A.B.Iker

Statistically Speaking: Favs of '10

2011-01-04T15:38:00.002-05:00

Let's put the lid on 2010 and start 2011 with a little music round up. These are the top 3 songs, artists, and albums that I've listened to in 2010. Not all these songs and albums were released during that year, but I definitely discovered or in one case rediscovered them during the year. Just like last year 99% of what I've listened to throughout the year has been tracked by Last.fm just because I'm obsessive like that. All these were pulled from my stats. Let's get our round up on...

Top 3 Songs

3. Champion - No Heaven

I picked up on this song through a game trailer, and it immediately brought me back to Moby's album Play of which I was a huge fan. It immediately went into heavy rotation on my running playlists. It's a fun song and has a great beat for running.

2. Sia - Clap Your Hands

I'm a sucker of Sia ever since they used her song Breathe for the final sequence of Six Feet Under. I'm sure it's out there on YouTube somewhere, but it probably won't mean as much to you if you didn't follow the show through the series. In the meantime check out her fun, quirky video for Clap Your Hands.

1. Spoon - Got Nuffin

Another running playlist mainstay. The driving beat makes for a perfect running song. They are really a criminally under appreciated band. If you've seen Stranger Than Fiction or some episodes of Chuck you've heard them. They're music has that cinematic quality that works perfectly for a soundtrack. I know they are often the soundtrack for my life.

Top 3 Artists

3. The Beatles

Yes, I was one of the people that got sucked into downloading the iTunes versions of some of the Beatles albums. So far it has been Revolver and Rubber Soul, and there will be more. I like the included album art, the documentaries and the new digital copies sound really good. So that means I have vinyl, cd's, and now digital. What else you got? I'll probably buy it.

2. Spoon

Did I mention these guys were under appreciated? Check out Gimme Fiction, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, and their latest Transference. If you want to start with songs check out the previously mentioned song as well as The Underdog, I Summon You and My Mathematical Mind.

1. Sia
See above.

Top 3 Albums

3. Spoon - Transference
I think I've said enough about the band. They rock. I love them. Some of the highlights from Transference: Before Destruction (really sets the tone for album and really sums up their sound) The Mystery Zone, Written In Reverse, and of course Got Nuffin.

2. Florence + The Machine - Lungs
Great album. She uses a mix of rock and soul and one hell of a powerful voice to create a sound all her own. Check out Dog Days are Over, Kiss With A Fist, Drumming, and You've Got The Love for a taste.

1. The Seedy Seeds - Count The Days
Yay for The Seedy Seeds! Count The Days is actually a couple of years old, but whatever. My list, my rules, besides it's only been a few times in my life that a local act has really caught my attention let alone put out such a great album. City Beat described their sound as "Electronic Americana" which works as well as anything. Check out this album and their new EP Roll Deep on iTunes and definitely one of their live shows if you get the opportunity. You won't regret it.

That's it for 2010 kids. Here's to another great year and lots of great music. Just as a bonus here are some late year finds or releases that didn't get enough plays, but are definitely worth mention:

The Roots - How I Got Over
Cee Lo Green - The Lady Killer
Girl Talk - All Day

Thanksgiving Day Race 2010 (A late, late race report)

2010-12-12T22:48:00.000-05:00

The Thanksgiving Day Race is always one of the most unpredictable races of the year in terms of weather. Maybe it's the second most unpredictable race. The first is the Heart Mini in March. In terms of sheer randomness of weather it really takes the cake. Thanksgiving comes in at a close second. It takes the cupcake. This year was no exception as we showed up to pouring rain and cold...no actually warm. What? That's right it was pretty warm for a rainy late November day. That's why I usually layer up to warm up and strip down as the race gets closer. Otherwise I end up doing a contortionist's act in my car trying to change outfits. That has happened...multiple times.

This year was much like last year as I came straight to the race from a 12 hour night shift. It's becoming my annual 10k on little to no sleep. I can't really complain though, like most other night shifters my life has become a blur of work, naps, family and work. It's pretty amazing the conditions your body can learn to operate under. And with that in mind I've had to readjust my goals for the races. It's not going to be about running personal bests right now. It could be about that and will be again at some point, but for now it's got to be about more than that or I'll be very disappointed more often than not. Sort of like the Columbus Marathon.

For me it's about enjoying the run and seeing friends. It was an absolute victory on both those fronts. Saw a few people from Team in Training and the indomitable runner, cyclist, triathlete and ultra law student Melissa! Got a few photos along the way with my iPhone in its improvised waterproof case. Plastic wrap works like a charm, and it only blurs the camera slightly. As for the race?

The race was great. The rain let up to a drizzle as we were lining up and mostly stopped for the duration of the race. It was really quite awesome. Despite being tired I felt really, really good. I didn't micromanage my pace throughout the race. I just went with how I felt and everything worked out. Being carried along in a crowd of 10,000 other runners and walkers really encourages the A game. And it was brought. The only time I had any doubt or reservation was a bit after mile 4. I could feel the miles start to wear me down as the early race buzz was wearing off. It's at this point I just say to myself. I'll be done in under 15 minutes. I can do most anything for 15 minutes right? That little bit of suffering will be gone and the good feelings of accomplishment will last the rest of the day. Totally worth it. Plus there's pie when I get home! Bonus!

Even though I didn't concentrate on my pace throughout the race I couldn't help but see how I did afterwards. I was quite pleased.
Official Time: 44:14 Pace: 7:08 Overall: 534/10,757 Division: 47/563

Extra bonus! My 47th division place was enough to put me in the top 10% winning me this sweet award. This fun glass that I immediately cracked while washing in the sink. Doh!

It tastes like victory...and glass :-(

The best camera is the one that's with you.

2010-11-20T12:08:00.000-05:00

My new favorite past time is playing with photos in Picnik. It's inexpensive, easy to use, and best of all it's on the web. No fuss no muss. Girl, I'm gonna be lookin' soooo good in my photos. And if you're nice to me so will you. If not I can always zombify you.

Panographic Flower

Upper left was the original. The rest are the picniked results.

Capt. Duck McMasterson checks out the chicks.

Big time troubs. for daddy.

We win some, we lose some. We make people sing and dance for drinks...

2010-11-10T02:11:00.001-05:00

happy to serve you

As of last night I'm officially back on the team. It's time to start fundraising again for Team in Training! After a two year break I've decided to run with team for the 2011 Flying Pig. It will be fun to get out with a new group and hopefully see some old friends again over the winter and spring for training. Game on people.

So, last night I was out for my first fundraising event at the Monday night Bengals/Steelers game. I've always avoided these fundraisers, because I heard they were sort of hit or miss as to being worth the amount of time and work for the money you receive. I figured Monday night football with Pittsburgh in town would be a sure fire win...for me, not so much for the Bengals unfortunately. If nothing else it would be a great opportunity to meet some of the team. It turned out to be a really fun time, and most likely really profitable to boot. There was a nice mix of people there training for Disney and for the spring Pig.

The highlight of the evening for me was watching and messing with the drunk people, and there were plenty to mess with there. My favorite line was, after getting their ID to look at them skeptically and say I'd need more proof of their age. Depending on their age range my common question and "proof" would be: "If you're really (insert age) what's your favorite Backstreet Boy? N'Sync member?" "Sing me a line from you're favorite Backstreet song?" to which several girls belted out lines from various songs. Hilarious. "I'm gonna need to see your hammer time." This also got the desired response. Awesome.

The evening was capped off watching a guy take the 10 sugars, 10 sweet and lows and five creamers he had just asked for and put every one of them in his coffee. Whoa dude. Stop...hammer time.

It's that guy from Guitar Hero!

2010-11-02T17:49:00.000-04:00

As Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young taught us through song it is important to teach your children well. Case in point: on Halloween it's very important your children are aware of their historical figures, pop icons and rock legends. When you are out with your kids, friends' kids and the like and you see this guy....

You don't want to be with the kid that yells out..."hey it's that guy from Guitar Hero!" or worse "it's Abraham Lincoln with a guitar!" Oh dear, sweet child o' mine. You're lucky Slash is an understanding guitar god with patience. Otherwise I would shred that ignorant grin right off your face. Believe me, it's so easy.

Don't cry, take them aside and embrace this teaching moment. Show them Paradise City, or welcome them to jungle because we got fun and games.

Run Like Hell Playlist

2010-10-29T17:27:00.001-04:00

A heavy metal playlist for a rockin' run and party.

Symphony of Destruction - Megadeth
New Moon Rising - Wolfmother
Love Me On The Wild Side - Lady Sovereign Vs. Motley Crue
Hells Bells - AC/DC
Stacked Actors - Foo Fighters
Ace of Spades - Motorhead
Aerials - System of a Down
Wild Side - Motley Crue
Bulls on Parade - Rage Against The Machine
Don't Tread On Me - Metallica

2010 Columbus Marathon Report

2010-10-24T19:20:00.000-04:00

I've been considering for a week now how to look back at this race. My first attempt at writing about the race earlier this week turned into a whiny rant that will never see the light of day. It felt good to get it out though. It's been expelled out into the digital emptiness of the unpublished blog posts never to be seen again. As you can guess I was disappointed with the results of the race. The thing is I don't want to concentrate on what went wrong when so much went well, so let's break it down into three categories.

The Good

Let's start at the beginning. The start of the race, as I captured above on my iPhone, was awesome. This year we were broken up into corrals based on previous marathon times that were submitted while signing up for the race. My 3:34 and change finish 2 years ago earned me a spot in the second corral. This made it really easy to get right up with the 3:30 pace group at the start. Two years ago I got stuck way in the back of the pack and wasted a ton of energy trying to catch that group. This year I was able to get with my group and enjoy the start of the race without weaving around all the walkers and slower paced runners that decided to go to the front. Sweet.

We were off to a beautiful start on a wonderfully cool and clear morning. Within the first few miles I started my new feeding strategy: eat and drink early and often. I didn't make any changes in what I was eating before and during the race. I was just going to eat more of it. Peanut butter on bagels and bananas before the race and Gu and a Clif Bar to nibble on throughout the race. This strategy had worked well during my long runs and on race day. Basically I snacked my way through the first 20 miles of the race. I wanted to battle my tendency to run out of fuel by the end of the race and the tendency to run into cramps. It seemed to work! By the end I wasn't wasted and ravenous and the cramps never appeared.

As I warmed up over the course of the first half of the marathon it became clear that it was going to be a good race. By mile 13 I was humming at a good pace and feeling really, really good. Everything was going exactly as planned, so it was time to lay back, keep my cool and not push the pace. It would be really easy for me to get excited and blow it all between miles 15 and 20. I set myself on cruise control, kept the 3:30 pace group in sight and enjoyed the morning. I decided to go no music, no head phones and just enjoy the morning and the crowd support. It was the best decision I made that morning.

It was at mile 21 that I had a breakthrough moment. It was just after mile 21 that I realized I had plenty of gas left to finish the race. I realized the dreaded cramps were not going to come. Everything I had planned was working, and my goal of a 3 hour and 30 minute marathon was within my grasp. I closed my eyes, smiled and let my legs carry me on at a steady, smooth pace.

The Bad

It was at mile 22 that I had a breakdown moment. Just after the mile 22 marker my right knee suddenly throbbed with an intense pain that seemed to start from the outside of my knee and shoot across it. I was forced to slow to a walk. This was not good. This was not a muscle pain. This was some sort of ligament pain. Oh no. This wasn't good at all. Suddenly the 4.2 miles left were beginning to look like a very long way. I walked for a bit before attempting to run. It lasted about 100 yards until the pain grew to much to bear. Attempting to stretch only caused my other muscles to burst into cramps. Ugh.

My mind began to whirl as I realized the race was slipping through my fingers, and my plans were unwinding right before my eyes. I wondered if I did something wrong. Did I not stretch enough? Did I go out to fast? Was it that douche canoe that kicked the cone in front of me at mile 13 causing me to do the most awkward and painful hurdle I've ever done??? It was hard for me to accept the reality that 4 months of training 6 days a week had gotten me this far. Uuuuugh.

The Ugly

Was my mood after the race. I was in a foul state of mind as I hobbled, walked, jogged the last few miles to the finish line. I had a fake smile plastered on my face, which probably looked more like a grimace, as the wonderful crowd encouraged myself and the rest of the runners. I wanted to appreciate every word, but I was not feeling it. I didn't stick around after the race for any amount of time. All I could think was to get out of there asap.

In the week since the race I've had a lot of time to mull over how things went. The day after the race I came down with a flu that kept me in bed for a few days, so I really had time to mull over the race. It was like going through the stages of grief: shock & denial, pain & guilt, anger & bargaining, depression, anger, more depression. All that was on the first day. Things have turned around as time has passed. I'm happy with what was accomplished, and look forward to doing it again. Maybe soon.

Part of my recovery was getting out on Saturday to pace for part of a race and cheer on a friend and fellow runner. It felt good, and she was awesome. More on that later. Let's watch the beginning again. That was fun.

The Hardest Part

2010-10-16T19:20:00.000-04:00

4 months of training are done. 98 runs and 597 miles are behind me. All the heat, rain, aches and pain are over. All that is left is a 26.2 mile run. It's a little thing in the big picture of what it took to get here. Tomorrow is a victory lap. See you at the finish line.

A Masters Class in Procrastinating

2010-10-01T15:59:00.000-04:00

I don't like to call myself an artist, but let's face it when it comes to procrastinating life is my canvas and procrastination is my most cherished tool. There is a subtlety to this art. Anybody can put something off and panic at the last moment struggling to finish that simple task that should have been done months ago. It takes, dare I use the word genius?, let's say a craftsman to start training for a marathon 4 months in advance; change the plans in the last 3 weeks, and sign up on the verge of sell out. All this is done with no pain and without breaking a sweat. Well, actually I sweat gallons over the last 4 months during training, and the pain has been excruciating at times, but that is beside the point! It's an art people.

With only two weeks left until the marathon it's like Christmas time. If Christmas involved long hours of running, waking up at 5 a.m. for those special hours and dealing with the long hours of being on your feet. Sounds a lot like the day after Thanksgiving for some of you dedicated shoppers to me. And you think I'm crazy. It's time to enjoy my celebration with lots of rest, good food, and planning for the big day. Is it too early to start carbo loading?

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. - John Lennon

2010-09-24T11:43:00.002-04:00

The 'Nati while on the run in Covington

Such is life. As I was planning and training for the Indianapolis Marathon forces were quietly gathering around me to disrupt these plans. Okay, maybe my plans were pretty shabby to begin with, and it only took a slight deviation to topple the house of cards that I had built. Whatever.

The bad news: Indy is out. It just doesn't make much sense financially right now. Maybe this will happen sometime in the future. Although, it's gonna be a tough sell on another fall marathon. Summer running blows. The good news: Columbus is in! I'm returning to the battleground where I barely set a marathon pr and was soundly pummeled by the course 2 years ago. The marathon is on the same weekend, and the logistics will be much easier and cheaper. I'm back with a vengeance C-bus and this time it's personal and in 3D! It's gonna be awe-some.

More good news: I started a new position at work. Ow! It's been a great change and new challenge at work and has required a lot more of my time and effort which was part of the demise of the weekly training updates. My time was better spent in other ways, and frankly I was bored with them. I was definitely in a slump there for a while as the miles piled up and the aches and pains increased. I lost interest in rehashing my 40th 5 mile run on the same course. Here is all the update I have on that front: work and training are going very well and the slump is over.

The running slump is over thanks to a surprising source. Nike Plus is alive! A new app was released called Nike+ GPS. As you can guess it uses the GPS in the iPhone rather than the foot pod. I won't go into details now, except to say that I've been using it for a week and it is awesome. I'm gonna do a complete review and write up next week with a little head to head battle with the old Nike+ and the Cyclemeter app. Should be epic.

Road To Indy Week 8: Meet me halfway

2010-08-27T22:21:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it. I am at the half way point! It's been a very fast build up and mileage, and I was a bit concerned about that when I started. I think up to this point I was doing 40 mile weeks in the height of my marathon training in the past. With the new program I'm already putting in 50+ mile weeks and getting ready to run the first of three 20 mile runs next weekend.

It has come with some aches and pains, but nothing that isn't manageable. I've been having a lot of pain in my shins and some pain in my left achilles tendon. It gets very tight after runs and especially in the morning when I first get out of bed. These are pains that could be easily remedied if I would make more time to stretch. I'll get right on that...starting tomorrow. Or whenever. I've got this under control.

Monday: The usual easy 3 miler, but with a little bit of a twist. Instead of just running the usual neighborhood route I headed into the neighboring subdivision that has a trail through the woods. I don't use it as much as I'd like to, but it's very hilly so I save it for when I really need something different. This was one of those days. excellent road/trail run.

Tuesday: Another 9 miler on the Little Miami Trail. Once again I found someone to "chase" on the second half of the run. It always makes a run better.

Wednesday: I returned to Lunken for today's run and what I've started calling "the gauntlet". That back stretch on the path is a flat long stretch surrounded by trees that don't really provide any shade. So you have no view of anything, no shade, and no mercy. It's just a long, straight endless path that wears you down. Maybe I'll start timing myself on the gauntlet. Let's make this long boring stretch interesting.

Thursday: I was struck down with the dreaded summer cold. There was no running today since I woke up and felt like my head was stuffed with cotton. Rest day.

Friday: Summer cold be damned. I was back on the road today hitting the hill down the street for some hill repeats. I was feeling all that awesome still, so the speed wasn't totally there. I did get 6 repeats in at a respectable time and finished up 6 miles feeling pretty good all things considered. It's kind of gross, but running with a cold actually helps clear out the sinuses. It gets things moving.

Saturday: It was back to the Little Miami for a 9 mile pace run. I don't know why I haven't been using caffeine more for my runs all these years. It works like a miracle. It helps that I don't drink caffeine all the time, so that shot of caffeine once before the run is like a shot of adrenaline. It may be partially psychosomatic, but that's fine too. Whatever the case I had a great run this morning. Caffeine and an overcast slightly drizzly morning makes Adam a happy boy.

