What Can We Do?

There's a link I'd like to post.

A link that will take you to a website where you can help someone important to me, and help a worthy cause in a long, not ending any time soon fight.

As those of you who regularly read this know the last 10-11 months have been a tough period. Friends lost unexpectedly. My father-in-law losing his battle with cancer, and most recently my mother losing her battle with breast cancer. Tough times are typically when people are called to action. We each do what we can.

T is doing what she can. She, along with her mother (because the fucking disease has touched her family as well), are participating in the Komen 3-Day for the Cure, in Seattle this September. What is that exactly? They will walk 60 miles over 3 days and raise money to help fight this disease that has touched each and every one of us.

They are doing what they can.

What I'd like to do is post that link now, so that if you've felt the cold touch of this disease and are able, you can do what you can.

T's 3 Day Fundraising Page.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

I made a tough one this morning.

The lungs aren't quite there yet...still working way too hard to move air when my effort increases. I ran a hilly route this morning and my HR shouldn't be in the high 160s at the pace I was at, even running uphill.

So, not wanting to totally crash and burn Saturday, I'll be running with T trying to help her finish in what could be a huge PR.

Time to shift my focus to the fall now.

Not Encouraging In The Least

The last entry I mentioned the run on Saturday that ended up being much harder than it should have due to me suffering from a cold. Remember that one?

Well, even though I'm feeling mucho better and am on my second day sudafed free the way I felt on my run today is not giving me a lot of encouragement for Saturday.

Now, granted it was hot/humid out - my own fault, I violated Summer Running Rule #1 today but it should not have felt like it did. My legs were okay, but my lungs were not up to it, plus my heart rate shouldn't be hitting 170. Nope, not encouraging.

I'm going to get out there much earlier tomorrow and see how it goes, and if that run ends up the same as today's then most likely Saturday's goal race becomes a long run that I get a t-shirt for finishing. Not ideal, but is looking more and more like the intelligent move.

Damn that person who passed on the cold to T.

The Thing I Dread The Most

Having a cold in the summer. It seems like that is the only time of year I get sick anymore. Okay, also having a cold 5 days before a goal race.

I don't advise doing hard effort running while on sudafed (and I don't be the PE shit) or on a day when there is a 98% humidity level. That was Saturday. Completely wore me out.

I think I've turned a corner though...just hope the progress continues.

As Promised: 5/3 Riverbank Run Race Report

The 5/3 Riverbank Run is a tradition here in Grand Rapids. 2010 was the 33rd running of the race, and the race serves as the US Track & Field 25k Road Race National Championship which means there's a good chance of catching a glimpse of recognizable elite athletes. Every year we've been in Michigan I've been asked: are you running Riverbank? by anyone that knows I'm a runner.

In the past I've run the 5k and the 10k they hold in conjunction with the 25k but until this year I'd shied away from the big boy.

With the half marathon at Bayshore being my goal race this spring (Memorial Day weekend) I thought the 25k (which by the way for the metric challenged equals 15.5 miles, 2.4 miles longer than a HM) would give me a great chance to run a bunch of goal pace miles to gauge my fitness level and do it with a bunch of people and support along the course. Plus registration was only $30. That's right, $30, and that was up until about a week before the race. Bargain.

Race day started out perfect. Weather was cool, some rain in the forecast - which held off, and the only thing not working in our favor was the wind. 20-30 mph predicted, not ideal for running in.

We did have a nice moment of hilarity on the walk to the start line. The race course starts and finishes in downtown Grand Rapids, so the city's finest were out directing traffic and closing off roads. We pass an intersection with two, that's right two police vehicles blocking the street and two police officers standing there...as we're walking across the street a young woman swerves and zooms past the officers, goes under a bridge and stops at a red light to make a left turn (her left turn would have put her right on the 5k course). One of the police officers throws his hands up, looks at all of us crossing the street with a "you've got to be kidding me" look and proceeds to walk up to her car and knock on the window. No idea what was said to her, but the fact the police officer was pissed and she was on her cell phone it probably wasn't causal pleasantries.

The goal for the race was to run the first 2.4 miles easy, around 10:30-10:45 pace as a warm-up and then hit the lap button on my garmin and "race" the last 13.1 miles in an attempt to see how long I could hold my goal pace of 9:30/mile.

First miles went by with out incident - except for a bathroom break due to cold diuresis - and as we hit the 2.4 mile mark I wished T good luck (she was also running the 25k and trying to execute the same type of plan I was), hit the lap button and took off.

It was a pretty good feeling passing folks, because that's pretty much what I did for the next two hours. I walked a few water stops, but for the most part I held a pace between 9:30 and 9:45 until I hit 3.1 miles to go when I tried to push a bit. I had to take a walk break right about 1 mile to go, hit the lap button as I crossed the sign telling us 1 mile to go and took off for the finish running a 8:45 pace for that mile.

Chip time: 2:34:29

Using my garmin (which auto paused when I stopped to pee and retie my shoe) times and taking out the first 2.4 miles it worked out that I ran a 2:06:21 HM. Not great but not shabby either.

I was very pleased how the day went. Loved the course - a significant portion of the course is also used for the GR Marathon in the fall, just in reverse - and can definitely say I'll be running this race again.

The End is Finally Here

Due to a craptastic weather forecast last Friday evening (the weather reality was not of the Minnow wreaking proportions predicted) the conference track meet was postponed until today.

Starting at 4 pm. That's right, 4 pm. Which means the meet will end approximately sometime around 10:00 pm.

BUT, it is the last home event to be covered. So that is a positive.

Also, there are only 11 work days left. That, is also a positive.

Long Weekend

We had a long weekend, not in the sense of an extra day or two included in the weekend, but a jam packed weekend of fun and frivolity.

Saturday was the first goal race of the spring for me - the 5/3 Riverbank Run 25k. More on that in an upcoming post.

T and I planned to see Iron Man 2 on Sunday, so that took up a good chunk of the late morning/early afternoon. Good movie by the way. Excellent sequel that avoided the usual traps that befall sequels to big budget blockbusters. Then we had tickets to see the Goo Goo Dolls Sunday night.

Great show - second time I've seen 'em - that capped off an exceptional weekend.

The weekend set the tone for the upcoming week, and really for the rest of May as things slowly wind down for me at work. God, it's nice to see the calendar turn to May.

Nature vs Nurture

It's an age old debate, nature vs. nurture, with some convincing arguments on both sides.

Read The Talent Code. It's not a lot of pages, easy to read, but there is a wealth of information there to be mined. If you're in any profession where you teach or coach you need to read this book.