took on more part-time work, and we had a long trip up to new jersey, then some sicknesses in the house that led to sleepless nights. i grew weary of waking up at 4:15 to run for 90 minutes or more before work. the other thing it required was, basically, for me to drive to work everyday. that's the thing i abhor about it. i don't like driving my car to work, especially with a tight budget and gas prices bumping up against $4 per gallon. so, starting with may, i resolve to bike to work this summer, from may 2nd through labor day. period. i'll run at lunch and some evenings after the boys go to bed. it will make me much happier.

i'm coming around to a revised racing schedule for the rest of the year, with only one choice left (so far). i've decided to skip races that are sub-ultra. they're fun (sometimes) and useful in ultra-training, but ultras are my strength and i don't have enough time to include events that i'm not that good at (or don't get value out of). so, for the rest of the year, my tentative plans include:

June 11th - Bethel Hill Moonlight Boogie 50 miler
August 6th - Bad Idea 40 Mile
November 5th - Mountain Masochist 50 Mile
November 26th - Derby 50k
December 31st - Freedom Park 24 Hour

i won't be that competitive in any of them. my first priority will be to finish them all, second will be to enjoy them/have fun, and third will be to 'race' if i'm able. i just have to get some spousal buy-in.

An American's Creed - words to live by

2011-04-26T12:23:00.000-07:00

An American's Creed - by Dean Alfange

I do not choose to be a common man
It is my right to be uncommon...If I can.
I seek opportunity... Not security.

I do not wish to be a kept citizen,
Humbled and dulled by having the state look after me.
I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and build, to
Fail and to succeed.

I refuse to barter incentive for a dole.
I prefer the challenges of life to the
Guaranteed existence; the thrill of
Fulfillment to the stale calm of utopia.

I will not trade freedom for beneficence
Nor my dignity for a hand out. I will
Never cower before any master nor bend
to any threat.

It is my heritage to stand erect,
proud, and unafraid; to think and act for
myself; enjoy the benefits of my
creations; and to face the world boldly
and say, "This I have done with my own hand,
I am a man. I am an American.

*Originally published in This Week Magazine. Later reprinted in The Reader's Digest, October 1952, p. 10, and January 1954, p. 122, lacking these words: “I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat" and "to stand erect, proud and unafraid."

* The Honorable Dean Alfange was an American statesman born December 2, 1899, in Constantinople (now Istanbul). He was raised in upstate New York.

He served in the U.S. Army during World War 1 and attended Hamilton College, graduating in the class of ?22. He attended Colombia University where he received his law degree and opened a practice in Manhattan. In 1942 Alfange was the American Labor Party candidate for governor of New York and a founder of the Liberal Party of New York.

Dean Alfange was also Professor Emeritus at UMass Amherst and a leading figure in various pro-Zionist organizations (between other actions, in November 1943, he appeared before the House of Representatives and addressed them on the rescue of the Jewish people of Europe). He died in Manhattan at the age of 91 on October 27, 1989.

Week 5

2011-04-25T05:20:00.000-07:00

Changed my entry from the marathon to the 50. Only ran 2 days over vacation week. Drove overnight back from New Jersey Tuesday/Wednesday, worked in Charlotte (a 18 hour workday) on Saturday. Sunday was Easter so chose to spend it with family resting.

M - off
T - off
W - off
H - 5 easy
F - 10 with 4 hard
S - off
U - off

50 miler is going to be HARD!

Week 4

2011-04-25T05:18:00.000-07:00

Was all good until the last two days. I had a race to time in Pickens, SC on Saturday. That was the day the tornadoes came through the southeast. We got dumped on during the race, but were spared severe weather. I got home late in the afternoon and was wiped out. Sunday, we got up and had a 14 hour journey to New Jersey. So, I didn't run this day either.

M - rest
T - 13 medium
W - 15 medium (hard run)
H - 5 easy
F - 10 with 5 hard
S - off
U - off

Marathon Training week 3

2011-04-14T04:46:00.001-07:00

Week 3 was harder that the previous two. It wasn't so much the running, but working both weekend days with early get-up times (4:15) left me depleted. By the time I was able to run, I was hungry, tired, and missed the fam. So, I skipped an easy 5 on Saturday, and almost cut the focus workout on Sunday very short. At the end, I cut about a mile off, but got in the 10 at marathon pace (a little faster) so was happy about it.

Week 3:

M - off
T - 9 medium with 8 x 100 strides at the end
W - 14 medium
H - 5 easy
F - 12 medium
S - off
U - 16 with 10 at marathon pace (6:42ish)

Marathon Training for Boogie

2011-04-14T04:45:00.000-07:00

For the Boogie Marathon, I've started training via real-life training schedule. I'm following the Advanced Marathoning (Pete Pfitzinger) 12-week program at 55-70 mpw. Currently I'm mid-way through week -8 (8 to go, otherwise, week 4 into it).

Week 2

M - rest
T - 12 medium (1:29)
W - 11 medium (1:25)
H - 5 easy
F - 9 with 4 at half marathon pace (6:35ish)
S - 5 easy
U - 25 long/easy at Umstead with Matt

Week 1 (starting day after Tobacco Road Marathon)

M - 3 easy (hurt like hell)
T - 5 easy
W - 6 easy
H - 10 easy
F - 11 medium
S - 3 easy
U - 15 with 8 at marathon pace (7:10ish)

So there's some changes

2011-04-08T04:17:00.000-07:00

My blog is no longer public. Can't say for sure why I decided that, I just did. I never really enjoyed having it public for anyone and everyone to read. It made me hesitate and edit out what I thought might not fly. No longer. Now I'll write whatever I want.

If you can read this, know that you're among a select few (google only allows 100 readers, after all). Feel free to comment, share, whatever. But, you've been warned, I may write some thoughts that aren't suitable for public viewing. What? I may.

Anyway, I realized this morning, that as soon as I embraced the idea that I would poop sometime during my early morning runs, they became a lot more enjoyable.

See? As soon as the public filter was taken off, I felt free to post about poop. Yea!

Thank you Mark Hall for sending this

2011-03-31T08:30:00.000-07:00

The formatting isn't that great, and the link to it is here, but it deserves reposting...http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/03/27-0
Published on Sunday, March 27, 2011 by CommonDreams.org

The Media on Education – Grade: F

We Do Not Have an Education Crisis in this Country. We Have a Societal Crisis
by Kristine Mattis

Regardless of the dearth of media coverage, the protests and rallies here in Madison, Wisconsin continue. There are people inside and outside the capitol every single day, rain, snow, or shine. One particular group that is represented each afternoon is teachers. Yet, amid the constant media chatter about public education and teaching, and the absurd vilification of teachers, the one voice that is rarely if ever represented in the news is that of an actual classroom teacher.

Among the many segments of society profoundly affected by Wisconsin’s and other states’ recent and impending regressive legislation is public education. But despite what either of the two dominant political parties claim about their interest in and respect for education, the entire American public education system has been under attack for decades. All of the political rhetoric about leaving no child left behind and racing to the top amounts to nothing but ignorant and useless policymaking, which purposefully masks the threats to our public educational systems and disgracefully blames the only people who actually know what is going on in the nation’s classrooms.

It is not simply the conservative arch-rivals of public education who get it all wrong. Nicholas Kristoff and those behind the recent documentary travesty “Waiting for Superman” also reveal their elite status and their cluelessness when speaking about teachers and education. The only voices in the ongoing discussion about education in America are those with tenuous ties, if any, to the actual institution.

Teachers are a special segment of society. Most enter their profession out an altruistic calling to help, out of a concern for children, and because of their kind and caring natures. In addition, as one local teacher I spoke to recently stated, teachers are rule-followers. With the few iconoclastic exceptions, most teachers want to please; they do not want to publicly complain or rock the boat. Thus, it is difficult to get teachers to speak out about the horrific conditions under which they work and to demand the things they truly need in the classroom.

I am currently a university teaching assistant, which is quite different than a classroom teacher. Nevertheless, I previously taught in a public school, a private school, and a charter school. Moreover, my experience as a middle-class student who was able to attend both public and private schools opened my eyes to the great disparity in educational opportunities in America early in my life.

First of all, American public schools have not deteriorated because of bad teachers. Though what constitutes a “good” teacher can be highly subjective, I think I can safely say that most teachers are good teachers. The vast majority are competent professionals who do their jobs well. There exist some teachers who have a more difficult time with conveying information to their students, and an extremely small minority who do not put in the time they perhaps should. But most teachers are not “bad” – particularly if you consider what they are up against.

I have not met one critic of teachers who could handle teaching in a modern classroom for a full day, or even for 30 seconds - forget a career. The concentration and multi-tasking necessary for teaching has been compared to that of being an air-traffic controller. Teachers are not only responsible for imparting information. They must also serve as role models, counselors, psychiatrists, disciplinarians, and parents to their students. In fact, I have even witnessed a teacher become a guardian of a student who would have otherwise been homeless. Some teachers who may seem to be “slacking” are probably just attempting to remain sane by allowing themselves a split second of personal time and space. The amount of work that teachers have is incomparable to almost any job that I have seen - and it never ends.

Teachers begin their days well before dawn. They usually arrive at work an hour or more before classes start, and often stay long after classes end, either to engage in extra-curricular activities with their students, to work in their classrooms, or to devote extra time to their students. When they go home after their already 8-10-hour day, they normally have a bare minimum of two hours of preparation and grading for the next day. In addition, teachers usually have professional development meetings, grade-level or course-specific meetings, and other professional trainings or duties such as parent-teacher conferences and open-houses weekly or bi-weekly. Their weekdays and weekends are consumed with teaching, preparation, and assessment. Most non-teachers, even those highly respectful of the profession, cannot even conceive of the amount of time it takes to be a teacher. It is not a job for the faint of heart or for those who do not wish to work hard.

Second, contrary to popular opinion, raising teachers’ salaries will not bring better teachers to the profession. Teachers do not enter education because they care about career momentum or financial compensation. Teachers become teachers because they care about education and because they care about children. No one would tolerate the stressful working conditions and unending criticism that teachers endure if they were not at least somewhat selfless and altruistic. Increasing the base salaries of teachers might attract different people to the profession, but those people would be far from “better.” The kind of people attracted to higher salaries are careerists, people who compete to receive the most accolades, people who care more about their own egos and their own prestige - about materialism, public successes, and external validation - than about substantive, meaningful work. Ivy League graduates and straight-A students are not necessarily better people and would not necessarily make better teachers. Indeed, the reasons for their high grades and prestigious diplomas have less to do with superior intelligence than they do with fortuitous pedigrees.

To be sure, teachers deserve higher salaries – on the order of 1000% raises – but if you asked teachers what they wish for, higher salaries would be the last thing they would mention. They would tell you that they want:

smaller class sizes, so that they can give more individual attention to their students and have fewer papers to grade, so that they can devote enough time to give students thorough feedback and assistance to help them learn
more preparation time, so that they can devise creative and interesting lessons to enable students to learn and be engaged
more autonomy, so that they can help students think critically instead of forcing the students to engage in rote memorization for standardized tests
more support from school staff, so they can teach rather than having to do much administrative and bureaucratic work that is not connected to educating their students
more social supports for students so they can devote their time to learning more effectively
more time for their students to engage in art, music, and physical education
and did I mention smaller class sizes?
Everything on this wish list relates directly to better education. While we spend money on new technologies and gadgets for classrooms, new books and learning programs which enrich the pocketbooks of corporations, we do nothing to enrich classrooms in the ways that teachers and students need most.

One quarter of our children live in poverty. We have a crisis of unemployment, joblessness, hunger, and homelessness that worsens by the day and deeply affects all of our school-age children. In addition, we have a cultural crisis in which superficiality and the spectacle of entertainment are revered beyond any moral and civic responsibilities to each other and to our communities. We have a crisis of technophilia, in which we are addicted to television, computers, iPads, iPhones, smartphones, etc., and lack important engagements in interpersonal conversation and true emotional attachment. And we have a crisis of society, in which the corporation has taken over all aspects of our lives, including our educational systems. Our schools have been reconstructed to train mind-numbed automaton serfs for the benefit of their corporate overseers.

Furthermore, while teachers are held to higher standards than probably any other profession, and critics of teachers have zero tolerance for anything but impossibly perfect outcomes, the children they teach are either ignored or held to no standards or personal responsibility for their own learning.

Many poor students have obligations and burdens beyond their control which impede their abilities to devote themselves to their educations. To address the educational needs of these children, their social and economic needs must be dealt with first, and this larger, societal issue cannot be adequately addressed by teachers, though many try to do so.

But there is also another fact that most teachers will never speak of publicly – students are not all perfect angels, not by a long shot. Though I hate to rely on TV as a model, the show “Supernanny” depicts how poorly some children are parented and how spoiled and entitled so many children are now more than ever. These same children who throw endless temper tantrums, speak back to adults, and obtain everything they want in every way they want it are the children that teachers are supposed to manage and educate every day. Rather than support the authority of the teacher when problems arise, parents of these children back up their offspring and complain to administrators about teachers, rather than confront the control their own children exert over them.