Sunday: Wait. What week are we in? This is week 8 right? It's only the half way point. And yet.... I was feeling a bit nervous about this one. 19 miles so early in training? Crazy! With a shot of caffeine and a banana before the run, a powerbar for the run, and an extra bottle of water planted along the way I had plenty of fluids and food. The trail was well shaded and cool. The legs were feeling very good. I didn't feel really tired until the last 2 miles, but by that point all was well. Since there were lots of people out there were lots of rabbits to chase.

From here on in it's alternating 20's and 12's for long runs. Wish me luck. I'm gonna need it.

Road To Indy Week 7: I gotta get back in time

2010-08-22T22:42:00.000-04:00

I'm officially one week behind on my weekly marathon training update. My bad. It's been kind of a busy week with this happening, and I caught a summer cold which really messed with my head for a couple of days. I don't deal well with the whole headachy, sinus drainage and pressure thing. It makes me want to stick a sharp object through my temple to relieve the pressure. Would that be an over reaction? I don't know how you people deal with the allergies and all that crap all the time. I'd have to move to Arizona or something.

Anyways, let's go back a week. I think 3 turns will do the trick, but don't let yourself see yourself or you'll go mad. Cut me some slack. It's been a Harry Potter weekend on ABC Family and my little girl loves her some Harry Potter. And that's the story I'm sticking with.

Monday: Had a nice easy 3 mile run through the neighborhood. I gave the Nike Plus another try just because I hate myself. I figured it would work with the iphone in the fancy arm band. I was wrong. It failed me again. Still dead to me Nike Plus.

Tuesday: I like to have a rabbit to chase. Have I mentioned that? Not literally, of course. But I find when I'm running amongst other runners in a race or even in an imaginary race as I try to catch some runner in the distance I almost always feel motivated. The Little Miami Trail is really good for this on busy days as was this Tuesday. I had a 9 miler to knock out and the trail was hopping. Those long, flat straight aways allow you to see runners way ahead and makes for a great target to run toward. The first half of the run was good. The second half was better on the way back. I really found a great pace.

Wednesday: Retreat from the heat. This was the first time this year I've had to take to the treadmill because of weather. Really the first time at all. I just couldn't bring myself to do another brutally hot run, so I took retreated to the gym for a 4 mile run on the treadmill at a slight incline. It was as boring as ever, but a nice relief from the heat. While I was there I tried out one of the fancy new computerized spinning bikes for a 5 mile ride as well.

Thursday: I ditched all the fancy iPhone and GPS equipment for a good old fashioned track workout. It felt really good to just get out on the track with a stop watch and burn down some 800 meter intervals. It's easy to get bogged down in all the crap they try to sell you with fancy gear and gadgets. Sometimes you need a reminder that all you need is a good pair of shoes and someplace to run. The pace on these intervals was perfect. Shooting for about a 3:30 800 meter pace. Nailed it.

Friday: Rest day.

Saturday: I did this.

Sunday: I met the running group down in Newport. Well, I sort of met the running group in Newport. I was running late from getting there after work, so I parked outside of Mokka, our post run breakfast spot this week, and headed for a run around the city. It was kind of nice to get back downtown and run the bridges into Cincinnati and back to Covington and through Newport. It's always been one of my favorite places to run. Unfortunately on this Sunday it was brutally hot. It made for one tough 12 mile run. The rest of the group finished before me and called me as I was heading into mile 8. I was feeling beat up and roasted by that point. They had just sat down and ordered my french toast. Oh man. It was on. Suddenly I had something to run for. I would have run through fire to get to that delicious treat.

Coming soon: revisiting that running movie marathon. For real.

Our little baby is all growds up

2010-08-18T00:30:00.001-04:00

I can't believe my little girl is starting 4th grade today. We took a trip to her school last week for an open house where she got to say hi to some friends, and more importantly meet her teacher. On the way to the school I asked her if there were any teachers that she hoped that she didn't for the year. I was surprised to hear her say no.

I can remember every year going to the school's front doors toward the end of the summer with anticipation and sometimes trepidation to find out who would be my teacher for the year. It seems like every year there was at least one teacher with a bad reputation for one reason or another. There were the teachers that were very strict. The teachers that gave swats. Remember the days of swats and the stories of the infamous paddle with holes in it? The mythical aerodynamic brute of a paddle that would leave you with a bruised butt and tears in your eyes. There were the teachers that favored a group of students: girls, boys, jocks, cheerleaders. And the teachers that had some sort of body odor issue. There was the story of the class of students leaving a bottle of mouthwash for a teacher with a particularly serious case of bad breath. Good times.

This year she gets to start the year with a curse and what I see as opportunity. She broke her thumb a couple days ago and will be going to school today with a cast. This is ice breaking gold as I told her on the phone. She gets to start the school year with a story; possibly a fantastic one. My advice was to spin the story to her advantage. She fell on her bike while riding down a hill. Or did she fall off her bike while finishing a world record setting jump over 4 of her neighborhood friends that were lying on the ground side by side? Or did she race into the street on her bike to save a kitten from getting run over by a car leaning over cowboy style to scoop the kitten out of the way just in the nick of time injuring her thumb in the process?

She didn't seem to want to use any of my fantastic ideas. Her loss.

Aiden through the years. I prefer to watch it in reverse and see her get younger and less grown up looking. You're freaking me out girl.

Newtown 5K Race Report

2010-08-17T00:34:00.001-04:00

The Newtown 5K seems to be just a blur of heat and sunlight in my memory. I'm pretty sure I was there. I have a race number. I've seen the results. That's my name right there in black and white. By all accounts I was there, but I can't really account for much of it. Let's give it a shot.

I buzzed down to Newtown right after work and made a mad dash to get signed up then it was straight to the road. I was going to take full advantage of having closed streets on which to run. I had 9 miles to get in this morning. The plan was 3 miles before the race to warm up. The race. 3 more miles after the race. Seemed like a good plan at the time. What I didn't account for was the fact that it was August...in Ohio. I think they said it was 115% humidity. Is that possible? Did anybody drown during the race?

Let's keep this short and sweet. The first 3 miles were pretty good. There were lots of runners out warming up, which always ups my game. I was feeling good, feeling super fast right up until the moment when a pack of teenagers (probably feral) cruised by me looking like they weren't even trying. I admit it. I had a brief daydream of tripping the front runner and watching them pile up like a car crash. Is that wrong?

The race was a flat, fast course right through the middle of Newtown. I don't really have much of a breakdown of the race, because it really does seem like a blur. I set myself on autopilot and just went with it. I had no particular goals for the race or expectations. By the time the race started at 9 am it felt like it was approaching 80 degrees and climbing. That does bring back one distinct memory of the race. It was an out and back course. Right before the turn around there were a series of trees shading the course intermittently. I remember feeling a distinct drop in temperature every time we hit the shade. It felt at least 5 degrees cooler. The sun was blazing that morning. I tried to keep it around 7 minute miles and finished up with about a 7:13 pace. According to my watch I was a little faster. They weren't using timing chips, and I know it took me at least 15 seconds to get to the start line. That would put me at about a 7:06 pace. Despite the heat and post work tiredness it felt good and that's what matters.

Right after I finished I grabbed some water after the finish line, eyed the food spread longingly and headed back out on the course. The final 3 miles was a challenge. My legs were still feeling good, but the heat was really taking it's toll. I pushed through it knowing that some of the people still out on the course were suffering much worse than myself. I felt bad for some of the runners as some of them looked miserable. Races in August are not cool.

Two things made up for the crummy conditions after the race. First was meeting up with Facebook friend and fellow Bataviain Leah. Hi Leah! Props to you for running the race with a child in a stroller. I did notice after the race that the child was absent from the stroller. I would have ditched the kid too. He was totally dragging you down. A time comes when kids need to learn to be self reliant, and if that time comes in the middle of a 5K run so be it. A very close second was that food spread after the race. They went all out. I would have taken a photo, but I was too busy stuffing my face with oranges, grapes, watermelon, bananas. It was the best fruit I've ever had. Ever.

Next year I think I'll sign up for the race, but just show up for the breakfast buffet. As all you sweaty runners come into the finish look for me. I'll be the one with a plate grazing on all the finish line fruits and pastry. It's gonna be glorious.

Road To Indy Week 6: Take me to another place

2010-08-14T04:11:00.001-04:00

Tennessee

So far this has been an interesting exercise. It's amazing to look back and see that I've had the worst run and the best run of training this year all in one week. If you asked me about these days a few months from now there is no way I would think of them all happening only a few days apart. It seems inconceivable. That's how it goes sometimes, and that's one of the things I love about running. It's like a box of....something, what was it? Kittens? I think I'm having heat stroke.

Let's wrap it up and put a bow on it.

Monday and Tuesday: Two of the worst days of running I've had all year. The heat and humidity really got to me on both these days. I had one hot, terrible short run and one hot, terrible 8 miler. The dog days of summer are here for real and I'm over it.

Wednesday: After the last two days I just couldn't deal with another hot, miserable run. It's a rest day for me.

Thursday: Things start to turn around as I head to Juilfs Park for a tempo run. I was still feeling pretty worn out from work, but the weather was a little less crummy. The plan was a 40 minute run building up to near a 10K pace for about 5 minutes around the 20 minute mark. It didn't quite pan out that way as my legs weren't quite there, but it was better. I was able to maintain a good pace.

Friday: Another rest and travel day. After a long night at work and a two hour nap we packed up and headed out on the 5 hour drive to Pigeon Forge Tennessee for a little family trip.

Saturday: I had an easy 8 mile run scheduled at no particular pace. Instead of just a straight run I decided to mix it up. I did a 3 mile warm up before I ran this race. Then I did a 1 mile cool down. It was only 7 miles, but I figured 3.1 miles all out makes up the difference. It was by far the best run of the week and one of the best races of the year. It just felt really, really good.

Sunday: 17 miles in August?!?! Are you kidding me? I despise you running plan. Another early day up and out the door to try to get in the miles before driving home. I ran up the strip past tourist trap hell and found a little running path that followed a river to a park. It was an unexpected and excellent find amongst all the pancake houses and tourist shops. The run wasn't great. I was pretty spent after racing yesterday and spending the day out and around Gatlinburg. I was able to squeeze in 15 before heading back to get packed up.

I hate to say it, but I'm ready for summer to be over. Bring on the cooler weather.

West Hills 5K Race Report

2010-08-10T04:40:00.000-04:00

Who in their right mind get's up at 5:30 in the morning while on a family trip and drives for 40 minutes into the next town to run a race? Oh wait, that would be me while in Gatlinburg over the weekend for a little family weekend. Saturday morning I was scheduled to run 8 miles for my marathon training. In the interest of staying on schedule and adding another state for this goal I rolled out of bed at 5:30 am hopped in the car and went in search of the West Hills YMCA in Knoxville.

With the help of my iPhone and the race flyer forty minutes later I rolled in to the race site feeling pretty good. I picked up a banana and a Red Bull on the way. I decided to do a little experiment. I'm not a big caffeine consumer. I don't drink coffee regularly and keep my consumption of soda to a minimum. This morning I was going to do a little performance enhancing by following the guidelines for caffeine intake that I had heard recently on Phedippidations podcast. This could go either way. Either it will help or my stomach may decide to reject the stuff. Game on.

Before getting caffeinated and race ready I needed to get in some miles. I decided 3 miles would be a good start. That would be a nice warm up followed by the 3.1 for the race and two to cool down. Good plan. I had a vague idea of the course based on some markings that I saw on the road, so I headed off in that direction. As I was running my mind wandered back to the race flyer and this line "Challenging 5-hill course...". Is it wrong and weird that I liked the sound of that? Don't judge me I hate flat courses.

I finished up the run feeling really good. It was do or die time. I had about 30 minutes until the race, so I headed back to the car and cracked open the Red Bull. According to the podcast and Run The Planet I should consume "from 1.5 to 4 mg/lb body weight (3 to 9 mg/kg) taken one hour pre-exercise". In my case that comes to about to about 225 to 600 mg. I underestimated how much I'd need as one Red Bull only has approximately 80 milligrams of caffeine per can according to the Mayo Clinic website. Maybe it's for the best. I'd rather underestimate rather than over do it and end up with a sick stomach.

Race time and so far so good. I was feeling pretty good. I had my caffeine, some more stretching and water. All systems are go. As I went to the starting line I realized this was truly a small community race. There were a little over 100 runners and walkers present. The weird thing was there were many more of the Vibram Five Finger shoes than I'd ever seen at a race before. Weird. I'd found a hot bed for barefoot running enthusiasts in the middle of Tennessee. Who would have guessed?

The race was on. Since it was such a small race there would be no mile markers and no mile splits being called out. I decided to just run with my stop watch. There would be no gps and no tunes to distract me. This race would be a good test to see how things are going in training. The first mile went by in a blur. I didn't push the pace really hard. I set a steady rhythm and just concentrated on maintaining good form, breathing and an even pace.

How many hills was in this race? As I entered mile 2 I was into a good race pace. There was very little flat ground on this course. It was a series of up hill and down hill stretches, and I was loving it. With each hill I would put on a little surge and increase my turnover trying to close the gap between myself and the next runner ahead of me. With each down hill I would try to not pound the pavement and let gravity do the work instead of fighting against the hill.

I went into the final stretch of the race feeling somewhat tired, but with something left for a kick. There was one particular runner that I had been close to the entire race. I passed him early on. He came back and passed me during one of the down hill sections late in the race. In the final mile or so I kept him in my sight. We were done with the hills and heading into a park that I recognized as being close to the finish from the earlier run. I wasn't exactly sure how far it was, but judging by the time on my watch there had to be less than half a mile left. I picked up the pace and started to close the gap.

Off in the distance I saw something orange. It had to be a cone leading in the finishing chute. I put on a full sprint. Legs pumping, lungs burning I passed my target and through the finish line at 21:44. It was an average pace of 7:01 and good enough for a second place finish in my age group and 14th overall. Small races are awesome for that.

I stuck around after the race for a while and had a good chat with one of the barefoot runners about his crazy looking shoes. He said the same as many other runners that use these things. "I had [insert calf, shin, ankle problem here] and since I've started running in these my problems are gone." I think these people sleep with the shoes under their pillows and the shoes talk to them at night.

I'd say the race was a success on all accounts.

It tastes like victory.

Ten million fireflies

2010-08-06T05:41:00.001-04:00

I find hot air balloons totally fascinating. The fact that you can fly through the air with nothing more than some cloth, strings, a wicker basket and a flame is amazing. We got up close and personal with some pretty awesome hot air balloons over the 4th of July weekend. They stayed on the ground, but put on an awesome show as they lit up the night.

Watch the bottom right hand corner of the video at the 2:05 mark. The reaction of the kids is classic.

Road to Indy Week 5: Same at is ever was

2010-08-05T06:36:00.002-04:00

Over the course of 4 months of training you have bad weeks and you have good weeks. Then you have these weeks which are ridiculously hot, uncomfortable and at the same time completely forgettable. Let's say that's why it has taken me so long to post up the weekly wrap up. It's barely worth writing about. Move along...nothing to see here.

Wrap it up:

Monday: I had a run around the old home town: Batavia. It was slow and sore after a night of work, but nice to have a change of scenery. I always forget how small downtown area is in Batavia With a 3 mile run I pretty much ran the entire downtown area.

Tuesday: Another change of scenery as I headed out to Loveland to run an 8 mile run on that section of the Little Miami Trail. It felt really good. Surprisingly my legs were feeling much better than the day before. I had an excellent run with the added excitement of trying out a new running app. Look at me the fancy beta tester. I've said too much. Lock it down. You never read that thing about the thing that I'm not testing, but I have to say it is pretty awesome.

Wednesday: Skipped my run today for more important things like hanging out with the kid and playing Mario Brothers Wii. You got to have priorities and the day's priority was conquering world 3. Mission accomplished folks.

Thursday: 5x or maybe 6x hill workout on the 5 mile trail at Turpin High School. (1/4 mile hill) I lost count and made myself rum an extra lap or possibly 5th. I'll have to go back and look at the stats. Post work so as usual tired and stiff but by the end felt good and didn't mind the extra lap.

Friday: That 4 miler that I skipped on Wednesday was rescheduled for today. I ran the usual route from home with a delicious side of trail running. I cannot live on asphalt alone. Sometimes I need to eat some dirt up. Yum.

Saturday: 8 mile pace run. As usual I started strong, too fast, and suffered at the last mile. I think lack of sleep catching up with me. That's what I'm gong with: lack of sleep and heat. Fact.

Sunday: I finally was able to reconvene with the running group. It has been weeks and it was fun to meet up after the run for some delicious breakfast. Long runs are mostly about getting it done, so we can eat breakfast. Oh yeah, I ran 15 miles and it beat the crap out of me. The run beat the crap out of me, and that new, super secret, beta app is battery hungry. It ate my iphone battery about 3/4 of the way through the run. This is going to be a problem on long runs.

Coming up: more running, movies and a new video.

Running Movie Marathon

2010-07-30T17:07:00.001-04:00

Of course Pitt is excellent. Duh.

In keeping with my all running all the time postings lately I've decided to get a little inspirational during my marathon training. It's been brutally hot outside, so I need all the help I can get. Let's have a little running movie marathon! (pun intended). These are two great tastes that that taste great together. I'm totally stealing this idea from my favorite movie podcast Filmspotting. They take a theme, genre, director or whatever and watch a series of movies over several weeks and review and talk about them. Who's with me??

The idea may be stolen, but the inspiration came the other day when I flipped on the television and caught the last quarter of a movie called Running. Michael Douglas as a 34 year old runner trying out for the Olympics?!!? Why have I never heard of this movie before? Did the makers of Run, Fatboy, Run steal their plot from this movie? Why was this entire movie shot in soft focus? So many questions from such a cheesy movie.

Here is the list of movies I've compiled so far. Some of these I've seen, some I've not, but they are all being considered. I'll probably pick five or six, the easier to get the movies the better, so if anybody wants to play along or make suggestions let's do this...

Across The Tracks - This is the only sure thing. Brad Pitt and Rick Schroder as brothers running on competing track teams?? Dude. I actually have a vague memory of seeing this movie at some point. I'm sure it will hold up as a classic. Available on Netflix and Netflix Streaming.

