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20 mile run this Sunday........

....should be fun!

The Detroit Marathon is only 26 days away.......

....hmmmm that doesn't seem that far away. Still, I ask myself: can I do this? AM I going to actually finish this? Under 4 hours? I've been told that as long as I can finish a 2 hour run by myself, I will be able to push through for the entire marathon based on the atmosphere alone. That is shoddy logic to me, but I guess it makes sense.

I started training June 1, and have been keeping a pretty solid 4 day a week running schedule throughout. I missed a couple runs when we moved, which coincided with my Wife's Gramma passing, and then I had some IT-band issues 2 weeks ago, that resulted in shorter runs, but overall I have been pretty true to my schedule. I do wish that I would have altered my diet and have eaten better, but at this point I am going to have to go into the marathon with what I have.

I ran 14 miles on Sunday, and it was pretty uneventful. My IT-band pain was coming and going, which in reality is a good sign because it used to come and stay. Hopefully my IT is not an issue during my 20 miler on Sunday, or the 26.2 miler on Oct 21. I saw my in-laws on the trail, which was a nice surprise, but they were 'only' running 5 miles that morning. Slackers. Actually, I think my brother-in-law 'only' ran 3. Double-slacker. No really, they have ran with me and keep me motivated. I love them.

My ipod said I ran 14 miles in 1:45 or somewhere in that neighborhood. Two words: YEAH RIGHT. I really don't think I was moving that fast, I actually thought I was running slower than usual. Usual for me is about 8:30/mile. I have been running faster lately, but that time sounds ridiculous. So maybe Sunday's run wasn't 14 miles exactly, but it was still 1:45 worth of running, and I was still a little tired towards the end. Stuff like this really makes me wonder about this marathon and how it's going to go. I am thinking about getting a Garmin 205, maybe for X-Mas, but even then, how accurate is a Garmin compared to an Ipod? One will never know.....

What has changed over all these years?

I was speaking with my father-in-law over dinner last night and we got to talking about sports, technology, and relevance. We discussed the sports of running, tennis, and golf where back in his day, the 70's, the technology was drastically different than it was today. Running shoes from the 70's are very different in look and feel than running shoes of the 21st century. Why? People were running marathons, successfully, back in the 70's in those vintage nikes that "Pre" used to wear. Why wouldn't those shoes work today?

I don't get it. I like to live by the motto "If it's not broke, don't fix it...", but I do not really know what the real benefits are of the modern technology in running shoes when compared to "old school" running shoes.

The same argument can be made about golf clubs and tennis rackets, to a point. I understand that the sweet spots are bigger now, thus making the equipment more necessary for success. Also, if the equipment today is making it easier to be 'good', you could almost say that players from "way back" were better than today's golfers and tennis players, simply because they had to be better. The equipment was inferior.

To me, it's an interesting topic. I'd really like to get my hands on a true 'vintage' pair of running shoes and try them out---to see if I could tell a difference. I really am curious to hear what people have to say about this....discuss!!!!

I'm feeling a little sick....

...I don't know if I have already mentioned this, but my last 2 years living in Detroit (2005-2006) were spent working for the Detroit Tigers. I have an emotional bond to them that is stronger than any other sports team.

They just got swept by the Indians, the current 1st place team in the division, and the Tigers chances of making the playoffs are practically zero now. I am bummed out.



In more cheerful news, tomorrow is a future national holiday....also known as my birthday. Hooray. Also, I am finding humor in my cubicle neighbor's concerns over popcorn lung. Every time he sees someone eating popcorn, he reminds them about this faux-disease. Talk about Debbie Downer.....

Wears Valley 15K

On Sunday, Sept 16 I ran in the Wears Valley 15K, which is sponsored and hosted by the Knoxville Track Club. The Knoxville Track Club is awesome and they really do a good job keeping an organized race schedule and drawing really good runners to their races. There is a schedule of races that are for 'series points' and those are the ones that draw all the local top runners. This was a points race, and boy did I get smoked. Well, I didn't show up expecting to win the race, but my 1:13:57 was nowhere near the top 3, even in my age group. After I wiped away the tears of not winning anything at a race for the first time, I reflected and realized I ran a pretty damn good race.

First off, I had to wake up at 5:30 am and down an iced tea, to get the ole' bowels moving. I was crossing my fingers and hoping this pre-race routine would work, and at about 7:45 (15 minutes before the start of the race) I knew that it did. I was beginning to worry there for a bit. So after I took care of my business, I headed to the start line. I didn't feel 'ready' at all. I was about to run 9.3 miles in a race, which I've never done before, on top of that I've been having IT pain for the past 2 weeks and didn't finish any of my long runs. So I thought this was going to be a "lets just finish" type of race, but it turned out to be quite the opposite.

So the race starts after a fellow runner sang the national anthem--despite the fact he needed a cue card--and forgot a lyric but quickly recovered--he did alright. Did I mention it was about 55F outside!!!! Perfect running weather. I actually wore long sleeves. Once the race began, I found my pack of comparable runners and stuck with it--the first 3 miles we came in around 25:00 flat. Not too bad.

The pack started to string out a little around mile 4, most of them dropping back. (because I am the bomb and they couldn't hang w/me.....but one guy was determined to stay right in front of me......) So this guy, I never got his name because he wasn't much of a talker, was literally like a foot in front of me from miles 4-7. No big deal. He was a little older and a little bigger than me, so I got the impression that he didn't want to get passed by a young punk like me. When I sped up, he sped up. I went right, he went right......this went on for 7 miles.

So, at mile 7, he SPEAKS!! I was starting to worry that he was unable to talk, but thankfully he spoke and broke the awkward silence between us. It kinda felt like we were standing next to each other at the urinal for 7 miles. It was a little awkward. (ladies...guys don't talk when they are peeing....) The funny thing is what he said. He was all like "see that guy up there, he's dying. We're going to catch him." I was thinking to myself "I've been tailing this guy for 7 miles, I feel great and now I am going to start passing some people...." so I replied with "alright, we're going to start to pick some of these people off" I was using 'we' as an invitation to speed it up, because I am about to pick up the pace. So I picked it up, and he didn't. I felt betrayed.

Anyways, passing people who are on the verge of puking near the end of a race is the best feeling ever. From mile 7 to the finish I really picked it up and caught 7 people. It felt awesome. I ended beating 'the mute' by about 4 minutes. Secondly, my IT pain was creeping up around miles 2-4, but then it went away. The 2nd half of the race was the best feeling while running I've had in a long time. It was a good day.

Chiropractors are........amazing

I have been having IT band issues with my left leg for a long time now. I always had a theory as to why it would hurt, and never wanted to go get it looked at. I just figured once my quads and hamstrings were in good shape, my IT wouldn't hurt anymore. I attributed my IT pain to weak legs. Because I am a doctor and I can make my own theories up.

My wife is a massage therapist for a chiropractor, and she has been for about a year. Yesterday, I finally mustered up the nerve to go have my leg looked at by said chiropractor. He is awesome. He had me lay on a table, on my back and then on my stomach, he flexed my knee a few times and then started twisting me up like a pretzel and 'adjusted' both of my hips. (One hip at a time)

He then told me that my IT was sore because my right hip was tilted forward and my left was tilted back--which also led to a poorly aligned knee and ankle on my left side.

My left leg from the knee down felt really weird the rest of the night. Not bad weird, but good weird. Like I have a new leg. I am very eager to run tonight and see how my left leg feels. I can already notice a difference in even walking, my left leg doesn't feel shorter anymore.

