112 furlongs of fun

This is about a week late. I've been trying to get it out, but for some reason it just won't cooperate.

Saturday (Longrunday) dawned with me feeling more than a little ambivalent towards the idea of running. I don't know why, but I had been feeling like that for a couple of days. On Friday night I was almost dreading my Saturday run. My experiences over the past few weeks and the failures I've had have shown me that there is some wisdom in listening to my gut when it says "let's not go running today," so I made an executive decision to postpone it until Sunday. Besides, I already had a pretty full Saturday planned without taking three hours out of my day to run 14 miles.

Sunday actually made for a pretty decent day for a run anyway. It was nice and cool outside. The Cowboys weren't playing until Monday, and the Seahawks weren't playing well, so there was no point in watching that game. The only thing that was keeping me inside was waiting for a Craigslister to come buy our safe and the Amazon.Fresh people to deliver our groceries. Once those were dealt with, I was free to move about the city.

Before leaving home I looked at a map of the trail. I tried to do a little estimating on where I'd be when I turned around, but I didn't put much effort into it. I figured that Grendel would tell me when I've gone far enough and needed to turn around. It was kind of a controlled adventure. It's not like I was going to get lost.

I thought I was going to be alone out there for the first couple of miles. Usually around Lake Union there are at least a couple of people running or walking, but for whatever reason there was no one out there. It wasn't until I got to Fremont before I started seeing people, but once I saw my first it seemed like everyone came out. I'm guessing that was probably around the same time the Seahawks game ended. I know in Dallas the best time to go do anything is when the Cowboys are playing, but after the game is done the people come out like they've been trapped inside by a snowstorm for a week. It looks like the same thing is in effect here.

I hopped on the Burke-Gillman trail after about three miles and settled in for a nice easy run. That's why it took me three hours this time, I took it easy. Not like the last time I did a long run where it took me three hours to go ten miles. Last time it was because I was constantly stopping to consult my map because I had no idea where I was supposed to turn. This time, I simplified. My route may start to get boring to me, but at least I'm less likely to find myself looking at street names and wondering which was I'm supposed to turn to get home. And although there are a few hills and such along the trail, it's nothing like running over Capitol Hill or in either direction on Madison. Nope, from now on I'm doing simple out-and-back routes on the trail. I should still get enough hills in doing that to prepare me for November, so I'm not going to worry about that.

If there is a somewhat sheltered spot in this city, you can almost guarantee that some homeless person has claimed it for his own. I'm not being critical about that; people that don't have a roof still need a place to sleep. And let's be realistic here, homelessness is a problem that can never be solved; at best it can only be mitigated. Anyway, there's a reason I digress into homeless-talk. I've noticed a couple of homeless camps where the trail runs along the north side of Lake Union. Stick with me here, I'm going on another tangent. I think you'll see where this is heading, but I don't want you to think I've lost my mind. I was very fortunate to be born male. In fact, of all the lucky things that have happened to me, that's probably the luckiest. One of the best things about being a guy is that the world is my bathroom. If I can find a relatively secluded, and by relatively I mean barely hidden, I can whip out my equipment and write my name in the snow, sand, dirt, or on the tree, building, whatever. I haven't done it yet during one of my runs, but I can see a point in time when I might. Anyway, I was running along the trail feeling like there might be a need for a pit stop. I seriously considered going down into the gully to relieve myself, but I stopped because I saw the homeless camp. After whatever calamity forced these people to leave their home, the last thing they need is for some asshole to come along and pee all over the tiny patch of the world that they can call their own only because some public official hasn't forced them out of it.

I soon moved from the familiar part of the trail into new territory, and once I got into this new territory I had an opportunity to visit one of Seattle's many parks: Gasworks Park. I love the idea of Gasworks Park. I don't know the history behind it, so everything I think about it is conjecture, but I think there used to be a gas mine (or is that just in Star Wars?) or a gas processing plant on the site. Eventually, it was closed and rather than tear down all of the ironworks, they turned the whole thing into a park! How freaking crazy is that?! Mixed in with these metal structures are nice green hills and open spaces. There were tons of people out there, too, barbequeing, strolling, and flying kites. I've wanted to get a closer look at the place since I did the Duck Tour my first summer here. I didn't stay too long and I didn't stop at all. I just took in the sight while I was there.

I left the park and hopped back on the trail. I'd been on this part when I did the Lake Union 10k in August, but during the race there were some extra streets to run on to get us over one of the bridges. This time I just went right under them. And that's when I saw the Wall of Death. I have no idea what it is or what it's story is. I could probably find out by looking at Wikipedia, and I'm sure I'll do just that. What I know from running past it is that it's this spot under the overpass that looks sort of like a gazebo and around the top is painted (or etched, engraved, stamped... something) "Wall of Death." There was a kid on a skateboard inside it (it's big enough to have some activity but not big enough for a half-pipe) and I hoped that he wouldn't create himself a prophecy by screwing around in the Wall of Death.

The next thing I knew I was near the outskirts of UW. It came as a bit of a surprise, especially since I was still two miles short of my turnaround point. I expected when I was looking at the map that UW would be where I hit 7 miles, instead it was where I hit 5. I wonder... as I was running through this part of their campus, did I look like I belong there or did I look like I was too old to be in college? I wouldn't say I have a baby face, but I do think I look younger than I actually am. At best they fauna of UW, if they even thought about it, probably wouldn't be able to decide if I belonged. In any case, it made me think of good ol' UNT.

The path through the university got all nice and shady, which was good because I was starting to get hot. I should have been, I was well past the warm-up part of the run. It scares me to think that my warm-up might be in the multiple mile range now, but it's kind of true. My legs don't really get shaken out and ready to work until I've been at it for 15-20 minutes, and that's 1.5-2 miles worth of work, maybe a little more on some days. I passed through the university area and into a residential neighborhood. Have you ever noticed that only college kids or old folks live around colleges? You almost never see any middle age people. I think there's an economic reason for that. I have the concept in my head, but I'm having a hard time articulating it.

