Nearly Arrested! 4

The good news here is that I can outrun a police officer.  For about three miles anyway's.  The bad news is that when you want to find one - they're nearly impossible to find.

Last night was costume night at the Pacers running group I go to on Tuesday's & Thursday's.  A group of us that often run together decided to go dressed as escaped convicts (aka Jailbirds), along with a police officer chasing after us.  Three of us had run the marathon on Sunday, so we were a bit slower than normal.  And we took the shorter 3 mile course instead of the normal 5.4 mile course.  A number of other folks also dressed up as well.  Here's a few photos from the evening (I'm on the far left).

As an side, afterwards, we tried to find a real cop to get a couple of photos with his car.  Now normally in our little town - finding police officers is about as simple as walking to the street.  But we searched for OVER AN HOUR and couldn't find them.  We even checked (via running) all of the usual spots (ya know, like the doughnut shop), including the police station.  None to be found.  We did find a Parking Enforcement dude, and  Metro Transit police guy, but they weren't the same.  Of course, on the short drive home I came across two bicycle cops, three parked police cars and two driving police cars.  Go figure.

It was funny some of the looks we got.  Many people clearly enjoyed it and we got some fun comments.  But there was this one young women who gave us the most icy cold stare ever.  It was downright nasty.  Not sure what was up with her.  We decided it took like 10 comments to make up for her one evil eye stare.

And onto today...

I got on the bike trainer this morning instead of going outside.  I really would rather have gone outside - but I wanted to take it easier on the bike and simplify my prep time before work.  After work, I went out and did intervals.  Because I was super-limited on time and didn't have any to spare to go to a track - I had to use a straight/flat piece of paved pathway where I work instead of the track.  But it was easily measured out for 1/4th of a mile.  The goal for today was 95s per 400 (or a 6:20/mile pace).

Warm up: .75 miles

1. 400m - 82 seconds
2. 400m - 88 seconds
3. 400m - 88 seconds
4. 400m - 88 seconds
5. 400m - 88 seconds
6. 400m - 86 seconds
7. 400m - 85 seconds
8. 400m - 84 seconds

Cool down: .75 miles

So the good news here is that I didn't have any problems getting up to pace today, which was a concern of mine given I'm a touch bit sluggish still.  The bad news is that I ran too fast for my scheduled intervals, nearly 8-10 seconds faster than planned.  I need to split out my marked path into 100m increments so I can better judge speed.  Or I need to tweak my plan to go faster.  I didn't feel tired at the end of it though - so I may just need to tweak plan to either add more, increase distance or increase speed.  Back to the speed books I guess for more consultation.

Oh...and because I didn't have enough training fun yet today running around, I added more running later on.  I went for a casual 5.5 mile run with a new found friend.  We'll call her M.  That was good times though.  Much better than intervals. And a good way to end the day. :)

Nearly Arrested! 0

The good news here is that I can outrun a police officer.  For about three miles anyway's.  The bad news is that when you want to find one - they're nearly impossible to find.

Last night was costume night at the Pacers running group I go to on Tuesday's & Thursday's.  A group of us that often run together decided to go dressed as escaped convicts (aka Jailbirds), along with a police officer chasing after us.  Three of us had run the marathon on Sunday, so we were a bit slower than normal.  And we took the shorter 3 mile course instead of the normal 5.4 mile course.  A number of other folks also dressed up as well.  Here's a few photos from the evening (I'm on the far left).

As an side, afterwards, we tried to find a real cop to get a couple of photos with his car.  Now normally in our little town - finding police officers is about as simple as walking to the street.  But we searched for OVER AN HOUR and couldn't find them.  We even checked (via running) all of the usual spots (ya know, like the doughnut shop), including the police station.  None to be found.  We did find a Parking Enforcement dude, and  Metro Transit police guy, but they weren't the same.  Of course, on the short drive home I came across two bicycle cops, three parked police cars and two driving police cars.  Go figure.

It was funny some of the looks we got.  Many people clearly enjoyed it and we got some fun comments.  But there was this one young women who gave us the most icy cold stare ever.  It was downright nasty.  Not sure what was up with her.  We decided it took like 10 comments to make up for her one evil eye stare.

And onto today...

I got on the bike trainer this morning instead of going outside.  I really would rather have gone outside - but I wanted to take it easier on the bike and simplify my prep time before work.  After work, I went out and did intervals.  Because I was super-limited on time and didn't have any to spare to go to a track - I had to use a straight/flat piece of paved pathway where I work instead of the track.  But it was easily measured out for 1/4th of a mile.  The goal for today was 95s per 400 (or a 6:20/mile pace).

Warm up: .75 miles

1. 400m - 82 seconds
2. 400m - 88 seconds
3. 400m - 88 seconds
4. 400m - 88 seconds
5. 400m - 88 seconds
6. 400m - 86 seconds
7. 400m - 85 seconds
8. 400m - 84 seconds

Cool down: .75 miles

So the good news here is that I didn't have any problems getting up to pace today, which was a concern of mine given I'm a touch bit sluggish still.  The bad news is that I ran too fast for my scheduled intervals, nearly 8-10 seconds faster than planned.  I need to split out my marked path into 100m increments so I can better judge speed.  Or I need to tweak my plan to go faster.  I didn't feel tired at the end of it though - so I may just need to tweak plan to either add more, increase distance or increase speed.  Back to the speed books I guess for more consultation.

Oh...and because I didn't have enough training fun yet today running around, I added more running later on.  I went for a casual 5.5 mile run with a new found friend.  We'll call her M.  That was good times though.  Much better than intervals. And a good way to end the day. :)

Ouch! The pain train has arrived! 5

Ok, it's not fair.  I haven't even begun my 16 day hard push prior to the Philly Half - and I'm already sore.  Well actually, still sore.  Still feeling Sunday's 26.2 miles of fun.  Although it's not bad at all anymore.  I found the swim on Sunday afternoon REALLY helped.  It's just that when I woke up on Monday...not.so.good.  But I did lots of waddling and I'm just about back to normal.  I went for a swim after work today, just 1,500 yards to loosen up.  And then I did have a 4-ish mile run tonight with the running gang.  It was costume night (and we of course dressed up, all coordinate in fact!) - but I'll save the pics for tomorrow.  Loads of fun!

So you remember my goal for Philly - a 1:23 half marathon, just enough to qualify for New York on time alone.  But I'm starting to think that in three weeks it almost might be easier to drop 11 minutes off my full marathon time (and qualify for Boston) then to run a 6:20/mile pace for 13.1 miles.  I still had energy left on Sunday, and was at times going 7:15's anyway's (the required pace for Boston for my AG).  But I don't think I feel like running another 26.2 miles anytime in the immediate future.  My legs might disown me otherwise.

At any rate - here's the plan I put together for the next 16 or so days.

This week (Oct 28 - Nov 4th):

Monday: Rest/limp/waddle (Done!)
Tuesday: 3-5mi easy run/waddle (Done!)
Wednesday: 8x400 @ 95s per 400 (plus warm-up/cool-down)
Thursday: 5.5mi @ 6:25/mi
Friday: No run, just swim
Saturday: 9mi @ 6:35/mi
Sunday: 10x400 @ 90s mi per 400 (plus warm/cool)

Tues/Thurs/Sat - Cycle as usual
Weds/Fri/Sun - Swim as usual

Next week (Nov 4th - 11th):

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 5.5mi @ 6:25/mi
Wednesday: 10x400 @ 90s per 400 (plus warm/cool)
Thursday: 5.5mi @ 6:15/mi
Friday: No run, just swim
Saturday: 11mi @ 6:25/mi
Sunday: 7mi @ 6:45/mi

Tues/Thurs/Sat - Cycle as usual
Weds/Fri/Sun - Swim as usual

The last week (Nov 12-18th):

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 5.5mi @ 6:15/mi
Wednesday: 8x400 @ 85s per 400 (plus warm/cool)
Thursday: 5.5mi @ 7:30/mi (mini-taper)
Friday: No run, just swim (mini-taper)
Saturday: 2mi @ whatever (mini-taper)
Sunday: [Race] 13.1mi @ 6:20/mile...ouch

Tues/Thurs - Cycle mostly as usual
Weds/Fri - Swim as usual

So, I know I can run that fast - at least like to the mailbox.  Perhaps all the way across the street.  But 13.1 miles is like to another city, or even a state! In my case, I can in 13.1 miles cross three state/territory (DC/VA/MD) lines from my house. We'll see about this...

