L'Chaim!

The Lost Summer

2011-08-21T22:38:00.000-05:00

The kids start school tomorrow. Where did the summer go?

The summer started out with Zach's bar mitzvah in June. Year's in the making, our boy did us proud. There was so much build up, including almost three weeks away from home traveling to and from Maryland, what followed was sure to be a let down.

We had plans to spend lots of time getting the most out of our passes for Six Flags and Hurricane Harbor, but the Texas heat was just too much. Only a couple of sub 100 degree days since July 1 kept us home in the cool comfort of the air conditioned house. (Anybody wanna swap electric bills?)

I'm disappointed that we didn't do more. Where did the time go?

Summer is supposed to be peak riding season. There should be a direct correlation between warm riding months with lots of miles on the bike and overall general fitness, and weight loss, too. For me, I feel like I've been on a treadmill, though not literally. Back and forth in the 260's for the most part: I've been unable to break below of the 260's since we got to Texas. I have good times, but any emotional change has been met with a break in activity or at least in healthy eating. It's been very frustrating.

There are some positives. Last week, I was traveling with a co worker who has gotten into fitness over the last six months or so. We spent almost as much time talking about biking, running, activity, etc. as we did about work. There is a definite kinship developing in a good way. It was great to have those conversations and it most definitely helped ensure that my running shoes didn't just earn frequent flier miles. They made it to the gym and the parking (for an impromptu boot camp -- from what I could remember from years ago.) Since then, we've emailed about activity since. It's been great to have another level of accountability.

Next Saturday is the Hotter 'N Hell 100 bike ride. It's the culmination of the summer riding season. Yesterday I rode 55 miles of hilly terrain. Deb thought a heat-of-the-day ride would be in order for today, so who am I to argue. I went out for what was supposed to be 25 miles of relatively flat and fast miles. The result was something less. Much less. I knocked off just 21 miles and the pace was slower than yesterday's 55. Despite the fact that I had yesterday's miles in my legs and the temps were pushing 110, I am still pretty bummed about the result. Without a doubt, I'm considering this another kick in the pants that I need.

My plan for Saturday is to ride and, unlike last year, to finish 100 miles.

I've said it before, but it's all about the intake. I know what I need to do. Just got to put those feelings into action. I did it before.

So, that's all for now. Gotta go make sure the 8th and 6th grader's are asleep.

L'Chaim!

A Black Eye

2011-05-18T17:22:00.000-05:00

There you have it in all of it's splendor -- a tough bar fight, if I've ever been in one. You should see the other guy!

Well, not exactly.

Three weeks ago tomorrow, I was six miles into an evening ride with my group from the bike shop and a the concrete jumped up and wrestled me to the ground.

Well, not exactly.

I rode right into an uneven pavement joint. Three back in the group, I never saw it until it was too late. Went down -- hard. Surprisingly, concrete is pretty unforgiving. I was sure my left shoulder or collar bone were broken.

In addition to the six other riders along who stopped, one cardiologist and two nurses also stopped to help. One nurse lived near by, went home to get her triage kit and came back to bandage me up.

The damage: No broke bones! The black eye you see, six inches of torn up elbow, jammed middle finger, a very sore shoulder, some rib pain, and a nasty hematoma on my hip. (Best guess is that the middle knuckle went into my eyebrow, turning it purple.) I knew I'd be okay when I started worrying about my bike ten minutes after the fall. As for the bike: a bent front rim and torn bar tape. All in all, could have been much worse!

As of today, I'm dealing with the shoulder and the hip. Waiting for the MRI results to come in. The hip will just take time.

I spent a week off of the bike, then took it slowly. Back riding now.

Thanks to my old buddy Aaron for reminding me about this old blog. Aaron is another formerly fat guy with an incredible weght loss journey. Check out his blog by clicking his name above.

L'Chaim!

Onward

2011-02-28T18:17:00.001-06:00

I got a lot of good feedback from last week's post. Enough so that I thought I'd do it again.

It's been a good week in many ways. Last week's travels took me back to Florida and my running shoes again came along for the ride. Nothing new, except this time, they actually made it out of my hotel room. I got in two runs on the trip, which is two more than the last few trips before that. Nothing to get too excited about except that I could see immediate improvement. Not quite ready for prime time, but at least I didn't forget how to put one foot in front of the other.

Saturday was the bike ride with the bike shop crew. There would be a 25 mile group and 45 mile group. I wanted long, but since I hadn't broken 30 since late fall, I wasn't sure I could do 45 (besides, last week's 45 came in at 50.) I decided to go with the long group and hang on as long as I could. I felt very good at 20 and 25 miles. Though I wasn't leading the pack, I was in the pack. Unlike other rides where I died off between 20 and 25, I held strong to 30, when the pack went up a short climb and left me in the dust. I worked my way back to the shop and finished at 40. Feeling stronger every ride.

With travels this week, I knew my number one challenge would be eating. On Tuesday, I started to track my food and activity with Livestrong's My Plate. I know that tracking food can provide huge benefits, but I've often avoided it for the exact reason that I should have done it: I'll know what I don't want to know.

The tracker recommends for me to eat about 1800 calories per day to generate a two pound per week loss. Add to that any calories generated from exercise -- for example, 3 miles at 5 mph burns almost 700 calories. The total calorie budget for the day is then about 2500 calories.

After plenty of exercise and healthy eating this past week, I find myself lighter by about 8 pounds. That doesn't even include the mental plusses. Getting back on track for a week isn't a long time, but it's been a long time in coming. As I sit here gnawing through a grapefruit, I look forward to staying back on track.

L'Chaim!

A Thousand Words

2011-02-21T17:25:00.001-06:00

No point in apologizing for almost three months without a post. It is what it is.

The last few months have followed a cycle: activity, eat well, inactivity, eat poorly, repeat. There have been at least five failed attempts to get back on track since January, even with more than 600 combined miles of biking and power cycling. Today, things are back in the good, hopefully for more than until tomorrow.

Yesterday, I participated in my first true multi-sport event, the Texas Motor Speedway Duathlon. (A duathlon is similar to a triathlon, just without the water. It's a run/bike/run event.) I was psyched to get back into an event after quite a hiatus. I had been doing lots of biking, including an intensive power cycling class and I could begin to see the results. On the running front, not so much.

A group of friends from the local bike shop all signed up for the event. I knew the run would be an issue since I had done so very little actual running, but what's a couple of miles, twice.

A fine looking crew: (l to r) Robert, Amy, Dave, Debbie, me and Josh

I finished the first run in a reasonable time, 21 minutes and change. Did some walking along the way, but not too much.

On to the bike. I had ridden the course twice over the past week, both times with stiff 20 mph winds on the course. The winds work great on one part of the course, but not so great on another. Yesterday was the same. Overall, I was pleased relative to my training rides, about a mile per hour faster. Then off the bike.

Run number two was tough. In fact, my calf's were screaming and I was relegated to walking the first half mile until I loosened up. Then run-walk the rest of the way. (Well, in all honesty, it was more walk-run than run-walk.)

It's really nice that the multi-sport guru's have a category for fat folks -- for men it's Clydesdale's, women are Athena's. Gives us a shot at some bling (I guess, maybe some day I'll find out.) I finished 8th out of 14 Clyde's over 40 years old. Not bad for a first effort. Looking at the results, there is plenty of room for improvement on both the run and the bike.

Then there are the pictures.

One look at these and I'm instantly reminded of how far I've gone. . . the wrong way. Have to wonder how that 15 pounds of carbon on rubber holds me upright. Not a pretty sight, but it's the reality check that I need. I'm certain now that the bike shop folks are friends, allowing me to grace their jersey in all of my blubbery splendor. (Notice how I conveniently hid my lower 80% behind the studs and studettes in the group picture above?) (Photo credits to Tori -- thanks for the reality check!)

Alas, I'm back to where I've been since I moved to Texas, needing to get back from where I came, size wise, at least. These pictures came with a wagon and I'm officially on it.

Debbie found another du just six weeks hence and I'm in. It's longer -- 5k/19m/5k -- and I plan to run the runs and do them 15 pounds lighter than I am today. I'll still be a Clyde, but a slightly smaller version.

L'Chaim!

I'm Number 32!

2010-11-30T00:35:00.001-06:00

40 Inspiring Websites To Motiviate You to Get Healthy

Road to Nowhere

2010-11-29T12:00:00.001-06:00

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. My folks were in town and we had a great dinner with them and my aunts, uncles and cousins.

On with the show. . .

After a really good week a few weeks ago, here I am again in the rut. I've been hanging in the low 270's but can't seem to get out from there. 271 one day, 274 another. Lot's of riding, running even, too. Last week was a watershed week for me for this time of year. Six days of activity, more than 100 miles on the bike, a 5k with the kids and a day in the gym and I'm on a road to going nowhere fast. If the glass were half empty, I suppose I'd be thankful for holding my own through Thanksgiving. I won't be making my November goal, but December is just around the corner.

On Saturday, I showed up for the weekly Knobbies and Slicks ride. When I got there, one of the regulars came up to me and said "Hey, Jerry, I've got some shirts for you." Well, whomever Jerry is, I'll let him know. Turns out Doug (who's real name is Dave) used to be a big guy. At least as big as I am now. Doug was kind enough to pass on his old 2xl and 3xl bike jerseys to me. And, if you know me (which is to love me), you'd know that I was most happy to oblige.

I got to talking to Doug about how he lost his weight . . . down to under 200 now. He did it though Weight Watchers. I've known plenty of folks that have had great success counting points with WW. Might be time to give it a try. Thanks, Doug!

Be back around, soon, y'all!

L'Chaim!

Half Dozen and Why I Hate Bacon

2010-11-09T17:26:00.000-06:00

A week back on the wagon and I've lost six pounds to 274. Not too bad. Still, I know there's much more to be done. Even though I've run and biked and ~~spun~~ (is that right? spinned? no.) gone to spin class. Need to get back on the weights.
I just saw a note from some buddies in Wisconsin. They're setting up a weight loss contest for tomorrow through March 1. Not sure of the details, but more likely than not, I'll be in. Will keep you posted.

On an entirely different subject. . . I work with a guy that eats everything. He's 50 years old, tall and lanky and just eats. We go to lunch and he eats worse than the fat guy that I was. One day he orders an appetizer of bacon wrapped tenderloins. I ate one tenderloin, without the bacon. He ate 11 bacon wrapped pieces and my piece of bacon. Then he ate a burger and fries. We go to a Mexican place and he finishes with a sopapia desert -- extra caramel sauce, extra whipped cream. Told me today he weighs less than he did in high school. (I do too, but I work at it a helluva lot more than he does.) I accept the fact that our bodies are different, yada, yada, yada, but I don't have to like it!

Thank you all for the positive vibes. It's good to be back in bloggerville.

L'Chaim!

Clicking

2010-11-08T17:44:00.039-06:00

It's nice when things start to click. I'd have to say this has been one of my best weeks, diet and exercise wise, in a very long time. It feels good, to feel good.

I woke up on Saturday morning planning to head to Knobbies and Slicks for the group ride. The first thing that I encountered was the weather. Now, before I get too far along, I must remind and disclose to all what I wimp I am when it gets cold outside. Let's make that WIMP! I had set my biking tolerance to about 43 degrees and even that was pushing it. My Maryland biking buddies knew that there was a much better chance seeing me at the spin studio rather than on the roads between November and Mid-March. I digress. . . back to Saturday. As you might have guessed, I'm gonna tell you about the nip in the air. According to the Weather Channel, it was just 36 degrees before 8 am. WHAT? I thought this was Texas! I wasn't ready for THAT cold. I put on every layer I had, including the new thermal bibs and, teeth chattering and all, headed out the door.

It felt great to be out there, temps and all. I hung with a faster group for the first 25 miles or so and truly enjoyed the ride. By the time we got back to the shop, I had 35 miles on the Garmin at a 16.5 average. (Going back over my Garmin history, this was my fastest average EVER!)

The change in eating has definitly had a positive impact on my overall mood. Feeling less lethargic and a bit more energetic.

Looking forward to reinforcement of the week's activities via the scale tomorrow. Until then. . .

L'Chaim!

Turning Lemons into . . . Carbon!

2010-11-04T07:26:00.005-05:00

How do you make this:

look like this:

Well, it's not EXACTLY magic. You see, the picture up top is of the left rear quarter panel of my car. One night, not so long ago, Deb and the car met it's match with the wrought iron gate at my house. The gate won.

I took the car to be looked at and was shocked a what my little dent would cost to fix. So much for avoiding the insurance company.

Fast forward and backward to my bike. I've been talking about upgrading from my entry level Trek for about a year and a half, maybe longer. Every time I get close to making a move, something comes up and I won't spend the cash. Recently I've been hanging out at my new favorite local bike shop (LBS), Knobbies and Slicks. They've tuned up both of the kids bikes as well as my Trek. I've gone out on a couple of rides that they've sponsored as well. I happened to mention to the owner, Bud, that I'd been thinking about a new bike. Well, that was all I had to say. Before I knew it, Bud had me on a few sweet machines and I fell in love with a particular set of wheels from Rocky Mountain.

Anyone that has been in my car knows that I treat it. . . well, like crap. It's transportation. It gets me to work, the kids to school and it's safe. I remind my coworkers that I've got Maryland dust on it since it's not been washed despite four months of Texas. (I once took my car for a wash and the guy told me I needed to bring it in more than once a year.)

This is where the "little ding" and carbon fiber collide. It just seemed logical to ignore the ding and buy the bike. So that I did! Thanks, Deb, for the bike (sorta.) And thank you, too, Liberty Mutual!

Day 2: Another good day of eating. A visit to 24 Hour Fitness with a guest pass and a great hour spin. Best two consecutive days I've had of eating and exercising in quite a while.

L'Chaim!

Day 1: A Run in the Rain

2010-11-03T12:15:00.014-05:00

Maybe my little pity party was what I needed to kick myself in the butt. Driving home in the rain, I remembered how much I enjoy running in the weather. I walked in the door, put my shoes on and headed out. I wasn't gone long, but it felt good to get out there. This was a big step in my return to sanity. Just about 2 1/2 miles, but it's a start.

I ate well yesterday. No crazy candy consumption. Nothing fried. Lot's of green food and some fruit. It was a good Day 1.

I wonder if there's some kind of four year itch after the big loss. I heard from my buddies Mike in Wisconsin and Dan in New Jersey. We had found each other through our blogs years ago. We're all going through similar weight pains, having bottomed out at around the same weight and we're all struggling in the mid/upper 200's now.

We did it before, we'll do it again. We can and we will.

Thank you for all of your support.

L'Chaim!

Finding The Path

2010-11-02T11:23:00.004-05:00

November. Incredible how time flies. We've been Texans for more than a third of a year. Before long, my folks come out for Thanksgiving and we head back to B-more at the end of the year.

This past weekend was the Marine Corps Marathon. As I watched my buddies post their excitement and results, I couldn't help but to feel a sense of loss for not being able to be there in person to cheer them on in person. Other than missing celebrating the Jewish holidays with my family, this was one of the toughest "misses" so far. Congrats to all of my Team In Training friends that finished on Sunday.

It's been a time of reflection, too. Thinking back on my personal accomplishments as they relate to this blog, I can't help but to feel disappointment in myself. Just one year ago, October, 2009, I completed the Seagull Century bike ride and the Marine Corps Marathon. Truly a watershed month from where I had come. Since then, it's been mostly a dearth of activity. A DNF at the Hotter than Hell 100 in August, my longest ride of the year since. As for running . . . well, that's been almost non-existent. Last week I struggled to run/walk 2.15 miles in 30 minutes. How far I have fallen.

The understatement of the year is that I'm struggling with food. Many of the old habits that I haven't seen in four plus years are back. I know what needs to be done and I'm ignoring the little guy in my head that says to do it. I handled Halloween poorly and need a plan. It's not that I don't have plans. I've planned over and over. Sometimes that plans go all the way through lunch. But what the hell is it going to take to get my back to my old (good) eating ways.

Last October, I recall struggling with my weight in the 230's. When we got to Texas this summer, I was struggling with my weight in the 260's. This morning I breached 280. Struggling? Yes.

I can tell you about all of the plans that I've had, but if I don't put them into action, they're worthless. I plan to go to the gym. I plan to go for a run (or run/walk). I plan to ride my bike. I plan to eat better and I start the day right, but then . . . I slide down a slippery slope.

I look at pictures from a couple of years ago and struggle to find my current face in the frame on the wall. No need to remind me that I was once the guy in the volcano picture on my blog at 400+. I feel like this part of my life began sometime after July, 2006.

I'd like to share my goals, but for now, they seem so hollow. 260 by the end of November. 250 by the time we get to Baltimore. 220 by next June -- Zach's Bar Mitzvah.

I know where I want to go. Just need to find the path again to get there.

L'Chaim!

Not So Hotter 'N Hell

2010-09-24T15:27:00.001-05:00

It's been almost a month since I did this ride and started writing my post. Pardon the delay. . .

Friday night, about four weeks ago, I headed up to Wichita Falls for Saturday's Hotter 'n Hell Hundred. It's about a hundred miles from home, almost all of it on one highway. There's nothing better to get the juices flowing than seeing half of the cars on the road with bikes on the back, on the roof, in the truck bed, etc.

First stop was the expo to register. I must say, this was about as efficient a process as there could be. Five minutes, in and out. Walked around the expo for about an hour drooling over all the bike stuff, then off to the hotel.

The hotel was just about 2 miles from the start. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a single non-HHH rider in the place. I brought my bike up to the room, got it ready for the morning and off to bed.

Up early Saturday, well before the alarm, time to get ready. This was a quick process, with all of my gear ready to go. I went down to the lobby, bike in tow, to find a sea of spandex getting ready to ride. The hotel was truly a haven for the riders -- free full breakfast, open at 5 am. Way to go, Holiday Inn at the Falls!

Off to the starting line. Walking outside, it's seems to be a fantastic start to the day with temps in the upper 60's. Actually a chill in the air.

Unlike other organized rides I've done that have a "show and go" start window, the HHH has a 7 am start, just about sunrise. First off are the professionals. Then, the sea of 13,000 cyclists are grouped first by how fast they expect to be for the full century, then in groups for the shorter rides.

It's one thing to be in a mass start for a running event. You just wait until the people in front of you start to walk, then run. On the bike is another. There's that whole clipping into the pedal thing. Doesn't work so well at low speed, especially when you've got four blocks to the start line and carbon fiber and more spandex every inch in between.