After a while, but much longer than I thought it should take, Grendel finally relented and told me that it was time to go home. As is my usual, I stopped running to walk for a couple of minutes and regroup for the long trek back. During this brief hiatus, I sucked down a chocolate GU and some water. The first time I had GU was during the super jock 'n jill half marathon and it was NASTY! But, this is the energy gel of choice for the Seattle Marathon, and the conventional wisdom is that you should train your stomach with whatever fine foods they're serving on the course, so my belly is getting GU. I tried to buy strong flavors when I bought it: espresso and chocolate. I have a feeling that something mild like vanilla or strawberry would end up having some sort of weird medicinal taste to it. I swear the one I had on the half was orange flavored. I just shuddered thinking about it.

That was just the boost I needed because my body was starting to protest all of the activity and throwing out hints that it wasn't going to put up with this stuff anymore. GU fooled it just enough that it agreed to get me closer to home. Well, for a little while it did, at any rate. Seeing how much energy I had after my little energy gel I picked up the pace to my normal cruising speed. Big mistake, although it wasn't until much later that I realized it. I burned a lot of energy doing that.

Why does it always seem faster going home? Is it because you know where you're going or you know what landmarks to look for? I don't know, but for whatever reason I got back through the neighborhoods quicker than I expected. My run through the university didn't give me any thoughts other than "only five more miles." I was relieved to pass by the Wall of Death and not see a dead skateboarder. I think the same kid was there, now with a homeless man for an indifferent audience, but he'd managed to keep from cracking open his skull or breaking his neck. I elected not to go back through Gasworks Park, which incidentally cut a quarter mile off of my route. Grrr. Double grrr, if I had gone through the park I probably could have found a water fountain. I was sucking down my water fast enough that I was going to be out of it before I got home.

At about 2 miles to go I was back on Westlake and running low on fuel, so I ate another GU, but I didn't have any water to wash it down with. It's my understanding that that stuff is more effective when you've got some water in your stomach. Maybe it helps it digest or absorb faster. I was looking everywhere for a water fountain or even a spigot that I could use, but there was nothing. I started just wanting it to end, and I was looking to my landmarks to help me figure out how much longer it was going to take me: that covered pathway is two miles, chinese restaurant is 1.6 miles, walking bridge means 1.25, etc, etc, etc. I was moving slow, but at least I was still moving. I finally got to Whole Foods and told Grendel to stop. My detour into Gasworks Park on the way out and not going in on the way back cost me a quarter mile, but I think between you, me and the rest of the internets we can say that 13.75 and 14 miles on foot is equivalent. What do you think?

On Monday, my body had the most interesting things to say. Things like "creeeaaaaak" and "this is what you get for doing this shit to me!" I don't know how people do recovery runs. I could barely walk.

I'm not sure what day of the week will be Longrunday this week. I have something that's going to keep me home on Saturday afternoon, and on Sunday there's a Cowboy game (if I can see it in my area!) in the afternoon and dinner reservations at 6pm. If I don't get to it Saturday, I may have to wake up early (shudder!) and do it Sunday morning. If those BASTARDS at the television network deprive me of my beloved, but frustrating, Cowboys I can just do it when I would have been watching the game. Either way, this is a step-back week, so my long run will only be 11 miles. I'll probably go faster than I'm supposed to, but this has been a week for working on speed anyway.

Slacker!

I've been a real slacker for the last week. It's not that I haven't done anything; it's just that I haven't written about it. I'd apologize, but I'm actually not sorry about it. I just haven't felt that urge to put my thoughts down until today.

As I predicted, I jumped right back in to my training on last Tuesday. I'm actually kind of surprised how fast I bounced back from the wisdom teeth extraction, although there was one little hiccup the day after.

Here's the story:

Friday (9/18) I had four wisdom teeth extracted. By now that's probably old news to everyone, and if it's not it should be. It is my firm belief that oral surgery may be the best weight control device ever created because I didn't feel like eating a damn thing all day long. I had some fairly high calorie Odwalla drinks that night, but that obviously wasn't enough to keep me going. On Saturday I woke up feeling like all was right with the world and I was strong as an ox on steroids. I saw no reason to take things easy. I wasn't planning on running, but I also didn't really have it in mind that I was going to lay around all day. I hopped into a nice hot shower and washed the previous day's laziness off of me. Then, nicely wrapped in my towel with the steam from the hot shower wafting around me, I began to cautiously and gently brush my teeth. After a few moments of that, I started feeling weak and the world started going dark, so I sat down to give myself a chance to recover. I was feeling hot, so I unwrapped the towel. After a few moments, I decided that I had better lay down. I was faced with two choices: lay down on the bathroom floor or walk five steps and lay down on my nice bed. I've lain on a bathroom floor a time or two, but it's usually due to a combination of beer, wine and other spirits. When you're normally in the "lay on the bathroom floor" condition, you're also in the "I really, really, really need to be close to something that will catch my puke" condition as well. I wasn't at that point; I just needed to lay down, so I decided to head for the bed. I remember opening the bathroom door. My next memory was of Lisa on the phone with the extremely helpful people that answer when you dial 9-1-1. She said I wasn't responding to her and that I had foam coming out of my mouth. So, there I am crouched and leaning on the bathroom door, 100% naked, and with foam (toothpaste!) coming out of my mouth. If I had walked up on someone in that condition, I'd be scared too.

