Bigger version of the photo that is on my profile now. T took this Sunday during our walk along the lakewalk in Duluth.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Coming Clean
I have an announcement to make:
I am a nerd. (Big shock to some of you reading this, I'm sure.)
I collected comic books, and not for any future monetary value, until I graduated high school. I quote Star Wars at the drop of the hat - and you'd be amazed at how philosophical it can be. I watch a lot of educational television.
So why the revelation? Because I'm about to use The Incredible Hulk as a jumping off point for a blog post.
T and I went to see it on Friday. Good movie I thought (much better than The Hulk a few years ago), Ed Norton was good, and believable, and the character development was nice. Character development...that's what I wanted to talk about, and hopefully to do so without spoiling the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.
Everyone probably knows the premise of the character Bruce Banner/The Hulk, if from nothing else our generation grew up watching it on CBS on Friday nights. Banner is doing everything he can to rid himself of his alter ego, and this holds true in the current movie.
He's trying to rid himself of his inner demon that is fueled by anger/rage...sounds like quite a few people I know in real life, including me.
Due to circumstances that happen during the film, Banner undergoes a fundamental change in his philosophy of how to deal with the creature by the end of the movie...instead of trying to rid himself of that part of him he attempts to control it.
We all have aspects of our personality that we aren't necessarily proud of (I know I do) and maybe instead of trying to bury them or ignore them in hopes they won't ever surface we should confront them and try to control them. Acknowledge they exist, that we all aren't perfect, and then work on controlling those parts that tend to get us in trouble.
So yeah...I'm a nerd.
Oh, and I did something for the first time in 7+ years this weekend. Needed a clean start, a do-over, if you will after dealing with some things in the last month or two...so I shaved. Clean. Goatee is gone (it's coming back...as quick as it will grow). No, I'm not posting a picture, so don't ask.
I am a nerd. (Big shock to some of you reading this, I'm sure.)
I collected comic books, and not for any future monetary value, until I graduated high school. I quote Star Wars at the drop of the hat - and you'd be amazed at how philosophical it can be. I watch a lot of educational television.
So why the revelation? Because I'm about to use The Incredible Hulk as a jumping off point for a blog post.
T and I went to see it on Friday. Good movie I thought (much better than The Hulk a few years ago), Ed Norton was good, and believable, and the character development was nice. Character development...that's what I wanted to talk about, and hopefully to do so without spoiling the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.
Everyone probably knows the premise of the character Bruce Banner/The Hulk, if from nothing else our generation grew up watching it on CBS on Friday nights. Banner is doing everything he can to rid himself of his alter ego, and this holds true in the current movie.
He's trying to rid himself of his inner demon that is fueled by anger/rage...sounds like quite a few people I know in real life, including me.
Due to circumstances that happen during the film, Banner undergoes a fundamental change in his philosophy of how to deal with the creature by the end of the movie...instead of trying to rid himself of that part of him he attempts to control it.
We all have aspects of our personality that we aren't necessarily proud of (I know I do) and maybe instead of trying to bury them or ignore them in hopes they won't ever surface we should confront them and try to control them. Acknowledge they exist, that we all aren't perfect, and then work on controlling those parts that tend to get us in trouble.
So yeah...I'm a nerd.
Oh, and I did something for the first time in 7+ years this weekend. Needed a clean start, a do-over, if you will after dealing with some things in the last month or two...so I shaved. Clean. Goatee is gone (it's coming back...as quick as it will grow). No, I'm not posting a picture, so don't ask.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Incredible Really
Christmas 2006 I gave T a Nike Imara watch. She really liked it.
June 2007 the band on it broke - and like all Nike watches if that happens it needs to be repaired by Nike. Find the service center to mail it to, send the receipt showing we'd had it less than six months, etc, and then put it in the mail.
June 23, 2008 we arrive back from Duluth, MN. There is a box waiting for us between the doors. I open it...much to my surprise it's T's watch.
On the invoice showing it was a warranty issue it says:
Turnaround Time: 366 days.
June 2007 the band on it broke - and like all Nike watches if that happens it needs to be repaired by Nike. Find the service center to mail it to, send the receipt showing we'd had it less than six months, etc, and then put it in the mail.
June 23, 2008 we arrive back from Duluth, MN. There is a box waiting for us between the doors. I open it...much to my surprise it's T's watch.