I am pumped.

My weekend

On Saturday, I attended my first college football game outside the state of Michigan, at my wife's school, the University of Tennessee. They played Southern Mississippi at 7pm Saturday night. A good time was had by all.

In Michigan, I don't recall any sort of pre-game parade, where the band and the team walk from their respective buildings to the stadium through the crowds of people. They do that here in Tennessee and I will admit it was pretty cool to see. Neyland Stadium holds 106,000 people, and I am willing to bet that 50,000 of them were there 2.5 hours early for the bands performance and to welcome the players into the stadium and wish them luck. That was neat.

With Amber being a student, naturally, we were sitting in the student section. Or I should say standing, sideways, falling off a bleacher most of the game in the student section. It was a lot of fun, and in true college student fashion, Amber and her friend Emily snuck in booze in their bras and it became 'cocktail time in Tennessee' real quick with the cokes we bought once we got in the gate. Tennessee won, 39-19 and I swear Southern Mississippi's QB is related to Vince Young somehow. His name is Jeremy Young, and he wears #10 and plays a lot like Vince Young of the Tennessee Titans. There has to be some relation.

So, after the game, we went to a bar in the 'Old City' part of Knoxville. The area is kinda ghetto, but rebuilding. At that bar I had another drink, I was in no way drunk, but it led to a late night and dehydration Sunday. Sunday I was supposed to run 18 miles.

I woke up at 10 am on Sunday (I never wake up that late) and by the time I started my 18-miler it was 11 am, on a day where the high temp was going to be in the 98F neighborhood. I really gave it the old college try, but I gave up after 12.5 miles. Granted, 12.5 miles is still a pretty far run for being dehydrated and hot, but I am a little bummed I didn't make my 18 mile goal. So, it was a lesson learned, don't drink and stay up late thinking you're going to be able to run 18 miles the next day. I am still having IT band issues, I think I am going to go see a chiropractor, to make sure my shoulders and hips are aligned properly.

The rest of the day on Sunday, I folded laundry and watched football. The Titans won a pretty boring game, and my Lions won! I didn't see much of the Lions game (it wasn't on in TN, but once the Lions started blowing their lead Fox switched over to it at the end), but they looked good. The Lions might actually be better this year.

Why am I doing this to myself?

That was the question going through my mind last Sunday during my 15 mile run. Miles 1-12 were pretty good, miles 12-15 were pretty bad. My legs felt like they weighed 100 lbs. each, and I was questioning why I was out there, what's the point of running a marathon, basically any negative thought that could creep into your head about running was racing through my head during miles 12-15. I made it through, but my legs (mostly my IT bands on both legs) hurt for the rest of the day. To my surprise, my legs felt really good on Monday, after a good night's sleep.

My run this coming Sunday is 18 miles, and after last Sunday's 15 miler, it makes me wonder how I am going to survive 26.2 miles. Do I run slower? Do I eat better? Do I start lifting weights?

---

2005 Age Group Breakdown AgeGroup Avg. Time Percent M0-19 5:04:39 1.17% M20-24 4:22:21 3.10% M25-29 4:24:42 6.03% M30-34 4:25:28 8.14% M35-39 4:22:45 9.72% M40-44 4:21:46 9.83% M45-49 4:26:23 8.37% M50-54 4:37:25 6.22% M55-59 4:49:04 3.82% M60+ 5:13:32 2.96% F0-19 5:46:58 0.86% F20-24 4:52:38 4.12% F25-29 4:54:45 7.49% F30-34 4:58:18 6.82% F35-39 4:55:37 6.59% F40-44 4:59:01 6.13% F45-49 5:11:46 4.20% F50-54 5:31:03 2.58% F55-59 5:48:39 1.17% F60+ 6:08:12 0.68%

Age Demographics Between 2004 and 2005, the average age of marathon finishers remained the same at 38.8 years-old overall - 40.5 years-old for men and 36.1 years-old for women. In 2005, the average finishing time was slower than 2004 by just over 20 seconds. Fastest Age Groups In keeping with historic trends, the fastest average age-group were men aged 40-44, with a mean finishing time of 4:21:46. Average times were negligibly slower (less than one minute) in the M20-34 age group (4:22:21) and the M35-39 age group (4:22:45). The women's fastest times were posted by 20-24-year olds, who averaged a time of 4:52:38 for their finishes. Largest Age Groups In addition to being the fastest age group, men aged 40-44 also represented the largest single age group for marathon runners in 2005, accounting for nearly 10% of all marathoners and more than 16% of male marathoners. For women, the largest group was females between ages 25-29 representing approximately 7.5% of all marathon finishers, and nearly 19% of all female finishers.

I found this above at Marathonguide.com and it's encouraging to know that my projected marathon time is above average for my age group. I am usually not that competitive of a person, but with my running times I really am for some reason. I like knowing where I stand as a runner, and how I can improve my times. Last night, for instance, I had a 5 mile run scheduled. I had an afternoon that didn't go exactly as planned, so at about 7:30 pm I went out for my 5 miler. Once I got to the park, I said "screw it" and ran much faster than I normally do. I was expecting to burn out at some point, but I never did and finished my 5 miles in 37:57. I was a little dehydrated at the end, but other than that I felt fine. It was nice to burn off some frustrations of the day during my run. That is the fastest 5 miles I can remember running.




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Pausing Workout

I got up at 5:45 am with no assistance, nor any intentions of doing so. I figured since I was up, I might as well get my 8 mile run out of the way. So I did, and it was ok. I don't know if I didn't eat enough carrots growing up, or if it was just really dark out this morning, but I could not see a thing when I started. The park I go to isn't very well lit to begin with, but it was a little spooky.

By now, we all know what happens to me when I run in the morning, and like clockwork, I had to make a pit stop. Actually 2 pit stops this morning. Talk about annoying. Soon, my Ipod is going to start talking crap to me like this guy's does:



I can thank YouTube for this theft. Don't get me wrong, I love my Ipod and the fact that it keeps track of everything for me, it's awesome. I recommend the Nike+ system to anyone who is interested in giving it a try. And I am not being paid by them. Seriously.

Back to the Afternoon--For now....

Well, I woke up today at 6 am, fully intending on running 4 miles. 10 minutes later, I was back in bed. I just didn't feel like running at all, at least in the morning. I didn't want to deal with making my bathroom pit stop, which could come at any point in my run. That has been really, really annoying for me. The bathroom issue makes me not want to run in the morning.

So, I will return to running after work for now. It's not as hot outside this week and I am 'only' running 4 miles today. It's funny how 3 months ago running 4 miles seemed really far. Today I am hoping to run 4 miles in under 30 minutes. I ran 4 on Monday in 30:13. I don't know if I should care about my times, but I do, especially on the 'shorter' runs. I am marathon training right now, but secretly (well I guess NOT so secretly anymore....) I want my 5K time under 20 minutes as well. So, I went from one goal (be able to run a marathon in under 4 hrs....which I have yet to accomplish--my first attempt is on 10/21) to adding another goal (5K under 20 minutes) over the course of 3 months. I feel like I am close on both, but don't want to overdo anything and get injured. That would totally suck.

I am still upset about my cotton tank top from last weekends 10K, and I am mulling over the idea of adding a 2nd Marathon to my schedule at the end of March, 2008. I live in Knoxville, and I want to run the Knoxville marathon I think. I think I am going to do it.

