I'm really a runner?

Wired differently

2009-09-28T12:50:00.001-07:00

So I will bypass my normal report on race day to examine my head. Someone whom I consider a friend said something to me during the Akron Marathon that had me checking myself. It was a pretty harmless comment to me asking me to try not to make comments about others while we were running. I questioned it at first and the reply indicated that it seems to have become a habit of mine. I think this may go back to some comments made during another race when we were running together. Outwardly when other runners of far superior skills were flying through the course I started making small sarcastic comments suggesting that they had to have given up something to get that fast. Otherwise could life truly be fair? No one should be good at everything they do right?
It actually hurt a little though the more I thought about it. I actually thing that from there on out I was a lot less talkative then my normal self. I kept thinking about what type of a person I strive to be. Do I want to be the supportive person that I think I am always wishing the best to others or do I want to be seen as a biter person who is always trying to belittle others. Apparently, unknowingly to me, I had become the later during races. What is it about competition that causes everything within me to change? I know that I am a strong type A personality and I can be very competitive in life. I have a gift for not only gab but also sarcasm. Maybe there are more reasons then I knew for me to no longer continue to chase after someone elses expectations of me. I love spending time with friends on runs and I try to be a nice person. Saturday wasn't the only time that I have received negative feedback with regards to some of my comments and the day ended with a nice gesture from another runner who had addressed the same issue with me (okay so now everyone should be confused except for possibly two people reading this so I will abort).

If the feeling I get from not feeling competitive during these races causes me to be a person that I don't like then it is time to check myself. I need to apologize to those that may have been on the negative end of my sometimes incoherent babble during these times and do what I like. I hope to demonstrate this through actions in the future though and not words here in this blog..... and to the friends who were kind enough to bring this fault to my attention so that it can be addressed I sincerely thank you.

Hmmm now I think it's time to sign up for the tow path half marathon... to run with a group of people raising money for Downs Syndrome... anyone interested in supporting my effort let me know.

The Blue Pill

2009-09-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

So some of you may not know my rather tech geek side. Others know it well. I'm a big fan of the Matrix trilogy and other science fiction movies (or are they just telling the future). So I'm about to go all geek for a second.

In the movie the Matrix, Neo is offered a choice of a blue or red pill. The blue pill is accepting the way things are and traveling down the same path without questioning it. The red pill in the movie is an offering of the truth. It represents taking a chance and stepping outside of the normality of life. I find that many times with schedules of work, travel, children's activities, etc life becomes robotic. I find myself checking my calender to see who needs to be driven where, and when my wife is working, or where I am traveling next and some times I just seem to shut down and go on autopilot. You realize this when you are driving down the street and your 4 year old and they point out a rainbow just to the left of the car. How is it that the notice so much while we miss it all? I think over time you get so used to the same routine that you start to shut out what is around you.

I find that running for me is like taking the red pill. It puts me in a setting in which I have total recognition of everything that is occurring both inside and around me. You begin to feel every muscle while at the same time being acutely aware of your surroundings. This is amplified when running on trials due to the need to avoid obstacles which may arise. I find that lately I have been worried to much about the past and as a result I've been trying to follow a path which requires half a blue pill and half a red one. By doing this I don't know if I will every truly make it to the truth but I still have the security and comfort offered by the known. Well here goes the big one. I choose the red pill... Time to go sign up for the blue line. Under trained, unprepared, but very experienced. Time to accept the change and finish what was started.

Akron

2009-09-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

So I'm hoping no one cares enough to read this anymore as I have only posted once in the last 4-5 months. My life has grown increasingly busy as my children have grown and my position within the company I work for has grown as well. So today I find myself examining two separate issues. The first would be who to draft tonight in our fantasy football league, and the second is the Akron Marathon.
I have once again swarm of running 26.2 mile races. So it seems the Akron Marathon is held the day before my birthday. I had every intention to sign up for the half marathon option today but I couldn't believe it was $65. Hell for $85 I can run the whole marathon and get a cool jacket instead of some tech t. Like I don't have enough tech tees. I bet it will be another long sleeve one like the last few years so that I can't ever wear it. The only time I wear long sleeve is if there is snow falling. So I had an okay 20 mile run on Saturday. Walked some over the last 4-5 miles but we kept a 10 minute mile pace for most of the run and I felt good. I didn't puke until a good 5 minutes after I finished running.

Sooooo. why am I ready to sign up for the full Akron Marathon? I had actually filled out all the information and was ready to hit the send button when I decided to give it another day or two. I think it's my inability to stop thinking about the way things have ended. I put myself through hell to finish the Buckeye because I quit the last time... and now it is the Akron Marathon which was the last event I quit. Will I forever remember quiting and always want to go back and finish what I started? Hell I have a finishers medal it's just two years old. What the hell. I can imagine the conversation at the start line if/when my friends see me wearing a bib for a full marathon but what the hell. Maybe I just start far enough back that I won't see anyone until it's over. Or maybe I could use their support? I could always take the easy way out and go for my goal of a sub 1:45 half but then again I could do that two weeks later in Peninsula as well.

Why do we do these things to ourselves?

Buckeye Trail 50k

2009-07-21T11:37:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure who still reads this but I figured that I would give things a few days to clear up before writing any report from my race on Saturday now I look down and holly crap is this a long report. Oh well maybe it will help me to remember things in the future.

Once upon a time there was a boy named..... okay that isn't going to work.

So the race started right on time at 7. I started my day at the end of the pack right where I wanted to be and watched 160 people head into the woods in front of me. I was with Bob, Red and Maria and having a good time breaking some cement off my legs. There really wasn't much talking going on at first and even after a mile it wasn't up to the normal communications so I had to interject the now normal "So speaking of sex" which seemed to loosen everyone up a bit. After about two miles we reached Otawa Point and Melissa was waiting for me. She was happy to see that we were taking it easy and we all just seemed to settle into one conversation after another. I think it was about 4 miles into the run when some of the runners around us took offense to the conversation and one woman even yelled back "language". I found it humorous as we had been discussing everything from Dr Ruth and onion rings to well you can imagine and when Red had somehow directed the conversation to the unnecessary circumcision of pubescent girls in Africa all of a sudden our language was offensive. So like any group of katty school children it just seemed to drive the conversation back toward the size of the male anatomy of all the runners who were faster then me.
A bit earlier in the run when everyone was talking about all those crazy fast guys in front of me I figured that I would help out my ego some by making a suggestion that maybe they can run a little faster because they don't have as much "manhood" to get in the way. This then lead to a discussion that the really slow runners may have been hampered by the need to deal with keeping a cadence with three legs instead of two. In hindsight this seems pretty funny with the way I finished. The girls all seemed to get a kick out of it so I even went as far as to say that I would to "cup check" some of the first runners on the way back as a way to verify this. So for those of you that have never gotten to spend a long run with our groups you have missed some very interesting times. What fun would it be if we were to just run so fast that no one could talk.
Well somewhere close to Snowville our group was once again separated even though I'm not sure how/when. It became Maria, Melissa and I with various other runners who seemed to use us for a pick me up as they dropped back or came up (mostly dropping back as we started DFL). I didn't spend any time at the aid stations and instead just walked/hydrated/ate while others stopped. We moved good and in no time we were on our way to the Boston Store. The first place runner passed us as we headed down the hill toward boston and just then we heard the train whistle. This is the first time I had ever been passed prior to boston store by return runners which was a good sign.
Kam passed us as we were leaving the woods and I then realized that Mark was stopped on the other side of the train. He looked pretty unhappy when the train cleared but it gave us a good story at Boston as they were telling us about Kam outrunning the train by only 20-30 yards by some accounts.... Crazy...
We headed toward pine lane and everything seemed good. Nothing new until just before the turn around my left leg started to twitch as if a cramp was forming. We spent a little longer at Pine Lane then planned and I had them refill my Camel Back as it was empty (as planned) so I took a couple s caps and for some dumb reason drank some Coke. The girls were done with the bathroom and we were out again. We were almost spot on 3:30 as planned at the half. A full 30 minutes slower then my first Buckeye 50k and it was 10 degrees cooler and I am in far better shape now.
Well as we entered the pines on the way back I started to feel some cramping in my quads so I took it slower then normal (this is normally where I pick it up and move on out). Maria who is normally my counterpart through this section took off like we always do while I held back and conserved. This would be the last I would see of Maria who went on for a PR. We kept running for most of the downhills and flats to the Boston Store. I had really started to feel my quads and I was pretty sure it was dehydration but maybe it was just not eating enough. So the aid workers at boston store helped me out with some watermelon (covered in salt) and an orange. In hindsight I should have eaten a lot more here. I am always overly worried about my stomach but worrying too much to eat pretty much ended the good part of my day. I headed out out into untested territory. This was the furthest I had ever made it in a buckeye and the longest I have ever gone in any race without puking or self imploding. We hit the up hill that takes you almost a full 3/4 of a mile to the piano keys and this is where everything hit me. The constant uphill had my left quad cramp up. I could watch my entire leg pulse with each step. Melissa told me I needed to get moving and running or it would get worse so I tried to run some of the flatter section near the top of the stairs. Then we started down the stairs and my legs really stopped cooperating. On the next uphill heading back toward Boston Mills Rd it really got bad. I couldn't get my left quad to release and stopped a couple of times on my way up the hill to try and get it to release so I could at least walk normally. When we finally got up to the top of the hill at the point when you come out into the driveway for the roadwork building on Boston Mills I sat down on a large rock and told Melissa for the first time of the day that I was done. I believe here words were "what the fuck... we are kinda in the middle here it's not like there is someone to give you a ride". Thinking back I would have never quit here but it was just the response that came out of my mouth when she started trying to get me moving. So we got going on the trails and at this point had made it over 20 miles in maybe 4-1/2 hours. I was able to get a little more running in off and on on the downhills including the paved downhill going down to Blue Hen Falls. The problem was the uphill after. This is when things begin to get cloudy and blur together. every uphill from here on out included stops to hold on to trees. At one point my heartrate seemed to be racing so fast that I could feel it in my temples and it wouldn't drop back down. I don't think there is any way to overstate how many times Melissa should have just left me. I tried everything. I got out my ipod, the crutch I have used to get me through hard times while training and the f'n think didn't work. Apparently I was sweating so much that when I turned it on the rocker switches had moisture in them which would randomly cause it to turn of and then I couldn't get it on for a few minutes etc. At some point it started working but was playing one of my daughters songs and I couldn't get it to switch playlists. Well at least it drove me crazy while walking. The last 11 miles of this race would end up taking me the same 4-1/2 hours as the initial 20. We were being passed by people and about a half mile from Snowville some guy passed us as Melissa was really letting me have it. She didn't know if she should push me more and risk having me just shut down or take it easy and try to talk me into a better mood for most of this section but just as this guy was coming past it she really let it fly. Apparently he reported some of the incident at the Snowville aid station which really got a laugh and even got Tara to head back up the trail looking for us. Seeing her come bouncing up the trail with her ponytails was a good sight and I was really encouraged to see that her and Bill had waited at Snowville and wanted to see me get through this. I think everyone knew that even if I had wanted to quit there was no way for me to do it with Bill standing there giving me hell. I will omit some of my comments to him at this point as they weren't so kind and I really do appreciate all of them being there for me. This was the first time that I could try to fix what was wrong. I ate everything I could at this aid station and they even filled a bag full to take with me on the trail. I sat down while my water was refilled (I know this is bad but Bill took a picture and it was immediately on facebook with a caption "will he finish?". On my way out I heard one of the aid station volunteers ask a question and then heard Bill say "He will finish now". I'm not sure if they knew I could still hear them but Bill was right.
I thought I was walking pretty good at this point but then a local personal trainer caught up to me who was working toward his second finish at the summer Buckeye I believe. He's not a man of many words (or maybe no words) but when I asked if he wanted to get buy he indicated that our pace was fine. I picked it up a little and the three of us walked for 5-10 minutes together until the next uphill. At that point he headed around me and moved on. Melissa gave me a look that could kill and followed it up with a "come on". Like I said most of this is a blur but for some reason this part is clear in my memory. I looked at her and told her " I just got passed in a foot race by ________" and something about nothing she could ever say should motivate me more then what just happened. Well one way or another I made it to the finish. I actually stopped and waited for a man to pass me before heading into the driveway for the finish because at that point I didn't care enough to have my ego act like I was so much faster. I got to the finish and stopped to see the last three digits on the clock read 911. It was enough to give a little levity to the situation and I just stopped. Lloyd was taking the tag off my number and someone yelled "are you going to cross the finish line?". I looked down and realized I was about a foot short. I think I took a step and then walked over to the pavilion. I don't remember who all was there but I have received many emails from individuals who where there to help. Pizza and water showed up in front of me and I just shut down. In a way that is all me I even found time to make a comment about getting the same fuckin metal as Mark Godale and Kam (as Mark stood there supporting the runners coming in hours after him). I made eye contact with him after my statement to try and let him know that it was not meant personally and later exchanged emails.

So in retrospect here goes. I received emails from people who were at a lose at what to say as I seemed so discouraged even in my successful completion of an endurance race that has kicked my ass on multiple occasions. To them, I am still discouraged and upset. I try to be successful at everything I do in life and unfortunately most of the time I have measured that success by comparing it to others. In comparison I was bib number 151 out of 167 and finished 152 out of 154 finishers. At the finish line this is where what little of my mind that was left was at. In retrospect there are many people who would say I finished 152 not out of 167 but out of the smallest portion of the population who could even be so strong as to attempt to run 50k on the Buckeye Trail. There are always ways to make a finish out to be more or less then it is. I guess it is just up to the person measuring. So here is my take for my blog.

I was out to finish a 50k that I started working toward 5 months after I started running. I was naive and had no idea of the journey which would lead me to today. If it wasn't for this journey I would never have met such a great group of people including the one who helped me to finally complete it. Out of the emails and calls I received after the race over 50% of them came from people who I have met as a direct result of the Buckeye. So the journey isn't done it's just moving on. At this point I don't have plans to ever again run the summer buckeye 50k. I will definitely run the training runs as these have always been my favorite part. Maybe my place in this grand journey is meant more to help others through then to do it myself. Maybe I was to offer levity and companionship for the other people who trained and finished so well on Saturday.

So 2-1/2 years after starting running for the first time in my life, 7 years after reaching my maximum weight of 250+lbs and 2 years after attempting to complete a 50k trail run this part of the story is done :)

Oh and to the runners reading this. See you out there training for the fall marathons. I think I'm going to try something new this year and maybe I can hit the trifecta on the half marathon distance... Buckeye 1/2, Akron 1/2, Towpath 1/2. Then of course there is the Buckeye Winter 50k....... the 30k option obviously.

Always going forward

2009-07-16T10:58:00.000-07:00

Wow I am really slacking at this blog thing but I am making up for it on facebook.

So I just finished up a weekend with all the girls of All About Dance By Kristen at nationals and they did fantastic. My sunshining 9 year old danced in groups that won 1st overalls in the respective age groups for small group, large group, and lines. The first two actually paid price money of $750 and $1000 for the groups along with the necessary items such as a 6' tall trophy that dwarfs all of the 7-9 yr old girls.. It was a good weekend made even better by a trip to the bar late Saturday night to witness UFC 100 and watch grown men punch and wrestle each other until one either gives up or is unable to continue. It's amazing a weekend of watching talented kids express themselves physically through dance and movement was married perfectly with watching grown men express themselves through barbaric violence. I guess you could call it a weekend of artistic expressionism.

This leads me to where I am now. I am currently in the phase of training that runners refer to as the taper. I'm actually more or less at the end of the taper beginning the transition into preparedness and full of anxious energy. This step is also full of a constant battle between a bottle of water and the bathroom. I seem to be spending more time walking back and forth between the bathroom then I was when my children were 2 and 3 years old.

I feel that I am better prepared for the Buckeye 50k on Saturday then I have been for any endurance race in my life. I have put in the miles, completed the long runs strong, and I am mentally ready for anything that the world throws at me. I realized just how strongly this has become rooted in my consciousness when I was explaining to my daughter why this meant so much to me. I told her about how I have quit twice before in this race. I didn't make up excuses or beat around the bush. I told her that I wasn't mentally strong enough to make it through the tough times and just gave up. She asked me why I was doing it again and without hesitation I told her that I couldn't continue to look back and measure this point in my life by a few short moments of weakness as there are so many good memories. I am doing it to replace those memories forever with the memories I create on Saturday.

So to all of those that are reading this and have had some part in the training, or will have some part in the adventure on Saturday. Thanks for becoming a part of the good memories.... and to those that are forgotten with the bad... I hope you understand... Now in the immortal words of Judge Mills Lane.... Lets get it on.

Busy life

2009-05-21T08:06:00.000-07:00

Life has finally caught up to me big time. School is almost over but that means dance recitals, t-ball, fathers day, anniversaries, b-days, vacation, you name it... Oh and Allergies. I put in my best week of running in 2009 last week. I think I was a mile short of 50. Considering I'm going to run the full Buckeye 50k in around 8 weeks this is a good thing. I actually think I'm ahead of where I planned on being (if you can ever be ahead of training for a 50k).

Well this week has been rough though. The allergies have lead to eyes that won't open in the morning and a full head. I was going to run this morning but the Benadryl ruined that idea. The 9+ hours of sleep were probably more necessary then I would like to admit but it is killing my week. I've only got in 11 miles. Hoping to hit the towpath at lunch to stat fixing this. Then I've got a 15 mile run planned on the trails Saturday. With the long weekend maybe I can get in some extra.

Well just taking a moment for a sanity check. Back to life. The good and bad news is that I've only taken on business trip in the last 8-9 weeks. The good is I've been spending time at home with the kids, the bad is that it will surely catch up with me and cause the summer to be busy.

Blog Slacker

2009-05-06T16:10:00.001-07:00

Wow, has it really been 10 weeks since I have written on my blog? It's amazing how busy our lives can get. Birthday parties for the 4 yr old and 9 yr old, dance competitions, travel, running, finishing the basement of our house, building a clubhouse for the kids, it's all gotten out of control. I don't have a minute to relax.

I've been running and training with friends who are running the Cleveland Marathon next week or have run one in the last few weeks. I had intended to run the half in Cleveland to pace a friend but she unfortunately will not be running. I guess that saves me $60 as I never signed up. After all my crazy marathon experiences I have sworn off that distance until I get things figured out. I have done a couple 20 mile training runs on trails over the last few months but always seemed to end up run/walking some and experiencing some issues. Two weeks ago I went out with Nick to put in a long run when the VR group had their 20 mile aided run. After 5.5 miles we hit the first aid stop that Vince had set out and I had one of the Apple Cinnamon Hammer Gels. Well about a mile or two later Nick and I took a wrong turn which cut off some mileage and then my stomach started it's rumblings. Beginning at mile 7-8 we had started walking some to prevent me from puking. This was crazy and I could only relate it to the gel. That's it no more gels. By the time we hit mile 11-12 my stomach was getting much better and we ran most of the remaining 3 miles back to the cars. This was ridiculous. It was either the gel or Nick.

So last weekend I saw a post on facebook from a friend who indicated he was putting in 20 on the Akron course the next day. I convinced myself to retaliate for the previous week and joined them at 6:00am. It was a small group just Red, Bob and I but we had a good time. After about 7 miles I started to feel a little tired and started eating some trail mix I had brought with me. I had been living off of the Marc's trail mix and/or Raisins for the last 2-3 months of running and only changed it during the VR run. So I started to feel a little better and we just carried on through the hills of Akron. We managed to all stay together and had a nice little rest stop at mile 14 thanks to Debi. Well after that things started to get a little quite. We hit the last hill before Stan Hywett hall and Red indicated we had to run this. I felt a little rush of energy and powered up the hill at a pretty good pace. When I hit the top I walked for a little until red and bob caught up and then we were ready to turn the corner.

At this point Bob and I started talking about construction and drywall so Red put on her iPod and she was off. We held close for most of the next few miles (she had done this once before to us at around mile 12). When we all got back together we gave her a hard time about leaving us and then it was time for all of us to put on the tunes. It was strange but as soon as the music hit me I got a rush and it was on. This was strange. I had run 15 miles and was ready to get going. we picked up the pace down Market and Red really got going. I was still a little worried in the back of my mind so I would stop every once in a while to regroup with Bob and then we were off again. Red stopped for a second at the corner of Main and we all ran to the finish together. When I looked down and saw the 26 mile mark on the street I sprinted to the roadrunner statue and it felt great. I had run almost 20 miles and my legs were strong and picking up the pace. My stomach was good and although I later saw that I was down almost 2% of my body weight from where I started it was great. I'm still amazed. I did the math and figured that if we kept the pace for another 6 miles we would have finished in around 4:40-4:45. That's insane on a training run for me.

So I could most likely run the Cleveland Marathon and set a PR but I won't. I'm going to take this experience and go run another training run and then another until I know what I can do. The feeling I had during those last 2-3 miles is why I run. Not for a race or a metal...

With that being said... I'm finishing the Buckeye 50k in 10 weeks.

Unforgettable

2009-02-21T17:49:00.001-08:00

I completed a 14 mile run with the VR group this morning. We headed up to Riverview Rd from Lock 29 and then ran out to station road bridge on Riverview. It was actually a pretty straight forward route as we were going to catch the towpath back to lock 29 and call it a day. Well after talking for a minute most of us decided to head back on the roads to avoid the ice and have a little safer run back.

I was about 10-11 miles into the run when a group of 4 vehicles was coming our way. There had been a lot of traffic with the ski resorts running but it really isn't an issue as there is a pretty good berm on the road and you just have to watch things around the corners. So I tucked in diagonally behind the runner in front of me, slightly closer to the oncoming traffic but that way I could see. Well the four cars were pretty much bumper to bumper as the front vehicle had obviously been slowing down as they past all the runners ahead of me. So as the first two cars swerved around us this green pickup truck behind them, at the last minute, moved towards the berm as if he was trying to get a view around the cars in front of him. So while I tried to get out of the way I realized in that split second I was going to take on the trucks mirror. I threw up my hand just in time and luckily the truck had one of those break away plastic mirrors. It must have made one hell of a loud noise as the runner 30 yards in front of us turned around to see what had happened. Wouldn't you know it the ass never even slowed down to see what had happened. No way he didn't hear me slam his mirror and fold it against the truck.

So in a second I went from tired to pissed off and ready to run.... This leads to the less exhilarating portion of my run. About 10 minutes later just as I was heading up the hill towards the 271 bridge over the valley my phone rings. My grandmother was put in the hospital Tuesday and has gone from just breathing difficulties to ICU to Hopis care. I just had to stop as my mother informed me that she had passed early this morning. It wasn't unexpected but it still didn't change things any. My grandmother was the kindest person I have ever met or known in my 32 years on this planet. She was crippled as a child due to Polio, went from braces to crutches to finally being able to walk by the time she was in middle school. Never complained or wanted for anything and had given away just about every possession she had as she reached old age. I don't know if I will ever know someone has kind as her but maybe its up to me to strive to follow after her and carry on. So I stopped what I was doing, and sat down on the guard rail along the road under the bridge (making sure to be on the outside of the guardrail so as not to get hit by a car. I must have spent 5 minutes there watching the river, looking at the towpath and the view from the vantage point before getting back on the road back to my car.

