This year's training has been bullshit. No more faking it. Time to get to work.
since 2006
Monday, January 28, 2008
What would Marvin do?
This year's training has been bullshit. No more faking it. Time to get to work.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
No So Sweet Sixteen
As advertised, today I did the Boston Prep 16 mile Road Race in scenic Derry, New Hampshire. I first heard of this race a few years ago, because I generally only run in the winter and the calendar is pretty sparsely populated, so you don't miss much. At the time I thought "Boston Prep" was just one more of the dozens of private schools for rich kids in the Granite State, because those things are sort of an industry up there. Last year though, Feltslave CXRacer informed me that this was a key preparation race for the Boston marathon, hence the name. Oh, duh.
This year, I queried Mr CX Racer, a resident of nearby Londonderry, about entering the race, and he assured me he would run it with me. He noted the hills were brutally hard, but I laughed it off, as running uphills never bothered me. Maybe he mentioned something about running down them too, but I guess I wasn't paying enough attention. More on this later... Anyhow, when registration opened up back in November, I was running pretty consistently and January was a long way off, so since I'd have plenty of time to build up to this mileage, I sent in my entry. The race fills up and I did not want to miss out. I reminded CX Racer, and the waffling began...
Fast forward to January, and it's been snowing fairly regularly around here, and your hero Solobreak hasn't exactly been logging tons of run miles. I like to run in the woods, but it's been all icy and slushy and snowy every weekend except for one, so outside of one good 14 miler, all I've really run are some races and lunch runs. CX Racer had gone into hiding somewhere deep in Sonoma Valley. No worries, I'll just do it alone for training.
Well, today was the day. On the drive up it started snowing, but nothing too serious, and a few degrees warmer and it would have been rain, so not bad on the temp end either. No wind to speak of, so a bonus there too. I get to Derry and there's an inch or so of new snow on the ground, a nuisance for sure, but the race is not in jeopardy or anything like that. Parking is not at registration, and they're running a shuttle bus, but I elect to run/walk the mile or so for a warmup. This was a good idea, because on the trip I realized I'd overdressed and was able to switch out a layer for something lighter while pinning up my number. The race started late too, because the whole shuttling thing got messed up when people started getting stuck in the unplowed parking lot and the bus couldn't get in or out.
At the start, I saw a guy in a Minuteman Road Club jacket, and I thought it might be GCDavid, but I don't know what he looks like. The guy on the blog is a smiling little blue toy train, and this guy had a homicidal race face on, so I kept my distance rather than risking an introduction. Turned out it really was him. Next time dude! He ran a good race too.
So the race starts and off we go. I don't know the area and never had a chance to get up there to drive the course, so it's all blind. The first five miles or so the roads were pretty snow-covered and the footing was definitely compromised. The first mile took me 7:34! After that things spread out a bit, but right away I felt like I was going way hard, yet wasn't going very fast. Just before hitting the 5 mile mat in 34:19, I saw a woman slip and bail on a corner. She was a trooper and got right up though. I still felt like shit. And there were 11 miles to go. Clearly I was perping an athletic crime for which I had not put in the requisite time. And then there were these friggin' downhills.
At least after the five mile mark there was usually a clean tire rut to run in, and the footing was not so bad. Some areas, notably the uphills, had an entire lane of clean pavement, which was nice. The falling snow had lightened up too, and I saw no more falling runners, although on one downhill I heard a big commotion behind me, so someone else might have ate it. This course had a lot of steep downhills. I never train on downhills at race pace, and it showed. I sucked. And I don't do my long runs or my hilly runs on pavement either. I was basically fucked. But that's ok, because I'm just training, right?
On the few flat spots with clean pavement, I felt pretty good. Soldiering on, I passed the 10 mile mat at 1:08:50 and over the course's longest uphill stretches into the half-mary mat at 1:31:04, barely maintaining a sub-7 pace. The wheels were already starting to come off the wagon. This was going to be the longest run of my life, and all of it on pavement, and I didn't feel so good. I tried to suck it up and run the last three miles fast, but at mile 14 my legs and feet shut down and about a half dozen runners went by me. At the one mile to go marker I realized that if I didn't suck it up and run harder I'd finish outside of the 7 minute pace 1:52 mark, but luckily the last mile was pretty much downhill and I made it to the end it with a 1:51:06 chip time.
It wasn't all bad. 44th overall, 9/126 on the age group. The schwag haul and post race feed were pretty nice too, all in all a good deal for $35, but Feltslave/CXracer may have made the right choice in sitting this one out. One thing is for sure, there is no effin way I could have run another 10.2 miles. If I ever do a marathon, I think I'm going to need to find one that's on dirt roads. Or at least dry pavement. My feet hurt. There you go, a classic #2, #9 excuse/race report combo. Thanks for reading.