Racoon Mountain 10K--Chattanooga, TN

This past Saturday I, along with my wife, her sister and her sister's husband ran in the Raccoon Mountain 5K/10K in Chattanooga, TN. We woke up at 4 a.m. in Knoxville and drove the 1.45 hrs to Chattanooga in order to make it to the race that started at 7:30 a.m. Waking up at 4 a.m. is early, and not exactly "my idea of a good time" in case anyone was wondering how that was.

I figured that since I was up 3.5 hrs before the race, I would have enough time to take care of my bathroom issues before the race. I chugged an iced tea at about 4:30 am to 'get the bowels moving', so I wouldn't have any issues during the race and I could focus on running....and it WORKED!! The strange thing was that the bathroom line for the dudes was a lot longer and slower moving before the race than the Women's bathroom line was. About 75% of the guys in line were going #2 also, and there was only one toilet in this park's bathroom. So, you were putting on a show in a way for the guys in line, who also had to do what you were doing. It was a little weird.

The race went really well. This was my first 10K, and I really liked it. I really liked this distance, and there was one massive hill. I mean massive (I should have known, since it was at Raccoon MOUNTAIN.....) I felt a little bad at the end of the race because I had been running with this guy "Robert" and we were chatting during the race and he noticed that the 2,3, and 4 mile markers were off. He had a Garmin watch and I didn't have any watch/timing device and Robert would let me know the times as we passed the mile markers. He was my 'race friend', until after the mile 5 marker when I LEFT HIM IN THE DUST AND SMOKED HIM!!!!!!! I thought about it for a second, like 'should I stay with him and finish the race together, or pick it up and hope he comes along...' I picked it up, and he didn't. Sorry, Robert.

Thanks to Robert (and his Garmin) I kept an 8:00/mile pace from miles 1-5, then the last 1.2 miles I finished in 8:26, giving me a 48:26 final time, and again THIRD place in my age group! I am 2 for 2 in getting prizes at races!



As wonderfully modeled by my wife and her sister above, the shirts were cotton tank tops. By far, the worst shirt I've ever received at a race. I will never wear this, not even to paint.



We ran around this reservoir for most of the race. It was an awesome course. Thanks to Sonya for taking these pictures!

Pretty Boring Week

Last Sunday, I ran a Half-Marathon by myself. It was tiring. This Saturday, I am running a 10K. So, this week has been pretty pathetic as far as running goes. I'm 'resting' and 'recovering'.

I ran, just not as far as my workout sheet was telling me. I am my own man.

I'll let you know how this 10K goes on Saturday. I am shooting for an injury-free, somewhere between 47 and 50 minute race. Wish me luck!

For dinner last night I had 8 oreos and a bowl of popcorn

You know why? Because I ran 13.1 freaking miles Sunday morning and felt like I could eat whatever I wanted throughout the day. I didn't really pig out Sunday however, I had a soda(shh...the iced tea machine was broken....) and a slice of pizza for lunch, followed by some tempeh (sp?), rice and zucchini between lunch and dinner, then dinner was oreos and popcorn.

I had to run an errand or two after my 13.1 mile run on Sunday, and after than I laid on the couch for the rest of the day. My knees were sore and aching a little bit and I just didn't feel like moving. So I didn't. It was actually pretty awesome to be able to flip back and forth between NCAA '08, the Milwaukee Brewers lose to the Cincinnati Reds, then I watched a movie (Spy Game) with Amber and I didn't have to move. To top it off, Amber gave me a massage on both of my IT bands, then iced and heated them. If felt really good.

Do you want to see a picture of a band who calls themselves Slow Runner??? Whether you want to or not, here:



Band pictures always make me laugh. What's the point? I am not going to buy your CD if you look good and the music is garbage. (see: NSYNC) Personally, what a band looks like doesn't affect me, so I guess I don't see the relevance of a band photo.

I've gotten into a bad, bad habit

WARNING: If you don't like talking about poop, or if you don't poop, stop reading right now. You have been warned.

OK, this last week has been very annoying/frustrating. Here's why:

I like everything about running in the morning, and I like doing other things in the evenings. My runs have been faster/easier as well (I don't think that's because of the morning running, just training.) From a strict running standpoint, this week has been awesome. However, I am pretty 'regular'. Meaning, every morning, about 10-11 am, I go #2. This hasn't been a problem until I started running BEFORE 10-11 am.

Running makes me poop. But only if there is poop to be pooped.

On all 4 of my morning runs this week, about 1-2 miles into the run, part of the run is 'running to the toilet'. It really sucks. And today, a day where I haven't ran, I haven't pooped (it's about 3pm). It's like my body is waiting for me to start running to poop. I really, really don't want to get into that cycle. What am I supposed to do?

I am running the equivalent of a 1/2 marathon on Sunday, and I don't want to be interrupted by bathroom issues. For that matter, I don't want any of my runs to be interrupted by bathroom issues. This entire week, I have been worrying about this before I start my run, and like clockwork, I've had the serious need to go #2 about a mile into the run.

I don't know if anyone has had this issue before, but I am clueless as to how to change this cycle. I really want to keep running in the mornings if possible. HELP!

Why is this so funny?

I don't know how I came to this video on YouTube, but it made me laugh real hard when I saw it. It might be because he is yelping while on there, and his buddy is just making it go faster and faster, with no reaction at all. Then he just walks away.

If you have never seen these two newscast clips from YouTube, you've been missing out.



WooWOOOO



Notice how when they 'demonstrate' the car whistle, they almost sideswipe parked cars, run a stop sign and speed in a matter of 5 seconds.

To change subjects, I have been morning running all week and I really like it. The running hasn't been perfect, but it has been good. I feel really good the rest of the day after I run.

I am running the equivalent of a 1/2 marathon Sunday, and a 10k next Sunday in Chattanooga, TN. I like running.

Slowly descending the Mountain of Dew.......

I am officially done drinking soda. Mt. Dew, Vault, Coke, Pepsi, Diet Coke, Vault Zero.....I'm done with it all. I have been drinking at least one a day for about 10 years now, and I am over it. I have gone 3 days (which is HUGE for me) without soda and I don't foresee a slide back into my soda routine.

Now, it's not like I am kicking out caffeine cold turkey. I drink a vitamin water (the yellow one, that has caffeine, but not nearly as much as Mt Dew) in the morning and I have had tea in the afternoon (only once the headache sets in). The 2 of those drinks combined don't come close in equaling the damage one soda does. I am pumped about this. People who know me know I like my soda. Not anymore.

I am curious to know what other runners drink throughout the day (from wake to sleep). I am also curious to know what others think about soda, and the damage it does to your body.

Today is an off-day for me. I might go swimming tonight. I might go take care of my xbox 360 problems and buy the new Madden '08 football game. I'm tempted by both. Decisions, decisions........

In an effort to stay as far away from the treadmill as possible.....

.....I am going against what Half-Fast has to say and I am going to become a morning runner. This started with my 12 miler Sunday, and continued with my 4 miler Monday. Living in Tennessee, I physically can not run at 5 pm, when I get out of work. You could equate that (running at 5pm in August in Tennessee) to running in a furnace, which I've never tried, but I am guessing it's not very 'cool' (you like that double meaning there?????)

The benefits of running in the morning:
--You're done with your run by 8 am
--You don't have to worry all day about your run
--You can actually do something besides run after work (Like relax at the pool, go to the electronics store, eat dinner, watch a baseball game, etc...)
--It's not 95F at 6:30am
--It is about 70F at 6:30 am (at least around here)

So, begrudgingly I am a morning runner, at least for a few weeks. Yes, waking up at 6 am isn't my idea of a good time, but it is necessary if I want to run (and live) in Tennessee.