I don't think I will ever forget this mornings run. I guess it's right that I was out doing what I love when I got the news as it is what she would have wanted.

Where is Summer?

2009-02-17T07:04:00.001-08:00

I'm starting to get a little eager for summer now. I got in a 10k run around town with Nick again this week. It was a nice relaxing run and very enjoyable. We talked about him taking on the task of coaching track for the younger kids at a local private school as my daughter is now getting excited to start running. She turns 9 this year and they start cross country at her school this fall. I figure I can get here a few months head start.
Got in 5.5 on the dreadmill yesterday and averaged an 8:25 pace. I really am starting to feel the need for some short tempo runs where I can really stretch out my stride.

Where is summer?

Drifter

2009-02-13T07:49:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I have posted to this blog and I'm not sure why. I've been just drifting through life for the last few weeks without a path or goals it seems. My weekly running totals went from 50 to 0 back to 40 and now this week will likely end at 20 miles. I'm not training for anything in particular and even after the successful 30k I don't feel as though I want to run any long distance races this year. If I did it would be more about others and less for me. Do you ever feel as if the only reason you run these races and distances is for the acceptance of your peers?
I thought it was time for a gut check and to see if that was the case. If I wasn't training for any race and didn't have a set target or goal would I still run? For the fun of it? Well the jury is still out. I always ran for a goal. It started as a way to loose weight... you know if I could only run a mile without puking. Then it became an endurance goal, could I actually be one of those people that could say they had run a Marathon. Then it turned more into just being able to answer the question "what are you training for"?
Over the last year or so the first song on my running iPod play list is "I run for life". It's not the music I normally listen to but it struck a cord with me the first time I heard it. Enough so that I posted it here on my blog as well. I have spent the last few weeks running off and on with friends and spending some time thinking about why I do it. Not why we do it but why I do it. I'm still not sure. I know that I am a better person to be around because of running. My wife reminds me of this every time I try to taper for a run. I know that I will be around longer for my children because of it every time I look at a picture of myself at 250lbs. I also know that I have met some truly amazing people while doing it. The last couple of weeks I have found that even though I'm not training for anything, or running with anyone, I still find myself wanting to run. I'm not as stressed about getting in miles and as such it is more sporadic and my mileage tents to be lower but I'm still out there.
So it's almost as if I'm finally becoming comfortable in my new skin. People no longer know that I run because I needed to loose weight. That ended a year or two ago. People ask me what I'm training for and I simply smile and tell them "I'm training for life".

Check out this inspirational link of the day.
http://www.maniacworld.com/are-you-going-to-finish-strong.html

Success

2009-01-21T06:39:00.000-08:00

Last year I signed up to complete the 30k option for last weekend's Buckeye 50k. I had already failed at the 50k distance twice and did not want to set myself up for another failure. 30K is a pretty reasonable distance for me as I have been putting in a run of 13+ miles every weekend for the last 2-3 months. Well as always my friends in the running community kept telling me to to run the first 30k and then just do then next 20k. So in the back of my mind I started thinking that way.

As many of you know the weather was not the best for running on Sunday and this may be an overstatement. The temperature had actually climbed above 20 for the first time in a week but there was over a foot of snow on the ground that just wasn't going to go away. Bill, Nick, and I talked about how the run would be as we carpooled down to the Boston Store and I think all of us were under trained and we were just hoping to get in our 30k without to much suffering.

So we line up and the race gets started

The first mile or so was just a line of people running and talking from my view (all I could see was the back of the guy in front of me and the front of the guy behind me). It was obvious when we finished the first mile that there wasn't going to be any records set here. In fact based on Nick's Garmin the first mile was around a 12:30 pace (I left all electronics home for this run and was out to just enjoy it). We got to the falls and the turnaround point and I realized real quick that I wasn't going to stop moving on this day. I had already tied my shirt around my waist and was wearing nothing more then my UnderArmer shirt. So I grabbed a banana and chugged some water then walked for the next half mile or so until my running buddies caught up after their rest stop. I actually found it disappointing that we never actually ran to the falls or even saw the falls on this loop. I understand that they have set the course this way which actually makes it a little short I believe but for me the entire draw to running the Brandywine Falls loop is seeing the falls.
I was actually feeling pretty good when I hit the Boston Store after the first 5 miles and did the same as the last rest stop. I grabbed some Fig Newtons, some water, and started walking. It seemed to take forever to meet back up with my running friends but then I found out why. The trails and less then perfect training were taking their toll. They indicated that they would be done at the half and asked how I was doing. Well I immediately started to feel like I would be taking the easy way out again. I will not do that again is my attitude so I just let him know I was going to do my best to get in the 30k and started trucking again. I ended up running into some other trail friends at this point and we took turns pushing and pulling through the hills. It seems that I would loose some ground on the flats, and then catch up on the uphills while taking advantage of these long legs only to get a lead on the downhills. So we went through the next few miles like an accordion until just before the boston store when I dropped the pace a little.
When I finally hit the Boston Store I looked up and saw a 3:41 on the timer. This is now officially the slowest 1/2 Marathon in existence. I didn't want to be here when people started crossing the finish line after their 1/2 and heading in for Chili so I was on the move again. Oh by the way don't trust the labels on the water jugs. Just because it says Lemonade doesn't mean it's not water :)

At this point I had started to walk a little more then I liked so I tried to push it to the bottom of the first hills on the Brandywine loop. There would be no running or even jogging up this hill now. It seemed like it took forever to reach the turn around point and for the first time in the day I took a minute or two to just relax and talk to the people at the aid station. I started to realize the time and was wondering if I would finish before the winners of the 50k. This was enough motivation to get me off my ass and off I went. Here is a picture of me coming into the last rest stop with just over 2 miles left to go. I can't remember ever feeling this good aver 15 miles into a race. Hell givin past experience I should have been bent over puking up raisins and fig newtons by this point.
After a while I saw Red and Bob coming up the trail and I think I was walking at the time so I picked it up and started to jog. I think I made some kind of joke about not wanting them to see me walking but then I realized something new. When I was walking at this point my quads were just shot. With each step they would yell at me and I would just ignore it. But suddenly I realized that they weren't yelling at me. It was weird, if I walked my quads would scream but if I ran they were happy. It all had to do with my stride. Short jogging strides didn't lengthen the muscle as much as my long walking strides and they were happy. Hell if I had known it was that easy to get rid of the pain I would have been running up all the hills :)
So I pushed it into the finish in a time of 4:41:30 and I actually finished the 30k before the leaders of the 50k had started their brandywine loop. I remember thinking that the trails must really be taking their toll. Then I hit the bowl of Chili and headed home. It's funny, I think if I had that one person with me who would have said, "hey lets head back out for that next loop" I might have just kept going. Then again this story might have had an entirely different ending then.
So poor training, no taper, no special eating or preparation the week of, and everything went great. Sounds a lot like my PR at the Buckeye 1/2. Maybe it's all about pressure for me. If I take away the pressure and just run everything seems to come out so much better for me. Now I get to sport a nice jacket and the feeling of success that comes with completing exactly what I set out to do... a 30K.

Hibernation

2009-01-16T07:49:00.000-08:00

Are we all hibernating for the winter? It seems the blogging world here in NEO has dropped off as quickly as the temperature. We are all in hiding waiting to poke our heads out of our caves on Sunday to tow the line at the Buckeye Winter 50k... the 30k is looking good for me.
I keep watching the weather. Looks like it's going to be a balmy 14 degrees at the start. Well this comes from the same site that told me today's low was -6 even though the current temperature was shown at -12. I can't imagine it would be that hard for the programmers to write up a quick line that would verify the current temp is not in direct opposition to the low/high for the day and update the low/high for the day to match. I mean a weather person has to seem a little foolish telling everyone the low is -6 while standing in front of a map with current temperatures at -12.
Here is my quick update. On the personal front our company had their annual performance reviews and disbursement of bonuses this week. They started off the day of reviews with layoffs. Wow what a way to get things going. If you follow my blog you can see how quickly things change in the tech world. Two months ago I was on a company sponsored mountain climbing trip because of the great success of one of my projects. Now its seems that our success was not duplicated at other regions and as such we are now 8% lower in the overhead when it comes to personnel.
This lead to my weekly personal dilemma. I was closer to one of the guys let go then most around here. Should I be disappointed that I was happier to see that it wasn't me then I was compassionate for him? I guess it's just human nature to look out for yourself and your own family first. I have put out a couple of calls to see if I can help him out some with another position but I seemed to have just skipped right through the layoff only to close my office door and start right back to work while others that were less effected personally (either didn't loose anyone in their department or didn't even like the people let go) spent days walking around in distress looking to hold hands and sing Kum Bi Ya. I actually at one point got so pissed off by their woo is me BS that I told them to stop being so selfish and get back to work as the last thing they wanted to do after a round of layoffs is to walk around looking like they didn't have enough to keep themselves busy while others that would love to be working spent the day looking for new jobs.
I don't know if I was correct in saying what I did but it certainly made me feel better. The goal in a downturn like this is to just stay employed. We have people here in management that took pay cuts and are just looking to stay employed. They can make up the money on the back end.
See everyone on Sunday for a nice long run.

New Year new members of the family

2009-01-05T12:57:00.001-08:00

The year is only a few days old and we have added two more to the household. It was pretty sudden and our dog still isn't so sure but here they are.

After a heated discussion it seems that they have become Vanilla and Cinnamon. They are Holland Lops so their ears will continue to grow until they touch the floor.

Oh and I did some running and other stuff too :)

Injured?

2008-12-30T08:32:00.000-08:00

So I'm kicking this guy in the head on December 23rd and I roll my left ankle on the follow through. I'm not sure who took the brunt of it but I know that he had head gear on and I ended up hobbling around the mats. This is how it begins. I head home, ice the ankle for the night while watching TV and getting the kids to bed etc. then head to bed myself.
Wednesday morning comes around and it's time for my Christmas Eve morning run with the VR group. I can hardly walk so I sit while getting my clothes on to head down for the run. I limp down the stairs holding the rail for support with each step and then put the dog out. Wow, it has rained most of the night and the steps behind the house are a solid sheet of ice. Should be a fun run. So I call up a running friend who will be joining me and the rest of the VR group. I actually got some interesting advice. Go back to bed, what are you crazy, if you can't walk how are you going to run on a sprained ankle when the roads are a sheet of ice. And... drum roll.... I actually listened. No running for me through the Christmas holiday. Then comes Saturday.
It is 50 degrees and lovely. Shorts, short sleeved shirt and I'm ready to go out for the waterfall run. Well if any of you were there this was the muddiest run of my life. There were over 50 people at the run and the trails were a mess. The fast guys/girls worked the trails over for the rest of us (didn't take much) and everyone was a slipping sliding mess. The water crossings as some point were knee deep and the water was not the same 50+ degrees as the air. Nick and I cut the run short after spending a half hour trying to climb the mud slides to get to Brandywine falls. In the end it took us 3-1/2 hours to complete just over 13 miles. Unbelievable.
So now my ankle which was doing much better has been bothering me again. The no running helped out before but isn't an option now. You can imagine the looks when I limp up the stairs in the gym only to get on a treadmill for 5-6 miles. Its amazing how the pain goes away after a few minutes as long as the only motion is straight forward. The side to side is what hurts.

So I guess I have answered the question I posed to myself a year ago when I began my blog... I'm really a runner?... I ignore pain to go out with friends and put in 13 miles in the mud and love it. I get on a dreadmill day after day just to build endurance and speed so that the miles I put in tomorrow and next week won't hurt quite as much. I don't like it but I do it just because. I can't say that I love running, sometimes I hate it. I do it because... well.... friends to talk to and enjoy during runs, times to not talk and just run with nothing but my thoughts to occupy me, on and times to just run when you don't know why or how but you just loose moments of your life without any recollection of thought or movements that may have occurred during the lost time. Oh and what do I hate more then running????? Man-boobs.

Holy Cold

2008-12-23T08:46:00.000-08:00

Well I headed to WV to visit with the wife's Aunt and Uncle this past weekend. I took my running clothes as there are some nice trails in Morgantown that I was going to hit on Sunday morning but then I felt bad heading out and leaving everyone before breakfast. You know the feeling that I would be such a selfish ass to go out and run while everyone else is sitting down for the breakfast that her aunt slaved over only to return an hour after everyone is done and then have her go through the trouble of making sure I had breakfast etc. So when I realized that we would be heading home by 10:30-11:00am I figured I would just hit the roads when I got home..... Very bad Idea.

So we leave Morgantown and it was 38 degrees but Lesa's Uncle was talking about how cold it was going to get that night. I made some smartass comment about it being a good time to leave then. Funny thing, I never thought to my self that they are about 180 miles East of us... Ah Duh that means that it is already cold as hell at home.

At around 3:45 I suit up and head out for my run. It was around 14 degrees so I was trying to decide if I should where the gay ass tights or my normal running pants. My wife looked at me and said if I was going to where the gay ass tights I should put something over them so I wore both. Good Idea. I even put on more then one layer of long sleeve tops. So two shirts, two pants, windshorts for the boys a hat and gloves off I go. As soon as I walked out the door I headed back in and grabbed a face mask and my glasses.

Well all I can tell you is it just kept getting colder and colder. By 5:00 I thought I was an icicle. By 5:15 I was an icicle and my water bottle had turned to slush so I had to unscrew the top to drink as the nipple was frozen. Oh by the way did anyone know that December 21st was the shortest day of the year. As soon as the sun went down the temps hit bottom. The wind gusts were so strong that they would stand me straight up and stop any forward motion. I finally hit my in laws front door to join the family and a funny thing happened. I tried to take my hat off but it felt like it was getting caught on my earring. Turns out I had icicles which had frozen my hat to my earphones of my iPod and then attached to my earring/ear. I had to give it a minute or so after I got into the house before I could detach the assembly. I then checked the temps and it turns out it was 5 degrees outside with a windchill of -18. You have got to be kidding me. What the hell was I thinking.

So I went out yesterday at around 5:00pm and got in a quick 4 mile run. Turns out the colder it gets the faster my short recovery runs get. I'm waiting the day out today because I see that it should be up to 30 by later tonight so I can warm up some. I miss going to work and running on a treadmill now. Although I will get over it. Ohio weather is the best.

Bad week for Running

2008-12-19T21:04:00.000-08:00

I ended last week with a rough 14-15 mile run on Saturday. It was one of those days I had to start at 6:30 so I could make it home by 10. It's so difficult for me to find time to run anymore. Luckily Bill found it in his heart to meet me so I didn't spend the first hour on the trails by my self. I met up with Sherry, Denise, and Melisa at Boston Store and we all ran together for a while before heading in different directions.

The Buckeye 30k is only 4 weeks from tomorrow for me (well 50k for most) so I planned on getting in a good week of running. So as of today I have managed two runs for 11 miles. Wed sucked and ended up out for lunch with the guys from the office. Then Thursday we end up shutting down the office just as I was going to head to the gym for an impromptu Christmas part. Beer, Pizza, Wings, Subs, and Rock Band on the Wii in our conference room. There were only around 15-20 of us in the office so it was a good time for fun bad time to run.

Spent the day today with my son. I haven't figured out how to get a run in when you have to watch a 3 year old. I'm thinking I have to get a treadmill. So this weekend I need to get some miles in but... I leave for Morgantown WV at 8:30 AM tomorrow when my wife gets home from work. Only chance now is that I'm packing my clothes and going to hit the trails in WV. There is a nice trail that goes right behind Lesa's Aunt and Uncle's house. It's very much like the bike/hike trail here. I figure I'll just change and head out Sunday morning for a long solitary run. Maybe it will be just what I need. I find myself becoming very irritable and lost these days. I'm not sure what it is (stress) but I really needed this time off work and now it seems it will be full of other events and activities to just push me over the edge. I'm normally such a relaxed and easy going person and I just can't figure out what is going on with me these last couple of weeks. It's not the holidays but I think I just need some time away from everything to relax and organize my thoughts. I know it has gotten bad when I see the look in my kids face when I snap at the slightest issue. I think they are as bothered by my mood as I.

I was thinking about the 50k but now I'm happy I signed up for the 30k. Running has been a mode of relaxation in my life recently but the stress of trying to hard to get the miles in has transformed running into an activity causing stress in my life.

Week in Review

2008-12-12T07:04:00.000-08:00

Many people review their running week by miles and days. I'm going to do it by miles, days, and cities.

Monday: Lunch with Marketing group no chance for run

Tuesday: 8 Miles at my 1/2 marathon pace in Hudson and around Hudson Spring parks. Then I caught an evening flight to Denver

Wednesday: Lunch at the original Chipotle. It was my mandatory once in a lifetime trip to mecca. Enjoy

Wednesday evening flew to salt lake city then got in 2+ miles on a treadmill. One of those that you set a 9 minute mile and it seems like you are running 8 minute miles.

Thursday: evening flight into California and then got in a 7+ mile run along the bay in the evening. I love this trail. It runs along side the bay behind the restaurants. Nice temp. Around 50.

Friday: Day off running. I'm going to visit with Apple this morning and then catch an afternoon flight home so that I can put in my 17 miles tomorrow morning with Bill, Nick, Melissa, Sherry and friends.

2008-12-08T19:13:00.001-08:00

It has been a little over a month since I was at the summit of Jade Mountain and a friend reminded me I’m a blog slacker. I’ll have to provide a brief summary rather then my long winded ramblings as I’m catching a plane tomorrow and have to pack etc.

Day two
After a long night on the most uncomfortable bed ever we woke up early dreading breakfast. Mike and I ended up opening a can of Pringles I had borrowed from the minibar at the hotel we normally stay at by our factory and then I downed a power bar and some craisins. We hit breakfast and it was as bad as expected. I had toast and peanut butter and couldn’t really seem to bring myself to try much else. I think it was the black eggs that did it but normally I would have at least tried something. Maybe it was the thought of two days on a mountain without access to a toilet though.

So we headed outside and immediately I got looks. It was like 55 out so I was in shorts and a short sleeve shirt. The guide was even worried at this point but I let everyone know that I was good. We caught a ride for about 30 minutes up the mountain until we were at the kickoff point of our climb. Here are some photos of the first day.
5 hours later we were at the lodge we would spend the night. Talk about the bed the night before, here all we had was a wooden shelf on which each climber was allotted a spot approx 3 feet wide to set the sleeping bag. I guess they figure the body heat keeps each other warm as it was around 40 degrees with no heat for the night.
We had plenty of time left as it was only 1:30 so we convinced our guide with the help of translator to let us summit a lower peak which was only a 2 hour hike or so. Most everyone was tired or wanted to just relax so it ended up being only three people from our group of 12 and one other younger climber from another group asked if he could join us. We were more then happy to have the company. It was getting dark when we got back so we watched the sun set and hit the solid wood planks for the night. Day Three

2:15AM and very little sleep later we were awake and packing up. As we would be back here after the summit on our way back down Mike and I choose to leave all our gear and travel light. Camera’s, water, and a backpacking cup for some coffee/tea that the guide would make along the way. I don’t have any pictures of the climb because we did it by head-lamp but we made it to the West Peak just before sunrise. This was the most beautiful part of the entire trip. I will remember this for the rest of my life. This is when the pain started. We now had taken around 4 hours of climbing and had to backtrack down and then climb up to the main peak which was 2 hours. With the last hour being the hardest climbing of the trip. After some time at the top (we let the rest of our group get about a 30 minute head start down) we started the trip back off the mountain. This would take us around 5-1/2 hours total for a total of 11-1/2 hours of climbing in the day. One of the guys started mocking me on the way down telling me to run the rest of the way (with full pack). I wasn’t in the mood and told him that if he bet me $1 that I couldn’t I would run the entire 3k that was left. Apparently this didn’t translate into Mandarin properly as he didn’t understand. Well we got to where we could just see the end of the trail so it was around two tenths of a mile left and by this point we were ahead of the rest of our group. Mike looked at me and asked if I was going to run it in. You should have seen the look on the faces of the guys at the bottom as they watched us run down the trail in packs (not the safest thing either with the cliff on the side). They thought we were two of the craziest Americans ever. Then I found out there was a smaller peak that would only take us about 1-1/2 hours climb to reach. At this point we were far enough ahead of our group that I thought we could make it and get back about the same time as them. Unfortunately Mike was dead tired and could hardly stand. The guide wouldn’t let me climb alone and he had to wait with Mike so three peaks in two days is all I could do.
Oh and here is a tour bus we passed.

Internet Searches

2008-11-24T12:38:00.000-08:00

I'll post the remainder of my trip and mountain climb in the next few days.... really busy these days. A coworker sends me to MSN today and under their section titled A-list searches which highlights what people are searching for using MSN's search engine, one of the hot search items apparently is running skirts. The report goes like this.

"Fans say they're cute and comfortable — with less chafing and ride-up than shorts or running tights. Detractors say that skirts, and competitions like the SkirtChaser race series, get in the way of women being taken seriously as athletes and competitors. Nevertheless, searches for "running skirt" have been steadily increasing all year. Here are some pictures."

So I click on the Here are some pictures section.

So of course I click on the pictures section. My coworker has to ask if I run with anyone who would wear this?
Oh and of course it was followed by the necessary "and if you do let me know because I need to start running".
I have to admit I was rather impressed by the little hidden pocket in under the skirt where you could put your ipod or keys, etc. I guess it would save you from having to hide your car key on top of your front tire while you go out for a run, opps I hope we don't have a whole lot of runners getting their cars stolen now. If so, take mine first. I could use the insurance and a newer car.

Oh and now I know what those running girls have on under those skirts. Not quite like a kilt I guess.

Four part post on Hiking in Taiwan

2008-11-16T07:28:00.000-08:00

Here goes the four day report on my hiking in Taiwan. I’ll split it up by day.

Day 1
Well we were to start our actual adventure on Sunday so my GM (general manager) and I thought we would do a short day on our own. There wasn’t anything going on at the factory so we asked at the front desk of the hotel what there was to do. The last time we were in this position we had gotten a good lead from the bartender next door.
The hotel identified a little park up in lower mountains that wouldn’t be to hard to get to. So we called a cab and headed out with the driver who spoke no English. Luckily my Chinese was good enough to determine how we were to get home when we were finished (call the hotel and they would call the cab driver to pick us up again).