On the invoice showing it was a warranty issue it says:
Turnaround Time: 366 days.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Grandma's Marathon 2008 - Report From a First-timer
Just want to start out by saying a blanket "Thank You" to everyone who PMed, emailed, texted, posted good luck wishes in the days leading up to Saturday. It meant a lot to me before I got the starting line and it really made a difference around mile 22.
Words of Caution:
1) Try not to travel around the country in the 10 days preceding your first marathon. Being in Seattle and St. Louis right before may not have been the best move on my part.
2) No matter if you charged it the night before, check your garmin before you leave the hotel room (especially if you're leaving the key there) to make sure it some how didn't get turned on during the night and drained the battery.
Pre-Race:
Had an interesting time getting to the airport in St. Louis - still pissed at the shuttle company that despite two phone calls as we were waiting still didn't show up. $35 cab ride.
BigGahoona was waiting for us at the airport and we made it to Pizza Luce for lunch with PacerChris, Brandy, Runnin-from-the-law (and her two kids), JenRuns (and MrJenRuns), and baggio16.
Quick stop by the expo, light dinner and we were asleep early (somehow I managed to screw up the alarm clock - it went off as scheduled but it the time got set an hour ahead, so we were all up an hour early rookie mistake)
Race Day:
Waiting on the shuttle I realize that some how my garmin batter is low. I left the key in the room since I wasn't checking a bag (Tonya had all of our stuff since she would be waiting for me at the finish) so I was screwed. I hoped it would have enough to at least make it part of the day with the gps turned off.
Make it to the start, meet up with Pacer and Baggs. The look of panic on Baggs' face when I tell him about my garmin was priceless...think he said something like "that would freak me out". Flick a little grief towards Pacer's guy Linus who is shivering under a blanket (he was pacing the 4:00 group so he would at least be easy to find before the start) and then make my way to the line.
Cool flyover by the F-16s.
Turn on my garmin, turn off the gps and keep my fingers crossed. Damn thing is dead before the race even starts. Within 30 seconds of crossing the line Linus and the 4:00 group are gone. No idea how fast I was going, but as we crossed the first mile marker someone said "wow, that's a fast first mile for the 4:00 group - 8:37". I tried to run easy but easier said then done when I had no feedback as to how fast I was going. I did manage to notice that as I crossed the mat I was about 3:00 behind the actual start.
First clock is at 5 miles. I looked at the pace band and was about 3 minutes ahead of the goal pace. Time to slow down a bit. Except I slowed down too much.
Crossed the half in 2:03. Not to bad Felt okay...for another 3-4 miles or so.
About then is when it really got hot/humid. I didn't drink ultima (more on that later) soon enough and could feel myself starting to slow down.
Walked about .3 or so of mile 17.
Made our way back towards town. About mile 20 or so is when Cranegirl joined me running (she stayed on the sidewalk) and holy shite was that a pick-me-up. Saw Sage right before I started up Lemon Drop Hill.
Made it up Lemon Drop Hill, but my quads were cramping. Had to stop and stretch a few times. Walked a bit. Made it to mile 25 and it took every ounce of will I had left in me, but there was no f*cking way I was walking from that point in. Ran every single step of the way that last 1.2 miles.
Crossed the line - had no idea that all of the 30s were screaming for me from the bleachers as I crossed the line, that's how focused I was to just make it across the line.
I learned a lot about myself Saturday...still processing some of it.
Was my goal too ambitious? Maybe, but I'd decided Saturday morning that I was going to hang with the 4:00 group as long as I could, but realized that 4:15 was probably where I should have been.
Was I prepared? Yeah, but I still neglected some things: I'm never going into a race like this with an unknown...this one was ultima...that stuff sucks. I'll take my own Gatorade with me next time (think this is a big reason why I started cramping)
I'm going to make sure I have some way of timing myself.
All in all I couldn't be happier about Saturday...I'm not making excuses, but with everything that day held I did the best I could do.
Thanks to all of the 30s, whether you ran or not Saturday, for being there (on the course or in spirit) for me.
On to Chicago.
Words of Caution:
1) Try not to travel around the country in the 10 days preceding your first marathon. Being in Seattle and St. Louis right before may not have been the best move on my part.