Clearly then, merit pay based on student achievement - another of the commonly mentioned and ill-conceived notions of politicians and pundits of all persuasions - is ridiculously biased and absurd. Classes are composed of so many different types of students with so many different backgrounds and different advantages or impediments to their educational success that have nothing to do with their teachers.

Charter schools are not the answer, either. Though some charter schools (such as the one in which I taught) are run by caring professionals who truly wish to help their students, many are run by business school graduates and are simply created for profit alone. By taking some of the best-performing students from public schools and leaving the poorer-performing students, as well as taking funds from public school which are never to be returned (even if a student leaves the charter school) charter schools were devised by politicians as a calculated means of slowly destroying public education. Study after study has demonstrated that charter schools perform on average exactly the same as public schools, even with their vastly increased flexibility in terms of curriculum and practices. Some charter schools perform better, but just as many perform worse than regular public schools, thus they are not in any way the panacea their corporate champions claim them to be. One thing that charter schools are most able to do is to take away the union-won rights of teachers. So, charter schools are free to exploit teachers as they see fit – and they often do.

Private schools, on the other hand, actually do hold the key to educational success. They graduate the most successful students who attend the most celebrated universities. But their teachers are generally not paid more than public school teachers, which proves false the idea that increased teacher compensation will increase student success. Here is what most private schools have:

Class sizes with no more than 12-15 students
Teachers who teach only 4-5 classes per day rather than 5-6
Teachers who, because of #1 and #2, are able to offer individual help to their students
Teachers who, because of #1 and #2, are able to assign more rigorous coursework and spend more time on offering thorough and precise feedback on student work
Teachers who are able to be creatively flexible in their curriculum and autonomous in their course structure, instead of having to adhere to bureaucratic standards devised by people with little or no educational experience
Students who, because they are generally rich, have no worries for their personal health and safety or concerns with meeting their basic needs
Students who, because they are generally rich, have no other pressing responsibilities or obligations and can thus dedicate all of their time and their full attention to their studies
Students who, because they are rich, know that they will be able to attend college and can thus concentrate on working toward that goal
But what needs to be clear is that the argument over good and bad teachers or good and bad schools is a straw-man that masks the real problem with the American educational system. We need to rethink education, true, but not in any of the ways that our politicians and media suggest. We need to make students, teachers and education a priority by making the quality of life for all citizens a priority. The only way this will be accomplished is through focusing on what is really wrong with education: the immoral inequalities and injustices rampant in American society. Until our media portrays these realities accurately and until we attend to the actual deficiencies within our systems, public education will never improve.

Random Thoughts While Running

2011-03-30T05:57:00.000-07:00

During this morning's run, but only a sample as I've long since forgotten a bunch of others...

-this sucks, it's way too early and it's dark
-hey, only 10.5 miles left to go
-it seems like when it's really early, i can really zone out for 3-5 minutes, lost in a thought or dream, completely disassociated from the task at hand. i really don't remember running the last five minutes.
-i should have drank water when i got up/i'm thirsty
-gotta pee
-it takes strength to walk into a place full of strangers, some of whom you probably think are judgemental, with two black eyes from domestic abuse. you're a very strong woman
-i can't imagine what it's like to be a single parent working full-time.
-shit, was that rain? i hope it doesn't start pouring on me.
-guess the rain stopped
-gotta take a crap, i swear, it seems like i poop more outside these days than inside. i love running in the dark.
-i'm really glad i got out of bed to run before work.
-i wonder if matt will be able to get all his work stuff covered so he's able to run the 100. if he does, i hope he can leave his phone off so he can focus on the race and not worry about what's going on at work. that would suck if he had something come up at work that he felt obligated to attend to. ultrarunning really is physical, but only if the mental stuff is already in order.
-i'm hungry
-hey, is that a headlamp? a runner? (two actually) "Mornin'"
-i should write a blog about my thoughts while running...
-i seem to have forgotten what i was thinking about an hour ago.
-my legs feel pretty good
-i love running
-i wonder if my new running shoes will arrive today. i hope so.
-how many pull-ups did i do last night again? oh yeah, ok.
-i like running at umstead. maybe i'll run the half in may after all. i should also run the marathon next march. sheesh these hills are tough though. maybe i'll just volunteer again instead.
-i'm going to be sleepy at work today. maybe i can take a nap at lunch?
-i get to sleep in tomorrow morning. that'll be nice. then, maybe i'll bike to work. i like biking to work.
-almost done. just four more minutes.
-done.

Sugar

2011-03-24T06:47:00.001-07:00

I've now gone almost 8 days without processed/added sugar in my diet. It's being documented (if you can call it that) here:

Human Experiment

I feel pretty good now. Yeah, sure, the marathon on Sunday sucked but that was way more my fault than the sugar absence. I've had to make two variations of dinner a couple nights, but other than that, with a little more planning it's not THAT hard to avoid processed sugar. The one thing I have noticed is that I eat a lot less "empty calories". And that, I think, is a good thing. I'm hoping to continue this, and paring it with decent run training, to see whether it has a beneficial effect on my running.

With that said, I had a pretty good head start in my/our diet already. I very rarely drink soda, and thought I have a major sweet tooth, I don't buy a whole lot of sweets, so we don't have a lot laying around the house. There was the chocolate cake Andrea made, but she did me a favor and ate it all (though certainly not all at once, sheesh).

This isn't really a "sugar is evil" experiment, mostly just an exercise in awareness of how prevalent sugar is in our everyday diets and just how many foods have added sugar. Anyway, let me know what you think...

No sugar

2011-03-18T06:22:00.000-07:00

I've been inspired by the guys here:

http://sugarchallenge.blogspot.com/

to go sugar free (no processed/added sugar) for 30 days. I'm in day 2. I have a marathon on day 4. This might have been a bad idea. But hey, at least I have a great (re: dumb) excuse (for a major bonk)!

Update

2011-03-15T04:41:00.000-07:00

For someone so busy, it sure doesn't seem like there's a lot going on. Maybe that's just life. Life has just gotten busy.

Let's see, there's the regular job, the two boys and wife at home and running and biking to and from work (and an actual training session when I can fit one in). Then, on weekends, it's projects, side job, church, and running group at church. Not doing a lot of racing because I hardly have a free weekend.

Tobacco Road Marathon is coming up on Sunday and I'm not ready. Ok, not exactly true. I'm ready to run 26.2 miles, sure, but not forged by miles to race that far. I haven't run a long run since Uwharrie and that was 6 weeks ago. Been on the bike "a lot" the past few weeks and had forgotten how much I enjoy it.

The nice thing about always being "in-shape", is that it just doesn't take long to get back into the swing of things. Still doing a bunch of pull-ups and am hoping for a 20 set at the end of the month.

I don't really have much in the way of running race aspirations for the spring/summer so I'm just going to roll with it and do whatever workouts I get inspired to do. I've got my eye on a few long-distance bike rides, so that will likely mean a lot of time in the saddle.

Family life is great; Liam finally lost his "stump" so we can give him real baths. He seemed to really enjoy his first one the other night. Finn continually amazes us with how smart he is. Andrea only has two months of work left on her MLS degree (library, not soccer), and I'm really proud of her for that.

Guess that's about it, see ya at the races.

The Streak is Over

2011-03-04T04:46:00.000-08:00

I haven't driven to work in 17 days. Until today. But, I have to go out of town tonight and have to leave right after work, so I didn't really have a choice.

I biked to work each day this week and the prior 13 workdays, I did a combination of running and riding the bus.

It felt strange driving in this morning. For one thing, it was light out when I left. Then, there were the other cars and drivers and traffic lights and annoying things on the radio.

I can't wait to bike in on Monday. I miss it already.

November 21, 2007

2011-02-18T08:57:00.000-08:00

From some notes that I keep...

November 21, 2007

Galatians 6:7-10 (Verse 9: And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.)

1. The Law of sowing and reaping governs life.

2 Corinthians 9:6
2 Corinthians 9:10
Luke 6:38
Genesis 8:22

God has given us the capacity to create our future. Seeds of today create the harvest of tomorrow. If we want tomatoes in our future – we plant tomato seeds. We can’t plant tomatoes and wish for cucumbers!

Sow love – reap love. Sow friendship – reap friendship. Sow into your health – reap great health! Sow finances – reap finances.

This is an unerring law of life. There may be storms or freezes that interrupt harvest on occasion – but over the long run of life, year after year, this law is constant.

This has implications...what about you?

Random Thoughts

2011-02-11T04:54:00.000-08:00

If you are standing in line, waiting for the Verizon store to open, at 6:30 in the morning, just to get the new iPhone 4, you are an idiot. Your priorities are clearly not in the right place.

KILL YOUR TV: the less tv you watch, the less tv you will want to watch. Be honest, how much value does it add to your life anyway? Seriously? If you answered anything above zero, you lied. Isn't there something more productive you can do? How about talk to the person sitting on the couch with you, or reading a book?

Bike/Run/Walk/Bus to work. Commit to just one day a week of not driving to work. It may not be "as convenient" but you'll benefit from it. Promise.

Parents sometimes have to be parents. There comes a point when you have to act in a manner that your children will not like. I think that's when you know you're doing a good thing. There will be time for being "best friends" later in life, but honestly, best friends? That relationship is best left to a spouse. The relationship of parent-child is as fundamental as husband-wife, and it is as important to maintain the designated roles and responsibilities.

Simplify. Cut out one thing from your schedule this week. Get rid of (sell/donate/trash) on thing you own (this weekend) and do not purchase another thing to replace it. I promise there are things you have, we all do, that we haven't used in years. That thing adds no value to your life, it merely adds clutter. Remove it.

Tell the truth. One time this week/end, when you're tempted to tell something not true or hide something by remaining silent, go ahead and tell the truth. You will have less internal stress because of it. Further, a decrease in internal stress means you're doing the right thing!

New Race Series (Raleigh PFT Challenge)

2011-02-04T07:00:00.000-08:00

3/17/11 Update: I've updated the date of the USMC event due to a scheduling conflict. PFT gets pushed back one week to July 16th, same place, same time.

2/17/11 Update: I've created an event page on Active.com:
http://www.active.com/running/raleigh-nc/raleigh-pft-challenge-2011

Also, Road ID will be sponsoring the event providing gift certificates and bib numbers (should we have enough people to warrant bibs.)

Finally, there will also be a team competition. Teams of 3 will compete for the highest cumulative score (out of 2700 points) and the winning team will get something cool.

2/9/11 Update: There's an event page for each on Facebook! Search for: "Raleigh Air Force PFT Challenge", "Raleigh Army PFT Challenge", and "Raleigh USMC PFT Challenge". Let me know if you'll be attending!

Introducing a new race series to Raleigh this year: The Raleigh PFT Challenge
Tired of running the same old 5ks? Wonder how your physical fitness stacks up to our country's military? This series is for you!

We’re holding three events this year, each providing an opportunity for you to test yourself against military physical fitness test (PFT) standards and others in the competition. We’ll score the events based on current military age/gender charts and will award a series trophy based on the highest cumulative score.

On Memorial Day, May 30th, we’ll hold the Air Force PFT challenge. Your score will be based on a 1.5 timed mile run, pushups and crunches (1 minute max each). We'll meet at 8:00 a.m. at West Millbrook Middle School for this event.

On June 14th The Army Birthday, we’ll hold the Army PFT challenge. Your score will be based on pushups, sit-ups and a 2-mile run. Start time will be 6:00 p.m. for this event, location TBD.

Then join us for the Grand-daddy of them all on July 16th, the Marine Corps PFT challenge: Hoorah! This is a true test of physical fitness consisting of a three-mile run, pull-ups (or flexed arm hang for females) and sit-ups. Start time will be 7:00 a.m. for this event which will take place at Shelley Lake.

Each event will be scheduled for a two hour slot.

Entry will be low $5 per event, or $9 for the series.

There's no military endorsement with this challenge, but the events will be strictly graded. Please email me if you've got any questions or are interested in the events (competing or scoring). This is gonna be good!

Oh, and if you need help training for this, please let me know. We'd be happy to help guide your efforts to target your best.

Bookmark this post as this is where I'll update information as Memorial Day approaches.

A little bit of everything

2011-02-02T06:19:00.000-08:00

Dear Future Brad,

I'm writing to you so that you have an idea about what things were like in early 2011. While there are lots of things I could write about in-depth, I think I'll just paint a broad brush and will let you know what's been going on in your old life over the past month or so.

First off, Liam is now seven weeks old. When Finn was this age, I remember spending a lot of time holding and looking at him. Now, however, since Finn is a full-grown toddler, he still occupies most of my home time. Luckily, for you, this is all you've known so you're in a much better place to accept the divided attention. I do enjoy the time we spend together after Finn and Mommy go to sleep, even if I do wish to be asleep with them.

Finn is a trip, an annoying, frustrating, amazing, beautiful trip. He can simultaniously have me on the verge of anger and laughter. We never know what he's going to come up with next. Potty training - enough said.