My training plan is purely based on absolutely no formal training methodology.   I consulted the two speed running books I had, and both didn't include a 3 week speed plan to drop 10 seconds off your 10 Miler time and convert it to a Half-Mary time.  Go figure.  It does say under 'Suggested rest period' for Marathon: "14 days".  Uhh...check.

It is funny though reading through some of these books with respect to pre-race warm-up routines, which often encompass about 8 different items to do the 60 minutes prior to start time.  Yikes.  I simply try to do a quick 2-3 minute run and the two 'runners stretches' and call it good.  Apparently I have much to learn.

Ouch! The pain train has arrived! 0

Ok, it's not fair.  I haven't even begun my 16 day hard push prior to the Philly Half - and I'm already sore.  Well actually, still sore.  Still feeling Sunday's 26.2 miles of fun.  Although it's not bad at all anymore.  I found the swim on Sunday afternoon REALLY helped.  It's just that when I woke up on Monday...not.so.good.  But I did lots of waddling and I'm just about back to normal.  I went for a swim after work today, just 1,500 yards to loosen up.  And then I did have a 4-ish mile run tonight with the running gang.  It was costume night (and we of course dressed up, all coordinate in fact!) - but I'll save the pics for tomorrow.  Loads of fun!

So you remember my goal for Philly - a 1:23 half marathon, just enough to qualify for New York on time alone.  But I'm starting to think that in three weeks it almost might be easier to drop 11 minutes off my full marathon time (and qualify for Boston) then to run a 6:20/mile pace for 13.1 miles.  I still had energy left on Sunday, and was at times going 7:15's anyway's (the required pace for Boston for my AG).  But I don't think I feel like running another 26.2 miles anytime in the immediate future.  My legs might disown me otherwise.

At any rate - here's the plan I put together for the next 16 or so days.

This week (Oct 28 - Nov 4th):

Monday: Rest/limp/waddle (Done!)
Tuesday: 3-5mi easy run/waddle (Done!)
Wednesday: 8x400 @ 95s per 400 (plus warm-up/cool-down)
Thursday: 5.5mi @ 6:25/mi
Friday: No run, just swim
Saturday: 9mi @ 6:35/mi
Sunday: 10x400 @ 90s mi per 400 (plus warm/cool)

Tues/Thurs/Sat - Cycle as usual
Weds/Fri/Sun - Swim as usual

Next week (Nov 4th - 11th):

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 5.5mi @ 6:25/mi
Wednesday: 10x400 @ 90s per 400 (plus warm/cool)
Thursday: 5.5mi @ 6:15/mi
Friday: No run, just swim
Saturday: 11mi @ 6:25/mi
Sunday: 7mi @ 6:45/mi

Tues/Thurs/Sat - Cycle as usual
Weds/Fri/Sun - Swim as usual

The last week (Nov 12-18th):

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 5.5mi @ 6:15/mi
Wednesday: 8x400 @ 85s per 400 (plus warm/cool)
Thursday: 5.5mi @ 7:30/mi (mini-taper)
Friday: No run, just swim (mini-taper)
Saturday: 2mi @ whatever (mini-taper)
Sunday: [Race] 13.1mi @ 6:20/mile...ouch

Tues/Thurs - Cycle mostly as usual
Weds/Fri - Swim as usual

So, I know I can run that fast - at least like to the mailbox.  Perhaps all the way across the street.  But 13.1 miles is like to another city, or even a state! In my case, I can in 13.1 miles cross three state/territory (DC/VA/MD) lines from my house. We'll see about this...

My training plan is purely based on absolutely no formal training methodology.   I consulted the two speed running books I had, and both didn't include a 3 week speed plan to drop 10 seconds off your 10 Miler time and convert it to a Half-Mary time.  Go figure.  It does say under 'Suggested rest period' for Marathon: "14 days".  Uhh...check.

It is funny though reading through some of these books with respect to pre-race warm-up routines, which often encompass about 8 different items to do the 60 minutes prior to start time.  Yikes.  I simply try to do a quick 2-3 minute run and the two 'runners stretches' and call it good.  Apparently I have much to learn.

The 2008 Marine Corps Marathon Race Report 9

7:56AM - Sitting in the port-a-potty losing a pound or so.  The race starts in 4 minutes, about a quarter of a mile away.  Uhh...yeah.

But, we manage to make it to our spot near the 3:30ish marker just as the boom goes off commencing the start of the 32nd Marine Corps Marathon.  It actually ended up working really well, it was a nice warm-up run.  We had a few minutes until our area started advancing forward, enough to get comfy - but not enough to get nervous.  I was running with a friend from the Pacers running group I go to on Tu/Th/Sa, we are about the same pace - so it worked out well.

The first 8 miles were spent trying to slow down.  We targeting a sub-3:30 finish (8/mile pace), and we were continually pushing against a 7:10/mile pace, so I spent considerable effort slowing myself down.  I didn't want to bonk by going out too fast.

The course changed this year, with the biggest change being the departure from Rock Creek and replacement with a section west of Georgetown strolling through some neighborhoods and up and down little hills, then finally back along the Potomac into lower Georgetown.  I liked this course MUCH more than last year's course.  I find Rock Creek to be painfully 'blah', so the constant changing scenery of the hills and new cute neighborhoods was nice.

We swung back towards the memorials, past Kenny Center, around the backside of Lincoln towards the White House and then past the Washington Monument.  The crows were AMAZING this year, especially on the Mall.  It was incredible how big they were and it was lots of fun in a few sections where they had pushed the roadway down to only a lane or two for the runners with the crowd taking up the rest of the roadway.  Very cool.

Looping back around at the Capitol I swung through the 13.1 mile marker on pace with a 1:41 (7:40 pace).  Then out past the Smith's and onto the basin.  It was near mile 14 that I saw Lessor handing out Gel's.  Gave a quick shout-out and carried onwards towards the Jefferson Memorial.  Just outside of Jefferson was David, as promised.  Unfortunately I didn't shout-out because I wasn't sure it was him.  Sorry! From there it was onto to the most isolated portion of the course - Hains Point.  But unlike last year where it slaughtered me, I actually picked up pace a touch this time.

After Hains point I waived goodbye to the District and headed back to Virginia over the river.  There was some amazingly strong - but short and sharp - winds that whipped down a few of the streets in Crystal City - but it was a lot of fun in general in that area.  After the turnaround at mile 22, it was a short jaunt back past the Pentagon to the 26 mile marker, where the crowds were both deep - and crazy loud.  This is always my most favorite part of the course.  Some people hate the super-steep .2 mile hill section, but I love it.  I forget any pain I might have at this point and just let it loose.  Tons of fun.

We finished in a time of 3:21:47.  We drifted apart around mile 14 or so, with him about a hundred yards ahead me most of the time.  At each of the water stops I'd catch back up and then slowly separate again.  Around mile 24 I went ahead and closed the gap (per my mental plan).  We finished together which was cool especially since it was Rob's first marathon (well, not holding hands...cause yeah - that would not send the right message). Awesome job he did!  Another friend of ours (Neil) that we run with all of the time at Pacers ran his own race, but only finished 15 seconds apart from us.  More awesomness!