Here's a tip: if you have a need to call 9-1-1 and you think whoever you're calling for is going to need serious help, make sure you tell the dispatcher that they are either "dead" or "unconscious and unresponsive." Both statements are interpreted in the same way, and they send out a differently equipped truck with more paramedics than for someone who cuts their hand or breaks a leg or somesuch. Fortunately, by the time my paramedics arrived five minutes later, I had already gotten dressed and was sitting on the couch waiting for them. They thanked Lisa for getting me dressed, but really I did all the work, she just asked if I wanted to get dressed. They took my blood pressure standing and sitting, asked about what kind of drugs I was on, asked about the last time I had eaten or hydrated. You know, the old stand-bys. Then they suggested I take it easy, drink some water and have something to eat. When they left, the left alone. I stayed on my couch and proceeded to put the laziness I had just washed off right back on.

I took this CPR and first aid class at work earlier this week. That's where I learned the whole "say he's dead" thing. The class was taught by a couple of paramedics from Kent, WA. I told them my passing out story, and they told me I hit the trifecta. Apparently, most rescue calls take place in the bathroom or the bedroom and the patient is naked. My fun started in the bathroom and concluded while I was headed to the bedroom, and I was completely naked. That's called a hat trick, thank you very much.

Thanks to the passing out incident, I deemed it prudent to do my first run of the week (4 miles on Tuesday) at the gym on the hamster wheel. By then I'd had enough food and drink to keep me in calories and keep the blood sugar at a normal level for a couple of days. I'm not going to say I was eating great, but I was eating enough. There's not much to say about the run. It was at the gym on the wheel, where the scenery never changes. I was cognizant of how I was feeling and I was ready to stop at the slightest hint of trouble, but trouble never appeared.

Wednesday I went out for a six mile run. The route is familiar, and I don't really have a whole lot to say about it anymore. I got stopped at the Fremont bridge because an itty-bitty sailboat was going under it, and in order to accommodate its mast they had to raise the bridge. I was fine with that because I wanted a bit of a rest anyway. Standing there waiting for the bridge to go back down is a good barometer of how popular the route around the lake is. There was quite the traffic jam of bike riders, runners and people pushing strollers or just casually walking gathering at the barrier. Fortunately, everyone was smart about the order in which we all moved through the narrow walkway across the bridge. The bikers, due to their increased speed, went first. After them were us runners, and after us I don't care about because I was gone.

On Thursday I was undecided on what my plan was going to be. Was I going to run four miles or was I going to run six? I was so undecided that I didn't choose until I was two miles into it. That was the drop dead spot. If I went a step further it was going to be six miles, if I turned around right then it would be four. I kept going. I wish I had just turned around and made it a four mile run. I ended up turning off Grendel at five miles. I'd been walking for a couple of minutes at that point and I knew I wasn't going to start running again. I had mentally quit. Again. This is where I see the real advantage to running outside as opposed to on the hamster wheel. Just because I quit did not mean that I wasn't going to get the full six miles in at some speed. Sure, I could have flagged down a cab and had someone drive me the mile home, but 1.) I don't carry that much cash on me when I run and 2.) I'm too freaking cheap to pay someone $6 to drive me one mile when I can just walk it for free. So, even though I didn't run the whole thing, and even though I don't have a record of it, I still went the full six miles.

At this point I think I'll stop this entry. I have a long run (14 miles) to talk about, but it was special enough to warrant its own post. Fourteen miles should be celebrated on its own rather than lumped in with the sixers and fours.

7 goals for my 37th year

I've been thinking about doing something like this for a couple of months now, but when I first thought about it it was going to be "37 goals for my 37th year." I've come up with some ambitious plans before, but it is way too taxing on my brain to think up 37 goals at one time or even over a couple of weeks, so I've shortened it to 7 goals. I'm going to try to make these all unique (meaning not repeats of my 2009 goals) unless I have already determined that achieving one of my 2009 goals by the end of the year is not feasible.

7 Goals for My 37th Year

1. Goal: Save up $10k for my emergency fund (repeat of 2k9 goal that I have no chance of achieving this year). Stretch: $15k in total savings and investments with more thorough budgeting for vacations, health expenses, etc.

2. Goal: Do some volunteer work. Stretch: N/A I don't think there's anything to stretch in this case. If I volunteer for something, then I succeed in so many different ways. If I don't, I fail. I'm thinking about what I'd like to volunteer for, and right now I'm leaning toward finding an adult literacy program like Literacy Council of Seattle or Literacy Source. I love reading, and I think I'd like helping other people love it too. I'm just going to say right out that of the seven goals this one is my favorite and the one I'm most excited about.

3. Goal: Start writing. I've been saying for almost 20 years that I want to write something, that I want to write a novel. I don't really know if I've got a whole novel in me yet, but if I ever want to get there, then I've got to start something. NaNoWriMo might be a good place to start.

4. Goal: Do two destination runs. By this I mean that I actually have to travel someplace where coming back after might be inconvenient. This will generally involve a plane. I don't think this would be worth it for anything less than a half marathon, so I'll look for one of those. Stretch: I want to go to a foreign country. Actually, I'm scheduled to visit a few of them in July on a cruise to the Mediterranean. Perhaps I should consider doing a destination run at one of our stops. Would it count if I just ran alone, or with Lisa, in the foreign country? Am I set on it being an organized race? These are things to ponder.

5. Goal: Lift weights twice a week. I've done the majority of the weight loss that I needed to get a handle on this year. I've lost around 30 pounds since 1/2/09. Now it's time to start tightening and toning some things up. My arms look like spaghetti noodles. I assume my legs look awesome thanks to all the running, but I really don't know. Stretch: I also want to get back into martial arts. I have a place nearby that I've got my eye on. I miss my kung fu class and classmates from Texas.