Andrea's doing an amazing job balancing being a mom of two, graduate student, and wife. She doesn't get much (if any) time to herself, but doesn't appear to hold it against any of us (much). She continues to grow in her faith every day, and that makes me very happy. She'll be done with her Master's degree this May and will graduate. That also makes me very happy and I can't wait to see her "walk". She started back running this past weekend with a slow 2-mile run/walk around Shelley Lake. She'll be good to go, pushing both boys in the double jogger in no time (well, at least when the weather warms up.)

I haven't been running much, but I have been some. The Uwharrie 40 miler is coming up this weekend and even though I'm not in very good shape, I've been too preoccupied and sleep deprived to worry about it. It will be a good, long day on the trail at one of my favorite races.

We're getting our finances in order. Though we're probably not in bad shape (comparatively) overall, we never really thought about what was possible, just accepted what was. Mark's message at Church on 1/23 (in the "This Is It" series) about money really opened our eyes. We've made pretty good strides in the short amount of time since then and now have our eyes focused on getting totally out of debt. It will take several years to pay off our mortgage, but we're together in it and will do it. Short term sacrifice, long term peace.

I started the year with two resolutions/goals. The first was to stop reading the "comment" section after articles. I used to get mad over the stupidity of some uninformed comments that amounted to nothing but gossip, heresay, or outright dumbness. The same goes for internet message boards. To that end, I've done very well and have kept the resolution so far. I honestly think it's made me a bit less cynical and angry, too.

The other resolution/goal was physical. I didn't set any running goals this year, because I had no idea what I'd be able to fit into my new family schedule. So, the goal I set was to do 10,000 pull-ups during the year. The only one of the 6 goals I didn't meet last year was a single set of 20 pull-ups. I figured this was a good goal to meet that end. It does help that I have a pull-up bar in my back yard and it's much easier to sneak out to do a couple sets of 10 than it is to go run for half an hour, so it's an appropriate goal for the time being. I did 1,050 in the month of January and increased my max set from 13 to 17. If I keep that up, I should be at 20 sometime in March.

I'm in love with the idea of being a one-car household. Prior to this week, we had three, so we weren't even close. On Monday, however, I posted a for sale ad for Andrea's old Tercel and by Monday evening I had cash in my pocket and we were down to two cars. This matched up well with our debt-elimination goal. So, now we have two cars, and I'm commuting by bus/foot/bike to work in the hopes of cutting out dependence on my car. I just hope it gets a little lighter and warmer in the mornings so I can bike in easier. Maybe we'll be able to get rid of my car at some point, but even if we don't, I'd like to be used to getting by if something should happen to it (it does have a lot of miles on it.)

I've been thinking a lot about simplifying my life and find that that philosophy has some spiritual grounds as well. The less complicated life is, the more time can be spent on important things, relationships (family and friends), work, rest, and recreation, all while keeping God first. I'm not going to dive into that here, but I've found that simplifying things makes life a whole lot less stressful. At the same time, it makes life a whole lot more satisfying as the important things get the life-affirming attention they need.

Our racing team recently had a divorce from it's main sponsor of the last 6 years or so. It's a change for sure, and like all change, it is uncomfortable, but it was a good thing. The result is that the old sponsor started up a team while the old "team" moved under new sponsorship. On this issue, I've gone back and forth, multiple times. I haven't prayed about it, per se, but I've thought about it a lot and have come to a conclusion I'm content with and will thusly move. (Again, not something to dive into here.)

I was Baptised back in November, (in case you forget.) Church is a place (and group) that I now love to be. We go to the most amazing Church with some of the best people I've ever met. The best thing is how welcoming everyone is. Growing up, we never really went to a church where people interacted outside of the 9-10 service, but this is totally different. We're friends with these people and we actually care about each other, (not just on facebook, either). It's been such a difference being involved and meeting people and has helped deepen and strengthen my faith (which was pretty non-existent up to four years ago.) Though physically I'm the same, I'm a significantly different person than I was back then. I see things differently, see people differently. Life is way less complicated when you follow the rules set out by God through Jesus Christ. Not necessarily easier, but way less complicated and less stressful. What a better place this world would be if Truth were a little higher on everyone's to-do list.

If you're still with me, thanks, it's been fun giving you an update, I hope to be a more frequent poster over the next couple months, updating on topics addressed here and others as they arise.

Brad

Frosty Fifty Race Report

2011-01-10T05:23:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to file about Saturday's race to cover the basics...

13 minute pr, 8th place finish in 3:49:19 (don't get excited for me...old pr was set 7 years ago)

Good first half, faded in the second...1:46 vs. 2:03

First ultra since September, so part of that fade was inevitable, especially when my first two miles were covered in 13:11....damn flat course.

Legs were well rested...the rest of me, not so much.

Two weeks off, one with the flu, a sinus infection, 10 days of antibiotics and a sorry 5 mile "race" last weekend...

No real hard or long workouts within the last month...

Now just have to get over the soreness and get ready for Uwharrie...

2011 the year of flexibility

2011-01-03T07:32:00.000-08:00

What??!! Is Brad going to start stretching and doing yoga? Uh, no. I'll blog on that on April 1st.

The year of flexibility...meaning my year with plans of grandeur have been met with an infant who may or may not sleep, a toddler who may or may not push all the right (or wrong) buttons, and a wife who may need help more than I need a long run.

So, this year, I resolve to be more flexible. I know that face time is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing I can give my family this year (and every year actually, but I think this is uber critical this year with the addition). So, if I miss a run because of that, okay. If I'm slower at my races (that I'm fortunate enough to get to do), okay.

In fact, it might be a good thing to back off from fully structured (haha, yeah, like I ever did that to begin with) training and just do what I feel like when I can. It might prolong my "career" a few more years.

Wow

2010-12-17T17:33:00.000-08:00

Our family unit is now complete...

Liam Eli was born on Monday and is a whopping four days old. He's amazing, Andrea's amazing, Finn is amazing, I'm beat.

Andrea gets to have all the fun with the new baby while I entertain a sick toddler. Something about her not being able to crawl through all his little pop-up tents just yet landed me the job by default.

Life is good. Life is amazing. I thank God every day (or try to remember to) for all of my blessings, most I don't deserve.

If any of you had bets on me running well this winter/spring, you've now got time to revise those bets. I doubt I'll run a whole lot for a while. Motivation has gone out the window quicker than summer went this year. Two children, a healing wife, and a nagging cold (thanks, Finn) have me coventing sleep more than anything else. Maybe it's not a bad thing. I had a good string of four solid running weeks. Maybe four weeks off will have me in tip-top shape. Probably not though.

The importance of running for racing sake just got bumped down a notch. And I couldn't be happier about it.

Dog Head Loop

2010-12-06T11:07:00.001-08:00

That's what I'm calling Saturday's 25 mile adventure. Why? Well, because it looks like a dog's head. Duh.

Out of the possible 5 other runners for the run, they cancelled one by one until I was left with a "I'll run half with you..." and "I might be there if I wake up in time..."

Knowing that Tim said he'd meet me at mile ten was enough to get me out of bed at 0500 to make coffee. Knowing that Dan was, at best, a possible, and might have met me at mile 2, wasn't enough to keep me from starting early. I headed out the door at 0545 to begin the run in the cold darkness. My route took me up Six Forks Road, crossing over I-540, where I looked for Dan's car. I smartly wore my headlamp and it was a good thing because there was no shoulder and a lot more traffic than I though there would have been.

The first six miles on the road were pretty uneventful and passed easily. I got to the trailhead a little ahead of daylight, but started on the trail anyway. Slowly. I decided to take a short walk-break and eat a gu to keep my energy up in case Tim was feeling good (and was, in fact there to meet me). The first 3 mile trail section went pretty well, and I was about 10 minutes early to mile 10. I exited the MST onto Possum Track Road and walked the length to the next trail section while I kept alert for Tim. I didn't have to wait too long until he pulled up.

Unfortunately, his company bailed on him, opting for a shorter and later run, but we got along well and started running and catching up. The trail, though covered with leaves, was in really good shape and we made good time on each trail section. I wish there was more to share about it, but it just kind of rolled along. We made it to the Falls Lake Dam visitor's center and filled up bottles and I ate another gu. We cut through the Dam trails and made it out to Falls of Neuse Road. I made a mistake here, which had us run along the road instead of back through the park access road. It didn't do much for our milage, but had us running on a narrow shouldered roadway with traffic that just didn't feel like slowing down much. We were mostly without incident, though, and reached the treatment plant and a nice, wide sidewalk.

We were moving pretty well, still, though Tim's hip was giving him some trouble. We ended up walking most of the last mile and a half, but made it hope prior to my 1000 time limit. I would guess my "running" time for the 25 mile loop was under 4 hours, but I never stopped my watch, so I really don't know (nor do I know the exact milage.) What I do know is that it was a really nice loop to run, and I plan on doing it several more times this winter. Tim's company was nice to have, and if anyone else want's to run with me next time, I'd welcome you along too.

b

Saturday's Run

2010-11-30T07:52:00.001-08:00

Saturday's Run

Racing in 2011

2010-11-29T10:41:00.000-08:00

I fully expect my life in 2011 to be a bit more chaotic than it was in 2010, and therefore my racing frequency will be a lot less. That said, I've decided on a pretty good schedule that will take me through the better part of the year. Here goes:

1/8 Frosty 50k in Winston-Salem. My 50k pr is 4:02 from seven years ago and is due for a revision. I hope to run a fast one here.

2/5 Uwharrie 40M. This will be my 9th time at this event, my first ultra back in 2002. I've been 2nd the last two years and would love to improve this year, but sort of depends on who else shows up.

3/20 Tobacco Road Marathon. First shot at a sub 2:50 marathon. Local race and I've got some friends coming down to help me out (and vice versa).

4/10 Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon. A TAF-sponsored race and a new course this year (maybe the old Carraba's half course???)

5/1 Flying Pig Marathon. Second springtime shot at a sub 2:50 marathon. Will visit family as well.

6/11 Boogie. I hope to be on my last lap as I turn 33. This race is brutal in many ways.

9/17 North Coast 24. Hoping for something big here.

That wraps it up. I'll do a few more races in the fall (Hinson Lake, City of Oaks, Derby), but I'm not looking past NC24. That's my A-race it could be interesting...

Average Week

2010-11-22T05:15:00.000-08:00

I was curious about what an average week is for me (since I do get that question quite a bit), so I looked back at what I've done so far this year and here's what I found.

- over the 46 weeks this year, I've averaged exactly 50 miles per week.
- my weekly high is 114 miles (with a 100 mile race)
- my weekly low is 0 (after the long week above)
- my daily averages are: M-3, T-7, W-5, Th-6, F-4, Sa-16, Su-9

I thought the daily averages could have been a little misleading since my weekends are artificially high because of long races and weekdays are likewise, low, due to the inclusion of taper and rest days following the weekend races. A more appropriate average week might be for me to look at the year without including weeks with long races and the week after (where I usually do no running). Doing this, I found the following:

- over the 41 weeks, the average drops slightly to 48.5
- the weekly high is 100 miles (no race)
- the weekly low is 9, when I was having some knee trouble in late May
- the daily averages now are: M-4, T-7, W-5, Th-7, F-4, Sa-12, Su-10

A couple observations about this...

- the daily weekday averages stay about the same, hmmm ?
- the weekend averages are more even between the two days, suggesting that I do my long runs almost equally on Saturday as on Sunday. this is quite accurate and is primarily a function of having a 2-year old and an unpredictable schedule, partly dependant upon him. in addition, long races, marathon and above, but less than 50, are equally as likely to be on Saturday as Sunday.

I guess my weekly "average" schedule looks similar to some training programs out there...?

Looking forward to my average "4 miler" today!

Words of Wisdom

2010-11-18T06:26:00.000-08:00

Slow Fade by Casting Crowns:

Be careful little eyes what you see
It's the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings
Be careful little feet where you go
For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade

Be careful little ears what you hear
When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near
Be careful little lips what you say
For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day

The journey from your mind to your hands
Is shorter than you're thinking
Be careful if you think you stand
You just might be sinking

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
Daddies never crumble in a day
Families never crumble in a day

Oh be careful little eyes what see
Oh be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above is looking down in love
Oh be careful little eyes what you see

VD50K11112010NCSC2OECC....

2010-11-16T04:47:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday, Veteran's Day, we band of brothers, ran from Raleigh to Chapel Hill. While I would love to say that we carried American Flags the whole way, we didn't. We also didn't quite make it 50 kilometers. We didn't start on time either, nor did we end at the Open Eye Cafe in Carrboro. Man, all that stuff you didn't do...what did you do?

Well, thanks for asking! On Thursday morning, I woke up at 4:30, made coffee, ate a small breakfast and drove to Chapel Hill, where I met Ronnie and Joe (though Joe was late, hence the late start). We left their cars at Meadowmont and piled into the Tercel for the LONG drive to Raleigh. I managed to get us downtown, parked, and ready to run by 6:30.

The route we would take was straight for 11 miles, from the Capital Building west on Hillsborough Street, continuing on to NC 54 through Cary, turning left on Morrisville Parkway, dodging over to NC 55, O'kelly Chapel Road, NC 751, Stagecoach, Farrington, Barbee Chapel, and the final stretch back on NC 54 to Raleigh Road and up the hill to campus at UNC. (Our ending point was revised to the Bell Tower at UNC after finding out my Dad could pick us up at the top, saving us about 20 minutes.)