After around 45 minutes in the cab we were dropped off in a park pretty similar to what we would have around here. All the trees seemed to be of the cypress variety but you could tell from the people who brought their entire families out for the day that people in Taiwan don’t have much opportunity to relax in the woods. There just aren’t to many forests in the areas of Taiwan that people live.

Well right off the bat we were in an area with rope swings and children playing all around. There were honey bees and hives in one area where they would harvest the honey and sell it.

I was ready to buy some but wasn’t sure about transporting it back into the US. Normally I don’t worry too much but wasn’t sure. All the kids and families playing did make me miss my kids and home though.
After about 20-30 minutes of hiking we reached a point where there was a pretty nice waterfall with lots of people taking pictures (people watching time).

So either my GM or I made a comment as soon as we saw it wondering where the pipe and pump were to get the water up there. Things in Asia are so different that many times there are comments made under the assumption that no matter how great something seems on the surface when we are there, something always seems to screw it up. Well after watching many people pose for pictures etc. I walked back to get the full waterfall in a picture and when I zoomed into the top…. Sure enough…. There was the pipe.

As we found out later, they had diverted the water from a natural stream higher up the hill to create this waterfall.
So after a good laugh we headed on up the trail some. We had some nice views and as the trail was turning to head back we ran into an asian style portopotty. If you don’t know there are two type of toilets found in Asia. There are the Asian version and the European version (American). The Asian toilet is basically a small tub inset in the ground that you squat over to do your business. I assume this may be part of the reason that it took so long for women in Asia to take to wearing pants. Well when you have two American men in Taiwan standing by this…. Well.

After our little pause we headed back to the entrance area of the park and called for a ride back to the hotel. We were able to buy a couple bottles of soda and some Doritos as a snack while we waited for almost an hour on the taxi. Believe it or not, the taxi drove round trip of just over 1 hour and 30 minutes for a total cost of around $25 US. It’s weird to me how taxi’s are so cheap but most other items are almost the same cost or even more for some electronics and designer goods.

Got back to the hotel after a good 2-1/2 hour hike and day out with enough time to video conference with the kids before going to bed. This was nice as I was going to be out of touch for a few days. Had to get up at 5:30am the next day to head to the mountains of central Taiwan.

Jade Mountain

2008-11-04T20:14:00.000-08:00

I'm back closer to sea level and feeling great. Some of the most beautiful views of my life occur ed in the last two days and also some of the hardest physical challenges. I can easily compare what I completed in the last two days with any running event I have engaged in as well as any physical activity I have ever tried. Yesterday alone we left our lodge (11,158 ft elevation) at 2:45am on our way to the North Peak. The only way to get to this peak is to climb within 650 feet of the main peak and then head down the back side of the mountain. You drop down approximately 1,000 feet and then climb up the North Peak which is 12,618 feet. We reached the peak at 5:45am and watched the sun rise. We then took the same trail back to within 650 feet of the main peak however, this time we completed the last 650 feet to summit the tallest mountain in Asia at 12,962 ft. After spending some time to recover and drink some tea/coffee 2-1/2 miles above sea level. We then descended to the lodge, picked up the gear we had left there that morning and hiked back to our original starting location at 8560 ft where we could catch a van ride the rest of the way. In total from the time we left the lodge, until we ended the day we had spent almost 11 hours on the mountain trails.

This is going to take many posts and I'll work on them as I can. I'll also go through all the collected pictures and try to post only the best. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life.

This is not a joke or staged. It is part of the trail and it is a 1,000 ft drop-off that we were walking along on a two foot wide ledge. One of the guys with us has a great picture of this portion of the trial from a wide angle lens that I will post later. It was fucking crazy at this point.

Here are lots of pictures. Unedited and unreviewed.

I'm here

2008-10-29T03:28:00.000-07:00

Well after a total of 22 hours (20 hours of flights and a 2 hour layover in LAX) I'm here and just finishing my first day in the office. It is a full 12 hours difference so I left CLE at 9:00 PM and 22 hours later I get to Taiwan at 7:00 am. Just enough time to go to the hotel and shower/eat before getting picked up at 9:00 to go to the factory. The nice thing was the new EVA airlines plane for the 15 hour flight from LA. I was in deluxe class with individual touch screen LCDs in each seat. On demand video with a choice of around 7 American movies to pick from. Many foreign films as well as sitcoms. The system allows you to pause rewind and fast forward with on screen touch control. It also has video games, music, and other options. Nothing makes 15 hours seem short but it does make it almost bearable.

Well 2 more days of work, maybe 3 if we come in on Saturday, and then it is off for 3 days of nature and hiking to the top of Yushan Mountain. I'm pretty excited and I think I have everything I need. Pack, super light sleeping bag good for 40 degrees, power bars, trial mix, craisins, tuna fish, water, titanium spork, shoes, cloths, headlamp, hat, gloves, etc. It will be 75-80 degrees when we start the hike and around 40 at the top so I've got the layers worked out.

I'm really missing the family and feel bad that my wife has to deal with all of the crazy schedules with the kids plus work while I'm here in Taiwan. Part of it is work but I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the climb. I guess I will owe her big time when I get back for not complaining and allowing me to take part in what I believe is one of those once in a lifetime opportunities.

Oh and I have my camera and cell phone. Plenty of pictures and I'll be calling home and sending a picture from the 13,000 feet. Now I just have to figure out how to make one of those cool video's like Maria.

Is winter here

2008-10-24T08:28:00.000-07:00

Like so many Ohio runners I have slacked off a little the last week or two but still manage my weekend runs of 10+ miles to keep with my goal of averaging a run of 1/2 marathon distance or more once a week.

I had a rough Tuesday evening/Wednesday morning of work (yes my occupation tends to require me to work days/nights/and just about whenever necessary) so Wednesday afternoon I just needed an escape. I hit the Boston store at noon, laced up my shoes and headed North. When I hit the first entrance to the carriage trail it looked pretty good but I just kept going on the towpath. Well I couldn't resist the second opportunity so I took a right and headed up the hills of the carriage trail. I had been keeping a pretty good pace of around 9:30 min miles up to this point but had a slower 10:20 mile heading up the hills here. I didn't remember the loop being as long as it was and just kinda zoned out when I saw a sign indicating 2+ miles left. I started looking at the trees without leaves and trying to identify the species. I was very good at this during my years of working at a nursery and doing landscape plus on the hikes I took growing up. It seems I have lost some of this knowledge and I'm going to do a little research again to help me identify some of the more obscure Ohio trees to try and pass some of this onto my children.
At this point a song by Evanescence came on my iPod and my thoughts drifted to two people who passed away in the last few weeks. One is a 16 year old Hudson High School student who helped as an assistant instructor at the Taekwondo Studio my children and I go to. It was a completely unexpected loss that has hurt many people. Her older brother is also an instructor there. The second individual was at a completely different place in life. He was a 54 year old father of 4 that I have known for almost 20 years. I had seen him last year and we both commented on the weight we had lost. My 75 lbs didn't compare to his weight lose however mine was due to a healthy lifestyle change while his was due to cancer. Unfortunately I was out of town traveling and did not learn of his passing until after the funeral. I have however learned that they have set up a college fund to help his children who are all in high school / college now. Maybe I will be able to provide some small help.

Well all of the thought came to a close as I approached the 6 mile mark of my run. My energy was down a little and I was just about to hit the hill down to the towpath. I felt like I just wanted to sit down at the top of the hill and listen to the trees for a while and lay in the leaves as I did in my back yard as a child. There is absolutely nothing that brings back the memories like the smell of leaves in the fall. Unfortunately I had been away from work for a while at this point and thought I needed to head back. I reached into my pocket and found a green apple gu which contained some Caffeine. So I took the Gu, drank some Gatorade, and switched gears on the iPod.
As I found on my way down the hill, the park has removed some of the barricades that were so fun to try and run around at top speed. This let me keep the speed up while running down hill on piles of loose leaves which hide every root, dip, and bump in the path. I hit the towpath, made a left and actually picked up the pace some. At this point my next mile (mile 8) was completed at a 7:28 pace. Wow, where did that come from, and it was after the downhill so this was on the flat towpath. Mile 9 turned out sub 8 as well and my average pace for the 9 mile run ended up at 8:55. This is pretty impressive as my PR at the Buckeye 1/2 was an 8:21 pace and I managed an 8:55 on what started as a relaxing run. The run even included some pretty serious hills and climbs on the Carriage trail. I'll chalk this up to Caffeine.

Climb Mount Niitaka

2008-10-17T07:22:00.000-07:00

I don't expect many of you to know what this refers to but it was the secrete code used by the Imperial Japanese Navy to begin its attack against Pearl harbor on Sunday December 7, 1941.

So now that the history lesson is over I'm sure some of you are wondering what the hell I brought that up for in the middle of October. Well it's now official, I'm climbing that mountain. Niitaka is the Japanese name for Mount Yashan (Jade Mountain in english) which is the tallest mountain in Taiwan with an elivation of 12,966 ft (nearly 600ft higher then Fuji). As a reward for a rather large amount of business I helped facilitate for our company the COB has invited me along with most of the upper management of our company on a three day climbing expedition in Taiwan (where our companies COB lives). The more and more I find out the more excited I get. My family wasn't so excited about me leaving for 9-10 days to go climb a mountain but after showing my wife what I would be doing I think we all agree it is a once in a lifetime opportunity especially as the company will be picking up all the costs as a business expense. Although I will spend a few days at the office in Taiwan and visit some customers, the nearly $5,000 which it would cost to go if it wasn't for the company would make this trip impossible.

I would also like to note that this is yet another opportunity that is presented thanks to me getting my 250+lb ass off the couch 6 years ago to get in shape. The climb involves approximatly 6-1/2 hours of climbing the first day followed by a night in a lodge. We will then get up at around 2:30am for a 3:00am departure time the second day. It is around 2 to 2-1/2 hours from this base camp to the summit where we will then stay to watch the sun rise at 13,000 ft. This is above the cloud level and based on the pictures I've seen should be unbeleavable if the weather holds. Once the sun rises it is then another 5-1/2 hours back to the starting point the base which can be extended into a two day decent if we travel down the back side and visit some of the more amazing views including waterfalls, nature, etc. So I leave a week from Monday and while everyone I know is attending Halloween parties I will be sleeping in Tiawan getting ready to begin the climb.

In case anyone is interested I will try to attach a youtube video here showing some pictures of one groups climb just click on the photo below. I'm sure I'll have my own when I return.

Watching Others Succeed

2008-10-16T07:02:00.000-07:00

So where to start. I put in two hard days of running last weekend. 10 miles on Saturday and then 4 on Sunday. Not hard due to distance but more due to speed and timing. Early morning runs while pushing the pace some are not my strong suit. But the company on Saturday was great. I ran with the two of the people who have put more miles on with me then anyone else that I have run with (not that the rest of you haven't been great company as well). The person who would be third on the list was a no show due to a long night of work. The conversation was great and varied from sex to politics to children and I think we even talked about running.

So Sunday morning was the Towpath Marathon which represented my first time helping out at a Marathon aid station. Nick was running the 8 mile station at the turn and requested us to be there by 7:45. So at 6:45 I arrived and met with another volunteer to put in a few miles on the towpath. We headed south but quickly ran into trail blazers who were guarding the towpath (it was closed due to the race). We told them we were working the aid station and would be back in about 30 minutes. They laughed a little and then as we ran off the one guy yelled "your shitting me right?". Well after putting in a couple more miles at around an 8:40 pace we return to the crossing and they dude says "you just lost me a bet". Apparently they thought we were feeding them a line and were just crashing the course early in the morning. Go figure, why would someone be running on the towpath at 6:45 in the morning before spending a couple hours volunteering.

So we started setting up and all the volunteers started arriving. We had an interesting discussion with regards to the sports beverage they had decided to use. I didn't have any experience with "Ultima" but after Sunday I would like to avoid it. The container looked like something out of a laboratory and after inhaling some of the powder while mixing this stuff I don't want to be drinking it. Check out the label. And what happens to this stuff after 24 hours?

Well we were supposed to have some music at the rest stop but someone didn't hook us up as planned so it was put onto me. I have an FM transmitter for my iPod (yes I'm a tech geek) so Melissa pulled up her car and we were in business. The only problem is my wide taste in music. We were treated to a mix of anything between, Eminem, Disturbed, Lord of the Dance, Pink, and watching dances to London Bridge. Well after my masculinity was challenged due to the large presence of Irish step dancing music in my running tunes directory we decided Melissa would be in charge of the Music so that we didn't disturb the runners to much. Well wouldn't you know it as one of the first women came through with the walkers who were able to start an hour early this lovely lady who looked to be over 50 thanks us for the music to break up the race. When she left we all had a laugh about spending 8 miles in NE Ohio on one of the most beautiful days with the leaves changing colors enjoying the quit trip down the towpath and then hitting mile 8 and I honestly remember some pretty heavy music playing. May have been POD, Disturbed, or System of a Down and she honestly thanked us.

Well had a great time. Got to see many friends have great races while at the same time getting my run in and still getting back to the family in a reasonable time. Congratulations to all the runners and sorry to everyone who drank the Ultima. You really didn't want to see the bucket it got mixed in or to know that Nick stuck his whole hairy arm it it to stir it :)

Great day, great runners, great volunteers, great day. Some pictures I took.

Year to Year review

2008-10-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

So on a whim today I compared this years running to last. It seems that at this point last year I had accumulated 1213 miles. Looking at this years totals it seems to be a meager 869 miles. This is almost a 30% drop in my total mileage from last year. On top of this my average speed during my workouts has increased by at least 10% so it seems I have spent 40% less time running this year as last. I think most of this can be attributed to increased travel and an increase in my children's ages/activities. The odd thing though is that I have also set many PR's this year in shorter races.

And in the end. I seem just as happy this year as last and haven't really noticed a large difference with the exception of having more friends in the running community.

Hmm Lots of data.... No real conclusions drawn from them. Not much like me huh. Maybe it's time to stop tracking the miles and just enjoy them.

RR 2008

2008-09-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

So lets get to the short of thing right.

During my last 20 mile training run Nick and Bill spent the last 2-3 miles mostly walking/jogging with me as my legs were cramping pretty bad. Nick indicated it was probably lack of hydration/electrolytes (opposite of all my past experiences). So the rule is not to change anything race day right? Well I didn't.

Everything was good until Sand Run. Started to feel the quick shocks of electrical current in my calves about mile 14-15. By mile 17 the cramping was making it so that my legs would alternate at seizing up. Wanted to drop but no where to quit without waiting an hour for a bus so I forced myself to continue. The last two miles of my excursion took 45 minutes and I was actually slowing down at that point. Reached the 5k exchange point and couldn't force myself to go any further. At this point I had lost all motivation and things were getting worse. Had help climbing on a bus back to the finish.

The only good I can think of coming out of the experience is the friends along the way and the fact that I now have a good bracket of experiences to determine what is to much fluid/electrolytes as well as what is to little.

Oh and how does a marathon run out of fluids in the first few water stops? Growing to quickly?

I did see however that I think everyone else met their goals. Great job to everyone. So you think I should try again at the towpath marathon in two weeks?

T minus 19 hours

2008-09-26T08:55:00.000-07:00

Well it has been an eventful taper week for me but now all is good. It started last Friday.
My wife called to tell me we were meeting with friends to go out for wings and beer. Well long story short I think the ranch dressing was bad. Within an hour of getting home the belly started telling me things weren't right. Well my wife and I took turns for the next 12 hours getting up from bed/couch and heading to the bathroom. Luckily the kids didn't eat any. I seemed to recover quicker (iron stomach from many trips to Asia) as I was able to take care of the kids while my wife spent the rest of the weekend recovering. End result I started my taper week off 4 lbs lighter then expected.
Monday I fly out to San Diego to attend and present at a conference. Well during the conference the following terms were used "Our wet dream is to", "invaginated", and "if I can have you get on your knees". Okay well I made up the last one. Now tell me what kind of conference I was at. The best part was it was a VP from Nokia who used the wet dream comment in his Finnish accent (is Finnish a word?). Oh and invaginated is truely a technical term I looked it up.
In case you thought a conference in San Diego sounds fun it was held at the Hilton on the bay. I got a rather nice room as well. You can see the room and my view in the pictures below.

On Wednesday morning I just walked out the back sliding glass door and took a quick 2 mile run to try out the legs.

I even managed to limit my alchohol consumption to 3 glasses of wine and a marguerita all week.

Oh and did I mention I was upgraded to first class for the flights out there? Well I guess if you happen to pass me at the Akron Marathon this weekend and I'm not doing well you won't feel as bad now huh.

Everything is done, everything is almost ready, my wife got Friday night off work, all is good. If your a participant I'll see you toeing the line tommorow. If your chearing be sure to say hello. If your volunteering thank you. Oh and one last thing.

Sept 27th is my Birthday. If you see me tommorow... It's my birthday.....

Taper weeks

2008-09-18T07:33:00.000-07:00

So I spent the weekend camping in the rain. My daughter felt much better and we had a swell time. Now I've been putting in around 4.5 miles a day this week just to keep it easy and start my taper. Not sure about Saturday morning but I am running the first 5k Chili cookoff in Hudson on Saturday evening with my neighbors. It will be thier first race so I have promised to relax and stay with them. I'm thinking it will be around a 10 minute pace so it will fit my taper much better then trying to PR.

The martial arts studio I go to is having a tournement on Saturday and asked me if I was interested in competing in board breaking. I was ready to sign up when the instructor remembered I was running the Akron Marathon. He immediatly indicated that it probably wouldn't be a good idea becuase if I bruised my foot I would never forgive him. Huh, I wonder why I never thought of doing anything wrong to screw up my running. I don't know what I would do without friends to constently remind me that I am a dumb ass and keep finding new ways to self distruct. Lets try to put my foot through stacks of wood a week before running 26.2 miles.

See everyone out on the run.

Slow Learner?

2008-09-12T08:24:00.000-07:00

I'm either a slow learner, a Sadistic SOB, or a little of both but I went ahead and upped my registration to the whole bird this morning. Maybe it was a product of staying up all night with a sick little 8 year old who spent most of the night puking. Get it watching someone else puke made me sign up to puke.

Well she was also looking forward to a father daughter camping trip that is supposed to start tonight. Our family rule is that if your to sick for school then you are to sick for after school activities. Well she just kept crying last night because she wants to go camping so bad with all the other fathers and her friends. She even told me this morning that she wanted to go to school. This after spending half the night worshiping the porcelain goddess. I told her that if we sent her to school they wouldn't be to happy with mom and dad. So now I'm trying to figure out what to do about tonight. Two options.

1. Tell her it would suck to camp in the rain anyway tonight, especially setting up the tent in the rain, no fire, etc. So we can stay home tonight and if she still feels okay we will drive like crazy tommorow morning and get their when everyone is waking up. Then camp with them Saturday night.

2. If she feels better we could break mom/dad's rule as it is a weekend and head out for camp with all the other dads/dauthers.

Well anyway I'm in for the whole bird if anyone wants to chime in feel free. Skip the jokes about saying hello when you pass me puking on the side of the road. At least with this Marathon I can aim high... like puking on the outfield of the Aeros Staduim.

Buckeye 1/2 Report

2008-09-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

So how do I self destruct at yet another race? Well lets see. Invite a bunch of friends over to my house the night before to watch the UFC-88 MMA fights. Well the fights started at 10:00PM so I made some home made salsa, got some of those blue corn chips and even went ahead and made up a batch of buffalo wing dip which goes great on crackers or the chips. Well to make a long story short a few beers later and countless amounts of salsa, buffalo wing dip, and chips the fights end and it's 1:00AM. So I try to politely tell my friends to leave. Come to think about it I may have just told the last couple to leave.

So I ended up getting to bed at around 1:30am... just in time for my 4-1/2 hours of sleep. I'm not sure how many times I used the bathroom before leaving my house to drop the kids off and head down to the race but I was pretty sure there wasn't anything left to cause troubles during the race.

I got down to Peninsula in time to great everyone and find out that for some reason I was left off the registration. Jim quickly took care of this and got me a number (thanks Jim) and I was ready to go. Well I met up with Nick V and did a quick warm up while telling him about the events of the previous night. His friend (forgot his name) and him decided that I probably should refine my goals. Well my stomach agreed with them. So after initially lining up with the 1:45 pacer Nick B, I turned around and there was Jamie with a lovely 1:50 on his back. It turns out that this put me in a nice group of people that I have run with many times. It seemed there were alot of people planning on hanging between 1:45 and 1:50.

Long story short, once we started running things started feeling better. After about 6-7 miles I began to get really annoyed by some guy riding his bike next to us. Well after about a mile of this I realize that he is kinda pacing with the girl in front of us. He kept talking to her and asking how she was doing but she also had an MP3 player on. I can't tell you why but it really started to bother me to have this guy just relaxing on his bike talking away to the girl listening to her MP3 player. Come on, some of us are trying to enjoy a nice 13 miles through the CVNRA. So I was forced to pick up the pace a little to get away from them. I ended up next to the guy pictured with me below.

It was his first half marathon and he will be running the Akron Marathon in two weeks. He trains with the trail rats I guess as he spent some time talking to one we passed. So when he asked about the previous mile and I informed him we had increased the pace to around 8:15 he seemed pleased. Well long story short, I started slowing a little in the last mile and he ended up pushing it on in for a sub 1:48 time. I turn the corner to where the clock is and see the timer at 1:48 and change. I got a sudden burst of energy and hit a flat out sprint to the finish to end up in 1:49:00.

I ran the whole race strong, finished with a negative split, and beat my PR from Cleveland by 1:36 (2 minutes if I had chip timers at the Buckey) and all this on little sleep and poor nutrition. I call it a win. Bring on the bird.

Pace:
8:15
8:13
8:21
8:27
8:16
8:24
8:20
8:15
8:13
8:02
8:10
8:09
8:23

And the last 0.2. (started 0.1 before the start point).
According to the Garmin the last 0.1 miles was a 6:30 pace. Mile 13 looks a little slower due to the hill that was also in mile 6.

Misc Post

2008-09-05T11:37:00.000-07:00

So I'm trying to post more often even if no one reads these things. So thoughts for the day/weekend.

1st. Much love for the girl who showed up today for yoga in a sports bra and short shorts (even rolled down the top elastic band to make sure the shorts were as small as possible.

2nd. Well see 1st.

3rd. UFC fights at my house on Saturday. If your interested in coming by drop a line as I'll have a group. Hope it doesn't effect my 1/2 marathon Sunday morning.

Well It's also been a while since I posted any pictures. Here are some misc pics.

My son testing for his yellow belt

Dominic hanging out while I split/stack firewood

Shouldn't I look happier sitting on a beach reading a book?

I taught my kids to hammer in nails so my son is showing me the nails they hammered into this stump. It's amazing how easy it is sometimes to entertain kids.

And our yearly picture on the beach. Why do I look fat? Check out the spare tire? I guess I could have always have sucked it in and flexed. Although I was most likely too drunk.