2) No matter if you charged it the night before, check your garmin before you leave the hotel room (especially if you're leaving the key there) to make sure it some how didn't get turned on during the night and drained the battery.
Pre-Race:
Had an interesting time getting to the airport in St. Louis - still pissed at the shuttle company that despite two phone calls as we were waiting still didn't show up. $35 cab ride.
BigGahoona was waiting for us at the airport and we made it to Pizza Luce for lunch with PacerChris, Brandy, Runnin-from-the-law (and her two kids), JenRuns (and MrJenRuns), and baggio16.
Quick stop by the expo, light dinner and we were asleep early (somehow I managed to screw up the alarm clock - it went off as scheduled but it the time got set an hour ahead, so we were all up an hour early rookie mistake)
Race Day:
Waiting on the shuttle I realize that some how my garmin batter is low. I left the key in the room since I wasn't checking a bag (Tonya had all of our stuff since she would be waiting for me at the finish) so I was screwed. I hoped it would have enough to at least make it part of the day with the gps turned off.
Make it to the start, meet up with Pacer and Baggs. The look of panic on Baggs' face when I tell him about my garmin was priceless...think he said something like "that would freak me out". Flick a little grief towards Pacer's guy Linus who is shivering under a blanket (he was pacing the 4:00 group so he would at least be easy to find before the start) and then make my way to the line.
Cool flyover by the F-16s.
Turn on my garmin, turn off the gps and keep my fingers crossed. Damn thing is dead before the race even starts. Within 30 seconds of crossing the line Linus and the 4:00 group are gone. No idea how fast I was going, but as we crossed the first mile marker someone said "wow, that's a fast first mile for the 4:00 group - 8:37". I tried to run easy but easier said then done when I had no feedback as to how fast I was going. I did manage to notice that as I crossed the mat I was about 3:00 behind the actual start.
First clock is at 5 miles. I looked at the pace band and was about 3 minutes ahead of the goal pace. Time to slow down a bit. Except I slowed down too much.
Crossed the half in 2:03. Not to bad Felt okay...for another 3-4 miles or so.
About then is when it really got hot/humid. I didn't drink ultima (more on that later) soon enough and could feel myself starting to slow down.
Walked about .3 or so of mile 17.
Made our way back towards town. About mile 20 or so is when Cranegirl joined me running (she stayed on the sidewalk) and holy shite was that a pick-me-up. Saw Sage right before I started up Lemon Drop Hill.
Made it up Lemon Drop Hill, but my quads were cramping. Had to stop and stretch a few times. Walked a bit. Made it to mile 25 and it took every ounce of will I had left in me, but there was no f*cking way I was walking from that point in. Ran every single step of the way that last 1.2 miles.
Crossed the line - had no idea that all of the 30s were screaming for me from the bleachers as I crossed the line, that's how focused I was to just make it across the line.
I learned a lot about myself Saturday...still processing some of it.
Was my goal too ambitious? Maybe, but I'd decided Saturday morning that I was going to hang with the 4:00 group as long as I could, but realized that 4:15 was probably where I should have been.
Was I prepared? Yeah, but I still neglected some things: I'm never going into a race like this with an unknown...this one was ultima...that stuff sucks. I'll take my own Gatorade with me next time (think this is a big reason why I started cramping)
I'm going to make sure I have some way of timing myself.
All in all I couldn't be happier about Saturday...I'm not making excuses, but with everything that day held I did the best I could do.
Thanks to all of the 30s, whether you ran or not Saturday, for being there (on the course or in spirit) for me.
On to Chicago.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Marathoner
4:39:41
Not what I hoped for, but with everything that was today I'll take it. More later.
Not what I hoped for, but with everything that was today I'll take it. More later.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Moment Has Arrived
Less than 24 hours to go...
Interesting trip getting here today - just a little pissed at the shuttle company in St. Louis - but everything is ready to go for tomorrow.
Hopefully I'll have a chance to post how I did at some point tomorrow.
Interesting trip getting here today - just a little pissed at the shuttle company in St. Louis - but everything is ready to go for tomorrow.
Hopefully I'll have a chance to post how I did at some point tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Next...
Off to St. Louis today.
Get to see some friends (some who we haven't seen since our wedding) and hopefully learn a few things...
Get to see some friends (some who we haven't seen since our wedding) and hopefully learn a few things...