My last 3 runs have been good. Last Thursday, I ended up running at Dawn, and I didn't have a whistle with me. I didn't need it, as Finished my 7 miles before the sun totally went down. (I live in a 'nicer' part of Knoxville, it's not like I was running through the streets of Detroit with $100's falling out of my pockets.....so even if I was running at 1 am, I don't think I'd really get assaulted)

Sunday was a 12 miler, and it was the 2nd Sunday in a row that I ran 12. I ran this 12 in 1:45:05, which was 7 minutes faster than my 1:52 last Sunday. I don't know if I ran last Sunday's too slow, or this Sunday's too fast, but I felt pretty good throughout the day after this Sunday's 12 mile morning run. Nothing too eventful about this run, except I had a bathroom experience that you could expect while camping, out in the middle of nowhere.....luckily it was 7:45 am on Sunday morning and nobody was around......you can connect the dots......

Monday's 4 miler was good, started at 6:30 am, nothing exceptional about the run. I was a little sore from Sunday's 12, mostly my left IT-Band, but nothing I am really worried about. I have good shoes and they have really helped me make it through these runs.

This is week 11 of my training, and I could easily go out and finish a half-marathon tomorrow. That's a good feeling for me, and now I can see in my training that these next 10 weeks are getting me to the 'next step' for the marathon. I have really been impressed with my progress due to this program I found through the Free Press Marathon website. The man who came up with this program is Doug Kurtis, and he seems to know what he is doing. You could click here for a copy of a program based on your experience.

Music: I have been really liking the album 'St. Anger' by Metallica lately. Die Hard Metallica fans hate this album, but I think it's pretty good for me while I run. Sometimes I will listen to stand-up from Dave Chapelle or David Cross, but that's risky because I don't want to laugh while I run. It's not cool.

What am I supposed to do about this heat?

It's seriously a thick, disgusting 100F outside today. I need to run 7 miles. I hate the treadmill. I didn't run this morning, and I don't really want to run when it's dark outside. That's a lot of whining for one sentence, but I guess I am a little frustrated with what I am going to do.

I really did get a good laugh when the local Knoxville weather guy said that a 'cold-front' was coming in for Friday and the high is going to be 93F. I am sorry, but 'cold-front' to me means 'drop in temperature of at least 10 degrees'. You suck, local Knoxville weather guy.

I am leaning towards running tonight, beginning at dusk, outside, and armed with a lot of water and a rape-whistle.

RIP Grand-MAW

Yesterday, Aug 8, my wife's Grandma passed away. She was 83, and definitely lived a good life. She died peacefully, and not suddenly, so we all got to spend her last days on Earth with her. It's been a tough past 12 days, and the funeral is tomorrow (Friday) night.

There are a few things I will remember about Grand-MAW. First and foremost, she always thought positively. She never got down about being bed-ridden, or having a feeding tube, and I really admired that about her. She also loved football. She knew more about the NFL than some guys, and when we'd go visit her on Sunday she'd already have Football on TV when we got there. She was a caring, loving lady, that we all loved and will be missed.

I say Grand-MAW because that's how my wife would always say it. Like "let's go see grand-MAW", I dunno, I always thought that my wife said the word "Grandma" improperly, emphasizing the MAW part. And she claims to be from the north.......

How have you been harrassed when running?

Sunday was the first time I was harassed while I was running, and it was by a member of the United States Army to boot. I was running at my normal spot, a 2.5 mile loop through a park in Knoxville. I run here 4 times a week, and this run was no different on my end. I was running 12 miles, at about 9 am on a Sunday. No big deal, right?

Well, this Sunday was a little different, because the Knoxville Army Reserves were doing their 'PT'-Physical Training-testing at the park as well. The reserves are the guys who are only committed to the Army one weekend a month and 2 weeks during the summer. When they get together, it's very basic training and conditioning type things (From what I know through people in the reserves).

So anyways, the reserves were all gathered together at one end of a straightaway in the park I run at. They were at the far end of the straightaway, so I was running towards them. They were getting ready to start running towards me for their out-and-back mile run. Luckily for me, they didn't start running while I was 'In their way'. I was able to run through the straightaway, and the group with no issues, not even any dirty looks. I respected them, they respected me.

At the part of the park with the reserves, is also the part of the park where I turn around. So, I ran through the group, turned around and ended up running back through the group going the same way that they were. Right before they started their timed mile. So, long story short, with a choppy explanation, I ended up in front a bunch of Army reserves on a timed mile. When they sounded their gun, I was about 75 feet in front of them, running the same direction on the same course. And that was when the harassment started. From the Drill Sergeants:

"ARE YOU GONNA LET SKINNY LITTLE RUNNER BOY BEAT YOU?!?!?"
"ARE YOU A MAN?!?" "GO GET THAT CIVILIAN!!!" "ARE YOU TIRED ALREADY??!?"
"SKINNY LITTLE RUNNER BOY ISN'T EVEN BREATHING HARD!!! AND HE'S NOT IN THE ARMY!!!!"

These Drill Sergeants were going nuts on these guys. I totally felt like a rabbit pace setter for these guys, and I sped up just to make sure that none of them would catch me. Like I said before, I was about 75 feet ahead of these guys when they started, and they were running 1/2 mile out and then turning back and going to where they started. For that 1/2 mile, I was cruising pretty good, it was nice to have a little unexpected competition to make my run a little more interesting. One guy almost did catch me, but it was right at his turnaround point, so as soon as we were basically shoulder-to-shoulder, he had to turn around. I just kept going and proceeded on with my 12 mile run.

The run itself was good. I paused briefly at mile 5 for a quick drink and half an energy bar, and kept a 9:22 pace throughout. My breathing never got heavy, but my legs felt tired through miles 9-12. All in all I was happy about the run, and this is for a couple of reasons. First, I have never run 12 miles at once before, so to be able to survive that is an accomplishment by itself. Second, I was able to run at a slower, more deliberate pace. I've said before that I tend to push myself to my limits when running, and run as fast as my body allows rather than run at a pace that I want to. When I felt myself creeping into my usual 8:30/mile pace, I consciously pulled back and got back to 9:15 pace. This is a big step for me.

What do the Elderly listen to on their Ipods?

During my 6-mile run yesterday, I passed by not one, but TWO men in their 60's with Ipods. These guys were not together either, they were both minding their own business about a mile apart from each other.

It got me wondering: What DO old people listen to on their Ipods??? Are they "file-sharing" just like me and my college buddies did (and still do, ssshhhhh.......)???

My guess would be that they just buy songs from Itunes, and they have less than 10 GB of music on their Ipods. I also would guess that they don't have the latest from Korn, T.I., Britney Spears, or the Beastie Boys on their Ipods either (however, it would be pretty sweet if they did). I don't know if it's PC to make these judgments, but I was a little fascinated to see 60 year old men with Ipods.

My last two runs were total opposites of one another. On Wednesday it was 90F, and very muggy. Besides that, I ate chinese food about 2 hours before my 3 mile run. I thought that since it was only 3 miles, I should be OK even though I ate only 2 hours before. Boy, was I wrong. When my run was over, I felt like someone kicked me in the stomach. I was able to drive home (a little doubled over) and sat on the toilet for about 20 minutes once I got home. I didn't feel any better, so I went and laid down for another 30 mins. My wife got me a cold rag and I put that on my forehead and I ate some ice cream and I felt a lot better. I don't know if it was the heat or the food that made me feel so bad. I hurt from my throat down to my intestines, kinda like if you swallowed a dorito too fast and one of the corners is scratching your throat all the way to your stomach. It sucked.