Two posts in a day?

2008-09-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

Now you know I'm avoiding work.. Actually I'm writing up a boring presentation I volunteered to give in front of a group of tech geeks on backlighting of LCD displays for handheld portable devices. Sound like fun? Well the conference is at the Hilton San Diego Resort and Spa at Mission Bay. Now I bet it sounds like fun :)

So A funny thing happened at the gym today. I got on a treadmill, set it at a 9 minute pace and started running. After a mile it seemed pretty easy and I started jamming to some music with a good beat, I believe it was actually some older Eminem. Then I found myself at around 3 miles and the pace still seemed easy. So I dropped the pace to 8-1/2 minute miles. Well at Mile 4 my legs were feeling really loose and seemed to want to take me somewhere. So I dropped down to my 1/2 marathon target pace of an 8 minute mile. Did another mile and one of the ego lifters from the gym gets on the treadmill next to me and does the quick check of my speed just to check his ego you know. Well he sets his treadmill at the exact same speed and starts running. So to have a little fun with him I drop the treadmill to a 6 minute mile pace, turn up the iPod and smile. Well after about 2/10 of a mile he jumps to the side of the treadmill at an 8 minute pace and starts to suck wind. By this time I've put in 1/4 mile and just slow the treadmill down, walk for a minute or two so my pulse can drop then get off the treadmill, wipe it down, and head to the locker. Damn that felt good.

Now I've got my Taekwondo tonight with the kids. My wife took my daughter up this afternoon and she took her first cardio kickboxing class. Based on our brief conversation I think she feels like someone kicked her ass instead of the other way around. I told her it will get better. Oh and my daughter got to spend the day with her mom because the Hudson Local School District apparently can't figure out how to schedule school buses. It seems like such an easy thing based on the years of experience and all the other school systems getting it right.... hmm.

Doing too much?

2008-09-03T06:59:00.000-07:00

Some of the input I have gotten indicates that perhaps I am trying to do too much (proper use of to,too,two Nick?). I know that I tend to overdue things somewhat so I went through my week of exercise prior to my 18 and 20 mile runs and have figured that on average I tend to put in between 2 and 2-1/2 hours a day of exercise. This would include running, weight lifting, classes (boot camp, yoga, etc), Taekwondo, and good old fashioned hard labor. I also tend to skimp on sleep some.

So after our 20 mile run Saturday Bill tells me I should take it easy. Well here is how the next two days go.
Sunday - AM sleep in to recover from Saturdays running followed by Church and a good 5 hours of splitting and stacking firewood.
Monday - 7 mile AM run with Bill and Nick followed by 6 hours of hauling, splitting, and stacking firewood.
Tuesday - 2 mile run with 45 minutes of lifting. PM fantasy football draft. Consumed a large pizza, 4 beers, brownies, oh and some beef jerky. Had to bee around 3,000 calories.

So the only thing that I have done better this week is sleep. I've been getting around 9 to 9-1/2 hours a night. I guess if you call last night carb loading I should be doing good for the Buckeye 1/2 on Sunday.

Oh and in case your wondering if I'm pulling a Paul Bunyan we heated our home almost entirely with firewood last year and intend to do a similar thing this year. Love the new home with the high efficiency wood burning fireplace. We had the house up to 80 degrees last year a few times when it was in the teens outside. Nothing better then following a long winter run by sitting in front of a nice hot fire.

Buckeye 1/2

2008-09-02T18:41:00.000-07:00

So I put in my 20 miles with the VR crew on Saturday. Well mostly with Bill, Nick, and some time with Roger. I ended up in the back of the pack and just wanted to get my miles in. Well in the end I finished the 19.1 miles in about 10 minutes less then the 18 miles I did the previous week (and this was the last half of the course with all the hills). I felt fine through most of the run but about 15 miles into it I started to get pretty tired. Then came that last hill that runs along side Stan Hywatt Hall. Bill yelled out that there was no walking up this hill and I think it was because he could tell I was at a low point. So I sucked it up and picked up the pace some up the hill. Then when I get to the top I turn around and see that I was a good 50 feet in front of them. So I started to walk some to let them catch up and just that quick both of my calf muscles start to let me know they are there. The last 3-4 miles was a mix of babying the calves with walking mixed in with short jogs. Bill had to let us know how good he was feeling a week after a 50k by running up ahead and then turning back and running back to us. Believe it or not this gets a little annoying so after a mile or two of this he just ran on ahead for the last mile.

So I was hoping the 20 miles had gone perfect and answered all my questions but I guess nothing can be that easy for me. I didn't have any stomach problems and I'm pretty sure if I was in a race I could have pushed through the cramping and forced myself to take some pain. I think that I under did the hydration some worried about the stomach issues and this may have caused some cramping. Well that and taking a couple days off running before.

So now I have some extra thinking to put into this Akron thing. Maybe I'll see how the Buckeye 1/2 goes on Sunday and make the call on Monday. At least I know I have a good group to run with at Akron if I make the full commitment thanks to Red.

Lets do 20

2008-08-29T16:07:00.001-07:00

Well tomorrow shall be the day. I've done less training then ever before running a 20 mile training run and yet I feel better then ever before. It seems odd. I must put a footnote here though that I now have 20 months of running under my belt rather then the 4-12 months I had prior to my previous attempts. Plus I am currently in what I would call the best shape of my life. Between the running, taekwondo, boot camp and yoga classes, and just my every day life and work I have managed to get lean and fit.

With all this in mind I am also worried more about the long run tomorrow then I have ever been before. Perhaps this is because I now truly understand what is involved in running these distances and also respect the Marathon distance more then ever before. So with all this in mind I'm going to now take my kids to Nan and Pap's house so I can get some sleep and head down to toe the line. If all goes as planned it will be one of the more fulfilling runs I have had. If not well we won't worry about that just yet :)

See some of you in the morning.

Back to the grind

2008-08-21T11:42:00.000-07:00

So I'm back from Vacation and a little darker then before. I'm pretty close to the point at which I have to switch languages to Spanish actually. So got back Saturday night. Spent around 4 hours Sunday cutting/splitting wood. Monday I put in a tough 7 miles with some good hills and then onto Taekwondo that evening.

So Tuesday morning I wake up and run the two miles to my meeting point with Nick. I guess I should expand some as I was to meet Nick at 5:20am. My house is almost 2 miles from the meeting point and I didn't wake up until after 4:45am. So I grabbed some water, got dressed, took care of some business, and then headed out the door. I made it to the end of my road and when I hit the streetlight I realized just how late it was. By the time I met up with Nick I know that I had turned out some sub 8 minute miles. Talk about shocking your body. Eat nothing for over 10 hours and then 15 minutes after waking from a dead sleep put in some quick miles. We had only gone about 2 miles when I realized I had really overdone things. I ended up spending much of our time walking and Nick was very good. He even drove me home when we finished so I didn't have to get that extra 2 miles in.

Skipped my second run Tuesday and instead hit Chipotle. Wednesday I was back to my running and got in a good hill workout followed by Taekwondo in the evening and got in a good workout just now at the gym. I'm hoping to get in a run this afternoon and maybe even another Taekwondo class. I'm really enjoying the martial arts and you wouldn't believe what kind of leg and core body workout you get from all the kicking and sparring. I come out of class exhausted and soaked.

See some of you Sat.

Where in the world am I

2008-08-10T14:25:00.000-07:00

Well let's see. A few days in CA, return to Ohio for a few days and then off to Vacation.. So the family and I jumped in the car and drove down to South Carolina for a 9 days of relaxation.

So woke up today at 6:45 while everyone was asleep (15 people in the house, friends, kids etc) and left the house. We are about 200 ft from the beach so I ran across the street and onto the beach for a run. 7 Miles later I was back and eating breakfast. most of the house was awake by this time and it was time for Breakfast.

Oh and I forgot to mention we have bottles and bottles of hard liqueur plus a refrigerator that is half full of beer. Its amazing how well I did this morning on my run. I'm hoping to get in another couple of miles tonight after the kids go to bed and before the fun starts. If my plan stays true this will be my highest mileage week in months.

Here is to hoping the drinking and beach don't kill my training this week. I'm just starting my ramp to train for Akron. I have that little voice in the back of my head though telling me I will only be running the half so why worry. We will see. I still want to run the full but I guess it is out of my hands and all up to my stomach. If I can stomach the 18 and 20 mile training run I will revise my plan.

Recover

2008-08-03T19:23:00.000-07:00

Well after beating my self up last week I returned to the normal planet. I traveled to CA with my boss this week so I actually had 4 days without any exercise (other then walking through airports). It was pretty nice. To much drinking and eating though. When I'm with my boss we tend to do a little extra in these categories. I actually visited a customer Wednesday who was pouring Martinis and Single Malt Scotch for us at 3:30 in the afternoon. Well you can imagine that meeting went on until after 6. Believe it or not we got a lot of business accomplished. Sometimes it helps to bring a personal touch to your working relationship. Especially when the person pouring is the President of the company.

So we flew home Thursday but first we took a trip down to fisherman's wharf to pick up some sour dough bread and pastries for the wife and friends. Your welcome Bill :)

Got home late Thursday, put in 8 miles on Friday and then spent the day Saturday touring the BR100 course taking pictures, cheering, and working a rest stop with the family. I couldn't believe it when one of the early runners came into the Happy Days rest stop and proceeded to run over and intercept a football that the kids were throwing around. He then threw a very nice spiral back before coming into the rest stop to fill bottles. He had way to much energy for 70 miles into the race but he explained that it was just a short burst.

I posted some of the pictures from the race here http://picasaweb.google.com/shriverfamily/BR1002008

So I've got a week to get back into my groove and then I'm off to SC for a family vacation. This is when I really get to turn up the heat and get some miles in. It should be in the 80's every day and I will be able to run at least once a day for the entire week. Should be able to log some miles.

Recovery Week

2008-07-25T13:03:00.000-07:00

Recover from what? Well I managed to loose 6lbs in 3 days after the race. Apparently I was a little bloated from to much salt. To the point that my usually loose wedding ring wouldn't even come off my finger (wife didn't mind I'm sure).

In a way that only I can... I decided to turn up the heat a little. I always seem to have my best weeks of physical workouts after a disappointing race. So here was the rest of the week.

Sunday: Spend the afternoon at my parents house, chainsaw in hand, cutting/splitting/and moving wood. This was to get started for the winter. I figure I managed to finish around a face cord of wood.
Monday: 1 hr spinning class for Cross training.
Tuesday: 5.5 miles averaged a 7:50 pace (not bad but should have been faster)
Wednesday: Boot Camp class. Lots of jumping rope, stairs, legs, and push ups
Thursday: AM: 7 miles AM with Nick and Bill: afternoon group power class (weight lifting, low weight high rep)
Friday: Yoga and Cross training
Saturday: Plan is to put in 12-16 miles at around a 9 minute pace with the VR group.

My plan now is to try and keep most of my weekly runs at around 9 minute pace. Tempo runs will be a little faster. Long runs I may slow down a bit if I'm not feeling it. I need to get back to where I was before the Cleveland Marathon. When I'm into a run a few miles and feel the pace slacken some due to fatigue, I love the feeling I get just at that moment when I push it faster. After the run with Nick and Bill we needed a few tenths more to round out to an even mileage so we did some quick sprints. Its hard to describe to someone on the outside but I just get that quick rush through my body at that moment. You think your tired and exhausted but you give it the extra push and all of a sudden your good for another few miles.

See everyone out there pounding the pavement and trails.

BK25k

2008-07-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

Not the best feeling in the world. I started out by indicating that I would not drop any more as it gets to easy to quit once you have done it a couple of times. So it was finish or die trying. Well....

Started off pretty slow in the mid to back of the pack. My fastest mile all day was a 12 and change on mile 2 of the run. Blew through the Snowville stop pretty fast. I filled my bottle at every water stop which would have made Boston Store the fourth I believe so I was drinking plenty of fluids and I had been trying to eat something every 20-30 minutes so by the time I got to Boston store I had eaten a pure fuel bar and some fig newtons.

I got my bottle refilled at Boston Store, grabbed a PB&J and started walking down the towpath. As soon as I started eating the sandwich I realized that my stomach was feeling pretty full and was starting to once again rebel. I initially figured that I would just start a slow jog and try to choke down the food while not loosing my stomach (to this point I have in the past both babied my stomach through these times and just let it go). When things go wrong I tend to start analyzing as it is my nature and it is at this point I realize that I no longer have sweat pouring off my hat. As a mater of fact I felt a little dry as I started up the hill from Boston Store into the Buckeye. So after this walking Sarah catches up to me and walks up the hill some with me. I told her that I had stopped sweating but encouraged her along. The one thing I have never done is slow anyone else down. I always tell everyone I'm okay and just to go ahead. By the time I cross over Boston Mills Rd I realize that the not sweating thing is really bad news and I start feeling pretty warm. I down the remainder of my handheld bottle which causes me to immediately loose the contents of my stomach. If I was to do a volume calculation I would have to tell you that it looked like I had at least 40 oz of liquid in there so this was not a pretty sight. Luckily I finished up and got moving just in time for Red to catch me. So I stuck with them through pine lane and things started getting a little difficult for me.

So I'm pretty sure that I wasn't delirious but this was the point at which I was jogging down the trail and saw a girl stopped just off the trail. She was standing, facing me, maybe 2-3 feet to the side of the trail and it looked like maybe she was trying to stretch as she had her legs spread out to the sides slightly like a saw horse. Well it was only at this time that I realized she had one hand pulling her shorts to the side and was peeing. Wow, I didn't realize that women could just stand up pull their shorts to the side a pee. So what is with all the squatting? This was one talented girl I had just witnessed. Maybe she was trying to catch E-Speed and didn't want to waste time. When I realized what was going on and that I must have been staring a little I just kinda avoided eye contact as I passed and thought of all the things I wanted to say... hmm how about.
1. Nice Job
2. Looking good
3. Your almost there
Well you see where this is going.

The next 2 miles were completed in roughly 40 minutes. Some time was spent at the small stream crossing about a mile from Pine Lane. I started by dipping my hat in the water and throwing it on my head to cool down. Then one of the experienced ultra guys came by on his way back with a towel. He started to dip the towel in the stream and then ring it out over my head to cool me down. It felt great. I told him I was okay and he headed off. Well at this point I remembered some crazy survive man episode and actually laid down in the stream to cool off. It actually worked. I think the guy who actually did 100k on Sat (started at pine lane ran to the start, ran the race, and then back to pine lane) came by and gave me a water bottle. I'm pretty sure that when he got to pine lane he told them they should send someone back to get me because about 1/10 of a mile from pine lane I was greeted by some kind guys with heed coming to find me.

Long story short. After about 30 minutes at the rest stop with ice on my head and shivering while my fingers were swelling I was about ready for the return trip. One of the aid workers (who I should know his name as we have run together) told me that he shouldn't say anything but he didn't think I should be going anywhere as one of the other aid station workers was refilling my bottle. Well I guess dropping was better then dying after all right?

Well to wrap things up here is what I have learned.

1. 14 months, 4 marathons and 2 ultras
2. Nausea at all and vomiting at all but one (walked last 6 miles to prevent puking)
3. Same at multiple 18-23 mile training runs. Nausea etc.
4. Everything from no electrolyte tabs up to one s-cap every 30 minutes this weekend (very bad idea this weekend. Never take 5 s-caps in 2-1/2 hours)
5. Gu, Pure Fuel bar, water, Gatorade, propel, powerade all together separate etc.
6. Run fast, slow, very slow.

All produced the same results. My stomach quits absorbing and processing after around 2 hours of running. I then get bloated, vomit, dehydrate, and all the good things that come from that.

Plenty of advice and now the best of all. Stop it. My options as I see them are do what I said before and start running 1/2 marathons and shorter fun fast races. Continue to do this until I can at least run some 18-20 mile training runs at race pace without having issues. Quit eating and drinking after 1-1/2 hours into a run so my stomach doesn't start to fill. Deal with the dehydration slightly and make sure it doesn't get out of control.

In hindsight as soon as I realized I stopped sweating I should have turned around and headed to snowville. It would have saved me 3-1/2 hours of possibly dangerous conditions in the woods. Oh and I think I might actaully ask for help next time to. I even hung out for a few minutes at the finish line watching some friends finish when I perhaps should have had an IV attached to my arm instead flushing out some salt.

Guess I'm signing up for the Buckeye 1/2 and the Akron 1/2. I didn't really need any free shoes anyway. I'm going to break the 1:45 mark I wanted to hit at Cleveland.

San Diego Snail Trail

2008-07-16T18:43:00.001-07:00

So I went for my last run this morning. Almost a mile into it I almost took a terrible fall. Never thought that my 50k could be done in by a snail trail.... Well really I almost stepped on the thing.

So after the snail trail incident I see a trail off to the side of the road. Off I go.

After a mile or so I hit the top of the hills and realize I'm running along a fire line from one of the CA fires this season.You can see how the left of the road is burned and the right is green. This is where the CA fire crew started a back burn to clear out underbrush. They cleared out the path you see and then started to burn everything on the other side of the path.

So I found out something new to beware of on these trails. I worry some about falling when I'm flying down the downhills but in Ohio we don't have to worry about these. I couldn't imagine taking a fall into a cactus.

Well tomorrow I fly home and get ready for the race. Carb loaded tonight with Risotto and shell fish.

T minus 4 days

2008-07-15T17:38:00.000-07:00

Quick update. I'm in San Diego and got to take my 4 mile run today to/from/ and on the beach. Got in a good 1-1/2 miles of running on the sand at low tide. If I lived out here I would probably be putting in 70 miles a week instead of 40. I guess I'm lucky enough to get to spend this time out here. Have another run planned for the morning but I'm a little bit inland tonight (at least 4 miles to the beach.

Tomorrow I will get to go to opening day at Del Mar race track for a second year in a row. It's pretty crazy the way it really shuts down the area. It's like going back in time to the horse races with all the guys dressed up and girls in their sun dresses and hats. Just to go watch the horse races and bet. It's also a time when everyone in the area gets together with friends/family. Should be a great time. Then an early flight home on Thursday. Been trying to keep the food/drinking in check. So hit the Mexican on Monday (plenty of time to get out of the system). Tonight it's Italian and I'll keep the wine under control. Tomorrow is all about water and hydration. Then Thursday for the 7 hours in airports and hotels... hydration.. and I'll be at home for a good dinner Thursday night.

See you all Saturday.

Muddy Paws

2008-07-12T15:16:00.000-07:00

Well it's one week out from the Buckeye 50k so I needed my last long taper run. I headed down to the Muddy Paws trail run which has a 5 and 10 mile option. Well with the course being pretty hilly and my history of racing every race I did a smart thing and signed up for the 5 mile option. After signing up and talking with everyone for a little while I saw E-Speed go by running in the parking lot. I figured that I needed to do some warmup and jogged over to catch her. I figure we did at least 4-5 laps around the parking lot with more people joining her on each loop. During this time we were all discussing the race and decided that E would have to try to win no matter how many times she denied it.

So when everyone started towing the line at the start I decided to get about 3/4 of the way back in the pack so that I didn't get caught up and race (go figure it was a race). Well once we got started I saw Roy coming buy and just decided to head off with him and Tanya. We all had to stop and wait while the log jam made it into the woods. By the time we got into the trails we had stopped probably 3-4 times and stood while waiting for the people in front of us to condense down to a single track. Well I stayed with Roy and Tanya for about a mile just talking about ultras and volunteering to help. Then the trail cleared out a bit and I felt the need. I got around Roy and started to pick up the pace.

For the next 4 miles not a single person passed me. Come to think about it during the entire race not a single person passed me and stayed in front of me. A couple of guys tried to jump in front on the uphills but I was able to overtake them and pull away as soon as we reached the top of the hill. It was a great feeling that I have really started to enjoy. Part of it was that I was only doing 5 while many of these runners would be putting in twice that distance but deep down it didn't matter. I passed many friends who had started in front of me before reaching the end. As I passed two guys with about a half mile left (my finishing kick started here) the one guy said "I hope your doing the 5 mile option".

So here comes the good:
My first 5 mile run ever and first on trails - 47:05
Placed third in my age group and got some swag

And the bad:
First mile was by far the slowest and it was all down hill.

Lost first place in my age group by 49 seconds. I had the 2nd and 3rd place in sight the last mile and just couldn't close fast enough. Had I started further up in the pack and not had to wait in the first mile I could have actually taken 1st (knowing all the fast runners were in the 10mile).

Splits:
10:09
9:29
10:00
9:11
8:16

Wow Photographer Bill Bailey catches a good photo of Brett Running. This is like trying to get a picture of bigfoot.

So, I did the smart thing, ran a short race, supported a good cause, and kept with the taper for a 50k on Saturday. Now it's off to San Diego Monday for some relaxation prior to the race. Oh and I got my 1st class upgrade. Can't beat that. Hope it happens on the way home as well.

Nice seeing everyone out there today. Every time I go to an event like this I appreciate the runners of NE Ohio so much more. Special thanks to Greg, Bill, Mel, Nick, Susan, Aaron, and all the other runners that chose to volunteer instead of run. Nothing but support and encouragement. Looking forward to helping out at the Burning River 100 so pay some of it back.

One more run

2008-07-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

So I took my first Taekwondo class yesterday and had a great time. Then I felt a little sore this morning and figured it was all those kicks but I had forgotten about the Boot Camp class during the afternoon. Well to make a long story short put in 6 miles today at an 8:30 pace and felt good. My endurance seems to have recovered from last weeks 50 miles in 4 days stint.

So now I just have Saturdays run, a trip to San Diego for 4 days (with a few 3-5 mile runs) and then it's time for the 50k. My biggest hurdle now will be how to eat good high complex carb meals while traveling. I guess being on the ocean that will call for some seafood or maybe some good Italian. Normally I'd go to a place out there that has what I consider the best prime rib I maybe have ever had but I guess I know where the high protein diet took me.

I wonder what I'll do after I FINISH the 50k? I think maybe roads, towpath and some speed workouts for a little while. Well mix in some trails so I can get muddy with the girls some more.

T-Minus 10 days

2008-07-09T13:08:00.000-07:00

So the head games have started. What is the weather going to be like. What do I need to eat the week of the race. Where am I going to be the week of the race (San Diego). Make sure I get sleep, water, and nourishment during my flight home from CA on Thursday for Saturdays race. Who can I run with in order to make sure that I don't get "caught up" in the race at the beginning (thanks Sara). Will still try to take off and keep up with Melissa (Damn am I dumb).

So 10 days out. I missed about 3 miles yesterday from my run and now I'm trying to figure out when to make it up. I took a boot camp class today at the gym and now I'm going to take my first Taekwondo class tonight (do you think I try to do too much). What am I thinking starting new exercises and martial arts classes 10 days before a 50k? I'm supposed to be relaxing and recovering from 50+ miles in 4 days and enjoying the taper right?

