Race Preview

Well, marathon time is almost upon us. Tomorrow we're traveling down to Myrtle Beach, hitting the packet pickup and expo. I hope to meet up with some folks there. We're traveling with the girls, and our neice and her friend. We're then sharing a condo with Wifey's dad, and her mom will be keeping the girls with them. so we might actually get some sleep friday night.

6:30 saturday morning is race start. It's a full 26.2 miles, in one loop. the start/finish is a few blocks off of the beach, and then you basically run a rectangle course. Here's the course map. It starts running around Broadway at the Beach, which is where we stay when we go to MB. You turn onto second row for a while, then come back through the grand strand, then back to second row until you go away from the coast to the finish line. Wifey's dad is a morning person, and I know he's bringing his new Nikon D60, an awesome camera. so he's going to be our official photographer. He's been incredibly supportive of us through the entire process. Wifey's mom, stepdad, one of her aunts, and a handful of cousins are also coming. they don't need much of an excuse to go to myrtle beach. My family is not coming because they agree with my point of view on myrtle beach.

But here's the kicker. Last night I started running a fever. Bigun went back to school today after missing a week with what the doctors called a "stomach bug" that gave her 4 days of fever, vomiting and diarrhea. EG just had the snots really bad. and I was really concerned that they were going to get us sick too, right here before marathon time. Well, last night I started the fever, and I still have it hanging around 100 degrees. I took some nyquil (love the nyquil) and an airborne, and i've been chugging vitamin c and listerine like it was keg beer. then this morning Wifey said she was starting to feel icky. I've got the full body pains today, still having a fever, but that's been it. I thought we were careful when the kids got sick, but I guess we weren't careful enough.

Did you know that webMD lists competitive running as a cause of diarrhea? I could end up finishing like that guy in the pic above. The weather forecast calls for some rain and a high temp of 63 degrees. So with a fever and maybe vomiting and diarrhea, running 26.2 miles in the rain sounds like the perfect choice of activity. Actually, it changes the goals up some. I'm not going to worry about time. If I end up walking 25 miles and finishing in 7 hours it's ok. Any discussion about marathon will tell you that the race itself is rather anti-climactic. My training plan covered 539 miles over 20 weeks. Sure, I missed my share of the scheduled runs, but I'm sure it still cleared 450 miles. Most people would argue that the most difficult part of your first marathon is having the courage to register and the determination to complete the training plan. That's done. I have also enjoyed the process enough to be sure that this won't be my last marathon either. So I'm going to get another shot at breaking 5 hours. this time I'm just going to try and be as comfortable as possible. and if this stupid sickness means i can't finish, then i can't finish.

So good luck to anyone else who is running this race with me or any other race this weekend. There's a bunch of them, i know. Jess has a 5k on saturday, knock it out girl!

We'll be traveling back here on sunday, so I will post a race report on monday. if there's anything to report on. happy valentines day!

Sweet!

I just got word, and have to pass it on to you. tomorrow, thursday 2/12/09 be sure to watch Gray's Anatomy. They are using another one of Michael's songs. This one is called "Happy Endings" from the Shiv cd. How cool! i have no idea where in the episode it will air, but if you've ever caught his music before you should recognize it.

He had one song from another album on Gray's a few years ago. It was "break you're mama's back" from the No Dissasemble album, which had a nationwide release on a major record label. So to sell another song without label support, he must really be doing something right. And break you're mama's back is an awesome tune. they also used it on an episode of One Tree Hill.

I am quite proud of my brother!

4 more days

Well, there are only 4 more days until the marathon. Wifey's starting to get scared. The kiddos are feeling better, and we seem to have avoided catching anything. So here's how the weekend shook down:

saturday was fantastic outside. I did get some good stuff done in the garden, but not enough. i never get enough done. but it was sunny and in the high 60's here. It was so nice i decided to head to the gym for my long run. I went 8 miles on the treadmill. I really was just trying to get the knees a little work on the softer surface. I really wanted to focus on my form, speed/pace control, do a little speed work and just play around some. Might not have been the best time, but I did it anyway. I covered an entire mile at a 7.0 speed, first time that's happened. I hit the 5k distance at just over 27 minutes, including some walking warm up time. So that was really cool. but then towards the end I started paying the price for my speed. I moved the chopat brace over to the left knee, then the right knee started hurting. So today I've got to get the oil changed in the car, pick up another chopat brace for the other knee, and get the final 3 mile run in. it's the last run on the plan before the marathon, so i'm really looking forward to it. After that it's all just packing and travel prep.