The first section through Raleigh was nice, though we got caught at a couple early red lights. We ran past the Bell Tower while the ROTC Units were honoring Veteran's Day, on past Campus, the Waffle House, and the Fairgrounds. We had sidewalks to run on for the first five miles or so before we got onto Chapel Hill Road, where we were relegated to the shoulder. Unfortunately, there was more traffic than I thought there would be, but we didn't have any close calls and most of the traffic was courteous.

Mile 7 saw us enter Cary where we enjoyed a few short stretches with sidewalks, but mostly we just ran on the shoulder, me setting the pace and Joe and Ronnie easily following. Mile 11 had us at our first turn, and a good spot for a break. We stopped at the convenience store at the corner of NC 54 and Morrisville Parkway and rested and had a snack. The next two miles on Morrisville Parkway were nice, we had sidewalk the whole way and our mood was light and pace easy. It was a little after 8:00, and the weather was perfect. We made a couple more turns and found our way to NC 55, where we had an ugly mile stretch...fast traffic, stiff breeze, and littered shoulder.

Luckily, this didn't last too long, and we turned left onto O'Kelly Chapel Road at mile 17 for a nice, rural, four mile stretch. We walked up the first hill, then ran the remainder. Close to the end of this section, I found an arrow...a practice-tip, hunting arrow...buried 4" into the ground. It kind of made me uncomfortable knowing that someone was slinging arrows that errantly where we were running...

Anyway, yes, I picked it up and ran the rest of the way with it. We had a busy stretch along NC 751, but it lasted less than 2 miles and we turned off, onto Stagecoach, and that was a little quieter. We were nearing mile 23 at that point and we were all getting a big hungry and thirsty. The morning was getting on, too, so we decided to revise our plan slightly. Instead of running to the Bell Tower and back to Meadowmont for 50k, we would run through Meadowmont and see if Dad was there. If he was, we'd leave our stuff with him, run to the Bell Tower, and have him meet us at the top. That's how it ended up working out. We dropped our bottles and extra clothes and ran the last 3ish miles up to the 'Hill. Dad picked us up and brought us back to Meadowmont where we enjoyed a great lunch at Five Guys Burgers and Fries.

Our running time, time without the rest breaks, was 4:25 for the 29 miles. The total time was close to 4:45 for the effort. This was a very cool run and fun experience. Very good practice for when I run across the country...

Special thanks to Ronnie and Joe for running with me, to Dad for picking us/me up and for buying lunch, and to Andrea for letting me enjoy the Holiday outside with friends.

Pacing City of Oaks

2010-11-08T05:44:00.000-08:00

This was the 4th marathon I've paced and quite possibly the most enjoyable of them all.

A quick run down...I paced my first marathon at Thunder Road in 2008, the 3:15 group and finished in 3:14:XX...successful. My second one was last year at City of Oaks, where I paced the second half of the 4:15 group. We finished in 4:14:XX, successful as well. Three weeks ago, I paced the 3:00 group at the Des Moines Marathon, and though I fell off a bit in the last couple miles, most of my guys went on to go sub-3:00, so it was great.

Yesterday was just better, for many reasons. I worked at the Pacer Booth in the expo for two hours on Saturday and met a few runners who hoped to run with me, as their goal was 3:30. I woke up early Sunday and drove over to pick up my parents and brother, who were running as well. We made it through traffic and into a nice, cozy parking space at Centennial Campus around 6:20. Matt (brother and 5:00 pacer) and I walked over to the pace tent to meet the crowd. A few minutes prior to the start, we took our balloons and signs and lined up in the corral. We took some time to meet those who hoped to run with us, in order to help meet their goals. I had a pretty big group, maybe a dozen runners or so, and I tried to reassure them that we'd get it done.

The race started and right away, we went up the hill to mile 1. The City of Oaks course is not an easy one, with hills all the way through it. We hit the first mile in 7:58 or so, right on pace. I felt good about this because the effort was easy and my legs felt good. We ran downhill on Western Blvd then up Ashe Ave to mile 2. We hit mile 2 in around 15:45, so a little quick, but we were all feeling good. Miles 3 and four were a little easier around downtown, but soon we began our way up through Cameron Village and slowed our pace accordingly. We hit mile 5 in around 39:20 and 10k in around 48:45. From the 10k mark, the next several miles were flat and easy as we headed out towards Blue Ridge Road (and the highest point on the course). Some of our group turned around at the 8.5 mile mark (those running the half), but we still had 10 or so with us as we hit the Art Museum and Reedy Creek Road.

We stayed together pretty well as we hit the hilly section of Ebenezer Church Road and got to the 15 mile mark, at 1:59:01. This was the far point on the course, all we had to do then was get back to the finish. I always feel refreshed as I run in Umstead but focused on keeping a steady pace, instead of pushing like I felt like doing. We talked a little bit in our group and I found out that one of the guys running with me had run the Umstead 100, back in 2007 (though he was from Mass.). Another guy was from Orlando but was handling the hills well.

I think miles 18.5-20.5 are the toughest on the course as that is the climb out of Umstead back up to Blue Ridge Road. True to form, our group shattered on this section and I arrived at Blue Ridge with two guys left. We hit mile 21 and had about 43 minutes to arrive before our 3:30 goal, so we just focused on maintaining our pace. We cruised on down Hillsborough Street where I tried to share some stories on living in Raleigh and the connections I have to places that we passed. (The Indian buffet is really good...delivered pizza there for years...great coffee there...Hillsborough Street reconstruction project...etc.)

We got to mile 24, then the Bell Tower with a nice downhill. One of my guys dropped back slightly, the other picked up his pace, but I kept it steady. I made the right turn onto Western Blvd and caught up to Julie right before mile 25. She was/is 22, from NY and was running her first marathon. Though she was struggling with the final uphill, I asked her to run with me and, reluctantly, she agreed. I tried to take her mind off of her misery by telling her things about Raleigh, NCSU, and my running. She took one more walk break before Centennial Parkway, then we ran the rest of the way in to the finish with the clock showing 3:27:55.

I waited in the finishing chute to congratulate the other members of my pace group as they individually crossed the line, many of them with new pr's or goals met. It was an extremely rewarding experience. I caught up with Mom and after we went to get coffee, we waited for Dad and Matt to finish while we enjoyed cheering for the other finishers.

The course was tough, but the weather was awesome. I'm thankful that I got to be a part of the event and to share some miles with runners I didn't know until yesterday. Though each one of them that ran with me ran on their own legs, it feels good to know that I might have helped a few of them make it through a little better or faster.

The History Channel...part 1

2010-11-02T06:00:00.001-07:00

I've been racing for almost 11 years now and have recently been thinking about some of the things I've had the pleasure of doing. I've kept pretty good track of the races I've done, and think I'm only missing 3 or 4 from my record book.

The very first race I ever did was the Run for Roses back in 1998 or '99. I ran it in the "non-competetive" class, meaning my time wasn't recorded, but I remember it being around 24-25 minutes. Later on that year, I ran a 5k at Carter Finley Stadium with my dad, the Dog Days 5k. We were almost last out of a very small field (like 40 people), but I remember seeing my roommate from App there, Joel. He finished in the top few that race. In September '99, I ran my longest race ever, a half marathon at Camp Lejeune. The thing I'll remember about that one is running with my old "surfer" watch, a watch with hands, not a digital display. It was still relatively easy to see that I kept to my planned 10 minute per mile pace, though, and I finished that one in around 2:10.

The following year is when I met Andrea and we did our first race together. I have photographic proof that I did beat her in the Run for Roses 5k. She says she let me win, I could bench almost 300 pounds, I think I was just stronger in the end. Anyway... Later on that Spring I ran the European Cross Country 10k at Camp Lejuene. Andrea visited me on Spring break and we went down to Wilmington to run the Shamrock 5k. I hung with her for the first half, but she dropped my once we hit the halfway mark (and the sand). I don't think I ran anything else that spring or summer until the Carraba's half marathon that fall. I ran that and the Marine Corps Half again then followed them up with the Old Reliable Run 10k and a 2-person relay (with Andrea) at the Raleigh Marathon (the year it got postponed due to anticipated snow).

Thus ends my first 2-3 years of running history...

Ryan Hall

2010-10-26T06:14:00.000-07:00

Why do so many people have strong opinions about Ryan's recent decision to leave his coach to try coaching himself? Most of the opinions that I've read have been negative, months before his first race under his new system. I've read a lot of attacks on his faith, too, which is disappointing.

I agree that Ryan leaving the Mammouth Track Club and Terrance Mahon is news. It is news because it is "new". Let's leave it at that. So he's going to coach himself, so what? Who else knows more about Ryan and the way he feels than he does? (nobody) Trust me on this, after 14 years, give or take, of daily running and training, there aren't too many things that he hasn't been exposed to. He knows what training (effort) got him to his 59 minute half marathon and 2:06 marathon.

He's hardly "over the hill", "washed up", or "finished". The guy's 27 years old. Please let him try something new and see whether it works FOR HIM. That's the only way he will ever know. (and us too.)

Perhaps he'll set a new record. Or perhaps not. Perhaps he'll win Boston. Perhaps not. With all the things going on in the world and life, why do people care so much and why are they so critical about what someone else is doing? Especially, something as simple as running.

I admire Ryan Hall because he does something I can't, and he does it with grace and humility. I'm glad to hear him talk about wanting to win a race before the race. Otherwise, what's the point of "racing"? He should want to win. He's a professional runner. He gets paid to race.

I think that when it all boils down, those who are really critical of Ryan's life (race schedule, frequency, results, coach), are merely jealous of the gift he has. And jealousy stinks. It is HIS gift, given to him by God, and is HIS gift to use as he is called.

I, for one, applaud his decision to try something new. If it works out, all the better. If not, he'll find out, and can grow from the experience. I hope he succeeds, and wish him nothing but the best. When he's on his game, his running is beautiful to watch.

I will end by urging the jury to wait for all the facts before casting a verdict. Let's see how his decision pans out before rendering him guilty. We may, very well, be surprised by the outcome.

Good year... (CAUTION: Random Post)

2010-10-21T09:39:00.001-07:00

This has been a really good year. There are lots of reasons for this and these reasons span several aspects of my life. I feel a tremendous blessing in and on my life right now. I have an inner peace that I don't think I've ever had before. God is working in my life and I'm eternally (pun intended) grateful for it. I see things differently, but that's fairly easy to do once all the complications of living in this world are stripped away.

I think the reasons for this are pretty straight-forward. First of all, I am comfortable with God being in my life. I've accepted all of my past shortcomings and have moved on, new. So, step one was accepting God.

The second step in me having this peace is that we got rid of our cable tv back in March. I don't miss it at all. I was a little nervous as football season approached, wondering what I'd do from September through January on the weekends, but I've been able to sneak a game in here or there when I got the chance. Other than that, I don't even think about watching tv anymore. Nowadays, it takes us upwards of three weeks to find time to fit in our recent Netflix arrival. That's a good thing. So, step two was removing a major distraction.

The third step is having replaced tv watching with reading a book, doing a puzzle, going for an evening run, cleaning up the house a little, or just spending time with Andrea. Sure, sometimes we're too tired to fully clean up, and that's ok, but more often than not, the dishes get washed, toys get picked up, and the next day is just a little nicer because of it. Recently I've been reading more of the Bible before bed. One of the things I like about it, besides the guidance on how to live, is that I can read a little or a lot and still get plenty of good guidance. I've made the decision to live my life according to the words and teachings in the Bible, so I should probably "read the fine print", right? So, step three was being more productive with the things that actually do matter.

I guess those are all the "steps" making up change in my/our life this year. There is one other big change that began back in March and will come to fruition in December. The addition to our family is eagerly awaited, but we're no where near ready. (Isn't that usually the case?) We're all excited about the new arrival, but only Andrea and I are dreading the zombie-like nature of the first few months. Finn doesn't really know what it's going to be like (and I suppose, neither do we), but he seems to be ready for a new "toy", so that's good. We think he'll make a great big brother.

I had a job change back in April and am in a much better place now than then. The work environment here is productive, encouraging, and family-like. The one I escaped from seems to be sinking even faster now and I feel for my friends who are still there. I hope they're able to find a nice, dry place to jump from the sinking ship onto.

My running has been going pretty well, too. I've hashed out a lot of my race results in this blog already, and don't intend to do so again, but I'm in much better shape than I was last year. I'm more happy about being healthy all this year. I had a brief bout of "runners knee" in late May, but I got over that quickly enough to do well at Mohican and haven't had any more trouble since.

I don't really know that there's a point to this post, but I'm really excited about what the future holds for me, both in the rest of this year, and into next. I'm working on a big plan for the first quarter of the year, but have to keep quiet on it for now, until I work out the details a little more.

People can and do change. I've changed, but not without help from God. I hope and pray he continues his work in me until it's done, as he has promised.

Umm, if you're still reading...thanks! (Sorry that there wasn't something more entertaining for you to read out there.)