Running On The Sun - 40 runners compete in the Badwater 135. That's 135 miles across a desert. That's insane. Available on Netflix.

Run For Your Life - An excellent documentary about the life of the creator of the New York Marathon Fred Lebow. Available on Netflix and Netflix Streaming.

Run, Fatboy, Run - Simon Pegg as a lovable loser trying to win his girl back by running a marathon and learning many life lessons along the way. Comedy and hijinks follow.

Spirit of the Marathon - Follow a group of runners at levels from first time marathoner to professional as they prepare and run The Chicago Marathon. The best running documentary or running movie I've ever seen. Period. Available on Netflix and Netflix Streaming. Also available right on the IMDb web page via Hulu with some commercials. Totally worth it.

Without Limits or Prefontaine - Two movies about the man, the myth, the legend. Pre. Double feature? Both available on Netflix.

The Long Run -Grumpy old coach looking for one more shot at glory trains a young woman to race the Comrades Marathon in South Africa. You know, Hoosiers with running in South Africa. Available on Netflix.

St. Ralph -Kid tries to strike up a deal with God that if he wins the Boston Marathon his mother will be healed. Get out the Kleenex I'm sensing tear jerker. Available on Netflix and Netflix Streaming.

On The Edge - Some guy makes a mistake and trains to win some race overseas. Drama unfolds. It's life man. Available on Netflix and Netflix Streaming.

Chariots of Fire - Queue the theme music and do your slow motion running. It's on. Available on Netflix.

Running Brave - The story of one of the greats, Billy Mills, and his path to gold in the Olympics. Should be a good one, maybe. Unfortunately may also be hard to find. Not available anywhere as far as I can tell.

Personal Best - Two female athletes train together, fall in love, and probably face some sort of trials and tribulations along the way. Just guessing. Available on Netflix.

Running - That Michael Douglas stars as an aging runner fighting to do the one thing he loves most...run and win the Olympic Marathon. Not available on Netflix, but I may try to catch this one again on Showtime. Cheesetastic.

Let's watch some movies.

Road to Indy Week 4: Back To Life, Back To Reality

2010-07-28T00:43:00.001-04:00

From the Bridge to Paradise (Island)

Remember last week when I started out kind of brutal and ended up in paradise? Thise week was kind of like that week in reverse. I wonder if they have any openings for dolphin trainers.

Monday: 35 minute Open water swim. With only a couple of days left I decided to take a day off from running and spend the time in the ocean. There is something completely awesome about doing an open water swim in crystal clear ocean water. It was tiring, but exhilarating. The entire time I was watching the bottom for cool shells and cool sea creatures. Fish would swim by in schools. The bottom moved and skittered away every now and then as I dove down occasionally to grab a cool shell. Why don't I live near a beach?

Tuesday: Final run in paradise. The final 7 miles along the beach. I took it easy and slow. Headed back out across the bridge from Paradise Island into Nassau. I ran along the beach on the sidewalk. A beautiful slow run. With the day off my legs felt very good, and now that I had a good idea of good places to run I felt right at home on the roads dodging traffic on the wrong side of the road. I could get used to this...

Wednesday: Back to reality...3 slow miles on the regular Mt. Carmel route. It was the slowest running of this route so far.

Thursday: 5 x 800 intervals on the Nagel Middle School Track. I ran each 800 meter interval trying stay close to a 7 minute/mile. Each rest in between was a slow jog for 400 meters. It was brutally hot and I fought to get through the workout. All in all I think I did very well. The speed was up to par considering the heat.. Things are looking good.

Friday: Rest and Relaxation...

Saturday: 7 mile marathon pace run on Little Miami Trail. The first few miles had trouble keeping pace. I felt like I was keeping pace, but apparently not. I was down a little bit. After I loosened up I was able to pick up the pace and finish strong.

Sunday: 2 Laps around Lunken for a 10 mile long run. This was the toughest workout I've had so far. For the first 7 miles I couldn't push above 9 minute miles. I was feeling very stiff, sore and tired. Thankfully it was an overcast morning with a nice breeze. Thank goodness for the clouds and the breeze. Lunken can be brutal on a sunny day. That back straight away just bakes in the sun. But this day I reached that back stretch for the second time, and was finally able to pick up the pace and shake off the soreness. This is what I need to feel to get used to fighting through those final miles of the marathon.

Coming soon: A running movie marathon....

Road to Indy Week 3: A.B. Iker International Runner

2010-07-19T14:14:00.002-04:00

Taken with iPhone and put together with Autostitch app. For real....

Suggested playlist while reading this entry: Soak Up The Sun/Sheryl Crow, Only Happy When It Rains/Garbage, Airplanes/B.o.B, White Flag/Gorillaz, Just Like Living In Paradise/David Lee Roth, Breaking The Law/Judas Priest,

I'll probably never have another week of running like this in my life. It started out as a hot, muggy and pretty miserable week trudging through the usual workouts on the usual routes. I had a little excitement on Tuesday, but not that exciting. Then things got really awesome on Friday as we boarded a jet to the Bahamas. By 5 pm that evening we were in our bathing suits and heading to the beach. Being the anal retentive runner that I am I wasn't going to miss a run. I made sure I had my running gear packed up and ready to go at 6 am Saturday morning. It's blazing hot, so I wanted to at least stay out of the sun. Besides it's vacation. I can't spend my day running. The troops would be waking around 9, so I had to be back and ready for some fun in the sun. Speaking of which, the Leap of Faith awaits. On with the wrap up!

Monday: Easy 3 miler. Ran a new route from the Anderson Mercy Healthplex to try out a new route. It was another hot one since I didn't get out until about 1 in the afternoon. It was slow and un-fun.

Tuesday: Hit the Little Miami Trail again after work for an "easy" 7 miler. After the previous day's heat I wasn't feeling super excited about the run. It was hot and muggy and within a mile of start...raining. I'm a fan of running in the rain. Great run.

Wednesday: Another 3 miles on the Mt. Carmel route I set up. It was supposed to be at an easy pace and for the most part it was, but I couldn't help but try to beat my own time in cyclemeter again. I did.

Thursday: 35 minute tempo run. I never quite got these runs right in previous trainin programs. I went back and looked into exactly what I'm supposed to run. You start off at an easy pace and about 20 minutes in pick up the pace to just below a 10k pace for about 5 minutes. This one would be handy to use the Nike Plus program with if it worked. At the point you could hit your power song and get an aural kick for about 5 minutes. It all worked out pretty well for me. I picked it up for the 5 minutes and dropped back down to an easy pace for the last 10 minutes.

Friday: Rest and Travel Day. I am leaving on a jet plane. Don't know when I'll be back again. (Actually I do, but for the purposes of this post I don't.)

Saturday: Just Like Livin' in Paradise. I was out for a 7 mile race pace run in a strange land without any idea of where I was running other than somewhere around the resort and the unreliable Nike Plus back in action for a couple of days. No cell phone service means no GPS service on my iPhone. Boooo. I ran into a fellow runner from New York in the lobby at about 6 am, chatted and asked him where he's been running. He mentioned crossing the bridge into Nassau and running along the strip. that sounded like good a plan as any, so I headed out toward the resort entrance and across the tallest bridge I've ever encountered. It was a seriously steep hill, but with a beautiful view of Paradise Island at the top. The run worked out really well. I headed out along the coast line sticking to the sidewalk. Once The sidewalk ended I headed back to the resort and to the foot paths.

At one point I got totally lost in the resort (this place is huge!) and had two choices: turn around and back track ooorr..run in to the main hallway of the resort and through the casino out the other end. How often do you get to run through a casino? I headed in expecting to get stopped at any moment, but at 7:30 in the morning there weren't many people around in the casino except for a few die hards staring intently at the slot machines. They didn't even notice me. I'm sure there was some security watching me on the monitors wondering what the crazy tourist was doing.

Sunday: Breakin' the law. I had a scheduled long run of 14 miles today, but I had to sort of wing it. Nike Plus failed me again at about 5 miles in. That's cool. I was half expecting it and was prepared. I wore my watch and had the time running. I'm not sure if I got my 14 in, but I got a good 90 minutes in. Once again I picked a random direction and just started running. This time I ended up running on to a golf course. As I ran by the entrance some workers at the guard station said something. I didn't hear and nodded and waved and kept on running. Laaa lala. It was a beautiful course with great views of the ocean and lots of birds scurrying around. I wound around the course and back out the same way I came in. As I passed by the station again one of the workers walked up to me.

He said in his stern yet polite Bahamian way, "Sir this is private property. We sent security out after you."

I was all, "Oh shit I'm sorry. I saw a bunch of grounds crew out there and nobody said anything." Actually they were very nice and all waved and said hi.

He just shook his head. That's right I'm a total bad ass. I out ran the Bahama golf course security force. Breakin' the law, breakin' the law...

Next week: Back to reality with Bahama stories and lots and lots of photos and maybe some video...

Road to Indy Week 2: You hit me once, I hit you back...

2010-07-11T23:51:00.001-04:00

Some days I feel like I'm in an abusive relationship with running. I clothe it in fancy running shoes, send it to school, feed it delicious food, buy it fancy gadgets, and even take it on vacation to Florida. What do I get in return? Sometimes running's really good to me. I swear running loves me...sometimes. I feel like it loves me. I swear guys it loves me, except for the times I think it wants to kill me. It wants to set me on fire and dance over my ashes. I think this can be best summed up in song. Then we're on to the weekly wrap up....

Monday: Started out the week with an easy 3 miler. Using my new running/cycling app (suck it Nike Plus) I saved the run as a 3 mile route that I'll be able to use during future runs to pace myself against. The app will tell me if I'm ahead of my previous pace or behind my previous pace at various points in the race. It's like my dream to race myself.

Tuesday - 6 miler on the Little Miami Trail at an easy pace. According to my running log "it was hot and I sweat a lot". It is July. Thanks Captain Obvious.

Wednesday: I revisited that 3 mile route and beat myself by 36 seconds (suck it me). It was still at an easy pace.

Thursday: This was my first tough workout of the week. After a warm up jog I hit the 5 Mile Trail. I sprinted up a 1/4 mile stretch of hill and jogged back down...repeat 4 grueling times. Between the heat and coming off a 12 hour stretch at work I was thoroughly exhausted by the end. Luckily on this schedule I'll only be doing this every 3rd week.

Friday: Well deserved, much needed rest day....ahhhhh

Saturday: Race Pace Day. The lesson I learned this week was that race pace day isn't only about speed, maybe even less about speed as it is about practicing form. It was an excellent run where I felt very comfortable about maintaining a 7:43 min/mile pace. At the end of the run though I could feel my shoulders hunching up and my strides becoming heavier as I pounded the ground trying to keep pace. If I can learn to keep good form as I get tired it will make all the difference come late in the race on marathon day.

Sunday: 13 mile long run. Running was real sweet to me for the first 9 miles. It was about mile 10 that it kicked me in the hip. It wasn't a hard kick. It was more of a love tap to remind me it loves me, and to do a better job of stretching. Running believes in tough love. After a little regroup I gave running a slap back and finished up. Hydration is gonna be key for these long runs. I need to be sure and carry some water with me or plan these a little more carefully to hit more water fountains. It's getting real....real hot and long.

Coming next week: Running on Paradise Island!

Road To Indy Week 1: Nike Plus is dead to me.

2010-07-04T14:07:00.002-04:00

After finishing the Columbus Marathon in October 2008 I was done with marathons. What does this have to do with Nike Plus? We'll get to that..It was the fourth in about a year and a half and Columbus kicked my butt and kicked me squarely in the quads. Soooo, here we are and I've started to train (in July) for that which I sworn off (because it always ends in pain). To quote Vizzini:

You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - The most famous of which is "never get involved in a land war in Asia" - but only slightly less well-known is this: "Never start marathon training in the summer!" Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha...

That's not exactly right, but whatever. So off we go on a 16 week training program that will culminate with the running of the 2010 Indianapolis Marathon on October 16th. Things are gonna change I can feel it. This time around I've decided to go with Hal Higdon's Advanced Marathon Training Plan. I'm a little late starting since it's an 18 week program, so I started on week 3. It's for those who want all the pain of the marathon and a big heaping plate of training runs. Each week I will give a little update and a rundown of the week's training. Don't worry I'm getting to why Nike Plus is dead to me.

Monday: Intervals on the track. This was my first time on the track in a long time, and it felt great. I warmed up with a mile of running then knocked out a 4 x 800 workout at about a 10K pace with a 400 jog break in between each interval. I finished up with a 400 all out and an 800 cool down. The total was 5 miles.

Tuesday: off

Wednesday: 8 x hill repeats. I wouldn't normally do hills and speed in the same week, but this is the day I started the program after fumbling around looking for the right one. Typically I pick a hill that's about a 1/4 mile long, but was stuck with a short hill, so I figured that 8 repeats would almost equal 4 x .25 mile hill repeats. Felt pretty good. Weather was great...about 73 and sunny.

Thursday: 3 mile run at a an easy pace. These runs will be on Monday and Wednesday from now on, and occasionally will be replaced with cycling or swimming as the summer goes on to mix things up.

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: 6 mile race pace. Tempo runs and race pace runs are going to be key. I was missing these in previous training programs. I plan on doing these regularly to get comfortable with the pace and build endurance. For Indy I'm hoping to break 3 hours and 30 minutes which means I'll have to maintain a pace faster than 8 minute miles. I can do that easily over short distances, but the true test comes after about mile 18, and this is where things fall apart every time. Today's run was brought you by the long boring loop that is Lunken Airport Trail.

Sunday: 8 mile long run. aka The Day Nike Plus died. I met up with the running group for our long run this morning bright and early at 7 am. I'm glad we did, because it was already hot out. Any later and it would have been unbearable. Everything was ready to go: music - check, sunglasses - check, Nike Plus - check. Off we go from Mt. Lookout Square.

Fast forward to about 20 minutes into the run. I start thinking it's kind of odd that I haven't heard the soft coo of the Nike Plus girl in my ear counting down the miles. Certainly I've covered a couple of miles so far. I pull my iPhone out of the iPouch and I was iPissed. I had a few choice iWords to say and they all started with f. On the screen I see what is pictured above. 20 minutes and 0 miles. I owe my iPhone an apology for all the harsh language it had to hear. I'm sure it's innocent in all this. I blame Nike Plus. You are dead to me Nike Plus. I'm over you. If this were an isolated incident that would be fine, but this is the final straw in a series of annoying incidents. The rest of the run to Eden Park and back went smoothly. I finished about 8.5 miles as I just figured out thanks to buckeyeoutdoors.com routes feature. The pace was about perfect as I wanted to keep it about a minute slower than race pace.

Post run was awesome. The perks of running with a group and one of them having a pool...and living close to excellent eats. Thanks Beth! I new we could do it!

It looked something like this....

Tomorrow morning begins week 2!

In the summertime when the weather is high....

2010-07-03T04:38:00.000-04:00

Final game of the softball season and Aiden has hit her peak. She goes 2 for 2 scoring 1 run and looks like Johnny Bench in his prime behind home plate. Wrapping it up in style and on her birthday no less. Happy birthday girl!

50 Races, 50 States...50 Years?

2010-07-01T23:12:00.000-04:00

The Warrior Dash has revived my interest in racing. For a time I was feeling kind of burned out and uninterested in racing. I'll still do some of the major events like the Heart Mini and the Flying Pig, but I wasn't excited about races. Partly I feel like I've hit a wall with my performance. Some days I feel like I've run as fast as I'll ever run. I always enjoy trying to beat myself and improve upon my times. It's getting harder and harder to do. The other part is working at night. It's making it very hard to get motivated to train. I'm usually exhausted when I get off work at 7:30 in the morning, and it's so hot when I wake up in the afternoon that running is just un-fun. Something had to give, and it was my training.

Now I'm feeling a bit of that loving feeling....from racing which will give me a reason to train. Heading out to Illinois also reminded of another goal that I had made for myself a while back. I thought I had written about it, but apparently not. I had set a long term goal, more of a lifetime goal, of doing some sort of event in all 50 states. I don't care what it is, bike, run, tri. It's an excuse to travel and try out new races.

Here is my tiny list so far. It's sad really...

Ohio - 2007 Flying Pig Marathon
Kentucky - 2007 Jingle Bell Run 5K
Florida - 2008 Disney Marathon
Michigan - 2007 Miles for Meals 5K
Indiana - ?!!?

I've done several races in Ohio and Kentucky. I just picked one to list. What's up with Indiana? How have I not done any races in Indiana? This is really disappointing and will have to be fixed this year. Maybe a fall marathon in Indy? Or...maybe a shorter race in Indy and one of these:

Steamtown Marathon - Scranton, Pennsylvania

Bay State Marathon - Lowell, Massachusetts

Anybody have a couch I can crash on?

I am The Warrior

2010-06-25T04:08:00.000-04:00

bang, bang I am the warrior

How did the Warrior Dash go down? It was exactly like this classic video by Scandal, only with more mud and less dancing, but only slightly less dancing.

It was a little longer than a 5K. There was 12 more obstacles to conquer than you're typical 5K, unless you count heat as an obstacle. So, 11 more obstacles to conquer than something like the Redlegs Run For Home 5K. There was a lot more mud than you're typical 5K. It was a hell of a lot more fun than any 5K I've ever run.

As we lined up at the starting line. Beth asked, "so are you sticking with the group?" Well, maybe...I can't make any promises. A few minutes later the race began with a burst of flames from over the start line. Shootin' at the walls of heartache bang, bang I am the warrior. It was on. Once the race is on all bets are off. I stayed with the group for about....well I didn't.

The race is a bit of a blur. Looking back at the course map doesn't really help. I could swear we hit the slithering swamp and the junkyard jam a lot earlier in the course. Here are my impressions of the race:

The fire goes off and we're running. I'm thinking I need to slow down. I need to slow down. It's so hot I'm gonna regret taking off fast. I turn to the runner next to me as I often do during a hot race and say, "It's so damn hot...milk was a bad choice." Then I run away while the runner is laughing or looking confused. Either way I win.

We hit some woods and blessed shade and....mud! The trail is slick as hell as we wind our way along the trails. I scamper across the planks. Don't fall..don't fall...don't fall...