Post-race I waddled around.  My legs sorta hurt.  Actually, they hurt a fair bit at first, but have gotten better throughout the day.  I wasn't physically tired at the completion of the race, just sore legs.  It probably didn't help that I only did two long runs this season beyond 16 miles - and maxed out at 19 miles.  My tri schedule just shot to crap my long run marathon training schedule.

I went and did 1100 yards later this afternoon at the pool, mostly just to loosen up.  That helped quite a bit, I feel mostly good now.  I was going to go about 1500 yards, but then my foot and lower legs  started to seize up and so I called it quits before I got a full blown charliehorse.

I'm very happy with today's results.  I shaved an hour off of my first marathon (MCM) last year.  And it's only 11 minutes away from Boston qualifying for my age group.  Next year I think that's easily achievable.  And don't any of you try and sucker me into signing up for another marathon before Boston this year.  Nu-uh.  I shall resist.

Congrats to everyone who ran today!  Here's the finishers medal and the finishers coin, both pretty cool.

The 2008 Marine Corps Marathon Race Report 0

7:56AM - Sitting in the port-a-potty losing a pound or so.  The race starts in 4 minutes, about a quarter of a mile away.  Uhh...yeah.

But, we manage to make it to our spot near the 3:30ish marker just as the boom goes off commencing the start of the 32nd Marine Corps Marathon.  It actually ended up working really well, it was a nice warm-up run.  We had a few minutes until our area started advancing forward, enough to get comfy - but not enough to get nervous.  I was running with a friend from the Pacers running group I go to on Tu/Th/Sa, we are about the same pace - so it worked out well.

The first 8 miles were spent trying to slow down.  We targeting a sub-3:30 finish (8/mile pace), and we were continually pushing against a 7:10/mile pace, so I spent considerable effort slowing myself down.  I didn't want to bonk by going out too fast.

The course changed this year, with the biggest change being the departure from Rock Creek and replacement with a section west of Georgetown strolling through some neighborhoods and up and down little hills, then finally back along the Potomac into lower Georgetown.  I liked this course MUCH more than last year's course.  I find Rock Creek to be painfully 'blah', so the constant changing scenery of the hills and new cute neighborhoods was nice.

We swung back towards the memorials, past Kenny Center, around the backside of Lincoln towards the White House and then past the Washington Monument.  The crows were AMAZING this year, especially on the Mall.  It was incredible how big they were and it was lots of fun in a few sections where they had pushed the roadway down to only a lane or two for the runners with the crowd taking up the rest of the roadway.  Very cool.

Looping back around at the Capitol I swung through the 13.1 mile marker on pace with a 1:41 (7:40 pace).  Then out past the Smith's and onto the basin.  It was near mile 14 that I saw Lessor handing out Gel's.  Gave a quick shout-out and carried onwards towards the Jefferson Memorial.  Just outside of Jefferson was David, as promised.  Unfortunately I didn't shout-out because I wasn't sure it was him.  Sorry! From there it was onto to the most isolated portion of the course - Hains Point.  But unlike last year where it slaughtered me, I actually picked up pace a touch this time.

After Hains point I waived goodbye to the District and headed back to Virginia over the river.  There was some amazingly strong - but short and sharp - winds that whipped down a few of the streets in Crystal City - but it was a lot of fun in general in that area.  After the turnaround at mile 22, it was a short jaunt back past the Pentagon to the 26 mile marker, where the crowds were both deep - and crazy loud.  This is always my most favorite part of the course.  Some people hate the super-steep .2 mile hill section, but I love it.  I forget any pain I might have at this point and just let it loose.  Tons of fun.

We finished in a time of 3:21:47.  We drifted apart around mile 14 or so, with him about a hundred yards ahead me most of the time.  At each of the water stops I'd catch back up and then slowly separate again.  Around mile 24 I went ahead and closed the gap (per my mental plan).  We finished together which was cool especially since it was Rob's first marathon (well, not holding hands...cause yeah - that would not send the right message). Awesome job he did!  Another friend of ours (Neil) that we run with all of the time at Pacers ran his own race, but only finished 15 seconds apart from us.  More awesomness!

Post-race I waddled around.  My legs sorta hurt.  Actually, they hurt a fair bit at first, but have gotten better throughout the day.  I wasn't physically tired at the completion of the race, just sore legs.  It probably didn't help that I only did two long runs this season beyond 16 miles - and maxed out at 19 miles.  My tri schedule just shot to crap my long run marathon training schedule.

I went and did 1100 yards later this afternoon at the pool, mostly just to loosen up.  That helped quite a bit, I feel mostly good now.  I was going to go about 1500 yards, but then my foot and lower legs  started to seize up and so I called it quits before I got a full blown charliehorse.

I'm very happy with today's results.  I shaved an hour off of my first marathon (MCM) last year.  And it's only 11 minutes away from Boston qualifying for my age group.  Next year I think that's easily achievable.  And don't any of you try and sucker me into signing up for another marathon before Boston this year.  Nu-uh.  I shall resist.

Congrats to everyone who ran today!  Here's the finishers medal and the finishers coin, both pretty cool.

Ready to rumble..or tumble and bumble... 4

Boy has this been a fun 12 hours.  Took the redeye from Seattle last night and landed around 7:15AM into Dulles this morning.  That picture is on arrival.  it looks like crap outside, and I felt like crap after landing.  Quick drive home and I was in bed by 8:30AM.  I got a nice 3 hours of sleep, after which I felt a hundred times better. Then it was time to mosey on down to the expo and packet pickup.  One of the nice things about the MCM packet pickup is that it's down at the Armory - near RFK stadium, and they open up the stadium parking lots for quick and free parking.  And this year they figured out the whole line thing - much better than the 75 or so minutes I had to wait last year.  I spent no more than 5 minutes in line today.

Got the packet picked up - number 12553 for those that want to track me online in real-time at the tracking site (in the highly unlikely event you have nothing better to do). 

I then wandered around the expo. It's a fairly large expo, which makes sense given the 35,000 runners.  I normally don't buy much (if anything) at these expos as I usually don't need anything.  Well, at the last one I did buy this fun sticker.  This time was really no different, I found a ski resort sticker and a MCM sticker for my bike case.  Other than that I sweet talked the Snickers lady into giving me a few free bars of the Snickers Marathon bars.  Of course, part of any good expo recon trip is the substantial acquisition of free stuff.  In that respect I succeeded wonderfully, with my loot containing: Two free shirts (one of which I wouldn't be caught dead wearing), one startlingly green cup, a Clif Bar, a Band-Aid kit for the next time I crash and burn, and a small piece of chocolate.  Wait, did I seriously just use the word "wonderfully" in that last sentence?  Yikes....moving on.  Here's a photo of all the crap that ended up in my bag - I swear I only put in the green cup, everything else was provided. (And yes, I had too much time on my hands this evening)

Late this afternoon I went over to the Pacers carbo loading pasta party.  It was pot-luck style, so I made a big batch of pasta.  My plan as of last night was to actually make homemade lasagna - but then I woke up, and got lazy.  I'm moderately aware that carbo loading is really a longer term experience lasting more than just the night before.  But I'm never one turn down pasta.

Post-pasta-fill-up, I headed out to do a super-casual 2 mile run.  It's what I do the day before a race.  I like to feel loose, and I find a super-duper-easy run is the way to do it. 

So, with all of that, my number is attached to my running singlet (oh yeah, an actual singlet - high style now!), my gels are set, my nutrition/hydration plan locked and I'm ready to take on the semi-sunny weather tomorrow.  Yes, that is indeed a running blueberry on my singlet.  Hey, it was free and for a good cause!

Tomorrow's goal time: Anything below 3:30

And yes, you got a way more photo filled post than usual today - I was feeling overly photogenic.  Strange things happen after redeye flights.  Kinda like snakes on a plane...but without da snakes.