After 15 minutes or so, I was off and riding. Once the riders started to break up, I was cruising. There weren't as many pace lines as I had expected. Skipping the first rest stop at mile 10, I pulled into the second after just over an hour -- flying at 19.5 mph. Couldn't help but to think how great the day would be if the pace was anywhere close to that.

A quick stop and back on the bike. By mile 30, my pace had dropped, but just slightly. The course went through the quaint little town of Electra, TX. The population couldn't have been more than a hundred -- all of the out to assist at the rest stop, replete with American flags anywhere that they could put one.

To this point, the course headed west. Now, turning north to just south of the Oklahoma state line, then east. Seems that the great ride so far was turning -- into the wind. As soon as the course turned, it was clear that the pace would suffer. All I could think was how much the next 40 miles into the wind would suck. If only that were to be the worst of my problems.

I felt good, but the ride was now a challenge. There was not much in the way of climbing, but rollers into the wind was not fun, especially without a paceline in sight.

By mile 42, I started to feel some cramping in my thighs. By 45 it was excruciating. I stopped, got off my bike and stretched. By 47, more of the same. Just three miles to the next stop. The next three miles were actually five miles and I know I spent a half hour doing that distance, stopping a couple more times.

As soon as I hit the Margaritaville themed rest stop (sans margaritas), I headed straight for the medical tent. I queued up for the physical therapist who helped to stretch me out. She also offered some pickle juice. Apparently pickle juice helps with cramping. (It is exactly what it sounds like -- YUCK!) Feeling better, but still not 100%, I walked the stop, grabbed some lunch -- grilled sausage, mmmm! -- and considered my options.

Hell's Gate is the point at which, if you don't pass through by 12:30, you don't do 100 miles. The ride diverts to an 80+ mile ride. At 11:15, with plenty of time to get to Hell's Gate, I realized that my day was likely over soon. I could make Hell's Gate in time, but the day was getting hotter and there was no guarantee that I wouldn't be confronted with more cramping.

I got back on my bike and headed for Hell's Gate. It was a slow ride, but I made it with about 20 minutes to spare. At that point, I knew my day was done.

During my earlier long rides of 50+, I had experienced some cramping. I am diligent about my banana a day for potassium, but the cramping keeps coming.

At the Hell's Gate rest stop, at about 12:20, the call went out for the SAG ride back to the finish line. I hopped in the back of the trailer with about 20 other beat cyclists for the 20 mile ride.

At the end of the day, I rode about 63 miles, my longest ride of the year to date. Without the cramping, I know that I would have finished the ride. I don't feel bad about the result, in fact, I feel pretty good about it, given that I had ridden very little much before six weeks leading up to the event.

As for the cramping, I think I've narrowed the cause down to a lack of magnesium. The cure is to take Rolaids before and during long rides. I haven't ridden long since the HHH, but I'll give it a try next time out.

I do have some pictures. Just haven't downloaded them. I'll post separately.

All for now. . .

L'Chaim!

Hot Hot Hot

2010-08-26T20:44:00.004-05:00

Since we arrived in Texas, it's been hot. Very hot. Just a few days this month haven't hit 100. Monday was 107. That hasn't really slowed us down, though, other than trying to avoid being outside in the middle of the day.

The kids started school on Monday. (Hallelujah!) (No, make that HALLELUJAH!) Zach started 7th grade in Middle School (which is 7-8) and Matt started 5th grade in Intermediate School (5-6). Deb jumped right in to VP of the Intermediate School PTA. (Shocking, I know.)

Work for me has been good. Since we've been here, I've only been away three nights. This is good.

I'm still riding a lot. Pretty consistently three days a week. Mostly early in the morning and long on Sunday's. One Saturday a few weeks ago, I wanted to feel the heat and did 16 miles at 2pm. What a schvitz!

I've been off and on about Hotter 'N Hell 100. Just about every day. Deb has been pushing me to do it. The biggest issue is that there were no hotel rooms available and it's a 2 hr drive. The thought of leaving home at 4am and then spending 6+ hours on my bike, then driving home was not appealing. As of this morning I was off. Just for the heck of it, I checked for hotels one last time and, much to my delight, there were rooms at the Holiday Inn, just a couple of miles from the start. The forecast is for a cooler hot -- high of 93. (Maybe just a Hotter 'N Heck?) So I'm in. I'm going up myself and I'll ride alone (other than the 30,000 other cyclists), but I know I'd regret it if I didn't give it a shot.

So that's the update. Next update after the Hotter 'N Hell.

L'Chaim!

Don't Mess With Texas

2010-07-29T17:35:00.003-05:00

I've written at least a dozen posts since my last one two months ago. Unfortunately, they've all been in my head.

So much has happened since then.

We're Texans now. I guess that's what you'd call us. We did the big move the first week of July and we were in our house on 7/7. Housewise, it was a rough start. We had to replace an air conditioning unit, our water was shut off by the town, our dishwasher was broken. . . then it wasn't. Shortly after that, our 10 year old mini-van died, so we replaced that. Somehow I was thinking that the cost of living would be cheaper out here, but not so far.

We've partaken in quite a bit of the local cuisine. Barbecue, Mexican and Italian have led the way. Not exactly cuisines known for helping dieters . . . diet! But we've all enjoyed it.

With all of the activity related to the move, there wasn't much activity of any other kind. Not that I didn't THINK about exercise (as I was stuffing my face), but it just didn't get done. Looking back on June, easily my least active month if four years -- one bike ride, no runs. Sad.

Inactivity continued through our drive west. My running shoes made the car trip. They just didn't see any pavement.

I was starting to feel that out-of-control old me. Eating whatever and whenever I wanted. No attention to feelings of actual hunger. Mostly drinking diet sodas and coffee, not much plain water. My waist line was clearly expanding. I could no longer shove my belly into the old 36's and 38's that I had been wearing for the past few years. I made a sad trek to Kohl's to buy some Dockers so that I'd have clothes for a business trip. Size 40. Then, a couple of pair of jeans at Costco -- 42's. (No pride here. . . Deb and I joked that I'd need to be sure to wear a belt, lest the Costco label be evident to all. What the hell, they were twelve bucks a pair, and a temporary solution, I swear!)

One of the things that excited me about this part of the country was the opportunity for year-round cycling. As I drove around town during the first week, I'd see cyclists riding and schvitzing in the mid-day heat. I started to crave a ride. And what could be bad about a state with a kick ass vanity plate like this one -- now on my car!

One of my new co-workers, a guy that I had known from my old company who knew me only as Fat Jeff before my first visit to the new company, is a cyclist. We had talked about riding together. I really needed to ride. Finally, on July 11, we hooked up for a ride. Ahhhh.

For our first ride, we did a loop around DFW airport. For 15 miles, I kicked Brian's butt. Then the heat hit. (Or maybe I went out too fast.) (Or maybe it was the extra layer of blubber I was carrying) . I wasn't sure I'd make it back to his house. Alas, the last seven miles were ssslllloooowwww, but we made it.

Since then, I've been riding. A lot. A couple times a week in the early morning. (I knew those lights I bought a couple years ago would come in handy some day.) Long on Sundays with Brian. Even the scale is moving in the right direction. When I'm not riding, I'm thinking about riding. When I'm driving, I'm thinking about whether the road would make for good cycling. When I ride in the morning and see someone riding in the afternoon, I'm jealous.

A few years ago, I came across an ad for a ride called the Hotter 'N Hell 100. It held at the end of August in Witchita Falls, TX. As the move became evident, the ride crept up on my radar. A few weeks ago, I had totally written off the event for this year. Deb continued in her roll as biggest supporter and kicker of my ass, saying I was nuts to write it off, there was plenty of time. After the past week, not so fast. Hoping that Brian will go too. Would still like to drop at least 20 pounds before then, but things are going in the right direction.

So, that's it for now. More reflections on Texas to come. Soon, I promise!

L'Chaim! Y'All!

I'm Alive

2010-05-29T06:42:00.003-05:00

So much has happened in the last two months. Where to begin?

The big news is the move. We're moving. Not just any old move across town, a big move, halfway across the country. In another month, we're heading to Keller, Texas, just north of Fort Worth. It's a job related move and I'd say we're all nervously excited about it. It's big for us and we'll be sad to go, but we're ready to take it on.

We've got plenty of room at the new place. Just let us know when you'll be in town for a visit!

While all of this is going on, I've been working in Florida. You might have heard something about this little oil thing in the Gulf of Mexico. Well my company helps to clean up the mess. It's a seven day a week all hands on deck thing, so Deb is left with house duties while I'm on the Florida panhandle.

I'm really missing the family right now. They're off at Ocean City, MD while I'm in Panama City, FL. Wish they were here. Wish I was there.

In the mean time, I'll admit to doing a pretty poor job of taking care of my body. Working 14-16 hour days doesn't leave a lot of time to take care of yourself. Not to mention the endless quick meals -- fast food, subs, etc. I did just join a gym near where I'm staying. Hoping to get into a routine to hit their 5 am classes before heading in to work. Gotta do something. Feeling FAT!

Sadly, I'm conceding the goals that I set for the year. Won't hit the weight goal. . . or the running goal. . . or the biking goal . . . or the blogging goal. Running would certainly be easiest, since no equipment is required. I just can't get moving. When I think back to my training last summer, I can't even imaging running ten miles right now. I've got work to do. I've fallen and I need to get up.

So, that's the down and dirty. Lots going on. Lot's to do. Next report, I expect, will be from Texas (Y'all!)

L'Chaim!

Peer Pressure

2010-04-03T13:17:00.003-05:00

Thanks to all my friends for your support and encouragement from the last post. It has truly fueled my return to something more normal (and lookie here, two posts in a week!)

It's been a good week back on the exercise wagon. A workout every day including a nice bike ride yesterday for 23 miles in what might have been absolutely perfect weather.

Last night, I was chatting online with my buddy Dave and he suggested that I join him today for a FREE 10 Miler, including a free t-shirt! Now, free always gets my attention, especially with the lure of a t-shirt.

Only issue was that little 10 miles part of it. I've always been up for a challenge, but man, I'm totally untrained. I've run only 11 miles in all of March and just 22 in all of February. Not exactly "In Training".

Dave was there when I was in a panic before my first 10 miler three years ago. (See my very first blog post to read about that.) He got me through that one, so, of course, I said yes. A reluctant yes, but the peer pressure worked.

I arrived at the shoe store that was sponsoring the event and I ran into my old Team In Training coach, Mohan. Was this a mirage? Mohan and I had always been pretty close in speed. The guy just enjoys the events with no expectations. I knew I wouldn't be alone. (Especially looking around at all the "hard core" runner types that had just finished six or eight miles BEFORE the ten to get in their long runs. Okay, not so long ago, that was me, but I'm just sayin'.)

After the instructions, we just started down the road. Quickly Mohan and his friend and I settled into an 11 minute pace. It was comfortable, but for how long, I didn't know. We ran through parts of Columbia that I've not been through before, so that was cool. By four miles, there was some walking, but mostly running. By six miles, I knew my endurance was about gone. I struggled to seven, but then walked much of the last three miles. Mohan stuck with me the whole way and, as always, I was appreciative of his sacrifice. We finished.

It was good to finish, though there were few options. No SAG support to pick anyone up. I felt good about finishing, but it certainly reminded me of how far I've got to go to get back. But I'm on track and I look forward to sharing more successes.

What's next? I just signed up for the Pikes Peek 10k. This is my favorite race and it will be my third time running it. Just three weeks from tomorrow.

L'Chaim!

Just More of Me

2010-03-28T19:42:00.004-05:00

So much for my plan to blog more often. It's not that I haven't thought about it. I've started posts at least half a dozen times. I've got them right here in the blogger to prove it. I've started even more in my head.

The past few months have been crazy. Travel nearly every week. One or two good weeks of exercise on the road, but most trips just one shot at the gym or on the road. It's been tough.

Eating has been tougher. I've tried, but not enough. I get on a plan for short bursts, but then I'm off again. A great weekend of working out turns bad on Monday's travel.

I feel like I've gone back to that fat guy that I'd left behind. My clothes don't fit and I've even been forced to buy new pants and shirts. Size 40 and XXL. (Though I insist on wearing my 36 jeans way-too-tight.) Thankfully, I'm teetering in the mid-250's, sometimes almost 260, and not the 300's or, god forbid, the 400's.

The big boss at my company is impressed with my loss and is generous in sharing my accomplishments with others. I wish I didn't feel guilt that "almost 200" is now "well, about 150" pounds lost.

I've lost such fitness, I can hardly believe it. Running a mile without stopping is difficult. I read my friends facebook posts about 10 mile runs and I cower to think how far that is. Then I recall that just five months ago I completed a marathon!

This was to be the year of the bike. My neighbor and I had talked about doing a 100-mile ride on May 1. Last weekend, I though 22 miles was going to kill me.

I go to boot camp where I could not so long ago push out a couple hundred push ups in the hour, not to mention whatever else Kenny had to offer. Now, I'm reduced to my knees after a dozen or two.

I'm lost. I need to find that mojo that I kept for three years. I need more than one day in a row of good eating and exercise.

It's me. I'm not looking for compassion. I'm not looking for a kick in the ass. I know what I need to do. I just need to do it.

L'Chaim!

Too Cold?

2010-01-17T14:34:00.007-06:00

As soon as I planned my travel for this week that included a weekend layover in the Dallas area, I went in search of a run. I've struggled to get any decent runs in. Just one over 4 miles since Marine Corps, and that was just over 5 miles.

Today's event, Too Cold to Hold , had a 5k or a 15k option. In my mind, I kept going back and forth as to whether I would do either and, if I did run, then which event. I knew from history that anything short of getting out there for the 15k would leave me disappointed in myself. I had packed for a chilly day.

Yesterday, I made schlep #1 to register and pick up my packet at the Run On! shoe store. This was the first event that I've ever done with a Clydesdale category. That's for men over 200 pounds. I signed up for the 15k. When checking out, the clerk says: "Are you from Baltimore?" Wow, I said, how did you know? Uhh, the Raven's jersey you're wearing. Duhhh! She's from Havre de Grace, MD, and, she told me when I saw her before the run, she's the cousin of a very famous Marylander also born in HdG . . . Guesses anyone? How about Cal Ripken, Jr! Pretty cool.

Anyway, this morning I stopped for a Starbucks and headed out for schlep #2 -- 45 miles to the starting line, hit the port-o-potty and got ready to go. Temps were in the mid-40's. I opted for running tights, a short sleeve shirt and hat. The course was an out and back half way around a big lake, with one small hill, but otherwise flat.

My goal was to run an 11 mile pace, ideally breaking 100 minutes for the 9.33 miles.

There were about 1200 runners starting out -- 700 for the 15k, the balance for the 5k. As the race began, I found myself with an 11 minute pace group led by the running store. Pure luck, no doubt. I was able to keep up with the group, getting past them at one point. It felt good to be out there and I never questioned my decision to go long.

Other than walking the four water stops and two bathroom breaks, that cost me about 4-5 minutes total, I felt great. I chatted with a number of folks along the way and was very glad that I ran it.

My time was 1:43:07, just over an 11 minute pace. I couldn't be happier with it, given the bathroom necessities.

Of course, the schwag wasn't too bad either. A nice long sleeve t-shirt and a wool cap. Love the cap!

Time to start planning the next one!

L'Chaim!

Out the Window

2010-01-15T05:02:00.003-06:00

No other way to put it. Just throwing all of my goals for 2010 out the window. No other choice really. And its a good thing.

Why is that? Well, my "involuntary semi-retirement" is over. (Yeay!)

I started a new job as Director of Special Projects for a company in my old industry, based in North Florida. (No, no relocation planned.) I couldn't be more excited.

It's not that I didn't accomplish anything during my hiatus. I watched the complete The West Wing tv series on cable. There was also the Daniel Silver thriller series featuring Israeli Secret Service killer Gabriel Allon. (Outstanding reading, by the way. Check out The Kill Artist first.) I'm very proud.

There was also the daily morning coffee that I shared with my Mrs. I'll most certainly miss that the most.

The new position will require a lot of travel. Though travel can be diet and exercise destructive, I'm determined not to let it be so. I found a 24 Hour Fitness near my hotel in Fort Worth, TX Wednesday night and had a great spin class and run. Gotta keep that up.

It's time to move on and put 2009 behind me and have a great 2010 and beyond.

L'Chaim!

Back on the Wagon

2010-01-05T05:16:00.001-06:00

It's been a very good week back on the wagon. Actually, It's been a great week and a fantastic start to the year.

Since last Monday's crash, I've been going non-stop, hitting the gym every day since Tuesday. I've finally gotten my running back going with 11 miles last week in addition to 33 spin miles and 3 Body Pump classes.

My diet has gone back the right way as well. While I'm not full blown South Beaching, I am using that as my base with added fruits like bananas and oranges. Other than that and a Clif Bar before workouts, it's all going well. I've dropped 12 of the refound pounds, now weighing in at 252.

So far, I've run every day in 2010, at least two miles. I've never done any "run every day" kind of self-challenge, but I think it's time. For the month of January, my goal is to run at least two miles a day. It would be a great start to the year.

Now, I've bowed to my many fans for more posts. Hope to have many more to come.

L'Chaim!

2010: The Year of the Bike

2010-01-04T20:39:00.000-06:00

2010 will be the best year ever. To start with, most of the fun will be on two wheels.

I had a great summer of biking last year and on numerous occasions, running got in the way. Not to say I won't run this year, but I really am focused on bike fitness.

My calendar isn't complete, but in the early part of the year, the only event will be the Tri-to-Help indoor tri in early March. This was the same event that I did last year.

I'm looking at a number of biking events of metric century (62 miles) and century distance. A few are on my calendar to the left.

As for running, no marathons planned for the year. The training is just too intense. I'm focusing on distances from 10k to half marathons.

So, here are the targets for 2009:

Running: 800 miles
Cycling: 2,000 miles
Spinning: 1,000 miles

These numbers will be tough to hit, especially depending on how the job situation works out, but I'm game to give it a try!

What's missing? Oh, my weight. Well, I've got to give that elusive 199 another shot. Yes it's a long way, but that too can be done!

Onward. . .

L'Chaim!

It Was The Best of Times, It Was The Worst of Times

2010-01-02T07:17:00.002-06:00

It's hard to categorize 2009 as a good year or bad year. There was plenty of good, but much of it is overshadowed by bad.

The year started out with grand plans. I was finally going to hit that weight goal and was finally going to crack the 1,000 mile barrier for both running and cycling. With four half marathons and a full on the schedule, I'd need my feet to stay healthy, but I figured that the mileage goals would be hard to miss with those big runs planned.