6. Goal: Take some cooking classes. Lisa and I are going to do a cooking class as my birthday gift, but I might like to do a few more of them after that. I've always enjoyed cooking, maybe because it's one of those places where I can create something without being too creative. Recipes are pretty detailed instructions. I'd like to learn how to break free from strictly following a recipe. I have a few things I need to work on. I think when I cook the taste comes through, but my presentation sucks. I need help with some of that artistic flair that makes good tasting food be good looking as well.

7. Goal: Learn a new skill. This is pretty vague and unformed right now, but it's the best I've got. There are a lot of things I could point this one too. There are some sailing classes at Lake Washington that I could take. I could learn a new language or increase my knowledge of the one other language I kinda sorta know. I'm going to have to refine this one as the year progresses. I probably won't master whatever it ends up being, but I'll at least get a start.

6.2 miles of friends

This is my first time participating in "Take It and Run Thursday" even if it technically is Saturday. Eh, I've got some time on my hands and I think this is an interesting question.

You get to run the last six miles of your next marathon with 6 different people. They can be dead or alive; famous or not famous. Who are these people and why did you pick them? Furthermore, why did you pick them for the specific mile you did? Remember, you get an extra .2 miles with runner #6.

First, it is my hope that my people will stick with me through the whole thing I need a group photo coming across the finish line.

Mile 21: Barack Obama - Love him or hate him, he's the leader of the free world and who wouldn't want a chance to pick his brain. Besides, I've got a few things I'd like to say to him about campaign promises and bi-partisanship. Plus, you know he's a fitness guy.

Mile 22: Mike Modano and Brett Hull - Hockey greats from my favorite team, the Dallas Stars. Look, I'm not going for great and inspirational people. I want people that I would want to chat with to keep my mind off all the pain and suffering of running 26.2 miles. Plus, they are professional athletes, or were at one time, so they can do their part to keep me motivated.

Mile 23: Conan O'Brien - Did you see the first episode of the Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien? The man just looks like he's a runner. He's reportedly ridiculously tall, so I'll bet he really motors too. So he's a good pick for me for two reason: 1. He's funny, and I'll be needing some funny after 22 miles of running. 2. Those long legs of his will help me to finish strong and fast. I want to keep up with him, not have him run to my speed. I think I could handle it for 3.2 miles.

Mile 24: Gordon Ramsey - I like food. No, I love food. I've got a couple of things I'd like to get out of Gordon. Is it editing, or is he really that difficult to work with? Then, there's also a couple of miles to convince him to cook me an after race meal. I think I can do it

Mile 25: Jaime - I've been friends with this guy for more than 25 years. There's only one other person I'd want at my back.

Mile 26.2: Lisa - If there's anyone that I want with me at the end of anything it's Lisa. She should arrive at the final mile with Merlin & Jack (cats, not kids) in backpacks so that the whole family can cross together.

12 miles of FAIL

I've been sitting on this one for a couple of days because it was just too painful to even think about.

After a week off for my birthday trip to Vegas I tried to do a 12 mile run over in Capitol Hill and the surrounding neighborhoods along Lake Washington. An astute reader would already know that I failed.

You know the old saying (proverb?) "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me" - Side Note:I wouldn't be me if I didn't add that Klingons add a third line to this one. Fool me thrice, prepare to die! - well shame on me. I thought I could handle the hills. I thought I could get it fixed in my mind where I was going and where I needed to be. I had a route that I had planned myself, so there should have been no surprise turns or anything. No, I once again got completely lost, and I ended up frustrated, angry and two miles short. My 12 mile run turned into a 10 mile run full of bitterness, anger and disappointment.

I should have reconsidered what I was doing right from the start. I was antsy to get out there and get moving. The Cowboys game and the Seahawks game both had me pumped up with excitement, but once I actually got everything on, the SPIBelt packed, and my butt out the door all the energy just evaporated. I was standing on the corner waiting for Grendel to find some satellites - Side note: Grendel has been having a bit of a problem finding his sats quickly, and I'm becoming a little frustrated with him. It's my fault for living downtown near all the tall buildings, but he's still taking way to long. - and I thought about changing the route, cutting it short, or just not going at all. I kept to the original plan because I was just so interested in actually seeing the cemetery and the two parks that I missed last time I tried the route. I should have followed my gut.

Everything was going fine for the first five miles or so. That part was all a copy from the last time I went that direction, so I knew where I was going and where I was supposed to turn. Easy. I went through the Arboretum again, but it wasn't as exciting the second time around. Once I looped back onto Lake Washington Blvd, things started to fall apart. I knew there was a chance this would happen, and I brought my iPhone with me just in case. I had both the route on the imapmyrun app and Google Maps to help me out. One tells me where I'm supposed to go, the other tells me where I am. It would be nice if one of those apps did both, but they didn't so I'm not going to dwell on that. I checked the route to see where I was supposed to go next but discovered (too late) that I couldn't zoom in to get a real street view. Actually, I couldn't even see street names for some of them, so I had to switch back and forth from imapmyrun and google maps to get the info I needed. That took more time than I wanted it to.

Once I found my location, I got on the move again, but soon enough I got confused. Was I supposed to turn on Louisa? That seemed sort of familiar. I was positive that the street I was supposed to turn on started with an "L," but I wasn't so sure about the rest of the word. So, I broke out the maps again for a quick (meaning really slow and really long) consultation. I finally decided that I needed to turn on Lynn, not Louisa, which was still a few blocks away. So off I went again.

I think the main thing that killed me was just sheer tiredness from all of the damn hills. If for no other reason, I am not going over there again just to keep away from those. I know I need to prepare myself for some hills on the marathon route, but it is no fun at all to constantly feel like I am running up hill.