Ready to rumble..or tumble and bumble... 0

Boy has this been a fun 12 hours.  Took the redeye from Seattle last night and landed around 7:15AM into Dulles this morning.  That picture is on arrival.  it looks like crap outside, and I felt like crap after landing.  Quick drive home and I was in bed by 8:30AM.  I got a nice 3 hours of sleep, after which I felt a hundred times better. Then it was time to mosey on down to the expo and packet pickup.  One of the nice things about the MCM packet pickup is that it's down at the Armory - near RFK stadium, and they open up the stadium parking lots for quick and free parking.  And this year they figured out the whole line thing - much better than the 75 or so minutes I had to wait last year.  I spent no more than 5 minutes in line today.

Got the packet picked up - number 12553 for those that want to track me online in real-time at the tracking site (in the highly unlikely event you have nothing better to do). 

I then wandered around the expo. It's a fairly large expo, which makes sense given the 35,000 runners.  I normally don't buy much (if anything) at these expos as I usually don't need anything.  Well, at the last one I did buy this fun sticker.  This time was really no different, I found a ski resort sticker and a MCM sticker for my bike case.  Other than that I sweet talked the Snickers lady into giving me a few free bars of the Snickers Marathon bars.  Of course, part of any good expo recon trip is the substantial acquisition of free stuff.  In that respect I succeeded wonderfully, with my loot containing: Two free shirts (one of which I wouldn't be caught dead wearing), one startlingly green cup, a Clif Bar, a Band-Aid kit for the next time I crash and burn, and a small piece of chocolate.  Wait, did I seriously just use the word "wonderfully" in that last sentence?  Yikes....moving on.  Here's a photo of all the crap that ended up in my bag - I swear I only put in the green cup, everything else was provided. (And yes, I had too much time on my hands this evening)

Late this afternoon I went over to the Pacers carbo loading pasta party.  It was pot-luck style, so I made a big batch of pasta.  My plan as of last night was to actually make homemade lasagna - but then I woke up, and got lazy.  I'm moderately aware that carbo loading is really a longer term experience lasting more than just the night before.  But I'm never one turn down pasta.

Post-pasta-fill-up, I headed out to do a super-casual 2 mile run.  It's what I do the day before a race.  I like to feel loose, and I find a super-duper-easy run is the way to do it. 

So, with all of that, my number is attached to my running singlet (oh yeah, an actual singlet - high style now!), my gels are set, my nutrition/hydration plan locked and I'm ready to take on the semi-sunny weather tomorrow.  Yes, that is indeed a running blueberry on my singlet.  Hey, it was free and for a good cause!

Tomorrow's goal time: Anything below 3:30

And yes, you got a way more photo filled post than usual today - I was feeling overly photogenic.  Strange things happen after redeye flights.  Kinda like snakes on a plane...but without da snakes.

Pushing through a 95MPH Headwind 1

I'm sitting here at 36,000 feet and cruising across over endless farmland with a solid 100+MPH headwind, working our way towards Seattle for a quick 48 hour set of meetings. I've traded a very wet (and warm) Washington DC, for a very wet (and cold) Washington State. But I enjoy the long flights as I get tons of stuff done. I queue up stuff for weeks to do on my flights. For example, I use the time between gate departure and 10,000 feet to read today's newspaper and then go through any of the magazines that have been piling up. Today that included a new copy of Bicycling Magazine, Triathletes Life (magazine) and Skiing Magazine. We spent 75 minutes getting from the gate to the runway - so I had some time. And then after electronics are allowed, I try and sift through all of my e-mail and catch up on the dozens of 'to-do' items for work or things around the house/personal.

But Wednesday's newspaper is my favorite day. Why? Because Wednesday contains the Food section. And I thoroughly enjoy food - and cooking. They had a really good article on Dim Sum places around the area, as well as a new variant of Fresh Mozzarella cheese (did I mention that's like my favorite food ever?). But reading through all of the recipes sorta made me bummed out too. I love to cook, and I can cook pretty well too. I can do an elaborate eight course meal (with entrees like Roulade of Peking Duck Breast with Creamed Sweet White Corn and Morel Mushroom Sauce), and I can do my favorite home style foods like a good heavy Lasagna or fresh pasta. I have an awesome Lasagna recipe that I've perfected over the years, someday I'll share it. It needs to get a bit colder before I break that out.

But what made me bummed while leafing through the Food section is that I don't really have anyone to cook for anymore. Sure, I cook BBQ's and stuff with friends and do other similar things - but it's not the same. There's something special about cooking for someone special, whether it be a simple dish or something more complex. And that I miss.

Cooking for yourself is also really difficult. I find I rarely do complex dishes anymore, nor do I do things that are indulgent in nature (i.e. Chocolate Volcano Cakes). I guess it's hard to justify the time or calories for these sort of things. Plus, so much food goes to waste - I'm getting better with solo cooking and using a set of ingredients for a week's worth of different meals but sometimes I tire of the ingredients.

At any rate - this week is turning up to be the mother of all taper's with the marathon on Sunday. I've cut it back to just one workout a day, do you know how weird that feels? Way whacky. Yesterday I did the usual brisk 5.4 miles with the running group - but I did feel like crap for the last portion. Something just wasn't clicking right. Of course I can blame the dude that non-verbally challenged me to the early hill section at sub-6's for a 1/4 of a mile or so. Probably wasn't exactly wise. Stupid is as stupid does.

Today I did an easy 1500 yard swim before heading to the airport. Tomorrow (Thursday) I'll do a casual 4 mile run in Seattle. Friday I'll swim again, maybe 1500 yards. And then Saturday I'll run a couple easy miles mid-afternoon. No biking you say? Yeah, it just turned out that way. First time since April. My Thursday/Friday's will be disasters time-wise, meetings/engagements from 7AM to 9-10PM. And then the redeye back to DC Friday night. At least I get frequent flier miles. Ugh.

Pushing through a 95MPH Headwind 0

I'm sitting here at 36,000 feet and cruising across over endless farmland with a solid 100+MPH headwind, working our way towards Seattle for a quick 48 hour set of meetings. I've traded a very wet (and warm) Washington DC, for a very wet (and cold) Washington State. But I enjoy the long flights as I get tons of stuff done. I queue up stuff for weeks to do on my flights. For example, I use the time between gate departure and 10,000 feet to read today's newspaper and then go through any of the magazines that have been piling up. Today that included a new copy of Bicycling Magazine, Triathletes Life (magazine) and Skiing Magazine. We spent 75 minutes getting from the gate to the runway - so I had some time. And then after electronics are allowed, I try and sift through all of my e-mail and catch up on the dozens of 'to-do' items for work or things around the house/personal.

But Wednesday's newspaper is my favorite day. Why? Because Wednesday contains the Food section. And I thoroughly enjoy food - and cooking. They had a really good article on Dim Sum places around the area, as well as a new variant of Fresh Mozzarella cheese (did I mention that's like my favorite food ever?). But reading through all of the recipes sorta made me bummed out too. I love to cook, and I can cook pretty well too. I can do an elaborate eight course meal (with entrees like Roulade of Peking Duck Breast with Creamed Sweet White Corn and Morel Mushroom Sauce), and I can do my favorite home style foods like a good heavy Lasagna or fresh pasta. I have an awesome Lasagna recipe that I've perfected over the years, someday I'll share it. It needs to get a bit colder before I break that out.

But what made me bummed while leafing through the Food section is that I don't really have anyone to cook for anymore. Sure, I cook BBQ's and stuff with friends and do other similar things - but it's not the same. There's something special about cooking for someone special, whether it be a simple dish or something more complex. And that I miss.

Cooking for yourself is also really difficult. I find I rarely do complex dishes anymore, nor do I do things that are indulgent in nature (i.e. Chocolate Volcano Cakes). I guess it's hard to justify the time or calories for these sort of things. Plus, so much food goes to waste - I'm getting better with solo cooking and using a set of ingredients for a week's worth of different meals but sometimes I tire of the ingredients.