Dad

2010-10-18T16:16:00.000-07:00

Finishing up mile 1,310 in Des Moines!

Hinson Lake 2010

2010-09-27T17:17:00.001-07:00

Hinson Lake 2010, or "That's not exactly what I had in mind."

To make a short story, short. I quit at 100km at around 11 hours or so. At the time I was in 3rd place, but to be honest, I wasn't really in a competitive mood all day.

I guess the disappointment in stopping early was mostly to be blamed on not really having a goal going into the race, other than finishing the 61 miles to achieve 500 race miles around the lake (in 5 years).

Andrea reminded me that shortly after the 2009 version I mentioned going there this year with the sole purpose of finishing the 500, sort of a reward for 4 prior years of a bunch of discomfort. I told Andrea on Sunday, that even though I was disappointed in having stopped early, I didn't regret my decision for a second. I also said, truthfully, that had I stayed out there and left her with a 2 hour drive, alone, with an over-tired and hungry 2 year old, I would have regretted that. I know she could have handled it, but it wasn't fair. It's just one of those things; was just one of those days, weekends, races, where frustrations resulting from situations out of our control made it obvious that being a supportive husband and father was much more important than continuing to run laps around a lake.

There will always be more races, but I'm happy that for once, I took the non-selfish way out. In no way, shape, or form am I making an excuse for why I left early. Truth be told, I was having a pretty good race. Stuck to an awesome run/walk schedule from the very beginning (one that I can't wait to try out again), stayed on top of my nutrition, and aside from some chaffing, was in pretty good shape. I just wasn't really into it. I think getting some perspective from Doug helped. Completing the Leadville 100 was one of my goals for the year. Completing my 500th mile at Hinson Lake was one of my goals this year. I didn't have a goal for anything more than that, so I'm not really disappointed. I'm actually excited...to be done with all my long races for the year and still be healthy! My knees don't even hurt!

Mohican, Leadville, and a big day at Hinson Lake were probably too close for me and the mileage I run. Even though I felt pretty recovered, I don't think I'm mentally back 100% yet. That's ok. I'll get there soon.

Before I complete this, I have to give another shout out to Tom and Co. They did an amazing job, once again. I was truly humbled and honored by the recognition for my 500th mile. I really want to thank Irene for the beautiful pottery piece she gave me to honor that feat.

Oh, and even though this isn't the place for it, watching Mike Morton run 153 miles out there was, without a doubt, the most amazing running feat I've ever witnessed. It was incredibly inspiring and I really, really hope he is selected for, can run, and does run for the USA in Switzerland next year.

Boogie Man 140.6 (from June 2009)

2010-09-22T05:23:00.000-07:00

I don't think I ever posted this here, but re-read it this morning and got a kick out of it and so I thought I'd share...

Boogie Man 140.6

I’ve struggled a little about what to call Saturday’s event. This goes back four or five years when we were first kicking around the idea of adding a swim and bike before the Boogie race to make it an iron-distance event. Just this morning, I think I decided on the “Boogie Man 140.6”. We were going to go with “Boogie Ironman”, but figure there are copyright issues, yada-yada-yada. I can (proudly, if I was that kind of guy) say that this event now has only one finisher. It was a long day, and I have a feeling this writing will be indicative of that. You’ve been warned.

I was going to run the Boogie this year, all 50 miles of it, in my quest to win? the “What’s the Point Race”. But, Sean heard my plan, and remembered our discussions of making the Boogie Marathon into an iron-distance tri and talked me into it. After he signed up for the marathon, I knew he was in, and emailed Doug to switch me to the marathon. It was a good thing, as my brother, Matt, my Dad, and brother-in-law, Rupert, were also running the marathon. It was going to be Rupert’s first marathon, having been talked into it by Doug. (He’ll do anything for a free shirt).

So, then I got to thinking about if I knew anyone else mentally off center who would want to join us. Picked G.I. Joe and he said, “dude, heck yeah”, or something like that, and so we were at three. Along the way of planning, we got a little interest from people who wanted to do the bike part, but closer to go-time, things came up. So, as of the Thursday there were three of us set to do it. Then on Friday, Sean found out he had a shoulder injury and now it was just Joe and I. Joe, Andrea, Finn and I had homemade pizza and ice cream birthday cake for dinner on Friday night and made final preparations for the next day’s event. With fingers crossed that Finn would sleep well, we crashed out at around 10:00 (he slept great!).

The alarms went off at 6:00 and the coffee was brewed and enjoyed. Final good lucks were wished and Joe and I set off for Sean’s. Even though he wouldn’t join us, he allowed us to use the 25 meter pool at his townhouse. 2.4 miles (3900 meters) is a long way in a pool, in case you were wondering. So, right at 7:00 (according to the official time, on my watch), we pushed off. The swim went slowly, of course, but went by fairly easily. We got a little nervous around 8:00 when the local swim club was getting ready for a practice swim meet, but they just moved us into one lane for the remainder of our swim. Joe finished a few minutes ahead of me, but we were both out of the pool and at Sean’s for transition by 9:00.

We had a purposefully slow transition as we had to make sure we had everything we needed for the point-to-point ride since we wouldn’t be seeing this stuff until after the event. On the bikes at 9:30 for a short ride to McDonalds for a nutritious delicious breakfast of sausage and egg biscuits. Up Lake Boone Trail, we rode, and were finally underway. We rolled on through western Raleigh, through Downtown Cary, through Holly Springs and into Fuquay-Varina. From there, we headed west on NC 42 and that took us to Mark Hall’s place and the half way point at about 1:10 or so. Joe began really suffering at about 35 miles or so from the heat and we cooled off and refueled at Mark’s for a good 20 minutes or so. Mark’s wife, Hillary, and Mark had baked some amazing sourdough bread that morning and it was enjoyed with butter and strawberry jam. Reluctantly, we headed back out on the road, but had Mark along to act as a guide to get us back on route, since we ventured off to make it by to see him and his beautiful family.

Mark guided us about 10 miles or so and Joe didn’t really feel any better so we came up with a contingency. I would ride with Joe to Carthage (mile 73), then leave him there to recover and Andrea would pick him up on her way down to the Boogie. Joe was pretty wasted at this point, but hoped that an hour eating and drinking in some nice air conditioning would help him recover in time for the Boogie (in three hours).

So, I climbed back on my bike to finish what I started. I rolled south on US 15-501 and turned right on NC 73, which I would follow all the way to Ellerbe. I hit out pretty aggressively since I was getting nervous about the amount of miles and lack of time I had left before the 6:00 p.m. start of the marathon. I was suffering pretty good at West End where I made my last pit stop of the ride, and then hit some more hills.

Back in 2005 when I did this ride before, I was in much better cycling shape and maybe I didn’t notice how hilly the route was. I think, more likely, that I just forgot how hilly it was; the only way I would ever do it again.

This time, in addition to the hills and heat, I think I had a nice headwind (isn’t that usually the case on long solo rides?). That didn’t do much to help my mood. I finally made it to Business 220 and saw Andrea coming back to check on me. We talked a bit at the Rest Area and I decided I probably had enough time to get to the start. Off again, through Ellerbe, then west. I was finally on the last stretch of the bike portion. Up two more short, steep hills, then one long climb up to the church for a small round of applause. I had about 15 minutes before the start so I changed clothes then checked in with the RD. Doug called me up in front of the gathered crowd to present me with the Lassiter Award, for Mangum Track Club members, this award is an amazing honor and privilege. I was still feeling the heat effects and was a little dizzy so had a hard time standing to accept it. I finally sat down while Doug gave the group a little of my background.

Back to the mission at hand, I filled up my bottles with cold water and Gatorade. (I had been drinking warm water all day) and the cold version tasted so good! We lined up, a big gun was fired, and we were off. Twenty six miles to go and six hours to do it, was all I had left. I vowed to run slowly and just wanted to finish. I ran for a bit with my brother, dropped back to run with my Dad for a bit, then dropped back even further. Eventually, I caught a group of 50 milers (SOFRB, or “guys you’d never want to get into a fight with”) who were taking it easy and enjoying the easy, early miles. I spent some time getting to know Ivan Castro and catching up with the Dummars. I ran the rest of the first loop with this group. Early on in the second loop, maybe mile 12, I caught up to Rupert. He is NOT a runner, but was killing the course. He had hit a major low and was talking of quitting at the end of the 6 mile loop. It was an easy decision, at that point, to stick with him and try to take his mind off how much it sucked. We walked and jogged for a bit, and spent some time with Lucinda. After the dog pen aid station, we joined up with Susan and she helped keep Rupert entertained enough so that when we finished mile 16, he wasn’t considering quitting anymore.

We saw Joe and my Dad, who both stopped at 16 miles, the heat having worked them over pretty good. Andrea joined us for the last 10 miles and we charged (well, Rupert charged, we just tried to keep up) down the big hill. We got to the bottom safely, and jogged to the turn around. Now we only had 8 to go. We walked a bit and jogged back to the bottom of the hill before walking back up to the church. Now, we only had one 6 mile loop to go.

Walk the ups and jog most else, is what we did for the next three miles to the dog pen. The guys working the aid station here are work buddies of Rupert and were pretty impressed with him having run 23 miles already. Doug was there checking on him and soon enough, we were climbing up the old dirt road (now asphalt). We caught up to Fred and Ivan and Ray on this section and Rupert just took off. Andrea and I thought he was going to pee or something, but we got kind of nervous when we didn’t see him. We started to run to catch him and had to work pretty hard. Well, we finally did catch him and he was walking again, uphill, uncertain of why he just sprinted away from us.

We got to the last right hand turn, and ran all the way up the last hill, through the chute, and stopped the clock at about 5:53, a good cushion on my self imposed midnight cutoff. Rupert finished his marathon and, I think, was really happy and proud about it. I finished my day, as well, and was happy to just sit down.

Matt had a great race (yeah, he kicked my butt, I’m the first to admit it) and finished in 4:40 or so; three weeks after running the Wickham Park marathon. Lots of good runners didn’t finish the race, as is the norm at the Boogie. There’s just something about the race, running 26.2 or 50 miles, starting at 6:00 p.m., on rural, hilly roads, shortish loops, passing your car each time, heat, humidity, darkness…

Finn was awake again at this point (he loves being outside, especially when there’s a lot going on.) We got the car packed (no small task with a crying, over-tired little boy), got the bikes loaded and were back on the road. I ended up driving the whole way back, pulling leg hairs out, one at a time, to stay awake (luckily, I had a lot, and still do). We got home at about 2:45 or so, were in bed by 3:00 and Finn woke us up at 7:45 Sunday morning. Luckily, we didn’t have much to do yesterday, so after we saw Joe off, we all took naps (or read, in Andrea’s case). I’m a bit sore this morning from the day, but mostly from the swim (shoulders and upper back) and bike (butt).

I love the Mangum Track Club events. I get to see some of my favorite people in the world and get to do things I love doing. Thanks, very much, to Doug Dawkins for making special finishers mugs for Joe, Sean, and I. Sorry I was the only one to get one. I drank my coffee yesterday morning out of mine! I also sincerely appreciate being honored with the Lassiter award, I’m going to find a good place for it at home. I don’t know the entire history of the award, but being called up in front of over a 100 runners has to be a big deal, especially for me.

Thanks also to Andrea and my mom for watching Finn and allowing me to do the Boogie Man 140.6, and to Sean for making the idea a reality this year. I guess the only way to top it is to add the full Boogie at the end, though I can’t imagine doing it next year, at this point. See you all next time!

-b

Hinson Lake Strategy Help

2010-09-17T04:15:00.000-07:00

I've run Hinson Lake each of the four years of the race. I've basically followed the same script each year. Run hard (for a 24 hour race) for the first 2-3 hours, totalling about 15-22 miles, then being sufficiently tired, slog through the afternoon warmth, and walk mostly at night, more or less, take whatever I can get after the first few hours. I think this year I should roll out a new strategy.

Any suggestions?

Oh, and don't bother about the "don't try something on race day that you don't do in training" mantra. I don't run 24 hours in training, so that's already shot. No idea is too crazy for consideration.

Thanks!

Upcoming

2010-09-09T05:27:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd throw an update out there for what I'll be doing the rest of the year...

This weekend, I'm running a 5k at North Hills on Saturday, followed by the Magnificent Mile the weekend after. It's a pretty fun road mile and hey, who loves a race that takes less than 6 minutes to run?! (Answer: me).

After that is the 5th Hinson Lake 24 Hour Classic and yes, I have been to the first four editions as well. This year, I'm aiming a little higher and hope to start the race a little smarter than in years past. Previously, I've done around 15 miles in the first 2 hours and have just gone downhill from there. This year, I think I'll try for around 13 in the first two which should leave me pretty good and warmed up (for the other 22 hours).

I'm going to reserve the right to chance my races around depending on how healthy (or not) I am coming out of Hinson Lake, but am then planning on the Bethel Half Marathon, Seaboard Festival 5k, City of Oaks Marathon (pacing the 3:30 group), Old Reliable 10k, and another short race or two, just for good measure.

December will see the arrival of our second "bundle of joy" and some well deserved rest time.