Unfortunately, early in January, my professional life came to a halt as I was laid off from my job after 19 years. With a decent severance package, I didn't worry too much early on. There was plenty of time to get working. As the days became weeks and weeks became months, it's suddenly 2010 and I'm still not employed. This cast a pall over the last half of the year as I struggled to keep positive.

The layoff was great for cycling. In June, I rode more than 300 miles, much of it with my neighbor, also laid off. Good news for him that his layoff was short. By the end of the year, I had eclipsed 1,100 miles, beating 2008 by 200 miles including a return to the Seagull Century and a new ride at the Covered Bridges ride, both of which I look forward to annual rituals.

As for running, there was tremendous progress here as well. I completed four half marathons between March and May and trained for the Marine Corps Marathon in October. Over the course of the year, my times continued to improve. Though my weight was stagnant for most of the year, I credit my new found speed to weight workouts and the morning boot camp.

When the marathon training heated up with more and more miles, I dropped my strength program. There is no question in my mind that this had a negative effect on the marathon as I slowed considerably and a toe issue as well as illness the week leading into the marathon really impacted my endurance. Though I did finish, I feel like there is unfinished business there.

After the marathon, my running essentially stopped. With 860 miles run, I beat 2008 by 300 miles, but still fell short of my elusive goal, which was well within reach at the end of October.

The scale was my nemesis as I stagnated around 230 for most of the year. Given the volume of training through the summer, to stay even was a true disappointment, and I knew that if I stopped training or even slowed my routine, I'd need a big change in my diet. Ultimately, I proved myself right on the money here (see my last post!)

So that is the year in review. Stay tuned for 2010 goals . . .

L'Chaim!

Finding the Jeans Stretcher

2009-12-30T19:27:00.003-06:00

Years ago, when I worked in a book bindery, every new floor guy (aka "janitor") would be asked by one of the old timers to find them the paper stretcher. Now, common sense says that there is no such thing, but every single guy would go from person to person asking where the paper stretcher was. One old timer would send them to another: "Go ask Jimmy, I think he had it last." Jimmy would send him to Paul and so on. After a good half hour of this jocularity, they'd clue the guy in and the whole shop would be roaring.

So, I'm presently in search of a jeans stretcher. I'm sure there must be such a thing as my 36's are just about DOA and my 38's do a fine job of relocating my belly rolls. There must be such a device out there, right?

Mrs. FFRG suggested that I write this post just to get it all out of my system, but not put it out there for all to see. I just don't feel right about that. I've spent the last 2 1/2 years talking mostly about the good stuff. It wouldn't be right to ignore the bad. So, here goes. . .

No other way to put it, but I've continued my out of control spiral up the dial on the scale. I topped out Tuesday at 264. Actually, 264.6. Of course, this is no surprise as I've been cursing the donations I've made over the past years to Goodwill of my size 40 pants and just about every XXL shirt I own.

In the glass half full department, one might say kudos to me for keeping off 150 pounds. Exactly 150 pounds. Well, I'd feel pretty good about that if I was still on the way down. It's been more than a year since I bottomed out at 218. What's hard to believe is that I was in the low 230's for the Marine Corps Marathon. Just two months ago! 30 pounds in two months. There must be a tapeworm or something, right?

Actually, not. Sadly, it's 100% explainable in a "hand-to-mouth" sorta way. There have been M&M's, Raisinettes, Chex Mix (cheddar or dark chocolate flavor, please), ice cream (low fat, of course!), cookies, more cookies, still more cookies.

The bad habits of the past returned with a vengeance.

Sure I could explain it all away. No problem justifying my first real fall off the wagon in 40 months. The bottom line is I've been pigging out.

Monday was a low point. On Sunday, I had bought a bag of after-Christmas discounted Nestle Crunch bars and some other no-name chocolate. When I got in the car to head off to boot camp at 5:20 am, my hand went right for the chocolates. By the time I got near the gym, I knew that I'd see all of that chocolate on the way back up if I worked out. So I stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts, got a big coffee and sat in the parking lot eating chocolate and drinking my coffee.

These are the actions of that old fat guy that I was, not the finely tuned athlete that had finished a marathon and a 100-mile bike ride just two months before.

After my biggest fall, I came home and confessed my sins. (Isn't that the first step in those 12-step programs?) This was a big step and I knew Deb would help me get back on track.

I felt then like I was that 414 pound guy again. Even looking at myself in the mirror, I could see the changes for the worse. Suddenly, I was feeling embarrassed to be in the gym. I struggled to find acceptable attire, since form fitting clothes were not designed with blubber in mind.

Since Monday, I have felt a rebirth. It's only been a couple of days, but I feel the commitment. I've been in the gym and have been eating very well, heavy on the fruits, veggies and lean proteins. I know I can get myself back and beyond. 2010 WILL be the year to hit my goal!

In the mean time, if anyone has seen the jeans stretcher, would you pass it my way?

L'Chaim!

Bulking Up

2009-11-23T20:13:00.003-06:00

Has it really been a month since Marine Corps? Time flies.

So, what have I been up to ? Mostly bulking up. Unfortunately, I'm not talking about pumping iron. More like pumping m & m's.

It took me a full month to kill off the crud that I had. Up until a week ago, I was still feeling some effects in my chest. That didn't make exercise very pleasant. After a week off, I made my first trip to boot camp and thought I'd puke, so I cut that short. I've had one run of 3 miles since then and a couple of tough sluggish bike rides.

Mostly, I've been eating. I wouldn't call it an appetite, but more like an insatiable need to nosh. I've seen the old me peeking out from behind pantry and I don't like what I've seen.

This morning I weighed in at 247, up about 15 pounds in a month. I feel like a great summer of working out and, though I didn't lose, I did maintain, has gone to waste. My pants are getting tight, my shirts are getting tight. I'd given up on boot camp and Body Pump over the last couple of months of training, so any toning I had has gone to mush.

So that's the first step, right? Admitting you have a problem. I admit it. Cookies, cake, Halloween candy, more Halloween candy, still more Halloween candy. Oy!

Today's a new day. In with the old, out with the new. Bananas, oranges, carrots and celery. A great boot camp this morning and plenty of water to drink all day.

One day at a time and one day down. Off to tomorrow land and an early Body Pump.

L'Chaim!

Marine Corps Marathon 2009 -- A Nice Run . . . A Long Walk

2009-10-28T10:41:00.017-05:00

A Sunday ago, I got in a good 10 miler on the treadmill. No toe pain -- a good thing! I woke Monday morning feeling like crap. The beginnings of a cold, for sure. As the week went on, things got worse before they got better, including a fever of 101, sore throat, cough, runny nose, etc. Of course, all I could think about was Marine Corps.

By Friday, the fever and sore throat were gone, but the cough and runny nose lingered. I headed out with my dad to the expo at the DC Convention Center. As expected, the expo was huge. A welcome sight -- no lines whatsoever. There's something patriotic about being handed your bib and shirt by uniformed marines. After dad and I spent a couple hours walking the aisles and picking up samples, we were on our way back home. Unfortunately, we didn't get to meet up with my cousin Patricia, in from Dallas for the race.

Saturday, bright and early, I headed out to the chiropractor. Dr. Lipman did a great job getting me ready for the next day -- all kinds of adjustments and treatments for my cold and my bones. He's also been taping my bad foot/toe with kinesio tape. After a brief return home, I was off to DC.

First stop was to meet my cousin and aunt Beatriz. I haven't seen Patricia in at least ten years. In fact, it seems that the rest of the world knows her as "Trish", but she'll always be Patricia to me. No one would have ever figured these two first cousins would be running marathons together! It was great to see them.

Time to head off to the hotel. As soon as I got into the hotel, I could feel the excitement in the air as there were dozens of Team in Training runners and staff around the hotel. I unpacked, laid out all of my wear and gear for the next day and headed back to the lobby.

After getting settled, we were off to the Inspiration Dinner at Georgetown U. Following the pasta meal, keynote speaker John Bingham was introduced. Bingham doled out plenty of tips for the next day, particularly for first time marathoners. Among other things, he announced that this fall, TnT had surpassed $1 billion in donations in it's 21 year history. We heard some inspiring stories from a marine survivor as well as from a gentleman who completed an Iron Man Triathlon on the 10th anniversary of receiving a bone marrow transplant -- while raising $160k for LLS. There were more than a few wet eyes in the room. Then, it was back to the hotel for some last minute instructions and off to bed.

The alarm was set for 5, but I woke some time around 4:30, brewed a cup of coffee and dined on a bagel and banana. At 6, the Maryland team met in the lobby for pictures and then we were off to the metro station en route to the start line.

Before the run, with one of my training partners, Renn.

A good looking group! I'm in the back row, left of center.

As soon as we hit the metro station, reality set it. The metro was packed with runners. Exiting at the Pentagon, I realize that this was as close as I'd ever been to the building. Kind of eerie at dawn's early light with "No Photography" signs all around the metro stop and above.

As the hundreds of us headed to the bag drop area, we could now hear the p.a. system with announcements of the weather -- dry and in the 50's all day -- and a count down to the start, about an hour away. A quick stop at the port-a-pot, check my bag and off to the start line.

My plan was to run with the 5:00 pace group along with my NJ friend Dan. I knew I could hold my own at that pace, I just couldn't predict if I'd be able to stay with that group. As I got close to the 5 hour starting corral, there was Dan and his friend Lou. Amazing that we were able to find each other so quickly. This would be both of their first marathons. Soon, one of my TNT friends also found me. Anne would join us at the start as well.

The minutes passed until the start, we heard the National Anthem and an invocation as well as a flyover of some military planes. Finally, at 8 am, the 50mm canon was fired and we were off. Well, some people were off. From my vantage point, I couldn't even see the starting balloons. About 8:10, we began to move and, finally, at 8:21, we crossed the start line.

Jeff, Dan and Anne. 26.19 miles to go.

As the four of us set out on our journey, we traversed some hills in Northern Virginia before heading across a bridge into Georgetown. Running along the Potomac, I sighted Scott, one of the TNT coaches, just where he said he'd be. Moments later, Jonathan, one of my coaches yelled out as he was a good three miles ahead of us on the back portion of this out-and-back part of the course. Though Anne had moved on, Dan, Lou and I held together as we reached the steepest climb at about mile 7. From here, it was down hill and flat for the rest of the run, until we'd head back into Virginia.

Around mile 10, I found myself alone. I don't know where I left Dan and Lou, but my pace was consistent and comfortable, so I continued on.

Approaching mile 12, my body was asking for relief. Time to walk. I'm not entirely sure what happened here, but I was running well and comfortably, but my legs just wouldn't go any more. I started to walk and just kept walking. Dan and Lou passed me soon after and they were moving on.

I just kept walking and watched as the miles ticked off. Each time I'd start to run, within a few dozen yards, I just couldn't run any longer. I didn't have any particular pain. My feet were fine. I felt like a car with a nearly dead battery . . . you can turn the engine over, but it just won't run.

Undaunted, I kept moving. When I'd see a photographer on the course, I'd speed to a gallop, but that was always short lived. As the course wound through the National Mall, I tried to run. There were people everywhere. Just no go.

"Posed" running for the camera.

About mile 16, I started to feel hunger pangs. I had taken a few gels but I needed more. Shortly, I spotted a group with a table set up and various foods for the runners (and walkers, too!) I grabbed a mini bagel and kept on walking, hoping it was all safe to eat.

The most significant time goal is to "Beat the Bridge." The 14th street bridge opens to traffic at 1:15, so you must cross before then -- at mile 20. I was never in danger of the cutoff, but that bridge seemed like it went on forever. Thankfully, a TNT coach from Alabama (wish I knew her name) walked with me for a bit and talked to me. It was a welcome sight.

Next was the funniest thing on the course -- a guy dressed up as the grim reaper with a drum and big sign that said "THE END IS NEAR!" A more welcome sight was never seen.

Back into Virgina, the course takes a short out and back leg from 22-24. Almost immediately, I spot Dan and Lou on the other side. They had struggled as well. I hoped I'd see them at the finish. Next, I saw a couple more familiar faces . . . Mohan and Ohuwa from my local TNT group, along the sidewalk cheering. I gave the each a big hug. An unexpected surprise. TNT support was everywhere, including our local staff contact Bryan. It seemed the he or coach Scott showed up every couple of miles.

As the miles ticked off, the end was, in fact near. I ran the last 2/10 mile or so up the big hill to the Iwo Jima memorial and through the finish line.

At long last, 12 miles of running and 14 miles of walking were done.

Though my Garmin read 6:00:08, officially, I finished in 5:59:56. A disappointing time, considering my goal of an hour quicker and my personal best 7 minutes sooner.

After the finish, it was off to the TNT tent to check in and off to get pictures taken. Then to get my stuff and head on home.

Happy to be done? You betchya!

Swag: Long Sleeve T, medal and finishers coin.

The Marine Corps Marathon is like no other. It's called "The People's Marathon" as it offers no cash awards so the elites stay home. It's run by the Marines, who man every water station and are everywhere on the course. It is an amazing event.

It was a long day, but a good day. At the end of it all, I can only attribute my issues to training. Having not completed the 20 miler three weeks before, I was basically tapering from the 18 miler six full weeks prior. Not exactly the plan. It's hard to understand the impact of being sick as well. With all of that going against me, I most certainly have no complaints. I finished the event and raised more than $2,500 in the fight against blood cancers.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement. . . until the next one. . .

L'Chaim!

Marine Corps Done!

2009-10-25T19:37:00.003-05:00

Just a quickie -- Marine Corps Marathon was today. Finished in 5:59:56.

Much to tell. Will be a couple of days before I get it all posted.

Thanks for all of the well wishes and congrats.

L'Chaim!

Five Days and Counting

2009-10-20T09:33:00.003-05:00

Marine Corps is just five days away. Weather forecast is dry and chilly -- perfect for running. Over the past few days, I've developed a bit of a head cold. I'm planning to be rid of it by race day! Regardless, it's getting exciting.

Marine Corps has some cool tracking devices. Check out here to get emails or text messages as I progress along the route.

L'Chaim!

Seagull Century Ride Report

2009-10-15T08:50:00.017-05:00

As the ankle and toe pains of the past week abated, it was time to look forward to the Seagull Century Bike Ride this past Sunday. Leading up to the ride, I was most concerned about the lack of riding over the prior six weeks or so. Only a couple of rides in that period. My longest "training" ride was the 63 mile Lancaster Covered Bridge Ride, nearly two months ago.

The weather forecast as the days led up to the ride was questionable. Chances of rain ranged from 20-50%. Regardless, the ride would go on.

I picked up my buddy Bryan early Friday afternoon to head to Salisbury. Along the 100 mile ride, we saw bikes everywhere. That really gets the juices flowing.

We checked into the hotel, hit the expo and hooked up with Barry, Lisa, Dan and Steve (the first three from the Lancaster ride) for dinner. For dinner, we found an awesome home made pasta place just outside of the college gates -- Fratelli's. Bread, pasta, desert, good friends -- what more could you want!

Finally, we were back at the hotel at 9. Bryan and I got our bikes and gear ready for the morning, then a bit of tv and off to bed.

Our alarms were set for 5, but Bryan and I were up long before. I think I woke sometime in the 3 o'clock hour and just couldn't fall back to sleep. (I did get a nice chunk of the new Dan Brown book read, though.) Eventually, we gave up and just started to prep for the day.

Looking outside, the wind was kicking up, but it was dry. So far so good.

I headed down to the breakfast bar at the Hampton and grabbed two cups of coffee. Bryan was concentrating on getting in touch with some other members of our cycling club -- HoCoCyclists. By 6:30, we were out the door for the 7 am rolling start.

We quickly found parking behind an Arby's as the college lots were packed. We got moving at 7 as the sun was well hidden behind the ominous sky. As we moved to the start, we quickly found one of our club members -- Matthew.

Matthew, Bryan and me

At our start, the roads were dry. By mile 1, they weren't. Not a heavy rain, but not a mist, either. This is a first for me. I have caught more grief over my wimpy rain and cold aversions than just about anything else. Not today.

Most of the first 23 mile leg was in the rain. About five miles in, we caught up with Barry and Dan. The five of us were flying through the miles. At the stop, we were averaging 19.4 mph. By far my fastest ride, especially for that distance. The first stop was at a country club. One of my hopes on the ride was to meet a Facebook friend -- Ann. I met Ann through a former coworker who knew Ann from college. I found a group of National Capital TNT riders and asked if they knew where I could find Ann. Low and behold, she was right behind me!

After the first rest stop, we were back on the road in intermittent rain. We arrived at the second stop at mile 40 maintaining the same 19.4 mph pace.

We led out the first five or six miles at an even faster pace, but after pulling the paceline, I dropped back and fell off the pace. Shortly after I was dropped, I turned into the start of a brutal headwind. The winds on the eastern shore of Maryland are legendary, but hadn't been too bad up until this point. It seems that mother nature was getting even.

As I approached the rest stop at Assateague Island National Seashore, I started to feel some of the toe pain that I was feeling the week before during my long run. It wasn't terrible, but it was certainly noticeable.

I quickly found Barry and Dan (pictured) as well as Bryan and Matthew. Aside from being a beautiful rest area, there was also home made breads in addition to the usual bagels and bananas. I think I ate a half loaf of the cranberry bread. Mmmmm!

The next leg was pure hell. No other way to describe it. Leading out from Assateague, I never caught on to our pace line. As the miles ticked away, my toe pain grew, as did the headwinds. It seemed that no matter which way the road turned, it was into the wind. At times, I found my speed down under 10 mph. I was being relentlessly passed by every kid and granny on two wheels. By 70 miles, I was actively looking for a SAG vehicle. My day was done. Every turn of the pedals was excruciating, but there was no choice but to keep moving. Even the thought of pie and ice cream at mile 83 didn't help.

At long last, I pulled into the rest area and hobbled off the bike. Bryan greeted me immediately. I was relieved to see him and the others, as I thought they might have moved on given my slow travel. Bryan grabbed my bike and helped me over to the medical tent. I had every intention of packing it in at that point.

Clearly, the toe issue is due to striking on the ball of my foot. That is where I land when running and where my foot hits the pedal. I hadn't iced my foot before, but I did now. After 15 minutes of ice, and a slice of cherry pie, I decided to give the last 17 miles a go. On the way back to my bike, Barry yelled over to me to see if I could adjust my pedal strike position. So I did. As we took off, I hung with the paceline for five or six miles, with little pain, then dropped back. Bryan hung back with me and took me the rest of the way to the finish.