At any rate - this week is turning up to be the mother of all taper's with the marathon on Sunday. I've cut it back to just one workout a day, do you know how weird that feels? Way whacky. Yesterday I did the usual brisk 5.4 miles with the running group - but I did feel like crap for the last portion. Something just wasn't clicking right. Of course I can blame the dude that non-verbally challenged me to the early hill section at sub-6's for a 1/4 of a mile or so. Probably wasn't exactly wise. Stupid is as stupid does.

Today I did an easy 1500 yard swim before heading to the airport. Tomorrow (Thursday) I'll do a casual 4 mile run in Seattle. Friday I'll swim again, maybe 1500 yards. And then Saturday I'll run a couple easy miles mid-afternoon. No biking you say? Yeah, it just turned out that way. First time since April. My Thursday/Friday's will be disasters time-wise, meetings/engagements from 7AM to 9-10PM. And then the redeye back to DC Friday night. At least I get frequent flier miles. Ugh.

Drafting - My 2008 Race Schedule 5

It is with great fanfare (ok, so perhaps no fanfare) that I present my 2008 schedule.  Well a draft of it anyway's.  I started with a list of some 32 'potential events'.  Many of them collected from various sources over the past year, from expo's to other blogger's race reports.  All of them were 'interesting' enough to be kept in a big list I have - so we're not just talking about a collection of every race I've ever heard of.  No sir, these are quality events.

I then prioritized them according to a set of semi-random parameters and requirements.  Like any true project management task, I decided against actually formalizing the requirements and instead pulled them out of my...uhm...air. This got rid of the vast majority of them.  For example, the National Half-Marathon conflicts with Oceanside: Oceanside wins.  The Seafair Tri was 7 days prior to Vineman (70.3): Vineman wins.  Some events didn't justify the travel costs, and others just didn't seem to fit into my overall Ironman training schedule.  Meaning, I couldn't very well do a century ride on the same day as an Oly tri.

My schedule can basically be divided up into three chunks:

1. Season Warm-up: This includes Oceanside & Wildflower, and probably a few local running races in the DC area - such as the GW Parkway Classic (10 Miler).  It may also include an Olympic race down in Florida, which is also the Alcatraz qualifier. These races are both fun and meant to get early season kinks worked out.
2. Build and Ironman: This starts with directly after Wildflower and includes an Olympic Tri in Philly and then a 70.3 in Vineman, finally culminating in the pinnacle of the season with Ironman Canada.  There is a logical progression here with specific periodic cycles and build points.  These races are essentially a series of tune up and build races. I'm also planning on taking a short diversion from one of my usual Seattle trips up to Penticton to ride the Ironman Canada course on some weekend. It's only a few hours drive from Seattle and seems like it would be worthwhile.  I'll probably do this in late May.
3. Post-Ironman Fun: These races are a variety fall races that look/are fun - or keep the fun going into late fall.  This includes either the Pacific Groove Triathlon in Monterrey (which has an incredible looking course) or the Annapolis Tri.  It also includes the Nation's Tri, the Army 10 Miler and from a running perspective culminates in the New York Marathon.  Because I know I'll be dying to keep the tri season going that time of year, I've included the Treasure Island Tri out in San Fran mid-November.

I'm super-psyched about next year.  I think the combination of races I have lined up will be a blast.  I'm of course still fine tuning it and working out the kinks - so if you have any suggestions I'm way open to tweakage.  I'm also interested in any comments on Wildflower regarding either short or long course.  In some ways I think doing the short course will make the weekend more enjoyable (less stress) - but the long course may be better training wise.

Oh, and in case your wondering how on earth I can manage to spend money on this much travel...miles/points are your friends.  I travel a fair bit for work, so I've got a ton of miles and hotel points I can use - saving Mr. Dollar for the race fees (which would be no different if they were local races).

So, without further babbling, here's the lineup. Some dates may be +/- a day if the exact 2008 date hasn't been announced yet:

3/9/2008	Oly	Florida, FL	Great Escape Alcatraz Qualifier
3/29/2008	Half-Iron	San Diego, CA	California 70.3/Oceanside
4/22/2008	10M Run	Alexandria, VA	GW Parkway Classic
5/4/2008	Wildflower	Lake San Antonio	Wild Flower - Olympic & HIM
5/25/2008	Relay	Bellingham, WA	Ski to Sea (Baker) - Team Relay Only
6/21/2008	Olympic	Philly, PA	Philly Tri
7/20/2008	Half-Iron	San Francisco, CA	Vineman 70.3
8/24/2008	IRONMAN	Penticton, BC	Ironman Canada
9/13/2008	Oly/Sprint	Monteray, CA	Pacific Grove Oly & Sprint Tri
9/29/2008	Oly	WashDC	The Nation's Tri
10/7/2008	10M Run	WashDC	Army 10 Miler
11/4/2008	Marathon	NYC	NYC Marathon
11/9/2008	Oly	San Francisco, CA	Treasure Island Race

Drafting - My 2008 Race Schedule 0

It is with great fanfare (ok, so perhaps no fanfare) that I present my 2008 schedule.  Well a draft of it anyway's.  I started with a list of some 32 'potential events'.  Many of them collected from various sources over the past year, from expo's to other blogger's race reports.  All of them were 'interesting' enough to be kept in a big list I have - so we're not just talking about a collection of every race I've ever heard of.  No sir, these are quality events.

I then prioritized them according to a set of semi-random parameters and requirements.  Like any true project management task, I decided against actually formalizing the requirements and instead pulled them out of my...uhm...air. This got rid of the vast majority of them.  For example, the National Half-Marathon conflicts with Oceanside: Oceanside wins.  The Seafair Tri was 7 days prior to Vineman (70.3): Vineman wins.  Some events didn't justify the travel costs, and others just didn't seem to fit into my overall Ironman training schedule.  Meaning, I couldn't very well do a century ride on the same day as an Oly tri.

My schedule can basically be divided up into three chunks:

1. Season Warm-up: This includes Oceanside & Wildflower, and probably a few local running races in the DC area - such as the GW Parkway Classic (10 Miler).  It may also include an Olympic race down in Florida, which is also the Alcatraz qualifier. These races are both fun and meant to get early season kinks worked out.
2. Build and Ironman: This starts with directly after Wildflower and includes an Olympic Tri in Philly and then a 70.3 in Vineman, finally culminating in the pinnacle of the season with Ironman Canada.  There is a logical progression here with specific periodic cycles and build points.  These races are essentially a series of tune up and build races. I'm also planning on taking a short diversion from one of my usual Seattle trips up to Penticton to ride the Ironman Canada course on some weekend. It's only a few hours drive from Seattle and seems like it would be worthwhile.  I'll probably do this in late May.
3. Post-Ironman Fun: These races are a variety fall races that look/are fun - or keep the fun going into late fall.  This includes either the Pacific Groove Triathlon in Monterrey (which has an incredible looking course) or the Annapolis Tri.  It also includes the Nation's Tri, the Army 10 Miler and from a running perspective culminates in the New York Marathon.  Because I know I'll be dying to keep the tri season going that time of year, I've included the Treasure Island Tri out in San Fran mid-November.

I'm super-psyched about next year.  I think the combination of races I have lined up will be a blast.  I'm of course still fine tuning it and working out the kinks - so if you have any suggestions I'm way open to tweakage.  I'm also interested in any comments on Wildflower regarding either short or long course.  In some ways I think doing the short course will make the weekend more enjoyable (less stress) - but the long course may be better training wise.

Oh, and in case your wondering how on earth I can manage to spend money on this much travel...miles/points are your friends.  I travel a fair bit for work, so I've got a ton of miles and hotel points I can use - saving Mr. Dollar for the race fees (which would be no different if they were local races).