Sunday was gorgeous here. It was mostly sunny, and 72 degrees. I got a good day in the garden. Really finally made some headway on the bed prep. I got an "after" pic from sunday, that I'm thinking will become the "before" pic for the 2009 veg bed.

You can see the raised bed I built last year, and the cleared and de-weeded part that was last year's veggie patch. The white part in the back is the garlic I planted in the fall, mulched with some wheat straw. I cut a line extending that cutout from the raised bed, and I got started removing the sod from that section. The raised bed is a cleared play area for the girls. I think it would be a cool log to post a pic with the same basic frame every couple of weeks to watch the plants grow. To the right of what's in the pic is the asparagus and perennial plantings. I've got some blueberry and raspberry plantings there, and I'm thinking about adding some rhubarb this year. Every tried rhubarb? I don't think I've ever tried growing or eating it, but I hear the pies are quite tasty.

I also got a couple of miles on the bike sunday. Turns out gardening makes fantastic cross training! After clearing out all those weeds, some sod removal, spreading lime and my homemade compost over the beds, etc. the knees felt great! I thought for sure all that walking, digging, and pushing the wheelbarrow around would tear something up. But I felt so good after all that garden work, I tried out the shoes and pedals on the roads for the first time. It was so warm and sunny I just couldn't go inside. I'm happy to report I did not fall down! There was one time I really thought I was going down, even with the old non-clip in pedals. But I managed to get a foot out in time and saved the scratches.

Then yesterday I had to be in atlanta for work. Man, that makes for a long day. I left the house here at 6:30 am, and got back here at about 8:30 pm. Stuck in meetings all. day. And i wish i could claim they were interesting. The good news is it looks like we've got a few things to send out to Wes, so we'll finally be working together on this project. At least when I'm working at home I can walk out to the backyard every once in while. At the office, I didn't breathe fresh air after I got there at 9 until leaving at 6. Lunch was brought in. The lights in the conference room became depressing when I knew it was 74 degrees outside in atlanta.

So thursday I'll post a race preview for the marathon, friday we're all traveling. If you are going to be in MB, we'll have the cell phone. call me at 864-420-0495 if you want to meet up somewhere. I'm always game for meeting a blogger. Some folks (like Ryan) I know I'm going to see. And Mendy/David I'm sure I'll run into. And one of my old fraternity brothers is going to be there too with his new wife. I haven't seen them since the wedding. So call me bitches, or at least look for me at the expo.

Then it will be time for this:

Sleep. and maybe some of this:

Babies taking a crap in the woods. C ya!

What a wild morning

Yesterday morning was so NUTS I have to tell you about it. I got up at a reasonable time with perfectly reasonable expectations for the day. Little did I know what was in store. I was supposed to take Bigun to kindergarten about 45 minutes early for a "doughnuts for dads" day, so all of the dads could get together and have some fellowship with all of the kids. She's in 3 yr old kindergarten with a local church. So I got her out of bed a little early. Every morning she says she doesn't feel so well. But today, while getting dressed she threw up on me. twice. Then again in the toilet. So no doughnuts for me. Poor thing.

Then Wifey comes home from the gym and is upset that she has to look after a sick child instead of having her in school for the morning. Sorry I didn't feel like spreading the infection through doughnuts. Then she accidentally meat-punched me, then forcefully plucked a random hair from my forehead. Then she sat down on my lap and farted. What the hell?

Then EG woke up sick too, as an Evil Genius is known to do. This time, both cheeks were encrusted with dried snot, so her nose was running all night long. Both kids also have a feveer. But at least EG wasn't vomituous.

Really? Really?????!? 8 DAYS BEFORE THE MARATHON AND BOTH KIDS ARE TRYING TO GET US SICK? Seriously? gaaaaaa!

Now to be clear, I can't use fancy footnotes like Glaven does. This programmer doesn't want to commit the time to figure that out. So meat-punching by definition is a surprise. the best way is to ring someone's doorbell and take a knee. they won't be looking down when they answer the door, and you will be on the level to deliver a square punch in the dick. Poor bastard will never see it coming. And vomituous is a word Wifey thinks I made up (vom-IT-u-us) meaning a feeling like you are about to vomit. And by poor thing (in the first paragraph), i was referring to myself. screw the sick kid. I finally get to socialize with other guys that have kids the same age as my kids over doughnuts, my favorite cheat food ever, and i get robbed by puke? dang.