Junkyard jam...I jump, I climb over old beat up cars....

Run...run...down a muddy slope into and dive into a huge watery mud pit. OMG it stinks...

Running, or more like jogging, as I'm soaked from head to toe and covered in mud. I can see out of one sunglasses lens. Water! Me: "how many glasses of water can I take?" volunteer: "as many as you need." I grab a couple and douse my sunglasses to see again.

Run...run...tires, legs so tired...run, run....hay...climbing...cargo net...climbing...about a million little hills...legs so tired...

FIRE!

After being slightly singed it was back into the mud as we crawled under barbed wire (for real) and on to the finish!

I found out later that I came in with a very respectable time of 25:50. After the race it didn't really matter what the times were. To the victors go turkey legs and beer...and we were all winners.

More photos to come....

Cannonball Queen

2010-06-18T22:06:00.000-04:00

Dude. Don't mess with the queen. She will totally cannonball you.

AM I A WARRIOR?

2010-06-17T00:49:00.000-04:00

I'll find out this Saturday as I head out with a group of friends and warrior wannabe's to Joliet, Illinois. What trials await us to determine if we are warriors? According to the battleground map we'll be facing such obstacles as the warrior wall, hell's hills, slithering swamp, satan's slope and so on.

Unfortunately this year I will be more of an unofficial warrior. I am running in place of somebody that is unable to attend and it was to late to get the registration changed into my name. I'm sure he has good reason to drop out, and quite frankly we aren't all cut out to be warriors. The community needs farmers too. Maybe he could compete in some sort of Facebook Farmville Challenge. Too harsh?

Unofficial warrior or not I am taking my task very seriously. I've removed my bed from the bedroom and have been sleeping in a pit of mud. I wake up every morning scale a cargo net into the kitchen and eat fire for breakfast. It's a good start.

The Fastest and Funniest LEGO Star Wars story ever told

2010-06-04T03:27:00.000-04:00

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I posted this hilarious video (still makes me laugh) of Star Wars being retold by someone who has never seen it.

Now let's go back a long time ago in a LEGO galaxy far, far away....

Forest Hills 5K

2010-05-25T04:39:00.000-04:00

Any given race could be your best or worst race..

This was almost literally a last minute decision to run in the Forest Hills 5K. As I was walking out the door at 7:30 am into a sunny, warm morning I knew I would regret skipping this race. I quickly changed clothes in my car and took off for Nagel Middle School. This was more than just another 5K. This was a fund raising event for my cousin Heather's school district. In addition to the race there was a festival that included a fun mascot race. Before that though, a quick race summary.

I came into the 5K with low expectations. I had just finished a 12 hour overnight shift that was spent mostly on my feet. I've been experiencing achilles tendon pain and calf pain. I'm pretty sure one or the other is going to snap and roll up like a fruit roll up one of these days. Because of this I didn't have a good race at all for the Pig. All things considered I figured if I could make it through the race without the fruit roll up effect I was good.

I was able to work my way up to the front of the pack at the start which was very good. This was an out and back course, so the roads got very congested very quickly. You can play a little Where's Waldo with the photo above. Look for the white hat, red shirt. I won't go into the gory details, because at this point I don't remember the details. I remember Thunderstruck kicking off the race in my ears and thinking this is gonna be damn good race. I remember heading out on a lot of downhill and thinking oh crap, I need to run back up those hills. I remember having something left in the tank and targeting the runner in front of me then mowing him down.

The result was a very solid 21:37 time and a second place finish in my division. Good run, well done.

After the race I stuck around to meet up with the family and catch Heather run in the mascot race. I've got some pretty sweet video that I was planning on editing together and posting here. Maybe someday I will. In the meantime enjoy these photos.

The Swimming/Flying Pig Marathon

2010-05-16T16:18:00.000-04:00

It's 55 degrees with a light breeze. It's a little overcast. Maybe it's sunny and there are puffy clouds floating lazily along offering an occasional break from a warming sun. I feel weightless. My legs are pumping rhythmically and feel like I could go all day. I'm running the race of my life. There is no pain. The finish line is up ahead, and I have reached the pinnacle of my racing career. I am Pre. I am Bolt. And I am Benoit as she won her second Boston Marathon in a world record time. Then I wake up.

I am standing near the starting line of the Flying Pig Marathon in the pouring rain at 6:45 in the morning. I have a trash bag with a whole cut out of the bottom over my body trying to keep some square inch dry with no success. My fingers are so soaked my iPhone has stopped responding to my touch. Maybe it's for the best, because I'm pretty sure that if I get my playlist fired up it's going to send a death shock up through the headphone wire and into my brain. Fortunately, as the gun goes off to start the race I get the tunes rolling and I don't die of a sudden shock.

It's an hour later and after slogging it up the hills into and out of Eden Park I'm wishing that there had been a sudden shock that killed me at the start line. I've been running an hour and my legs still haven't quite loosened up and my stomach is starting cramp up...and then I wake up. I said I wake up. Oh no, I'm awake. Crap.

This pretty much sums up my experience at the 2010 Flying Pig Half Marathon. It was wet and soggy. I didn't have a good run at all and my iPhone had a near death experience that lasted for 4 hours after race. I'm fine, but I think it's suffering from PTSD. I can't say it was a total waste of time. Any day out on a run isn't a terrible day, and I did learn a few things.

Technical running shirts are awesome. Heavy weight technical running shirts in the rain are terrible. After about 10 minutes I felt like I was running with a wet blanket wrapped around my upper body. When running in the rain forget about planning to stay dry at all. Plan to wear the lightest material that will hold the least amount of water possible. Those dudes that run in speedos don't seem so ridiculous after all. Who am I kidding? Yes they do.

There is no such thing as a 100% waterproof pouch/case, especially when you have to open it. I was using an iFitness belt to keep my iPhone and a few things in. It didn't get rain directly in it, but there was so much moisture in the air combined with me opening the pouch and fiddling with said iPhone spelled doom. When in doubt leave the expensive stuff at home.

In case of electronics meltdown due to moisture don't freak. There are several remedies for wet electronics that don't include spiking them on the ground when they quit working. Here is one that I was reminded of by a friend on Facebook. Thanks Nathan. Finally I have a use for all those little bags of rice I get at the pig and other races.

Any given race could be your best or worst race no matter how well prepared you thing you are. I suffered pain my knees and tightness in my calves for no really good reason. I also suffered some stomach discomfort. Not sure why. I ate the same thing I've eaten before dozens of other races with the exact opposite results. It's a mystery.

Finally, as I put the pig to bed again for another year, maybe I should say always enjoy the run and the experience. Or, any day running is a good day. That's not true. Some days I hate the run. During races like this I want to quit. I could be sitting on the couch right now reading a book, watching a movie or anything else that doesn't involve rain, pain and running. Then the race is over, and I dry off and the pain subsides. After a good meal and a few hours on the couch with that movie or book my mind drifts to the pig. Next year. It's gonna be 55 degrees and sunny. I'll be well trained. I'll be weightless....

March of the Flying War Pigs

2010-04-28T16:40:00.002-04:00

Less than a week left until the Flying Pig Half Marathon! It's time to get my running mix on. This year I decided to go 100% kick ass rock and roll. "You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention." That's exactly what I did Rob. Thunderstruck blows it up and makes me want to kick somebody in the teeth every time. "Then you got to take it up a notch..." Listen Rob this is my mix, my rules. I decided to cool it off a bit with a mid-tempo bar brawling rocker. Then I bumped it up 3 notches with my fist in your face, and your face on the floor. You get the point.

I took the mix for a 6 mile test run this morning and it does indeed totally kick ass. I found myself having to slow it down a bit to meet my goal pace. That is a very good sign. Then I punched a squirrel in the face. I knew the mix was ready. That squirrel should have never stepped to me. Welcome to the jungle squirrel. You're gonna diiiiiiiieeee.

B-EE-RR-UN

2010-04-18T12:41:00.002-04:00

This blog post and Flying Pig Run is brought to you in technicolor by the refreshing taste of MGD Light 64

Look for me on race day drinkin' a beer and wearing this shirt

I am a master practitioner procrastinator and occasionally it really pays off. I've been getting regular email newsletters from The Flying Pig Marathon for years. Every year they countdown to race weekend with an email of updates and information everyday.

22 days to go: Pig Out Saturday Night! Hell yeah I will.
21 days to go: Mail in entries are closed! Oh crap I haven't signed up for the half marathon yet.
20 days to go: It's Miller Time at the Pig! Time out. Flying pig says what?

The first 64 to show up and sign up at O'Bryon's in O'Bryonville on Tuesday night, April 13th from 6-8 p.m. can be part of the MGD 64 running team!

I am so there...and I was. After a quick stop at the Running Spot to pick up some shoes....

I love you Cumulus

I rolled across the street at about 4:45 to be sure that I was early enough to get a spot. Turns out I wasn't the only one that was determined. I was the second person to show up. One determined runner had been waiting since 3 pm. Dedicated procrastinator. My kind of person.

All I had to do was hang out drink a few free Miller MGD 64s and sign up for the race...also free. All I have to do is wear the team shirt (up above) on race day. Done and done. Hell, they can hand me an MGD 64 during the race and I'll drink it down with a smile on my face and a big thumbs up. Aaaahhh refreshing.

"Sometimes you eat the bear...."

2010-04-12T00:40:00.000-04:00

"...and sometimes, well, he eats you."

Were there any truer words spoken than these by The Stranger? I think not. In the Heart Mini-Marathon the bear is Torrence Parkway. You are, well, you, the runner. A lot of people get eaten by the bear. New comers are surprised to find the bear between mile 5 and 6. Actually, the bear finds them...and eats them. If you run the 15k be warned. Torrence the bear awaits, and he is hungry.

I take great pains to not get eaten by Torrence. That means eating a weekly dose of bears for approximately 6 weeks leading up to the race. Bears are tough, chewy, salty and tiresome to eat, but it's all worth it race day. What am I talking about? I think I've beaten the metaphor into the ground.

The 33rd running of the Heart Mini-Marathon has come and gone once again. I went into this year's race with not much in the way of expectations. I wanted to run well, but didn't expect to set any personal records. This was a test race leading up to the Flying Pig Half Marathon in a few weeks. I wanted to try to maintain around a 7 minute/mile pace with something left in the tank at the end. It all went very well. I finished up at 1:06:04, which is a 7:07 pace. Perfect. It's a hilly course just like the pig at a faster pace than my last half marathon.

What's more perfect was the delicious Mokka french toast which was devoured after the race. Fast times are nice, but brunch with friends is what it's all about.

Runners, take your mark...

2010-03-25T03:27:00.001-04:00

Spring race season has arrived. In 3 days I'll be lining up for my 5th running of the Heart Mini Marathon 15k. The forecast is looking shitty just like last year. ugh. The first 4 years have seen steady improvement. Last year I brought it in at just under 1:05 for a personal record at 15k. This may be the first year that doesn't happen. Training has been going well. I've been consistant with my runs and they've felt pretty good, but the speed just isn't there this spring. It's been harder to work on speed with my work schedule. It's hard to get pumped up for a speed workout after being on your feet for 12 hours overnight. On top of that I've been dealing with shin and foot pain. Also probably from working on my feet for long hours.

This year it's going to be less about speed and more about mixing it up. I'm going to enjoy the usual running and races, but want to mix in a couple of triathlons. That's probably what I'm most excited about doing. The swimming is going well, though it's been a little inconsistent over the last couple of weeks. I blame it on the fact that the dog at my goggles. True story. That little bastard. I've got some new ones now, and hit the pool evening for a good workout. up to 600 yards for my longest set and ready to move up to 1000 yards. I haven't been following that swimming schedule exactly, but it's a good guideline. Now I need to work in some cycling.

Maybe this year will be a little bit about the speed. Looking at my personal records I have one long standing record. My 10k personal record was set at the Thanksgiving Day Race in 2006. There are a couple of 10k races in the fall where I can take a shot at this record. Maybe I should....maybe I need to quit whining and grow a pair....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyWBmTq3JJw

Just Keep Swimming

2010-02-10T03:31:00.000-05:00

I have a new addiction this winter. Swimming. A couple weeks ago I started a new program. 0 to 1650 in six weeks. I'm working my way up to swimming a mile straight. The ultimate goal in this is to sign up for a couple of triathlons this year. I've got my eye on a couple. In May there is the Tri for Joe at Coney Island. It would be a good first tri for the year since it's done in a pool, then in August there is the East Fork Triathlon.

The program is below. If you want more info check out this link.

WEEK one (Three Days):
4 x 100 yards (or meters)...rest for 12 breaths between 100s
4 x 50 yards...rest for 8 breaths between 50s
4 x 25 yards...rest for 4 breaths between 25s
total: 700 yards
(Your pool is 50 meters? Just add 2 50s instead of the 25s)

WEEK two:
200 yards...rest for 12 breaths
4 x 100 yards...rest for 10 breaths between 100s
4 x 50 yards...rest for 6 breaths between 50s
4 x 25 yards...rest for 4 breaths between 25s
total: 900 yards

WEEK three:
400 yards...rest for 12 breaths
200 yards...rest for 10 breaths
4 x 100 yards...rest for 8 breathsbetween 100s
4 x 50 yards...rest for 4 breaths between 50s
total: 1200 yards

WEEK four:
600 yards...rest for 10 breaths
300 yards...rest for 8 breaths
4 x 100 yards...rest for 6 breaths between 100s
4 x 50 yards...rest for 4 breaths between 50s
total: 1500 yards

WEEK five:
1000 yards...rest for 8 breaths
4 x 100 yards...rest for 4 breaths between 100s
4 x 50 yards...rest for 4 breaths between 50s
total: 1600 yards

WEEK six (days 1 and 2):
1200 yards...rest for 6 breaths
3 x 100 yards...rest for 4 breaths between 100s
3 x 50 yards...rest for 4 breaths between 50s
(day 3)
1650 yards straight (equals 1500 meters)
total: 1650 yards!

Farewell to the Otts?, Ots?, Aughts? Happy 2010!

2010-01-01T19:13:00.001-05:00

I'm not all that in to New Year's resolutions. I'll typically set up a few goals for the year for training or excercise, but not so much the traditional I'm gonna lose 10 lbs., quit smoking, or take up knitting type of resolutions. As a matter of fact this year I think I'll quit exercising and take up smoking. That way I can have some good resolutions for 2011. 2011 is gonna be my year. 2010? eh.

Actually 2010 is shaping up to be my year. Things are gonna change...I can feel it. In honor of a new year and a new decade here are a couple of resolutions. It's stuff I'll be doing anyway, so I'm virtually guaranteed success. First resolution is to join a new gym and get back to running and working out. I've been off for about a month now. It's time to get rolling again. The second resolution is to get back on the nursing school track. Since I changed jobs this year I lost my tuition reimbursement. As of June I can start getting reimbursed from the hospital. Let's do this. To start on that resolution I just finished up an application of University of Cincinnati. I'm gonna apply to as many nursing programs as I can. One will work out. My third resolution is to continue to not smoke...or smoke crack or do meth or heroine. Easy enough.

Happy New Year everybody!

Statistically Speaking: Favs of '09

2009-12-31T07:01:00.000-05:00

It's that time kids. It's time for everybody to break out their year end/decade end lists of everything from the best music, movies, celebrity indiscretions to the best commercials. You name it there is probably a best of list to go with it. Here's my small contribution to the glut of favorites and bests. Here is a quick run down of my favorite music for the year of 2009.

Since Last.FM has tracked pretty much every song I've listened to in iTunes and on my iPod for almost 2 years these were pretty quick and easy lists to compile. We're going to keep it simple and go top 3 songs, artists and albums of the year.

Songs of the year:

3. Ludacris - One More Drink
I first heard this song at a WEBN fireworks party over Memorial Day Weekend. Thanks to my iPhone and Shazam I tagged it and picked it up the next day. It immediately went in to my running mix and heavy listening rotation. It's super catchy ear candy.

2. The Ting Tings - Be The One
Simple, catchy tune on a great album full of catchy tunes. This is another running mix mainstay of the year.

1. Neko Case - This Tornado Loves You
What better to describe the destructive side of love than a force of nature. I never grow tired of this song.

Artists of the year:

3. Neko Case - Brilliant songwriter and criminally under appreciated artist. Check her out. Now.

2. Lily Allen - Say it ain't so!! Hopefully she'll take some time off and come back kicking ass like she has on her first two albums.

1. Pearl Jam - Speaking of comebacks. I am a die hard Pearl Jam fan, and have every album they've released. I have nothing but respect for these guys as they ditched the mainstream, their label and went their own way to develop a Grateful Dead like following. This is the first album in a long time to get media attention and for good reason. It's brilliant.

Albums of the year. (Oddly this is not on the website, but only on the iPhone App.)

3. Pearl Jam - Backspacer
2. Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
1. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

If you don't own these albums. You are missing out.

Cardiac Cats Candies

2009-12-28T21:31:00.000-05:00

My Christmas bag of Cincinnati Bengals M&M's were invaded by a stray purple candy. I'm thinking it was a Baltimore Ravens or Minnesota Vikings M&M. As you can see though the encroacher was soundly smashed by the delicious orange and black candies. Let's say it's Fav-ra and his Vikings and this is a glimpse of the coming playoffs. Who Dey.

Thanksgiving Day Race Report

2009-11-30T04:32:00.000-05:00

Sometimes how you feel during a race is inexplicable. I've gone into races well prepared and sometimes something great happens, other times things go as planned, occasionally the wheels fall off. When I know I'm unprepared the result is usually as expected, but every once in a while something unexpected happens. This is one of those inexplicable races. It wasn't the best 10k I've run. I was almost 2 minutes slower, however considering the shape I've been in over the last couple of weeks it should have been 10 minutes slower.

It started about 10 days ago when I was taken to the emergency room having a hard time breathing, with a high fever and some other not so fun symptoms. I found out I had the dreaded H1N1. It was one of the most unfun nights I've had maybe ever and I've had my share. I did have the good fortune to leave the hospital that night with a prescription and orders to stay at home away from the rest of the world. I spent the next week taking Tamiflu, cough medicine and Advil while waiting for it to pass. As luck would have it I did get the vaccine which probably helped my recovery.