So, without further babbling, here's the lineup. Some dates may be +/- a day if the exact 2008 date hasn't been announced yet:

3/9/2008	Oly	Florida, FL	Great Escape Alcatraz Qualifier
3/29/2008	Half-Iron	San Diego, CA	California 70.3/Oceanside
4/22/2008	10M Run	Alexandria, VA	GW Parkway Classic
5/4/2008	Wildflower	Lake San Antonio	Wild Flower - Olympic & HIM
5/25/2008	Relay	Bellingham, WA	Ski to Sea (Baker) - Team Relay Only
6/21/2008	Olympic	Philly, PA	Philly Tri
7/20/2008	Half-Iron	San Francisco, CA	Vineman 70.3
8/24/2008	IRONMAN	Penticton, BC	Ironman Canada
9/13/2008	Oly/Sprint	Monteray, CA	Pacific Grove Oly & Sprint Tri
9/29/2008	Oly	WashDC	The Nation's Tri
10/7/2008	10M Run	WashDC	Army 10 Miler
11/4/2008	Marathon	NYC	NYC Marathon
11/9/2008	Oly	San Francisco, CA	Treasure Island Race

Half-Mary here I come 3

In my random driving around today I decided on which half I'm going to do.  After looking at my options (all two of them: Philly and Outer Banks), I'm going with Philly's Half.  It will be a shorter drive, and a bigger race, which I find more fun most of the time.  I went ahead and gave away some more money to the Race Gods tonight, so I'm all signed up and ready to go.

One little thing I haven't yet figured out is where I'm going to stay the night before.  When I went up to Pennsylvania earlier this summer for the Steelman Tri I simply just camped at a nearby campground (us Seattle-ites swing that way).  But given this time of year will (hopefully) be much cooler, I'm not so down with that.  I did enough winter camping as a kid; thank you very much.  So if anyone has any recommendations for quick and easy (and relatively cheap) places, let me know.  I guess if I was really organized I'd try and see if I could use any of my Hilton or Marriott points anywhere.

Now...the real question is a matter of whether or not I can knock out the required 1:23:00.  Actually, the better question is one of whether or not I collapse along the way trying.  To be clear, I think that 1:23:00 is doable - it's just whether or not I do it that weekend.  But I figure either way, I'll go for a solid PR.  And have fun doing it.

Half fun running until one might collapse you say?  You see - I enjoy the half-marathon distance.  It's probably my favorite running distance.  I don't particularly enjoy the marathon distance (despite doing one next weekend), it's just too much mental aerobics for my brain.  Even if you 'take one mile down, pass it around', there's still 25.2 miles of pain left up on the wall.  While my body can do the distance, my brain hates it.  With the half, it's over in under two hours, and you can go onto have a normal remainder of the day.  With the marathon you limp around like a gimp duck missing one foot for a few days, all while having a strange smiling grimace on your face (and still wearing the official t-shirt three days later).

Anyway's, on unrelated notes...  The swim yesterday (Friday) with the DC Tri Club went well.  This was my first interaction with them as a club.  The workout was nicely put together and included much more focus on sets then I usually do in my own swim workouts.  My swim workouts have more or less degraded into just swimming all of the laps required in 1-2 straight shots, probably not helping my speed or form too much.  They included 150 yds of kick.  My legs were burning after that!  Not very friendly of them I say.

I ended up going out again this morning with them for a brick-n-picnic in Rock Creek Park, which was fun.  The weather was also a perfect fall day, probably got to the low 70's and mostly sunny.  Fairly casual and easy brick - sorta a nice ride & run in the park.  Tomorrow I've got my final 'long run' for next week's Marathon.  Although I don't think I can really call 8 miles a 'long run', given that's my usual mid-week longer run distance.  But it should be a good time, going out with a few of the guys that I'll be running with next weekend during the race.  After which I have to drop off my car to get it's semi-flat tire fixed/replaced, but I'll take that 90-120 minutes as an opportunity to either go for a bike ride somewhere or bike to the pool and then bike back after getting in my swim.

Half-Mary here I come 0

In my random driving around today I decided on which half I'm going to do.  After looking at my options (all two of them: Philly and Outer Banks), I'm going with Philly's Half.  It will be a shorter drive, and a bigger race, which I find more fun most of the time.  I went ahead and gave away some more money to the Race Gods tonight, so I'm all signed up and ready to go.

One little thing I haven't yet figured out is where I'm going to stay the night before.  When I went up to Pennsylvania earlier this summer for the Steelman Tri I simply just camped at a nearby campground (us Seattle-ites swing that way).  But given this time of year will (hopefully) be much cooler, I'm not so down with that.  I did enough winter camping as a kid; thank you very much.  So if anyone has any recommendations for quick and easy (and relatively cheap) places, let me know.  I guess if I was really organized I'd try and see if I could use any of my Hilton or Marriott points anywhere.

Now...the real question is a matter of whether or not I can knock out the required 1:23:00.  Actually, the better question is one of whether or not I collapse along the way trying.  To be clear, I think that 1:23:00 is doable - it's just whether or not I do it that weekend.  But I figure either way, I'll go for a solid PR.  And have fun doing it.

Half fun running until one might collapse you say?  You see - I enjoy the half-marathon distance.  It's probably my favorite running distance.  I don't particularly enjoy the marathon distance (despite doing one next weekend), it's just too much mental aerobics for my brain.  Even if you 'take one mile down, pass it around', there's still 25.2 miles of pain left up on the wall.  While my body can do the distance, my brain hates it.  With the half, it's over in under two hours, and you can go onto have a normal remainder of the day.  With the marathon you limp around like a gimp duck missing one foot for a few days, all while having a strange smiling grimace on your face (and still wearing the official t-shirt three days later).

Anyway's, on unrelated notes...  The swim yesterday (Friday) with the DC Tri Club went well.  This was my first interaction with them as a club.  The workout was nicely put together and included much more focus on sets then I usually do in my own swim workouts.  My swim workouts have more or less degraded into just swimming all of the laps required in 1-2 straight shots, probably not helping my speed or form too much.  They included 150 yds of kick.  My legs were burning after that!  Not very friendly of them I say.

I ended up going out again this morning with them for a brick-n-picnic in Rock Creek Park, which was fun.  The weather was also a perfect fall day, probably got to the low 70's and mostly sunny.  Fairly casual and easy brick - sorta a nice ride & run in the park.  Tomorrow I've got my final 'long run' for next week's Marathon.  Although I don't think I can really call 8 miles a 'long run', given that's my usual mid-week longer run distance.  But it should be a good time, going out with a few of the guys that I'll be running with next weekend during the race.  After which I have to drop off my car to get it's semi-flat tire fixed/replaced, but I'll take that 90-120 minutes as an opportunity to either go for a bike ride somewhere or bike to the pool and then bike back after getting in my swim.

Things I don't understand 1

I should be sleeping.  But I can't sleep.  I should be sleeping because I have to wake up in less than 6 hours to meet up with some tri folks for a swim.  Swimming of course not being my strong suit, and neither is waking up at 5:45AM.  And finally - neither is meeting up with random people I've never met before.

I'm not good at idle chit-chat.  It's just not my thing.  In my mind, every spoken conversation, every question - has a purpose.  Not just to be spoken for the sake of speaking.  If I'm talking with someone, I don't ask questions I already know the answer to.  Why?  Why would I A) Potentially sound stupid asking something I already know B) Want to spend time asking about something I already know.

The problem here being that idle chit-chat is the basis for the dating scene.  A scene I'm just getting back into after a prolonged departure from (years...).  When you're in a relationship there is no pressure with respect to idle chit-chat and members of the opposite sex.  None of it matters.  It's all throwaway for the most part.  So you can either smile and nod, or just move on.  But that doesn't seem to apply when you're actively recruiting.