Just kidding, i really was feeling sorry for the kid. And i didn't know if it was krispy creme or dunkin doughnuts. I'm a dunkin man for the coffee and all of the cake doughnuts. I'll take it over krispy's every time. Wifey thinks that's rediculous. But still, i might have gone to the church anyway if I knew it was dunkin's.

And if you notice a distinct lack of running notes, that's the beauty of the taper. Lots of rest days. Including yesterday. I did get on the bike on a trainer for about half an hour on wednesday, and did some yoga today. Tomorrow (saturday) is an 8 mile long run, and I might do some strength training on sunday, but it will be some light core work more than likely.

So have a great weekend, good luck if you're racing, and I'm sure some of you are. I haven't actually walked outside of the walls of the house since tuesday, so I'm half stir crazy. And got the spring fever something bad. yesterday it was 22 degrees when kelley left the gym, and tomorrow the high is supposed to be 65. Quite a swing, so I'm going to get outside as much as i can over the weekend.

Book Review

I fnished reading Tri Power: The Ultimate Strength Training, Core Conditioning, Endurance, and Flexibility Program for Triathlon Success the other night. I really enjoyed this book, and the program they promote. It is well researched, seems effective, and appropriate for runners and triathletes.

I talked some a few posts ago about balance. I think balance and stability is what gives us power and endurance basis points. When we run, we want to limit the side to side movements, and be sure all movement is helping us move forward. Same thing on the bike, without balance we would fall over a lot. And in the pool balance and stability in the water helps us rotate properly and keep a full range of motion and easier breathing. Tri Power focuses on balance, stability and core conditioning.

I think this book has equal appeal to men and women. I used to train like a bodybuilder, even though I never had the mass or definition to enter a competition. So I am intrinsically skeptic of a weightlifting book that doesn't have heavy bench press as a focal point. But this program starts with a complete look at the core, from sternum to hip flexors front and back. A lot of the exercises are body weight or light dumbells/bands for resistance, and tons of time on the swiss ball. So the true focus of the program is to help specifically with one or all of the tri sports.

It is a program, not just a suggestion. There is strength training, where you actually try and increase upper body, lower body, and core strength; flexibility which prevents injury and allows the muscles to stay supple and able to train hard; and finally conditioning which allows the muscles to perform for longer periods of time. The program is designed to take 6 - 9 months to cover you through the entire season of races. There is a self-assessment you are supposed to take every 4 weeks to monitor progress in strength and flexibility. Then 4 days a week you do 15 minutes of stretching and simple excersises. 2 days a week there is a longer strength training session, depending on what phase of the program you are in. There are base, strength gain, and maintenance phases of the program, so you can sustain it throughout the racing season.

I think a program like this is what can make the difference between completing races and competing in them. It can also be the difference between running the entire year comfortably and having overuse and form injuries. The worst thing I did in my marathon training plan was running and nothing else. I let my core fall into a secondary position. And that's when the knees, ankles and shins started acting up and bringing in new pains. When you work on your form and get plenty of cross training your body will be in balance. Focusing on only running will only work those muscles, and the body gets out of balance. Stay in balance, and you will stay healthy and show improvements in every area.

Don't use Tri Power unless you want to stay stable, injury free, and in balance. I'm taking the week after the marathon off (feb 15 - 21), then I'm going to start this program first thing on the 22nd. I really think this is what's been missing from my marathon plan. It's achievable, steady, and beneficial.

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GARDEN

And as if my spring fever wasn't bad enough, I got my garden planned out for this year. last year I had two spaces for veg, and one of them was too acidic to really perform well. I had some beans that grew pretty well there, but this year i'm going to do something else.

I finally got my Ison's order placed. Ison's is a small family owned nursery in southeastern Georgia. they are in zone 8, so anything they can grow and sell will also do very well in the pacific northwest for all of my Portland peeps. This is a hidden jewel that is only known around some parts of the south, and they ship some amazing products. I ordered 3 seedless grape vines, 7 blueberry bushes, and 2 boysenberry bushes. Last year, I got 3 muscadine vines, they should set fruit this year and I can't wait. My grandfather found them years ago, and grew about 20 muscadine vines on his farm. I'm going to put up the grapes next to my trellis of muscadines, and make the underperforming veg patch from last year into a full berry patch. The strawberry plants I put in there last year did ok, but the squirrels ate most of the berries. still, those plants will be back this year and I can cover the whole patch with netting.