This year, I queried Mr CX Racer, a resident of nearby Londonderry, about entering the race, and he assured me he would run it with me. He noted the hills were brutally hard, but I laughed it off, as running uphills never bothered me. Maybe he mentioned something about running down them too, but I guess I wasn't paying enough attention. More on this later... Anyhow, when registration opened up back in November, I was running pretty consistently and January was a long way off, so since I'd have plenty of time to build up to this mileage, I sent in my entry. The race fills up and I did not want to miss out. I reminded CX Racer, and the waffling began...
Fast forward to January, and it's been snowing fairly regularly around here, and your hero Solobreak hasn't exactly been logging tons of run miles. I like to run in the woods, but it's been all icy and slushy and snowy every weekend except for one, so outside of one good 14 miler, all I've really run are some races and lunch runs. CX Racer had gone into hiding somewhere deep in Sonoma Valley. No worries, I'll just do it alone for training.
Well, today was the day. On the drive up it started snowing, but nothing too serious, and a few degrees warmer and it would have been rain, so not bad on the temp end either. No wind to speak of, so a bonus there too. I get to Derry and there's an inch or so of new snow on the ground, a nuisance for sure, but the race is not in jeopardy or anything like that. Parking is not at registration, and they're running a shuttle bus, but I elect to run/walk the mile or so for a warmup. This was a good idea, because on the trip I realized I'd overdressed and was able to switch out a layer for something lighter while pinning up my number. The race started late too, because the whole shuttling thing got messed up when people started getting stuck in the unplowed parking lot and the bus couldn't get in or out.
At the start, I saw a guy in a Minuteman Road Club jacket, and I thought it might be GCDavid, but I don't know what he looks like. The guy on the blog is a smiling little blue toy train, and this guy had a homicidal race face on, so I kept my distance rather than risking an introduction. Turned out it really was him. Next time dude! He ran a good race too.
So the race starts and off we go. I don't know the area and never had a chance to get up there to drive the course, so it's all blind. The first five miles or so the roads were pretty snow-covered and the footing was definitely compromised. The first mile took me 7:34! After that things spread out a bit, but right away I felt like I was going way hard, yet wasn't going very fast. Just before hitting the 5 mile mat in 34:19, I saw a woman slip and bail on a corner. She was a trooper and got right up though. I still felt like shit. And there were 11 miles to go. Clearly I was perping an athletic crime for which I had not put in the requisite time. And then there were these friggin' downhills.
At least after the five mile mark there was usually a clean tire rut to run in, and the footing was not so bad. Some areas, notably the uphills, had an entire lane of clean pavement, which was nice. The falling snow had lightened up too, and I saw no more falling runners, although on one downhill I heard a big commotion behind me, so someone else might have ate it. This course had a lot of steep downhills. I never train on downhills at race pace, and it showed. I sucked. And I don't do my long runs or my hilly runs on pavement either. I was basically fucked. But that's ok, because I'm just training, right?
On the few flat spots with clean pavement, I felt pretty good. Soldiering on, I passed the 10 mile mat at 1:08:50 and over the course's longest uphill stretches into the half-mary mat at 1:31:04, barely maintaining a sub-7 pace. The wheels were already starting to come off the wagon. This was going to be the longest run of my life, and all of it on pavement, and I didn't feel so good. I tried to suck it up and run the last three miles fast, but at mile 14 my legs and feet shut down and about a half dozen runners went by me. At the one mile to go marker I realized that if I didn't suck it up and run harder I'd finish outside of the 7 minute pace 1:52 mark, but luckily the last mile was pretty much downhill and I made it to the end it with a 1:51:06 chip time.
It wasn't all bad. 44th overall, 9/126 on the age group. The schwag haul and post race feed were pretty nice too, all in all a good deal for $35, but Feltslave/CXracer may have made the right choice in sitting this one out. One thing is for sure, there is no effin way I could have run another 10.2 miles. If I ever do a marathon, I think I'm going to need to find one that's on dirt roads. Or at least dry pavement. My feet hurt. There you go, a classic #2, #9 excuse/race report combo. Thanks for reading.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
New gig for Rasmussen
Martin Scorcese Film Needs Runners to Be Extras Saturday January 26th in Boston
Press Release
January 25, 2008
Grant Wilfley Casting is holding an open call in Boston to cast extras for the feature film ASHECLIFFE directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio. This film is set in the 1950s in a mental institution with flashbacks to a WWII concentration camp. Casting for people to play mental institution staff (doctors, nurses, orderlies, guards), mental patients (including interesting, quirky or unusual character faces), the malnourished and emaciated concentration camp prisoners (many of whom will have their heads shaved), and people to play WWII American and German soldiers (young athletic types, people with military or law enforcement experience and knowledge of firearms, police officers, fire fighters, ROTC, etc). Seeking men who are willing to have their hair cut short and women with natural-looking hair color, no highlights. Specifically seeking Caucasian and African American people. Filming begins in Boston area March 2008. Open Call will be held 10am-4pm, Saturday Jan. 26 at Boston University (George Sherman Union- Metcalf Hall) 775 Commonwealth Ave. Boston, MA 02215. Visit www.gwcnyc.com or call 212 685 3168 for more information.