Thursday I ran 6 miles, and it was a little cloudy. The clouds and wind made what was a 95F day about an 85F day, which was a lot nicer to run in. I ran my 6 miles in like 53 min. or something close to that and I felt fine afterwards. It was a good run, except that I am running too fast. I have a bad habit of running as fast as my body will let me, and that is going to destroy me in the marathon. I need to start out running these 6+ milers at 9:00/mile+ pace, so I know what do do at the beginning of the marathon. I would rather pick up the pace at the end of a race, then basically walk at the finish because I am spent. I am running 12 miles Sunday and I am going to try this slower pacing. Hopefully I can figure it out.

World, I am still alive.

Coming off of my 3rd place finish in a 6 person race (there were 118 in the race, 6 of which were my gender and age bracket....), I am ready to take on anyone.

After last week, where I packed up my old place, and moved on Saturday, I am ready to pick back up where I left off with my training. My body feels good and rested. I have only ran 6 miles in the last 7 days, so I should feel good and rested.

Now that I am moved into my new place, and closer to the park I run at, I should be able to get back to my schedule. I am also adding leg weight training, these long runs are killing me!

Don't you worry, I'll be back to writing once I get off my butt and start actually doing something worth writing about. I could go on and on about my job, which entails yours truly sitting behind a computer screen that's slowly making him blind little by little each day, and when yours truly is 65 years old and wearing a pair of these:


I can look back to this very job and this very desk to blame. The guy in the cube next to me insists that blue eyes are more light sensitive than any other color, and I am skeptical. I have blue eyes, and I am going to blame this computer screen when I can't see anymore. Not my blue eyes.

Music: Mos Def--Black on Both Sides. A great hip-hop album. Even if all the hip-hop you know is the beastie boys, you should like this album. It's just good.

WTF, seriously.

Saturday:

5:45 AM: Wake-Up. It's pouring rain outside (first time it has rained around here in about a month.....) 5K @ 7:30 am. See the rain, contemplate not going to the race.

6:10 AM: Finish light breakfast. Decide to go to the race.

6:30 AM: Actually leave house. Still raining. Distance from home to race: 9-10 miles.

7:00 AM: Arrive @ race site. STOPS RAINING! I am now glad to be there. Pick up my T-shirt and number.

7:15 AM: Use bathroom. Most disgusting bathroom I have been in in a long, long time. This was a permanent bathroom, not a port-a-john.

7:30 AM: Race starts. 118 total participants, including 3 members of the "channel 6 action news crew" that were introduced before the race.....whoop-dee-doo.....

7:52:43 AM: Finish the 5K. Finished 36th overall, felt really good.

8:00 AM: Walked a couple laps around the HS track (where the finish line was), half-ass stretched and grabbed a bagel.

8:15 AM: Finish bagel, beginning to wonder why everyone is still hanging around. I leave.

That was my race-day. The run itself felt really good, however I was a little bummed that I ran 22:44 when my half-way point split was 10:20. I was running the 2nd half of the race with other people in-mind, meaning that I stayed around the same people the entire time, instead of just pushing myself to the limit. I had a little left at the end.

I proceeded to move (also known as: change residencies) the rest of the day on Saturday. Thanks to Dave, Samantha, Chris T., Erik, Sonya, Mom, and Dad for helping us move. We got it done pretty quickly on Saturday, but I developed a little left knee tendonitis during the day on Saturday (Probably from running a 5K, then all the 'heave-ho' of moving......I didn't stretch thoroughly enough after my race on Saturday....my bad). My leg was pretty stiff on Sunday, but it feels pretty good today.

Sunday was a family day, over at my wife's parents house. It was fun, but tiring. It's been a long weekend.

Monday morning, I was curious to see what my official time and place were from Saturday. I log into my Athlinks site, and find my time and place. My official time was 22:44, and my place was THIRD for my age group. That is good news, but I left before the award ceremony. I assumed that 22:44, 36th overall, wouldn't 'get me anything', but apparently it did. Crap.

Goodbye, Hello.

One year ago today I did something that I used to always say I'd never do. Leave the state of Michigan. It was on July 26th, 2006 that my wife and I packed up the Uhaul and took off to see what is outside of the mitten. We had both lived in the mitten for the significant parts of our lives, and to leave the comforts of home (not only the city, but the entire state) was not an easy decision. I can't point to one specific reason why we left then, and that hasn't changed today. There still isn't a reason why we did it, other than 'we felt like it'.

My last job in Detroit was in professional sports, working in the Detroit Tigers front office. It had always been a dream of mine to work in professional sports, and I achieved it, but for some reason I had no problem quitting my job w/the Tigers and moving to TN with no job in place. To rub salt in the wound, the Tigers made it to the 2006 World Series and I got to watch it from TN. Had I stayed, I would have had an American League Championship ring. Bling Bling, for real.

I am very surprised to say that everything mentioned above doesn't bother me. Sure, I miss working in Pro baseball, but I don't miss the low pay and the long hours. It would have been cool to have a blinged-up ring, but it's not the end of the world that I don't have one. I grew up a 'things' person, always wanting the latest and greatest....you know, the typical American attitude. I'm just not like that anymore. I don't need things to make me feel good about myself. I do have good people in my life, and I think that has helped me more than anything else.

My wife and I are getting ready to move this weekend across town, and it's forcing me to take an inventory of my stuff--and I am getting rid of a lot of it. If I haven't touched it in a year, it's gone. Plain and simple. If I can go 1 year without it, I can go 60 more.

This could go on and on forever, but long story-short Amber and I have been in TN a year and we are very happy here. Things are going well and we have made some good friends. I am not going to speak for Amber, but I couldn't be happier here.

I smell like Taco Bell

Remember how I said I eat very poorly? Well, today I went to Taco Bell for lunch. It's about 2:30 pm now, and I can still smell the stench of that dump on my person. (on my person = cop term) I also say 'on my person' because I don't know exactly what part of my body the taco stench is emanating from. So I can't figure out what part of my body to pay extra attention to in the shower. It's pretty frustrating.

Speaking of restaurant stenches, when I lived in Michigan, I worked right next door to a Panera Bread for 4 years. To this day, I will not set foot into a Panera Bread because you leave there smelling like the place for a day or so afterwards. Subway is like this also (but not as bad as Panera)

I also think I lied in my blog yesterday. Not about the Anniversary or the fact that I love my wife, but the part about taking Wednesday and Thursday off to rest for Saturday. After my wife read my blog last night, she demanded she gave me a massage to relax my muscles and try to rehab me a little bit so I can continue my running. So she did, and I feel pretty good today. I think I can handle 4 miles today. I also have eaten like an idiot today so I feel like I better burn off some of the calories I've ingested.

I sound like a broken record, but I really need to stop eating fast food and drinking soda. I know I am running a lot, but that should not be my excuse for eating like a moron.

PS: I am looking for some new running music. Suggestions.............

Rest In Peace, Legs

Unfortunately, I am altering my training schedule. I was really hoping to make it through this 21-week marathon training schedule verbatim, with no alterations or exceptions. I am 8 weeks into the training, and my legs just feel 'dead'. My run on Sunday was supposed to be 12 miles, but I had to cut it short at 7.5 miles. Yesterdays run was a slow, sloppy painful 3 miles.