I also got my seed order placed for Park's Seeds. They are another local seed and plant shop, in Greenwood about an hour and a half from here. I'm doing an oly tri in Greenwood this year. But Parks is pretty well known around the country. I ordered some corn, plenty of peppers, some peas, and another 25 strawberry plants with growin bags. I'm going to try hanging some strawberries this year too.

So I'm expanding the veg patch that did pretty well last year. I still have to de-weed last years patch, and clear out grass and border up the new space. But the veg list for this year includes:

• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Okra
• Squash
• Zucchini
• Gourds
• Melons
• Pumpkins
• Pole and Bush green beans
• Potatoes
• Peppers (sweet, hot, bell, banana)
• Corn
• Peas

all in a single 60 x 30 ft patch. A lot of those grow like vines, so I'm going to take advantage of that. Use the taller products like tomatoes and corn to shade the veg that burns in the afternoon sun like beans, squash & zuc, and I think I've got a decent plan put together. Now all it takes is the actual work to get the beds ready and limed, get the soil ammended, and start some of the seeds in flats inside.

I'm also going to do plenty of herbs, but I discovered last year that it was too much of a pain to leave something on the stove to go to the backyard and grab fresh herbs. So all of the herbs are going in containers on the deck. They grow really well there, and the squirrels tend to leave herbs alone up there.

I didn't order anything from Seeds of Change this year, but I normally do. They are an all organic, carbon neutral organization, and the tree hugger in me likes supporting that. But I bought such a low volume of seeds this year, that I just went to Park's. I wanted the Silver Queen corn, and SoC didn't have it.

So it's off to work! I seem to be making a lot of work for myself now, with a new strength training program, garden plan, and tons of code to write. and miles to go before i sleep, and miles to go before i sleep. Have a great day!

Howdy partner

We got exactly no snow here in the upstate, even though they were calling for 1 to 3 inches. still, it was enough to make the power go out overnight monday, so we woke up to blinking alarm clocks yesterday. oops. nothing like being late for everything to start the day. I missed my workout too, but I'm ok with that. It's good to be in the taper. Today I've got a staff meeting, bike trainer time, chiropractor appointment (finally) and I got in some yoga early this morning.

I thought wifey was going to kill me this morning. After the power outage monday night, I reset the clocks. To the wrong time, apparently. Didn't notice anything wrong until this morning, when the alarm went off, and I got up half an hour later when the alarm clock said 6:05. I came in, fixed breakfast, fired up sportscenter, and finished my breakfast at 5:20 am. what? when Wifey realized my gaff, she about went nuts. she got up too early for her 3 mile run at the gym? Everyone out there make a note: never take sleep away from a sahm. it's their only peace. I'm lucky to be alive. Since I had the extra time this morning listening to the baby monitors, I decided to do some yoga.

I've got a call to action today. We want to run a particular race called the Mud Run. Here are the details on Active.com for the registration details, and the official race website. It's a four mile race with obstacles. There's a military influence, so the obstacles are things like crawling through mud, scaling walls, lots of rope things to deal with. It looks REALLY cool, and Wifey really really wants to run this race. The problem is, you have to register and run as a team of 4 people, two men and two women. The teams start and finish at the same time, and you have to help each other over the obstacles. We cannot find another couple to race with us. My brother Michael said he would do it, but his wife is battling some plantar fasciatis right now and won't be able to run in time. The race is saturday May 2nd. So if any of you chicks want to run with us and Michael, that's cool. Or we can chick Mike if you and the spouse want to do it too. either way, we want to run this race. BONUS: Phil and Amy from last season's Biggest Loser are already signed up to run this race, and will stick around for autographs and hanging out time afterwards. So comment, email, call or skype me if you are interested.

On a northern note, today it's 17 degrees and sunny here in the upstate. they were calling for more snow. But it's only supposed to get up to 37 today, so keep your fingers crossed for a little precipitation. I love the snow, and we never get any here.

10 days until the marathon! Countdown is on.