Style Points - It's about the socks.
Not sporting high-style hosiery, but these two clowns look like they may be getting some coaching from Fred and Heywood. Since I stole their image, I owe it to them to give them a link. Cool site, although this morning it seems they might be serving it off a PDP-11 or something.
Coryn is not only coming soon to a podium near you, but she gets major solo-style points for the high black socks. This guy gets it too. Not much for socks here either, but I had to run this one for Gewilli, a man known to rock the style boat himself. Courtesy of matt.pintglass.
Eddy kept it simple yet was still stylin'.
And of course, nobody does it better. Thanks for reading.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Deep Thoughts
If a watt is produced out on the road, but there is no powermeter to record it, was there really any power? Ahhhhh.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Top ten terms
Run for your life
Tuesday evening, once again I was asked what my running goals were for this year, and once again I did not have much of an answer. I'm not so goal-oriented (duh, like we haven't figured that out before). The process is fun, so do with that what you wish. Nonetheless, in the back of my mind (figuratively speaking, as I don't know for certain if it's in the front, back, side, or spread all around like a fragmented file), I have some ideas which might qualify as goals by some definitions.
Most of all, I want to remain physically able to run twenty miles a week or so, at least eight months out of the year (Sept-April) for at least another twenty years. A worthy goal. Why this number? The past few years it's been working out well. Spread over three runs/week, this mileage has proven enough to help with my weight management, and provide enough fitness to prevent embarrassment in the local races.
Not that this qualifies as a goal for this year or anything, but any goals I establish need to mesh with this one. Which brings us to the marathon question. I explained to the questioner, who happens to be my LMT and an elite athlete herself, that even though I've been running off and on for years, 2007 was the first time I'd ever done a race longer than 10k, and thus still considered myself a sophomore in distance running. Doing a marathon this year was a bad idea. Her response? "Doing one ever is a bad idea." Part of me agrees with that thought (actually several parts, notably both knees and the soles of my feet), but I responded that of course a marathon was still on the life checklist, just not yet.
This year, cycling goals are more important. I won't be in the younger third of my age group much longer, so now is the time to see if I can become competitive again. Running, especially in excess, hurts the cycling, so I want to give the road scene a better shot before focusing on marathon training. There's also the problem of timing. I don't run at all during the summer (at least not yet), which makes prepping for a fall marathon a problem, and winters around here tend to suck, so I'm not all that keen on an early spring race either. That leaves late spring, which would f-up the cycling season, so until I care less about bike racing, no marathon.
I've been asked a bunch of times if I'm going back to the New Bedford half this year. The answer is I don't know. It falls pretty early, so I could probably do it and bounce back for April cycling, but I may want to wrap up the running sooner than that. See where I'm going with this? No goals yet. I've looked around for a "destination race" but nothing has jumped out at me, and I'm not sure how robust the travel budget will be anyway. During that search, I found some interesting duathlons, but nobody seems to care about those. I see them as a good way to push the fitness envelope though, so I haven't ruled them out.
So there you have it, no goal. What a tease. How about this - I need to back up my suspiciously fast time from the Newport 10k. After Raynham, I was pretty bummed because my 6:17 pace over the 15k distance was so much slower than the sub-6 at Newport. After review, I realized this was still the fastest pace I'd ever run for a race over 10k. Furthermore, this was a full six weeks post-Newport, during which time I purposely let my fitness go. So maybe this wasn't so embarrassing after all. The only way to find out will be to validate the Newport time with something similar. I don't have a 10k on the calendar, but I'll settle for a sub 29 (or really close to it) at the Paddy Kelly, or less than 1:01:30 at Foxboro. There you go. Black and white. Real goals. Thanks for reading.
Most of all, I want to remain physically able to run twenty miles a week or so, at least eight months out of the year (Sept-April) for at least another twenty years. A worthy goal. Why this number? The past few years it's been working out well. Spread over three runs/week, this mileage has proven enough to help with my weight management, and provide enough fitness to prevent embarrassment in the local races.