(I am thinking out loud here) There are 2 different factors I am considering for this issue of mine. The first issue is my foot-strike. I notice that I pronate quite a bit, and I almost land fully on my arch when I run, with my toes pointed out a little bit. This is not an issue on shorter runs, nor is it an issue with a supportive shoe (no issue=no pain). When I was in Atlanta, and in a pinch, I bought Nike air Pegasus (which is a neutral cushion shoe, neutral cushion=no support against pronation). I have been running in these shoes for 4 weeks now, and am beginning to experience issues. (Right Achilles pain, Left outer knee pain....) Personally, I am leaning toward the shoe as the problem.

However, I went from sitting on the couch to running 4 times a week. (Well, I have never been a sedentary, or for that matter, overweight, person. I've been lucky and have always been able to keep up with my peers athletically. I haven't kept a running schedule in 10 years, however) This leads me to think that I've been running 20+ miles a week for 8 weeks now, and my legs are finally beginning to tire.

So, my solution is to go back to the running store (in which I work on the weekends) and buy another New Balance 1222, take the next 4 days off from running in order to rest for my 5k on Saturday. Hopefully, this is the only hiccup in my training.

PS: Today is my 3rd wedding anniversary. I love you Amber, you deserve a medal for putting up with all my crap.

Who wears short shorts?

If I had a picture of me before/after/during my runs, it would benefit you (the world) in a number of different ways:

1. You would see what I look like. That alone would benefit everyone.
2. You would see what I wear while I run

Well, I guess that's only 2, but it would help illustrate my situation.
I wear basketball shorts when I run, very similar to the guy on the right above. My wife gives me a hard time about this almost every time I run. She says it "looks weird", for one, and she also says if I had some lighter, shorter shorts my running would be easier. Everything she says makes perfect sense, and I worked in a running store for 4 years, so I KNOW she is right.

I just can't get over looking like these guys:

I know that I shouldn't care about how I look when I am running, and when it comes down to it I really don't. There is just something inside of me that is attached to my basketball short-running ways. Is it my way of 'keeping it real' and not conforming to the 'runner society'? Am I just plain stupid? (I really am the ONLY person I see running for as long/far as I do in shorts as long as mine are.....) One day I will give in and buy a pair of short shorts, I still work at the running store on Saturdays and I can get a set for pretty cheap. Once I give in, I'll let you (the world) know if I notice a difference. I already know the answer.

PS: I ran 6 miles on a treadmill yesterday (Thursday). It totally sucked 100%. I can't open up my stride on a treadmill and long runs are just uncomfortable. I guess I need to figure out 'how' to run 'normally' on a treadmill.

Softball already?

Apparently, my softball team that just finished has signed up for a fall league. This leaves me with a problem--to play or not to play????

I really do not want to get injured playing softball. Right now running is my main focus from an 'extracurricular' standpoint, however I know how hard it was to get guys to play in the Spring. I think I am going to play, but let them know at the outset that my priority lies with my running. That isn't my final decision, but it's where I am leaning. I hate being 'on the fence guy' but I really don't want to fully commit to another softball season right now.



Let me re-state that 10 miles of running is far, and it really puts 26.2 into perspective as well. My legs were sore until this morning from my 10-miler on Sunday, and this is Wednesday. My 3 mile run on Monday (the day after my 10-miler) was more of a 'trail of tears' than a productive run, first time that my long run has resulted in "next-day soreness" during this training session. Hopefully the only time. I am running 3 miles today (Wednesday) and 6 Thursday, those runs hopefully go well.

October is fast approaching and my miles are rapidly increasing. This is my 7th week of training and I have not missed a run. (I have had to re-arrange my 'off-days', but I haven't totally skipped a run). I have enjoyed reading other running blogs and following their stories. I am looking forward to heading home to Detroit (Detroit What!) and getting this marathon done!

10 miles is FAR.

Hello world, I hope everybody had a good weekend!

My run on Thursday was OK at best. Thankfully, I had clothes and shoes to run in, but it just didn't feel right at all. I didn't have my Ipod (which I rely on for pace--I don't wear a watch), and I was running in heavier, stability shoes. I normally run in my lighter, neutral cushion shoes and I actually noticed a big difference. It felt like I was running around with anchors on.

Friday and Saturday were resting days, and I went out for 10 miles on Sunday. 10 Miles!

I did survive the run, but it wasn't easy. During the first half of the run, I had energy from lunch (which consisted of Tacos and Mt Dew--also known as 'the lunch of champions'). I ended up running at about 5:30 pm, because I got too hungry to run at lunch time to go out and run then (when I originally wanted to). So I ate at about 1:30 and ran around 5:30. Miles 1-5 were great, good energy (taco power!), no soreness, plenty of wind.......I thought I was all good.

Miles 6-10 were a different story. The energy went away, I had noticeable ankle soreness, and slight cramps right at the end. Now, I have never run at lengths this far, nor times this long. I have never ran for 1 hour and 25 minutes without stopping before. I hope the soreness goes away after I do a few more 10+ mile runs.

I think it is important to note that I did not drink or eat anything during my run. My wife usually runs 2-3 miles while I am running these longer runs and she functions as my "drink station" after she is done with her running. She wasn't feeling good, so she didn't come with me on Sunday. For future reference, I think I will be much better served eating or drinking something at about mile 5. Hopefully that helps with the problems I was having Sunday.

On a side note, I really need to sit down one of these days and put together an Ipod play list for my running. I have a lot of crappy music on my Ipod right now, and that needs to change for these longer runs. I am paying more attention to changing songs than anything else during my runs and I don't like that.

On a second side note, the Godfather was on cable last night. That is a long movie.

This is neither emotionally deep, nor philosophically ground-breaking

My running this week has been good. Really good actually. I ran those 9 miles on Sunday, followed up by 5k on Tuesday and Wednesday. From how interesting/cool the run on Sunday was, I went back to the Dreadmill on Tuesday and the 'Hairy Old Man' track on Wednesday.

**To follow-up on the old hairy guys, I haven't seen them in a couple of weeks. Based on their age, I can't assume they 'surf the net' and from that I can't assume they read this blog. Maybe they actually did read my blog and stay at home now and cry instead of coming to the track. I hope not, and I hope they're OK.**

It's hard to believe that it's already Thursday. Where has this week gone?

I have been questioning my pacing on my runs since day one. I tend to think that my shorter runs should be faster (In a per mile sense) than my longer runs for them (my shorter runs) to be productive. So I am going to shoot for 8:30/mile on my longer runs, and 7:30/mile for my shorter runs. I am going to use 5 miles as the distinction distance between long and short.

I am to run 5 miles today, after work, and I forgot my shoes, running clothes and Ipod at home. So, I am borrowing clothes (from my brother-in-law who works with me and lives a lot closer to work than I do), not running with my Ipod and running in my 'everyday' shoes (which are New Balance 992--a running shoe, but not MY running shoe.....)

We'll see how this goes. Don't get your hopes up.

I am starting to suck at this whole blogging thing

I feel like I have let the world down. I am sorry, truly and deeply from the bottom of my heart.

Well, excuse #1 is I was on vacation. I had my laptop, and I broke it out and used it once, but I still should have taken time away from my trip and blogged for you, the people. I made a commitment to the world and I need to do a better job of sticking to it.