So I'm going to do some sales calls in San Diego next week and then go to opening day at the Del Mar horse race track Wednesday night. This will lead to relaxing and as I'm away from town I won't be able to beat myself up at the gym.

So everyone can just tell me to chill and relax but if you know me well then I just don't have that in me. I guess that's why I'm a runner right? Now I'm not worried about finishing the 50k, because I will. I'm just wondering how much I'm going to put myself through during the race. It's time to weight the joy of just finishing 50k with the pain of trying to push yourself to finish in a more respectful time. Go ahead.... tell me..... just finishing is respectful right?

Oh and now that I'm babbling. If anyone needs a 1997 Malibu with 150k miles on it. $1k obo. Not that this is ebay or anything. I hope I didn't just break any rules.

Blog Slacker

2008-07-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

So I've been crazy busy with work, kids, vacation, and running. Here is a quick rundown. Celebrated my 10 year anniversary. Can't imagine what my wife saw in me but apparently it's still here. Spent a couple of days in Sandusky one night on a friends Yacht, one night at Kalahari water park, while my daughter participated in dance competitions and some workshops. Then came the 4th of July and 4 parties that weekend. Three for the holiday and one for my nieces birthday. Throw in the Firecracker 5k which capped of almost 30 miles in three days (and no I didn't do as good as I wanted to. 22:04 which is 2 seconds slower then my trail 5k a month or two ago). Throw in the 23 mile training run for the Buckeye 50k and then cap it off with my wife having a birthday party last night. I think that brings my blog up to today.

So somehow I managed a 50+ mile week (actually in 4 days) and I am in taper mode. I'm going to try and run the Muddy Paws this weekend if things go as planned. I'll most likely just do the 5 mile run as I tend to race every race full out I don't want to put in a hard 10 mile race a week before the 50k (maybe I'm learning). T-minus 11 days until I finally finish the Buckeye 50k. Then I can be done with these crazy hours upon hours of trail running every Saturday.

After that I'm going to try and figure out how to run this short races I am liking so much. At the same time decide if I want to put myself through another full marathon in the fall and get my free shoes or if I'll once run another half and have fun cheering on all my crazy friends at the finish.

Oh and I will be traveling out of town at least three out of the next six weeks. Let the games begin.

Family Race Day

2008-06-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

I had been trying to figure out for a week how to fit a race into the day with the kids Saturday. Well my wife got sent home early from work Saturday night and the stars aligned just right. Saturday morning I got everything ready and headed to downtown Hudson for the VR race. Got there just in time to talk, mingle, and introduce the family to some of my running friends. There was Bob, Greg, Brian, Cindy, Gretchen, well the list goes on. It was everyone. After meeting Red my wife asked me if that's the blog she links through to find mine when she is checking up on me. Well lets just say she knows more about my running friends then I thought.

So I sign up for the races in a hurry, 2 mile fun run for my 8 year old and the 4 mile run for me, and before long it's time for the fun run to start. I should note that the fun run started a little late and was schedule to be 30 minutes before the 4 mile race.

My daughter ran her first mile about 3 weeks ago at school and I missed the event due to travel. I was very disappointed as was she so this was going to make up for it. Her 12 minute mile around that clock was shattered in the first mile with me. We hit the turn around point (hello Brian) in around 11:30+ and I should note the first mile was uphill. So she took 30 seconds off her time. Part of this was helped by us pacing along with another friend while he ran with his boss's son. The mile back into downtown was a little bit more eventful. She had to start taking walking breaks pretty often so I tried to implement the Fartlek (spelling?) plan. Lets run to the sidewalk, then to the tree etc. Oh and when I saw her stop to pick up a stick and started using it like a walking stick I told her if we were going to walk, we would walk fast. We were in a race dog gone it. We hit the finish line in just over 24 minutes so she had doubled her distance and kept the same pace as her track time at school. I couldn't believe how well she did. I think I'm going to need to start taking some time to run with her.

Next thing, I'm helping her take her bib off and I hear Vince telling the runners to get to the start line and get ready for the 4 mile race. It was about two blocks from the finish so I kiss my wife and kids and sprint to the start line.

About 30 seconds after I reached the start line the race was off. I ended up in the front off to the right side of the pack and immediately realize there were a bunch of cars parked right in front of my current path. So I sprinted out to the front pack to get around the bumpers so as not run head long into the side of the first car. After about a half mile one of the other fast guys caught up to me and asked if I had grown wings with as fast as I took off out of the start line. Oh shit this was not good.

I can sum it up like this. Finished the race... it sucked... 30+ minutes (3 minutes slower then last year)... dropped 2.5lbs in 2 hours while drinking fluids and eating some. When I finished my wife asked me why it took me so long and I told her to hold the thought and ran back up the course (thought I was going to puke so I kept running). Once I had cooled down I saw Red rounding the corner so I ran the last 1/3 mile with her to the finish. She was looking great for just running 4 miles in the heat.

Got back to my family and relaxed for a few before heading out. I ran by Nick to find out what they were doing for the kids and it turns out I never put an age on the two entrance forms so they didn't know where to put us. He looked at my age group and I actually manged 2nd. Later as he was reading off names he found me listed as 48 years old. Bad news is I also took 2nd in that group. I got smoked by someone 15 years older then I.

This was my daughters second and longest fun run. I think she is starting to enjoy her days out with Dad. I would actual give up any chance at PR's and running my races to see her running and finishing.

Hit the trails with the BKT50k training group Sunday. 12+ miles in more heat and humidity. I managed to down 104 oz of fluids and 3 s-caps during and directly after the 2-1/2 hour run. Even with that many fluids and continuing to drink for the rest of the morning I didn't have to use the bathroom until after noon. Good news is I felt better then ever. I'm now getting a second 20 oz bottle to carry and will be drinking 30-40 oz of fluids an hour during hot and humid days. Seems to be what I need.

Traveling

2008-06-03T07:55:00.000-07:00

So I find myself back in CA again this week. I flew out yesterday and after a day of work headed up to Napa for the night. I got to the hotel and had about 2 hours to kill before dinner so I got changed and headed out. My first thought was to go take care of some unfinished business and cross the finish line from the Napa Marathon. Well after a second or two I scrapped that idea. I don't like to live in the past or even dwell on the past often for those of you that don't know that about me. So onto the future and a 50k trail run. I remembered there was a park with a trail system about a mile from the hotel so I headed out to the trails. An hour later and with over 6 miles in I showered and headed out for dinner. I was going to get some miles in this morning as well but the long day of travel and my run from yesterday didn't have me feeling very energized. I'll end my day today down in Santa Cruz so my plan is to try and get some time to hit the trails again tonight. Gotta get in the miles you know. All this work and family stuff has put a kink in my travel. Even though I did good in Cleveland my endurance isn't what it was. I hope experience makes uf for some of the endurance and I run a smart buckeye. You know think with the head on my shoulders and not try to run the way I love to (flat out).
I hope to keep up the energy level and training this week and maybe even try to best my 4 mile PR from last year at the VR run. I'm actually thinking about just hitting the 2 mile fun run with the kids though. It's rough because my competitive side wants to race by a fatherly voice in my head keeps telling me running the fun run will do more for me in the long run. Letting my children experience what I have found and loved. If I can get them on the healthy track that it took me so long to find. I can prevent the years of teasing and missing out that I went through. Oh my daughter just received her certificates for reaching the presidential level on the national fitness test.

Memorial Day

2008-05-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day this year was full of good and bad. I was able to march in the Hudson Parade with my daughter. She always loves this but I thought that at age 8 she was ready to start understanding the day a little more. During the parade I started pointing out veterans in the crowd and trying to explain to her what the day was truly about. This made a great little father daughter moment.

Later in the day I realized that this was also the 5 year anniversary of my grandfathers passing. It was fitting that he passed on veterans day (the old day before they changed it and made it on a Monday every year). He served as a medic in the 95th Victory Division attached to Patton's 1st. He lived through some of the worst experiences a person can ever imagine. Although he didn't participate in the first day of the D-day invasion (landed in France on September 15, 1944) he traveled and fought through France and continued until becoming part of the occupying force in Germany at the ending of the war. He was a part of battles including the bulge, Metz, and many others and the division has been recognized as a liberating division due to the liberation of the German prison and civilian labor camp in the town of Werl by the Holocaust Museum. I have often tried to imagine what it must have been like as a medic in the battles having to treat friends and comrades in varying degrees of need and I think I have just decided it may be best not too. Instead I will continue to thank those that did in the past or will in the future put themselves into these situations so that the everyday citizens of this country don't have to.

95th inf. total battle casualties in the European theatre: 6,591Total deaths in battle: 1,387

Random Thoughts

2008-05-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

First off... Why do I look like I just came out of a car wash when everyone else looks so happy and fresh in their pictures? Note to self... Wear a hat.

Second.. I'm in LA last week and see a bumper sticker... quit reading here if you are easily offended...... it says "Two in the pink, One in the stink... Shocker".. So I learned some more urban slang while driving in LA. I now know what the shocker is and apparently so does our presidents daughter.

Third... Went to the VR fall training group meeting last night... great job with the presentations. Watched a promotion video from the marathon director and recognized a surprising number of people from the video. Anyway I digress.... partway through the nutritional presentation they flash a slide that shows the amount of time you can sustain aerobic endurance for based on diets of high protein, mix, and high carb.... well a little bulb lights up in my head and I kick Vince to get his attention. Do you think my diet of meat, meat, more meat, rootbeer floats, pop tarts, and hot pockets may have something to do with me hitting a wall at 2-3 hours? hmmmm curious minds... I'm not really as bad as I just made it sound but I am definitely not on a good high carb diet. Maybe it is as bad as it sounds.

Final thought. I signed up for the Buckeye 50k today. Vince gave me a boost of confidence predicting 50/50 odds of me finishing. Maybe I should look at my diet. I need to find someone running no faster then 7 hours to run with. Preferably female so the testosterone doesn't cause a race to a 6 hour or bust finish.... anyone who follows my blog will know how that would end...

Cleveland Results

2008-05-18T10:07:00.000-07:00

This is going to be long so I'll tell you right up front and you can skip the rest.... 1:50:34. So my goals were A 1:45, B 1:50, C 1:55, all of which would beat my PR of 1:55:59 in a half. Leading up to this morning I was already making excuses up in my head as to why I wouldn't meet my goal. I just got back from Taiwan, then hill repeats on Wednesday, oh and yesterday I spent all day at a graduation party (Mexican theme) drinking and eating. I told myself it was okay because I'd alternate between a Margarita and a water. So then I didn't get to bed when I wanted to so to little sleep. You get the message right. I've had so many "failures" in the last year that now I have just set myself up for self destruct. Well I started off thinking 13.1 miles at an 8 flat pace. I kept this up for the most part through 4 miles. Then 20 seconds disappeared. Well I made that up in the next mile and kept up pace through 8 or 9 miles. I started off a little behind in the pack so for the first 4-5 miles it seemed I was passing people I knew. Bill and Mike, then Brett and Jamie next I think was Susan and Ruby, followed by Lindsey, Bob and Greg. It was great getting little pick me ups every time I saw someone it took my mind off the race for a few seconds. Oh and I passed E-speed at mile 2 or 3. She was cheering on people in front of me and you just can't miss that voice. I run over to see her and she turns around just as I am passing her. After a polite tap on the shoulder she saw me though and gave me a good shout.
Anyway Lindsey, Greg, and Bob caught me at around Mile 8-9. I had just started falling off my pace and they had picked it up. Around Mile 10-11 I was feeling pretty low and took an extended walk after a water stop. So Susan and Ruby passed me at this point and gave me a shout. It was encouragement enough to get me to hang with them for a little while before dropping back again. So the last 2 miles was pretty rough. I think all of my excuses started to set in and believe me they were real. I just lost all energy and the gel I took at mile 10 didn't help. For the first time in all my races when I got within eye sight of the finish I was trying to run as fast as possible to pass a few people and get in under 1:50 but the faster I told my legs to go the less response I got. It was really weird having people passing me and giving it my all but barely moving. It felt like I could have walked faster. So I dropped 5:30 off my PR but still think in better conditions without all the dumb ass preparation I've got a sub 1:45 in me. We shall see.

I then got to experience what I think is the best part of the running experience. I headed over to the back stretch just at the top of the hill around mile marker 24 to cheer on the runners. Other then the burning river I have never been on the cheering end of a race. I got there in time to see many familiar faces and it was nice to hear some of the people I didn't even know thank me when I would tell them they were almost there and remind them they just hit the top of the hill etc. I kept remembering that little lift you get when you hear someone yelling and it just clicks in your head. Even if it only lasts for a second before the misery kicks back in. Well after cheering for a while I figured I'd put in a couple more miles with some friends to help them in the final couple. So I ran with Bob, Lindsey, and Greg for a little while. Greg had just finished a 100k two weeks earlier but still looked strong. I let them carry on around mile 25 when I saw Nick on the side cheering. He missed out on the race due to reserve duty but still made it out to cheer. He was even in uniform the first time I saw him. He had changed by this point and even ran with Aaron for the last mile of his Boston Qualifying run. He asked me if I had seen Ruby yet and just then she came down the street. Then I told him Susan was coming and we cheered for her. When it looked like she was pretty tired and down he took off again and said he was going to catch up to her and run her in the last mile. So I headed to the finish line
It was great to be able to see so many people I have met and run with over the last year. It brought a whole new experience to my running. Talking afterward with everyone and hearing about some that met their goal and most that didn't it seems that for most it wasn't the ideal race conditions for PRs.
Thanks to everyone who let me participate in their race days. Now I have something new to look forward to in the future. In the past most everyone has moved on and begun the rest of their day by the time I finish the distance races.
I set a PR and still left it soft so that I can experience this feeling again.

Race Morning

2008-05-18T02:16:00.001-07:00

What a morning for a race. 53 degrees (5 warmer then expected) and oh it's raining outside pretty good. Not the sprinkles expected but hell if it were always sunny then this wouldn't be May in Ohio. Doesn't look like a day for records but then again were in Ohio and the race is not starting for an hour and forty minutes. By then it could be 70 and sunny.

Here's to wishing everyone luck today.... oh and I hear Melissa got in here 100 miles yesterday on that 1/4 mile track. Great job, I'm sure the kids are even more impressed then those of us that actually know what it takes to run 100 miles.

I'm off.

Dumb F@#@

2008-05-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

So I really am an idiot. I get back from Taiwan on Tuesday and have only a few days to recover before the Cleveland Marathon. So Wednesday at Vince's advice I'm only going to do about 30 minutes on the treadmill. Then the personal trainer at our gym comes up and announces that the boot camp class is doing hill repeats if anyone is man enough (she is a petite little thing that could kick my butt at any time). So I hit the kill switch and head on out. I figure I'll just take it easy right.
So I start off with a slow jog and stay in the middle of the pack. So then Denise (personal trainer) catches up and asks me if I'm sand bagging. Well I've got to show her right. I start running people down heading up this hill like the little engine that could. I am only have two people in front of me as I hit the top. So I catch the first on the downhill and then slow down as common sense kicks in. Well that was until I hit the bottom and start heading up again. I manage to get within 50 feet of the lead runner by the time we hit the top of this hill (about the size of the old 303 hill heading up to pine lane). So I hit the afterburners going down this hill. This is about the only time I could ever sustain a sub 6 minute mile pace. I was hauling down the hill and when he heard my footsteps he got the hell out of the way.... I hit the bottom and turn to head back up all by myself. Ha I showed them......
So now it is Friday and I'm a day and a half away from the Cleveland Marathon (I'm only doing a half). My quads are still a little sore. Damn am I dumb.
Here's to setting a PR on Sunday.

Taiwan and Training

2008-05-11T16:58:00.000-07:00

Many of you know I do a lot of traveling for work. So just as I'm supposed to be putting in my longest runs to prepare for the Cleveland Marathon (1/2) I catch a plain and travel to the other side of the world. I have not been able to run at all since May 3rd. The good thing is that I wake up in the morning and I don't feel any soreness from my Achilles at all. It's nice to wake up and not be sore from the workout of the day before. Now rather then telling myself that I'm not properly trained, I'm trying to convince myself that I am more rested and prepared then I have been in a year.

Well the lack of running and exercises brings me to the why. I have been working 12-14 hours a day at the factory and then there is dinner, etc which have limited my sleep to an average of 5-6 hours a night. I'm running out of time here so I will get to mothers day. Happy mothers day again to my wife and mom if anyone is reading. I am here with some others from my office one of which is a Mom and has spent 22 out of the last 31 days here in Taiwan. So for mothers day we took 3 hours of trains and taxi cabs to the most northern city in Taiwan. We then climbed the mountain to get one of the most fantastic views I have ever experienced in Taiwan. Here is an idea. The first is the mountain from the bottom. You can almost make out the path up the right side. It crosses over to the top and I can not tell you how many steps.... more to come but if this project pans out the chairman has invited me back to Taiwan to climb a 1400 meter mountain. Two day trip with a night spent on the mountain before an early ascent to the top.

If you look just above the center of the roof of the building you can see a portion of the trail and follow it up the mountainI started to count stairs but I had already given up by this point. Believe it or not I did quite a bit of running up these stairs. I would run ahead and take pictures of the others

with me then one of the other guys would do the same.
As you can see there were not exactly railings. One step to the side and I don't know if you would stop until you were at the bottom.
The view from the south west side of Taiwan. China is about 25 miles across the ocean from here I believe.

Plantar Fasciitis

2008-04-25T10:28:00.001-07:00

So I will reach my highest total weekly mileage of the year this week and I feel great for the Cleveland Marathon. The title to the post is actual not in reference to me. My soon to be 8 year old daughter has been complaining off and on about her foot hurting so we just thought she sprained it during dance class. Well after a visit to the doctor yesterday she was diagnosed with Plantar Fasciitis.
Well luckily for our family my year of running has made me an expert on how others treat it. Unfortunately it seems that it is as common in dancers as runners. I guess my daughters 7 hours a week of instruction plus endless hours of dancing around the house do equate to as much or maybe even more time then I spend running. Now I feel like the horrible parent who has been telling her for the last couple of weeks to suck it up and stop complaining. Luckily though it seems it is not bad enough to stop her from what she loves. We just need to hit it now with stretching and ice.
Her birthday is next week so I hope that we can get things started on the good track in time for her to celebrate a new year in her life.

Summer Time

2008-04-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

Why does the title of this post make me think of some 80's song by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. Okay well it's Will Smith now and was Popcorn before then (don't ask how I know this). If you've followed this you must have listened to rap music in the early 90's.

So it hit 50 this morning (almost) and I didn't have to drop my son off at the sitters house so I decided to bust out the sled today for the ride into work. I've got tags, insurance, a new battery, and everything is cleaned up and ready to go. If you've ever owned an older Harley you will understand the need to make sure everything is good. Well everything except for the bolt that fell out which holds the end of my exhaust pipes onto the frame and stops that little rattle.

Every year I manage to tell myself and my wife that the motorcycle saves us money. My insurance rates are low, it's paid for, and it gets over 50 miles to the gallon (well if I don't race it). So I start off on my 16 mile ride to work through the CVNRA. I live in Hudson and work in Brecksville so my daily drive includes trips down Boston Mills Rd, Riverview, 303, or any one of many different roads I take through the valley. As I was headed down Boston Mills Rd into Peninsula I started thinking about how many times I've run up this hill. I decided really quickly that it was much more enjoyable to ride down the hill then to run up it. Although there were some touch and go points when I realized that it has been a couple months since I have ridden my motorcycle. Note to self, not good to take extremely curvy roads at speed when you are a little bit out of practice with leaning and cornering. Especially on loose gravel from the winter. Well after the first bend I remembered a past experience with gravel and corners and slowed down a little. Not fun to have someone run a brush up and down your road rash to get the small rocks out of the holes they dig in your skin.

So my dumb ass starts thinking that my friend in CA will never believe that it is warmer here than CA so I take out my phone as I'm riding up Snowville and take a picture.

Well then wouldn't you know it I hit the top of the hill and get this in my view.

What a great way to ruin a nice ride. The smell of a full garbage truck traveling at low speed in a no passing zone. I swear this guy was going 25 up the hills. He was nice enough to pull over at the top of the hill and let the line of traffic pass but it took a good mile to get that smell out of my nostril.

Anyway good week of running. After tomorrow I will have my first 50+ mile week in two months. Four weeks out from Cleveland just on schedule. Well then again I'm doing the half this year. Hoping for a huge PR and dropping 10 minutes off my Buckeye 1/2 time from the fall. We will see.

Run for the Orphans 5k

2008-04-09T08:07:00.000-07:00

Well they posted the official results from the Run for the Orphans 5k trail run. It seems that my actual finish time is 22:02. Turns out I was 18th out of 120 people and for the first time in my life I didn't get "chicked". The high school track star finished behind me even though she was first female :) I still beat her by a good 15 seconds I think. I was almost happy to see the extra two seconds. That means I only have to shave off 3 seconds to reach a whole new level. Nothing like setting a soft PR right?

So my goals for the year were to break 22 minutes in a 5k and 1:50 in a half marathon. In the back of my mind I really want to break 21 in a 5k and run a 1:45 half. So I started off by running 13.1 miles in 1:52:12 during a training run two weeks ago. This time included two water stops that may have taken 2-3 minutes. Then I manage to pull of a 22:02 in a 5k after what I now feel was fast and long of a warm up (5+ miles) and it was on trails with some mud and hills thrown in. My new goals will definitely be a 1:45 half at Cleveland next month and a good fast 5k on the streets to see if maybe I can get that 5k into the sub 21 minute mark.

I seem to have found some new energy in my running recently with new goals. I think I let my prior disappointments get to me and I had begun just going through the motions. I had not even noticed that I had stopped feeling tired after even my long runs and no longer was reaching that runners high that I had become so addicted to. I think that I was worried so much about just getting in the miles and distances that I had stopped pushing myself to actually improve my performance and see just what I was capable of. I'm finding my mind in a much better place now when I run. When I start to feel fatigue I actually push the pace just to make sure I have energy left so my mind knows that my body isn't as week as it tells me. Eventually my mind will learn just how strong I have become and I can learn the difference between being fatigued and not being done. Even during the 5k last week I found myself letting up some in the middle because I was afraid I wouldn't have anything left at the finish. Then when I heard Aaron counting down as I approached the finish I realized I had to much left and didn't leave enough on the course.

So the first 5k was a learning exercise I'll try to make the next one a race.