Not that this qualifies as a goal for this year or anything, but any goals I establish need to mesh with this one. Which brings us to the marathon question. I explained to the questioner, who happens to be my LMT and an elite athlete herself, that even though I've been running off and on for years, 2007 was the first time I'd ever done a race longer than 10k, and thus still considered myself a sophomore in distance running. Doing a marathon this year was a bad idea. Her response? "Doing one ever is a bad idea." Part of me agrees with that thought (actually several parts, notably both knees and the soles of my feet), but I responded that of course a marathon was still on the life checklist, just not yet.
This year, cycling goals are more important. I won't be in the younger third of my age group much longer, so now is the time to see if I can become competitive again. Running, especially in excess, hurts the cycling, so I want to give the road scene a better shot before focusing on marathon training. There's also the problem of timing. I don't run at all during the summer (at least not yet), which makes prepping for a fall marathon a problem, and winters around here tend to suck, so I'm not all that keen on an early spring race either. That leaves late spring, which would f-up the cycling season, so until I care less about bike racing, no marathon.
I've been asked a bunch of times if I'm going back to the New Bedford half this year. The answer is I don't know. It falls pretty early, so I could probably do it and bounce back for April cycling, but I may want to wrap up the running sooner than that. See where I'm going with this? No goals yet. I've looked around for a "destination race" but nothing has jumped out at me, and I'm not sure how robust the travel budget will be anyway. During that search, I found some interesting duathlons, but nobody seems to care about those. I see them as a good way to push the fitness envelope though, so I haven't ruled them out.
So there you have it, no goal. What a tease. How about this - I need to back up my suspiciously fast time from the Newport 10k. After Raynham, I was pretty bummed because my 6:17 pace over the 15k distance was so much slower than the sub-6 at Newport. After review, I realized this was still the fastest pace I'd ever run for a race over 10k. Furthermore, this was a full six weeks post-Newport, during which time I purposely let my fitness go. So maybe this wasn't so embarrassing after all. The only way to find out will be to validate the Newport time with something similar. I don't have a 10k on the calendar, but I'll settle for a sub 29 (or really close to it) at the Paddy Kelly, or less than 1:01:30 at Foxboro. There you go. Black and white. Real goals. Thanks for reading.
X - cuse for a post
My first bike race T-shirt.
The current state of the bike room. The crutches and cane are here if you need them Murat.
This year's version of the Where's Waldo parts pile picture.
This didn't come out quite like I wanted. I was hoping to show the atrophy of my right medial quad, but it sort of looks the same as the other one. Maybe all that work I'm doing is paying off. Thanks for viewing.
Monday, January 21, 2008
One for the Boyz
The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook not only offers some solid info on how to fix an achy body, but also contains some entertaining illustrations depicting the proper use of a TheraCane. With this book and a scanner, the 3Boyz would have a year's worth of blog entries. Thanks for reading.
Super Mario Day
photos courtesy Lee D
You read it here first: my spies on the west coast captured these photos of Cipo out training with his new Rock and Republic team. Super Mario reportedly was nearly cited by the CHP for running a red light, but local cyclists intervened and were like "Dude, you can't give him a ticket, he's freaking world champion!"
In other Mario news, the the Raynham Frostbite 15k was won yesterday by the other Super Mario. The former Stonehill All-American blitzed the course with a time of 48:40 (5:13/mile pace) in what were not exactly PR conditions. When I woke up the temps were a balmy 28 degrees, but by race time at 9:20 am the mercury had plummeted to the low 20's as a constant gale blew in from the north. At least the sun was shining.
My plan was to start off easy, running 6:30's until halfway, and then see what I had. With all the snow my running training has been very inconsistent. I know my fitness has dropped quite a bit since peaking in early December, with the end of 'cross races for workouts, and ten day break from running, concurrent with a full three weeks off the bike after a second ass surgery. I'm still lighter than I was during last summer's race season, but I've managed to pack on about three pounds, almost all of it in an unsightly little man-fupa. Truly the stuff champions are made of. Still though, I felt pretty good when warming up (having a car with heat helps!), so of course, as usual, my plan went out the window when the siren went off to start the race.
There were something like 380 starters. I had lined up with Tom V about third row in order to hold back. We had a pure tailwind for the first 5k, and also this stretch has no hills, in fact the Polar data revealed the slightest of downgrades (-.4%). The first mile took 6:06, just cruising. I missed a few miles markers, but later on I was able to extrapolate enough data to break the race into three 5k segments. The first was 19:07 with an average HR of 159. The middle third I drafted on the heels of a few others as there was some serious wind going through the pig farm section. This was the slowest, 19:44, with an HR average of 165, right near LT. The final third began with a surge up the course's only real hill, where I dropped my three companions. This pushed the HR over 170, where it stayed the rest of the way during this 5k split of 19:16 for a finish time of 58:18 (6:17/mile pace), 21st overall, 4th in my age group. Nelson and Schaad totally smoked me this race, finishing over two minutes ahead. I may not have made myself suffer quite as much as some of my PR races, but the overall average HR of 165 tells me I wasn't exactly taking it easy, so I know my fitness is down.