Leftovers?

After we arrived back at the school, we hung out for a few hours at the after party, then off to a big dinner. I am incredibly grateful for my riding group, especially Bryan, for getting me to the finish line. I would have been most happy to get a four wheel ride back, but two was most definitely better.

The issue with my toe is still a concern, but I plan to start Marine Corps in 10 days and what will be will be.

L'Chaim!

Near Miss

2009-10-12T11:12:00.003-05:00

This running season has been one for the books. Since late last year, I have run without serious injury and I've run primarily outside. There have been a few treadmill runs, but most of my mileage has been on the street.

Two Saturdays ago was the big 20 miler in preparation of the Marine Corps Marathon, less than two weeks away now.

Over the past couple of months, I've had occasional pain in my big toes. Nothing debilitating, just a steady pain that would start after 10 miles or so on some, but not all, runs. That Saturday was different.

Everything was good as the run started out. Around mile 5, I had my first issue -- I accidentally ran on the corner of the sidewalk, twisting my right ankle. After a bit of walking, I was back on the run. No harm, no foul, so it seemed.

At about mile 8, I started to feel the toe pain. Mild at that point, I knew I could get through it, so long as it didn't progress. Unfortunately, it did. By 11 miles, the pain was so severe I had to stop. Walking was even more painful, but I had to keep going to get back to the car.

I totaled 12 miles for the day, well short of the 20 miles needed.

After arriving home, I laid down for an hour. When I got up, my ankle was in severe pain. I couldn't walk. I'm seeing my marathon run flushing down the toilet.

With the ankle pain mostly abated, I visited my podiatrist on Tuesday, who couldn't determine anything wrong other than a bit of tendinitis. I didn't run again until Thursday when I got in three big miles. Oy!

The ankle issue was clearly a near miss, but there's more to be seen on the toe issue, for sure.

L'Chaim!

Let Me Tell You About Some Friends

2009-09-14T10:33:00.002-05:00

When I started blogging, I found some folks out in blogland that I quickly developed a kinship with. There was Dan in New Jersey (Dan's blog here), Pat in Arizona (Pat's blog here) and Mike (Mike's blog here) and Jenny (Jenny's blog here) in Wisconsin. They were all bloggers and all had similar stories -- weight loss due to changes in eating habits AND exercise. Running in particular.

These folks became a virtual support system. We'd celebrate each others victories and support each other's disappointments.

Dan and I have run together a couple of times -- in Philly a couple of years ago and most recently, as part of the same American Odyssey Relay team. Next month we'll run the Marine Corps Marathon.

Pat is the uberblogger. Still out there blogging on a regular basis, always reading and commenting on our doings. He's also the king of the running events. Pat does 5k's, 10k's, all the way up to marathons. Currently he's on a quest to run in all 30 of Arizona's state parks. Nobody outruns Pat!

Mike and Jenny moved quickly from running to triathlon. They inspired me to get a bike when injury kept me from running a couple of years ago. They saved me from the dreaded elliptical.

In August of 2007, Mike posted this: "IM now has me in it's grip, calling me, pulling me...I no longer find myself saying that I have no desire to try IM. I no longer find myself thinking that I could never do it. Now it is a question of when do I think I'm ready to try and where will I try."

Over the past two years, I have followed Mike and Jenny as they planned and trained. They struggled with training and with weight, but they persevered. Mike turned a fear of swimming into joy. What a couple of years it has been.

Yesterday, they both completed Ironman Wisconsin.

I am proud beyond words of Mike and Jenny. They have come so far and accomplished so much. I can't even begin to think of how difficult yesterday was and they persevered and they finished. (And, they signed up for next year!)

This morning I ran 18 miles and I'm feeling it. Do I dare complain? No. Mike and Jenny are feeling it a whole lot more!

Some day, the five of us will go for a run, together, all in one place, at the same time. Don't know where or when, but we will and it will be an event unto itself. There's nothing like a run with your friends.

L'Chaim!

Annapolis -- Third Time's a Charm

2009-09-01T15:07:00.001-05:00

It was kinda wierd starting off the day. Deb was off at her high school reunion and the kids were at my parents. Just me and the dog in the house. Might have been my first time all alone. When the alarm went off at 5:15, Andy was none too happy about me forcing him outside in the dark at that hour. It was pretty funny watching him waiting for me to go back to the bedroom to go back to sleep. None of that on Sunday.

At 6:15, I headed down to Annapolis with a couple of neighbors. Brian knew a shortcut to Navy-Marine Corps Stadium so we avoided the two mile backup to get off the exit. Saved at least twenty minutes, for sure. Everything is going great so far.

As the 7:45 race time approached, the air was getting thick and the temps pushed into the 70's, but the sun was hidden behind the clouds. Going to the starting line with my friends Dave and Jill, Dave mentioned that he was going to be pacing Jill at just under a 10 minute pace. I figured I'd see how long I could hang. 10 minute miles would be a best case scenario.

The run started on time, but it took us nearly 6 minutes to cross the starting line. Once we did, there was surprisingly less congestion than I had expected. Just at the start, I heard my name called out from the sidelines -- it was Barry, one of my cycling friends (see the Lancaster Covered Bridge report) who came down to cheer on another friend of his.

As we left the stadium lot, the course headed first toward downtown Annapolis -- the state house building, followed by the waterfront. At the waterfront, about mile two, the sun finally arrived, much to my disappointment. I was still hanging with Dave and Jill, but it was getting tougher to match their 9:40 pace, so I dropped back.

We passed the Naval Academy and headed over the Severn River bridge with it's steep elevation, followed by a long downhill grade, followed by a longer, steeper climb at about mile 5. At this point, the heat, humidity and pace had taken a toll as I walked through a water station to the top of the hill.

The next few miles were through some beautiful neighborhoods with plenty of folks out to cheer us on. Some even set up some makeshift refreshment stops: water, oranges, sprinklers and beer. Yes, beer! Not quite ready for that at mile 6!

Through mile 6, I was still at a 10 minute average pace, but a half mile down hill, leading into an uphill return ended that run. It was great to see some runner friends going the other way as I headed down hill. Lots of shouting out to the crowds.

As the course left the neighborhoods of Annapolis, we returned over the Severn River and back toward the stadium. The constant ups and downs took a lot out of me, but I was able to kick it up a notch in the last half mile with a final sub 10 minute split.

After two did-not-start's the previous two years, finally, I crossed the finish line. I felt different than I had for any other event. For the first time, I truly felt like a middle-of-the-pack runner. I did great on time, finishing in 1:43:26, a pace of 10:21 and there were more than a thousand runners finishing behind me on a very humid day and challenging (hilly!) course.

Unlike other events, the A-10 hands out their premium only after the finish. Quite a sweet long sleeve zip shirt.

After I picked up my shirt, I headed over to the finishers area for water and snacks. During and after the run I ran into many folks from just about every facet of my life including a couple from my morning boot camp, at least a dozen Team In Training friends, Katie, a blogger friend who was manning a couple of water stops, my neighbors that I came with, Barry, that I mentioned earlier and, of course, Dave, Jill, Stacey and Scott, who were there when this whole running thing got started three years ago.

I can't begin to tell you how cool it was to feel so totally imersed in this running community.

For their part, the Annapolis Striders put on a fantastic event. Plenty of water and Gatorade stops, tons of volunteers, great swag, including an icy towel at the finish. I've got June 1, 2010 on my calendar to sign up for the 35th installment.

L'Chaim!

At Long Last . . . Annapolis!

2009-08-29T21:01:00.002-05:00

In 2007, Runner's World rated the Annapolis 10 Mile Run (A10) as one of the Six Big 10-Milers To Run. It's an incredibly popular run that fills all 4000+ spots in under a week. The run starts and ends at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium and is supposedly a beautiful, tough run.

That same year, I signed up for the run and fretted about being able to make the strict two hour time limit. That didn't matter as I wound up sidelined due to plantar fasciitis and doctors orders not to run.

In 2008, I signed up again. I was less concerned about the time, but I knew I'd be within a few minutes of the cutoff. Shortly after the Frederick Marathon, foot and ankle issues sidelined me once again.

Undeterred, I signed up once again this year. It's been a healthy summer of running and in less than half a day, I'll start and finish my first A10.

Other than Frederick, this is the most excited I've been about a run. I'm looking forward to seeing lots of friends. Finishing the run onto the field where our Midshipmen play ball just gives me chills.

With that, it's time to try to get some sleep. Race report to come.

L'Chaim!

Covered Bridges

2009-08-27T20:58:00.003-05:00

A couple of Sunday's ago was the Lancaster, PA Covered Bridge Bike Ride, a 100k (62 mile) event. This was a late addition to the calendar for 2009. I had planned to ride the St. Michael's Century in September, but they nicely scheduled the ride for Rosh Hashana. Time for plan B.

One of my Team in Training group mentioned this ride about a week before, so I put the word out to my Sunday riding group. Barry, his wife Lisa and another friend, Dan, were already planning to ride and they had room for one more. I was in!

We hit the road early and, after heavy traffic into the event, we were on our way by 9 am.

It's pretty easy to change terrain within an hour or two from home. In 90 minutes, we could be riding on flat-as-a-pancake eastern shore roads. Based on a conversation I had with another friend, I thought this was going to be pretty flat.

Wrong! The hills were different than the local roads -- less steep, but longer climbs.

Though I was concerned about keeping up with the group, I felt great getting out there and alternated throughout the day with each of my three rider friends.

The course was very crowded with a record 4,000 riders for the three distances. At times, the most difficult part was dealing with some of the novice riders who didn't understand what "on your left!" meant. (Not kidding -- a couple actually were heard saying "why do they keep saying 'on your left'". Oy!)

The weather was just about perfect. Well, rain would been worse. The forecasted low 80's was only off by ten degrees. It got pretty brutal out there toward the end of the ride.

So enough of the whining. The ride was a blast. The roads were crowded with Amish wagons as well. Of course, the Amish vehicles are horse powered. Good news was we all managed to miss the horse poop covering the roads. (I can only imagine hitting one of the poop patches and, if you manage to stay upright, you'd be riding with the poop smell for the rest of the ride.) The scenery was fantastic. Six covered bridges. Lots of farmland. Even Floyd Landis' parents house.

Almost home -- fifth of six covered bridges: (l to r) Dan, Barry, Lisa and me.

As we finished the ride at nearly 3pm (the time I had said that I'd be home -- I mean MY home), we were pooped from the long hot day. We averaged better than 15 mph for the 63+ mile ride, which turned out to be about 80% as hilly as our home roads.

On our way home, we hit the Plain and Fancy Restaurant, one of Barry and Lisa's favorites. This was a meal that took me back to days of old: fried chicken, sausage, roast beef, pot pie, mashed potatoes, iced raisin bread, apple pie. Oh yeah, they did have green beans. . . drowned in butter! What a meal! I figure the day was about a push in the calorie department.

All in all, a great experience. The Lancaster Bike Club did a great job putting the event on. Riding with Barry, Lisa and Dan was great. I'll be sure to sign up early next year!

L'Chaim!

Sorry, Mom!

2009-08-18T11:25:00.009-05:00

I was reminded a few days ago that I haven't posted in more than a month. It's not that I don't have anything to say, it's just that I haven't said it. What that means is that my mother has no idea what's going on with me. (Mom, you can thank Ann Marie for looking out for you!)

The summer seems like quite the blur. Kids go back to school in just a couple of weeks. I'm wondering where all the time went.

In July, I managed to run 77 miles and bike 199. Just about on track with my goals for each. I've had good and bad bouts on the scale. At the end of the day, it always seems to be a push, still running in the upper 220's to low 230's.

Last week, I visited the Baltimore Ravens training camp at McDaniel College. I went to McDaniel (then known as Western Maryland College) for five semesters from 1982 through 1984. They were fun years . . . too much fun for me, which I why I ultimately transferred and graduated from a different college. I had a tough time finding a picture that I could post without doing a bit more self incrimination that I'm prepared for, at least until my kids are, say, 40 or so. The picture to the right is me and Chuck. (I'm on the left, in case you weren't sure.) It's from 1984.

Anyway, it was neat to go back on campus. Oh, the memories.

While I was there, I saw some old friends that work at the college now -- George and Robin Brenton. They were great friends. We'd lost touch a bit over the years, except for holiday cards, but seeing each other brought back some more memories.

There was the time that Robin, another friend Mike, and I had all failed Dr. Rosenzweig's Calculus test. In fact, the whole class failed the test, except for a couple of brainiacs. He agreed to a retest -- at 7 pm on a Friday night, following the lacrosse game against our arch rivals -- Gettysburg College. Not a good combination in the days when the drinking age was just 18. Anyway, if I recall correctly, I got a D+ on the retest, Robin a D and Mike a D-. That was when I decided it might be best to change my major from math to economics.

Jeff and Robin -- August 2009

It was great to see them. I also ran into a few other friends that day from different parts of my former life just up to see the Ravens. It was a pretty neat day.

Today, Deb pulled out a couple of plastic bags full of hats. She wanted me to go through them to see what we could yard sale or donate to Goodwill. Once upon a time, I collected hats. You see, when ever I would travel, I couldn't buy a t-shirt. It just wouldn't fit. So I bought hats. Must have gone through 50 hats today. At least half a dozen still had tags on them! Wonder if we can sell the for retail at the yard sale.

So there you have a couple of tidbits. I've got another post coming about the Lancaster Covered Bridge Ride, but that's another day or two away and I didn't think I could keep my mom waiting any longer.

L'Chaim!

Pedaling and Paddling, 2009 Style

2009-07-13T06:10:00.007-05:00

When Pedal and Paddle 2009 was announced, I immediately added it to the calendar. This is one of the most unusual events I've ever heard of. Our local community, Columbia, MD, has 23 outdoor pools. The idea is to start at one pool, cycle from one to the next and swim a lap (out and back) at each. If there is a slide, we slide, too. It's not an event for the feint of heart -- the roads are all heavily traveled and the distances range from a mile to 5 miles between.

Deb asked a few weeks ago when I was going to do some training laps. Hmmm, how about not. I did laps last August. I'm pretty sure without any actual instruction that the laps wouldn't help much. I'll just suck it up and go.

The weather was about as perfect as it could be -- temps in the mid-80's and dry. I pulled into the Dasher Green pool lot and saw far more people that I had expected. Turns out there were about two dozen, double the best year ever, and far more than the five that rode last year. Ed made some announcements, gave out some swag from the charity that we were supporting -- The Ulman Cancer Fund -- and we were off just after 10 am.

It must have been quite a sight to see this paceline with so many riders in the middle of town. We ticked off the first group of pools pretty quickly, but a long red light split us up. Then the trip out to River Hill, the farthest ride between pools to and from, further segregated the group.

One of the leaders, Lou, had boasted last year that he wasn't ever last in the swim as he had been in the past. I took that title. Unfortunately for me, I had improved little over the year since. The onslaught of new riders this year were triathletes so I continued to fall behind in the pool.

As we crisscrossed Columbia, we'd all pass each other and there was definitely a sense that we were together, just not all together.

At number 14, an oasis appeared -- a 7-11. Our one and only refueling stop. At this point, the group rejoined and checked out the goods. There we were out in front of the 7-11 eating just about all the crap we could. I laughed to myself looking around -- hot dogs, candy bars, soda, pop tarts, you name it. Lou gave Jill a hard time for eating healthy trail mix. Personally, I went for the pop tarts. For the first time in at least three years, I downed a couple of my once favorite brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts. Ya know, they weren't nearly as good as I had remembered!

After the 7-11 break, we headed as a group to Dorsey Hall, my home pool. Deb and Matty were there awaiting our arrival, camera in hand. She had also prepared some goodies for me. Had to disappoint her -- sorry, love, I'm stuffed!

Me and Matt -- hurry, gotta go!

From Dorsey, we hit each of the remaining eight pools in workmanlike order. The group traveled together as a peleton, pulling into the last of 23 pools just after 4 pm. I was not last in the pool, but was last out, securing my second lanterne rouge title in as many years.

What a day! 1350 yards of swimming, 46.5 miles on the bike, 45 transitions, and a perfect day for it all. It was great to see and ride with some friends that I had never ridden with before: Scott, Stacey and Jill.

Thanks to Ed and Lou for pulling this all together! Can't wait till next year.

Group Photo at Dorsey Pool -- 17 riders still hanging strong

L'Chaim!

3 Years and Counting

2009-07-11T17:41:00.005-05:00

On July 12, 2006, I "ran" a mile on my new treadmill in about 22 minutes. That was three years ago today.

Since then, I've run more than 1,600 miles and cycled 1,900+. Not to mention the dozens of spin classes, Body Pump's and boot camps sprinkled in amongst it all.

In the last year, I have struggled with my weight. Although I've dipped as low as 218, I've also gone as high as 238. Most of the time, I've been in the 220's, including today's weigh in at 228. I'm disappointed with my lack of progress here, despite all of the other successes. Still about 30 pounds from that elusive goal. Still, down about 190 pounds is an incredible feat.

In a way, it's hard to believe it's been three years. It seems like just yesterday. In another way, it feels like I've been leading this healthier lifestyle for much longer. I also think of myself in a different way. My mind has finally started to catch up to my body. When I close my eyes, I rarely see the old fat guy.

To celebrate this anniversary, I'll be joining some others for the 4th annual Pedal and Paddle event. That's 23 pools, one lap each, biking from pool to pool, about 45 miles, give or take.

Time to get ready to swim. . . and bike. . . and transition. . . 45 times.

L'Chaim!

Marine Corps Time

2009-07-10T07:59:00.004-05:00

Time to focus. Could it be that the Marine Corps Marathon is less than 16 weeks away? Guess I better get a move on a plan, then.

Last year for Frederick, I used the Higdon Novice 1 training plan. Bumping up to the Higdon Novice 2 plan this year with a modest increase in mileage. Now I just need to get myself situated and start to log the miles. I'm pretty close to on plan. Been running, just not on a formal plan. Until now.

I'm excited to be running again with Team In Training. It was evident a year ago that Team In Training does a great job at training athletes to run marathons, among other things. Not to mention the billion dollars (yes, with a "B") that they've raised to fight leukemia and lymphoma.

I was amazed as I talked to people last year how many had been impacted by leukemia and lymphoma. I met survivors, loved ones of survivors and, sadly, friends and family of those who had been taken by these cancers. This past spring, I read about a 40-year old guy named Andy. Andy and I crossed many paths, just a few years apart. Andy was diagnosed with acute myeloid lymphoma, a very aggressive cancer. Within weeks, he lost his battle. This hit me hard. There has been so much positive news. So many survivors. I know in my heart that Team In Training has made a difference for may of them. What I now realize is how much more work there is to be done. Running again with Team In Training was an easy decision.