I stopped for a GU at six miles and again consulted the maps. Every time I stopped to check the maps it took about five minutes, and the stops started coming more and more frequently. I saw where Lynn turned into some other street (started with a "D") and knew I was on the right track, but it went straight up. Then I finally found Interlakken Rd, which conveniently goes through Interlakken Park. There were no sidewalks for the first mile of that, so I had to run in the street. Lucky for me there weren't any cars either.

Interlakken is where the will to fight through it just left me. I thought I was through the park, so I took a right down a street. When I say down, I mean straight down. This was the kind of street that would have been great on a bike, but it actually had bumps on the sidewalk to give you traction. Think of something just between smooth sidewalk and stairs. It was STEEP, and when I got to the bottom and didn't recognize a street name I went to the maps again. Five minutes later I realized that I wasn't done with Interlakken yet, and I was going to have to climb that hill to get back to the right part. I did, but I cussed the whole way up. Then I went through the park and ended up on Galer.

And that's where I just gave up. I hate to say it. I don't want to be a quitter. I want to push through the hard things and get to the easy chocolately nougaty goodness on the other side, but I was done. The map consultation got me nowhere. It said there was supposed to be a street that I should go up, but I saw no street. Plus, it was really hard to tell which direction was which. The map says go north, but which way was I facing at that moment? I didn't know, and my iPhone isn't one of the fancy new ones with a built in compass. I picked a direction, ran a block or two, and consulted the phone again to see what changed. I'd call it a big mistake, but really, nothing on that run beats the mistake of just starting out in the first place. This was just another little mistake that left me wanting to scream. I decided right then that I was not going to consult my maps anymore. I was just going to pick a direction and go until I found something familiar. So I went through a nice little suburban neighborhood and a school and a playground, all the while thinking "when am I going to find a street I know?" I finally spotted a building I knew from earlier, and at that point I knew where I was. More importantly, I knew where I needed to go to get out of this mess.

I stood for a moment looking up the hill heading back to my part of town. I probably could have run it. I could have at least tried. I didn't. Like I said, I had already quit about two miles earlier. I wasn't going to make any extra effort to get up that hill. So I walked. I'd like to say I walked fast, but I've looked at the pace chart. I didn't walk even remotely fast. Once I got to the top of the hill I was willing to run down, slowly. I just wanted to be home. Eventually I got back to my neighborhood. I tried stopping off for a post-run smoothie, but the one I went to was already closed for the day. I didn't deserve one anyway for quitting the way I did.

I've read that everyone has a bad run at some point. I hope this qualified as mine. I hope there's not another one, a worse one, in store for me between here and the marathon.

Pace Chart
Mile 1 - 11.42
Mile 2 - 10.47
Mile 3 - 10.23
Mile 4 - 11.07
Mile 5 - 11.01
Mile 6 - 11.30
Mile 7 - 12.53
Mile 8 - 13.00
Mile 9 - 17.03
Mile 10 - 11.44
Mile 11 - did not happen
Mile 12 - did not happen

Total running time was 2.02.08. In reality, with all the stops to check the maps it was more like 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Vegas, BABY!...or Happy Birthday to me

I haven't even thought of running since I finished the half marathon last week, but I had a good reason. Lisa and I took a quick trip to Las Vegas for my birthday, and I had limited baggage space for shoes and limited interest in running while on vacation in the desert. Good thing I didn't bother to bring anything anyway since it seriously was hot. That's not to say that I didn't get any exercise though. I think we did enough walking around to make up for the non-running.

We started off at lovely Sea-Tac airport and had a fantastic pair of breakfast tacos from Q'doba. Already, my mind had shifted into vacation mode. Vacation calories DO NOT COUNT. When I'm taking a break, I take a break from everything, including watching what I eat. So I enjoyed my lovely breakfast tacos. I would enjoy them again if I was at the airport right now. If they'd serve them to me this late in the day, that is.


Day 1
After a brief and uneventful flight and a short shuttle to our hotel, we were there. We were tired, since we had an early flight, but we were there and ready to have some fun. First, we checked in, but they didn't have our room ready yet and it wouldn't be ready for an hour. So we handed our bags off to the skycaps for later delivery and went in search of food and a little hotel exploration. We had a few choices, but we settled on this Italian grill place. I'll note that we stayed in the Venetian, so pretty much every restaurant had an Italian theme. We ate and wandered around a little bit looking at some of the sights until we could get our room and get settled in.

We had to hang in the room for a bit - half an hour to an hour - before the skycap brought our bags up. I actually had a very brief nap on the couch sitting straight up. But once he got there it was time to get out and get to it. We headed down to the casino to collect the $50 slot credit that we received with our room and another credit Lisa got for signing up for their loyalty card. So, we had $65 of free money to play with. I'm kind of proud of us. It actually took us the rest of the day to run through that. We only hit the penny slots, so it's not like we were gambling huge amounts of money, but I could still drop $65 pretty quick if I didn't watch myself. Our strategy was that no machine got more than $5 out of us at a time. So she'd play $5 on one, and I'd play $5 on the next.

I've done some gambling on cruise ships (slots only) but it's been a long time since I was in a real casino. The last time was in my early 20s. Things have changed a bit. It used to be just the ones with the spinning wheels that never seem to stop in an orderly fashion. Now there are more electronic ones where you can bet gobs on $$ per spin with 50 lines to watch out for, but none of them give you even the list bit of a hint what you're hoping the reels stop on. Really, they could have just been stealing the money. Things I thought should have given me a couple of credits didn't give me anything. And they've gone all out on the licensing. I played the Jaws machine, the Indiana Jones machine, the Star Wars machine, and the Wizard of Oz machine. They had Wheel of Fortune machines and Price is Right machines. If there is some franchise that is remotely successful, there's a penny slot machine made for it. Some of them are tricky too. You slide up to the machine thinking that you can limit it to a one cent bet (who would actually do that?), but you find out that although it's a "penny" machine it requires a minimum 25 cent bet. I call bullshit on that, but my voice is drowned out by all the money the casinos are raking in from them.