5k PR

2008-04-05T12:42:00.000-07:00

So I ran the Hudson 5k run for the Orphans this morning. Showed up at 7:30 to help Nick out but it turns out he had plenty of help. So I saw Vince and Steve headed out for a warmup run and caught up to them. Well after the first 3 miles of the warmup run I realized we were running a little fast for my warmup. What the heck was I thinking running with Vince for a warmup? Oh and I don't remember the hills being quite so big on this loop around the lake. So I let them take off for a second loop and I used the restroom near the finish point and then headed back the opposite direction to meet up with them. Warmup done (5 miles in under a 9 minute mile pace) but I actually felt a little tired. I hoped that my energy level would come up some before the race. Well we sat around and talked for a while with other runners that were there. I think they had around 90 runners preregister and probably another 20 signed up that morning or more so the trail would be manageable for the race.

Well I picked someone that I thought would run about my pace (turns out he lied) and got ready for the start. The first 1/2 mile was through a muddy field and then onto a sidewalk and back into the mud. We hit the trails then and I started passing some of the younger runners who took off to fast. Well I started dropping behind my pacer slightly and then hit the one mile mark in 6:24. Now at this point it was down hill but the mud should have evened that out. I was under my pace and knew I couldn't keep this up. I slowed up a bit and within a half mile 1-2 younger guys passed me. They looked like they may have been 12-13 so I figured that they would just die out when we hit the hills. Miles 1.5-2.5 are pretty hill and up and down so I started to feel pretty bad and sucking air some. Hit mile 2 and I didn't know if I would be able to finish in my goal of under 23 (I really wanted to break 22 but didn't think it would be possible after my warm up at the starting line). I didn't look at my watch at all so other then the first mile I had no idea where I was at time wise. At this point I realized that those 2 kids were still trucking along in front of my but had caught a third younger kid. We passed a high school aged girl at this point who was having some troubles with the hills. I wanted to give her some words of encouragement but just didn't have the energy. I managed to gut it through the third mile and as I came around the bend to check out the clock all I saw was what looked to be 10 minutes. When I got closer thought I saw Nick and Aaron there. Aaron began yelling out the times to us so we knew where we were. The first thing I hear him say is 21:53. Damn I tried to kick in the legs and crossed the finish just as he was saying 22:00.

I headed away from the crowd as I was getting close to my normal post run hurl but managed to hold it down and relax. I grabbed a water and a banana and was getting ready to head out when I ran into a guy that I went to school with. Well I asked him how it went and he indicated not as fast as mine. Well considering in high school he was on the football team and wore his Letterman's jacket around while I was sitting on my fat ass studying (I hope he doesn't take offense if he reads this...). It was all worth it to me just to beat him for some reason in my mind. The only thing that would have made it better is if he had been balding with a beer gut but no such luck. He was in shape and running.... just couldn't keep up with me.

So I then had to run back to my car (a mile back to the parking lot) cheering for the people still running, and jump in my car to haul ass to Medina. My daughter had another dance competition and was supposed to take the stage about 43 minutes after I finished the race. Halfway to Medina I got a call that they girls had gone on early and I missed them but she wanted me there for the awards and I was more than happy to be there.

So after everything was done in Medina I called up Nick to see how things had gone. It turns out that Vince had won the race in 17+ minutes which took him out of my age category competition. Thanks to this I managed to pull of a 1st place in my age group. My first 5k and I get a trophy... Wow... Oh and the guy I graduated from high school with ended up second. Poor him :)

Funny thing is during my run last weekend Jamie was telling a story about every time you tell a non runner that you ran a race the first thing they ask is if you won. We all laughed because anyone who runs knows how ridiculous the question is to the average runner. Well I ran by to get a hair cut on the way home and the lady asks me what we were out and about doing. My daughter tells her that she had a dance competition and the girls asks if she won (well she did). So then she said that her daddy ran a race. The girl looked at me and asked if I won. So I said actually I did. :) Even if it was only my age group.

Makes me think about everything that goes wrong for me in my long races then I put it all into perspective the last two weeks. I don't suck and I'm not the slowest person on the planet. I just have to adapt to what my body tells me. Turns out in a 5k you can run to fast in the first mile and the payback sucks but hell it's only two miles. If you run the first 10 miles of a Marathon to fast... well it's only 16.2 more miles :)

By splits based on my garmin are
Mile 1: 6:31
Mile 2: 7:31
Mile 3: 7:33

and of course as I was getting ready to puke I didn't stop my watch to see the final tenth. I'm still amazed by the 6:31 running through the mud and water. I can't wait for a flat 5k on the roads to see what I'm really capable of. Although the 5 mile warm up will change some next time. Maybe a slower 3-4 mile warm up.

PR at Boston

2008-03-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

Okay so to clarify it was at the Boston training run today in Peninsula. It was a 20 mile run set up for those runners in the area planning on running the Boston Marathon. So I showed up and planned to do a 13.1 mile run from Happy days visitors center to the Boston Store, oh with a little trip up Oak hill and Major Rd thrown in the middle. I was feeling good all day which was evident by my running companions. I was bouncing around all day with the some of the faster runners in the area but ended up running most of it with Mel from VR. After about 4-5 miles we realized we weren't keeping up with Jamie and neither of us cared to run alone so it seemed like we just stayed together (except when she ran by me heading up Oak Hill). So I had some energy left in the tank as we started heading down Stine Rd and was just trying to decide when to pick up the pace. As I was going under the second bridge about a half mile from the finish I figured it was a good time. The last mile was a 7:40 and the last 0.10 was at a 6:50. When I finished I looked down at my watch and it showed me 13.1 miles in 1:52:12 including at least 3-4 minutes at water stops...... My PR was at the Buckeye 1/2 at 1:56. So I guess I'm ready for a real chip race at the Cleveland 1/2 to see what I can really do. My goal was to try for a 1:50 and hope and pray. Now I think the 1:40's are in reach.

Too much going on

2008-03-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

Here's the quick report.. Vacation is over, got sick on easter, stayed sick on Monday, after 22 hours in bed over a 48 hour period I ran for the first time in 10 days yesterday. 4.5 miles later I was pretty spent. Hit the treadmill today and got in a solid 4 miles keeping an 8 minute pace. Plan to run an hour in the mud with the VR group Sat then do at least 13 miles with the get ready for Boston group on Sunday morning.

So I'm sick, I have a tooth ache in a tool I just had root canals and a crown put on less then 2 months ago, and my achille has been bother me. I must be getting old or I really over did it and needed some rest. Enough rest time to start beating myself again.

Don't take life to seriously no one gets out alive. It is what it is.

Pictures from San Diego. A little harmony in an otherwise crazy life.

Spring Break

2008-03-18T07:33:00.000-07:00

So I have a couple of minutes to kill while the family is asleep and I'm getting ready to head of and get some work done. I flew my parents and the family out to San Diego with me this week for spring break. We spent the weekend having fun at Disney and the Wild Animal park which was great with the kids. Now I get to spend the rest of the week working while my parents have fun with L and the kids. Off to my fun... While we were taking a train ride in a Monkey cage at Disney my daughter decided to teach her brother a new trick... and here it is.

It figures that we would have gotten in the Monkey cage.. :)

And on another note, this was the first time my mother has flown in a plane in her entire life. My father hadn't been in one since he was in the Navy (35 years+) so his last flight was in a DC3.

Well at least they were with me so they didn't have to wait in any of the huge lines and everything went smoothly.

More later.

So much for the Shamrock 15k

2008-03-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

I had all the best plans to volunteer and help at the Shamrock 15k today. I emailed the contact I was give last week to ask about volunteering but when I received no reply I just figured they must have had plenty of help. Then yesterday I see Jim posted on VR indicating they were in need of many more volunteers and any help would be appreciated. Its odd that no one had replied to my earlier request but I guess that stuff happens with volunteer organizations. I figured I'd go outside and play in the snow with the kids and then head down to the race to see what they needed.
So it turns out my dad hooked us up. He plowed all the snow in our driveway into one huge pile that went over a hill at the end of our driveway. The kids love this because it increases their sledding hill into what they think is a huge hill... here they are climbing it.
So what can dad do in this fun stuff.. so I started doing what I loved to do when I was a kid.. dig in the snow. Well it turned into a nice little igloo after a while so the kids had some fun. Then I thought it would be cool to have a tunnel through the hill so off I go digging some more. Here is the results.
Well I pull out my cell phone and see it is 10:40. Time to head inside, get some hot chocolate and then head on down to the Shamrock 15k to help out. Well when I go to the microwave to warm up the hot chocolate I'm surprised to realize it is 11:40. What the hell. How is it that a $39 VCR knows how to turn the clock forward but a cell phone doesn't. Then I realize it is the governments fault. They had to go and screw with what weekend daylight savings times occurred on, or was that just in the fall? Well one way or another I had to manually changed my cell phone time and I can't make it down to cheer on everyone running today. I was even going to play the photographer roll. Sorry for missing it. But I have a cool snow tunnel now :)

Snow storm of 2008

2008-03-08T17:55:00.001-08:00

So here I am one day back from California and the storm hits. I spent last night playing in the snow with the kids and then woke up this morning for the 7:00am run.. Well I'm sure everyone knows where this is going... there were actually 7 of us. All of us crazy. The parking lot wasn't plowed and the snow was coming down so quick it was insane. As no one from the VR training team decided to show we took the opportunity to revise their plan some.

We headed out AP to Bolanz then back on Riverview to lock 29. About 7.5 miles of snowy running. It was only the gazelles and me that decided to show so I did my best to keep up. At one point we started talking about all the conversations that occurred that morning with spouses before leaving the houses. Lets see. Wife says "I can't believe your going out for a run, is it still snowing?"... reply "I don't know I can't see out the window", spouse "why can't you see?" reply "I don't know everything is white". etc.

So, I had fallen about 20 yards behind by the time we reached the restrooms at Bolanz so I took the opportunity to get a head start while some of them stopped. Imagine my surprise when it took them 2 miles to catch me. I think the closing speed was hampered by the snow. We spent most of the time trying to run in the tracks of cars. At one point Mike laughed. He said he thought he was on the left side of the road and then realized a sign was only a couple feet from his right. It was so bad we couldn't even tell where the road was in some of the whiteouts. Imagine my surprise when I realize that we had averaged an 8:50 mile for the 7+ miles. I guess this is what I've been wanting to do (run faster) but in the conditions even I couldn't believe the Garmin.

When we got back to the parking lot the later group that runs with Mark Godale etc were in the lot. They were trying to push an older lady out of the snow who had no idea how to drive. She had gotten to close to the edge of the drive in the lock 29 parking lot and gotten stuck. So 8 runners later and a little push she was out of the snow. Needless to say she almost managed to get stuck again driving out of the lot.

So it turns out in a little over an hour we had 2-3 inches of snow on our cars.

So I cleaned off the car, headed home, and then spent an hour outside with the kids building an igloo and doing some sledding. Then we had the pleasure of driving to and from downtown Cleveland to see Wicked. There was so much snow my car ended up snowed in at the in laws. I got dropped of by the 4 wheel drive blazer with the kids and then my wife headed to Akron for work (hospital needs it's nurses).

Hope everyone has fun running tomorrow. I swear there is so much snow the swings on my kids swing set are gone. Must be at least 2- 2 1/2 feet.

The dream is over

2008-03-05T20:14:00.001-08:00

Well at least for this week... I'm at the airport and will head back to Cleveland in another 4 hours. I'll see all my friends agian for the snow and cold run on Saturday morning. I hear we may have another foot of snow. The good news is I get to head to San Diego next Saturday with the family and parents for spring break.

Life Doesn't Suck

2008-03-04T17:26:00.000-08:00

Saturday afternoon I called a good friend and was telling her about my experience and how disappointed I was. The response that came back was slightly unexpected but exactly what I needed. She said, you leave the snow of Ohio, fly to Napa and run 18 miles in the best weather and scenery available. Life doesn't suck. Enjoy it. Soooo who am I to disagree. I called my friend, took a shower, and headed out. By 2:00 I was sitting at Artesa Vineyard drinking wine. My friend is even a friend of the family so we get free tastings in their VIP room which include some wines that run over $100 a bottle. Then we get a 25% discount on any wine we buy. So here I am. As you can see I wasn't in any mood to enjoy myself.

The view was as good as the wine.

Well I was really down on my self at this point :) so we had to go and continue to drown my sorrow. Next was Nicholson Ranch were I witnessed a really cool thing. I watch one of the guys there saber a champagne bottle. He took the saber and just cut off the top of the bottle. The pressure inside the bottle propels any glass shards outward and then we all enjoy some beverages.

So I sent some emails and messages in a drunken state and then hit the sheets. I spent Monday working and ended my day in Santa Cruz. I have done some really nice trail running down there and decided that I needed to remember why I love running. I headed out of my hotel and ran the 1-1/2 miles to the trail head and then took a two mile loop to the overlook. I accidentally took a wrong turn and ended up running right into a homeless camp in the woods which was kinda strange. Imagine running along the buckeye trail with your iPod jamming to the music when all of a sudden you turn the corner and there is a naked man standing outside a tent surrounded by all kinds of garbage from living in the woods for what looked like a long time. Well I looked at the guy, said good morning sir, and headed back to where I had taken the wrong turn on the trail. Here is the good news.. my splits for the 5 mile run.

8:35

8:45

18:00 (stopped to enjoy the view and meditate for a moment. This is why I took the run. a good 5 minutes of just standing on the top of an overlook above redwoods. Oh and this mile was a bit long because of the 651foot elevation change to the top of the hill.

Mile 4 - 8:01

Mile 5 - 6:58

So I really turned it on the last mile back to the hotel and pushed it. I can't believe I had this much in my tank after my run Sunday but it felt great. Later today I stopped by a Lamborghini dealership and realized that running fast makes me feel like this.

Well now I'm exaggerating as most of the people reading this blog are faster then me but I'm looking forward to many more sub 7 minute training miles.

Now I'm back in Napa and it's time to head out for dinner and drinks again. I'll be back in time for a nice run on Saturday. My conclusions are two fold. I love to run for two distinctly different reasons.

1. Friendship. The people I have met through running have had a distinct influence on my life and I would not like it any other way. If I'm bringing up the back of the pack and supporting another runner I can walk the hills, and keep a pace much slower then I would ever be comfortable keeping on my own.

2. The rush. What I felt while pushing the pace today and running a pace that is just a little uncomfortable. Every runner knows this point.

3. The experiences. I would include the place I get to go and see that I would never know if I didn't get off the couch out of the car and out on the paths of this great country.

Oh and the swag from the Napa marathon is by far the best stuff I have ever gotten. Great embroidered gym bag, shirt, etc..

Napa

2008-03-02T12:35:00.000-08:00

Well I believe I posted a blog about 4 months ago in which I swore that I had learned my lesson and I would spend this year running short races and half marathons. Well I sit here now in my hotel room after flying to Napa to run the Napa Marathon this morning with Greg Dykes and Missy. Now here comes the part everyone is waiting for... I for some reason do not have the ability to run slower then a 10 minute mile during any race. I don't know why but it is my conclusion. I started running with Greg and Missy and after a couple miles I realized we were running pretty quick... 9:45-9-50 pace on rolling hills. There were no clocks at the mile markers and I had told myself that I would ignore my garmine and just run by feel. Well here goes the next one... the pace felt fine. I know from experience that I can not run a 4:15 marathon and yet I ran the first half like I was going to. I wish Greg had got the picture of me leaning over the guard rail just after the half way point loosing 10 miles worth of water/head/and pure fuel bars.
I must be the dumbest most hard headed person on the planet. In my first year of running I attempted 4 marathons, a 50k, a half marathon, and a 4 mile race. The 4 mile race was the best of my life, I had a great time at the half marathon, and I dnf'd 3 of the 5 attempts at distances greater than that (yes include today). Greg was nice enough to run with me to the next water stop after I finished vomiting and started running again (yes a sub 10 mile pace). I downed water, Gatorade, and a banana and headed off at a 10 minute mile pace again. Well at this point I made it about 1/2 a mile before I was once again fertilizing the grape vines... oh by the way the next time you have a bottle of cakebread wine (if ever) Greg left a little liquid fertilizer on the vines for you.
So Greg and Missy finish her first marathon in 4:22 (clock time there were no chips) and did great. I put in my 17-18 miles just like Richmond until I cramped up and couldn't walk.
So my choices are train my ass off until I can run a 4:10-4:15 marathon before trying again or embrace running halves. I'm signing up for the Cleveland half. The nice thing will be I can run one every week and won't have to go through so much with tapers etc.

Anyway I don't know what's harder pulling yourself from a race or having to explain it to everyone else afterword. I think quiting is harder for me but I put my self through the ringer at my first two marathons and it just isn't worth chancing physical harm to myself. Pain is temporary but physical damage is long lasting.

I'm going to take a shower now and wash the salt off. I have so much salt that my face has a white tint to it and my legs are cramping pretty bad.

Brian, I'll pace you at the Cleveland Marathon if you want for the first half... I'll be happy with a 1:45-1:55 finish. It should line up with your target goal for the full.

I'll post pictures later after I have a couple bottles of wine to drown my disappointment in myself. Even my 7 year old gives me a hard time and asks me why I try to run a marathon when I can't.

Tagged and ready

2008-02-28T16:44:00.000-08:00

Well I was tagged a couple of days ago by Brian and I figure now that I'm on the last days of my taper and driving everyone nuts I'd do my duty. The rules were as follow:

The rules are as follows:

# Link to the person who tagged you

# Post the rules on your blog.

# Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.

# Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.

# Leave a comment on their blogs so that they know they have been tagged.

Well I will do all but the last two as I don't like forwarding on these things. If you are reading this and feel so inclined consider yourself tagged.

The fun random weird facts...

1. I married my high school sweetheart. She was the first serious girlfriend I ever had and we started dating when we were 16. We are now 32 and will celebrate our 10 year anniversary in less then three months. We never have been in a serious fight and I couldn't see it any other way.

2. I am one of 4 children and each of my siblings is now married and either have two kids or will have two kids within a few months. So my parents will soon have 8 grand kids. Family is everything to me. Every direct relative I have from second cousin all the way through great grandmothers currently living are within a 40 minute drive of my current home and we get together often. When I designed our current house I made sure that we could accommodate everyone without having to separate into different rooms. So the entire first floor of my home is open spaces.

3. The first time I was ever on a plane in my life was for my honeymoon and we went to Mexico. I now fly at least once a month and in the past two years have been to Europe, Taiwan, China, Japan, Hong Kong, and most every major city on the west cost on multiple occasion's.

4. I never participated in any organized sporting activity from the time I completed T-ball until I ran the 4 mile race for the parks in Hudson (note the time below 38:01 not bad for the first race ever but don't pay attention to the sweatshirt/pants in the 70 degree weather). I have never been athletic and my first time ever to work out in a gym was at the age of 27.

5. When I was married I weighed over 250lbs.

6. I play paintball with worldclass players (yes their are nationals) and this is the reason I began getting in shape. I started running because I couldn't run 50 yards to a bunker without being so winded that I couldn't catch my breath and shoot straight for a minute. So now my running friends don't understand me leaving after running 15 miles to go play paintball and my paintball friends can't understand my running. I'm just misunderstood (some of you have experience me changing gear at the Boston store to go directly from one sport to the other.

7. My father as well as every sibling I have owns and rides at least one motorcycle (some have 3-4). My current ride is a Harley Davidson Sportster. Makes it hard for me to get in riding time with the two kids and wife.

8. Sorry only 7 for today... Oh did I tell you I had a third nipple... damn I wish I had something cool like that to tell you.

First Class it must be a sign

2008-02-25T16:35:00.000-08:00

So as I'm sitting at the dinner table today waiting for the slow picky kids to finish eating I check my email on the BB. I see an email from Continental Airlines telling me that I have recieved my complimentary upgrade to first class for my trip to SFO on Saturday night. In case you haven't heard my babbling lately I'm running the Napa Marathon on Sunday morning. My crazy schedule has me arriving in SFO at 8:01 PM... I figure I will get to my hotel in Napa after clearing the airport with the rental car by around 9:30PM. I've been worried about sleep as I have to be at the finish line at 5:00am to sign in and catch a bus to the starting line. I was worried about the 6-1/2 hours of sleep the night before a marathon with trying to catch extra sleep on the 5 hour flight. Well now I'm chilling in first class so the sleep on the way out shouldn't be a problem. Now if the Hilton gives me my normal upgraded room with the jacuzzi tub in Napa I will know that it is a sign. Called in the locals today and the weather should be a low of 48 at the start with a finish temp of around 55-58 degrees and sunny. Oh and did I mention that the marathon is small rolling hills (can't even call them that) for the first 10 miles and then 300 feet downhill from mile 16 to the finish. Seems like the perfect setup for a PR. To bad I don't plan to push it to much. Trying to enjoy the journey this time you know.

Maybe I'll have to grab the convertible sportscar when I choose the rental. Go first class all the way.

Good luck to Greg, Missy, and the other local runners that will be joining me in Napa. Hope to see you during the journey. Hopefully not passing my ass on the side of the course :)

Oh and I got tagged by Mr. Skin but don't have time to take care of it yet... maybe with a race report.

Let's Dance

2008-02-19T08:47:00.000-08:00

Well if you thought I was going to be dancing your wrong. After my 16 mile run on Saturday I had to promptly jump in a car and head to Youngstown State. My daughter was in her first competitive dance competition with the team she is on. It's amazing how these things go. Costumes, make-up, hair, rehearsal, and now starts 4 competitions in 5 weeks with the culminating event being a national competition (pending qualification). So low and behold my daughters group takes 1st place in thier age group for Jazz competition and 2nd for thier age group in overall (they lost to the Tap group from the same studio). I guess that means they qualified for nationals in thier first competition. Much better then I did in my first race.

So I guess 10 hours a week at the dance studio and more money then I would ever like to admit to later she tells me it's all worth it. So does this look like my little 7 year old?

Let the Taper Begin

2008-02-17T13:05:00.001-08:00

Well I got in my 16 miles yesterday with a pretty varied group again. Started with the early group and ran with some new people I had not met before. For a little while it was like running with Kurt again. One of the guys was training for a 100 miler so he would run ahead or drop back to go check out nature and then all of a sudden would be back with me. The pace was far to fast for the first 7-8 miles at around a 9 minute mile but then I got up to Jes who had started the second loop a little early to get a lead. I slowed up and started to run with her as we have a lot in common and neither of us wanted to continue running as fast as we were. So the last 7-8 miles was mostly just the two of us and random groups who would catch up and pass us. The last 2-3 miles was pretty rough. I went out to fast and as I was starting my taper I didn't want to push things.

So three straight weeks of 40+ miles and 2 weeks from now I should be sitting in Napa after finishing my third Marathon.

Have a Nice Day

2008-02-11T07:28:00.001-08:00

You ever have one of those days when you wish you had this (read the barrel)?

Now I know why they make running shorts so small, so this won't fit in your pocket.