Monday, June 16, 2008
Not Much Time
Trip to Seattle - check.
Had a great time, and honestly it is probably a good thing that T and I were only able to be there for four days. Being back in that region of the country just pulled on my soul (or what's left of it) and made me want to move back. On Saturday T and I were dispatched to get beer for her Mom's party. On the 15 minute drive to the store we were both caught up in how much we'd been able to put out of our minds while living in Michigan: drive thru coffee/espresso, great diversity in restaurants, mountains, etc, etc.
We started talking about it, and truthfully we are where we are for at least the next 4-5 years minimum. But that didn't stop us from agreeing that when a change of location happens we want that location to be westward.
Now I need to get my ass in gear and get ready for the trip to St. Louis.
Four days and counting.
Had a great time, and honestly it is probably a good thing that T and I were only able to be there for four days. Being back in that region of the country just pulled on my soul (or what's left of it) and made me want to move back. On Saturday T and I were dispatched to get beer for her Mom's party. On the 15 minute drive to the store we were both caught up in how much we'd been able to put out of our minds while living in Michigan: drive thru coffee/espresso, great diversity in restaurants, mountains, etc, etc.
We started talking about it, and truthfully we are where we are for at least the next 4-5 years minimum. But that didn't stop us from agreeing that when a change of location happens we want that location to be westward.
Now I need to get my ass in gear and get ready for the trip to St. Louis.
Four days and counting.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Perspective...
From www.dictionary.com:
Strength - moral power, firmness, or courage
Courage - the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear*; bravery
*to me, maybe it should read despite fear
I think we all strive for in life and all that it holds for us, especially those times that make us scratch our heads and say "Why the fuck is this happening to me..."
I've always been hesistant to go into details about other people on here, but I even if she never reads this I owe her enough to put this out there.
I've always had a wonderful example of those two definitions in my life and as she battles a horrible disease for the second time I need to let everyone know that she personifies strength and courage to me.
In May 2004 the Livestrong Foundation's "Livestrong" bracelet made it's debut. I bought one and put it on the week they came out (nice thing about having a Nike store in Eugene) in honor of her battle with cancer. I still have it on today.
I've run a Race For The Cure with a sign on my back in her honor.
I've donated to a friend who completed the Three Day Walk.
I've donated to a friend raising money for Team in Training.
Here lately as life has thrown me a few curveballs I've been thinking about her struggle more and more and I just want to say thank you Mom, for inspiring me. You will be with me every step of the way on June 21.
Strength - moral power, firmness, or courage
Courage - the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear*; bravery
*to me, maybe it should read despite fear
I think we all strive for in life and all that it holds for us, especially those times that make us scratch our heads and say "Why the fuck is this happening to me..."
I've always been hesistant to go into details about other people on here, but I even if she never reads this I owe her enough to put this out there.
I've always had a wonderful example of those two definitions in my life and as she battles a horrible disease for the second time I need to let everyone know that she personifies strength and courage to me.
In May 2004 the Livestrong Foundation's "Livestrong" bracelet made it's debut. I bought one and put it on the week they came out (nice thing about having a Nike store in Eugene) in honor of her battle with cancer. I still have it on today.
I've run a Race For The Cure with a sign on my back in her honor.
I've donated to a friend who completed the Three Day Walk.
I've donated to a friend raising money for Team in Training.
Here lately as life has thrown me a few curveballs I've been thinking about her struggle more and more and I just want to say thank you Mom, for inspiring me. You will be with me every step of the way on June 21.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Busy, Busy, Busy
To answers Nettie's question in her comment to my last post...hell yeah I'm nervous!
Especially considering the upcoming 11 days:
Thursday T and I leave for Seattle.
Friday we get to have dinner with two friends from Kickrunners - looking forward to meeting Dave and seeing Maureen again.
Saturday we help T's Mom celebrate her new Master's degree.
Sunday we fly home.
- yeah, that's right...a weekend in Seattle.
Monday we reorganize/repack.
Tuesday I leave for St. Louis to attend the NATA's Annual Meeting and Clinical Symposium (that's a continuing education event and a chance to see some friends that we haven't seen in awhile)
Wednesday T joins me (she has to give a final on Tuesday) in St. Louis.
Thursday is more of St. Louis and edumacating ourselves.