I'm taking bets on my final Hinson Lake mileage. My best there is 120... Any takers?

Am I getting worse?

2010-08-30T05:44:00.000-07:00

I just checked out my race results for the past several months and noticed an alarming trend... After finishing:

2nd at the Uwharrie 40 Miler in February, I finished
5th at the Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon in May, then
9th at the Mohican 100 Miler in June,
16th at the Catoctin 50k in July, and then
230th at the Leadville 100 Miler in August.

I'm not sure what kind of freaky curve (almost exponential) you can plot with those numbers (Meghan, can you help out? Note that Hinson Lake won't have 231 runners, so a trend that gets be back to 1 would be nice.), but if that's a trend, then my Hinson Lake race looks to be a disaster. Or, maybe I'll start a new trend. I like that idea much better.

Guess I'd better start training!

Leadville 100 Mile Trail Run, Race Across the Sky

2010-08-25T04:36:00.000-07:00

WARNING: THIS POST IS VERY LONG, HAS PICTURES TAKEN 3 YEARS AGO, AND USES "I" A LOT

I can't believe it's over already. I had thought about the race for nine months and now it's in the books. I guess that's just how life goes. I spent so much time thinking about the race, and then wishing it was over when I was doing it, that it's sort of only a fuzzy memory at this point.

Somehow, I convinced two of my friends, Brian and Richard to make the trip out with me. I figured that the more Carolinians we had the better our chances for finishing would be, right? We met up at the DIA and headed to Boulder where we'd stay with our MTC host, Dave. We had a great dinner, complete with free beer, at the Walnut Street Brewery then settled in for the night.

This is Dave, our host in Boulder.

Friday morning, we got up early and drove out to Leadville in time for the mandatory medical check and weigh-in. We collected our race numbers, shirts and other swag and then went for a drive to check out the Twin Lakes area of the course. We tooled around the rest of the morning and eventually were allowed to check into our room at the Silver King Inn. The rest of Friday included drop-bag preparation, pizza dinner, and some lite television.

I think we ended up waking at 2:30 Saturday morning and got a quick breakfast at the hotel. The Silver King really did us a service by hosting a runner's breakfast from 1:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m., which still sounds just wrong, but helped ease our minds before the race. After that, we headed over to "downtown" to find a place to park the car for the day. That done, we walked to the start and checked in, then headed back to the car to relax before the start.

It was cool, but not that cold in time for the 4:00 a.m. start. With over 650 runners, the streets were crowded in the small town, but we found a place in the front 200 or so. We started promptly at 4 and began our slow jog down, out of town. I tucked in behind the Kern brothers for the first several miles, which was a really good move. I met Stuart at Catoctin and this would be his 4th finish. It was also the be his brother Kris's 10th finish. With that record, I had confidence they knew what they were doing. My breathing stayed easy throughout the early morning hours and the effort was light. I had all day to finish the 100 miles and I planned on using all I needed.

Turqouise Lake and Leadville beyond

The first few sections were pretty uneventful. The run around Turquoise Lake was beautiful with the sun gradually coming out and the section of the Colorado Trail leaving May Queen was easy, even though up-hill. I jogged some on the Haggerman Pass Road but walked the rest of the way up Sugar Loaf. I caught back up to Stuart near the top and ran with him all the way down and into the Fish Hatchery. I didn't spend much time at the aid station and moved on towards the Halfmoon Road aid station. I had some old splits which had the distance at 7 miles between Fish Hatchery and Halfmoon, so I was disappointed when it took so long to reach it. That is, until I saw the sign indicating I had gone an extra 1.5 miles. The good news was that the next section into Twin Lakes was that much shorter.

Section of the Colorado Trail in an Aspen forest

River crossing after Twin Lakes, felt good on the dogs!

We hit the long downhill into Twin Lakes as the clock was approaching 7:30 race time, much faster than I had expected. I actually felt great at this point and didn't spend too much time at the aid station, though I should have taken more time to eat and drink before the long climb ahead. After cooling my feet in the streams in the valley, the long, hard climb up to Hope Pass began. I settled into a nice slow rhythm with a couple other guys. That climb, the length of it, the grade, and the altitude, was tough! I didn't think we'd ever get to the top. Eventually, we came out of the trees to the aid station located 3/4 mile from the top. These guys were really great. I got my bottles filled and had some soda and a bite to eat before starting up the last pitch to the top of the pass. I hiked slowly up to the top and finally made it. There was a cold wind blowing from the south so I didn't hang out too long.

Hope Pass somewhere up there

Looking back towards Leadville from Hope Pass

The back side of Hope Pass is steeper, though shorter, so I tried to run, as best as I could. Finally made it into the treeline and kept going down and down, passing other runners who were going back up. Nearing the bottom of the climb, I passed Brian who was on his way back up, having a great race. Finally hit the end of the trail and saw the Dewitt clan heading back over. I got to the long dirt road and walked the 2.x miles to the aid station; took about 40 minutes. The dust created by all the crew traffic was awful. Insult to injury, or something like that. I checked into the aid station at Winfield around 11:20, almost an hour ahead of where I wanted to, but I hadn't really pushed hard during the first half, so I was pretty happy with the time. Unfortunately, I wasn't too happy with how I was feeling. I was pretty tired from the climb, the lack of food I'd been eating, and the dehydration I was suffering. (I was down about 4 pounds at this weigh-in.)

Trail down the backside of Hope Pass, Note: it is much steeper than it appears

The aid station at Winfield was a miserable place to be. It was very hot in the tent, there were runners and pacers everywhere, the same stuff to eat and drink as I'd been eating and drinking for 11 hours and I was in a funk. I grabbed some stuff to eat and sat down, but that didn't last long as I didn't really want to hear all the chatter about "oh, I don't think I want to go back out there...", blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I grabbed my drink and food and started walking, officially farther than I made it in 2007.

I had only gone a quarter mile or so before I decided that if I wanted a chance at making it over the pass, I had to force some food down. I found a place to sit, though it was in the sun, and sat down to relax for a bit. I choked down a turkey and cheese wrap (about my billionth of the day), a gu, and a couple brownies, and once that was down, got up and walked on.

I hit the bottom of the climb at about 12:20, or so, into the race and was very happy to be off the dirt road. That happiness didn't last long as the climb began straight-away. So, the backside of the pass is supposed to be shorter and steeper, though climbs about 800' less. That SOB was hard. I caught up with Richard, about a half mile from the top, who was struggling with breathing. I didn't think I'd ever make it up. I take that back, I knew I'd make it up, I just didn't know when. Finally I got to where I could count down the switchbacks remaining and tried to focus on just getting to the next one. Then, I was at the top. I got emotional on the shuffle down. Not crying, because that usually requires tears and I couldn't summon any of those, but I was everything but. I thought about it later, and that's the first time that happened to me since my first Boston Qualifying marathon. There's just something about putting in so much physical work, to a point of absolute exhaustion, and knowing the goal has been met, that makes it all worth-while.

Goal having been met?, is what you're asking...but you still have 45 miles to go. Yeah, sure, but nothing that hard was left and I had plenty of time. How much time? Well, I got to the Twin Lakes 2 aid station at 15:20, so I had over 14 hours to go the 40 miles left. Twin Lakes 2 was another chaotic nightmare, but I got my drop bag and some soup to eat. I reached in my dropbag to pull out my headlamp for the next section, on which it would turn fully dark, and pulled out....nothing. Shit. Well, I still had an hour to go before dark, the moon would be almost full, and it was a clear night so I'd better just suck it up and march on. I headed up the trail from the aid station and apparently had forgotten how hard and long the downhill was I ran down earlier. I was reminded quickly. Nonetheless, the climb finally topped out and I had company on the trail so the light wasn't really an issue. In fact, even when it was dark out, I could still find my way along the trail without a light and since the section wasn't very rocky, it wasn't that bad. The one thing it did was force walking on me. In fact, once I hit the river crossing at mile 59, I didn't run another step in the race until I hit the red carpet at the end. Oh, I tried a few times, but gave up after a couple steps as the energy just wasn't there and the effort just wasn't worth it.

I knew it would take a long time to finish, but I had made my mind up early on in the race (or even before the race) that it was going to take something out of my control to force me to quit. So I trudged on, a mere ~3.5 miles per hour, and I eventually got there. The miles at night, though they went by slowly, were pretty low-key. I made it to the next aid station, and then the next (fish hatchery, mile 76), where I had an extra headlamp (the one I thought I had at mile 60). I put on some more layers at this aid station, for the coldest hours of the night were ahead. At this point, I had on, in addition to my race shorts and shirt, a long sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt, long pants, gloves and a hat. I had a fear of getting cold and not being able to generate enough body heat to keep warm.

The climb up the powerline to Sugar Loaf sucked, but it went and I made it to the top. The walk down the otherside was nice and easy and I eventually made it into the final aid station at May Queen. I sat down here for a few minutes and ate some soup, I think, and maybe another gu or gel. I left the aid station for the 13.5 mile walk to the finish at about 4:20 in the morning, while it was still very dark out. I walked and I walked, along Turqouise Lake. The hard thing about walking along the lake is that you could see Leadville off in the distance, which was comforting, but it took FOREVER to get there. I found myself getting very sleep at about 5:30 in the morning and couldn't focus on the trail. Twice, I had to pull over and sit down on a rock to close my eyes; only to be awoken by the first person by with an "you ok?" "yeah, was just trying to sleep, thanks, now I'm awake".

After the second time, I remember I had my ipod with me and turned it on for the first time. That made it a little easier to stay awake, and I walked on. The boat ramp came and went as the sun came up. The rest of the course went as well, it was just excruciatingly slow. We (the runners) finally hit the Boulevard (and the last 5k) and walked on. Made the left turn then the right turn on 6th Street and up the hill to where you can see the finish in the distance (half mile). I tried to run down the hill, but it just wasn't happening (chafing and blisters).

Long road home...

I couldn't hide my smile as I ran up the red carpet to the finish. I was so happy (and relieved) to be done. My finish time was 28:33, not my slowest 100 mile time, either. Results are here. I got my finishers medal and found Richard (who had dropped at mile 60). We hung out for a little bit and then went back to the hotel for a shower and nap.

We had to go to the awards ceremony, which sucked (but that's a whole other blog post), to get our finishers buckles and sweatshirts, then headed out of town, back to Boulder.

The guys from Carolina

Post-race, though I'm still suffering from the fatigue, my legs aren't really sore and I'm not injured, which I'm very happy about. I might even run a 5k on Saturday, just for kicks.

Leadville was one of my goals for the year, with the finish being the most important thing. I was surprised, and a bit disappointed at how little time it's taken for me to start thinking about going back, because I know I can run a lot faster on the course. However, that will be at least another 3 years down the road, once the new race management has time to show what they're going to go with the race.

I believe

2010-08-11T04:47:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about this on my runs and rides lately, a lot. What do I believe? The answer to that question probably says more about me than anything else, right? After all, it defines who I am.

There's no way I can sratch out a comprehensive list in one post, so I hope to make this sort of a series, when I feel like I've got enough to write about. So, without further ado...

I believe...

1) ...we are not all created equal. We are all created different, unique, with different spiritual gifts and talents that make us better suited for different endeavors as our life dictates. In addition, though we are not all created equal, we are all the same. Confusing, huh? Yeah.

2) ...those that HAVE are responsible for helping those who HAVE NOT. Those who HAVE NOT are also responsible for striving to help themselves.

3) ...running will not ruin my knees.

4) ...people drive way too fast, way too much, and with a severe lack of courtesy. It should be the "punishment" for people who are convicted of driving offenses, to be required to bike, whereever they go, for a period of a month (or more). It's at this "slow" speed that people can actually see what the consequences of their driving habits are.

5) ...contrary to what I thought for a long time, speed work is actually good for you. But running in the heat and humidity sucks.

6) ...cell phones and instant (and constant) communication are ruining the way we interact with each other.

7) ...that relationships are the only things that matter in this world. Our relationship with the planet, our relationship with friends, family, and strangers, and our relationship with God. Nothing else truely matters.

8) ...I can do anything that God's plan has for me to do. Winning the Boston Marathon doesn't look too likely at this point. I'm glad there's a Ryan Hall out there. (Old Dominion? Maybe)

9) ...I should probably do some work around the house this weekend.

10) ...(Mom would love this one) life is not fair. Never was, never will be. Fair is a weather condition and has nothing to do with the real world. Fairness, in life, is so unobtainable because it depends on people, who are imperfect and can never know everything. It's a good thing that our time here is temporary, right?

I'll stop at 10 now to give you time to digest. Reading back through them, it seems like I'm getting more spiritual as I get older. Guess it's just taken a long time to clear the fog off the glasses a little bit. For that, I'm thankful.

Hmm, maybe my next post will be about things I'm thankful for...

Catoctin 50k

2010-08-02T04:43:00.000-07:00

That was a hard race! I'm thankful now that I didn't go into it to "race", but rather to use it as my last long training run before pb-ville. The race is near Frederick, Maryland, sort of close to where JFK is. It is an out and back, that after a couple re-routes, was closer to 34 miles than 31.