44 mile week

2008-02-10T17:34:00.000-08:00

Well I'm three weeks out from my next run so I figured it was time for the 20. I headed to the VR group on Saturday morning and got there for the 6:30 start. There was a misunderstanding and Melisa and I thought everyone else was doing an 8 mile loop (we didn't want to try that in under 60 minutes) so we broke off and did a 5 mile out and back on Riverview.
We met back with the group at 7:30 and there were a ton of people. Everyone seems to be showing these days except for Chef Bill. When the run started everyone seemed to take off like rockets and I was stuck in between the slowest in the group and the middle of the road runners. I had thought about keeping around an 11 minute pace but after running with Trainer Nick for a while he dropped back to check on the slower runners and I decided to try and pull in some of the group in front of me.
I managed to run down Brian’s group and Sherri's group as we crossed over 303 towards major road and thanked them for waiting up. I stuck with Brian and his friend for the rest of the run back into Peninsula. We then turned and headed back out on Akron-Peninsula road for a little extra. We started getting passed by some of the other VR group heading back towards downtown and when I saw Melissa I headed back with her. Total run was 15.27 miles at an average pace of 10:05.
After talking for a while everyone was getting ready to leave and DaisyDuc came running in after the end of her 19 with her friend that is running Boston with her. Well hell I was supposed to do 20 today so why didn't I? So I asked if anyone was up for another couple miles but it seemed everyone was already in the mode of going home. So I sucked it up and headed back out on the towpath to get in another few miles. Once I got going it was like I had just started. I don't know what it was but it almost felt like I had just finished a little warm-up run and was just ready to go. So I dropped the pace to around a 9:30 and got in a 2.5 mile run out away from the towpath. I then stopped to give a lady some feedback about the condition of the towpath for a couple of minutes before heading back. Well I started feeling pretty tired about 3/4 of a mile from the parking lot when a woman ran up behind me and asked if I was okay as she passed. I guess this gave me a little boost (might be ego) and I started keeping pace with her. I asked her if she minded me trying to keep up with her for the next 1/2 mile or so until I reached the parking lot and ended my run. She smiled and didn't mind at all. Turns out she is also training for her first Boston and was getting in 16. So I managed to hang until we were almost back to the parking lot.
Long story short it was the best 20 miles of my life. No stomach issues, no "burnout Brett" just friends and conversations. Now If I can just put them all together in three weeks for a nice slow 26.2 mile training run through Napa Valley.

Fat Tuesday and Rain

2008-02-06T08:17:00.000-08:00

So in celebration of Fat Tuesday I guess the Panczkis were not enough so I put on my baking hat with the kids and went into mess mode. By the time we were completed we had made three very nice King Cakes on Monday night to be shared with all on Tuesday.

My daughter took one into school to share with her class and I took one into work to be included in the Fat Tuesday celebration along with the Paczkis.

Although there are only around 22 people in our office the 16 Paczkis and the King Cake were destroyed quickly. So we all headed out to Five Guys for the best burgers and fries I've had in a long time. When you order fries at this place they just put the burger wrapped in foil in the bottom of a paper bag and then fill it up with fresh cut fries. So after my day of no exercise and 4k calories I realized that I would be giving up ice cream and candy through Easter so I celebrated the Cavs win with a Root beer float and then some candy to wash it down with. I figure I'd be conservatives if I said I ate 5k calories yesterday.

So thinking I would go for a run today I ran into this...

The river is a good 6 feet higher then normal at this location and is almost reaching the train tracks. No running, the park service had closed the towpath due to flooding and I actually had to drive through a pretty good stream to get to work. So with more rain on the way today I don't think there will be any fun trail running for the next couple of days.

Lonely Sunday Morning

2008-02-03T12:14:00.001-08:00

I tried to call in some friends to join me for what was to be an 18 mile run today. Well it seemed everyone was busy, tired from a 50k, or running on Saturday. So I headed to Lock 29 today hoping someone would read my post and head on down. 7:30 past and as it got to be around 7:45 I realized I was not going to have any company. I had spent 15 minutes hoping someone would just happen to stop buy and I could have company for a little bit of my run. Hell I even thought about heading home but then realized I had forced myself out for a reason. So I stocked up on water, gels, and Pure Fuel bars and headed out with my iPod (luckily I had this in the car). Nick had given me the low down on the towpath being an ice ring so I headed out on the roads.
I started feeling the need for a bathroom break and turned up by Brandywine ski resort to run by the restroom there on the towpath. After my stop I headed up to the towpath and just at the entrance to the carriage trail ran into some runners I knew. I ended up turning around as it seems the trail was pretty icy up there and spent the next 3 miles running with them. When we got near the trail for Brandywine falls I left them and headed up to do the loop. Well once again I did the river crossing and was happy I was alone. I don't think I could have convinced anyone accept perhaps Vince and Melissa to head over the river with me. There was so much ice you couldn't even make out where the stones were accept for the water running under your feet.

I started turning and running all over the area. Up to the bike and hike, down Boston Mills to the Buckeye Trail, then took the trail to Pine lane and back to lock 29. I can tell everyone one thing, just be happy the BK50K was last weekend. The trail was so bad that I kept slipping on all the down hills even though I was walking. I was afraid at one point I would go over the side of the cliff. My abs still hurt from tightening them up and throwing my feet under me to try and prevent falls.

In the end I got in all but a little of the 18 miles and felt great that I had the mental fortitude to go it alone (well accept for those 3 miles in the middle). The best part is that I kept it to an 11 minute mile most of the time and feel great now. I have hit my first 40 mile week in a couple months and I could have easily put in 20 or even 26.2 today.

Next week I get to hit my 20+ on Saturday so I should have plenty of company. I figure I'll start out at 6:30 and get in 5-6 miles before the group, then do the 10-12 with the group and then just tack on the rest at the end. Then comes taper time. My airfare, rental car, hotels, and even the wine are all planned for my Napa Marathon. Four weeks from now I'll be sitting in Napa after finishing relaxing and drinking some great wine.

Getting ready for Fat Tuesday

2008-02-01T07:17:00.000-08:00

Well it seems I was diagnosed as one of those people who run just so that they can eat. Well with this in mind, when I returned to my sences after nearly two weeks of traveling around the world I realized next week begins Lent. Well that means that February 5th is Fat Tuesday. One of my favorite days of the year. So I picked up the phone and submitted my order to Babushka's for Paczkis (the best I've ever eaten). If you have never been to Babushka's and are a fan of Polish food you should find this little hole in the wall right in downtown Northfield Ohio http://www.babushkafoods.com/ (across from St. Barnabas)

For those of you who like a little history many eastern european communities refer to "Fat" Tuesday as Paczki (poonch-key) day.

"Fat" Tuesday signals the beginning of Lent, a holy season among Christians. Church rules dictated that no sweets and very few meats or fried foods be consumed during Lent. The frying medium of choice during those times was lard -- bacon drippings, meat drippings, etc. Since meat or meat products can't be consumed during Lent, it was tradition to use up as much of those fats as possible the week or two before Lent. ergo, "Fat" Tuesday! And thus the PACZKI tradition was born. A sweet, tender donut fried golden brown and filled with wonderful jellies made the day worth waiting for.

So I'll pick up a dozen of the Paczkis to share at work and while I'm there grab some homemade pierogis and a dozen Kolachky for desert. They also just added handmade fresh kielbasa to their menu which should round out posibly the worst foods you could ever put into your body if you have any heart problems.

I was being mocked today by people teasing me saying that I would have to spend this weekend praying to make it to next without a heart attack. Well if nothing else I should have plenty of calories stored up to make it through the 20 miler next Saturday.

When in Denver do as they do

2008-01-29T15:27:00.001-08:00

So after traveling to Taiwan all last week I came home in time to have a nice relaxing 13-14 mile run on Sunday, spend time with the family, and then fly out to Denver yesterday. So the question is when in Denver do as the locals do right? So I hit THE ORIGINAL CHIPOTLE. It was the trip to mecca that every true Chipotle lover must make in their life correct. In case anyone is interested here is where it all started.

This is why I run... 2+lb 2000+calorie burritos made from the best of ingrediants.

Most difficult blog ever

2008-01-23T21:12:00.001-08:00

So it has taken me a few minutes to figure out how to log in and begin writing this blog. I guess the website tracks the IP address accessing the site and immediately identified me as being in Taiwan. So to be nice they then change all of the text to Chinese.. I was going to post an image but I can't upload pdf files. Imagine looking at this site but all the English on the toolbars is in Chinese characters.

So I woke up this morning, looked out my window, and decided it was a good time for a run. There is this really nice park across the street from the hotel that made a really nice 7k today.

It looked so nice until you began breathing heavy (smog) and then imagine as you run around this nice park you have this view off to the side.

So after a nice run I went to the gym at the hotel and decided to do some weight lifting. Someone thought this would be a nice picture so here I am in my sweaty VR tech tee lifting weights in Taiwan. If you look at the sign on the door you can see they nicely use English and Chinese so us Americans can actually find the gym.

Note I' wasn't really sure how heavy anything was at first because everything is in metric. Anyway I lifted some weights, did my push ups and abs and then showered and I'm at the office now getting ready to do some work. I catch a flight tonight to San Francisco and with any luck I will be able to have a run Thursday morning in Taiwan followed by a run Thursday evening in California. How crazy is that? It is only an 11 hour flight to SFO from Taiwan and with a 14 hour time difference I land there three hours before I left. Confusing?

Taiwan

2008-01-22T19:44:00.000-08:00

So here's how my Monday/Tuesday was spent. Spent the morning with the family and then stopped by work on my way to the gym. I'm not going to be able to do much running this week so I jumped on the treadmill and 2:02 later I had finished my first official 1/2 marathon on a treadmill. Quick shower and it was off to the airport for my 5:20 flight. This is where the fun begins. Five hours later I hit LAX airport for a 4 hour layover. I had to change terminals and check in for my international flight which actually took the better part of 2 hours. It seems everyone is headed back to Asia for the Chinese New Year so the lines were ridiculous. Well then comes the 15+ hour flight to Taiwan (it was delayed by 30 minutes to add even that much more time). So after customs and a ride through the city I was in my hotel just over 25 hours after leaving Cleveland. I had 2 hours to shower, change, and call the family before getting picked up to come over to our factory where I sit now after morning meetings getting ready for lunch.
Lunches here are always interesting. I eat in the factory cafeteria. If you have a weak stomach you should just pass on even walking into the place. Most of the food is unrecognizable at best. I tend to just grab some of everything in an adventurous way and hope it doesn't kill me (it hasn't yet).
I'm going to go for a run in the morning in this cool park across the street from my hotel so I'll have some cool pictures I hope. Tomorrow after spending 41 hours in Taiwan I will catch a plane back to CA. Luckily the return flight to SFO is only 11 hours and I am spending the night and Friday morning in CA for a meeting. This should help with jet lag and get me back in the spin of things by Saturday. Man I wish I could run the Buckeye 50k Saturday but everyone will just have to have fun without me.
Till I'm back on the same side of the planet, have fun.

Cold

2008-01-20T11:12:00.000-08:00

So what do you do when you wake up and it's 4 degrees outside? Well if your name is Vince you go to the Nat to run on the track. Otherwise you head down to the Gorge to run. There was a small group of 6 running this morning (me taking the picture and Ryan was still getting out of his car). Notice the lack of a face on the guy in between Bob and Bill. That isn't photoshop (did I say it was cold). We all stayed in a group together for the first loop up through the cave and along the falls.

The river had frozen solid although the falls were roaring. It's funny how cold I felt but only on my left side just around my hip. So I look to see what is going on and the top of my water bottle had cracked and my shirt is frozen. Not like cold frozen but like a solid piece of inflexible ice and my pants were pretty close to the same. So what is there to do but speed up.

After about 3 miles Bob had managed to get us all down to a 9:30 pace on the iced over trails. So Bill, Ryan and I slowed down and formed the rear pack. We would only run into the other pack once in the next 5 miles of running. We ended up running the signal tree loop (my first time) and then we crossed over the road and ran along the river for a total of 9 miles. I should have gotten in more but did I mention it was cold?

Bill started reaching for my hat laughing (him and Ryan had white frozen beards) and it turns out I had a nice sized icicle hanging just below my ear on my hat. When I got back in the car I grabbed my camera and took a picture. Ignore the funny looking guy in the picture but look at my left ear (right side for those of you looking at the picture). I zoomed in so you could see what was left after Bill broke off the rest of my icicle. Did I mention it was cold.

What is in a name

2008-01-18T18:15:00.000-08:00

I collapsed in bed last night and woke up 10 hours later refreshed and ready to go. So I spent the morning trying to get through the pile on my desk and of course partaking in the weekly Friday ritual of Penera's Bagels. So to get a little extra in I headed to the gym in time to get a 2 mile warm up on the treadmill before my yoga class. As I was early I got to see the lunchtime crew arrive at the gym one at a time and say hello to each. It hit me that I really don't know the names of half the people I see there on a given day. Those of us that have become friends have taken to naming the other less social visitors to the gym. There is Mr. Shoulders, Nikki (think of the Prince Song), Nut Cracker, Best in Show, Mr. Personality, Lil big man, Ego lifter, and a few others that I care not mention. I ran into best in show out with my wife one day and I was very embarrassed when she called me by name and said hello. You know the introduction that goes like this. Honey this is hmmm hmm from the gym. Followed by hmmm hmm this is my wife. I damn near introduced her as best in show but luckily for once my mind was faster than my mouth.

Anyway time to put the kids to bed and start making sure all my clothes are clean for my travels the next couple weeks. Taiwan next week followed by Denver and Salt Lake City the following week. Luckily it has worked out so I will be home next weekend in between the trips. I'm going to hit the streets of Taipei for a run. I think I'll try to get a picture of my in a VR tank top on the streets of Taiwan.

Finding the Limit

2008-01-17T12:24:00.000-08:00

I have found now that the way I am dealing with stress is to take it out on my body by running and exercise. I seem to be able to clear my mind while participating in these activities and focus my energy in a more positive way.
This week was our annual performance reviews and bonuses as well as the week after I signed up for my first race of 2008. I also had a two root canals schedule for first thing in the morning Monday so I had to take the morning off work. This brings me to the beginning of my week.
So I hit the dentist office Monday morning, put on my iPod and the needles, numbness, and drilling begins. 1-1/2 hour later I can't feel half my face and I have two more dead teeth in my mouth fitted with very nice color matching crowns. As it is only 9:30am and I have taken the whole morning off work I figured why not head to the gym. So I put in almost 6 miles on the treadmill and then decide that as it is supposed to be my cross training day I will join the spinning class. Note to self added blood flow caused by increasing your heart rate causes numbness to go away very fast and leads to pain. By the time I was done I had a full two hours in at the gym and had to pop 4 Advil to take the edge off the pain (Note that I never take medications as a norm. I even had to find someone in the office to dispense these meds).
Onto Tuesday and review day. We had our "state of the union address" in the morning as a company and then everyone broke down into their departments for individual review. I found out mine would not be until the afternoon so I was once again off to the gym. I put in three miles on the treadmill and then headed for a bootcamp class followed by some lifting. So another two hour day at the gym and back to work for the surprising good news. The review went much better then I expected.
Wednesday was to be a more relaxed day until I was informed that I would be leaving next Monday for Taiwan. The stress level hit the roof at this point. I already have a business trip planned in two weeks and now I get to spend next week in Taiwan. How the hell am I supposed to train and when will I see the family. To heck with this I'm heading to the gym. So 8 miles later on the treadmill at faster then normal pace (at one point the guy behind me moved because he thought I might come off the back). Then to the normal pull ups, push ups and abs. Third day this week that I completed two hours worth of working out. I headed home but was so slammed with work that I honestly think I spent about 1 hour with my family the entire evening. After some calls to CA and to Taiwan I finally crawl into bed at 2:00am.
Today the alarm goes off and I don't move. I finally get ready for another day and get the kids dressed. My wife arrived home at around 7:50 and I was off to drop my son by daycare and head to work. By 11:00 I was feeling really slow so I grab a triple espresso and add a packet of hot chocolate mix. I'm pretty sensitive to caffeine and this gets me moving quick. By 12:00 I'm at the gym and take a gu with caffeine of course to keep my energy level up. I hop on the treadmill, slam the iPod onto full volume and hit the angry music that gets my heart going. I have a huge burst of energy from the caffeine and get the treadmill up to about a 7:30 pace. Then it happened.
At about 2.5 miles I started feeling the cold chills go through my body and then a little light headed. It almost seemed like dehydration but that wasn't it. Then I looked down at the display and the numbers looked a little fuzzy with black dots. My first thought was that I had sweated onto the display and I tried to wipe it away with the towel. And then it all came together and I shut it down. Lets see, 2+ hours of strenuous exercise a day followed by stress and a night of 5 hours of sleep and then a caffeinated run at high speed without enough food to sustain it. I had hit the limit. I know that I can be pretty hard on myself some times but what the hell was I thinking. So I've headed back to the office for a good lunch and some relaxing time. Close my office door, set the phone to do not disturb, close the blinds and turn on some relaxing music. I'll get home tonight and institute a mandatory bed time and then tomorrow I'll evaluate things and enjoy my Yoga class.
I guess we all have our limits.

CES 2008

2008-01-10T18:13:00.000-08:00

Well I missed out on running but it was worth it. Every year I head to Vegas the second week of January to attend the largest toy show in the world, The Consumer Electronics Show. This year I flew out the Saturday before the show with my wife so we could have the weekend to enjoy before my meetings started on Monday. Well to make a long story short the dice and tables were good to me and both Lesa and I came home with pockets a little heavier. I even won money on the Ohio State game which was difficult being a OSU fan. So if anyone is wondering what I call the worlds largest toy store here are some examples

108" LCD TV

52" LCD TV. This TV is only 1 inch thick.

Bumblebee from the Transformers Movie. It had to be 50' tall

Cool custom motorcycle. I wanted to take this for a spin

Custom car with crazy stereo and electronics

Chrysler 300S with Lambo doors up front and suicide doors in the rear. Cool custom work.

Great Song

2008-01-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

I was our for a run a little while ago and a song that I did not remember came on my mp3 player. I had downloaded some new music for the Richmond Marathon a few months ago and grabbed a list of songs to run to. Apparently on the list was a song called "I Run for Life" by Melissa Etheridge. I was about 8 miles into my run when this song came on and was just hitting the comfortable part for me (from around 6 miles to around 10 miles during a run). Well all I can say is that I replayed this song about 5 times each time listening to the words and I completely lost track of my running. I am a person that can just zone out like this (my wife says I do it while watching the TV if she is trying to talk to me). If you haven't had the chance to listen to it go ahead and do it. It is a song she sang after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

I Run For Life

Wow times have changed

2007-12-25T18:14:00.001-08:00

Another Christmas in the books here for the Shriver family and I sit at my desk surrounded by electronics. Most of you know I'm a tech geek at heart (and you thought I was a runner). Well as a family I can tell you the four of us scored 3 MP3 players, 3 digital cameras, portable 250gig hard drive, noise canceling headphones, a printer, and numerous other electronic toys, DVDs, CDs, etc. And if my son was older than 2 I am guessing we would have added even more. I can't even imagine the money that has gone into this stake and I am just now beginning to realize the work I have this week. Good thing I have the whole week off. Tomorrow I start with my daughters computer by installing all the software and devices just to try and explain to a 7 year old how to download pictures, music etc to the correct devices. Something tells me she will pick it up quick.

Anyway what a crazy day and age I am living in and bringing up my kids in. It reminds me of Saturday when I was at Toys R Us watching an older gentleman try to buy his grandson a model. Believe it or not they no longer sell models of any type. You know the plastic pieces you had to break off of the sheets they were molded in and then glue them together just the way the instructions indicated with the model glue. Then bust out the paints and get your car/plane looking just like the real thing. He looked so dejected when they told him they didn't have models. He looked at the guy and asked where the M3p players were. I miss models. My new plan this year is to bust out an Estes Model Rocket catalog, order one, and then assemble it and launch it into the sky with my kids. Just to hope the parachute ejects and the poor thing doesn't get stuck in a tree or drift off never to be seen again. What fun it was.

Well I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I am still stunned that with all the gifts I got I can honestly say I only received one shirt and one pair of smart wool socks. What happened to all the cool clothes I used to be able to sport for a month after Christmas? Looks like I have to go shopping.

Holiday Shut Down

2007-12-23T06:23:00.000-08:00

So I have shut down the running department for 5 full days now. My last run was on Tuesday and my body is just now getting over the soreness which I was experiencing every morning. The only thing I still felt getting out of bed this morning is a sore shin from slamming it into a rock while slipping and sliding into the river during our winter Brandywine Falls loop. I had committed to run this morning with the Sunday group but after a late night Christmas Party last night I stayed in bed a little longer and I am spending this morning with the family instead (well aside from this little post). SO I will start my 2nd running season just as I did with the first. Tomorrow morning with the VR Christmas Eve Morning run. I'll be there with my Santa Hat on ready to go.

Oh and I had some time for my year in review. Not bad for my first year. I hope next year I can enjoy them a little more. Less stress and more speed.

Close but no cigar

2007-12-12T16:32:00.000-08:00

So my 50/50 turned into 100% chance of going to Taiwan. Tickets were even purchased and then the meetings were divided. Next thing you know someone else is taking care of Taiwan and I'm traveling with my crew to sunny California for my meetings. So Monday I leave for Silicon Valley again but I'll be headed back on the red eye Wednesday in time for the weekend runs. For some reason though my wife didn't seem as happy as I thought she would be. But for her it just means the same thing... watching the kids while I'm gone. Just now I get to enjoy the trip a little more. Maybe I'll find another nice park to run in.

50/50

2007-12-10T17:11:00.000-08:00

Well I got an email just now and it looks like I may be headed back to Taiwan in a week. Luckily for me (at least my wife said) it will only be for a day and I'll be back by the 22nd. If you ever thought traveling was fun just imagine 22 hours on planes and airports, then spend 27 hours in Taiwan just to fly right back another 23 hours to come home. The only thing that I can be happy about this trip is no street vendors with Stinky Tofu. Just a day of meetings at the factory with a couple of meals at the dormitory. The sales guys there even run out and get McDonald's for me at breakfast time. I never eat it here so I find it funny that they think every American would love McDonald's over their cuisine. Believe it or not I actually enjoy much of the food. Well except for the century eggs I had their last time. Black rubbery eggs that taste much worse then they look. Well I find out for sure tomorrow if I book tickets. So much for the training runs. Hard to get in 6 miles on a plane. Something tells me if I tried I would end up under arrest.

The Forest of Nisene Marks Photos

2007-12-07T18:09:00.001-08:00

Just South of Santa Cruz CA.

The road into the park
Ready to hit the trail

Check out the size of the stumps behind me. These Trees had been timbered perhaps 100 years ago.

I had to keep stopping just to get pictures.
You can see how often this trail was used but then I looked to my right.

The pictures don't do it justice.