After spending a good chunk of time at the machines we did some more exploring of the hotel. I'm not a huge gambler, and certainly not with my own money, so one of the main things I wanted to see was how the different casinos were decorated. They're all based on themes, so of course they go all out to embrace those themes. The Venetian has a gondola ride with singing polers (rowers?). It was way overpriced, so we didn't do it, but it was cool to see. They had tons of shops in there, not all of them necessarily Italian, but I'm sure they all had Italian product inside. We ate dinner at one of Wolfgang Puck's restaurants, Postrio. After that, we dropped a few more dollars in the machines and headed up to the room to collapse in exhaustion.

Day 2
Day 2, or Thursday, was designated as exploration day. We got up kind of late - around 10:30 or so. It was a little late for breakfast, but we found a Mexican restaurant in the hotel that had a few breakfast items that they served all day. After that, we gave each other $10 and headed out.

We stopped in every casino on our side of Las Vegas Blvd that day. We saved a few on the other side for Friday, but most of our exploration was on Thursday. Here's a summary:

*Paris was a very nice place. It is definitely in my top 5 for hotels to stay in next time. Bonus for creative drink containers. One was a globe a little larger than softball sized. The other was an Eiffel Tower shaped container.

*The M&M store is something to see. You probably don't need to actually buy anything, but it's definitely worth seeing.

*I can't see any reason for me to ever stay at Excalibur or New York New York. At first glance, Excalibur should be right up my alley, but any Vegas hotel that has that much space dedicated to children is not for me. Same goes for NYNY. Still, I wouldn't mind hopping on the roller coaster, if it weren't so overpriced.

*Yay lions! MGM had a very nice lion habitat. I wouldn't want to live in it if I were a big cat, but it was fun to see.

*The highlight of the day, for me, was the Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. I LOVE me some sharks, and I went on a picture taking frenzy. Our camera actually died (just the battery) while were in there. I was disappointed until Lisa asked me why I didn't just use my phone. GENIUS! I have many pics of the sharks, turtles, fishies and did I mention SHARKS! No great whites, but I'm ok with that. I don't really ever want to be in a position to see Jaws 3-D play out for real.

*It's hard not to love half-yard and full-yard drinks. 1.5 - 3 ft of alcoholic refreshment is hard to beat. And if you get the yard-long drink, you get a handy strap so that it will hang around your neck. LOVE IT!!!!!

*I'm both annoyed and impressed with the people handing out the "girls to you in 20 minutes" people. Someone has obviously put a lot of thought into their technique. First there's the sharp slap of the cards on their wrist, which gets you to look at what they're offering. Then, if you don't take the bait (and the cards) they flick it with their thumbs to make a more rhythmic noise that you'll probably look at. And if you don't immediately look at that they do it up higher and closer to your ears. All of this happens in the 5 seconds you spend passing them. I live in a downtown area where I have to ignore obviously pathetic people begging for money every day. I'm a professional at ignoring other people. Ask anyone sitting in the same room with me.

Thursday night was just fun. We bought tickets early in the day to see the Blue Man Group. I was hesitant even though I've loved them when I see them on late night television. They did not disappoint at all. The show was a mix of good music and funny "skits." There was some audience participation. We were sitting down in the "poncho" section, so it could have gotten messy. We didn't get wet, but there was potential. After the show we went to a restaurant called Woo. Please, say it like "woo!" because I love the way it sounds. It's the asian place that serves, per the waiter, "tapas style." The appetizers were definitely tapas style. The salad was most definitely not. I was afraid we weren't going to get enough food even though we were spending a nice chunk of change on it until the salad came out. Then there was the filet mignon, asian style, for an entree, which was fabulous. Another definite recommend.

Day 3 - Happy Birthday, Larry!
At midnight Lisa sang the song. At midnight +1 minutes, I turned off the lights and we went to sleep.

We got up early enough for a French breakfast at Bouchon. I carbo loaded with some french toast and some pom frits (french fries). Makes for an interesting combination, but they were good. We also had some doughnuts with this ridiculously amazing chocolate sauce on the side. Hell YES you should go just for the doughnuts.

Exploration today took us down to old Vegas, Fremont St. The light show that I was expecting to see around our hotel was actually down there, but they don't run it at 2:00 in the afternoon. We walked through all of the casinos down there and saw all sorts of interesting sights. I now know what a million $1 bills looks like. It looks very well protected when you're in Vegas. I saw the world's biggest gold nugget. If I could just borrow that for a little while I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

We had the bright idea of taking a cab to Fremont street but walking back. The walk back had its plusses and minuses. Plus: we got to see some real Vegas, like the Little White Chapel and some of the other quickie marriage places. We did not go in any of them, for those of you that are still concerned with that sort of thing. Minus: it was really, really, REALLY hot and we were both wearing shoes that were completely unsuitable for a four mile walk in 100+ degree temps. By time we found a casino with its wonderful, welcome air conditioning and lovely bar, we were probably hitting our limit of good cheer. Fortunately, the refreshments restored balance to the universe, for a little while at least.

We moved on to other casinos on Las Vegas Blvd. We got some drinks and spent a few bucks at the Stratosphere. Again, I'd love to ride the roller coaster, but waaaaaayyyy overpriced. I don't know why I'm bothering to talk about prices anymore. At this point in the trip we had completely blown our budget. We wandered in and out of a few, but by time we got to the Hilton our feet had had enough. We followed signs for the monorail and took it back to Harrah's, which was only a couple of hotels down from the Venetian.