Friday we fly to Duluth.
Saturday I run the race (and T runs her 2nd HM!!!!)
So if you add it up - out of the next 11 days I will sleep in my own bed exactly four nights. Lucky me.
Especially considering the upcoming 11 days:
Thursday T and I leave for Seattle.
Friday we get to have dinner with two friends from Kickrunners - looking forward to meeting Dave and seeing Maureen again.
Saturday we help T's Mom celebrate her new Master's degree.
Sunday we fly home.
- yeah, that's right...a weekend in Seattle.
Monday we reorganize/repack.
Tuesday I leave for St. Louis to attend the NATA's Annual Meeting and Clinical Symposium (that's a continuing education event and a chance to see some friends that we haven't seen in awhile)
Wednesday T joins me (she has to give a final on Tuesday) in St. Louis.
Thursday is more of St. Louis and edumacating ourselves.
Friday we fly to Duluth.
Saturday I run the race (and T runs her 2nd HM!!!!)
So if you add it up - out of the next 11 days I will sleep in my own bed exactly four nights. Lucky me.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Reward
Last summer a friend gave me an idea to help keep myself (and T) motivated to run. T and I started an exercise reward program. We each have our own criteria (number of runs per month, or number of speed workouts, etc) as to what we need to do for the reward, and usually we pick our own reward. Been doing this almost a full year...and it's a nice feeling to go to the store and by that month's reward knowing that you've earned it.
For May, T turned the tables on me a bit. She knew I had a big month of running planned as it was the last 6-7 weeks before the marathon so she decided to give me a bigger carrot to encourage me. With my run Saturday I met the criteria to get these:
Thanks for the encouragement love.
For May, T turned the tables on me a bit. She knew I had a big month of running planned as it was the last 6-7 weeks before the marathon so she decided to give me a bigger carrot to encourage me. With my run Saturday I met the criteria to get these:
Thanks for the encouragement love.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Decisions...
The selfish thing? The right thing?
Either way you have to be willing to live with the consequences.
I've been told I did the right thing. Maybe if I keep hearing that enough I will eventually believe it.
And I'm living with the consequence.
Either way you have to be willing to live with the consequences.
I've been told I did the right thing. Maybe if I keep hearing that enough I will eventually believe it.
And I'm living with the consequence.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Friends, Part IV
This topic is probably a bit different than my previous rants/diatribes on the subject of friends, but I have to get this out of my head before it explodes....
The hardest thing to do is to watch a friend struggle. To watch them do things that you know are destructive in nature and be helpless to intervene.
To try and intervene and you risk losing the friendship...
What do you do?
The selfish thing? The right thing?
Why does life have to be so fucking hard.
The hardest thing to do is to watch a friend struggle. To watch them do things that you know are destructive in nature and be helpless to intervene.
To try and intervene and you risk losing the friendship...
What do you do?
The selfish thing? The right thing?
Why does life have to be so fucking hard.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Inching Closer
Big week for T and I.
Friday we're leaving for Madison, Wisconsin, and the Madison Marathon/HM/Marathon Relay/Quarter Marathon. Yep, we're both running on Sunday. I'm running the half (pretty much as a training run, but I'm hoping to help a good friend cross the finish line in under 2 hours as well) and T is also running, but what she's running is for her to tell, not me.
Should be a fun weekend - huge meet-up of the 30s from Kickrunners and we'll have the opportunity to see some people again, and to meet some new folks. What better way to spend Memorial Day than with a bunch of your imaginary friends?
As you can tell by the log over on the right, I ran 21 miles yesterday. 21 miles. That's a lot of miles. First time I've run that long and I believe I have at least one more long run of that length prior to Grandma's (which as you can tell is about a month away - holy shit! Just one month?!?!). Still feeling good about my chances of meeting my goal on June 21. More on what that goal is when we get a bit closer.
Erin - loving the blog!
Friday we're leaving for Madison, Wisconsin, and the Madison Marathon/HM/Marathon Relay/Quarter Marathon. Yep, we're both running on Sunday. I'm running the half (pretty much as a training run, but I'm hoping to help a good friend cross the finish line in under 2 hours as well) and T is also running, but what she's running is for her to tell, not me.