I've set a goal to raise $3,000 to fight these blood borne cancers. If you donated before, please do so again. If you haven't, please consider doing so. Even if it's just five or ten dollars. Every penny counts! You can click here to go to my fundraising web site.

Thank you and keep tuned here to check on my training progress!

L'Chaim!

When I Last Wrote. . .

2009-07-01T18:25:00.001-05:00

Still nothing new on the job front. A couple of luke warm opportunities out there, but nothing to get too excited about. On to the good stuff. . .

Last week, we took a family trip to Williamsburg, VA, leaving on Father's Day morning.

What a blast! A day and a half each at Water Country USA and Busch Gardens. The kids were amazing -- we went on every ride at Water Country and just about every coaster at Busch. (Well, ONE of us went on every coaster. Zach opted out of The Griffon and Matty did the coasters without loops.) Needless to say, we left wanting more. Our one day at Colonial Williamsburg was a bit of a bust. Kids lasted about an hour before looking for an out and Deb and I weren't far behind.

June turned out to be a pretty amazing month for physical activity.

58 miles running, just a bit under my goal for the the month. I had planned for an off month after a fairly high mileage prior three months. Now begins marathon training in earnest with Marine Corps just over 16 weeks out.

My bike has been busy. Without a doubt, my highest mileage month ever at 342 with an average of 38 miles per ride. I can truly feel the changes in my biking ability. I've tackled just about every major climb in my area (other than the dreaded Illchester Rd -- 9/10 mile at 18%!) I've gotten over any paranoia about the climbs and am even hitting them on my own (without peer pressure, that is.)

As for diet, I'm down a bit from my last report. Still running in the upper 220's, but that's a lot better than the upper 230's. Just trying to control the snack bug that I've picked up as well as not over indulging on long run/ride days. Need to bank those calorie burns rather than consume them.

L'Chaim!

The Long and Hilly Road

2009-06-15T14:32:00.004-05:00

I had hoped to hear something on the job front by now, but I'm still waiting. Had a good interview but no decision yet.

The last couple of weeks has been a bit tense, to say the least. I've found a modicum of relief on my bike, spending hours riding the local byways. Since last Sunday, I've clocked about 200 miles. I'm amazed that I keep finding new local roads to explore -- the local circumference just keeps getting wider. That's thanks to my riding buddies. Another way to relieve the stress is to not ride alone.

What I realized two Sunday's ago was how high a level of concentration you need on a road bike. Running is great and you can really get lost in your thoughts, but if you don't want to get lost in your thoughts, riding is the way to go. There was a close call on the road that just reminded me how much more in tune you need to be out there.

How much am I loving the rides? I blew off the Survivor Harbor 7 miler run yesterday. My first healthy scratch. Instead, 50 miles around town, half of it with the hebrew school dads. Man, the weather was perfect. If it weren't for Matt's baseball playoff game, I woulda kept going. It was that great.

In all honesty, it's time for this frivolity to end and I'm truly looking forward to getting back to work. (I swear, the kids being on summer break has nothing to do with it!) In the mean time, just riding on.

L'Chaim!

Indoor Plumbing

2009-06-01T21:31:00.000-05:00

Saturday was an absolutely perfect day for running. Sunday's weather for the Maryland Half Marathon, not so much.

I woke up to the pounding of rain on the window. Not as the weatherman had advertised. Driving up to the Maryland State Fairgrounds, Dunkin' Donuts coffee in hand, more of the same. By the time I got to the fairgrounds at 6:45, yeah, still more. I headed into the old race track and found a mirage -- indoor plumbing with no line! (If you've never been to one of these events to experience the pre race lines at the port-a-poties, you just won't understand what a big deal this was!) Went back to the car and dropped off my jacket. I figured I was gonna get wet anyway. No need to add the jacket in the event that the sun did decide to come out.

About 10 minutes before the start, I ran into Karen from TNT. We whined about the weather and then, as if on cue, the rain stopped. Finally, at 7:30, we were off. Even though the rain would not return, we were left with nothing but heat and humidity. I think I'd rather have had the rain.

I knew the course was hilly but I wasn't prepared for the misery to come. At least the first and last half miles were flat. Other than that, not at all. The whole course was hills. Lots of ups and downs. Some downhills too steep even to enjoy. At the 6 mile mark, I was right on a 10 minute pace. The sun was out and I was feeling very good. Half a mile later, a grueling, relentless 2+ mile climb. I held it together for that one, intermittently walking and running the last half mile or so. At 10 miles, I was still just off of a 10 minute pace. Could I hold it together for another 5k?

Mile 11 dictated no. The steepest climb on a narrow, hot, heavily traveled stretch was killer. About 3/4 mile walking and running. More walking than running. The rest of the way was a struggle. The last half mile was on the horse race track at the fairgrounds. They had plowed the sand surface away, but they didn't get it all. It was like running on the beach. It sucked.

At long last, it was over. 2:19:54.

I truly gave it my best and I'm happy with the effort.

Would I run this one again? Probably not. Though I'd like to tackle the hills again, at $75, this was a pricey event with minimal swag -- an unremarkable cotton t-shirt that didn't even have a date or note that it was the inaugural event.

On the positives, they did have plenty of support and liquids on the course. Oh yeah, indoor plumbing, too!

L'Chaim!

It's Been a While. . .

2009-05-22T07:49:00.006-05:00

Time for a little update.

The weather in this part of the world has finally broken. The grass is as green as I've ever seen it and it needs mowing twice a week.

Good news is it's perfect for outdoor activities. With all makeup games from the spring rain we've had plus a Memorial Day tournament my youngest is playing in, we're spending most of our non-school hours at the ball park.

It seems like twice a year I go through this catharsis between running and cycling. The crappy spring weather kept me on my feet and I truly learned to love running in the rain. (No, I say NO, the cold and snow are NOT close behind!) A few mechanical issues with my bike left me a bit skittish and a ride a few weeks ago where I felt like I was spinning in concrete left me thinking I wouldn't get too many bike miles in this summer.

Alas, the catharsis has occurred. I could only dodge my biking friends so much. Last week and this, I rode with Frank, one of Zach's baseball coaches. Frank and I are perfectly suited, about the same pace. Only difference is Frank just likes to ride. No odometer on his bike. Just a watch on his wrist. Just like those runners who go run without an ipod, without a GPS. Not me, boy. I record every hundredth of a mile. Always want to round to the next nice neat quantity, too. I'll never be one of those people that just goes to go. If I don't record it, well, did it really happen?

My neighbor Kirk called me to ride on Tuesday. We headed to the BWI trail and, despite a five mile accidental detour (must remember, left on Wright), we knocked out 44 miles. This was the one that got me really sucked back in. Despite the lack of spinning during the winter months, I could feel the difference that Body Pump and boot camp have made. I felt much stronger and handled the hills on the way home much better than the two times I rode the route last year. Can't wait to get back out there.

Still running, but not as much. Next weekend is the Maryland Half Marathon, so after that, I'll dial back the running a bit until marathon training gets hot and heavy over the summer.

As for the job thing. Well, honestly, it's been a struggle. Still not a whole lot of responses. Some days are an emotional roller coaster. Opportunities that seem to be a slam dunk for at least a phone call wind up in the "thanks, but no thanks" pile. More often than not, an application is filed on the internet and winds up in the abyss. At this point, I'm considering some other options to the same thing I've done for the last 20 years. The market is tough. That's out of my control. Need to get some good news. Even a nibble.

The roller coaster has taken me on a small hit to the scale. Over the past month or so, I've trended into the mid 230's. Though I had bottomed at 218, I've spent most of the past 6+ months in the 220's. Need to get the snacking under control and stop the emotional eating.

I know what needs to be done. It's time for action.

Thanks to all that have offered help on one or more of these fronts. Just gotta keep workin' it!

L'Chaim!

Frederick 2009, Half of 2008

2009-05-04T16:46:00.001-05:00

Back to the scene of the crime. Lot's of thoughts of last year's full marathon. I'll try to keep this down from my seven part race report from last year!

In the days leading up to Frederick, I was not feeling into it. Maybe the result of a bit too much running. This would be my third half in nine weeks, plus the relay from just a week ago. Total mileage run during race week: two. On Friday at boot camp, I felt a nasty pain in my left knee. Not good at all. Couldn't even eek out a mile on the track. My plan was to go easy and get to the start line. Whatever happened happened.

Saturday night was the big Team in Training Inspiration Dinner. This is a huge deal for the first time runners and their families. Lots of pasta, bread and excitement to get ready for the big day on Sunday. It was exciting to see Cherrie, my mentee with her family, as well as others that I had gotten to know during our training season, like Risa (whose pictures I've shamelessly stolen to post here), Joe and others.

Great looking group, huh!

The Team raised over $150,000 this season through the efforts of more than 80 participants. Awesome.

Risa was one of the top fund raisers this year. Way to go, running bud!

After the big meal, I headed home to try to get some sleep. The big question, other than the knee issue was the weather. Forecast was for rain -- go figure -- it's been that kinda spring.

I woke Sunday at 4:15 and immediately heard the drops pounding on the window. Great. 3 hours of wet. By the time I left the house, the rain had subsided. For how long, no clue. I stopped at the Dunkin Donuts for a coffee and headed west.

By the time I got to the fairgrounds, it was after 6. As usual the port-a-pot lines were long and slow. It didn't take long to figure out that getting to the start by 6:30 would be tight and I was right. I hit the starting line just a couple of minutes late. Too late to catch the 4:30 pace group (2:15 half marathon pace) that I had planned to run with.

So, we were off. As we ran through downtown Frederick, everything (my knee) felt right. It was dry, but I wasn't feeling great. Nothing I could pinpoint, just felt like it would be a tough day.

A mile or so in, I came upon Risa and Margaret. They looked great. Very excited, I could tell. We chatted for a couple of minutes and then I found myself pulling away. They'd do great. Keep it up, ladies.

A few more miles in, all was well, and I was on a pace of just about 10 minute miles. In my mind, I kept thinking about walking. My body felt heavy. Maybe it was the "a bit too creamy" dinner from the night before weighing on me. I kept going.

Around mile 6, I saw Cherrie. She was doing great. She had started at 6am with a large group of TnT walkers and she was all smiles when I saw her. Here, I slowed to a walk for a few minutes so we could chat. It would be a great day for Cherrie. I left her and started to run. That break was what I needed.

Finally, at mile seven, the long awaited rains came. None of this misting, it was raining. No problem though. Just keep going.

Who's the dork? The Wal-Mart water stop, mile 9.

As always, the TnT support was amazing. You couldn't go anywhere and not see a purple shirt. I even remember Karen from the exact same spot a year before at mile 11. TnT shines on race day!

The course seemed hillier than last year, though the roads were the same. I suspect that I forgot about the first half rolling hills compared to the nastiness ahead for the full marathon runners. Even that last half mile up a gradual hill seemed extreme. Nevertheless, I was able to run the rest of the way from the time I left Cherrie to the finish.

I looked down at my Garmin and saw what I could hardly believe. Despite the knee worries, the not feeling great, the 6 miles of rain and the walk break, there was a personal record. By 8 seconds! 2:17:56. Yeah, I planned it exactly that way, to shave a half second a mile off of my DC run five weeks before.

Time to go check in with the TnT'ers. Everyone was in wet, but great spirits. No problems, just lots of great running. Risa came in all smiles. Cherrie was ecstatic. You couldn't tell that the sun wasn't shining by checking out the TnT tent. Way to go, all!

I got home and took a luscious 2 hour nap. Thanks, Deb!

No rest for the weary, the fall TnT season start Saturday!

L'Chaim!

The Relay, In Sequence

2009-05-01T10:44:00.003-05:00

I've resequenced the relay posts so that they read in order.

This LINK will show only the recent relay posts. Hope you enjoy the race report.

The press clippings where our team is mentioned are HERE and HERE.

L'Chaim!

Next Up: The Odyssey

2009-04-30T15:06:00.000-05:00

This was originally posted on 4/21, prior to the Relay but has been relocated so that all of the relay posts can be read in sequence.

The next stop on the race journey is the American Odyssey Relay. The relay is less like a race and more like an adventure. It's me and 11 friends that will run from Gettysburg, PA to Washington, DC. We each get to run between 13 and 22 miles over the course of 36 hours or so. We start this Friday at 7 am and, with any luck, we'll finish our run on Saturday evening between 6 and 8 pm.

This thing started about a year ago when some blogger friends decided to put together a team. It was local for me, so I couldn't resist. Since then, seven of the original twelve dropped and we've been able to find some great folks to jump in.

So who's on the team? Glad you asked.

There's team captain and official Grand PooBah Karen, also known as Pokie. Karen gets to deal with all the b.s. coming out of the race organizers as well as figuring out some of the logistics from her home in Arizona. (At risk of pissing off the team captain, I always thought of her as a blogger, but I just noticed no blog posts in more than three months, so I'm thinking maybe she's a former blogger.) Her (former?) blog is here.

Katie blogs here. She's a fellow Baltimorean and one of the original team members. Katie's the VP of Purchasing. Katie's brother was kind enough to design our awesome team logo, displayed on the left.

We've got a couple of Canadians on the team -- Nat and Jeff. Nat blogs here. They're visiting the boss in Boston on their way here. Just hope they're not too wasted from that part of the trip to put in 30 miles on their feet later this week. I've been trying to speak Canadian so they can follow all the instructions. If they make it here on Thursday, I'll feel a lot better about all that language barrier stuff.

I'm the last of the originals and, with my current state of employment (or lack thereof), I've taken on the VP of Logistics role. Lemme tell 'ya, with 9 people coming in on three flights and from six states and provinces (Arizona, Arkansas, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ontario and, of course, Maryland) the logistics of getting everyone everywhere has been damn near a full time job. (Wait till they all get my bill.)

As we started to lose folks that committed nearly a year ago, we were able to find some most able replacements, despite at least a few nervous moments.

Taryn is another Arizonan and, apparently, comes from hill deprived Yuma. Not even flat AS a pancake, FLATTER than a pancake. Since Taryn volunteered to run extra miles if were were short a runner, she instead wound up with a leg that even the race director recommend that this runner not be ashamed to walk. What's the big deal? Just a 4 mile "run" at a 5% climb. I've been pep talking her and I know she can do it. Taryn blogs here.

Last winter, I met Ann Marie when we were training for Team In Training. She was running the Alaska marathon. We were about the same running pace and we found out that we live just a block away from each other. Who knew? Check out Ann Marie's blog here.

Dan and Matt join us from the Garden State of New Jersey. Dan and I both ran the 2007 Philly Distance Run in 2007 and we've been friends since. Matt and Dan are in the same triathlon club. Dan blogs here.

Cheryl blogs here and comes to us from the home of my boyhood hero, Brooks Robinson, Little Rock, Arkansas.

Sorry to say I don't know much about Juliet and Jaqualin other than that they're from the great state of North Carolina.

By the end of the weekend, I'm sure we'll all be fast friends. Either that or we'll never want to see each other again. Given the no whining rule, I'm sure we won't know how we really feel about each other until we get our holiday cards. . . or not.

I hope to be posting periodic updates on my Facebook page (if you're not a Facebooker, no time like the present!) from the road as long as my battery holds out.

May be a while before I get a report here, though.

That's about it. Looking forward to sharing my stink with these 11 folks. Should be a blast.

L'Chaim!

American Odyssey (AOR) - Chapter 1 - In the Beginning

2009-04-30T15:05:00.000-05:00

It would be hard for me to post the AOR report in just one post, given my tendency toward verbosity, so I'll break it down into a few easily digestible chunks.

Without recreating too much history, this whole thing started about this time last year. A couple of bloggers, Karen, aka Pokie, from Arizona, and Michelene, from Reno, decided to try to put together a relay team to run the American Odyssey Relay. Since the event was going to be so close to home, I jumped in quickly. We sent in our dough and registered last July. Over the course of the next six months or so, more than half of our original team turned over -- babies, job situations, and travel costs all led some to change their plans. We replaced all those that couldn't hang and, after much planning, the event was finally upon us.

Of my 11 teammates, I had met just three. The other 8 were relative strangers, other than some whose blogs I follow. I was hoping this wouldn't be the beginning of some kind of horror movie!

In preparing to go, the first order of business was the packing. We would be in ordinary mini vans with 6 passengers each. Along with that, we'd need all of our running clothes as well as support. Unlike normal running events where there are water and first aid stations at regular intervals, this event was essentially unsupported. We were responsible for our own water, Gatorade, food, first aid, etc. There were a couple of stops with services, but we'd need to be prepared for everything. Katie filled the shopping list, met at my house on Thursday and we were off.

Back of my CRV -- how's all this gonna fit in the van?

BWI was the best option for us all to meet, with so many different inbound locations. Deb dropped Katie and I off to pick up the rental van and then we waited. Karen and Taryn were due in from Phoenix at 4:15, but were delayed until about 5. When they arrived, we met them at the airport loaded their luggage and headed towards Gettysburg, about 90 minutes away, not including traffic. En route, we stopped for dinner at Ledo Pizza and a quick stop in the grocery store in Westminster and got back on the road.

Arriving at the host hotel just after 8, we quickly found the three members of our team already there and soon after, van 2 arrived. It was kinda weird to meet all of these people that we had been emailing back and forth. In my mind, I started to play through the horror movie scenario and quickly determined that most of the team could be trusted. (Not saying who I thought might be able to do it!)

The lobby was packed with runners. At 8:30, we headed into the open Team Captains meeting. Bob, the organizer, handed out a list of concerns. Mostly related to safety. Since we'd all be running on strange roads, he wanted to be sure we knew what was going on where. Also, he announced the winner of the best team name. That would be the team called "Four Score and Seven Blisters". That would be OUR team. Yeay! Amazingly, this team name was supplied by Nat, one of our Canadian runners. We won a case of iced tea. Woo hoo!

Our leader accepting the tea award.

Following the meeting, we had our own team meeting on the floor at the host hotel. After that, finally, it was off to our hotels to get some real sleep, sometime after 11. By the time I fell asleep, it was close to one, I'm sure. Just four hours until the alarm goes off. . .

Floor meeting.

L'Chaim!