We needed a break for a little bit, but we didn't take one. Instead we went over to the Mirage; however, we were obviously slowing down and in need of some calories. We had a ridiculous dinner planned for my birthday, so we weren't planning to eat anything between breakfast and dinner, but that was just an untenable situation. So we sat at one of the bars and had a beer and some chips and guacamole. While we were there, we went to the desk selling tickets to "Love," which is a Cirque du Soleil show with a Beatles theme. I think we got a deal, but I've got just enough doubt that I'm not going to look it up.

Dinner was at Emeril Legasse's Delmonico steakhouse. Worth. Every. Penny. The steaks were amazing. The service was impeccable. The crowning moment, dessert, was a pecan pie (it was my birthday, so I got to pick dessert!), which was one of the best I've ever had. You just cannot beat a good pecan pie.

After dinner we rushed down to the Bellagio to see the water fountain show that they do every 15 minutes or so. The we walked through Caesar's Palace for a bit. We were a bit crunched for time, so we were taking a shortcut through the Forum Shops to get to the Mirage. Unfortunately, our shortcut caused a long delay since we basically got trapped in there and had to backtrack. I liked Caesar's Palace, but I might rethink staying in that one because of how I got trapped in there.

We made it to Love with plenty of time. It was a really good show, especially if you like feats of strength, acrobatics, and high flying. The guy who sold us the tickets said he's seen it 9 times and he sees something new each time. I can believe it. It was freaking chaotic at the beginning. Anyway, go see it if you get the chance.

That pretty much wraps it up I think. After the show was over, we cashed out our tickets and went up to the room to pack. I had a great time, and I can't wait to go back. Next time I'm going to bring enough money that I can sit down at a blackjack table and feel like a real gambler. I'm trying to figure out the strategy right now, so the local casinos might get a little business this year when I test my skills. Maybe it will be something to do for Christmas, since we're probably not going anywhere this year.

Ho hum, ho hum, I'm such an effing bum!

I've been taking it pretty easy this week since I'm signed up for a half on Labor Day. I went to the gym a couple of times and did my best hamster impression, but I never went more than three miles.

Today I did four miles outside with Lisa, and watched all of the LSU people in town to see the UW/LSU game tonight. Who knew that LSU fans were so passionate that they'll fly 1700 miles to watch a football game? Maybe it's because my college football team was suck-ass the whole time I was there, but I wouldn't fly all over the country to follow them. Well, at least the LSU people will boost the local economy a bit.

My brain puts a hard limit on my muscles. If I go into the gym saying "I'm going to do four miles on the 'mill" then I can go for at most four miles. I can go less of course; I never have a problem stopping short unless I'm outside a couple of miles from home. Although... even then I can just flag down a cab and ride home in comfort. But if I've mentally decided to do four miles, five miles is completely out of the question. My brain has said how far my legs are going, and it will not let me go any farther.

My birthday is on Friday. I'll be 36 years old. It sounds like such a big number. I'm in much better shape now than I was 10 or 20 years ago. I wouldn't have dreamed of running one mile much less 13 of them then.

The next two weeks will be an absolute wreck on my training plan. I might as well act like it doesn't exist. I'll do the half on Monday, but I won't be doing any running for the rest of the week until Sunday (9/13) when I'll do 12 miles. I've got a good route planned for that one. It will actually be the one I was supposed to run last week when I got lost. This time, I'll either figure out how to actually use the gps on Grendel for something more than determining pace and after the fact mapping or I'll take a print out of the map to refer to as I go. After that it's wisdom teeth time.

Half baked and half assed - Super Jock 'N Jill 1/2 Marathon - Race Report

Race: Super Jock 'n Jill 1/1 Marathon
Location: Woodinville, WA (wine country!)
Biggest Challenge: Going the distance without being the last person to finish
Time: 2:14:15
Pace: 10:06
Ranking:
- Overall - 915/1204
- Gender - 507/583
- Male age 30-39 - 182/200
Date: 9/7/09

I started 2009 with a list of four goals, two health related and two finance related. I'm glad to say that after finishing the super jock 'n jill half marathon I've taken care of both of my health goals (half marathon, lose 30 pounds). The finance ones... eh, not so much. This is a blog about running though, so unless I've got running-related finance to talk about, we'll just steer clear of that topic.

Let's back up a couple of days.

I started my carbo-loading on Friday with 1.25 pounds of food for lunch. This included a little protein in the form of chicken, but most of that was taken up by the miracle of macaroni and cheese and some great pasta salad. After work I went and slammed down a few Belgian beers, which had to have some carbs in them somewhere, and a beautiful burger. The bun should take care of a few more carbs.

Saturday was a day of rest, relaxation and a four mile run. It's probably not the smartest thing to run two days before your first half marathon, but I did and I'm not going to apologize for it. Besides, it was a pretty damn easy run. This discussion is feeling familiar. I think I may have already blogged about it.

Sunday.... ahhhhh, I love the Sunday of a three day weekend. It's all the fun of a weekend day with none of that annoying I-have-to-go-back-to-work-tomorrow bullshit. Sunday should have been a day of rest, but it was a day of activity. There was much craigslisting (should be a verb if it isn't already) and organizing around the house. The highlight of the day was the trip to the Original Pancake House where I downed a stack of sourdough flapjacks, an egg, two thick pieces of bacon, a slice of wheat toast and half a serving of potatoes. The only reason I'm sharing the menu with you is so that I can work in my favorite line of the day. "I'm eating like an American today because tomorrow I'm going to run like a Kenyan." Look at that list of foods that I've eaten over the past few days. Carbo-loading complete.