Should be a fun weekend - huge meet-up of the 30s from Kickrunners and we'll have the opportunity to see some people again, and to meet some new folks. What better way to spend Memorial Day than with a bunch of your imaginary friends?
As you can tell by the log over on the right, I ran 21 miles yesterday. 21 miles. That's a lot of miles. First time I've run that long and I believe I have at least one more long run of that length prior to Grandma's (which as you can tell is about a month away - holy shit! Just one month?!?!). Still feeling good about my chances of meeting my goal on June 21. More on what that goal is when we get a bit closer.
Erin - loving the blog!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Training Does Pay Off?!?
The 5/3 River Bank Run 25k is a Grand Rapids institution, celebrating its 31st anniversary this year. Starting this year they added a 10k race to the 25k, 5k run, and 5k walk that were already on the schedule and since 10k is probably my favorite distance to race I was really excited to see the addition, especially since I could use the 10k as a quality workout and a barometer to see how my training for Grandma’s is going.
Over the last few weeks my quality runs indicated that I was probably going to really destroy my current 10k PR (58:09 set in 2006 at the Butte to Butte 10k in Eugene) but I didn’t want to be over confident because the last time I ran a 10k in July (heat, humidity, hilly course) I didn’t fair as well as I would have liked.
After reading Greg McMillan’s column in the latest Running Times I set two goals for my self based on my training of late: an A goal of 50:38 (8:10 pace) and a B goal of 51:30 (8:19 pace)– basically my A goal was what I would hope for if conditions were right and I felt good, etc on race day, the B goal a fall back that would still require me to really push it. Anything slower than 51:30 would mean I’d had a bad race.
Conditions for the race couldn’t have been any better: temp was in the low 40s F, course was relatively flat (okay sorry Nettie and Bard, I totally forgot about the hills in the last two miles), course was covered for a great portion so I wouldn’t have to worry about the sun bearing down, all in all ideal conditions to go for my A goal.
Splits:
Mile 1: 7:54 – I started my watch a bit early so this one may have been off a bit, but I got out to a good start, not a huge field and having the whole width of the streets helped me not be boxed in at the start.
Mile 2: 8:02 – still feeling pretty good, and this part of the course I’d run before so I knew what to expect.
Mile 3: 8:07 – nearly got trampled by someone darting in front of me trying to get to the water at the aid station, but managed to stay on pace and at this point I was pretty sure that my A goal was in reach.
Mile 4: 8:12 – started to tire a bit and this is where the first hill showed up, but I managed to pass people on the way up and the way down (thanks for that goes to my route I run on Leonard St. near the house, lots of hills) so I was still feeling pretty good.
Mile 5: 8:13 – course flattened back out a bit and I settled back into a grove and tried to make up some time before the last hilly part just past the 6-mile mark. Still feeling pretty good, and I started thinking about if I’d have enough energy left in me for a kick at the end.
Mile 6: 8:15 – holding steady. Honestly just trying to hang on until the end at this point. Luckily there was a bit of downhill that I could use right before the turns toward the finish for a bit of a boost.
Finish: 50:35 – saw Tonya about 100 yards from the finish and could hear her cheering me on. Crossed the line (my garmin had 50:32) and tried to stay upright.
50:35. So I beat my A goal by 3 seconds, and smashed the living hell out of my PR, which was 58:39. That’s not a typo – I took 8:04 off my 10k PR. Two years ago, hell last July, I would have never thought that would be possible. It’s nice to see personal evidence that all the time spent out there running has started to pay off. This really gives me hope that I’m going to do okay in Duluth.
The question now is can I continue to lower (not by this much!) my PRs over the next few years and what kind of goal to set for myself after the marathon.
Over the last few weeks my quality runs indicated that I was probably going to really destroy my current 10k PR (58:09 set in 2006 at the Butte to Butte 10k in Eugene) but I didn’t want to be over confident because the last time I ran a 10k in July (heat, humidity, hilly course) I didn’t fair as well as I would have liked.
After reading Greg McMillan’s column in the latest Running Times I set two goals for my self based on my training of late: an A goal of 50:38 (8:10 pace) and a B goal of 51:30 (8:19 pace)– basically my A goal was what I would hope for if conditions were right and I felt good, etc on race day, the B goal a fall back that would still require me to really push it. Anything slower than 51:30 would mean I’d had a bad race.