I do well in situations where either the topic being spoken is interesting, or something I actually know about.  Talking about nothing is not my specialty.  Even if I know something about the subject, I generally won't intervene for fear of saying something stupid or obvious.  Of course, other people (i.e. males) do intervene and make random comments - perpetuating the whole conversation into a scene of useless babble (probably not unlike my post at the moment...).

I just don't understand it.  Aren't there people out there that don't require idle chit-chat?

Oh, and I'm also confused about whether or not to run with good looking runner chick with my group runs or not.  The problem is that runner chick (while quite a good runner) is starting to hose up my workouts and making them become 'throwaway'.  We run along at an ok pace but I don't feel like I'm getting anything out of it (with respect to training...get your mind out of the gutter).  I don't have enough hours or energy left in the day to do yet another run to make up for the so-so run (on top of my other workout - swim or bike).  Which in turn makes me feel like I'm not making progress, and that in turn bums me out.

My initial plan was to run with the fast group on Tuesdays, and then the 'scenic' group on Thursdays.  Seems like a good compromise.  But then I realized that if I didn't run with scenic group on Tuesday, then member of said scenic group would likely move on to other interests.  Not ideal.  So now I'm stuck in a pattern of scenic runs.

Anyway's, I'm still confused...and frustrated.  But maybe I'm closer to falling asleep.

Things I don't understand 0

I should be sleeping.  But I can't sleep.  I should be sleeping because I have to wake up in less than 6 hours to meet up with some tri folks for a swim.  Swimming of course not being my strong suit, and neither is waking up at 5:45AM.  And finally - neither is meeting up with random people I've never met before.

I'm not good at idle chit-chat.  It's just not my thing.  In my mind, every spoken conversation, every question - has a purpose.  Not just to be spoken for the sake of speaking.  If I'm talking with someone, I don't ask questions I already know the answer to.  Why?  Why would I A) Potentially sound stupid asking something I already know B) Want to spend time asking about something I already know.

The problem here being that idle chit-chat is the basis for the dating scene.  A scene I'm just getting back into after a prolonged departure from (years...).  When you're in a relationship there is no pressure with respect to idle chit-chat and members of the opposite sex.  None of it matters.  It's all throwaway for the most part.  So you can either smile and nod, or just move on.  But that doesn't seem to apply when you're actively recruiting.

I do well in situations where either the topic being spoken is interesting, or something I actually know about.  Talking about nothing is not my specialty.  Even if I know something about the subject, I generally won't intervene for fear of saying something stupid or obvious.  Of course, other people (i.e. males) do intervene and make random comments - perpetuating the whole conversation into a scene of useless babble (probably not unlike my post at the moment...).

I just don't understand it.  Aren't there people out there that don't require idle chit-chat?

Oh, and I'm also confused about whether or not to run with good looking runner chick with my group runs or not.  The problem is that runner chick (while quite a good runner) is starting to hose up my workouts and making them become 'throwaway'.  We run along at an ok pace but I don't feel like I'm getting anything out of it (with respect to training...get your mind out of the gutter).  I don't have enough hours or energy left in the day to do yet another run to make up for the so-so run (on top of my other workout - swim or bike).  Which in turn makes me feel like I'm not making progress, and that in turn bums me out.

My initial plan was to run with the fast group on Tuesdays, and then the 'scenic' group on Thursdays.  Seems like a good compromise.  But then I realized that if I didn't run with scenic group on Tuesday, then member of said scenic group would likely move on to other interests.  Not ideal.  So now I'm stuck in a pattern of scenic runs.

Anyway's, I'm still confused...and frustrated.  But maybe I'm closer to falling asleep.

Cycling in the middle of nowhere 0

I had to make a quick trip down to North Carolina, to a town just about 20 miles south of the Virginia border for some meetings yesterday.  Given I had my usual bike workout planned for Tuesday I figured it would be a cool opportunity to do a ride some place other than my usual stomping grounds/routes.

The meetings ended by noon, so I basically had all afternoon to drive back the 3.5 hours to DC.  I decided I would just pick a random place, pull off the highway and then start riding.  I'm all about adhoc. I saw some roads crisscrossing the farm lands near the highway that looked pretty quiet so I jumped off the highway and then began to look for a parking lot.  Of course, it didn't occur to me that there wouldn't be a parking lot in the middle of nowhere.  There were to gas stations, schools or parks - it was just instant farms.

And then it hit me!  I'm in an area where it appears everyone just leaves their cars strewn about all over the place (lawns, front yard, side of road, neighbors yard, upside down, sideways, etc...) - so I just did the same.  I picked a random place on the side of the road and called it my parking spot.

And then I rode.  I rode past barns, corn fields, active working tractors, died antique tractors, random crops I've never seen - and even cotton fields.  The cotton ones were kinda cool, it almost looks like it snowed.

Despite the nasty winds sweeping across the fields, it was a fun ride.  Just aimlessly going nowhere in particular for about 75 minutes on quiet country roads.  Nobody honked, nobody cut me off, everyone just moseyed along.  Although I was briefly concerned as a oversize house came rumbling down the road (ya know, the ones that they drag on big trailers).  Other than that, it was just a nice way to break up an otherwise boring drive home.  The below satellite view of the route farmlands is about as scenic as the actual view from the handlebars.  Nice to see something different for a change.

Oh, and on a side note - a butter knife can still hurt like heck once impaled into your finger.  One should consider avoiding that in the future.  Not that I would know anything about that or anything...

Cycling in the middle of nowhere 0

I had to make a quick trip down to North Carolina, to a town just about 20 miles south of the Virginia border for some meetings yesterday.  Given I had my usual bike workout planned for Tuesday I figured it would be a cool opportunity to do a ride some place other than my usual stomping grounds/routes.

The meetings ended by noon, so I basically had all afternoon to drive back the 3.5 hours to DC.  I decided I would just pick a random place, pull off the highway and then start riding.  I'm all about adhoc. I saw some roads crisscrossing the farm lands near the highway that looked pretty quiet so I jumped off the highway and then began to look for a parking lot.  Of course, it didn't occur to me that there wouldn't be a parking lot in the middle of nowhere.  There were to gas stations, schools or parks - it was just instant farms.

And then it hit me!  I'm in an area where it appears everyone just leaves their cars strewn about all over the place (lawns, front yard, side of road, neighbors yard, upside down, sideways, etc...) - so I just did the same.  I picked a random place on the side of the road and called it my parking spot.

And then I rode.  I rode past barns, corn fields, active working tractors, died antique tractors, random crops I've never seen - and even cotton fields.  The cotton ones were kinda cool, it almost looks like it snowed.

Despite the nasty winds sweeping across the fields, it was a fun ride.  Just aimlessly going nowhere in particular for about 75 minutes on quiet country roads.  Nobody honked, nobody cut me off, everyone just moseyed along.  Although I was briefly concerned as a oversize house came rumbling down the road (ya know, the ones that they drag on big trailers).  Other than that, it was just a nice way to break up an otherwise boring drive home.  The below satellite view of the route farmlands is about as scenic as the actual view from the handlebars.  Nice to see something different for a change.

Oh, and on a side note - a butter knife can still hurt like heck once impaled into your finger.  One should consider avoiding that in the future.  Not that I would know anything about that or anything...

Wanted: Half Marathon Race in next 60 days 3

I've been contemplating for a while now to try and qualify for the New York Marathon next year based on a half-marathon time (the whole lottery thing this year didn't work out too well for me).  For my age group, this would be a 6:20/mile pace (1:23:00 total time).  Last Sunday's Army 10-miler was 6:40/mile - but in 80* heat with very high humidity.  Certainly that warm humid thing played into it.  I think with cooler weather and a few more weeks I can drop that by 20 seconds a mile.  It will take some pain; but no pain - no gain*.  My 10K time two weeks ago was 6:29/mile (after doing a swim/bike during an OlyTri).  I figure that a 10-miler time has to be in the same ballpark as a half-mary time - at that point everything has stabilized from a pace perspective and it's only another 19-20 minutes, which would be more nutrition/aerobic focused that legs (since my legs will be doing the distance on Oct 28 in a full marathon).