American Odyssey (AOR) - Chapter 2 - And We're Off

2009-04-30T15:04:00.000-05:00

The alarm went off way too early. In fact, three alarms, mine, Nat's and Jeff's went off in concert at 5 am. Since Jeff and Nat were in van two, I rolled out and into the shower first. My initial thought was that the four hours of sleep was all well and good on a normal day, but how would I be feeling a day later with not much more rest time. Not much that could be done about that now.

After dressing in my first leg running duds, I filled repacked and headed to the breakfast bar at the Holiday Inn Express. Coffee, ahhh!

At 6, we were at the host hotel where we were all to meet for the decorating of the vans. Ann Marie did a great job getting our decorations ready. Once we were there, it was time to relocate our bags, get the decor on the vans, do some window painting and get ready for our 7 am start. The weather at this point is nearly perfect for my money. Upper 30's, maybe 40, sun's out. Sweet!

Team 4 Score an 7 Blisters. Little did we know what the next two days had in store for us.

By quarter to seven, we were en route to the starting line. Seven teams lined up for the first starting time of the event. Seemed kinda low key compared to just about any event. Nonetheless, there we were. At 7:05, with much fanfare, Karen was off and running. The innaugural American Odyssey Relay was under way.

Karen is the second woman from the right.

So now, the fun begins. Van 2 heads back to their hotels and Van 1 is on for the next six hours, give or take. Time for coffee. We're off to the local convenience store to caffeinate. As we're pulling in, seems Van 2 had the same idea. From there, we're on to Transition 1. Karen finishes in great spirits and we're suddenly off to T-2, where I will meet Ann Marie and head out on my first leg. T-2 was at Boyd's Bear Country. Kind of an oasis across from the battlefield. Best part about it -- indoor plumbing! Turns out Ann Marie's leg was about a mile longer than advertised. Once she arrived, I was off for my longest leg -- 8.4 miles.

The leg was advertised as fairly flat, but the first mile or so had some nice big hills with road paving construction going on. Take a deep breath -- nice smell of tar -- mmmm! After that, the leg was pretty much one big square on country roads. Lot's of farmland, animals, manure, you get the idea. Oh, there was a funny sign -- right next to a driveway there was a long gravel road, sign said "Lover's Lane, $20, Pay Ed Inside". Now, I couldn't see what was at the other end, but it did provide a moment of comic relief. Still wondering how much old Ed makes off of his "lane."

I didn't want to carry water with me for that distance, so I had my team meet me at about mile 5. They passed me and shortly after, I met back up with them for a much needed water break.

The transition was next to a stream and through a covered bridge. Very cool. As I finished, Matt was next up and he took off. I tracked the distance at 8.55 miles and I averaged just under 10 minute miles. Not bad at all for me at that distance.

Some good came out of those leftover Ron Paul 2008 signs!

Matt was up next with an 8.3 mile run with some serious climbing. His leg ended at the Ski Liberty Resort. He kicked some butt on his leg and Dan was up next. Dan made easy work of his leg and then it was on to the big daddy of them all. The dreaded leg 6.

My new freind Taryn "volunteered" for the six leg. Taryn lives in Yuma, Arizona which, I'm told, doesn't have a hill in the town. Leg 6 was actually rated as the third toughest of the 12 legs, but leg 6 looked like a pretty tough leg from the elevation chart. Basically 4 miles at a 5% grade. Okay, so just do some treadmill training, I thought, and you'll be all set. Taryn seemed a bit stressed about it all.

Thankfully, we never saw this leg for real until we got there in person. The map didn't do it justice. Just a brutal climb to the highest point in the event. As we drove past Taryn, she was all smiles, just working her way up the mountain. She kicked some serious mountain ass. As all of the runners arrived at the summit, there were cheers from all the participants. Once Taryn arrived, she was presented with a proclamation from the team: Queen of the Mountain. She truly did us proud.

Queen Taryn!

Sometime after 1 pm, Van 1 could rest. We handed off to Van 2 and it was time to relax. One leg down, two to go.

L'Chaim!

American Odyssey (AOR) - Chapter 3 - Into the Night

2009-04-30T15:03:00.000-05:00

It was good to see our Van 2 team mates. This was the first we had seen them since we headed off at the start.

As for our van, we were having a blast. Everyone knew at least one other person before they arrived in person, but we quickly became fast friends. As we drove along, we cheered for all of the runners that we passed, even gave a few a hard time, like the guy that passed Taryn half way up her climb on leg 6.

Now we've got 6 hours to kill.

From the end of leg 6, we headed out to the town of Rouzerville, PA, where we were told that the townspeople were very excited we were coming. They had a little reception set up in the Lowe's/Wal Mart parking lot. When we arrived, we went through their little set up and the off to the Subway at Wal Mart for lunch.

While we were in Rouzerville, the local paper was crawling all over the place. They interviewed a bunch of us and Natalie and I even got a mention. Check out the article by clicking here.

We hung out in Rouzerville until the team caught up with us and then we headed down to the next transition point for leg 13 in Smithsburg, MD. On the way, we continued to shout out to the runners. There were three legs starting or ending in Smithsburg, so it was a welcome transition point where we could hang for an hour or two until we were back on the clock. For the first time, we emptied the van of blankets and chairs and just chilled on the school grounds.

As the afternoon wore on, it would soon be Karen's turn to run. Dusk was approaching, so we got her outfitted in a safety vest and red blinky lights for her run. This run was fairly hilly and she struggled. When she arrived at her transition, she was in obvious pain from a cramp in her butt. Actually, what she screamed was: "I have a mixer in my ass!" Yeah, it's funny now, but it wasn't then. Actually, I must admit it was funny then, but I've got a sick sense of humor.

Karen trying to stretch the mixer out of her butt.

Ann Marie was the first to don a headlight, as we would all do until daybreak. She ran her leg and then I was back up.

This was my first night run ever. Though I thought it would be a cool experience, I'm not sure I'll voluntarily do it again. It's kinda freaky being out there on the strange roads. You hear dogs barking and have no idea if they're chained up or not. Then there are the locals: we're in farming community and the locals are most certainly not expecting to see us. They're also not used to seeing runners on their roads. You could tell when they were forced to stop or slow that they didn't like us one bit. Even the runner's waive didn't help. Okay, screw 'em! Enough on the locals.

My leg included a 1 mile incline at a reported 5%. The damned road seemed to go on forever. My speed had slowed and I was sweating like a pig in the high humidity of the night. As I slowed, the sweat was leaking right into my eyes and I could barely see. Just then, my team van pulls up and I'm able to wash out my eyes and get on with the run. As I reach the summit of the hill, I can see the lights of Boonsboro. Kinda like an oasis. Well, that's what they were calling it anyway. I finished the 4.6 mile leg in about 47 minutes. Not too bad. Now, where's Matt. Oh Matt? Where the hell are you, Matt. Seems ole Matt was delayed in the men's room. Oy! About 5 minutes later, Matt is found and he's off into the night.

The Boonsboro Oasis was a pretty cool setup. 5 legs started and/or ended at Boonsboro, including the next transition to Van 2. The setup was at the Boonsboro school complex, with a high, middle and elementary all sharing the same property. There was a live band, shower facilities and some of the high school clubs were selling hot food and snacks. I got a couple of slices of not-so-hot pizza and then signed up for a massage. Both vans were now here. Van 2 struggled to sleep in the close quarters, but they'd be on the clock before too long to run through the night. It was also pretty loud with the live band playing outside.

It was nice to hang out with some of the Van 2 folks. Nat and I had a quiet couple of moments before she went for her massage. When my turn was up, I took 15 minutes on nothing but my feet. Wow, what a great 15 minutes that was. I didn't even want to walk on them they felt so good. Suddenly the blister that had formed on my right big toe was no longer a factor.

Matt finished his leg, then he ran with Dan on his leg. Taryn then went out for a short 3.3 miler. At last, we were done leg 2. It was pushing 2 am now and we were starting to feel the effects of a very long day. Next stop, Antietam Battlefield for our next transition.

Antietam was the bloodiest one day battle of the civil war with 23,000 soldiers losing their lives. Question was, how would 100 vans full of runners fare in the darkness of the battlefield.

When we arrived, we found some parking but the place was very dark. In front of us were civil war cannons and some kind of building, but we saw no restroom facilities. Apparently, neither did anyone else. I can only imagine what that place looked like in the daylight. Sleep was gonna be tough. Dan decided he'd go sleep on a cannon. Yes, you read that correctly, Dan slept on a cannon. He said that he knew his opportunity to ever sleep on a cannon again might never come. Well, no shit! Taryn went out and found some real estate and sacked out on the battle field somewhere. That left Karen and I in the two front seats, Ann Marie sacked out on the middle bench and Matt out on the back bench. Somehow I think Karen and I got the short end. We figure we each got a good half hour of sleep. The others, maybe an hour or two.

By 5 am, we were all starting to wake. Time to find some coffee. I felt drunk, having not had nearly enough sleep for four nights now. We were all a bit punchy. Getting out of the parking lot with more transitions going on around us was the first order of business. I proceeded slowly, very slowly, so as not to hit anyone or anything.

We drove 10 miles toward Hagerstown and found a beautiful sight -- an Exxon station opened all night with indoor plumbing and hot food and coffee. Perfect! As I'm sitting on the commode, my phone rings -- it's Natalie from Van 2. Katie's running, better get back. Oy, she's ahead of where we thought she'd be. I finish my business, grab some food and head back.

As Katie heads back in, daylight is breaking and we're suddenly back on the clock for the last time, about an hour behind schedule.

L'Chaim!

American Odyssey (AOR) - Chapter 4 - The Last Frontier

2009-04-30T15:02:00.000-05:00

We're now 24 hours into the event and it's crunch time. The forecast for Saturday was hot and humid -- expected to be into the mid-80's. Seems like we were getting paid back for the lack of warmth through the early part of spring. Prior to the week before, there was only one day when the locals could run on Saturday without tights. Well, this would change, for sure.

Even during Karen's last leg, we could feel the day warming up as the sun continued to rise over the horizon. Without a doubt the heat would take it's toll on us.

Karen finished her leg and was officially our first cheerleader. No more running for her. Ann Marie followed with a leg that also seemed to defy the elevation chart. As she finished, we moved to the C & O Canal towpath, a flat, crushed gravel, partially shady run. The relay would stay the towpath for most of the remaining legs.

I took the team for my last run for 6.9 miles on the towpath. I had high expectations for myself, given the terrain and the shade. Dressed in my usual Saturday Team In Training duds, I started strong, feeling very good, considering the lack of sleep and miles already run. At the start, there was another runner at about 200 yards and I was slowly closing the gap over the first couple of miles. Then things started to go a bit haywire.

I slowed down a bit and gave back the distance I had made up. At 3.5, I started to feel some pain in my right foot. I slowed again and eventually stopped to take off my shoe. Only thing I could see was that my shoe might have been too tight. I retied it loosely and began a slow jog, but my mind was telling me to walk. I was cursing myself for slacking. 7 miles is not a big run, but my body was arguing back. I walked/ran the rest of the way, intermittently running from one tree to the next to singing 100 bottles of beer on the wall to myself, just to get through the finale. When I finally saw the transition, I was able to kick it into a higher gear, but I was thrilled to be done. On average, this leg was closer to 11 minutes per mile. It certainly felt much slower.

Now around 10 am, you could cut the air with a knife. At each of the next few transitions, there were millions of little gnatty bugs. Almost like mosquito's, but since they weren't biting, I'm sure they weren't. They were just everywhere. You couldn't feel them when you were running, just standing still. Strangely, everyone had their hands straight up in the air. One of the other runners said that this would keep the bugs higher since they go for the highest thing around. I'm sure that there were lots of locals around who got a kick out of this little urban legend. Looked pretty funny to me. And it also didn't work.

Matt handed off to Dan, who handed off to Taryn. In addition to having the monster hills, she was also blessed to have the single longest leg at 8.8 miles. She started running at noon in the heat of the day. Tough leg. She did it though. Amazing.

As we awaited Taryn's arrival, we discussed with Van 2 the need to skip a leg or two. We needed to complete the run no later than 8 pm and, given the temps, now in the 90's, we'd likely be pushing 9 pm. The race official told us that there was only one team behind us at this point. She informed us that everyone must run 3 legs, so runners skipping a leg needed to run a leg with another. Jeff L. gladly gave up his 8.2 miles to run 4.6 with Natalie. Soon after, Cheryl gave up 8.3 to run 6.8 with Juliet.

At least one of us got more sleep than the rest.

Once Jeff and Nat were off, Van 1 headed into DC to shower off our three layers of stink.

The plan was to meet Van 2 at the finish line. Unfortunately, the park was more difficult to find than we expected. It had no address so we were trying to get there by feel in between DC traffic and construction. Juliet called me every minute or two as Jaqualin was due in any moment. We finally arrived at 7 pm and we ran through the finish as a team!

Team Four Score -- We're All Winners!

Once the results were posted, it was official: time wise, we finished dead last. Enthusiasm, no doubt we were first.

I'll be back with one more post -- dinner, brunch and some final thoughts.

L'Chaim!

American Odyssey (AOR) - Chapter 5 - Epilogue

2009-04-30T15:01:00.000-05:00

It's entirely possible that I've spent more time writing my little AOR report than I did in the actual running. It's just that there is so very much to say and I promise to wrap it up in this last post.

Once we finished the run, we were off to the hotel for showers and then dinner. We had a fabulous dinner at Lebanese Taverna in DC. It was an amazing meal in an unusual place. We arrived and it was amazing how much better we all felt once showered and in a more relaxed atmosphere. Deb joined us, but Ann Marie couldn't.

After dinner, it was finally off to sleep. Dan and Matt drove back to NJ, Deb and I back home, Juliet and Jaqualin back to Virginia. Sleep never felt so good.

On Sunday, most of the group met at my house for brunch. Deb put on an incredible spread and NO ONE was counting calories! We cleaned up the vans and everyone was off to home, where ever that was.

And that was that.

It's hard to put into words how incredible this weekend was. We had so much fun and we learned a lot about ourselves and each other.

We had no expectations. The fact that we had to skip a couple of legs was not a big deal. We really had no choice. You'd never consider that with an individual race. You keep going and you're racing yourself. Dan said it best, this was one of the most fun things I've ever done, except for the running. The running part really was secondary. I looked forward to getting back into the van.
It's all about camaraderie. With a group like ours, were so few people had more than one or two known connections, anything could happen. Here it did -- we had a blast.
A hot shower cures all ills. No doubt, as the race was coming to an end, we were all suffering from our last legs and the heat was brutal. Tensions were high as Saturday wore on, but everyone was in great spirits by dinner. By Monday, we were all looking to do it again.
Speed doesn't matter, but. . . we should have had a couple of ringers. If we had two or three seven to eight minute per mile runners, we'd have made the finish line on time with all the legs completed and time to spare.
We couldn't go it alone. There's no way most of us could do something like this without the support of family and friends. For most of the team, this was a four or five day event. We relied on spouses, parents, in-laws and friends for child support and encouragement. (Not to mention awesome chocolate chip and peanut butter oatmeal cookies provided by Deb.) It would be almost impossible to take the time away without them.
Finally. . .

Beware of other teams being a bit too competitive! Enough said.

THE END.

L'Chaim!

Press

2009-04-26T22:00:00.004-05:00

Meant to add in the press clippings to whet your appetite. Check this out:

From the local paper in Southern PA -- check out the section on the "Eclectic Group" here.

And even The Washington Post mentioned our team name here .

L'Chaim!

What an Adventure

2009-04-26T21:42:00.004-05:00

Well, we did it. 12 of us completed the American Odyssey Relay this weekend -- 200 miles from Gettysburg to DC.

So much to tell, just not right now.

I'll be back in a few days with reports and pictures.

For now, I'll just tell you that it was a truly amazing and incredible experience.

L'Chaim!

The Perfect Run

2009-04-14T21:02:00.001-05:00

Yes, I proclaimed that I wouldn't be running on Sunday, I just couldn't resist. The weather was damn near perfect for a run -- low 50's, sun high in the sky -- a day just begging for a run, despite Saturday's 10 miles and leftover wet shoes.

Turns out the shoes were still too wet to wear so I pulled out my old pair, dry as a bone of course, put on a long sleeve "t" and shorts, grabbed my ipod and set out for a run. The day was perfect and so was the run.

I wasn't looking for the big hills to my east, just the rollers to the west. As I set out, I settled in to a pace well below 10:00 and just kept going. And going. Often, my brain turns to thinking about how short I can run or I keep checking the Garmin to see how fast I was going. Not this day. I don't think I checked once until 2 miles in. At 4 miles, I had an option of heading home, but kept going. The perfect run continued.

Every glance at Garmie showed a 9 something pace. It was all going too well.

Making the last turn back into my neighborhood, I was ready to come home, but totally enjoying it all. Turning into the driveway, Garmie turned 6 miles on the nose. The time? 58:08. A 9:41 pace.

Now, I've had sub-10 minute miles and I've averaged just under 10 minute miles for long distances, but primarily on a treadmill.

This run blew me away. It was fast (for me.) It was consistent -- every mile was within 10 seconds of the average. And, most importantly, it was fun! Can they all be like that? Well, no, but the fact that any run can be like Sunday's is what's important.

Aside from the enjoyment of the day, I continue to be intrigued by the speed improvements. I truly expected that I'd only see significant improvements with added weight loss and I've been stagnant in that department for a good 4-6 months. What I have changed, however, is the rest of my workout routing, now centered around weights, with twice a week Body Pump and 2-3 times a week boot camp.

Can't wait to get back out there again.

P.S. Happy Birthday, mom!

L'Chaim!

The Forecast -- Weather and Etc.

2009-04-11T14:41:00.005-05:00

What a shocker, it's Saturday and it rained today. By last count, we've had exactly one nice Saturday running day for the Team In Training group. By nice, I'm talking about a day that was both dry AND warm enough to wear shorts. As usual, we seem to be able to get one out of two. Shorts today, but a nice steady rain the whole ten miles. Good news is it'll take my running shoes at least two days to dry out, so I think I'm done running for the week.

It wasn't that long ago that I'd avoid weather like today like I'd avoid the plague. Not any more. Now I kinda look forward to the crappy weather. There is something about the weather that I'm really enjoying, hot or cold, wet or dry, like a change in landscape. Mentally, it helps with so many events on the schedule, though honestly, I'm hoping that the price has been paid so the AOR relay weather will be just about perfect! (Certainly don't want to listen to my Arizonan team mates whining if they've got to run in a sub-60 chill.)

Today I got to run with a couple of TnTers that I hadn't run with before. I'm always bummed when I do my long run on my own. Not trying to set any records on the long slow run, just enjoy it, and with some new friends, it's all the better.