Conditions for the race couldn’t have been any better: temp was in the low 40s F, course was relatively flat (okay sorry Nettie and Bard, I totally forgot about the hills in the last two miles), course was covered for a great portion so I wouldn’t have to worry about the sun bearing down, all in all ideal conditions to go for my A goal.
Splits:
Mile 1: 7:54 – I started my watch a bit early so this one may have been off a bit, but I got out to a good start, not a huge field and having the whole width of the streets helped me not be boxed in at the start.
Mile 2: 8:02 – still feeling pretty good, and this part of the course I’d run before so I knew what to expect.
Mile 3: 8:07 – nearly got trampled by someone darting in front of me trying to get to the water at the aid station, but managed to stay on pace and at this point I was pretty sure that my A goal was in reach.
Mile 4: 8:12 – started to tire a bit and this is where the first hill showed up, but I managed to pass people on the way up and the way down (thanks for that goes to my route I run on Leonard St. near the house, lots of hills) so I was still feeling pretty good.
Mile 5: 8:13 – course flattened back out a bit and I settled back into a grove and tried to make up some time before the last hilly part just past the 6-mile mark. Still feeling pretty good, and I started thinking about if I’d have enough energy left in me for a kick at the end.
Mile 6: 8:15 – holding steady. Honestly just trying to hang on until the end at this point. Luckily there was a bit of downhill that I could use right before the turns toward the finish for a bit of a boost.
Finish: 50:35 – saw Tonya about 100 yards from the finish and could hear her cheering me on. Crossed the line (my garmin had 50:32) and tried to stay upright.
50:35. So I beat my A goal by 3 seconds, and smashed the living hell out of my PR, which was 58:39. That’s not a typo – I took 8:04 off my 10k PR. Two years ago, hell last July, I would have never thought that would be possible. It’s nice to see personal evidence that all the time spent out there running has started to pay off. This really gives me hope that I’m going to do okay in Duluth.
The question now is can I continue to lower (not by this much!) my PRs over the next few years and what kind of goal to set for myself after the marathon.
Friday, May 09, 2008
Race Day
Tomorrow I'm running a 10k here in Grand Rapids, and then T and I are hosting our house warming party...and the amazing thing? We actually have friends coming!!
Details on the race and pics from the soiree coming this weekend.
Details on the race and pics from the soiree coming this weekend.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Question
To: Organizers of Grandma's Marathon
From: KP
RE: Racecourse Performance Drink Choice
Why does a marathon of Grandma's stature choose to have a beverage like Ultima Replenisher? After trying it yesterday to see what it tastes like (nothing, and I even mixed it stronger than the package directions and used the flavor they will be using in Duluth) and how it sits on my stomach have decided that it's horrible and I'm now considering carrying a water bottle with me that I can put Gatorade in for the race.
Did Gatorade piss you off years ago? Ultima isn't a local Duluth company - at least according to their website, so maybe one of the board of directors is a major share holder?
Seriously I'm interested in how an elite race doesn't have Gatorade the industry leader in performance beverages.
From: KP
RE: Racecourse Performance Drink Choice
Why does a marathon of Grandma's stature choose to have a beverage like Ultima Replenisher? After trying it yesterday to see what it tastes like (nothing, and I even mixed it stronger than the package directions and used the flavor they will be using in Duluth) and how it sits on my stomach have decided that it's horrible and I'm now considering carrying a water bottle with me that I can put Gatorade in for the race.
Did Gatorade piss you off years ago? Ultima isn't a local Duluth company - at least according to their website, so maybe one of the board of directors is a major share holder?
Seriously I'm interested in how an elite race doesn't have Gatorade the industry leader in performance beverages.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Thanks...
some people won't understand this post, but will in due time
To everyone who has offered an encouraging word this week, it has been much appreciated.
Thank you.
KP
To everyone who has offered an encouraging word this week, it has been much appreciated.
Thank you.
KP
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Sunday
Two great things happened today:
1) It's official. I'm a homeowner. It truly sank in today. Bought a lawnmower.
2) I ran with T today. 10 miles. Her first time running double digits (and she did it under 2 hours). Really proud of her.
1) It's official. I'm a homeowner. It truly sank in today. Bought a lawnmower.
2) I ran with T today. 10 miles. Her first time running double digits (and she did it under 2 hours). Really proud of her.
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