Next week's race will be the longest run of my life, so I'm not warming up and just running it for training. Then I'll focus on the Paddy Kelly and the Foxboro 10 mile. After that, no plans at this time. Thanks for reading.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
You're beautiful, now change
Rolling into work late at 9:45 because you were slow in getting on the trainer at home has its advantages. For one, the brilliant January sun sits up high enough in the sky to glisten upon the snow-covered trees, lighting up the highway landscape. Driving up over the last rise on Route 24 brought the Blue Hills into view, where photographic inspiration came over me like a pack of field sprinters with 200m to go. Although failing to get the camera out in time for a shot through the windshield, the cube farm has a nice balcony off the third floor conference rooms, from which I captured the mur in all its gelid white splendor. This last storm really was "pretty," but I got my photo so now if you could please melt, that would be great.
I'm not a big fan of this winter stuff. So far I managed my usual mix of trainer, gym, and running workouts, but I'd much rather do the latter in a snow-free environment. It looks like I may get my wish for the weekend, as even though the temps are single digits right now, my area is forecast to see some rain tomorrow, maybe cleaning things back up. That's the good news. The not so good news is the forecast temps for Sunday's race in Raynham are way cold again. Although last year it was pushing 60 on race day, this is winter and they don't call it the Frostbite 15k for nothing. The competition is super-tough there, with all the marathon hopefuls coming out for the first race of the year. I haven't been getting in enough running to race it hard, and winning an age-group prize of a deluxe ice scraper would be impossible for me in that field anyway. Tom V from work is running it too, and he's a very fast, reliable pacesetter AND finisher, so I think I might just try to stick with him over the first half and then see how things play out in the final stretches. Last year this was my first "long" (i.e. more than 10k) race ever in my life, and I ran 6:50's, which should not be too hard to better this year.
There, an excuse for a post, complete with picture. Now I'm going to try to get into work early so that I can take a long lunch of repeats over on the access road. Stay warm, thanks for reading.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Type Casting
My dedicated readers might be wondering why they've been denied their daily fix of all things solobreak lately. No real reason. I've been more dedicated at work, playing with some new toys at home, and the 2008 training season got underway in earnest, so that's kept me occupied. Mostly though, nothing came together for a decent post. I've got some ideas, and this year I'm supposed to be making stronger efforts to turn ideas into actions, but I still want to do things right.
Thinking about posting, I came up with this idea for a post about posts. Don't take this the wrong way, but I read blogs too, and even though they're all unique in their own way, let's face it - they're all the same. Sort of.
I strive to be original, I really do. Avoiding excessive influence from other blogs isn't easy, and I've touched on this before. Sometimes I find out after the fact that one of my posts bears remarkable similarities to some other posts out there, even though I hadn't seen the other posts prior to formulating mine. Other times I get the notion someone has recycled one of my posts. As noted last week, like-minded people, you know? It happens, so I try to forgive and hopefully be forgiven.
Obviously, a post about the types of blog posts couldn't possibly be an original idea. Someone had to have already covered it, and sure enough, without looking too far, I found a post which examines the topic pretty well. I knew that I'd find that though, so before taking the four seconds to search it out, I jotted down my own ideas. Luckily, the overlap was not too great, and since my own corner of the blogosphere exists within a rather limited scope, my blog types lean more toward specificity. Enough is enough, here you are:
1) The Rant. Already covered, but too important to leave out.
2) The Excuse. Can be anything really, but sometimes it's just some guilt the author wants to let out. See number 4.
3) The Excuse for a Post. May encompass any or none of each other entry on this list. Especially number 10...
4) The "My Life is Great and I Feel Guilty About It" post. You won't need to look too far to find some of these.
5) The "My Life is Great and I want to brag about it" post. Ditto.
6) The "My intelligence has been institutionally validated and I'm going to prove it by incongruously interjecting my latitudinous vocabulary into this periphrastic blog post" post. Perhaps the most contemptible post of all.
7) The "I've surfed the net all day but I have nobody here to talk about it with, so I'm writing this post" post. Hey, they don't call it social networking for nothing.
8) The Sermon. Often intertwined with numbers 4, 5, and 6. Must_resist_saying_any_more_about_this_right_now. Good solobreak, have a biscuit!
9) The Race Report. See number 2 and number 5.
10) The lame list. Need I say more? Thanks for reading.
Thinking about posting, I came up with this idea for a post about posts. Don't take this the wrong way, but I read blogs too, and even though they're all unique in their own way, let's face it - they're all the same. Sort of.