This week, with the kids on break, they got to their first ever Orioles Opening Day against the Yankess, no less, AND the O's delivered a win. Thursday's beautiful weather took us back to Camden Yards to see the O's and Yanks duel again and Monday, we'll head to the Nationals Park to see their home opener against the World Champion Phillies. (It will be my 46th Major League park, but who's counting?)

With break coming to an end and spring in full swing (giving advance credit for weather improvement), lots of running events on the horizon. Just two weeks until AOR, Frederick is a week after that and the Maryland Half is at the end of May. Just about then, it's time to start ramping up for Marine Corps. Wondering if I'll ever feel the saddle of my bike.

As for that pesky little job search, finally getting some responses this week. None that are terribly positive, but at least some of the resumes I've filed into the abyss are generating a response. Looking forward to more positive response very soon!

That's about it for now. I'm way behind on reading other blogs (and blogging too), concentrating my computer time instead on the job search. If you're one that I follow, I'm thinkin' about ya, just not reading.

That's it for now. Happy Passover and Easter to all. Thanks for checking in.

L'Chaim!

Next on the Menu: American Odyssey Relay

2009-03-29T19:57:00.001-05:00

Less than four weeks until the American Odyssey Relay (AOR) and planning has taken on a fevered pitch.

The relay is a 200 mile run from Gettysburg to Washington, DC. Thankfully, I get 11 friends to run this with. Our team is comprised mostly of blogger friends from Ottawa (yes, Canadians are allowed!), Arizona, New Jersey, Arkansas, North Carolina and, of course, right here in Maryland.
Over the past few months, we've needed to replace seven or eight original members. Logistically, getting everyone from where they live to the start line, and then back, has been a challenge, but if everything works out right (like it always does, right?), we'll all make it to the starting line just in time.

The route is not exactly level. For some reason, they didn't build battlefields like Gettysburg or Antietam into the lowlands. Some of my teammates, being from, shall we say vertically challenged geographies (read: flat), are a bit nervous about the task ahead.

This week's training plan was to try to replicate the feeling of running three times in about a 24 hour period. The challenge for all of us was to get three runs in representing 60-70% of their AOR mileage total. Build in hills, if possible, too.

I think I've only done a multi-run day once, and that was years ago. I started Friday morning with boot camp. Just a mile and a half in the hour, but that goes to the total. At 8:30, after the kids were off to school, I met up with my neighbor Brian and we headed out for a hill run. My street is pretty hilly. The hills are steep, both up and down, but short. After we left my street, the main event is Tollhouse Road -- about 2/3 mile mostly uphill with a short breather in the middle. From there, some moderate hills, but nothing like the first half of the run. Brian is a much stronger runner, normally averaging about 8-9 minute miles. I struggle to keep up with him, but it's good to have him pushing me. Friday, not so much, we kept a 10 minute pace which we both felt good about for 4 1/4 miles.

At 2:30, I headed back out for another loop on my own. This wound up being the best of the three runs, breaking under 10 minutes average.

On Saturday, I planned to do 6 miles on the regular Team In Training course. We woke up to a torrential rain storm and I was having serious treadmill thoughts. Unfortunately, I had made comments to the team that I mentor not to skip a run in the rain. You can't control race day, so don't skip out on a long run. By the time I walked out the door, the rain had stopped. Attendance was understandably sparse. My team was a no-show. (Guess I need to do a better job emphasising my point.) Oh well, all of the mentors showed (and most even ran!) and a few hardy participants were there, too.

In short, this run sucked. I struggled the whole way and spent the first three miles of the out and back thinking about cutting the run short. Once I hit three miles, I was pretty well all-in. Only way back was three more miles by foot. I even walked the last third of a mile or so.

Not sure if it was the third run, the big mileage coming off the half a week before, the weather, or what, but it was mostly misery. Except, of course, that a bad run is better than no run at all.

So, 16 miles for my triple run. Not bad at all. Will do it again next weekend, trying to up the mileage a bit, too.

A good part of the AOR team took the challenge. We'll all be ready to hit the starting line on April 24. Can't hardly wait!

L'Chaim!

Cold and Cupless in the Capital

2009-03-22T19:49:00.008-05:00

As you, my frequent visitor well know, I am semi-obsessed about the weather. Particularly as it relates to any outdoor activity. A week out, Dave saw rain in the forecast. By Tuesday it was gone, but in it's place, the temps were getting lower and lower, well down into the thirties by week's end.

Dave and I headed to the expo on Friday. I didn't have much of an expectation as Dave had warned me that last year's expo was no great shakes. This year was equally unimpressive. Maybe 20 booths selling their wares. We did meet Runner's World Chief Running Officer Bart Yasso. (I couldn't resist an autographed copy of his current book, of course.) Then it was back home to continue the carb load.

Friday night was a pasta dinner at home followed by the usual prep and a slight build up in stress that always accompanies race day. All the attire decisions were set and everything was laid out for a quick getaway in the morning.

The run was scheduled for 7 on Saturday. 4:30 came way too soon, but I was up and at 'em to meet Dave and be on site at about 6.

The Pre-Run Happies -- Was It Really 34 Degrees Warm?

After a couple of bathroom breaks and even a late wardrobe change by one of us (hint: not me!), we were off to the start line as the sun finally arrived. Dave took his place in his corral and I went to mine. A few minutes later, Bart Yasso started the race and we were off. Well, some of us were off. Took more than seven minutes to cross the start line.

Finally, I was really off. Unfortunately, the pace was very slow at the start, trying to bob and weave through the crowd, especially for the first half mile or so.

As we turned the first corner, there was the Capital straight ahead. What a view to see a few thousand runners ahead, popping up and down with the US Capital right ahead. As I got moving, I could really feel the cold, dry air burning through my lungs.

The view at the 2 mile marker, Capital behind.

The course was fairly flat for the first six miles or so and I was keeping time at or below 10 minutes each. It was a comfortable pace, but was it too fast? Probably, but I was enjoying the run. At mile six, the lone hill of significance had arrived and it took it's toll. Between the just a bit too fast of a pace and the cold air, I slowed significantly getting up that hill.

Once the hill was past, I couldn't get back to the 10 minute pace. It was time to enjoy what little there was on the course once we left the historic stuff.

At the mile 6 water stop, something was missing: cups. Okay, somebody screwed up. I can get to the next one, no problem. At the next one, more of the same. "We ran out of cups, but feel free to drink from the bottle, just don't lip it." Gee thanks. Is it too much to ask for water and Gatorade IN A FRIGGIN CUP? Apparently so!

Along the way, there were some very nice folks that set up their own little water stop. I think it had nothing to do with the lack of cups, just some folks being neighborly. First table said "G2 Only", next was "Water". Finally, "Beer -- Really!" I took from the first only. Really! The rest of the way was more cupless water stops. You've got to be kidding me? How does this happen? Oh yeah, and there's still 2000 thirsty people behind me!

Along the way, there was a live band at DuPont Circle around mile 7 and a big group of high-fiving Howard U kids -- that was great. I even saw one of the Baltimore Team In Training Mentors on the course. Beth and I talked for a half mile or so and then I turned and had inadvertently dropper her. (Sorry, Beth, hope you had a great finish!)

As for the run, I was holding my own, running all the way, maintaining mostly 11 minute mile paces. At 11 miles, I started talking to myself -- just two to go. I've never made it that far without walking (other than water stops.) Today I was going to do it. I kept talking to myself and it was working.

Finally, the finish was in sight. The marathoners went left and the halfers went right. A decent crowd at the finish and it was done.

Official time: 2:18:04, bettering my Tampa personal best just three weeks ago by 4:43. Running all the way!

Next up, the hour wait for Dave. In the cold. Suddenly, the couple of hours worth of schvitz was now working against me as I hung out. In the mean time, it was great to watch the speedy marathon finishers and the back end of the half. It was great to watch the joy of those running their first marathon cross the finish line. Dave came in at 3:23, a personal best for this event.

Way to go, buddy!

Dave and I, marathon #15 and half #5 in the books!

I feel great about the day, but what I feel best about is that I know I could do better. Now, time to concentrate on the next event -- the American Odyssey Relay. Much more on that to come.

So much for this race report. Thanks for hanging in with me.

L'Chaim!

Kick Ass Wednesday

2009-03-18T08:55:00.002-05:00

I'm feeling way way behind on so many fronts. I've deemed today to be Kick Ass Wednesday -- that's what Boot Camp Kenny calls our Wednesday workouts and I'm stealing his theme for my day today. Time to get caught up.

Perspective

A friend spent the past four months or so not feeling right. Mostly some gastrointestinal issues. He started going to the doctor and they couldn't find anything. They scheduled a colonoscopy. Even though he started to feel better, the doc wanted to do the test anyway. The result? Colon cancer.

My friend is 39 years old with a four month old baby at home.

His prognosis is good.

I can't help but to think what he and his family have gone through in the past few weeks. It really puts everything else in life into perspective . . . the job loss, the day-to-day bs that we all deal with, the bs that you're going to read below. Just can't imagine.

Our thoughts and prayers are with him.

Old Friends

A couple of weeks ago I was walking through Trader Joe's and I ran into an old friend. We'll call him Greg. (No, not protecting his anonymity, that's his actual name.) I turned a corner and there he was. Greg and I went to college for a few years together and were good friends after college. In the last few years, we haven't seen each other or spoken, but I've always considered him a friend, even though our paths had diverged a bit.

Anyway, back to the story, "Hi, Greg" I said. I get this stare back. . . "I know you but I don't know who you are," I'm sure he's thinking. He throws out a name -- not mine. "Nope, it's Jeff," I said. Don't think Greg's chin could have dropped any lower.

Through this whole body changing adventure, this is the first reaction I've had like this. In the past year I haven't lost a whole lot, so I'm starting to accept what I look like and forget what I used to look like. This was a great reminder of how things have changed. I don't ever want to forget where I've been.

About the Bike

Okay, let me talk about my love/hate relationship with my bike. I love riding my bike, really I do. Unfortunately, I had no clue how much maintenance might be required. I was up for some maintenance, but I'm a low maintenance kinda guy. (I've thought about paving my lawn to avoid lawn work, to give you an idea what I'm talking about.)

The weather two weekend's ago was absolutely perfect, so I finally got around to truing up my wheels. My neighbor's truing stand had been in my garage for four months. An hour later, it was done. Sunday I went to ride.

Apparently, with the wheel issues, my gears were out of alignment. I was stuck in the middle front chain ring, which gives me nine gears. That's okay, though, I can handle the hills on the easier gears. That is, until I go into the easier gears -- bike is not happy about either the easiest or toughest gears. Oy! I'm down to just 5 or 6 working ears out of 27.

I get through the ride and head over to Kirk's Bike Shop. Never heard of Kirk's? Well, he's my neighbor and between Kirk and George, next door, they've got just about every tool made and have been invaluable in keeping me on the road. In about 5 minutes, Kirk has my gears working -- all 27 of them. Then he spend 10 minutes explaining the 4 hour overhaul I ought to do to clean the bike up. Needless to say, my head was spinning. Nobody told me about all the maintenance required. Guess I'll just have to get a new bike every six months or so.

Half to Go

Just three days until the National Half Marathon. Weather report is darn near perfect -- in the 40's, light winds and DRY! Goal for the day is to break 2:15. Will be tough, but using the Tampa barometer from a few weeks ago, I think it's there for the taking.

Speaking of Tampa -- got confirmation of my time from the race and apparently, I got 27 seconds faster in my sleep. The confirmation was 2:22:48 vs the initial 2:23:15. I knew I was getting faster, but I sure do like getting faster this way!

That's it for now. Next post will be after Saturday's half. It's back to Kick Ass Wednesday.

L'Chaim!

Race Report, With Extra Goodies!

2009-03-05T21:34:00.000-06:00

Have we really been home from Florida for four days? Where has the week gone?

Last Tuesday, I headed to the chiropractor to address the calf issue, still not feeling better and a bit concerned with a half marathon scheduled for the trip. The doc got me right in and massaged the spot. Diagnosis was a micro tear in the muscle. Doesn't sound good, but you know already that things worked out. Glad I took the time to visit.

We picked the kids up from school early Tuesday afternoon. Amazingly, we were able to keep the trip a secret to them up to the point when we pulled into the parking lot at the airport. It certainly seemed like we'd spilled the beans on a few occasions, but the boys clearly aren't suspicious enough, though I'm sure that will change over time.

Once they figured out the secret destination, plenty of hoot'n and holler'n ensued.

Our Southwest flight was full but landed early in Tampa. From the airport, we headed out to Clearwater Beach for some fun in the sun.

We spent Wednesday locally at the pool and riding on a pirate ship. And we ate. And ate. And ate some more.

Thursday, I woke early and headed out for my first run since the prior weekend's triathlon. Though my chiropractor suggested waiting as long as possible to run -- Friday evening or Saturday morning -- I really was anxious to get out there and enjoy the weather. Besides, my calf was feeling much better. The run didn't disappoint. I'd say the pain was about 95% gone and I felt pretty good running in the early morning "cool", such as it was.

Once I got back, it was breakfast and on to a day of coasters and games at Busch Gardens Tampa. We could not have picked a better day weather wise. Just perfect. The only thing better were the light crowds at the park. My family has had a longstanding love affair with roller coasters. One of my disappointments as a fat guy was not being able to partake, but I've been making up for lost time, not skipping a ride at any park. My kids seem to have taken to the family love.

Zach was fearless at the park, riding every coaster at least once, and some several times. He even handled my favorite, SheiKra, a coaster that goes up 200 feet, does a straight 90 degree downward turn and the holds you at the apex for 4-5 seconds. Then, free fall. Matty rode most of the coasters as well.

Friday was beach day. We spent the whole day at the beach. Kids were in and out of the water. I sat and read a book. (My mom had lent me The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva months ago. Once I read page one, I couldn't put it down. ) That afternoon, I went for a pain free three mile run.

Saturday was moving day. From Clearwater Beach, we went to Tampa to the run expo, then off to watch the Yankees lose to the Twins (Yeah!)

Throughout the day Saturday, I spent more time worrying about weather than the actual run for the next day. Not just the weather in Tampa either. We had a 3pm flight home scheduled Sunday afternoon and Baltimore weather was calling for 4-7 inches of white stuff to start falling at 2 pm. Might we get stuck for an extra day? I could think of worse places to get stuck, for sure.

Deb had scouted out a Spaghetti Warehouse for Saturday night dinner in Ybor City. She called and asked about reservations. No problem to get in at 5-5:30. She mentioned all the runners carbing up. No clue. Off we went. We arrived at 5:30 to a one hour wait. Are you kidding me? No dice. We wandered Ybor City and found a nice little Italian place. Perfect. Food was great, timing was better. We finished eating about the time we would have been seated at the Warehouse.

After dinner, it was back to the hotel to get some sleep for the 4:30 wake up call. As it is, it's tough to get a good night's sleep before an event. Add to it a hotel in a strange town, a blackberry alarm backed up by an iffy hotel alarm clock and there just isn't a good way to sleep well. I started tossing and turning at about 3, never really falling back to sleep. By 5, I was on my way to the lobby. Hot Starbucks waiting, great start!

The forecast was questionable. Upper 60's and 90% humidity at race time. Wind and a good chance of rain. It is what it is. Just go and enjoy.

I was at the starting line 45 minutes early, just wandering, using the port-a-pot and just people watching. Even did some stretching.

The course was pretty flat and based on my recent long runs, I was hoping to maintain a 10 minute pace for as long as possible. If I could hang on, that would be 2:11 or so, but I thought 2:20 would be a great finish. I hooked up with the 4:20 marathon pace group. The full and half ran together for the first 7 miles. If I could hang with them, I'd be in great shape.

At 6, we were off and running. I didn't expect to feel the humidity so quickly. By a mile in, I was a bit behind the pace group, but struggling. I lost the pace group at about 2 1/2 miles. The humidity just didn't let up. Seemed to be getting worse. As we went past 5 miles, the skies started to turn black. At mile 8, black was upon us, but just 5 to go. At this point, the course is a 2 1/2 mile out and back to the finish. It felt like the run was into the teeth of hurricane winds. (According to the almanac, 20 mph sustained winds with 30 mph gusts. Go ahead, you try it!) I'm thinking after the turnaround the tailwind will be great. Yeah, good thought. Just doesn't work quite that way.

For the last 2 miles, the rain picked up a bit, but the end was near. I admit asking myself what the hell I was doing out there. I couldn't wait for it to be over. And soon it was. I blew through the finish in 2:23:15, a personal record by 13 minutes. I didn't see Deb and the boys immediately, but I heard them yell out for me and they were there. It was a great run. I walked the water stops, but ran the rest. Given the conditions, I couldn't be more happy with the finish. Oh, and the medal. . . sweet!

After some well deserved food, we wrapped up the trip and headed to the airport. Nothing exciting here. Flight on time and we arrived in Baltimore just as the first of many flakes were falling.

Thanks for reading this extra long report. Less than three weeks until the next race report!

L'Chaim!

Home Again!

2009-03-01T19:25:00.002-06:00

Just a quickie. Got back from Florida this afternoon to a nice 4-7" promised snowfall. We had a blast at Clearwater.

This morning was the Tampa Gasparilla Half Marathon. Weather sucked, high winds, rain for the last 4 miles, humidity of 90%+, but I finished in 2:23:15, a personal record.

Pictures and full story to come!

L'Chaim!

And the Winner Is. . .

2009-02-23T14:14:00.003-06:00

Ray Burleson, whoever that is.

After a grueling two day wait for results, ole Ray was crowned winner of the men's triathlon. I finished 35th of 43 finishers. Swim was 41 of 43. No surprise there. Bike was 7th. Gotta be happy with that. Run was 33rd. Congrats to my buddy Bryan, finishing 25th.

In the last couple of days, I've been feeling better and better about the event. I will most definitely be in line for another helping of indoor tri.

My body is not taking quite as well. I'm sore everywhere. Today is worse than yesterday. The alarm went off for boot camp this morning and I could barely move enough to shut the thing up. Everything feels like just normal muscle usage except my right calf. Hoping I didn't pull something there, though it does feel better this afternoon than it did this morning.

Tomorrow, we're off to Tampa. The kids still don't know and I'm totally amazed that we've been able to keep it from them. We'll pick them up from school then directly to the airport for five days of sun, beach, amusements and a Yankees spring training game. Oh yeah, their dad's running a half marathon on Sunday, too.