The weekend started off pretty well. My buddy, Ronnie Weed, met me in Raleigh and we drove up to Maryland in the green car (13 year old toyota tercel). The only problem we ran into on the way up was heavy traffic between Richmond and DC that didn't really disperse until we got to I-495. We got up to Frederick alright and got settled into our hotel for a short night's sleep. (That short night's sleep was made even shorter when we found Gang Land on the History Channel. Ok, so neither Ronnie or I have cable and really never get to watch tv. We both fell asleep before the show ended at midnight.)

We devoured a continental breakfast of cereal, yogurt, and cinnimon pinwheels and headed up the mountain to the race start. We were hanging out listening to the Kevin Sayers give the pre-race briefing when he said, "ok, GO!". Damn, we really weren't prepared for that. We both took off at a hard run to try to get around some of the crowd in the parking lot loop before we hit the single-track. Luckily, Ronnie and I were able to move up pretty well and hit the trail for a long day of running. The course is mostly downhill for the first two miles and the guys around us really didn't hold much back.

Neither Ronnie or I were expecting much from the race as we both had other goals this summer (or not, in his case). After 3 or 4 miles of running behind three other guys, Ronnie passed them and pushed on. That early into the race, I was content to let the guys set the relaxed, steady pace they were on and stayed behind.

We hit the first aid station at mile 6 and I figured out where all the rocks came from. Stan Doubinis, the Massanutten RD was there! I quickly had my bottles filled and was on my way. The next section was a short 4 miles and seemed to be mostly downhill. I caught up with Army Ranger, Dan, and we ran together until just before the turn-around. The fellowship helped the miles pass easily and we soon reached the second aid station. With little fanfare, we continued on and finally came to the 2-mile downhill into the turnaround aid station. I bombed down this section and got to the aid station in around 3 hours. I piled a bunch of food in a cup and headed back out for the second half.

I was moving pretty well and hustled up the climb, in not a lot longer than it took me to get down. I caught up to Ronnie before the aid station and he was struggling pretty good with some foot/blister trouble. We hung out and cruised into the aid station with 9 to go. We relaxed here and continued on, eventually making it to the final aid station and 6 to go. Ronnie, Bill, and I quickly moved out again on the last section. The rocks had taken a toll on the guys and Ronnie's feet slowed him on the downhills while the effort slowed him on the uphills. I had fared better and was moving along well. (This is a good sign as my next race is a mere 3x the distance.)

At some point, on a long downhill, I turned around and Ronnie had been replaced by Stuart. We kept going, confident that Ronnie would make the finish in due time. Stuart and I talked a bunch, since we were both going to be at Leadville in 3 weeks. The last few miles went by pretty quickly (though not quickly enough), and we finished in 16th and 17th places (6:22 and 6:23).

Ronnie finished 10 minutes later and we rested and refueled at the Tea Room, proud of our new Cat Cards.

Besides the heavy, slow traffic on the way home, the rest of the trip back was uneventful (a good thing) and we were back in Raleigh around 9:30 Saturday night. Unfortunately, I was too tired to venture into downtown for the Raleigh Run. Next year!

DIY - Fitness Equipment

2010-07-27T05:46:00.000-07:00

With the reduction in the family budget as of two years ago, I had to let my gym membership lapse. Since then, I've tried a few things to give myself available strength training opportunities.

The first thing I did was to build a pull-up/dip station. Sean K. helped me put this monstrosity up one cold and raining March day in 2009. (I don't recall if he tried it out though.)

Not too long after that, I found a used weight set for sale on Craigslist and have been doing some lifting with that over the last little while. A few weeks ago, Andrea picked up a used weight bench for $11 at the Kids Exchange. This is where I did my 200lb bench press last week.

This past weekend, I bought some lumber and lag bolts from Home Depot and built myself a squat rack. This makes it a lot safer to get more than 135lbs on my shoulders. (I had been pushing it overhead first.)

With the set-up I have, I feel just a little bit like Rocky Balboa when I workout in the back yard.

Goals, getting older, and a milestone

2010-07-22T05:05:00.000-07:00

Goals

Not quite a full 7 months through the year, it's time I look at my goals and see how I've done. I started the year with 6 of them. I'm happy to report that two have been checked off! (and I'm pretty sure that's a record) I have come to realize that the important thing about goals is to set goals that you can actually achieve, while also making them stepping stones to larger goals that need more time to accomplish.

Goals:
1. A set of 20 pull-ups. I got up to 17 in the winter before slacking off big-time. I'm probably back to 14 or so now.
2. Run a sub-3 hour marathon. Done! Lake Wobegon Trail marathon in 2:55:57.
3. Bench press 200 lbs. Done! I haven't had access to a gym in over 2 years but have been doing pushups. Andrea found me a used weight bench for $11 last weekend and I worked my way up to 200 lbs last night, with her spotting me. I did it twice.
4. Squat 200 lbs. Haven't been doing much of this since I don't have a squat rack. Therefore, I have to pick the weight up, clean it, press it over and back to my back/shoulders, then squat, press it back over and down. It gets kind of dicey to try doing that with too much weight so I've stuck to 135lbs. I'm planning on building a wooden squat rack this weekend or next then should be able to get to 200 by the end of the year.
5. Finish Leadville 100 Miler. This is scheduled for 30 days from now...
6. Get to 500 lake miles at Hinson Lake. This is scheduled for 9 weeks...

Getting Older

I was at the dentist office yesterday and my hygenist asked me if I had any questions. I hesitated, then managed to ask..."I'm 32 now, as I get older, is there anything with my teeth/gums/mouth that I need to watch out for?"

The question and answer isn't nearly as relevant as the fact that I actually thought about and asked the question regarding my accumulation of birthdays.

Milestone

This week, Andrea and I celebrate our 8 year wedding anniversary. It hasn't (and won't) always been easy, but it's definately been worth-while. We are perfect for each other and are lucky and very happy to be married to each other. We talked about it, too, and agree that we both look forward to many, many more years together. (Whew, I'm glad we agree!)

Not afraid of the dark

2010-07-21T04:33:00.000-07:00

I noticed last night, as I was running laps at the middle school track as the twilight faded into night, that I've been doing a lot of running at night lately. I also realized that I love it. Whether it's a long run through the trails of Umstead, a speed workout on the track, or an easy loop around the lake, I love running at night. I think part of my enjoyment of running intervals at night is the feeling that there probably aren't a lot of other people doing it at the time. Sure, it's probably because they were able to do the very same workout earlier in the day, but with all the responsibilities I have, I'm happy to get it done at all.

It is apparent that I have passed that gene to Finn. This is his first week in his new bedroom with his "big boy" bed (with Car sheets, of course). He only got out of his crib twice in the two years he was in it, but has been getting out of his new bed many times before finally going to sleep at night. What does he do when he gets out? Plays in the dark!...except when he turns the light on...

Life IS good.

Why Des Moines Marathon?

2010-07-13T04:48:00.000-07:00

I've got the Des Moines Marathon on my schedule for October for one reason. It will be my Dad's 50th state! He's at 48 right now with the Grizzly Marathon at the end of this month in Montana for #49 then a trip to the Iowa capital in October for the big 5-0. It's a pretty big deal for him (all of us, really) as he's been actively working on it for about six or seven years now.

Some people have the idea that he started running because of me, but actually, he ran his first marathon before I did and he's really who got me started. His first marathon was the Lejeune Marathon in 2000 (I think), right before he turned 51. His finishes number in the 60s now and include several ultras (JFK, Frosty 50k, Chicago Lakefront 50k, Hinson Lake, Derby, Umstead 50).

I know he's eager to get these last two states completed so he can focus on doing some other things (plans on running Quebec and Dublin Marathons next year) and visiting some of his preferred marathons, but I know he'll take great pride in the accomplishment of running a 26.2 mile (or longer) race in every state (+ D.C.).

As a bonus, the 50 stater marathon club has their quarterly meeting at the City of Oaks Marathon in November this year. With my parents now living in Raleigh, and Dad completing his round trip in October, he'll get to be honored at his new hometown marathon!

Wish him luck over the next few months as he goes out to Montana then trains hard for Des Moines. Oh, and don't tell him I'm going on the trip with him, he doesn't know yet and I think it's supposed to be a surprise!

Oh, where have I been???

2010-07-12T04:29:00.000-07:00

We hit the road on Friday, July 2nd at noon for a week-long vacation. Man, it was great, but I'm glad to be back and home!

We spent the first few days and nights near Fayetteville, West Virginia with the Muenks Family and had a great time. Finn enjoyed playing with his older cousins, I ran a 5 mile trail race, we explored the New River Gorge and ate a lot! We celebrated birthdays and the 4th of July, too.

Then, on Monday, we packed up and drove southeast to the house my parents rented on Lake Gaston. We had a great time there, too, and visited with my parents, sister and her husband and Finn got to play a lot with his cousin, Cam. We spent a lot of time swimming in the lake (and trying to keep a 4 year old (Cam) entertained). I didn't run much at all there (4 miles in 4 days), but enjoyed the rest.

We finally got back to our house on Friday and spent that evening celebrating the Finn's birthdays at the Kleinhans' house.

I made it out for a longish run on Saturday night, covering around 17 miles in just under 3 hours over at Umstead Park. It was very humid and still warm. After resting for a week, I wasn't ready to sweat that much and it ended up being shorter than I had planned.

We went to Church on Sunday and Finn "graduated" to the 2s and 3s class. I managed an easy, shorter run on Sunday over to my parents' for the World Cup game and dinner.

I'm back at work and on a regular schedule as of this morning, and feel better about things.

My reflective thought over the past week is that a good vacation away can really make you appreciate what you have for your own home. We were all ready to get back to our home after the week away.

>8 weeks until Leadville 100

2010-06-28T04:52:00.000-07:00

Gulp...Yikes...Crap!

The good thing is that I know I can run 100 miles now. I did it 9 days ago and suffered few physical ailments. I took last week entirely off from running and in fact, did only a few minor strength exercises the whole week. It did wonders for my mental preparation for the next 7 weeks of intense training.

I've got a good, solid 7 weeks of summer training for my next 100 miler up at 10,000' in PB'ville, CO. Training will consist of running and strength work in order to peak for August 21st. I hope to post a weekly recap of training so I can look back after the race and analyze how it worked and how I can improve it for my next 100 miler.

I've got two races leading up to PB'ville. I'm running a 5 mile trail race up in Fayetteville, WV on July 3rd that should be fun. Then on July 31st, Ronnie Weed and I are going up to Maryland to run the Catoctin 50k. It's supposed to be a very tough race, so I'm hoping for a good training effort, though am not going to "leave it all out there."

I'll be bringing back the speed work, starting this week, too. It will be weekly workouts on Tuesdays (track tempo run) and Thursdays (800m intervals). They served me well for the marathon and I know the strength and speed will do me well in CO even if I don't plan on running near that fast.

Like the saying..."Experiment of One"...

David Vanole story on espn.com (Soccer)

2010-06-24T04:29:00.000-07:00

David Vanole Story

In all my years playing soccer, I don't think I'd ever heard of David Vanole until today. His heyday (sp?) was just before the 1990 World Cup, so I was only about 10 at the time. I know of a lot of the other players mentioned in the article though, so it has some context.

The story is a great one, but even though it is long, make sure you read the WHOLE thing. Wow...

Mohican 100

2010-06-22T10:05:00.001-07:00

Mohican by the numbers...