If triathlon was easier, they'd call it Football

Did you see those candy-assed overpaid bitches on "the game" last night? I was pulling for the Cardinals. If the steelers opening drive field goal had been counted a touchdown, or Kurt Warner hadn't been picked off on the goal line right before halftime then we might be singing a different song today. So let me describe my super bowl party. I started with some yoga during the pregame show. Then we all went out to dinner and to a local circuit city store that's closing down. We found a new dvd player for the back room. I saw the kickoff from the restaurant. TiVo got first couple of hours anyway, so I wasn't worried. Then we came home and got the kids in the bath. Because it's not a great super bowl party without a couple of naked girls. Then we read bedtime stories and saw 7 minutes of springsteen at halftime. Then I caught up with TiVo, and we got to watch the forth quarter live before going to bed at 10:30. oh yea, that was wild.

Other than that, it was pretty uneventful weekend. Michael and Summer were in town from Charleston for his birthday, so we had dinner with the fam saturday night. Wifey did 12 miles on the treadmill saturday morning, I made it out to Furman for my 12 mile run too late in the day saturday, so I only got about 7 miles in (1:16, 750 calories).

I did find a trail to run on saturday. Coach Katie said the normal asphalt path I run on could be too hard on the knees. So I went off road, and it was pretty fun. There were a lot more hills, twists, and turns than the normal route has. And the loop was about 2.5 miles instead of the normal 1.3 mile loop. It would be a fantastic trail to take the mountain bike out on. Lots of single track MTB type of surfaces. But it was a good run.

Before the run, I went to the local running store and got a double chopat brace. This thing really got the job done. The double brace has velcro stuff for above and below the kneecap. It really kept my right knee stable and pain free. I really need to get in some more smaller runs, and I've got to go back to the store and get one for my left knee too. They were also having a big Mizuno sale, so I picked up another pair of shoes, and some extra gels for the marathon.

WHICH BY THE WAY IS IN TWO WEEKS

Oh my. Marathon prep is in full swing, we're starting to get a feel for the weather patterns and make some final race weekend plans. The condo has been paid for, travel plans are all set, everything else is falling into place. I know we're ready, but now's when the anxiety starts to set in. Relax, enjoy the taper. This is what all of those miles are for.

Sunday was sunny and in the low 60's here. So I had the girls with me outside and in the garden. It felt sooooo good to get dirty again. it's all still bed prep and planning at this point, but just pulling some weeds and clearing some space in the sunshine was a great start. I also got all of the planning done, planning the space and picking what i want to grow this summer. Time to get the seed orders placed.

Oh, I did sign up for that april triathlon with FS Series in Raleigh. It's a small sprint, 750 meter swim, 10.1 mile bike, and 5k run. I think with those distances I should be able to break an hour and a half. And Wifey's dad was thrilled that we would be coming to see him for the weekend. So we can kill a few birds with one stone. I'm really going to try and give this short bike route all I've got, it should be a flat and fast course. My tri last year was just to complete, not compete. This time I want to pay more attention to what i'm doing, not just wondering if I'll survive.

Speaking of surviving, I had a really good swim this morning. I FINALLY knocked out 100m consecutively to get a base time. Not that 2:15 is a fast swim pace, but I have to enter a pace for seeding in the races, and this will give me a guidline. Last year it took several months before I could do more than a few laps in the backyard pool, so I'm really glad to see the swim endurance falling in line. This morning I did a 1/4 mile breaststroke, 1/2 mile backstroke and maybe 44 laps freestyle in about an hour. Swimming is such a good workout, but it really takes a while to get good and be able to go long. What was really cool about today was my stroke count. When I first got in the pool a few weeks ago, I counted 24 strokes average to get one length of the pool. After working on the form and starting to breathe from both sides, I am averaging 19 strokes per lap today. Coach says that's the best indicator of improvement. I remember being overwhelmed by my first 8 mile run, then sweating bullets just thinking about running in double digit miles. Now 8 miles is an easy midweek jog. I know swimming is going to be the same way. And to be able to see some improvement already is really reassuring. And unexpected.

And if that weren't enough, I think I'm starting to get the hang of the clipless pedals. I was going to take the bike on the road sunday when it was so warm, and I ended up doing gardening stuff instead. But this is why triathlon is tough. You always have to be looking forward. Planning the next set of workouts and the next race. It also helps you achieve balance, which is what I lost when I was only running. Just doing the marathon training plan, I stopped lifting weights, stopped biking and stayed out of the pool. Then my knees and shins started hurting. Balance is the key to maintaining overall fitness. But that's another post for another day.