I was able to get out for my first "run" on Thursday. I couldn't take sitting in my apartment anymore. I went out for a slow walking, shambling run in which I had to stop every now and again to have a coughing fit. At least I was outside again.

By race day I had gotten in a couple more runs including a slowish interval session the Tuesday before the race to get my legs warmed up. I didn't have high hopes for the race, but I was determined to show up. To add to the odds against a good race I had to work Wednesday night before the race. I had been on my feet for 12 hours. I've run on mornings after my work shifts before and it's usually not good. My legs are usually tired and stiff.

So I rolled up to the starting line Thursday morning with conservative goals. If I could I wanted to hit some 7:30 minute/miles, and if things weren't feeling good I would just back off and enjoy the morning. And a beautiful morning it turned out to be at race time. It was clear, sunny and cool, a perfect day for racing.

The gun sounded at 9 am and 15,000 plus runners and walkers were off! The first few miles were all about being conservative. When you're running in such a large crowd it's very easy to get caught up in the excitement and take off too fast. I didn't want to get caught up and then pay for it late in the race. I found a pace where I felt comfortable and stuck with it. For those first few miles I tried to keep it around 7:15 minute/miles. You know...conservative. I felt good. I mean I felt really good, but I forced myself to hold back. I always felt one breath away from a coughing fit with the cool air.

The course starts in downtown Cincinnati just outside the football stadium up through the city and back across the river into Newport and Covington, Kentucky looping back around to the stadium. We hit the halfway point in Kentucky. Everything still felt good. I held a steady pace. I watched some pull ahead and others start to drop back as they were worn down by that early rush. Damn I feel good. Is this possible? The other shoe is going to drop soon. I know it.

It wasn't until mile 5 that I let myself believe that I really was going to pull this off. The proverbial shoe never dropped. This was really going to happen. With 1.2 miles to go I finally opened things up. That last 1.2 miles were amazing. I clocked my fastest mile during the final stretch as I let loose and smiled to the end enjoying the sunshine, the crowd, the feeling of my legs pumping and the cool air in my lungs. It may not have been my fastest 10K or my fastest Thanksgiving Day Race, but it felt really great. It has me excited about racing again.

750 on the run

2009-11-06T22:51:00.000-05:00

With my 7 mile run today I reached one of my major goals of the year. Or is it my only goal of the year? I can't really remember. Since it's the only one I can remember let's say it's my most important goal for 2009. Drum roll please....I surpassed 750 miles today! *Signals balloon drop and confetti cannons explode*!!! Woohoo! As you can see from the photo above I was tracking my progress with a challenge group on Buckeye Outdoors.

I first mentioned this goal on a blog post back in April. It was just a means to keep me motivated and running throughout the year. It appeals to my competitive nature and totally worked. Maybe if I started it a little earlier I could have topped 1,000 miles. There's always next year! Next year I may use my iPhone along with a Nike+ chip and take on some challenges over there. I tried it out for the first time last night when I forgot my Garmin and borrowed Gina's chip for a run. While not the most accurate device, and far more simplistic than all the information the Garmin can provide I could totally get sucked into the social aspect of the Nike+ site. Check out my one lonely logged run.

Halloween '09: Run Like Hell

2009-11-01T20:54:00.000-05:00

It's time kids. Dress up as your favorite super hero/character/rock star/slutty whatever. In my case it's my favorite rock star, but more on that later. This year Halloween kicked off with one of my favorite races: The Run Like Hell! This is my 4th running of the race and it has become very near and dear to my heart. I've run it in costume, just run it, and even volunteered on the Cystic Fibrosis committee that puts on the event. If you've never been out for the race check it out for sure.

This year I just went out to run the race. It was a last minute call since I worked the night before (until 7 am that morning) and the weather outlook wasn't so awesome. As the afternoon went on it stayed very warm and there was no sign of rain. I was feeling pretty good after getting some sleep, so I ran on over to the race site and signed up. This turned out to be more of an ordeal than I had anticipated.

After signing up for the race I decided to stop by the Running Spot and pick up one of the 100th Anniversary posters for the upcoming Thanksgiving Day Race. In my haste to get in and out I accidentally locked my keys in my car! I was flipping out. I walked up to my car, and the keys were hanging out of the ignition...mocking me. Luckily, after a chance meeting with my girl Gina she came to the rescue with the assistance of AAA. Thank goodness. If not for that it was pay a locksmith or break the window and pay for that. I considered breaking the window.

I made it to the race site with 5 minutes to spare. It gave me just enough time to squeeze up near the front. The street was packed behind the starting line and I didn't want to get caught in a mass of costumed bodies. Even though I haven't been doing any real training for 5k racing and didn't have any particular goal in mind there is a part of me that can't help but think about the top 50. I had come close a few years back. If I had a good race I might be able to crack it.

The beginning of the race is downhill. As usual with most races there is a mass sprint at the beginning and the key is to not get swept up in the sprint. If I can hold back I will definitely be seeing many of these people once we hit the cemetery and the massive hill to the top. If I didn't see them there I would probably see them on the hills after the cemetery. There is only one race that I have done that is more hilly, The Reggae Run, and that's because it is all hill. The Run Like Hell is a series of hills with one mammoth one in the middle. The only good part is the downhill finish.

I felt pretty comfortable during the first part of the race. I kept a steady pace at the beginning and didn't worry too much about if I was passing anybody or if they were passing me. I just wanted to let the pace flow. I had plenty of time to punish myself on the hills...and were they punishing. Once we hit the cemetery we were plunged into darkness. So we're battling up hill and then back down on a foot path in the dark surrounded by other unpredictable runners. It's not really the best setting to set a blazing pace. But no worries, it's a fun run right?

By the time we left the cemetery I was feeling pretty wasted. The climb up just about did me in. Working 12 hour overnight shifts seems to have taken its toll in terms of endurance. I'm not sleeping a regular sleep schedule and I can tell it's effecting my running. Even on training runs I often feel exhausted by mid-run. I just tell myself it's good training for tough races and push on, but still it's not helping. So, after leaving the cemetery I hunkered down and just kept up the best pace I could for the remainder of the race. I put the top 50 and my time out of my mind I would just enjoy the run. How often do you get to race at night surrounded by 3,000 other costumed runners?

So I let it go until the last 1/4 mile or so. I wasn't going to roll over and give up. As we topped the last hill I knew we had one turn left and a downhill straightaway to the finish. I stepped on the gas and finished strong as any self respecting competitor would. My official time was 22:19. It's a good time, but not my best. I ran a 21:21 in '06. I found out later I just missed the top 50 again! I'm not sure exactly by how much since some runners paid for chip timing and others didn't, but I know I was close. Next year it's on...for real.

Culinary Adventures: Chicken and Dumplings Slow Cookin' Edition

2009-10-24T02:00:00.003-04:00

There is something about the fall and winter that brings two words to mind: crock pot. It's all about warm comfort food on a cold, dark day. Gina and I became obsessed with the crock pot for like 2 days late last fall. We had big plans to crock pot our winter blues away. We'd put it on in the morning and come home to some warm soothing deliciousness. I bought a slow cooker recipe book and she bought a crock pot. It was so on! And then it was off. We definitely made one thing in it, possibly two things.

This year is different. Things are gonna change...I can feel it. This year it is on! For real! Maybe? Seriously though I'm digging the crock pot even more now that I'm working nights. I can pick up what I need on the way home. Throw the ingredients in...and voila! I wake up to a delicious, hot home cooked meal. Gina comes home from work to a hot meal. We could be heroes just for one day.

Today was just that day. I was craving some serious comfort food, and one of my favorites is chicken and dumplings. I decided to go with this Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings recipe from the Allrecipes iPhone app. It has become one of my favorite iPhone apps. I highly recommend it. I also recommend the Epicurious app as a companion recipe app. They're both free so, you know, why not? But I digress...

It's the simplest recipe imaginable...until you delve into the comments. People can't help themselves when it comes to commenting on recipes. They can't just say whether it's good or bad, or why they liked or disliked it. Inevitably they rewrite the entire recipe. A typical comment looks like this...

This recipe was great! It's so simple and easy to make. My (insert significant other here) and (insert number) kids kept eating it until they're stomachs ruptured and I had to take them to the hospital! OMG! hahaha. Anyway I made a few modifications: I changed it from chicken to beef, and added cumin, oregano, seasoning salt, parsley. I used beef broth instead of water to give it more flavor. I doubled the cooking time and changed the temperature by 20 degrees. Then I served it with my own family recipe sauce that has been passed down through the generations. I could tell what it is, but I'd be disowned. I know this recipe will be on the menu for years to come!

Wait. What? Was the recipe great? If it was so great how come your preparation has absolutely nothing to do with the original recipe? I make fun, but the comments are usually helpful for spicing up a dish. I usually look over the comments and pick out a few modifications that are simple, and add to the recipe without becoming overly complicated.

For the chicken and dumplings I ended up going with this:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons of butter
2 (10 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces
with these changes from the first comment
pinch of parsley, salt and pepper
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
3/4 can of low sodium/low fat chicken broth
2 cans of mixed vegetables

I put in everything except the biscuit dough for the first 3 1/2 hours. I then added in the dough for the dumplings for the last 2 1/2 hours as suggested by the comment.

The verdict:
Gina and Aiden really liked it! Gina only suggested adding more vegetables. There actually was a lot of vegetables in it, but they were kind of pushed to the bottom by all the dough. I think I have a fix for that in my suggested changes for next time.

Next time:
There are a few things I will change. First, I think I'll skip the cream of mushroom soup. The taste and smell was a little overpowering. It also thickened it up a little too much. Second I will use less dough. I think 1 can will be plenty for the recipe. I will also put it in later in the cooking process. With the cooking time and the extra time before dinner the dough soaked up a lot of liquid and turned the entire thing into a very thick stew. I want actual dumplings. Next time maybe an hour at most for the dumplings. Maybe add a few different seasonings which will be able to come through without the overwhelming mushroom soup. Other than that I think it's good.

What should I throw in the crock pot next?

Fall and Winter Plans

2009-10-22T00:47:00.000-04:00

After spending 3 to 4 months training for a marathon or half marathon (as I did a few weeks ago) and the race is complete there is always a period afterward that is at once a relief and a bit of a let down. It's like post marathon depression. Crazy right? Probably. After months of structured training and weekly mileage I kind of miss it. I like to have a goal. Something to look forward to and a goal to reach. After a few weeks though comes the fun part. I get to look forward to the coming months and spring training! Ow! Too much?

As I often do after months of running I'm looking forward to doing some other things this fall and winter. I have a few more races that I'd like to run:

October 30th - Run Like Hell 5K
November 26th - Thanksgiving Day Race 10K
December 5th - Jingle Bell Run 5K

These will be for fun. I have no particular goals in mind, no special hopes for a pr. I just hope we have some good weather and some fun runs. The fall is going to be about building some base miles and getting in some cross training. The goal is to get into the gym once or twice a week to do some strength training along with some spinning classes and outdoor cycling when the weather is nice.

In January it's on. I've committed to run the Flying Pig Marathon Relay again with Gina and a couple of her friends. This will be the 4th Pig Relay I've done and it's super fun every time. I'd also like to do a spring marathon. I have a couple of contenders right now that I'm considering:

April 11th - Athens Marathon
April 24th - Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon

Here's looking forward to spring!

Ain't No Party Like a Windows 7 Launch Party!

2009-10-07T23:15:00.000-04:00

....An incredibly awkward, uncomfortable Windows 7 Launch Party!! People have laughed, made fun of, and spoofed this incredibly weird and awkward video released by Microsoft to promote their home launch parties for Windows 7. That's right home launch parties for Windows! Ow! They've laughed and laughed...and kept right on talking about it. This may be one of the most genius marketing moves ever made by Microsoft. The original video is approaching a million views on Youtube. Watch because it's a train wreck. They still gotcha. Who's laughing now?

Most of the spoofs don't come close to improving on the weirdness of the original. This one is pretty good though....

Dear Runner's World

2009-10-04T00:38:00.000-04:00

Dear Runner's World,

I have a small issue I'd like to address regarding your magazine covers. Why is it that all of your magazine covers appear to be shot at your version of an Olan Mills Photo Studio? Sorry if the reference isn't universal. Google it, you'll see. My point is month after month we get the same glowing hard bodies in the same poses on virtually the identical pristine rural setting. This was brought to my attention once again when a link to the new cover was previewed on Twitter.

How about something different? Maybe this is the ideal running physique we all should be aspiring to and the gear we all wish we could afford, but having it featured every month so unimaginatively is quite frankly boring. Why not feature some of the wonderful runners with interesting stories from the pages of your magazine? Even those Rave Run photos are fantastic!

I know I can't be the only one that loves your magazine, but is growing tired of seeing the magazine show up every month with the young white hard body on the cover in a running pose. There is a class we are required to sit through at work called Diversity Training. Maybe look into it. I see runners of all shapes, sizes and ethnicities on the road everyday...and I live in Cincinnati. You seem to gear toward runners of varying degrees of experience. You want to encorage "newbees". Maybe your covers should reflect your audience and goals.

Sincerely,
Adam

State To State Half Marathon Race Report

2009-09-30T22:43:00.000-04:00

"If you can run one 6:30 mile you can run 13." Those were the words of wisdom from Gina after I told her my goal time for the half was to break 1 hour 30 minutes. She immediately challenged me to run 1 hour 26 minutes. While 4 minutes doesn't seem like much time when you break it down into a pace over 13.1 miles it's a 6:51 pace verses a 6:33 pace. It doesn't really matter. It all became irrelevant around mile 9.5, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

This was the moment of truth. After spending 3 months working through my training program race day had finally arrived. I woke up around 6 am to get a quick shower and my pre-race grub. This time I went with an egg sandwich, a banana and a cup of coffee. I wanted to get in an early kick of caffeine. Honestly though, I think for future races I'll go back to the peanut butter, honey and banana. The egg sat fine, but I think it didn't stick with me long enough. By the end of the race I was starving and wasted.

We arrived in Oxford to an overcast and cool morning. It looked like a perfect day for racing. As long as it didn't rain or the sun decided to break through to scorch the runners out in the corn fields on the way to Indiana. I got in a quick warm up while Gina scoped out the Starbuck's across the street near the starting line and it was race time before I knew it.

Off the line I felt pretty good. Maybe I could run 13 6:30 minute miles after all! I knew this was just the adrenaline talking. If I let it go to my head it would be a quick 5 or 6 miles followed by miles and miles of pain. The plan was to stick it around a 7 minute mile and then see how it goes from there. For the first few miles things went perfectly. I would creep up around a 6:45 pace then draw it back to 7-ish. Eventually I found a few runners going at a similar pace and stuck with them. It was an "easy" cruise into Indiana.

The course was out and back. We started in Oxford, near Miami University, and headed out to the Indiana state line, across it for a mile or so and back. There were a couple little side loops on the way out and a straight shot back. That made the trip back a little shorter and should have been a mental boost knowing that you would get back sooner. For me it didn't quite feel that way. As we crossed the border into Indiana I could fee the first little bit of discomfort in my right hip. This isn't terribly unusual on long runs. I often get tight around my hips, so I didn't worry about it too much.

Some time between mile 9 and mile 10 I did start to get concerned. The discomfort had increased and now both my hips were growing tight. It was becoming difficult to maintain my pace at this point, and I had to slow down to regroup. I found myself caught out in no man's land between the ultra fast runners way up ahead of me and the slower runners behind me. As the discomfort increased and my pace decreased I lost the few people that I was pacing with earlier in the race. I slowed down concentrated on my breathing and tried to psych myself up for the rest of the race.

I could see the 10 mile mark approaching, so I talked myself up. Only 3.1 miles left. I know I'm out of the hunt for breaking 1:30, but I can still set a PR today. I did a quick calculation in my head. If I can keep the pace at 7:30 or faster I can still beat my PR of 1:35:55. Breathe deep, relax and let your legs do the work. With that it was back on.

Miles 11 and 12 went by at a snail's pace in my head. I pushed the pace as much as I could. Shortly after mile 12 I went through the strangest water stop I've ever encountered. Usually the volunteers at the water stops are very encouraging, jovial, fun people. This one was a different story. I swear everybody at that water stop was completely silent and almost solemn. It was like being handed water by the children of the corn. Did they know something I didn't? Is this some sort of death march? yikes.

I think what they knew and I didn't was that there was this ridiculous hill 100 yards before the finish line. They knew I was going to die on it. It was out and back, so we ran down this on the way out. It wasn't nearly that steep was it? Where did it come from? 99% of the rest of the course was completely flat. What sadistic race planner does this? I reminded myself that I had done my hill work. This little bump was nothing. That little bump took the last bit of energy out of me.

When I reached the top I could see the finish line. I summoned anything I had left in the tank and "sprinted" to the finish. Official time: 1:34:53. A one minute and 2 second improvement. Not the race I was hoping for, but any day you can PR is a good day. Hell any day pounding the pavement is a great day.

I'm not really sure what happened after the race. Gina has the post race coverage along with her trials and tribulations tackling a grande latte at Starbucks. All I know is I woke up some time later that day to head out to my parents with Gina to watch the Bengals pull off a miracle win over Pittsburgh and eat lots and lots of snacks.

Culinary Adventures: Chili Edition (Part 1)

2009-09-24T03:42:00.000-04:00

Every year around Halloween the fam gathers at their usual camping spot along the mighty Ohio River for an annual chili cook off. Family members, friends and camping neighbors usually participate giving us a good sampling of 8-10 varieties of chili. The chili is consumed. The votes are cast and counted. The winner usually gets some sort of token trophy or plaque and more importantly bragging rights.

Usually I like to partake in the consuming of the chili and voting for the winner. I haven't thrown my chili into the mix. That's all going to change this year. I've decided to throw my hat into the ring, and I'm not going into this unprepared. Recipes will be tested to find just that perfect winning chili. Mostly it's just an excuse to make and consume lots of chili. Delicious, delicious chili.

This past weekend I started the testing. With the help of my two taste testers Gina and Aiden I'm going to crack the perfect chili recipe, or just eat lots of delicious chili.