Race day came early at 7am. I did a quick cold shower rinse, then donned the racing gear of the day. According to the lovely weather app on my iPhone it was a balmy 53* outside, that meant the shorts were out and the tights were back, baby! I try to be smart when possible (usually it's not), so I reasoned that I could either put on the tights, long sleeve wicking shirt and another sweat-optimized overshirt OR I could put on a pair of running shorts and a short-sleeved wicking shirt. One results in me being reasonably warm while waiting for the start, the other results in a lot of energy wasted shivering. I chose option A. Pre-race fuel was a banana and a cup of Cheerios. Then we were OFF, to hunt down Red Hook Brewery (never actually saw it), a parking place, and the starting line.

MASSIVE line to pick up my bib and timing chip. They picked an interesting way of doling the race packets out. Rather than have everything sorted by name, you had to talk to one of the 3 volunteers with the list and they told you your bib number. Then you went and talked to one of the dozen volunteers with the packets who hunted your packet down. It was surprisingly fast. I'm confused. At first glance it seems incredibly inefficient, but it worked almost like magic. This was the biggest organizational problem of the race, and as you can see it wasn't a problem at all. Along with my packet I got a fantastic, red, long-sleeved, wicking race shirt. Now here's a dilemma: take the shirt back to the car OR put the shirt on and go with it. I put the shirt on. Let's count... that's 1, 2, 3 shirts I was wearing. There was no problem with me being plenty warm out there. I think not removing the bottom shirt actually ended up being a mistake later, but not because I got too hot.

I don't remember a lot of stuff from each individual mile, but there were some things that stood out. I'll point out some highlights:

Lisa and I ran the first two miles together before she split off to complete the 4-mile run. It was drizzling a bit and cold but we had fun anyway. I made a joke about not exceeding the 45mph speed limit on the road we were on. She gave me a courtesy chuckle, which is nice of her. I didn't see it, but Lisa assures me that some other girl running nearby overheard and was entertained by my humorous stylings. I appreciate that. People laughing either with me or at me pleases me.

I saw my first minimalist runner in the wild. I've read about them, but I didn't expect to actually see one. I don't know if he was doing the 4-mile or the half. I'd like to believe that he was crazy enough to do the half. This guy was running in flip flops! FLIP FLOPS! What part of that doesn't sound crazy? Running in flip flops should only be done from the grill to the fridge to replenish your beer. Running 4-13 miles in flip flops is just... not... right.

There is some really nice scenery over there in Woodinville. I've been there a couple of times, but usually when I'm seeing it it's through a red-wine haze on a party bus going from winery to winery. Good times. This time I was seeing it 100% sober and I was impressed. A lot of the run was on the Sammamish River Trail. It's a really nice tree-covered trail that goes by and over the river. I was crossing over once and the view was so nice I wished that I had brought a camera.

GU does not taste good. It doesn't taste horrible, but it's not good. Still, it provided wonderful energy at just the point that I needed it. Hmm, I wish they'd had just one more GU stand at around mile 10. I could have used a little energy boost to finish that last 5k.

Starting in mile 6, the route planner's meds must have run out because our path got all kinds of twisty and crazy through Bothell. I started seeing other runners coming back toward me and I was sure that there was a turnaround just around the corner. Then I noticed that runners I was seeing were running much, MUCH faster than I do and that they had zero body fat. It turns out they were about four miles ahead of me.

Someone put a stupid hill right at the beginning of mile 7. Race planners, if you're going to put a hill on your course, please put it somewhere in miles 1-3. Anything after that is just torturing your customers.

I had this woman in gray shorts that I was following for a long time. We had crossed the river at the same time in mile 5. At one point I noticed that either her shorts were very sheer, or the way they stretched just made them look that way. I tried to use her as my pacer, but she got away from me at around mile 10. She just disappeared. She must have been pacing herself to have an explosion of speed once we got to 5k left. It's either that or I slowed down a lot. I'll go with the speed explosion idea.

Telling yourself you've only got a 5k left and when was the last time you couldn't do a 5k only goes so far. This is where I needed some more GU.

Glide is an amazing thing, but either I didn't put it on right or thick enough or all the rain and sweat washed it away. Consequently, I have the least debilitating but most ridiculous of running injuries: nipple chafing. My nipples were chafed so much that nine hours later they have scabs (on my freaking nipples!) and they still hurt a bit. I need to come up with a fix for this by next weekend.

I only saw two cameras on the course both right at the end. I had just enough mental faculties left to remember some advice I read on marathoning: More pictures are bought from marathons than any other race, so remember to SMILE. I gave the first one I saw a really big smile. I'm not sure what I my face looked like for the second one. I probably looked like I'd been hit over the head and was a little woozy.

The after party had some of the best, in my limited experience, post-race food. Top Pot Doughnuts was giving away free chocolate raspberry old fashioned doughnuts. Heaven in a plastic wrap as long as you love sugar, which I do. Panera was handing out an assortment of bagels. I only took an Everything bagel. So much garlic on it. It was wonderful! There was some bottled water, both flavored and unflavored. I drank one of each. There were some chips, which were pretty good too. I saw some people walking around with bananas. I limited myself to one of whatever I took, but I saw people who looked like they were stocking up for a food shortage.

Hours later I'm still recovering. My knees are hurting. My nipples are hurting. I had a headache for a while but it's gone now. Walking even to the fridge or the bathroom is a challenge. Even with that I'm glad I did the half early. It was a great experience and I think I'll be willing to do it again next year.

Just for fun I put a map of the route down below. Tell me that miles 6-10 don't look like they could have been a little neater. It worked in the real world, but that doesn't make it any less confusing on paper.



Pace Chart
Mile 1 – 10:17
Mile 2 – 10:02
Mile 3 – 9:12
Mile 4 – 10:11
Mile 5 – 9:54
Mile 6 – 9:49
Mile 7 - 10:26
Mile 8 - 9:55
Mile 9 - 10:10
Mile 10 - 9:57
Mile 11 - 10:09
Mile 12 - 10:53
Mile 13 - 10:33
Remainder (.2 miles) – 1:47