I'd assume that a November/December half-marathon would be less than 80*.  If not - I'm moving to Alaska.  Having been to Alaska, I really like it there, well the scenery anyway's - some of the people are sorta odd ducks.

The next/last race of the 'race year' I have is the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October, so anything after that is fair game.  I'm going to do a fun little Jingle Bell 10K on Dec 9th here in DC - just for fun, and to cleanly try and break the 40:00 10K barrier (damn you 12 seconds last time).  At some point I need to get in about a two week 'cool down/rest' before the end of the calendar year.  I've been training constantly and consistently since Christmas of last year.

Oh...anyway's - back to the point of my post.  Suggestions for a half-mary before the end of the year - without flying anywhere I wouldn't otherwise be traveling to.  Drives up to 5 or so hours would be fine. Has to be after Nov 2nd (7 days post-Marathon).  Can't be on Turkey day weekend unless it's somewhere within 60 minutes of Waterbury, Connecticut (where I'm spending Thanksgiving). Something of scale is preferable - I tend to thrive/enjoy a bit on all of the energy.

Options I've found, which after extensive Googling isn't many:

Nov 9th - Outer Banks Half-Marathon/Marathon (5 hours away)
Nov 18th - Philly Half-Marathon/Marathon (3 hours away)

From a recovery and drive standpoint, the Philly Half seems to be the best option - but maybe all you folks have some other alternatives or suggestions.  I have heard from a friend that the Philly course is flat and fast - so that would be positive.

Of course, I could just simply sit back, relax and prepare for Turkeydom.  And deal with the qualifying time between now and June.  Which is appealing...

 

*Yes, I know that's not entirely true...base is key..blah.blah.blah.

Wanted: Half Marathon Race in next 60 days 0

I've been contemplating for a while now to try and qualify for the New York Marathon next year based on a half-marathon time (the whole lottery thing this year didn't work out too well for me).  For my age group, this would be a 6:20/mile pace (1:23:00 total time).  Last Sunday's Army 10-miler was 6:40/mile - but in 80* heat with very high humidity.  Certainly that warm humid thing played into it.  I think with cooler weather and a few more weeks I can drop that by 20 seconds a mile.  It will take some pain; but no pain - no gain*.  My 10K time two weeks ago was 6:29/mile (after doing a swim/bike during an OlyTri).  I figure that a 10-miler time has to be in the same ballpark as a half-mary time - at that point everything has stabilized from a pace perspective and it's only another 19-20 minutes, which would be more nutrition/aerobic focused that legs (since my legs will be doing the distance on Oct 28 in a full marathon).

I'd assume that a November/December half-marathon would be less than 80*.  If not - I'm moving to Alaska.  Having been to Alaska, I really like it there, well the scenery anyway's - some of the people are sorta odd ducks.

The next/last race of the 'race year' I have is the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October, so anything after that is fair game.  I'm going to do a fun little Jingle Bell 10K on Dec 9th here in DC - just for fun, and to cleanly try and break the 40:00 10K barrier (damn you 12 seconds last time).  At some point I need to get in about a two week 'cool down/rest' before the end of the calendar year.  I've been training constantly and consistently since Christmas of last year.

Oh...anyway's - back to the point of my post.  Suggestions for a half-mary before the end of the year - without flying anywhere I wouldn't otherwise be traveling to.  Drives up to 5 or so hours would be fine. Has to be after Nov 2nd (7 days post-Marathon).  Can't be on Turkey day weekend unless it's somewhere within 60 minutes of Waterbury, Connecticut (where I'm spending Thanksgiving). Something of scale is preferable - I tend to thrive/enjoy a bit on all of the energy.

Options I've found, which after extensive Googling isn't many:

Nov 9th - Outer Banks Half-Marathon/Marathon (5 hours away)
Nov 18th - Philly Half-Marathon/Marathon (3 hours away)

From a recovery and drive standpoint, the Philly Half seems to be the best option - but maybe all you folks have some other alternatives or suggestions.  I have heard from a friend that the Philly course is flat and fast - so that would be positive.

Of course, I could just simply sit back, relax and prepare for Turkeydom.  And deal with the qualifying time between now and June.  Which is appealing...

 

*Yes, I know that's not entirely true...base is key..blah.blah.blah.

Spinning around in circles 1

It seems as though whenever I end my swim and leave the rec center there is a spinning class going on.  One of these days I've got to actually try it out. 

The crowd at this particular place appears a touch older than me though, so I'm wondering if I should try and find something with people roughly my age.  Although I have no idea where to look for said class. 

What's the general protocol and session breakdown like?  All it says on the door is start times.  For example, do I need to bring cycling shoes?  Do I stay on the bike the whole time?  And would I consider it a substitute to my regular bike training workouts, or something else in addition to?

It also seems like whenever I go by the spinning room there is a lot of yelling going on.  But it does look intriguing.

Spinning around in circles 0

It seems as though whenever I end my swim and leave the rec center there is a spinning class going on.  One of these days I've got to actually try it out. 

The crowd at this particular place appears a touch older than me though, so I'm wondering if I should try and find something with people roughly my age.  Although I have no idea where to look for said class. 

What's the general protocol and session breakdown like?  All it says on the door is start times.  For example, do I need to bring cycling shoes?  Do I stay on the bike the whole time?  And would I consider it a substitute to my regular bike training workouts, or something else in addition to?

It also seems like whenever I go by the spinning room there is a lot of yelling going on.  But it does look intriguing.

"You've lost too much weight, we can't help you" 3

This whole triathlon sport is costing me quite a bit of cashola.  $1,300 for the bike (yes, cheap, I know), $500 for Ironman registration fee, and countless other hundreds of dollars for various other ancillary costs (ok, it's actually probably thousands).

And now this - a new suit.  I only got this thing about 18 months ago, and it was really nice and fit well.  Ironically, I got it about three weeks before I started marathon training last year.  This summer at a ceremony I went to I realized that I could have probably completed a swim workout inside my suit.  It was waaay to big.

So a few weeks back I swung by Nordstrom (where I got it) and asked about getting it altered to fit me.  They said to drop it off at the cleaners first before any alterations were done.  I then did that last week and then today I went ahead and went back to Nordstrom to get it all sized and fixed.  They had me change into it and then stand up on the little platform while they poked and prodded.

The alterations gentleman was not amused.  Seriously - he was seemingly unhappy that I lost weight.  Now mind you, I wasn't overweight before, I just was more 'built out' - and now I'm more 'refined'.  Either way, between the sales dude and the fitter/alterations guy - there was no joy being exerted in my general direction.  It wasn't like they were apologetic about being unable to help me - they were simply quite upset that I lost so much weight that the suit doesn't fit.  The conversation/fitting ended with a terse "You've lost too much weight, we can't help you!".  Goodbye.

So...now I've got to buy another suit.  That's a lot of race registrations and bike parts I could buy with that money.  And for something I wear what - once every few months?

In unrelated notes - had a fun 12.4 mile run this morning, cruising along.  It's nice that the long runs are short enough again to have fun pushing the speed.  Of course, the obvious disadvantage of that being that the Marathon is two weeks away - it better get cool quick.  Ran with a few tri dudes during the group run.  I ended up cycling with one of them this afternoon instead of my planned ride.  But it worked out well, we did about 35 miles worth of laps (plus transit to the location) around windy Haines Point.  Ironically I found out later during the ride that he came in 6th in our age group at the Nation's Tri (I came in 7th).  That's good though, because he's a stronger cyclist than I am - so I got pushed a bit.