I started with a basic chili recipe from allrecipes.com. I started with a little browning of ground beef, and onion saute.

Dump it into a pot with the beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, and seasonings.

Bring to a boil, followed by a simmer for 15 minutes. Then....we wait. That is the end of the recipe, and we could have eaten it right then, but we all know that chili tastes much better if it's allowed to sit for a while. Let those seasonings settle in and mature to perfection.

Flash forward a few hours and....

Voila! Throw some crackers and shredded cheese and we've got some delciousness happening.

According to the taste testers....
It was delicious. According to Gina it wasn't terribly spicy, but still had a nice underlying kick. That would be the extra bit of spice I threw in. Aiden gave it two thumbs up.

How could we improve upon this recipe?
More. Gina suggested putting in some more beans. Amp up the that spicy kick. I agree it could use a bit extra bite to it. Otherwise it was quite good. It was just as good when I took in the leftovers for lunch. Yum.

What's up next?
I'm not sure just yet. I'm checking out some other chili recipes to make this weekend. Ed's Chicago Cocoa Chili sounds very interesting. Whatever I decide to make I can't wait to chill out after the State to State Half with some delicious chili and the Bengals on the tv.

Diagnosis Wenckebach

2009-09-20T15:46:00.001-04:00

What makes a normal sinus rhythm? What causes a wide and bizarre QRS complex? Most importantly, what's a Wenckebach (2nd degree AV block, Type 1)? I've been learning about these and much more in an ECG class that I'm currently taking at work. I only wish it were all set to catchy pop tunes. Despite that shortcoming the class has been very interesting. All those little lines, bumps, and dips are starting to mean something. Hopefully I'll be able to put this new knowledge to work soon before it goes back to looking like lines, bumps and dips. I'll always know Wenckebach.

On Schedule

2009-09-09T22:52:00.000-04:00

17 days and 10 hours until race time according to the website. So in just about 2 1/2 weeks I'll be lining up to run the State to State Half. I haven't written about the training much, but that's only because things are going along smoothly. I don't want to jinx myself. The less I say the better. Crap, I hope I didn't just jinx myself by saying that.

The Higdon advanced half marathon plan has been a really great program. While it has definitely pushed me as far as mileage and difficulty of workouts I feel like it has been manageable. I like that it has mixed up the speed workouts. One week I've been doing 8 x 400s the next week 4 x 800s and then 3 x 1600s following. There is an overall progression to it if you look at the plan in total, but from week to week it gives enough variety to keep it interesting. I'm a big fan of Yasso's, but doing that steady increase every week 5 x 800, 6 x 800, 7 x 800... gets to be mind numbing. It gets tougher and yet more boring as the weeks and months go on during training. I need variety.

So with 2 weeks left I am optimistic about the race. My goal is to break 1 hour and 30 minutes. It's a tough, but attainable goal and I got a little boost today. I've had some tough workouts over the last couple of weeks. I've been battling fatigue from working long overnight shifts that require a lot of time on my feet. On top of that I think I've been suffering from a bit of training fatigue. I haven't done some of the races I planned on doing along the way to prepare for the half, so I haven't seen any of the fruits of this training yet. Today though, after a week of struggling through some less than awesome workouts I felt like I had a break through of sorts. Over the course of the four 1 mile repeats I did I felt at times great, bad, tired, re-energized, and worn out during the final interval. When it was all said and done I managed to maintain a sub 7 minute pace per mile. It's what I had planned and executed all out on the roads. These weren't intervals on a flat track, but out in real life racing type conditions. It was a much needed morale boost. I look forward to lining up in 17 days, 9 hours and 40 minutes. But who's counting?

What I'm reading (The Farewell to Reading Rainbow Edition)

2009-08-30T21:59:00.000-04:00

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

As it has been widely reported and blogged about that after 26 years Reading Rainbow is no longer going to be making new episodes! I can't say that it had a profound effect on me, but I appreciate a show that promotes reading for fun. It is something that I want to encourage in my own daughter, so to see an ally fall is sad. Thankfully she is a reader and is just getting old enough to start the Harry Potter books. That should keep her busy for a few years.

Speaking of reading for enjoyment, my reading list just increased by one book. Beloved has been set aside for now, hopefully to be picked up later. Gina suggested a new book to read in conjunction with my entering the medical field and working toward nursing school. This afternoon I started reading Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande.

I read the Introduction this afternoon and I'm hooked.

Medicine is, I have found, a strange and in many ways disturbing business. The stakes are high, the liberties taken tremendous. We drug people, put needles and tubes into them, manipulate their chemistry, biology, and physics, lay them unconscious and open their bodies up to the world. We do so out of abiding confidence in our know-how as a professional. What you find when you get in close, however...is how messy, uncertain, and also surprising medicine turns out to be.

See what I'm saying? I've got to go. I've got reading to do and report back on later.

Mantra

2009-08-25T17:44:00.000-04:00

File this under running and reading and possibly nerd I think. So, I was doing a tough run earlier today when, as usual, my mind started to wander. I was having a tough run and started to think about other things to possible forget about the pain and stiffness in my legs. I snapped back realizing I was slowing down. I needed something to focus my mind. I needed something to get over the pain. I needed a mantra. I've used several in my runs. Usually it's just something I come up with in the moment. Something specific to the situation. So here is what I came up with today.

I've been listening to The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King on my way to work. This seems unrelated, but I'll get there. Having spent many years with this series reading each one eagerly as they were released It's fun to be able revisit them as audio while driving. It makes the commute much more enjoyable. The readers they've chosen are also excellent. Anyway, in the third book the gunslingers have a creed, a mantra, that they use to clear their minds, to focus. It is...

I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I aim with my eye.

I do not shoot with my gun; he who shoots with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.
I shoot with my mind.

I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart.

-Gunslinger's Creed

Today I was thinking about that and adapted it to use while I was running...

I do not run with with my legs. I run with my body. (check your form)

I do not pace with my legs. I pace with my mind. (pain is all in the mind, deal with it)

I do not win with my legs. I win with my heart. (gut it out)

It helped as a reminder that there is much more to running than those two pumping legs below me. Even though they may be tired, sore, stiff or in pain that is a small part of what makes up the run. I can overcome that. Take stock of what's going on down there, but don't let it dictate how you feel about the run. There is much more.

Bohlke 5K Race Report

2009-08-20T02:58:00.012-04:00

There are 'A' races and there are 'B' races. The 'A' races are the ones you plan for specifically, sometimes for months in advance. Currently the 'A' race in my sites is the State to State Half Marathon at the end of September. That race has my full attention and a 3 month training plan that is in full swing. Along the way I'll pick up some test races, tune up races and the like to get ready: 'B' races. The Bohlke 5K falls under the second category. My only real expectations for the race were to maintain under 7 minute/miles, and hopefully place well in my division and overall.

It was a tough course. The course started with a short downhill stretch which can only encourage sprinting out too fast from the start. If I were to let that happen it would be all over but the cryin' on the way back as the last half of the race was a series of hills with varying degrees of difficulty.

I started at the front of the pack, but let the likes of Chris Reis and the fools that were going to sprint out with him go. I've been drawn into that little game far to many times. I wasn't feeling super awesome at the start anyway. After a week of working nights, a day of play in the sun, and a night of play and drink I wasn't prepared for a sprint start and a climb back to the finish. I would start easy. The fast runners could fight it out. I'd see the pretenders before the finish.

I can't say that I ever felt great. The morning was heating up quickly. As I passed the first water stop I missed getting any water because an overly eager kid volunteer fumbled the hand off spilling the water all over the ground. I cursed his father for having such a clumsy son. Not really, but I thought about it.

Before the halfway point we started climbing back toward the finish. Despite being tired, and thirsty (stupid kid), I was encouraged as I began catching up to the early sprinters. Ha! Suckers. I could have been you sucking wind right now while I caught up with me (you). Instead, I'm me catching up with you as you fade. Enjoy the hills! In my mind I was passing up Summit Country Day soccer players that regularly pummeled us in high school soccer tournaments. That explains the confused looks I got when I would yell "This one's for the Bulldogs!" as I ran by them.

The final mile was a matter of survival as we continued the climb back to SCD school. I had enough energy to muster up a respectable sprint to the finish line on the football field to the sounds of the Rocky Theme over the PA. Not a bad way to finish the race.

After the race I hung around for the awards ceremony. Anna Bohlke, the race marshall and wife of Marc Bohlke, for whom the race was named gave a touching speech and thanked everyone who came out. From the flyer...

Help support The Bohlke Scholarship Fund in memory of Mr. Marc Bohlke and his dedication to the entire MVC family. A portion of this money will also go to the Miami Valley Conference and its mission to provide a quality athletic experience for all its student athletes.

The results:

 14 ADAM IKER           35 M CINCINNATI      OH   20:43  6:41    11/129  M

Take Me Out To The Bobblehead Night

2009-08-17T03:15:00.006-04:00

Which is more of an outrageous statement? We only went to the Reds game Saturday night because it was Brandon Phillips Bobblehead Night? or...This is the first bobblehead night I've attended, ever. Crazy right? It seems like they have a bobblehead night every other week, and I've never been to a single one. Face it, only the die hard fans are going to the games to see the Reds these days. The rest of us go for bobblehead night. They got crushed by the Washington Nationals. Let's Go Redlegs.

Which one of these statements was overheard at the ballpark this weekend?

A) He never was very good at ball sports.
B) Second Base!
C) The Washington logo looks like the Walgreens logo.

The correct answer is....

C! While we were enjoying our slices, or possibly the nachos, the lady sitting behind us pointed out to her husband that The Washington logo looks exactly like the Walgreens logo. Haha! Suck it Washington. You may have beat us, but your logo sucks. Let's go Redlegs.

Major League baseball team/The Pharmacy America Trusts (according to their website)

The other two statements were, in fact, said this weekend. Neither one of them had to do with baseball.

That's a little slice of an awesome weekend. The events in order:

sea doos, nap, bar, sleep, race, tubing, ball game, camp, run, sea doos

It began and ended with sea doos, as every weekend should begin and end. I'll post a blog about the race a bit later, but for now, let's all bask in the glow of Brandon Phillips Bobblehead...

Let's Go Redlegs!

Culinary Adventures: Artichoke Edition

2009-08-11T21:00:00.005-04:00

Maybe not so much adventures as a need to stretch our culinary wings a bit. Gina and I were discussing our diets the other day. She came to the conclusion that we eat approximately 4 different meals: chicken and salad, chicken and au gratin potatoes, chicken (mcnuggets) and french fries, and taco night. This is actually made with hamburger to throw something different in the mix. This may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not far off. It's easy to get stuck in a dietary rut.

Today I decided we need to break out of the rut and get a little something different. While I was wandering around Fresh Market this morning after work I happened upon some really good looking artichokes. I haven't had artichokes in ages. Steamed artichokes and a simple dipping sauce is the best. I whipped out the handy iPhone with my Epicurious app. and found this recipe for grilled artichokes with sesame dipping sauce. Perfect.

I left the main course up to Fresh Market by picking up some of their delicious bbq chicken kabobs to grill along with the artichokes that I would prepare.

If you're playing along go to the recipe and start cooking now.... and voila!

The photo doesn't really do it justice. It was really good. I wasn't as big a fan of the dipping sauce as Gina, but it was not bad. Here's looking forward to more culinary adventures.

The Reading List

2009-08-01T16:24:00.010-04:00

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

It occurred to me today that I've been wanting to write about some books I've been reading while I was scanning through NPR's Audience Picks: 100 Best Beach Books. I've read some of these books on the list, but I've never actually read any of them on a beach. I read one of them, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy on a plane going to and returning from a beach. Does that count? Finished the entire book in those two sittings. Great road trip book.

I don't know how I've gone so long without writing about books. I'm a constant reader, but I guess I don't feel particularly smart enough to comment, write about, or critique books. The huge hole in my reading education I'm about to reveal will clue you in on why I feel this way.

After a conversation with Gina which resulted in surprise and disgust on her part she decided that I needed a reading list. I needed to be educated on good books. Come on! I've read Into The Wild. Does that count? More looks of disgust. It's been fun to have a reading list. To have a guide through the good stuff. Here's what I've read so far, and what I'm reading now. This is no book review or explanation of the plot just a little rumination.

The Catcher In The Rye - J.D. Salinger

There was a lot of pressure on the first book of the reading list. If I didn't like it I was warned it could be a relationship deal breaker. This is one of, if not her all time favorite book. I liked it, but didn't love it. It was a close call, but I think I have a pretty good reason for feeling this way. I think she identified with the main character much more strongly reading it when she was younger. Maybe I'm wrong, it's just a theory. I have to say it did stick with me. I look forward to revisiting it sometime soon. Maybe when Aiden is a little older I will share it with her.

Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs - Chuck Klosterman

Something a little lighter. This is somebody I can totally identify with: a dude that is just as self obsessed as he is obsessed with music and popular culture. His books are like having a conversation with the funniest person you know. I devoured this book and took a little detour off the reading list to read his book Killing Yourself To Live. In my opinion it's even better, since it's the same self obsession and wit wrapped in some semblance of a narrative.

One Flew Over The Kuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey

Startling, Trippy, funny, scary and heartbreaking. Despite the physical differences of the character in the book and the fact that I've never seen the movie Jack Nicholson is R.P. McMurphy in my mind. If you haven't read it go read it right now. If you have read it check out the audio book read by Ken Kesey.

But Enough About Me - Jancee Dunn

This is my pick as "best beach book". She is the female equivalent of Cameron Crowe. The book is autobiographical, self depricating, hilarious and gives great insight in to some huge celebrities she has interviewed.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers

Another autobiographical work. I didn't realize how many of these I had read. He has a wonderfully distinct style that makes for a wonderful read. He's also gone on to do some great things with the fame and money he earned from this and his other works. Look him up.

Beloved - Toni Morrison

What I'm reading right now...errr..what I started reading a month ago, put down and haven't picked up again. I have to say the book didn't grab me immediately. Gina warned me at the outset that I'd have to give it some time. I just don't know if I want to invest the time to get in to it. Maybe I'll set it aside and come back to it at a later date. Maybe while I'm adjusting to a new schedule with work and all I need something a little easier to digest.

Sweet Times Coming Down...

2009-07-21T22:50:00.004-04:00

It's my first week on the night shift. I was very nervous about the first night. I imagined that about 3 am I would hit a brick wall and it would be all downhill from there. They would find me curled up in the fetal position in the break room snoring. It didn't turn out to be that bad. I was kept busy all night taking care of patients and learning the ins and outs of a new position in the ICU. It was very interesting monitoring all the patients right from the desk with the fancy new equipment.

I didn't hit the wall until about 5 am. By then I could push through to the end with thoughts of laying my head down and blacking out. After unwinding for a couple hours that is exactly what I did. I slept hard for about 4 hours.

I think The Commodores summed it up best. It's gonna be alright...

Panoramas

2009-07-17T23:57:00.009-04:00

Let me count the ways I love you iPhone. I'll save that for another post. Today I'll be sharing some photos taken with the iPhone and put together with a fun little app. called AutoStitch. While not perfect, the results are pretty impressive for an inexpensive app. and it's super easy to use. Click the photos to go to the originals on Flickr. Click on "All Sizes" in Flickr to see the full size versions.

Fifth Third Field in Dayton, Ohio

Taken during The Bob Dylan Show.

Contemporary Arts Center. Cincinnati, Ohio

Taken tonight while we were downtown. I was reprimanded for not knowing the architect of Cincinnati's new downtown centerpiece. Do yourself a favor and read up on Zaha Hadid and the CAC here.

Fall Race Plans

2009-07-13T05:15:00.000-04:00

Today begins training for the fall race season. There was a last minute addition that has me kind of pumped. Initially I was going to do the White Tail Trail Half in October as my main race for the fall, but after hearing that one of Gina's co-workers is running the State To State Half I quickly did some calculations to see if I would have enough time to train. Yep, it has been added to my schedule as my A race for the fall. Competitive? What? I don't know what you mean Gina.

My excuses are: the addition of the State To State will give me the opportunity to go for a PR for the half distance, where I'm hoping to come in around 1 hr. 30 minutes. The White Tail Trail Half will be more for the experience of doing a trail half. It will also hopefully provide for some competition..against myself...for the PR.

For the training schedule I chose Hal Higdon's Advanced Half Marathon training program. I like that it mixes up the speed work with 400, 800 and 1600 intervals over the course of the training. It also includes lots of race pace running and good mileage. I'm pretty excited to get back on to a training schedule (because I'm sick like that).

So the tentative summer/fall race schedule looks like this:

I don't know what it looks like yet. The training schedule suggests racing on certain dates, but I may have to juggle that around a bit depending on work and when races are scheduled.

Off for a run!

The Show In The Stands

2009-07-12T22:17:00.004-04:00

Which happened to be at The Bob Dylan Show…

A warm afternoon at the home of the Dayton Dragons with Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Bob Dylan, and 7,000 of our closest friends. Make that 6,998 of our closest friends, because the two ladies behind us were annoying as hell. Do I really need to talk about the music? It was awesome. I loved it. These are three legends of music that you either like or dislike. I'm not going to sway you, but if you don't like them you are dead wrong my friend.

Anyway, back to the real action. We sat down in our seats to enjoy Willie tear through a great set with the energy of a guy half his age and probably while high. Go Willie. This big group came in to take their seats behind us and the two ladies directly behind us starting blabbing immediately. I don't expect quiet at a ballpark concert, but they were shrill and talking loudly about everything that happened to them that day right in our ears. Then they would clap at the end of the song as if they heard anything! I couldn't hear it! I think Gina was going to punch one of them in the face at one point. It would have almost been worth it to get kicked out. We chose to move, because the dirty looks weren't working.

We found a spot in a little side grassy side area (click on photo above for the view from that spot) with some chairs lined up along the top. We chatted with a couple of ladies next to us, enjoyed some “jumbo” corndogs and listened to Mellencamp tear it up as he made every classic sound new again. It was a little off to the side of the stage, but you could see the front of the stage well enough and, once again, the real action was in the stands. This time we happened to sit down right behind a couple that was high or drunk or some combination of the two. The woman spent most of Mellencamp’s set on her back with her eyes closed. They both were grungy and covered in, what appeared to be, needle marks.