61 = the number of hours I was gone from Friday at 6:00 a.m. to Sunday at 7:00 p.m.
1068 = the number of miles I drove to Ohio and back
101.2 = the number of miles I covered during the 100 mile race
1 = the number of goals that the US scored on Friday that got called back
1 = the number of more goals needed for the US to win on Friday
23:19 = the amount of time it took to cover the 101.2 miles
8 = the number of people ahead of me in the 100 mile race at the end
150 = the number of people who were ahead of me after I had to take a crap early on
5 = the number of miles I walked between miles 64 and 69 (yes, all of them)
2 = the number of orange eyes I saw watching me at mile 95 (bear?)
4 = shoes I wore (two left, two right), all Brooks Launch
6 = hours I slept during the 61 hours I was gone
1.5 = miles covered since getting home
1.5 = miles covered by my almost 2 year old son since I've gotten home
4 = times Richard and I switched drivers on the 7 hour drive back to Mount Airy
20.5 = hours spent in the car driving to and from Ohio
75 = miles of singletrack trail in the 100 mile

Notes that will constitute my race report for my Mohican 100 miler:

-I got to meet Howard Nippert and saw him several times during the race. Howard is an ultrarunning stud and was crewing for a friend of his. He had words of encouragement each time I saw him.
-I went up to the race with my buddy Richard Lilly who would end up running a great race and finished under 22 hours.
-I had two really rough spots, one about miles 47-50 and one from miles 62-68. Other than those, I really felt pretty good throughout the day.
-I didn't take in very much additional salt, I'm thinking maybe 6 S-caps during the whole event and didn't cramp up once. I guess I'm pretty well heat acclimated. (One benefit of traveling north for a summer event.)
-Richard and I hung out with Dan Rose after the race. It was kind of funny when finishers 2, 6 and 9 were "working" at the finish aid station. No-one even suspected we had run the race!
-I had to remind myself that 100 miles is a very long way. I was running near the front during the first couple miles when I had to take a pit stop. By the time I got back on the trail (singletrack and dark), there were about 150 people ahead of me, in several conga-lines. I just tried to relax, but it was killing me to take 1:15 to go the first 5 miles! Interestingly enough, when I walked that same section later on in the race (miles 64-69) it only took me 10 additional minutes. That's how slow we were going.
-I moved up steadily througout the race and was pretty close to catching the guy in front of me. I could see the headlamps of him and his pacer during the last two miles, but with all the meandering the course did, I could never quite make up much ground on him fast enough.
-A cruel joke was that our tent site was a half mile from the finish and I had to hike back uphill before I could finally rest.
-Luckily I only had two minor blisters and not much chafing so the shower wasn't too painful. The painful part was when I tried to lay down and sleep. That's when my legs started to really hurt.
-After a couple unsuccessful hours of sleep, we packed up and went to gather our drop bags. Unfortunately, they didn't arrive for another 2 hours. That meant, we couldn't leave until 10:30. I did make it back in time to see Finn on Father's Day!
-My knees feel better now than I think they've ever felt after a 100 mile race. I have no idea why! I'm still not running at all this week.
-My next race is a mere 5 miles and I'm really looking forward to it.
-I loved the Mohican course and might do the race again. 10 hours is a long drive though, so it won't be next year.
-I love camping out before a 100 mile race. This is the 4th time I've done so. I think it makes it easier to get up when you sleep like crap. Afterwards, it doesn't matter how comfortable the accomodations are, I'm too exhausted to sleep well anyway.
-No official results yet, but they'll be up in the next week or so. I'm excited to see how my last few section splits will compare to the top guys. I was moving really well at the end and even laid down some 12 minute trail miles!

Umm, that's about it.

FRS SUCKS

2010-06-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

I should have known this right off the bat, but I was intriged about the free sample product and hey, Lance Armstrong is one of their spokespersons, so it's got to be legit, right? (In hindsight, I don't beleive for a second that he drinks Michelob Ultra either, so I should have trusted my instinct.)

Anyway, I clicked on their banner one day back in March and decided to give them a shot. After all, it would only cost me $5 for shipping. I got the stuff within a week and sampled it. Not bad, just didn't do anything for me (I did have a little more gas than usual...hmmm). When I placed my initial order, I set the automatic re-order (another red flag) to 180 days to give me time to try it, decide whether it was worth it, then cancel. I was quite surprised when after less than three months passed I got another shipment, and my credit card was charged. I called about it and they confirmed that yes, I was on a 6 month order cycle, but that they didn't know why it was shipped out over three months early. I did have to wait until the shipment arrived before I could arrange to send it back, however.

The shipment arrived and I called FRS customer service to find out how to ship it back. The a-hole I talked to there treated me like an idiot and a liar, and kept telling me that even though they had no record of me requesting it to be shipped early, it must have been something I did on my end - that there was no way it happened as part of their business practice. I haven't been that mad since my car was towed from my college apartment after my rear-view mirron (with the parking pass on it) fell to the floor board. I decided that the phone call was unproductive and was only going to escalate if I didn't end it. Oh, the reason I was so pissed is that they were making me pay to ship it back. I know, I know, (after I mailed it UPS today for $9) it was a $10 issue, but that would be missing the point.

So, the mathmatical equation to sum this up is:

FRS Product + FRS Customer Service + FRS Business Practice = FAIL

You've been warned, now back to your regularly scheduled mundane musings...

Two races...

2010-06-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

An update of sorts since I'm trying to keep all of my race reports in one place.

For the third year in a row, I ran the Army Birthday 10 Miler on Friday at Fort Bragg. I've been very fortunate to have work projects in Fayetteville that I can visit or schedule meetings for a couple hours after the race ends, so I don't have to use too much vacation leave.

The race started at 6:30 Friday morning, which meant my alarm clock went off at 0315 hours...ouch. I hoped to avoid last year's headache and made sure I was at the gate at 0500. I got through the checkpoint without delay and was at the race site by 0515. I met Susan, Rosemary, Fred, Mark, and Darrell before the start and we headed over to the starting area.

(Note to non-Fort Braggers: it is, apparently, a policy on Post to wear a shirt during any form of P.T. I was unaware of this and heard a few snide remarks about putting on a shirt. Note to Fort Braggers: it was hot and humid as hell. I'm not wearing a shirt unless specifically directed to in official race information. Deal.)

The 10 mile course is not an easy on. It is downhill for the first mile, then mostly uphill until mile 4. Then down to mile 5, back up to mile 6, then down to the finish (with a couple rollers in the last mile.) They blasted a cannon for the start and we rushed downhill. Mile 1 passed and my watch showed 5:53 (oops). Uphill mile 2 was a bit slower in 6:23. I began to feel the effort of the fast early pace and quickly rising mercury and hit mile 3 in 6:35. I slowed down a little more during the uphill mile 4 in 6:40. Mile 5 was downhill and I tried to relax and recover some and hit the split in 6:30 (32:01). We turned around and started back uphill where I clocked my slowest split of 6:54 (felt like 8:00). Finally, I tried to recover again on the downhill and hit mile 7 in 6:43, 8 in 6:43, 9 in 6:43 (wow, I didn't know they were that consistent!) before finishing the last mile in 6:28. My final time of 1:05:29 was 29 seconds slower than last year and I was 5 more overall places back, but I was satisfied with the effort.

I didn't hang around long after I saw I was out of the awards and proceeded to my work projects.

On Saturday, I spent my birthday evening volunteering at the Bethel Hill Moonlight Boogie races in Ellerbe, NC. I rode down with my dad and brother (who was running the 50 miler). I don't really have much to report, other than it was really nice to be volunteering and not running. The Boogie is such a hard race but lots of people did really well. I ran the last 14 miles of Matt's race with him as he finished stronger than we both thought he would for a 9th place finish in under 10 hours! I was/am very impressed with his even pacing throughout the race. He really seems to do well in hot races (he finished the Wickham Park marathon and Boogie marathon last year).

We made it back to Raleigh Sunday morning at 6:30 or so and Finn gave me a wonderful present by sleeping in until 8:30 (meaning I got a little more than an hour of sleep before Church).

It was a great weekend of racing, running, and visiting with friends. Next weekend will be great, too, but will include much more running and driving and a lot less sleeping.

Dear Finn,

2010-06-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

I've often wondered what parents mean when they say they want "nothing but the best" for their children. Are they sincere? Are they insane? I thought about this during my run today at lunch. Do your mom and I want only the best for you? I don't think so. Now, wait a second, hear me out. Life is hard...with me so far? Good. Ok, so life is hard, and there will be a lot of things that go wrong. Hopefully, there will be many more things that go right. The important thing to realize is that as nice as our time on this planet is, it is only preparation for an eternity once this life is gone. Ok, so I know that as a <2 year old you don't really have a clue as to what I'm talking about. That's ok, as a 32 year old, I'm still on a spiritual journey and have far from figured things out.

The ups and downs of this life, the experiences we have (both good and bad) are what make us who we are. Your mom and I have given you the best genes we have to offer, but what will make you YOU is the life you live.

Material things DO NOT matter. I guess that's what I was trying to get across in this rambling note. We will not be able to provide you the best toys, electronics, vacations, when compared on a strictly extravagant level. We will give you what you need and a lot of what you want. I never planned on being able to give you everything you'll ever want. That won't do you any good in life. We will do our best to always provide a comfortable place for you to call home, plenty of food for you to eat to help you grown, and all the clothes you need. We will also give you more love than you'll ever know what to do with. You'll never fully understand this type of love until you have children of your own. I speak from truth here, because I never knew how much my parents loved me until we had you.

Commute

2010-06-09T04:32:00.000-07:00

I've finally got a sustainable, repeatable commute to work that doesn't involve me driving! I leave the house at 5:48(ish), run 0.4 miles to the CAT bus stop, take the Sawmill Connector to the Northclift Route. I get off the Northclift Route at either Fairview or Wade Avenue intersection with Saint Marys Street, and run from there into work. That second run is between 1.2 and 1.6 miles. I'm at work and changed before 7:00. I do the reverse on the way home though some times I skip the Connector bus and run the 2 miles down the greenway to the house.

This method of commuting gives me between 3-5 miles of extra running each day with minimal disruption of anything else. And, since I'm nursing a knee injury that prevents biking, gets me to and from work without driving! Sure, the commute takes just under one hour to go the 9 miles, but it would take longer to run the whole thing and I really dislike driving to work. I do hope the knee clears up soon so I can mix in some biking.

Hasn't rained on me yet...(day 6)

During yesterday's run...

2010-06-03T04:55:00.000-07:00

I'd like to borrow from two sources to describe what happened at mile 3 (of 5) on yesterday's lunch-time run.

First from Garth Brooks: "It was bound to happen, and one day (night) it did..."

and secondly from one of Finn's books, Are you my Mother?: "Down, down, down...Plop!"

So there I was, running down Whittaker Mill, minding my own business and out of the sky, I got shat upon, by a bird. Ruined my run. The end.

Accepting Applications

2010-06-01T08:09:00.000-07:00

for teammates for my 2011 Goal Race. Do you think you have what it takes? Loads of endurance, a huge stomach, a love of race-eating? Ever run the Krispy Kreme Challenge and wondered if they'd let you eat 2 dozen and run 10 miles? Then, my friend, you may be qualified to race on my team next year. Please submit your "qualifications" via comment or email.

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-01T04:44:00.000-07:00

Now that my parents are living in Raleigh, we don't have a beach(ish) house to visit during the summer (unless anyone reading this is willing to offer up theirs???). So, we had a full, 3-day Holiday weekend, that we'd spend in Raleigh doing...nothing. Wait, is that what non-runners do every weekend? What do they call it? Anyway, it was hardly "nothing" but it wasn't very much "productive" either. Let's see...on Friday, after work, I went grocery shopping! Then Finn and I hung out, had dinner and watched Penguins while we ate popcorn, while Andrea went out. Saturday was a great day as we went to the park in the morning, then took naps, then went to Grandma's and Grandpa's for dinner.

Sunday, we went to Church, cut the grass, moved a little furniture, grilled out at our house, and visited with G&G. Monday was even better...we went to a Memorial Day Parade that Finn's friend Boone's Mom was a co-director for. Then, it was lunch, nap, me cooking a bunch of food for the traditional (?) Memorial Day cookout. Berno came over to join us and G&G did too. I grilled out 'dogs and burgers to go along with my homemade "classic" potato salad, baked beans, and (I'll say it) AMAZING strawberry pie (complete with homemade whipped cream). Dad brought the beer and we all enjoyed the fellowship.

But, alas, the fun times come to an end and work beckons. I am a firm believer in that for every good, great, grand time, periods of normalcy are required in order for us to fully appreciate those good, great, grand times.

Besides the "hot dog high-five" moments from Finn this weekend (the Snoopy's Hot Dog was at the parade, and yes, Finn gave him, not one, but two, high-fives), the most amazing moment of all was when he interupted us before we started eating dinner. He put his hands on the table, stretching from Grandpa on one side to me on the other, and said "Dear Lord" "Thank You"... If nothing else, we're getting one thing right so far.....

Oh, I did do two 4.5 mile runs, one on Saturday, one on Sunday. My knee's feeling a little tight but getting better.

NCDOT Bike to Work

2010-05-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

At least I'm not the only one.

Falls Lake FA

2010-05-24T06:08:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of exploring the section of the Mountains to Sea Trail along Falls Lake yesterday with a few other hardy souls during Mike Walsh's Falls Lake FA Lite Version.

We gathered at 6:00 a.m. at the Trailhead on NC50 and started east. This section of single track rolled for 26.7 miles to the Dam at Falls Lake, so we had the option of runnin gup to 53.4 miles. I opted for 40.8 miles and turned around one section beyond the second aid station, manned by Ben Dillon.

I got to run the first 13.1 miles with Laura McLean, who decided to make it a marathon effort. Then, on the way back, I caught Bill Keane (who turned around at 17 miles) and ran with him back to the cars.

This is a fantastic section of trail, and I'm embarrassed that even though I live so close, yesterday was the first time I ran on the trail. I know I'll spend more time out there this summer and on into the future.

Along the trail, I saw at least 4 box turtles enjoying the recent rains, a deer and a wild turkey. I probably saw more wildlife than other people, but we did run through two pretty big bouts of thunder storms, so that sort of makes sense.

The trail was very easy to follow (well blazed, with recent and frequent white blazes) and well maintained. This "foot travel only" trail showed few signs of overuse by bikes or horses, which are frequent characteristics of other trails in the area. Most of the trail was rolling, either up or down, but nothing too steep or long. The terrain was such that it was hard to get in a groove, but with my races coming up this summer, that's the type of training I need.

I felt good throughout the run, which was aided by my slow pace, but my right knee is a bit painful, so I think a day or two break from running is warranted.

40.8 miles in 8:15