I strive to be original, I really do. Avoiding excessive influence from other blogs isn't easy, and I've touched on this before. Sometimes I find out after the fact that one of my posts bears remarkable similarities to some other posts out there, even though I hadn't seen the other posts prior to formulating mine. Other times I get the notion someone has recycled one of my posts. As noted last week, like-minded people, you know? It happens, so I try to forgive and hopefully be forgiven.
Obviously, a post about the types of blog posts couldn't possibly be an original idea. Someone had to have already covered it, and sure enough, without looking too far, I found a post which examines the topic pretty well. I knew that I'd find that though, so before taking the four seconds to search it out, I jotted down my own ideas. Luckily, the overlap was not too great, and since my own corner of the blogosphere exists within a rather limited scope, my blog types lean more toward specificity. Enough is enough, here you are:
1) The Rant. Already covered, but too important to leave out.
2) The Excuse. Can be anything really, but sometimes it's just some guilt the author wants to let out. See number 4.
3) The Excuse for a Post. May encompass any or none of each other entry on this list. Especially number 10...
4) The "My Life is Great and I Feel Guilty About It" post. You won't need to look too far to find some of these.
5) The "My Life is Great and I want to brag about it" post. Ditto.
6) The "My intelligence has been institutionally validated and I'm going to prove it by incongruously interjecting my latitudinous vocabulary into this periphrastic blog post" post. Perhaps the most contemptible post of all.
7) The "I've surfed the net all day but I have nobody here to talk about it with, so I'm writing this post" post. Hey, they don't call it social networking for nothing.
8) The Sermon. Often intertwined with numbers 4, 5, and 6. Must_resist_saying_any_more_about_this_right_now. Good solobreak, have a biscuit!
9) The Race Report. See number 2 and number 5.
10) The lame list. Need I say more? Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Filler Material
It scares me when I find myself agreeing with you clowns. Like-minded individuals? Is that an oxymoron? Help a brother out here.
Did you ever take a look around and think that you're the stable one? Yikes.
Running in the dark is a good way to become a slow runner.
I find it bizarre (pun intended) that gPC is being sold in the US exclusively at WalMart.
coolrunning.com was taken over by active.com. I don't use many of their tools, but people who do seem pissed. Mergers and acquisitions...
albangorhard apparently uses the forums over there (btw al, your might want trim some of the rich content out of your page, huh? The world only has so much bandwidth):
Thanks for reading.
Did you ever take a look around and think that you're the stable one? Yikes.
Running in the dark is a good way to become a slow runner.
I find it bizarre (pun intended) that gPC is being sold in the US exclusively at WalMart.
coolrunning.com was taken over by active.com. I don't use many of their tools, but people who do seem pissed. Mergers and acquisitions...
albangorhard apparently uses the forums over there (btw al, your might want trim some of the rich content out of your page, huh? The world only has so much bandwidth):
marymarie1
6 posts since
Jul 9, 2007
Login to Reply
Sep 12, 2005 2:04 PM
Big impact on long runs
I have a pretty gross question, but one that is having an pretty big impact on my running. I cannot seem to run more than 35-40 minutes before I have to go to the bathroom. It horrible when I'm running outside, I live in the country so there is definetly no convenient store, or other. I realize it probally has a lot to do w/ trial and error or diet, etc... Does anyone else have this problem? What are somethings that help?
albangorhard
69 posts since
Jul 9, 2007
13. Oct 5, 2005 8:36 AM in response to: marymarie1
Re: Big impact on long runs
If you live in the country, just bring some toilet paper along with you on the run. Pull over into the woods and drop the deuce there. Seriously. What do you think all the animals do?
Thanks for reading.
Monday, January 7, 2008
The middle of the ocean
That's what my new cube feels like. My old cube was the best of the best, way off in a corner, in many ways better than the crappy glassed-in private offices we have here. However, with my transfer, my old group wanted the seat for one of their own. Since my new group is based in a different building, but I'm staying here, I got stuck in any old cube, and the one I got (for now) is right in the middle of a vast expanse of the veal pens. But at least it's interesting:
Coworker #1 (male) and coworker #2 (female), seemingly inseparable, walk by.
Coworker #3 - "Is he doin' her?"
Coworker #4 - "Yeah, they're married to each other."
Fast forward a few minutes, skit two:
Dude in next cube, kinda shouting - "No! Put your mother on fucking hold!"
Thanks for reading.
Coworker #1 (male) and coworker #2 (female), seemingly inseparable, walk by.
Coworker #3 - "Is he doin' her?"
Coworker #4 - "Yeah, they're married to each other."
Fast forward a few minutes, skit two:
Dude in next cube, kinda shouting - "No! Put your mother on fucking hold!"