At one point the guy jumped up and ran toward the poor people sitting in the stands off to our right yelling something completely unintelligible, stumbling and laughing. The lady nearest him must have been horrified, because it wasn’t long before she grabbed the first guy in a uniform she could find to report the guy for his behavior. Later he jumped up and asked a few ladies next to us to watch his girlfriend because she is “stupid”. Really buddy?

Some of the other crowd highlights included a man running around the crowd of the in field doing a very jubilant version of the Macarena, and several guys of all ages being escorted away stumbling and weaving. Good stuff.

Some of the concert highlights?

Willie - “If You’ve Got the Money I’ve Got the Time”
It always makes me think of my grandma singing it and brings a smile to my face.

John - “Small Town” alone on stage with an acoustic. One of the few times he slowed down and changed a line of the lyrics at one point to say that he wrote that song when his wife was 13.

Bob – Honestly, I was surprised by the entire Dylan set. Never seen him in concert, so I didn’t really know what to expect. He had an excellent band and it was a fairly rockin’ bluesy set. I would have to hear the set again to pick out a fav..or maybe see him again.

Adam's Workout Plan

2009-07-09T15:14:00.007-04:00

This long distance dedication goes out to Debie in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Debie somehow found a list of songs that I had posted a couple years ago on the message board for a cycling group on Sparkpeople. I'd be curious to see those songs that I was working out to 2 years ago. I suspect many of them are still in regular rotation on my iPod.

Debie asked me what I'm listening to lately that gets my butt moving during workouts. After a quick consult of my trusty shuffle that I run with and my recently listened to songs in iTunes I put together a workout mix, or plan if you will. It keeps me moving, but what's most importantly is if you use this mix you won't have to deal with Ray Ray's broke a$$ no more (see track 9). If you want another, and better, mix I would check out the 5 Minute/Mile Mix Gina gave me last spring prior to the Flying Pig Marathon. It is guaranteed to have you running 5 minute miles (the mix master nor the writer cannot be held liable for failure to run 5 minute/miles. If you do succeed at anytime after listening to the mix the mix master gets all credit for helping you reach said goal). I consider it the gold standard of running mixes. It is still in regular rotation, and I'm constantly striving to her level of mix-manship.

This Tornado Loves You - Neko Case
Can I Get a... - Jay-Z
Search and Destroy - Peaches
Joker and The Thief - Wolfmother
The Fear - Lily Allen
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
Animal - Pearl Jam
Bohemian Like You - The Dandy Warhols
The New Workout Plan - Kanye West
Like This - Girl Talk
Ghetto Pop Life - Danger Mouse & Gemini
Movies - Alien Ant Farm
Sex On Fire - Kings of Leon
Be The One - The Ting Tings
Poker Face - Lady Ga Ga
Lisztomania - Phoenix
Paper Planes - M.I.A.
Give Me A Beat - Girl Talk

Revelations

2009-07-05T21:37:00.002-04:00

Two weeks in with the new job and things are going really well. My reservations for going in to mursing school are the following in no particular order:

Going back to school and working full time is going to be hard going, and I'm not a super young dude anymore.
Sciences were never my strongest classes. I'm more of an English and Lit. guy.
I've never been in a job that required patient care before. What if I hate dealing with people in such close proximity?

One of those reservations has been put firmly to rest. I really enjoyed my first two weeks of work. Working with the patients was great and any nerves that I was experiencing during the first day quickly disappeared. Most of the patients are happy to see the PCA's. It makes a big difference to them to stop for a minute and chat. It is something that I will always try to remember. No matter how busy my day is or how tough things are going I am primarily there to help them during their stay.

So, tomorrow begins a new week with a new set of challenges that I'm looking forward to taking on. It's going to be a tough one since I'm facing 3 twelve hour days in a row. It will be so worth it, since on Friday Gina and I will be on the road to Dayton to see our friends John, Willie and Bob.

Kung Pow Kitten

2009-07-04T22:56:00.002-04:00

Hyde Park Blast

2009-06-28T21:18:00.003-04:00

This blog post is made possible by the ever supportive girlfriend Gina who is pictured above laughing with my daughter, the less supportive but tolerant, Aiden who is being mauled by the Charmin bear at the Piglet Run back in May. I made them get up early Saturday morning so I could run the HydePark Blast.

I was told that I owe them big time. They're right I do owe them big time. This isn't the first time, and won't be the last time they've been drug out early in the morning as I ran some race. As Gina likes to say, never underestimate the effort the spectators put in on race day. If it weren't for the support of friends and loved ones we would be running through empty streets with nobody to cheer us on except each other. So give it up for all those that support you on race day.
The race can be summed by two words: hot and hilly. I had no time goal or PR goal since it was an oddish 4 mile race. I started out the race wanting to do about 7 minute miles. By mile 2 or so the sun was beating down and the day was heating up, so it became more about just getting to the finish line without stopping and looking good for the photographers.

Generally I met my goals. I don't know about looking good for the photographers, but I was just off my pace goal by a bit. More importantly I had a good time at the race, saw some friends and familiar faces and spent the rest of the day recovering poolside with the support crew.

Day One

2009-06-23T21:16:00.002-04:00

This week is a new beginning with a great new job. I hope it's going to be a great new job. If it turns out to be a not such a great new job it should, at the very least, be a stepping stone and a great incentive to continue with nursing..nay..mursing school.

I've spent the last two days in orientation of Mercy Health Partners for a PCA job. For at least the next two to three years I'll be in the trenches assisting the nurses and doctors doing the gruntiest of the grunt work. I'm excited and a little apprehensive about the whole deal. What if I hate it? What if I can't take the various gross things that I'm bound to encounter in the coming years? What have I gotten myself into?? I could have taken a nice easy customer service job where I would have sat at a computer dealing with customers over the phone at a nice safe long, long distance. No bodily fluids, weird smells. The horror.

Pull it together man. We're in this for the long haul. This is about the future.

Let's look at the bright side. I felt excited at the orientation. I sat through many speakers, managers and administrators over the last two days blowing varying amounts of smoke and hopeful words into various orifices. Some of it I could take or leave, but some of it struck a chord. Common themes were compassion, community and service. I can dig these things.

It's going to be an interesting ride. Interesting for all these things and the fact that the hospital I'll be working at is the hospital that my mom has worked at for close to 30 years. Many of the people have known me since I was a little kid. It's the hospital that I would visit several times a year growing up to get stitched up. Should be fun...

Ride Cincinnati

2009-06-14T19:13:00.004-04:00

The word for this post is "fun". Count how many times I use the word "fun". It's "fun".

I couldn't say it better myself...but I'll try. No, I won't. It was a great ride for a great cause. The Ride Cincinnati for Breast Cancer Research is a ride I've been meaning to do since it started 2 years ago and finally made it.

It has been so long since I've done a fun ride like this that I kind of forgot how...fun they are. I'm really bringing it with my adjectives. It was fun.

The highlight of the morning was chillin' and checking out the variety of bikes that people ride. I should take more photos of fun bikes and their riders in the future. There were a couple that caught my eye including this fun looking bike. The lady riding it said her partner talked her into getting a bike and she needed one that was pretty much "unbreakable". I don't know about unbreakable but it is distinctive and cute.

Hopefully we'll get out for at least one more fun group ride this year. I've done a number of these in the past, but usually by myself. Gina was right. It is more fun to have a partner at your side..who you can steal snacks from in a pinch.

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

2009-06-05T09:07:00.002-04:00

Goals for May:
Running = 75 miles
Cycling = 100 miles

The results are in. I didn't quite make it to both my goals. I reached my running goal with 13 runs totaling 78 miles including 3 races making for an excellent month of running. I didn't make it for cycling. I was able to get out on my bike 5 times for a total of 56 miles. Even though I didn't get in as many miles as I would have liked it was still a good month for riding.

Looking forward to June I think I'll set up the same distance goals. I'm looking at some fall half marathon options, so I may need to start training for that soon. A couple of options that I'm considering are the BayState Half Marathon (anybody up for a trip to Massachusetts? Gina?) or the White Tail Trail Half Marathon. I always enjoyed trail running, but don't do it that often. Maybe this one would give me incentive to hit the trails more this summer and stay off the hot, hard roads.

As summer kicks into gear there is lots of great riding and running to do, and lots of fun races to seek out. It's looking nice outside right now. I think I hear my bike calling.

Redlegs Run For Home

2009-06-03T18:38:00.000-04:00

Some races are worth running just for the experience or the loacation and the giveaway that comes along with the race. The Redlegs Run For Home is one of those races. The race begins behind the reds stadium and ends inside the stadium next to the field. So, I'm so exhausted by the end of the race that I don't really get to appreciate the finish inside the stadium. Details. Still, it's a fun race and you get a free Reds ticket for running.

For my third running of this Redlegs 5k I decided on a novel idea. For this race I'm not going to go all out in the first mile and blow up in the third mile struggling to make it to the finish line. For real this time. Things are gonna change...I can feel it.

I lined up at the front of the starting line as I usually do these days to avoid congestion. I noticed a young girl near me lined up at the front. I'm bad at guessing ages, but she looked young to me, maybe a freshman in high school. There are always people that line up at the front that should really be toward the back. I'm not saying this out of snobbery. I never presumed to line up toward the front until recently as I've improved and found it frustrating and a waste of energy to work my way through the pack on these courses that are often tight at turns. Point is, she looked like one of those kids that line up at the start, sprint 100 yards and then slow down or stop.

As the gun went off that familiar surge of adrenaline went through me all though to a lesser degree than sometimes since I just raced a week ago. Having the memory of a painful race still fresh is the best antidote for an overeager start. I settled in at around a 6:30ish pace. The goal was to clock in a couple of 6:30's and see what was left in the tank for the final mile. A nice flat course on a relatively cool day was perfect to try and bring it in under 20.

As we taking the first couple of turns during that first mile I noticed the girl again. She was at about my pace so I stuck with her for a while. In a race with about 3000 participants it's easy to find somebody to pace. I settled in and cruised through the first mile at 6:26. A little fast, but I was feeling really good.

At some point I lost track of my pacing friend. Oh well. I flew by the water station and closed out the second mile at 6:33. Still on track to break 20 and I felt like I had some juice left. I ran up next to a young kid who asked me in an exhausted, out of breath voice how far it was to the finish. Less than a half mile left I told him. Less than a half mile left?? Sweet. I picked up the pace and left him behind.

The last couple of turns lead into the stadium. Crossing mile 3 I had about 45 seconds left to bring it under 20. I gave it all I have left and crossed the finish line with an official time of 19:48. Excellent race. I was feeling good about it. A few minutes after finishing I bumped into that girl that I saw at the starting line. I asked her how she did. 18:10 she responded. Whoa.

Official Results:
75 of 2792 total.
M35-39. 9 of 188 in division.
66 of 1388 males,
Time: 9:48 Pace: 6:24

You Gotta Be Hungry!

2009-05-30T12:39:00.002-04:00

For each one of these delicious chocolate chip cookies there is an equally delicious championship ring.

Reds Run For Home 5K post race. More to come...

Hunger Walk & 5K Run

2009-05-25T12:14:00.004-04:00

As a last minute decision on Monday morning I headed downtown to run in the Hunger Walk & 5k. The night before I had decided not to go, but per usual I woke up around 7 am and knew I had to go or I would regret it. I know, I'm a weirdo, but knowing that I had sort of committed to going made me think I should show up.

The course was out and back. It started at a small park in downtown and wound up to Eden Park and back down. It was all uphill on the way out and all downhill on the way back. No problem. The plan was simple: haul ass up the hill and fly back down. right? right.

I went straight to the front of the starting line. I was determined not to get stuck in the middle of the pack and waste my energy having to navigate my way to the front. At the starting gun I took off and quickly broke away with a group of 6 or so other guys. Mile 1 kicked off with a quick downhill from the start and on to a little stretch of flat road that slowly began to increase in grade as we headed toward Eden Park. I checked my Garmin and realized I was practically sprinting at sub 6 minute/miles. I forced myself to let off the gas a bit and let the front runners pull away. I knew if I didn't ease up I'd pay for it dearly on the hill.

I felt good and loose as we entered mile 2 and was in full on hill running up Gilbert Ave. As we got up closer to Eden Park I thought I would see the leaders heading back down. I thought we would be turning around at the entrance to Eden Park. Man was I wrong. We took a right on Eden Park Drive and continued to climb toward the top of the hill. The hill was starting to take it's toll as my breathing became more ragged. Just a little further. Just a little further. The turn around was at the top of the hill.

Down we went on Gilbert heading into mile 3. As usual by this point I was tired and questioning my sanity. Why do I do this? It's amazing how long a mile can suddenly seem during a race when you're trying gather your wits and composure after a hill. Each step becomes an effort. Each breath feels forced. I took a couple of suggestions from this month's Runner's World to regain control. Both of them worked!

The first was for side stitches. I was feeling a bit of one coming on as I was heading back down the hill. The suggestion is to notice which foot is striking the ground when you inhale and exhale. Then switch the pattern. I did a little skip step while running to change the rhythm of the run. Worked like a charm.

The second bit of advice has to to do with dealing with pain and fatigue in general. If fatigue begins to set in, or I'm getting sucked in to my head by negative thoughts I repeat a mantra. For me simply counting works. Sometimes I'll count my steps. This time I counted every time my right foot struck the ground. It took my mind off the pain and refocused my breathing.

With the finish closing in it was time for a strong finish. I had been watching a white shirt ahead of me for most of the race. He would pull away a bit then I would reel him back in. As we approached the finish I had him in my sights and decided to try to pass him. With one turn and a small hill left I dug in and started the finishing sprint. I pulled up on him on the final hill and edged past him. As we crested the hill I glanced back to see if he was there. He was falling back. I pulled away for a strong finish.

The wave

2009-05-10T16:12:00.001-04:00

Let's Go Redlegs

2009-05-10T14:07:00.002-04:00

Pigs Fo Sho!

2009-05-04T21:46:00.004-04:00

Pigs Fo Sho made their relay team debut this past Sunday at the 2009 Flying Pig Marathon. We weren't the fastest relay team, but we were definitely the team with the most style. We were looking sooo good. Gina took the first leg of the race coming in with her usual flair and style. I rode my bike down to Eden Park to see her come in for her leg, and Ryan pick up the second leg. It was lots of fun to ride along the route and see the leaders come speeding down Madison Rd. and the pack of people running up through Eden Park.

I then hussled it back home to do a quick change and jog to the start of my leg on Wasson. After a short wait Ryan came in strong and I was off. It was loads of fun running my leg with a reasonable goal and no need to push it. I was able to soak in the marathon day atmosphere on fresh legs and without the worry of those final 6 miles that the full marathoners were going to face. I gave high fives to the kids in Mariemont. I collected a couple of Gu packs to save for another day. I sent texts to Missy and Gina letting them know about my progress. I cruised in to set Missy off on the final leg of the Pigs Fo Sho debut race.

While I missed running the full or half a little bit that morning as I watched the runners go past me while I waited at my start the feeling quickly faded as we headed out that afternoon for a celebration barbeque where I could move around without the post race sore legs. Still, next year it might be on.

Flying Pig Finish

2009-05-03T11:56:00.001-04:00

Pig Relay 2009

Goals for May

2009-04-29T20:39:00.002-04:00

Back in the days of sparkpeople it was easy to stay motivated within the community that constantly presented challenges and feedback from fellow members to keep its users motivated. Since moving away from spark people it's not always easy to keep motivated with no feedback from a community, fewer encouraging words from other athletes. Thanks recently to an update on the great site buckeyeoutdoors.com I've been able to get back into challenge mode amongst a group.

The challenge I am taking part in is to run 750 miles in 2009. It seems a little daunting, but reachable, so to keep up the challenge I'm setting a goal for May to run 75 miles and additionally bike 100 miles in preparation for the Little Miami Triathlon at the beginning of June.

Let's get moving.

Running = 75 miles
Cycling = 100 miles

Cinci Rat Race 10K '09

2009-04-20T21:28:00.006-04:00

For a massage and a pop. That was to go to the winner of the Rat Race last Saturday. I bet that I could beat Gina's 5k time while I was running the 10k. Neither of us had a very good race, but I still owe her a massage and a pop. Enjoy. :)

It's a flat, fast course. I PR'ed there for the 5K last year. All I had to do was maintain a 7 minute/mile for a few miles and then bring it on in for a new 10K PR. It all sounded so easy in my head. Despite the fact that I haven't had a good run since the Heart Mini a couple weeks ago I thought come race day I would be up for the race. I thought I would perform. I was overly confident and not prepared for the my second running of the Rat Race, and my first 10K since the Thanksgiving Day Race in 2007. The heat and the cheeseburger I had for lunch didn't help. Stupid! I paid for my lack of preparation and poor choice of a pre-race meal big time.

Lesson probably not learned. I've been down this path before. Except last time it involved some biscuits and gravy and a treadmill.

The Winner

The Puker

If you can dodge a wrench...

2009-04-05T20:35:00.004-04:00

Please don't throw wrenches. I couldn't dodge the ball either. So you thought the dodgeball craze came and went with the movie of the same name 5 years ago? I can assure you it is alive and well thanks to the Cincinnati Recreation Commission.

Thursday night I got a taste of the dodgeball life when I was invited to play in the final regular season game for the...ummm..they never told me if they had a team name. Isn't that the point of joining these things? You must to have a witty name.

According to Missy Thursday morning via IM (because all important communication in the 21st century is by IM or text), "it is our last game of the season and... we are playing the first place team...hahaha. we are gonna get creamed. it will be so fun!"

So what. They're the first team in a recreatioal dodgeball league. Nobody takes these things seriously. We'll go out throw the ball around and have a good time. But she added..."for real, we are gonna get creamed...this team is a beast" Oh crap.

I could tell you how they had three dudes that I'm pretty sure were on performance enhancing drugs and went into a 'roid rage on the dodgeball floor. According to one of my teammates still dazed, "He was 3 feet away from me. He could have thrown it easy instead he beamed me in the head!"