Almost done with the run... I could just stand in this tree. It was rotted out pretty good through the years and is black inside from what looks to be the result of a fire. Still hundreds of feet tall though.

My last memory of Nisene Marks. This little bugger was attached to me something fierce. He had buried his little head in pretty good and it took about 20 seconds of gently pulling before the little guy backed out and let go. As he was nice enought to let go I figured I'd let him go as well.

Nisene Marks State Park

2007-12-05T20:41:00.000-08:00

Most of you know that I travel continuously for work. Recently I have realized the potential that I am presented with that has gone untapped at this point. Other runners who are pilots etc have been posting for some time about the runs they are able to take during their travels and now I have been placing my hotels based on running as much as customers/airports etc.

I found out on Friday that I would have to fly to San Jose Tuesday for a Wednesday meeting and booked the flights. When I found out on Monday that my meeting would not be until 2:00PM today it left me an entire morning. So after a call to my local area sales rep I booked a hotel in Santa Cruz rather than San Jose (and saved the company $100). So I woke up this morning jumped in my rental car and headed for the Nisene Marks State Park in Aptos CA (just south of Santa Cruz). The land is home to many great Sequoia’s and that were timbered by the Marks family during the 1800’s and even into the early 1900’s. This practice was then stopped sometime early in the 1900’s and the land was donated to the California Park system to be named after Nisene Marks. This was my first experience of my life with hiking/running around trees up to 10’ in diameter. It really makes you feel pretty tiny in this world.

Let me first state a realization that came to my mine approx 5.5 miles into my run. I owe a debt to the last 11 months of running and training that I have done. If it weren’t for the last 11 months I would have missed out on one of the most beautiful sights of my life (I can say this as a world traveler who has seen plenty). If you want to truly experience the beauty of life and the world around you, get out and experience it. You can’t take it in from looking out the windows of your car (as my trip into the park began). You must get off your ass and go look for it. After 5.5 miles and 1500 vertical feet (total elevation change up and down for the 11 mile round trip was over 9000 feet). I will insert a picture when I am able to download them although I'm sure the picture will not come close to what went through my mind while enjoying this view. It may also have been partly due to exhaustion from the journey but all the same, I got to experience it.

I got back to the hotel in time to decompress, shower, and head out to my meeting. So as I took a shower and washed the dirt from my legs I noticed what looked to be a scab on my leg but when I ran my hand over it something wasn’t right. Upon further examination I noticed little legs and a body, which resembled a spider. Wow I thought this is the first time I have ever had a tick on me. So I figured I’d just flick it off. Well that wasn’t successful. Turns out the little bugger had dug it’s head into my skin already and was snacking away. Well, how to get it off. I called my Dad first no answer, then Vince he should know right, no answer. Finally Bill answers his phone but it seems he has never had one dug in this deep and he was able to just flick them off. Hmmm onto the Internet. In two minutes I was an expert on how to remove ticks safely. And here goes. Grasp the little bugger as close to the head as possible using tweezers (my fingers would have to do) and slowly pull straight away from your body. Pull until you can see the skin pulling up and then hold pressure until the tick backs out. It turns out they have a survival reaction as well and prior to letting their head pop off their body they will back out and give up. After about 20 seconds off it comes. I even have a picture of the cute little bugger.

Well this was a morning full of learning. Onto Hermosa beach for Wednesday.

Two a days

2007-11-30T11:23:00.000-08:00

Wow two posts in a single day for me. I put in a couple miles yesterday on the treadmill and after about 1/2 mile the outside of my left hip started bothering me. I started trying to figure out if I had twisted weird or anything the night before during our run but couldn't come up with anything. I did what I always do and ignored it. It slowly went from ouch I need to stop running to, what's that going on with my hip to, hmm it seems to be okay now. After I completed my 5 miles of intervals I noticed a little limp and soreness but ignored it. Most of the soreness was gone today so during my Centergy class I asked the PT what would cause it and was hit with the answer of "IT band". Ouch... I immediately got worried. Is this what everyone complains about? I thought that the IT band was something in the leg not the hips. Well maybe it was just telling me that it's there and working and all will be fine during my run tonight and tomorrow morning. Here's to lots of alcohol to numb the senses.

Night Crawlers

2007-11-30T07:13:00.000-08:00

With the Buckey 50k coming up in 7 weeks it seems the training is under way for most of the area ultra runners. With this in mind I decided to try the night crawlers run agian this week. Well it turns out the timing was bad for most of the "regulars" and injury has taken out one of us so I was prepaired to run it alone. Then I got a response from Beth indicating she could come and it seemed we had a few other potentials so Wednesday night 8:30pm at Lock 29 it was. Well when I arrived at lock 29 it had become the North Pole. The Christmas Train season is in full swing and all the elves were on their way to their cars and/or the Winking lizard after dancing and frolicing for the kids on the train. The decorations have really been turned up as well and driving to the parking lot was illuminated like mid day due to all the lights and decorations. Then about a minute after I parked one of the volunteers killed the generator and everything went dark all at once. It was like the scene from Christmas Vacation when the whole house just goes dark.

Anyway it seems I have digressed some from my running post. So it turned out that it was just going to be Beth and I for the run. A two second discussion of the route and we were off. Up to pine lane then to the boston store and back. It was a nice change not worrying about keeping up or paces just traveling through the woods and talking about whatever came to mind or even nothing at all. Wow, I didn't realize how much rain we had gotten though. I think it was about the muddiest I have ever gotten during a run. It's hard to avoid stepping in water/mud when you can't see it untill it's to late. At one point just after crossing over the turnpike we had the privilege of splitting a herd of deer in two that had been right in the middle of the trail. It spooked Beth quite a bit and she was reliving episodes of "when animals attack" in her head. I have to admit when I panned my headlamp to the right and noticed there were two dear on our left and about 6-8 on our right (one had to be a 10 point about 30 feet from us) it didn't seem like a good place to stop and take a break. So we picked up the pace and got out of there pretty quickly. I'm pretty good about nature and animals but I also know when I have entered their space and thats exactly where the two of us ended up.

We put in our miles and I was home by 11:00. Great night for a run to with it being in the 40's. I'm trying to decide if I need to go hit the trails again tonight or if I will save all my energy for tommorow's Sat run.

Proud Father

2007-11-27T16:35:00.001-08:00

My daughter as she finished her first race. It was a 1k Turkey day fun run. I think I'm going to have to teach her to run without her hands in her pockets.

To follow up the pride from watching her run her first race, my daughter came home from school today and was so excited to show me her results on the "Presidential Fitness Test". She manged to run the 1/2 mile in 3 minutes and 48 seconds, do 3 pull ups, a +7 in Sit-n-Reach, an 11.7 second shuttle run and 28 situps in one minute. So this made her a national qualifier (above the 50 percentile) and she only missed the Presidential qualifier by 6 situps (above the 85th percentile). I guess we have to work on the situps but I couldn't believe my little seven year old can run a half mile in 3:48 and is flexible enough to sit and bend at the waist to a point at which her finger tips are over 7 inches past the bottom of her heals. I can't even fathom that. Heck its hard to touch my toes.

The Morning After

2007-11-25T17:57:00.000-08:00

I'm starting new traditions all year long. It all started in December with the VR Christmas Run and then the New Years run. Now I completed the first annual Thanksgiving day fun run with the kids so it was onto the day after feast run. I met at the Gorge (two minutes late) for the Friday morning run. As soon as I got out of the car I was met with an abrupt, your late and your lucky we are still here. Well it was 8:32 and the run was supposed to start at 8:30 wow. So I just chuckled and told him I was going to follow the footprints if they had left. Just then Tanya recognized me and came over for a quick hug. We then determined that Vince wasn't going to join us and headed out. I recognized some of the fast group and settled into the back to run with Tanya some. After a mile or so I caught up to the guy who was pretty short with me upon arrival and he asked what I was doing in the back of the pack with the slow guys. So I introduced myself and told him that I was enjoying the company. It was at this point I realized that this was Wild Bill. We talked for a little while until he hit his head on a tree while watching his footing. After about 2.5 mile we hit an overlook that was just beautiful. It looked over the valley and the Cuyahoga River and was pretty breathtaking. Mark Godale took a moment to throw some snowballs and then it was time to head back. Most of the group continued on and were going to put in another hour and a half or so but I decided to head back with two of the gazelles. It was actually pretty good. They were running a pretty good pace that had me trying to keep up and yet I was the only one that actually knew the way back. So I kept them to about an 8 minute pace for the last two miles through the trails. Then I hit the parking lot and it was off to Niagara Falls with the family for the weekend.

Turkey day fun run

2007-11-25T06:05:00.000-08:00

Although Thursday ended up as a pretty cold and wet morning, my daughter was more then ready to get out and run her first race. By the end of her 2nd grade year all the kids are expected to be able to complete a mile so they have begun the process of increasing their endurance. So at 8:00am I loaded up the kids and all the gear and headed out to Kent for a much smaller run then was had in Akron.

When we arrived there were only around 40-50 people getting ready so I was pretty happy. We went through the lines, got the Tori her number, and then jumped back in the car to keep warm until the 9:00 start time. When it came time to start, the race director had made the decision that the fun run would be just over one lap around the park (around 0.6 miles) instead of the expected two laps. So the 7 kids lined up and were off. It was a nice loop around the park so I ran across the muddy grass/puddles with the camera and two-year-old in order to get some pictures of her on the back stretch and then back to the finish line. I could tell after the first two boys ran in that Tori had lost some time. So when she finally came around the corner I was happy to see she was still running. She ended up crossing the finish line in 5:05 and 4th place out of seven kids with a crowd of people cheering them on. She told me that she normally runs around 4:20 in her half mile runs at school so she did great. It was also great that they gave all the kids shirts and medals for their hard work.

I think she may follow in dads footsteps and love to run. I'm just glad to see she is bypassing the decades of overweight, out of shape, complacency I had before finding running.

A Tuesday morning half

2007-11-20T15:47:00.000-08:00

Until today I had only gotten to run two days since Richmond for a total of 10 miles. I was occupied with the kids over the weekend (Akron's tree festival and breakfast with Santa) and although I missed running with friends I don't think I could have passed on my kids experiences at the Akron Children's Hospital fundraiser. It was just great, not only did they have Santa but there was also Barney (I hate that little Purple Monster), T-i-double g-errrr, Pooh Bear, a nutcracker, and even clowns running around entertaining the kids. Santa even gave Dominic and Tori presents after letting them sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. Tori was a little upset when he took her off his lap and told her to go get a toy. It seems she was just getting started on her list of 10,000 things she wants for Christmas. Anyway, if any of you have small kids I would definitely recommend attending this next year. After the breakfast festivities, they have a parade upstairs to the Christmas tree lighting where they cut the ceremonial ribbon and you get to be the first people to see the festival (aside from those that pay big bucks to go the night before).

I spent my day Sunday with the kids visiting my parents, brothers and sisters, and their children. So Monday I was going to run right? Not quite...... Monday was spent getting all the leaves out of the yard, mowing the grass, and taking care of the 100 things on my honey do list that have been left with all the marathons and other events in my life. I think Lesa knew I was getting cranky about not getting to run and I was starting to feel that pent up energy. Plus I stepped on the scale after all of the eating from the Ohio State game, UFC fight night, Sunday football and Nascar, and just general amounts of junk food (I'm trying to eat all the Halloween candy in the house so my wife doesn't have to... you know take one for the team) and to my amazement the scale provided me with a digital readout of 184lbs. I haven't been that heavy since I started running in December. Wow I wanted to put on some weight I guess I found out how although I was thinking about muscle mass not just mass.

So I woke up this morning and saw my daughter off to school with the family and realize it's 50 degrees outside. I'm on vacation all week and the family is heading out of town after the holidays for the long weekend so I'm sure running will be at a minimum. I decide it was now or never so on go the shorts and tank top and I'm off. My wife was taking our two year old to the library so I knew I had time. Believe it or not, since moving into the new house in May I've only run from my house on one other occasion and that was my last taper before Akron so I really don't have a good understanding of distances around the neighborhood. That was about to change. I decided to check distances to/from the bike and hike in two directions so that i could give this info back to my wife. I also wanted to check traffic so that she could figure out where to ride the bikes with the kids. Well It took me almost exactly 3 miles to get to the entrance of the trail in Kent. Then I headed back towards the house. In another 2 miles I was at the Young Rd entrance to the bike and hike and figured it would be just over a mile back to the house from here. But I was feeling great and wanted to run. So I headed down the trail that Nick and I had run so many times. Out and back and I started picking up the pace. Down to a 9:20 mile at one point, not bad for a mid week long run for me. To get to the end of the story I hit 13.1 miles in 2:07. Hmm that is most likely the third fastest time I have ever run a half in and it was just a Tuesday morning run. Another half mile and I was home and feeling pretty sore. I just couldn't pass up a 50 degree day in the end of November. It didn't even start raining until I got home.

Now I feel like running again. Time to break that 1:50 barrier for the half next year. But first I have a really important race on Thursday. Its a one mile long race with my seven year old. Wish me luck on keeping up with her. Something tells me she is going to beat me by a step or two though. If I can keep my ego in check :)

Centergy

2007-11-16T11:32:00.000-08:00

So I returned to my post everyday running phase this week and began to participate in some other exercises that were an important part of my training the last year. I've only managed 10 miles this week (5 of those were during an interval training session) but I'm giving myself a week or to of relaxation after the Akron/Richmond period of my life. I hit the weights Tuesday and I seem to have only lost a small amount of muscle mass in my upper body. I'm still lifting about the same percentage based on body weight but I'm also around 10lbs lighter than I was prior to the last 10 months of training. I ran on Wednesday for around 5 miles and then yesterday I was forced to hit Chipotle for a double chicken Burrito. Add both beans, all three salsas, cheese, lettuce, sour cream, and you are up to about 2lbs and 2500 calories of enjoyment.
To finish the week off today I participated in a group Centergy class. The class integrates strength and flexibility training and claims to help restore symmetry while also having what I call "nap time" at the end for relaxation and focus. I must have missed a lot not going to this class for the last two months because as I found out today, a small group that I use to work out with every day now gets together with the personal trainer after class and they partake in some wine and Hors D'Oeuvres. It was a good way to finish class.

Now I'm craving some running. I'm attending a breakfast with Santa in the morning at the John Knight Center in Akron and won't be able to run with the groups Saturday or Sunday. Maybe I'll get some miles in tonight.

Deep thoughts

2007-11-12T16:21:00.000-08:00

Well the title has nothing to do with the post but. I was telling the story of my Marathon experience at work today to some non runners. One of them looks at me and says "Well I'd expect you to cramp up being dehydrated from all that travel last week". Hmm I didn't think of that. I drank like mad all day Friday with Vince on the way down to Virginia but perhaps the four days of traveling, driving, flying, and meetings before that left me a whole lot more dehydrated then I thought. I guess a day or a day and a half of re hydrating may have been the topper to the spill I took. Anyway, it's in the past now and onto bigger and better as they say. Time to start signing up for races next year. Anyone have any suggestions for some good shorter races. 13.1 miles or less? So far I've got the Buckeye winter half, the 4 mile race for the parks in Hudson and I actually might do the whole Hudson series this year as it is my home town.

Thanks once again for the support and for reading my ramblings. It makes me think someone may really like me.... I'm good enought, I'm smart enough, and doggone it people like me.... or at least tolerate me.

Back to Ohio

2007-11-10T09:31:00.000-08:00

Well the Richmond Marathon is officially over for Vince and I now. Vince PR'd with a blazing fast time of 2:46. Only one minute off his goal and with the headwind we had I can see why. I was feeling great before the race and was trying to find my place in the line of runners. Only to see that there was no sign for a 4:30 pace group. We could see a 4:15 and then all there was after that was 5:00. Funny I know I signed up for a 4:30 pace group and got an email welcoming me to the group. Well anyway I was on my own. Just the way I wanted it. The race started and I just fell into a nice grove. Miles went by at a pretty consistent 9:45-9:50 pace. There were some pretty good hills that I didn't expect but hell it gave me a chance to pass people. Both on the uphills and downhills. It seems people around here aren't as eager as some of the people I run with to pick it up a little on the downhills.

Well around mile 16 starts the bridge of all bridges. It's on Belvedere street (may be spelled wrong) and it seems a mile long. This thing made the y-bridge look short. Oh and I forgot to mention the headwind. It seemed like we were running into a 10-20 mile an hour headwind and with it being 45 degrees it wasn't all that nice. So a group in front of me was going pretty slow. Well what was I to do but to pass them on the outside. Opps WRONG MOVE.

I caught my foot in one of these grates they put on the bridges for drainage. Not the once that just have square cutouts in them but the ones that are made from downward facing V shaped pieces of metal. So as my leg twisted propelling me forward I think I remember catching myself on the curb of the bridge. Luckily the curb was like 2 feet high so I didn't get a chance to build up as much momentum as I could have. Once the collective sigh of the runners around me died down to a whisper I did what any trail runner would do. I jumped right back up as if nothing had happened. Unfortunately it was at this point that I learned another lesson. Before jumping back up, you should make sure that nothing did happen. It seems when you fall, sometimes your body tenses up. Well when I jumped back up ever muscle in my legs tensed up and failed to let go. So I drop back down again.

Luckily at this point I find the curb and sit in pain trying to get my muscles to relax in order to stand. Up comes this great guy from the Richmond Marathon training group. All happy he asks if everything is okay, to which I reply "no". Well the next question was oh is this your first marathon? I think he was trying to access the situation better. So after I tell him it's the second in 6 weeks I think he realized I wasn't just tired and resting. Well I hobbled in pain the next 100 yards to the water stop and then scared the hell out of some small children watching me shiver and shake uncontrollably in the corner only able to walk by swinging my legs in wide circles.

Well not much time now. I'm heading home but I'm fine, the knee seems fine, It's nothing some rest won't fix and I'll be out and running again on Thanksgiving. I will follow up with the rest of the story. The story gets better.

Okay here goes the rest. So I make it with help from the gentleman to the water stop at mile 17. So he leaves me in what he thinks are good hands and I kinda walked behind the table to try and stretch out my legs. Well this is when both my calves as well as quads lock up like rocks. I pulled myself up from the ground using a brick pillar that was next to where I hit the deck and I am trying to flatten out my feet so that I'm not leaning back at a 45 degree angle. My calves just weren't letting go. I looked over and there is this cute little girl about 6 years old watching me and I can tell that she is getting worried and upset at my condition. So I ask the lady next to her if there is anyone around from the medical group/marathon. She had absolutely no idea what to do and no instructions that I could tell. She also indicated that she was just a volunteer from a church group and no one at the water stop really seemed to have any experience with distance running. They seemed pretty worried about me though and weren't sure why I wasn't very concerned by my apparent inability to walk. I had to tell them that there wasn't much that could be done short of massaging the muscles and stretching them/walking on them until the released and decided to cooperate. So to make matters worse by this time the temperature and constant wind along with my lack of aerobic activity had dropped my body temperature to the point that I was shaking uncontrollably. So they gave me a volunteers shirt (was probably a good idea so that the other runners didn't have to see me) and tried to warm me up. After a couple of minutes it become clear to me that I wouldn't be finishing the remaining 9 miles (If I would have been closer I probably would have tried to press on) and I gave up what had been to this point my best feeling/performing Marathon ever. Damn this distance.

So I got a ride from a dad with his two young children who were leaving the rest stop to go home. They got as close to my hotel as possible and were trying to get through a road block so I didn't have to walk up the hill to our hotel (the course ran right by the hotel) when I looked over and saw Vince walking up the hotel towards the Hotel. After finishing 17th overall in PR time he was looking for a shower and warm room. So I opened the car door and yelled over to him. He was surprised to see me and seemed really confused for a minute until I told him I had dropped and told him of my ordeal. It seemed as we walked towards the hotel that he might have been calling me a wuss or pussy under his breath when all of a sudden about 50 feet from the hotel the slight incline brought on another attack from my legs. Surprisingly to me rather than hitting the ground Vince grabs me and we both have a sort of wierd dance going on in the middle of the sidewalk. Me falling over backward as my feet straightened while my toes tried to point due to the cramping and him leaning backward the opposite direction trying to use leverage to pull me back up. I end up leaning over a wall with my legs still both locked and toes pointed as if I'm a ballerina falling forward. He was trying to get me the last 50 feet into the warm hotel but my legs were having none of it. After a minute they finally release their hold on me after a nice passer by inquired as to if I was okay. Ummmm Nooo I can't control my legs, so we told him it was okay and we were just about to head into the hotel. When I finally got to the room I realized as I wrapped myself in a towel and climbed under all the sheets on the bed that the entire bed was then shaking from me. 30 minutes later and a hot shower I was to the point where I could physically operate but man it was a really weired hour and a half or so. It's hard to believe the whole chain reaction was started by my trying to pass a slower runner. Although I'm upset becuase I was finally feeling strong and good during a maration at and past the 16 mile mark on pace to finish an hour faster than my time at Akron and then bam I'm driving back to Ohio just happy that I'm healthy and happy. Plus I can relish in the fact that I actually know a guy that just ran a 2:46 marathon and felt better then me after running 16 miles. Hell he even asked me about running a half marathon next week in Strongsville.

Thanks for everyones well wishes. Maybe it was one of those that prevented what could have ended up much worse. Next year for me will be a year of the 5k - half marathon distances. I think based on my 4 mile and half marathon times this year I could actually do quite well at these distances and I really enjoy running fast. So I'll train for the long runs and enjoy the training but will most likley use the training to improve my intermediate distances.

Off to Richmond

2007-11-08T16:06:00.000-08:00

Well I just got home from a week long trip up and down the coast of CA and now I'm unpacking/repacking for a trip to Richmond early tomorrow morning with Vince. Unfortunately we lost our third person due to injury so he will be missed.

I'm feeling a little bit worn out from the week I've endured. I flew into SFO on Monday afternoon and spent the night there after some customer visits. Then Started Tuesday with a nice 3 mile run along the bay at Burlingame. All day driving and visiting people only to end up in Santa Cruz at 5:00. We had to haul all the way back up to SFO in rush hour traffic to catch a 8:30 flight down to LAX. Of course the flight was delayed and we didn't land in LAX until 11:00PM. Then we waited for luggage, the bus to the rental cars, and then a 2 hour drive south to Del Mar, San Diego for the night. Got to the hotel at around 1:45am and was ready to crash. After 6 hours of sleep was back up and at it again. Worked our way back up to Orange County and drove back to LAX last night to catch the 7:00am flight back to Cleveland. Traveling must be so much fun right?

So after getting home at 3:30 it's unpack, repack, spend time with the kids, and get ready for a 7 hour drive to run a Marathon. Wish me luck. It's my last try and I've got some emotional involvement in this one for the first time (well the last try for 2007). We will see how things go but I'll be happy no matter what the outcome as long as I finish on my feet.