Thanks for reading.
Day-Light Ville
See Gewilli, in Europe cross is so popular they have giant screens in the woods broadcasting the world cups for the moose and squirrel population to enjoy. Photo courtesy of Kris Hoet.
I forgot all about Dayville. I'm nursing my knee issue anyway, so I wouldn't have gone even if I'd remembered. I also skipped running Little Compton and instead took a trip north for breakfast at Feltslave's, a trip to mecca, and later on a dinner in downtown Nashua to take the pulse of the NH political campaign scene. All I can say is FSM, have mercy, please?.
The big news is that at least here at W071 05, N42 19, yesterday, January 6, marks the latest sunrise of the winter. From here on in the day starts to get longer at both ends. That's correct. Everybody knows that December 21 is the shortest day, but the earliest sunsets actually ended on December 14 (1612) and since that time we've picked up 14 minutes of sunshine in the afternoon, simultaneously losing 9 more in the morning. No more. The a.m. workout crew and the commuters can rejoice; we've turned the corner. I probably blabbed about this last year too. Sorry for the repetition. If you don't believe me, check with our friends at the US Navy. I'd rather stick with quality, but Ge was complaining about quantity, so I'm just throwing words and links up.
Welcome back to Bold and also to Josef, who has some cool powder pics from the Alps up, if you're into that sort of thing.
This may seem like a totally random pic, but it needs to run today as part of a much larger undertaking. If all goes well, you'll find out what that's all about 39 days from now. Going back to last week, we don't even need a closeup to see the issues with the pinky fingers.
Since last week was the music post, I'd have run this under the heading of rock and roll, but I didn't get it all setup until yesterday.
I've wanted to try a Rock and Roll ever since they came out, so I bought one. It's a lot quieter than my old Blackburn fan trainer, and even though I did not opt for the "pro" resistance, it's got a lot more than the fan. The rock and roll feature is adjustable. Right now I've got it at the factory default, and it doesn't lean much at all unless you force it. I expect the elastomers might break in a bit. You do see significant up and down bouncing, just like rollers, if you don't pedal smoothly. Only downsides so far are that it weighs a ton (forget portability) and with the wide stance, if I don't stub/break a toe soon, it will be a miracle. I rode it last night for 45 minutes, my first time on the bike in four weeks. My butt got a bit sore, but only in the typical saddle sore way. I'd forgotten all about the wound until halfway through the ride, so that's good. Maybe that was only because I was sensory-deprived...
This ones for you Ge. Thanks for reading.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
A little puzzle
I feel much better
After reading this. Am I the only one who never heard this before, despite observing it, living it, for as long as I can recall? This applies to everything - bike racing (take that know-it-all coaches), the workplace (pretty much pinpoints how self-evals result in boobs getting promoted while the competent remain a "good fit" right where they are), and just about every other fucking thing I can think of. I feel so much better about being an underachiever now. Thanks for reading.
10 more things about me - the music edition
For no apparent reason, other than I'm thinking about music right now. See number 10.
1) The first concert I ever went to was Grand Funk Railroad, at the Providence Civic Center, 1973. I was 11. The ticket cost was $5.25.
2) I did not play a band instrument in grade school. We couldn't afford it.
3) I got a Tiesco bass guitar and Alamo amplifier with my paper route money in junior high.
4) My bass playing never took off, because my pinky fingers are curved to the point where you might call them deformed, and because I'm tone deaf.
5) My singing voice is truly horrible, much worse than my bass playing.
6) I know the lyrics to a lot of old country songs.
7) I was employed by Tom Scholz of the band Boston for about four months in the early 80's. We worked in the old Cambridge Music complex, across from where Alewife station is. All the local rock vagrants hung out/practiced/partied there at the time.
8) At the job noted above, I once shared a 5 pound cheesecake and two bottles of Moet with my night shift coworkers and our white german sheperd shop dog. The goodies were sent to Tom via Fedex by Eric Clapton, in thanks for sending him a Rockman guitar toy. We intercepted the package and I doubt that Tom ever found out it existed.
9) I have seen Zappa and Stevie Ray Vaughn live five times each. Both are dead now. I also saw Kiss warmup for Black Sabbath in 1976. This was also at the Civic Center.
10) Rarely do I listen to music when on the trainer. Once of my goals for this year is to start doing so.
Thanks for reading.
1) The first concert I ever went to was Grand Funk Railroad, at the Providence Civic Center, 1973. I was 11. The ticket cost was $5.25.
2) I did not play a band instrument in grade school. We couldn't afford it.
3) I got a Tiesco bass guitar and Alamo amplifier with my paper route money in junior high.
4) My bass playing never took off, because my pinky fingers are curved to the point where you might call them deformed, and because I'm tone deaf.