Excuse #2 is that my running has been interesting, but I don't really have any pictures. Last week I ran on an Army base twice and on the campus of Virginia Tech, which were all really interesting experiences. I wanted to have pictures from my vacation on my first blog after vacation, which leads me to excuse #3.......

.....and Excuse #3 is........my pictures are not uploaded onto my computer yet. It's not difficult, nor is it time-consuming. I just haven't done it yet. You can blame the Home Run Derby for that. (Or you could blame steroids, because in a round about way steroids are the reason I haven't uploaded my vacation pictures onto my computer yet)

In an attempt at increased web traffic, I am going to mention Paris Hilton and the Iphone now.

I just crossed the 100 mile plateau since the end of May. Yay for me:

100 Miles!!!!!!

I will say that Virginia Tech has a very nice campus. It is in the middle of nowhere ("there is a lot of farmland around here.......oh look, Virginia Tech is on the right....."), but I really liked how the campus was set up and the appearance of the buildings. We went on a Sunday afternoon, and there were a lot of people on campus.....some going to the chapel, some students moving in, some students hanging out....but I didn't notice any 'gawkers' or 'tourists', basically people who were there just to see the buildings where 'the stuff went down' and the memorials stemming from that tragedy. (For the record, I visit college campuses whenever I can. When I got to VT, I did not know the names of the buildings in which the shootings took place, nor did I ask around to find out. Consequentially, I ran by them during my 9-mile run. I looked up the names after I got home, out of curiosity, and I was surprised to know that the buildings didn't have any markings indicating that 'something bad happened here'.....No warning tape, fences, broken windows...etc)

From what I could tell, the University took down all the 'student made' memorials and started construction on a permanent memorial right in front of Burruss Hall on the courtyard (it's called the drillfield by the locals). It was not complete, but still nice. I guess construction started on the memorial in mid-June and should be done before the fall semester starts.

I could understand that the university doesn't want new students to be reminded of what happened in April, and that's why the fences were taken down around the 2 buildings and the memorials were basically moved to one place. To me, the campus looked normal. (This is where those pictures I was talking about earlier would have helped....) I couldn't tell what two buildings the shootings happened in just based on running by.

So, my 9-mile run on campus went well. I definitely was dehydrated afterwards (I can thank the diet coke at breakfast for that), but other than that my pace was 8:45/mile, which I am fine with. Due to the dehydration, I didn't sweat all that much and my knees ached a little. I will say that the run seemed like it took foorrreeevvveeerrrrr. Not because it was 9 miles, but my miles individually seemed like they were taking much longer than normal to roll by (the joys of Nike+Nano). My pace was consistent with what it's always been, so I guess it was just one of those days.

On a health note--I think I may have caught Bronchitis while in Virgina Beach. I'll keep everyone posted. I have had a scratchy throat for the last 2 days and my nose and lungs are a little plugged up. I've wrote enough for today. This is long. Thats what she said.

Sorry World, I have failed you.

I apologize that I haven't been updating my blog. I have no excuse, but my wife and I are in Virginia Beach this week visiting some friends. we are having a blast and staying on an Army base here in Newport News, VA (It's about 30 min. from the coast) We are on Fort Eustis, and it's the first time I have been to an Army base. It makes the fact that one of my best friends is in the Army very real. It's a little weird, but I have a totally new respect for him (and his family for accepting that lifestyle) and I am very glad we're here.

I have done my last 2 runs (3 miles yesterday, 5 miles today) here on base and it really gave me an opportunity to see the base close up. The Army does everything 'bare bones' you could say. The buildings are good and functional, but no 'modern day' frills, and of course, when soldiers are working or doing something Army related, they are all wearing the same uniform (usually camouflage) and nobody has any facial hair. Before I came here, I 'knew' all this.....but being here and seeing it up close is totally different. I honestly don't think I'd last 20 minutes in the Army. I could handle all the physical and mental abuse, I just couldn't make that long of a commitment and give my life up like that for four years. That would be the hardest part of the Army for me, the commitment as a whole.

On Saturday, Amber and I are heading home to Knoxville. The drive is about 8 hours and we are stopping in Roanoke, VA to stay the night Saturday night. Roanoke is about 4 hours from the beach and 4 hours from Knoxville, so it's a good stopping point. Roanoke is also near Virginia Tech University, and we want to stop there and see the campus. First off, I hear it's an amazing campus and should be a nice place to run my 9 miles on Sunday. We also would like to see where the shootings happened and see if there are any memorials left and pay our respects to the people who lost their lives while attempting to better their lives by attending college. It's scary to think that what happened at VT could theoretically happen anywhere, and I just feel for those who lost their lives that day.

Q: What's up with the unicycles??

A: While I was on my 8-mile run on Sunday, there was a guy sharing the trail with me on a unicycle. Seriously.

I made it!

I was pretty happy with my run on Thursday. First off, I didn't die (as previously speculated), but my joints ached a little bit towards the end. I am attributing that (the aching) to the fact that I've never ran that far with no stopping before. It was an 8-miler, at about 5:30 pm, sunny and 85F outside. Not ideal running conditions by any means, but not completely unbearable either. I made it through the 8 miles without stopping, which in itself is encouraging.

I don't think I've ever ran 8 consecutive miles before. Back in High School I didn't really keep track of my long runs. I would just run with everyone else, for about 45-60 minutes and come back for the speed portion of the workout. For the entire workout, I am sure there were days where we'd run 12-15 miles in a day. I can not recall running 8 consecutive miles however. So long story short, once a week I will be completing 'My longest run ever' as the long runs go up between now and October. That's kinda nice.

About my pace. Yesterday, I was again at 8:45/mile pace. On any run over 5 miles, my pace has been a pretty consistent 8:45/mile. Lately on my shorter runs (less than 4 miles) I've been hitting between 7:30-8:00 miles. In my head this sounds like a good pace for me at both the longer and shorter distances. I am shooting for sub-4 hours on this Marathon in October.

If there is anyone out there in 'the blogosphere' (lol) that has any pacing advice/experience, I'm all ears.

Music: Yesterday with my 8 mile run, I listened to a lot of music. I listened to a bunch of Detroit Local Stuff (including my own band....I know, totally lame, right??) that nobody would have heard of, but I also listened to my favorite band of all time, The Hives. They are cool guys, and I really like their music.

PS: The picture above is just the first thing that comes up when you put 'happy runner' into Google Image Search

8 miles at 5pm in 90 degree heat

That's what I am about to do. This may as well be a suicide note.

Family, please know that I love you all dearly. This is not your fault.......do you seriously think I was going to carry that on??? That is creepy. I guess if you read my prior posts, you wouldn't put a faux-suicide note past me.

To change subjects:I saw this online today and could not pass it up. My wife and I have recently reverted back to 7th grade and pull "your mom" jokes at each other constantly. We're the only ones who think they are still funny, I guess. I do have to give her some props for a your mom joke she got me with a couple of weeks ago. I came home from getting a bad haircut and first thing she said to me was "you look like your mom cut your hair...." It made the bad haircut a lot better. I still laugh when I think about it.

Yesterday, I ran 3 outside and I pushed myself pretty hard. It was 90 outside and I was feeling it afterwards. I was at about 7:30/mile, which is a good clip for me lately, and I feel like my new shoes are helping(although they may be about 1/4 size small....we'll see).