I could tell you how by the end we were all hesitant to go back out on the floor. "It's cool, I was in last game. Go ahead."

I could tell you how we got creamed. Instead I'll link to these photos and with a little bit of historical revisionism make us look like the champions we are in our hearts. Eat your hearts out other dodge ball playing team losers.

It's so shiny

2009-04-01T22:00:00.004-04:00

I'm a sucker for new gadgets. I don't run out and buy every gadget that comes along, but I would if I could. You'll be mine soon you smooth, sleek iPhone. Well, probably not, but I can dream.

When it comes to running my all time favorite gadgets are two great tastes that taste great together: the iPod Shuffle and my Garmin Forerunner 305. These two little gadgets have really changed how I view long runs. The Shuffle weighs practically nothing and clips to any piece of clothing, so my music is not at all a hindrance. The 305 gives me constant updates on my pace, heart rate and time while on the run. It's all the extraneous information you could ever want on a run and more when you download it on to your computer.

I love these toys. I would never give up these toys.. unless... Ooooohh, new shiny ones! Yay! All of a sudden Apple and Garmin have released new versions of my favorite things! Now, I know that Garmin released the 405 a while ago, but I've heard and read mixed reviews on it. It was never really a contender.

So now we have the new iPod Shuffle which apparently is smaller than a AA battery. I applaud Apple for making these amazing breakthroughs in ever smaller mp3 players and computers that have just as much, if not more, power and functionality as the dinosaurs from 3 months ago we all have now, but I think they've hit the wall on size. While I appreciate their ingenuity I don't need an mp3 player I might easily swallow. The size also means all the controls have been moved on to the headphone cord. I cannot run with Apple's ear buds. They constantly fall out of my oddly shaped ears. I buy cheap earhook ear buds in bulk, because they stay on and they aren't going to last long. I'm sticking with my 2nd generation beauty.

While Garmin may have missed the mark with the 405 I really like the looks of the new 310XT. It's so new it isn't even on their website. We'll see how it functions, but I already like that they have kept the screen size and the button placement while making the casing smaller so it doesn't look quite like you're waiting to be beamed up to the Enterprise. Now it just looks like a cool calculator watch from the 80's. I dig it. According to the specs it also features longer battery life and is waterproof for triathlons. I swore off triathlons 8 years ago after getting pummeled in the murky waters of East Fork Lake, but I might try another with this bad boy on my wrist just to see how it would work.

Heart Mini '09 - 2 Beats

2009-03-29T20:30:00.008-04:00

You always hope for ideal conditions when planning a race. It would be great if it were always in the mid-50's, maybe a little overcast so you don't have to worry about sun burn or annoying glare. How about a nice breeze , but not too windy please? It all sounds great. It's what you always hope for, but rarely get. Today was none of that and worse.

Race morning it was pretty ugly with high winds and rain. Ugh. Gina and I lined up for the 5k. My job for this race was to pace Gina and bring her in to victory. Things didn't go quite as planned. I failed. I was later informed I was a "bad pacer". Still, we had a good race despite the cold, rain and wind. Thanks mostly to the fun race mix Gina had put together. I'll have to work on my pacing skills for future races. I will lead her to a pr. fo sho.

When it came time for the 15K things hadn't really improved. The wind was still blowing and it was still raining intermittently. My goal for the race was to beat my time from last year of 1:05:05. It was my goal, but honestly I had my doubts about running a pr this year. I had a list of excuses: Last year I was training for the Flying Pig Marathon, so I was putting in a lot more miles at this point. I am just recovered from my IT band injury from the fall, so I started training later than usual. I am under some stress, so my head might not be fully in the race...blah, blah. I'm such a self defeaters sometimes. Still, I would give it all I have and if it falls apart so be it.

The race begins...

The race is out and back. We head out of the city on Rt. 50 to a turn around point and come back. It's more downhill on the way out and up hill on the way back. With that in mind I decided to forgo trying to run negative splits and decided to go out a little faster than 7 min/miles to build a cushion and try to hold on up the hills on the way back. I don't know if that's a great idea, but it was the plan. Maybe I'll try for negative splits next year.

The first 5K was a breeze. I kept my pace between 6:45 and 7 minute miles just trying to keep my stride smooth and get into the groove of the race. It was spitting rain off and on which actually felt pretty good. As for the wind..not so much. Once you leave the city and the buildings to block the wind you're out in the open where the wind can be brutal, and it was. At this point though, I wasn't feeling it. The first 5K was a very good 21:17.

The second 5K is an interesting one. I'm out to the turn around at just about the 4.5 mile mark and it's back toward the city. Nothing particularly spectacular about that. It becomes a little more of an uphill battle, the legs start to feel the miles accumulate, but overall things were well under control. The kicker comes at mile 5.8 where I make a right turn off Rt. 50 for a short, but grueling hill climb. It's actually slightly less grueling than in years past. They've pushed the start back a little and the turn around up a little, so it's .20 miles of torture instead of..well..more.

Fortunately I was well prepared for .2 miles or more of torture up Torrence. As part of my training regimen I always include at least a month of hill work. For the Heart Mini that involved a couple weeks on another hill and 3 weeks of doing 1/4 mile repeats on Torrence. Run to the bottom of Torrence, turn around up Torrence. Repeat until you want to kill yourself. So, as I turned to go up Torrence it felt like just another day out running. I shortened my stride, put my head down and gutted it out. It was the least amount of fun you can imagine having. That would be no fun.

Mile 7 was spent trying to recover from the hill. It was my slowest mile at 7:20 and the point at which I started to calculate how fast I would need to run the last 2.3 miles to pr. If I could just keep it under 8 min/miles I should be there! This could actually happen.

Mile 8 was spent mentally preparing myself for the final climb. It is a two part ball buster. You head up a hill that isn't terribly steep, then it flattens out a bit for a few yards. Then, bam!, up a steeper grade to the top. ball. buster.

I hit that hill between miles 8 and 9 and I was hit back smack in the face by a mean head wind. I gritted my teeth and leaned into it. The runners near me probably thought I was crazy because late in the race I become sort of delirious. I'm pretty sure I was grunting, growling like an animal when I wasn't cussing at the wind.

When I cleared the hill I knew I had done it. The final .3 miles felt like a victory lap. A painful, cold, quad aching, calf cramping victory lap. I smiled all the way in while keeping my eye on the clock near the finish line as it neared 1:05. I knew I had about a 20 second delay from the time the clock started until I crossed the finish line, but I pushed it just in case.

I smiled and waved at Gina as I crossed the finish line in 1:04:53. A small margin for improvement, but it felt like a great victory over the injury that plagued me in the fall and early in the year as well as the weather that seemed to do what it could to make the race uncomfortable as hell for all of us. Suck it weather.

We celebrated with a great brunch with some friends of Gina's and enjoyed the rest of the day by doing absolutely nothing. She has her own perspective on the day along with a moment that we can all aspire to achieve in racing. Check it out.

Let The Races Begin!

2009-03-11T18:41:00.002-04:00

Finally 2009 racing season is upon us..or me. I'm hoping to kick it off right this weekend with a trail run from one of the Dirt Days Trail Series. I say I'm hoping because I haven't fully committed to the race and may end up scrapping it. Regardless the race season will start in earnest 2 weeks after that with the Heart Mini-Marathon.

I'm looking forward to the Heart Mini this year and possibly taking down my previous 15k PR of 1:05. I'm feeling pretty good about it as workouts have been going well with lots of hills and speed work recently. As long as I can keep the knees and IT bands healthy I'll have a good shot at it.

I'm also excited to be putting the Little Miami Triathlon back on the schedule. I have been asked to join a team this year which will mean partnering up for the canoe. Apparently there are several other teams that we will be racing against. The slowest team buys beer or something. Whatever the stakes it will be fun to get out for some friendly competition on an extremely fun race. It will give me incentive to get back on the bike this year to prepare for race day. The focus has been so much on the marathons in the last year or so that my biking has taken a back seat.

What am I doing sitting here typing? I should be out running my hills.

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2009-03-10T16:44:00.000-04:00

Time to ride.

12 Favorite Cover Songs

2009-02-11T20:49:00.004-05:00

Another one of those list things! I can get on board with this one. If you feel like doing this one tag me up (on Facebook), so I can see what songs you choose! It was a tough list. I have a whole list of songs that hurt to cut, and it was hard not to cheat so I did...a little.

1. All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix (Bob Dylan) Obvious but a must

2. Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps - Cake (Osvaldo Farrés)

3. Hallelujah - Rufus Wainwright (Leonard Cohen) haunting

4. Hurt & Won't Back Down - Johnny Cash (Nine Inch Nails & Tom Petty) A bit of a cheat, but how can deny the weight of years he brings to these songs?

5. Smokin' In The Boys Room - Motley Crue (Brownsville Station) My inner teenager weighs in

6. Smooth Criminal - Alien Ant Farm (Michael Jackson)

7. Landslide - The Dixie Chicks (Fleetwood Mac) Gina may call blasphemy on this, but I love it.

8. Ring of Fire - Social Distortion (Johnny Cash) She may really call it on this one!

9. Fell In Love With A Boy - Joss Stone (The White Stripes)

10. I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself - The White Stripes (Tommy Hunt)

11. Baby Got Back - Jonathon Coulton (Sir Mix-a-Lot) brilliant and hilarious

12. Against All Odds - The Postal Service (Phil Collins) I have two ears and a heart don't I?

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2009-01-31T22:01:00.000-05:00

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2009-01-31T11:07:00.000-05:00

In a galaxy far, far away...

2009-01-27T20:28:00.004-05:00

It's snowing or raining or sleeting outside. Whatever it's doing it's ugly. Who needs a good laugh?

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

Happy Inauguration Day!

2009-01-20T13:11:00.003-05:00

So we weren't in Washington D.C. freezing our butts off with the massive crowd or Grant Park where the hometown crowd was probably insane with joy. We were sitting at a table overlooking part of the hospital campus watching choppy video that amounted to a slideshow as the internet servers were overloaded with employees trying to catch the inauguration on one of the internet feeds, and listening to a radio station out of Chicago so at least we could hear the inauguration and following speech.

The message came through loud and clear. It's a new day of hope. I'm glad we got to see it and look forward to watching it again later.

Rehab

2009-01-17T14:28:00.004-05:00

"Does that hurt?"
"No,it's cool."

I think the sweat that broke out on my forehead betrayed my exterior cool as she dug her knuckles into my IT band and pushed down toward my knee. Damn, that hurt, but I certainly wasn't going to let her know. I'm cool as a cucumber, until the next push down the leg that elicits a groan that I couldn't hold.

"Ok. A couple more then I'll show you some stretches that will help."

Damn. She got me. So, I'm back in physical therapy for what I thought was a knee problem, but turns out is Iliotibial band syndrome. The tightening of the IT band was putting extra stress on my knee causing the to ache. It's a relief to find out that it isn't a knee issue and with some PT and stretching I should be good to go in short order. Go ahead dig those knuckes in. Let's do this.

Now that I know that I should be to go for racing this spring I'm starting to get the bug again. It's time to find some races (short races) and get training. Definitely on the schedule is the Flying Pig Relay and the Heart Mini-Marathon. I'm also gonna take a shot at the Trail Run Series this summer. The last time I ran the East Fork Backpack Trail Run was in '06 and it took a pair of sun glasses and some skin off my knees. I want revenge. It's time to get out and run.

Show No Weakness

2009-01-13T11:16:00.006-05:00

I first read about David Goggins in Runner's World a couple months ago. He's a Navy Seal that runs with a purpose. An inspiration.

What's My Motivation?

2009-01-07T15:09:00.003-05:00

I've been finding it difficult to get motivated to get into the gym or workout over the last couple of months. I've tried to run a couple times, but it has always ended with the flaring up knee pain. Without the races and the goals it seems that I am pretty directionless and umotivated. With a new year and a new year of races ahead of me I'm hoping to shake this lack of motivation and get moving again.

The first step is to get my knee healthy again. I have an appointment with a physical therapist next week. I'm hoping I can get some advice on what to do about my knee. I'm hoping it's just a ligament strain and some stretching and such will fix it up. It's had more than 2 months of rest certainly I can get moving again. I hope.

Provided that all goes all well at the physical therapist I have a couple goals for the new year. I will be concentrating on short races of the 5k and 10k variety this year with some bicycle riding to mix things up. So for 2009 my goals are to get that knee healthy, run a sub 19 minute 5k and a sub 40 minute 10k. Other than that my goals are to get into nursing school and update this blog more than the occasional update that has been the case recently.

'09. Year of the Unicycle

2009-01-02T23:08:00.005-05:00

Here it is 2 months since my last post and about the same amount of time since my last run. It seems that the damage done to my knee during Columbus was worse than I had originally thought, so running and I have been on a break. I was planning on taking a break after Columbus anyway, but not quite like that. I've tried to run a couple of times since Columbus, but it always ends with knee pain and broken dreams. Hopefully running and I will be giving it another try over the next few months to prepare for some races in '09. We'll see. We're going to take it slow. No marathons this year. It's all about short races and speed.

In mursing news: With some greatly appreciated assistance, support and an occasional needed kick in the ass I finished up a tough semester of Anatomy and Physiology and took a nursing assistant class along the way. It's been all about bedpans and bone structures. After a nice winter break we'll be heading into A&P 2 and applying for the mursing program. That will be when the real stress begins. Until then I'll be enjoying the rest of winter break doing some fun stuff.

Finally I leave you with a couple predictions for '09. Forget your SUV's, hybrids, and even bicycles. 2009 is the year of the unicycle. It's the ultimate green vehicle. So, run out and get yourself a unicycle and save the environment. Also there is this little coffee shop out of Seattle that I think is going to make its mark this year. I think Starbuck's will finally get it's big break. Ride your unicycle on over and try it out.

I Broke Up with Running

2008-11-05T10:36:00.002-05:00

Running pulled a Tonya Harding and clubbed my right knee during the Columbus Marathon. Not cool running. Running and I needed a break from each other. We both knew I wouldn't be able to stay away. Running and I are getting back together soon.

Vote!

2008-11-04T07:23:00.001-05:00

Yes We Can!

2008-11-04T07:22:00.001-05:00

C=RN

2008-10-24T13:53:00.007-04:00

Recently I was feeling a little bit overwhelmed and concerned about my A&P class. I got my ass handed to me on the first exam. I never really had any problems while I was going back to finish my Elementary Education degree so I was worried. As the second exam was approaching I was starting to feel stressed. This could really be a make or break test. If I didn't do well I probably wouldn't pass the class screwing up the rest of my school plans.

The week before the test I got a little intervention. One of the nurses that I work with told me how she was having trouble during her nursing school. This is a nurse that I respect and seems very intelligent. At the time she was thinking about dropping out of nursing school if things didn't turn around. One of her professors pulled her aside and gave her this advice.

C=RN. Don't stress so much over your grades. I can see that you will be a good nurse. When it comes time and you're dealing with a patient that is coding they aren't going to ask you what your grade point average was during school. You just do your job.

So that has become my approach. It's not that I won't try to do my best, but that I will do the best that I can and not stress too much over the grades.

Columbus Marathon Race Report

2008-10-24T13:51:00.010-04:00

The starting line of the Columbus Marathon was jam packed as once again I got caught somewhere in the back around the 5 hour pace group. This was not what I was hoping for. What I was hoping to to do was get in with the 3:30 or 3:20 pace group and cruise along. No worries though. Certainly I would be able to catch up with them right? They were up there somewhere. So began my 4th marathon and another attempt at breaking 3:30. Columbus is a flat course that is known for producing Boston qualifiers. This was an excellent course to PR on and it was a perfect day for it. It started out at somewhere in the mid 40's and clear. It warmed up to somewhere in the mid 50's.

I was feeling ready. My training went well, and I had completed all my longest runs with very little problem. Although unlike the flat course of Columbus all my long runs involved major hill climbs. This was a minor cause for concern as I wasn't sure how I would handle the flat roads of Columbus. Another concern was endurance. I know I have the speed as I've run well all summer in shorter races. The question was would I have the endurance to push through the final miles.

The first half was flawless as I cruised through at 1:39. I knew I was pushing it, but I decided from the beginning to go all out and let the rest take care of itself. A great time for a half, and I felt good. I got a banana and some words of encouragement from marathon super fan Gina. I think her words of encouragement were something along the lines of "Move it Iker! You're going too slow!" After seeing the 3:30 and 3:40 pace groups go by she was thinking that I was crashing and burning. She was unaware of the fact that I had crossed the starting line a good 7 minutes after them.

What could possibly go wrong? It was somewhere between mile 19 and mile 20 that I began to feel the twinges of cramps. Oh yeah, that's what could go wrong. I stopped to stretch and hoped that I could hold off the worst of it as long as possible. Unfortunately that wasn't so long. Within the next half mile it began in my left calf. I shortened my stride and slowed. This seemed to help for a while, but only for a while. The cramps came back and by mile 23 my hamstrings were completely wasted. The miles and miles of flat road and continuous pounding on the same muscles had taken its toll. It was frustrating, because mentally I was feeling strong. I wasn't dehydrated. I still had fuel left, but the muscles were just spent.

At mile 24 I was pushing through slowly just wanting it to be over. At mile 26 I caught a wave from Super fan Gina. After that it was a short sprint to the finish, and by sprint I mean hobbling, limping jog. It wasn't the last 6.2 that I was hoping for or the finish I was hoping for, but still it was a PR at 3:34:37. This is my Columbus Marathon report or what will be remembered as 20 miles of awesome and 6.2 miles of brutal, or as Gina put it I crushed 20 and got crushed by 6.2, but still crushed it.

It's been a fun/tough run of 4 marathons over the last year and a half. The marathons are going on hold for a while. Next year is all about short, fast races and mursing school. After I graduate...we'll see.

Happy Finisher

2008-10-19T11:48:00.001-04:00

Mile 20

2008-10-19T10:16:00.002-04:00

Mile 15

2008-10-19T09:34:00.001-04:00

Go!

2008-10-19T07:39:00.001-04:00

Starting Area Crowd

2008-10-19T07:31:00.001-04:00