5) My singing voice is truly horrible, much worse than my bass playing.
6) I know the lyrics to a lot of old country songs.
7) I was employed by Tom Scholz of the band Boston for about four months in the early 80's. We worked in the old Cambridge Music complex, across from where Alewife station is. All the local rock vagrants hung out/practiced/partied there at the time.
8) At the job noted above, I once shared a 5 pound cheesecake and two bottles of Moet with my night shift coworkers and our white german sheperd shop dog. The goodies were sent to Tom via Fedex by Eric Clapton, in thanks for sending him a Rockman guitar toy. We intercepted the package and I doubt that Tom ever found out it existed.
9) I have seen Zappa and Stevie Ray Vaughn live five times each. Both are dead now. I also saw Kiss warmup for Black Sabbath in 1976. This was also at the Civic Center.
10) Rarely do I listen to music when on the trainer. Once of my goals for this year is to start doing so.
Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
2008 Running...
Hey that was quick. Well, got things off to a decent start with a 5 mile PR at the Bristol, RI Hangover Classic, with a sixth overall 29:55. This is a certified course, back at Colt Park. It was a bit chilly on the water, with some windy spots, but the rain held off. I was a bit overdressed, but again I got a positive comment on the orange shirt, and I think at the RI races I'm pretty much known as "orange shirt guy" now. This time the comment came from a guy, who turned out to be Jim Dupont, promoter of the Frostbite 15k in a few weeks. Maybe it will be cold enough to wear it again.
My run only got me third in my age group. Off the start, only one guy ahead of me looked to be over 40. The problem for me was, of all days, today I could have used a warmup, but I didn't get one in before the start. Still feeling Sunday's Millenium Mile effort in my hamstrings, the cold weather wasn't helping me. Neither was the drive down in a car with no heat! Despite bundling up, I was shivering when I got there, and of course running a bit late, so I got about a 200 meter jog to the line and that was it. Other than my legs, I felt OK, but if there was a one mile marker, I didn't see it. Staying about 15 meters behind the guy, I had footsteps right behind me too when I took the mile two marker at 11:42. In the third mile along the seawall, footstep guy, same kit as the first guy, drew alongside, and luckily he did not look 40. He turned out to be 39... Sadly though, another runner (Jeff Mutter, a stellar triathlete), clearly 40 but not 50, raced by both of us, and drew in the other Tuesday Night Turtle I was chasing, and ran away from him too.
I stayed on the heels of the 39 year old Turtle, as we had a headwind. The original guy stayed just ahead of us, but Mutter just forged ahead out of reach. Mile four ended up taking 6:12, and any hope of winning my age group was gone. Now I was just trying to break 30 minutes, which meant I had 6:06 in which to run the last mile. I dropped the 39 year old guy, but the first guy hung tough and I did not close the gap at all. He was a nice guy and I'm sure we'll be mixing it up again soon. The cold rain started right after the run, but I cooled down two miles then grabbed a donut while browsing the results. The ride home in the rain with no heat and no defrost was interesting. The squeegee got a lot of use. Good way to start the year, thanks for reading.
My run only got me third in my age group. Off the start, only one guy ahead of me looked to be over 40. The problem for me was, of all days, today I could have used a warmup, but I didn't get one in before the start. Still feeling Sunday's Millenium Mile effort in my hamstrings, the cold weather wasn't helping me. Neither was the drive down in a car with no heat! Despite bundling up, I was shivering when I got there, and of course running a bit late, so I got about a 200 meter jog to the line and that was it. Other than my legs, I felt OK, but if there was a one mile marker, I didn't see it. Staying about 15 meters behind the guy, I had footsteps right behind me too when I took the mile two marker at 11:42. In the third mile along the seawall, footstep guy, same kit as the first guy, drew alongside, and luckily he did not look 40. He turned out to be 39... Sadly though, another runner (Jeff Mutter, a stellar triathlete), clearly 40 but not 50, raced by both of us, and drew in the other Tuesday Night Turtle I was chasing, and ran away from him too.
I stayed on the heels of the 39 year old Turtle, as we had a headwind. The original guy stayed just ahead of us, but Mutter just forged ahead out of reach. Mile four ended up taking 6:12, and any hope of winning my age group was gone. Now I was just trying to break 30 minutes, which meant I had 6:06 in which to run the last mile. I dropped the 39 year old guy, but the first guy hung tough and I did not close the gap at all. He was a nice guy and I'm sure we'll be mixing it up again soon. The cold rain started right after the run, but I cooled down two miles then grabbed a donut while browsing the results. The ride home in the rain with no heat and no defrost was interesting. The squeegee got a lot of use. Good way to start the year, thanks for reading.
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