It's supposed to storm this afternoon, which would push my 8-miler indoors. (Then this will be the last thing I ever write, because 8 miles on a treadmill is murder)

PS: I was on a conference call the other day and the guy who was hosting it used the word "Blogosphere" in reference to bloggers as a whole. I laughed out loud, luckily I had the mute button pressed in.

Softball is over!

I say that like I am glad, and I am. No disrespect to my teammates, but I am just glad that the season is over and I got out injury-free. At the beginning of the season, I pulled both quads in the first game (I never sprint......therefore when I did my legs went pop, pop!), then once my quads healed I turned an ankle. After the ankle healed, I began my official 'training', (which consists of running 4 days a week) and I have been in good health since (Coincidence? Probably not.)

Softball was a lot of fun, but even more importantly for me was that I ventured out and did something that I had never done before. What I mean is that I typically shy away from things that I have never tried and stick to doing things I know that I am good at. Honestly, I thought Softball was going to be easy and I'd step right in and be a good player because I don't look like this guy:

Boy, was I wrong. I am a terrible softball player, and I am OK with that. I never played baseball when I was growing up, and that is where all these guys learned their fundamentals that they can apply in softball. My athletic ability didn't help much when I had a hard time getting on base, catching the ball once I got to it, etc. etc. It was comical to me near the end how bad I was. Just like anything else, I will get better as I learn from the guys and get more games under my belt.

I can honestly say that playing softball was one of the first times where I was bad at something and didn't quit right away. I am pretty sure I have self-esteem issues and they stem from being ridiculed by my parents for 18 years when I was 'bad' at something. I would be afraid to try new things, things that require practice and learning, because I didn't want to hear it from my parents. It's a stupid way to approach things, but when you're a kid you don't know any better.

Once I moved to Tennessee, I really started to realize things like I just mentioned above about me and how I looked at the world and the people in my world. What I perceived as normal is actually far from it. I have a lot of work (socially, mentally) ahead of me and I feel like this softball team was the first step in many to fix a strange childhood (which, until recently, I thought was a 'normal' childhood.)


Q: So, uh....that sappy personal crap is all fine and well, and it sucks and all, but what about your run, dude?:
A: I know you (the world) just LOVE reading about my runs, but Tuesday was a rest day. I played softball Tuesday evening and we lost 10-5. I guess I didn't really rest.

Wet and Bored is not a good combination.

Yesterday was the first time it was raining when I was supposed to be running. This is the 4th week of my training and I have somehow managed to miss raindrops every time. So that brought me to a decision--run in the rain or go to the gym and get on a treadmill. I chose the treadmill and was actually glad that I did.

I was glad I chose treadmill because it forced me to run faster than I normally do. Well, I set the pace, but I couldn't slow down and get into a comfortable pace unless I wanted to end up like these guys did. (Thanks to Vanilla at half-fast for the original.....I laughed for a good five minutes and sent the link around the office. Fun was had by all.)

So with that being said, combined with the fact that my shoes are much lighter (Nike Pegasus v. New Balance 1222), I went out for 5k in 22:55. It felt good, and it felt fast. It didn't feel like I was at my usual pace, just shorter because I was on a treadmill. It felt fast. It felt good. Good and Fast is way better than Wet and Bored, eh?

On a related note: I know a guy who trains for his marathons on his treadmill exclusively. I don't know how his house is set up and where his treadmill is, but I am surprised he is still alive. Knowing that about him, I would constantly have his house on suicide watch. Just the thought of running on a treadmill every day upsets me, or at least makes me sad for him.

Music: Another Death From Above 1979 day. I really like them, and I recently found out that they broke up. Oh well.

Running through the streets of Atlanta

Let me start by saying I had a blast in Atlanta. I did not see Lil' Jon (I did see a few look-a-likes), but otherwise it was a really good time. Amber and I packed a lot in to the weekend, including trips to IKEA, the High Museum of Art, two Atlanta Braves baseball games (which the Tigers won--both! BOO-YA Atlanta, your baseball team SUCKS), a trip to NikeTown in Atlanta, and a 4 mile run around the city.


My run was on Sunday morning, and it was supposed to be two 4-mile loops around my hotel. We stayed at the Atlanta Hilton, and I was surprised to find that it wasn't in the greatest part of town. I went out and ran my first 4 mile loop and decided that was enough for me. More than the lack of scenery, (I will say that running around the Georgia Dome and Phillips Arena was very cool) I didn't want to overwork my body after 2 solid days of walking all over Atlanta. I had forgot my Nike+ foot chip also, so I didn't even run with my Ipod. It was a nice change, to be honest and I'll make up those 4 miles on Thursday (running 8 miles instead of 4).

Last week, all 4 of my runs felt 'different'. I felt like I was dragging my legs behind me and really fighting to feel 'good' while I was running. Sounds like a case of dead shoes, right? So, while in Atlanta I made a trip to NikeTown. We got there at about 8:45 on a Saturday night (they close at 9), so I know that I was their favorite customer as soon as I walked in the door. I really didn't want to be 'that guy' and keep all the employees late on a Saturday, but on the other hand I didn't bring my running shoes to Atlanta with me, because they were dead and I knew that I needed to buy a new pair on the trip. I tried on the Nike+ Air Structure Triax 10 and the Nike Air Pegasus, and actually went with the Pegasus. It was lighter and just felt like an extension of my foot. I know its not a stability shoe, but it felt fine on my 4 miler on Sunday and I got it on sale. Buying shoes based on price is never a good idea, but in all honesty I think it's going to work for me.


As I mentioned earlier, Amber and I went to two baseball games in Atlanta. When I bought the tickets, I purposely bought tickets in two entirely different areas of the park, to try and give each game some uniqueness (Is that a word?) On Friday night, I got tickets three rows back in left field, basically where all the home runs go. We got to the game right when the gates opened and went right to our seats for batting practice. Amber had never been to a batting practice before and I know she really enjoyed the excitement of Home Runs always coming our way and seeing all the kids go crazy for any ball hit in the area. The whole experience of Friday was really cool. The Tigers won the game, 5-0.

On Saturday, I got tickets for the Lexus Pavilion. I had no idea what that was prior to showing up, it just sounded cool so I went with it. It turned out to be very cool and I recommend it to anyone going to Turner Field anytime soon. The Lexus pavilion is "anti-baseball purist" in every sense of the term. First of all, you have to pass an usher to even get into the area. (which is closed off with glass to the 'public'). It is air-conditioned, carpeted, clean, and connected to the suite level, so everything is top-notch.

We met some guys from New York who sat right next to us, and they were all really nice guys. There were six of them and they were hard-core Mets fans, which by proxy made them Tigers fans for the day. (Mets fans hate the Braves with a passion) They called themselves the Traveling DingleBerries, and are going to visit all 30 stadiums within the next few years. This trip they were hitting Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Miami (to see the Florida Marlins), and they shot video during the game and should be posting it to their site when they get home. They may have caught me saying that I would date Justin Verlander over Brandon Inge on tape. We'll see.

Food: When Amber and I go out of town, we have a rule that we really try to stick to: Only eat at places that you can't eat at in the town in which you live. So, there were two places that we found that were not in Knoxville. The first place we ate lunch at on Friday was Willy's. It was a burrito place that I think is franchised. It was excellent and very efficient. They have the production line process down to a science. The second place we found was Garden Sprout. They are a vegetarian chinese food restaurant that makes everything out of soy, seitan, and potatoes. They still call it beef, chicken, or shrimp, but it's made out of soy, seitan or potatoes. We both really liked Garden Sprout and will make it a point to go back next time we're in Atlanta.