I've finally downloaded the pictures Deb and my trip to Ocean City last week. Here are a few:

I'm not sure this picture does adequate justice to the temps and the wind. We took this at Rehobeth Beach, DE.

That would be me running on the boards. I swear, I'm really running!

Post run relaxation. Nice, huh. Thanks, Deb!

That's about it from here. Lots to talk about after Tampa, I'm sure.

L'Chaim!

Swimming Sucks. . . The Rest, Not So Much

2009-02-22T05:11:00.010-06:00

Saturday started like most Saturday's, meeting at Centennial Park for the weekly Team In Training run. I planned on just four miles with the indoor triathlon on the schedule for later in the day. It was a chilly day, for sure with temps in the low 20's. Another great turnout for the group, especially considering the chill in the air.

After the run I headed home to get prepped for the tri. As I packed my bag, the first thing I realized is how much crap I was taking. Well, not really crap, I guess, all important stuff. My inventory: tri shorts for the swim, a rash guard shirt for the swim (you know, to help me glide through the water, Michael Phelps style,) goggles, pool sandals, cycling shorts, shoes and socks for the cycle, tech t-shirt, running shorts and shoes, a couple of sweat bands. Okay, that's a lot of crap.

Bryan picked me up at 11:30, plenty of time to get there and check out the layout for our 12:40 post time. The format of this event is a 10 minute swim, 10 minute transition, 30 minute stationary bike ride, 5 minute transition, finishing with a 20 minute treadmill run. Terry met us there a bit before the start and served as our official photographer and cheerleader.

As for the swim, well I really wasn't looking forward to it. I wouldn't say I was stressing about it, more just looking forward to it being done. I spent absolutely no time in a pool since last summer and I haven't had a lesson since summer camp. . . in 1979! I probably should have at least done some research, but I went in cold, so the sooner it would be over, the better. I was also concerned that pushing the swim could hurt the bike. Not to mention the impact of the 4 miler in the morning on the day's events.

At precisely 12:40, the head judge blew the whistle and we were off. The first two laps felt pretty good. I wouldn't say fast, but not too slow. Since I was sharing a lane, I could judge how I was doing by the other guy in my lane. We started at opposite ends of the pool and by the second time down, we seemed pretty close. That was pretty short lived. On my third lap, I was feeling my heart rate going up and struggled a bit on that breathing thing. From then on, I felt like I was swimming in quicksand. After an hour, I heard the judge yell out "4 minutes to go." Are you kidding me! Another hour passed and finally, mercifully, I had completed 14 laps and could get out of the pool. Not a second too soon. Two friggin hours to swim 10 minutes. Bryan was in one of the middle lanes and belted out 21 laps. Kicked my ass.

That's me -- not sinking!

After a quick dry off and change, we were on to the spin bikes. Bryan and I had spots in the middle of the group of seven for our wave. The official explained what to do and what not to do and we were off. It was wierd to actually see speeds on a spin bike, since they are not usually outfitted with speedometers or odometers. I quickly got into a 24-25 mph range, which was comfortable, but I didn't know how long I could sustain it. There was virtually no tension on the bike, which is pretty unusual. This was a totally different experience than a spin class where you're in and out of the saddle and tension is pretty important. At 10 minutes, I was just over 4 miles. As a group, we started sharing our progress and I was pretty well ahead of the pack. I was able to keep the pace and with a few minutes to go, pushed it even harder. When the whistle blew, the odometer read 12.58 miles. Seemed like most of the others reported 6-9 miles. Wow, after the ass kicking I felt in the pool, it was good to kick some ass on the bike.

Me, right, Bryan, left, enjoying our ride to nowhere.

5 minute transition. This is quick. Run to the locker room, shorts and shoes off, shorts and shoes on, get to the treadmill. But there's that walking part. OMG, my legs felt like Jell-O! Would I be walking for 20 minutes on the treadmill?

They were waiting for me when I got there. I pushed that transition to the limit. Put the treadmill on 1% incline and go! I was hoping to get in 2 miles. I knew the fast paced bike would hurt here, and it did. Starting out at 5.7 mph, I'd need to get strong to make up lost time in the second mile. Normally I don't have a problem pushing the last mile of a run, but this would be a test. I struggled just to get to 6.0, the pace I'd need to average to get in 2 miles, but I did and really pushed the second mile, checking my heart rate in at 160+. At the end, I was credited with 2.10 miles and was officially whooped.

How about them calves (and ass, too!)

Bryan and I got packed up and headed out to the car. . . slowly. This was the first tri for both of us and it was a great experience. The Tri to Help folks were great, the club was great and we felt like this was a good intro to multi-sport.

Has the bug bit me? Well, no, not yet at least. I really liked the indoor experience. As much as I hated the swim, reading about others talk about the open water swims, getting kicked in the face, etc, just doesn't do anything for me. For this day, though, I truly enjoyed the experience.

L'Chaim!

13 Blissful

2009-02-20T13:00:00.002-06:00

Deb and I celebrated our 13th anniversary this week by spending four quiet days in Ocean City, MD. In season, May through September, OC is inundated by a couple hundred thousand beach goers. Mid-winter, it's more like a couple of hundred. Pure bliss!

We hung around our ocean front room watching the crappy weather out our sliding glass door, had some nice meals, watched some movies (The Visitor, W., and half of Swing Vote, if you must know) and mostly enjoyed being together. (Thanks to mom and dad for hanging with the kids.)

I got in a couple of crappy weather runs on the boardwalk -- mid-30's, high winds, rainy. I've concluded that it's far faster to run with the 15 mph wind at my back rather than in my face. (This may seem somewhat silly but since treadmills have no wind factor and I've temporarily suppressed my allergy to cold weather, this was truly a monumental moment.)

Now that we're home, it's time to prepare for tomorrow's indoor triathlon. Oh yeah, that little thing I signed up for with all intentions of getting in at least one swim. Well, no time for that. I'm getting in the water cold. Hope I won't sink! Looking forward to. . . well, finishing! Will give a report on that over the weekend. Have a great one!

L'Chaim!

The Future

2009-02-14T05:07:00.002-06:00

Okay, peeps, no more sad guy. (But thank you all for your support and encouragement.) It's Saturday. It's Valentines Day! It's time for a run.

Team in Training group run is at 8 and I'll be there for a chilly 6. After a week of great temps, mother nature remembered that it is mid-February and we're back into the low 30's.

Deb and I are off to the beach for a few days of quiet rest and relaxation this week. Looking forward to just hanging out, running on the board walk, enjoying our anniversary and talking about the future. No laptops, no blackberrys. Will be strange. . . very strange.

Alrighty, then, time to go. Have a great Valentines Day!

L'Chaim!

The End. . .

2009-02-13T10:25:00.002-06:00

. . . The Beginning.

When one door closes, another one opens.

After 18 years, 11 months and one day at Clean Harbors, today is my last day. I leave with heavy heart, after all, I was just 25 when I started here. The work was tough but the good times were many. Mostly, it was the friends that I made. I'll miss the people.

I'm a sentimental guy. I've held up pretty well for the past month as I've tied up loose ends, but today is tough.

The future begins tomorrow. . .

L'Chaim!

Hiatus

2009-02-07T19:45:00.002-06:00

Not much going on this week in so many ways. It's been 6 days since my 14 miler on Sunday and I have yet to exercise. Hard to believe I've done nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not a mile, not a kilometer, not even an inch of athletic activity.

I spent a couple of days at my corporate office wrapping up business. Pretty much two days of letting people take me out for lunch and dinner, including a bang up "moving on" soiree. After 19 years, it comes down to the people. The work is okay, but it's the people I'll miss. Some I've worked with for my whole career there.

Today started out with the Team in Training breakfast. All of the participants in MD brought together for some rah rah at the Hard Rock Cafe in Baltimore. There was plenty of rah rah. Don't know how anyone could have left that event and not start to ask people to give.

Then the day got better. . . had to be pushing 60 degrees. Just fabulous. Perfect for a run or a ride. Just not for me. Having trouble getting my mo jo-ing. Just feeling ambivalent. I'm trying to feel bad about it, but I can't even get self guilt going.

Tomorrow is the first Team in Training group run and I can't wait. Just a four miler, but I really can't wait to get out there. I need to go further, but I feel like I'm starting fresh, even though Tampa is just 3 weeks away.

Oh, and then there's the scale. I'm not even giving details here. Not hard to figure out what a week of no exercise, heavy meals and more than a couple of cocktails will do.

So there it is. . . full disclosure. Effective tomorrow, hiatus over, back on track. 5 days of work 'till "vacation", 21 days till Tampa. Lot's of work to be done. Time to get started.

L'Chaim!

Back on the Team

2009-02-05T13:28:00.001-06:00

I couldn't have been more honored and excited to be asked to serve as a Howard County, Maryland Team in Training mentor for the Summer 2009 season.

Saturday was one of the info meetings at the library where new recruits come to check out the program. I was there with the two other local mentors and coaches for the run/walk, bike, tri and hike programs. As a mentor, I'll be helping others meet their fundraising goals. (Don't worry, I won't be asking for any money. . . yet!) Every seat was filled and the sign ups were coming in fast and furious. Can't wait to get my list of mentees. (Is that a word? Well, I'll be darned, it is a word!)

There are some great events on the calendar including the new Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon. I'll be running the Frederick Half, the only local running event.

Let the running begin!

L'Chaim!

Bad News, Good News

2009-02-01T21:27:00.002-06:00

So the Steelers won the Superbowl. I don't like the Steelers. Since they play in the same division as the Ravens, I just can't like them. I don't hate them -- they're not the Yankees. Just don't like them.

However. . .

Every year I play in one or a couple of block pools. I last won around 1986 -- true -- In 1986, I won 3 of 4 quarters in my dad's company pool. Nothing since. Usually, I'm good for 5's and 2's -- almost impossible numbers. I got a couple of those, BUT. . .there was that promising 7 and 3. The final? Steelers 27, Cardinals 23. WINNER!

So what will I do with my windfall? I'm going to the National Half Marathon! Not quite Disney, but hey, it's another event close to home. Once upon a time, it would be a big fancy fatty expensive dinner. How times have changed. Still, I don't like the Steelers.

L'Chaim!

Weather Report . . . They Closed Schools for This???

2009-01-30T20:22:00.003-06:00

It's really no surprise that my New England and Mid-Western friends laugh when they hear about school closures in this part of the country. Tuesday was a great example . . . the forecast called for 1-3 inches of snow. No biggie. By 6 am, there was barely a dusting on the ground and our local schools, CLOSED! In fact, just about every school district in Maryland had cancelled schools. By late afternoon, we had a whopping inch and a half on the ground. What a joke.

I know I'm sounding like my grandparents, but in my day, there is no question we'd have gone to school. Maybe we close early, but if there is no appreciable precipitation on the ground, we're going.

Only thing I can figure is the fear of lawsuits. What else could it be? Buses can drive in a couple inches of snow.

The problem with Tuesday was that it led to Wednesday, when the real weather was expected. A nice half inch coating of ice expected overnight. Nobody's driving on that. And that's about what we got. Schools closed. (Although, apparently it wouldn't have slowed schools in Chicago according to the Obama kids!)

So here's what we've got. . . last Friday the kids had a half day for god knows what reason. Monday was a teacher's professional day, no school. Tuesday no school for no good reason. Wednesday's ice. . . no school, good reason. Thursday, two hours late to let Wednesday's ice that melted in the afternoon and refroze over night do some more melting. All of the sudden, you've got almost a week's vacation for the price of none. A bit of stir crazy going on? Uh huh!

What's all this got to do with a diet and weight loss blog? (This blog is about, well, me, after all, isn't it?) Seems that the classes at the gym don't go when the schools don't go. Over the course of three days, I think I signed up for 8 classes that never happened. Tuesday, I blew off Body Pump thinking I'd get something in later in the day. Didn't happen. Wednesday's ice meant nothing moved. I finally hit the treadmill at home for a 5 miler. By Thursday, the itch was serious. Time to get my money's worth -- an triple header -- 3+ miles on the treadmill, an hour spin, followed by a Body Pump. Man did that feel good.

I've only hit the club in the evening a couple of times, usually for a convenient post work run. Gotta say, the vibe was totally different. First, there seemed to be a lot more people there. Second, there are a ton of kids -- I'm talking teens. They were everywhere. Third, it just felt different. Don't know if the folks felt less serious or less friendly or what. Just different. I kinda like my early morning crew. Looking forward to getting back to them next week.

Can't believe January ends tomorrow. One month closer to spring! Yeay!

L'Chaim!

Blog Break

2009-01-25T14:07:00.007-06:00

Seems like the library has become much more popular since the economy has gone in the tank. Second Sunday in a row I couldn't find a spot on the lot. You'd think they were giving something away. If I'm right, getting a spot at the Barnes and Noble must be a lot easier.

I'm sitting in a study carrel working on my resume. Gotta say, it was Deb's brainstorm to banish me here and it was friggin brilliant! It's coming along, but really, I'm wishing there was some football on tv to take me away from here! How many days until baseball season. Just working and thought I'd take a blog break.

I met my buddy Dave at the gym at 5:30 this morning for our "warm" long run. It was a crisp 20 degrees on the outside, but nice and toasty at Lifetime Fitness. Plan for today was 11 miles for me and 18 for Dave. Can I just say that I kicked some treadmill ass! The meter at 1 hour showed 6.01 miles. First time ever for 6 miles in an hour. I was able to run continuously for about 8 1/2 miles before I needed a walk break. At the end of the run, I had covered 11.16 miles at an average of 10:10. With 5 weeks to go until the Tampa Half, I am looking forward to crushing -- I mean CRUSHING my PR of 2:36. Okay, yes, I'm getting a bit full of myself, but why the hell not. My goal was to break 2:30 to qualify for the National Half Marathon in March, but 2:20 is in reach. Dave did a crushing workout today, too, knocking out almost 20 instead of 18.

Okay, back to work before Deb senses my slacking and comes to kick my ass!

L'Chaim!

Moving Forward

2009-01-23T12:01:00.004-06:00

It's been more than a week since the ax fell and I have been humbled by all of the well wishes and offers of help in my job search. It is truly heartwarming to hear from so many coworkers expressing their thanks for the work I had done and from so many readers with great vibes.

I am looking at this time off as a real opportunity. Over the years, I had thought about moving on, but there was safety in staying. Safe no more, it's time to get on with the search.

The plan is to work off those nagging last pounds by hitting the gym early and often, just as before. No reason to stop the pre-dawn routine. Keeping the snacking under control will be key -- I snack far more at home than at the office. Gotta change that recipe. I'm thinking Andy is gonna like me being around.

So far this week, things are going in the right direction. Getting in plenty of miles and boot camp to boot. The scale is even cooperating -- just 2 pounds off of my low.

There you have it. . . my plan to move forward. Looking forward to sharing lots of progress!

L'Chaim!

A New Season of Life

2009-01-16T07:13:00.007-06:00

The last two weeks have been pretty tumultuous. Last Monday started with the departure of a senior executive at my company that led to a reorganization that led to the reassignment of the group that I was affiliated with that led to my ultimate termination. It was difficult to hear that my services would no longer be required after nearly 19 years with the company. Needless to say, blogging became pretty low on the priority list.

The tough part was sharing the news with so many people that I had worked with for many many years. It was sad and emotional. Talking to one teary friend, I thought to myself "hey, what the hell are you crying for, I'm the one that got fired!"

Over the years I had thought to myself that a change in venue might be liberating. Well, I guess now I'll find out. It's not really fair to say "I", since Deb and I will be in it together and the kids, too, to a lesser extent. We'll find out -- together.

One of my coworkers called me and said I'd be on to "A New Season of Life". Sounds like a great title for a book chapter. . . or at least a blog post! That's truly how I'm looking at it. I'm far more self confident than I was a few years ago. Now I'm not the "fat guy" looking for a job, just the guy looking for a job.

So what's next? I have no idea. Have to figure out what I want to do when I grow up. Deb found my most recent resume -- a good 12 years old. That'll be the first piece of business. In the mean time, I'm sure I'll have more time to blog!

So that's it, my blog friends. If anyone is looking for a finance/accounting type guy in the Central Maryland/DC area, I'm your guy!

L'Chaim!

Looking Forward, Looking Back

2009-01-01T15:40:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year. Hard to believe 2009 is here. (Anybody remember preparing for Y2K? That was 10 years ago. Where does the time go?)

I looked back at my 2008 goals this morning and it sure looks on paper like a crappy year. The big three goals were to run and bike 1000 miles each and finally hit my weight goal of 199. Zero for three, I'm afraid.

On the running side, I was right on track through early June, but the injury really killed this one. No miles at all in July or August. Had I been able to run and get the Marine Corps Marathon in, that would be a piece of cake.

Biking was much closer at 957 miles. Cold weather this week killed any chance of getting those last few miles in. On the other hand, I don't count indoor spinning miles. First of all, the spin bikes don't have an odometer, but even if they did, I don't think I'd count them. Just not the same.

On the scale, December was a disappointment after a great start. The month wound up about even. Total loss of 19 pounds for the year ending at 222.2, still 23 pounds to goal. The last few weeks have been the best and worst -- kicking ass in workouts but eating it all back by the end of the month.

Looking at the positives, I've added quite a bit of variety to the day to day routine. Lot's of Body Pumping and Boot Camping. Much more toning going on. Even on the running and biking, I've doubled my running miles total from 06/07 and tripled 07's biking miles. Weight wise, a loss is a loss. Slow and steady.

Oh, yeah, there was that marathon thing. And that century bike ride. Not a bad year at all.

This morning, I woke up with a bad headache. Maybe it was from the lack of alcohol. Given the chill in the air with wind chills in the low teens, the last thing I felt like doing was running 5 miles. I was also reeling from pretty much non-stop eating yesterday. By 9 am, my plan for the day was to sit around and do absolutely nothing.

Shortly after that, we were flipping channels and picked up an episode of All Star Workouts on Fit TV. My 8 year old, Matty, started doing the boot camp exercises. Well, I couldn't let him go it alone, so I joined him for the last 40 minutes. That felt good. From there, I headed down to our lonely treadmill for 5 quick miles. Done. Back on track and feeling fine. That was about as quick an up and down and up as I've ever been through. Sometimes the motivation comes from the most unlikely places.

As for 2009, the race schedule is posted and if my feet and legs are healthy, I should be able to record lots of miles. Given that the tough part of the year will be preparing for both the Marine Corps Marathon and Seagull Century in October, I'm keeping the mileage goals the same as last year since I missed them both in '08. As for weight loss, well, that same 199 is still sitting out there. I'm going to take care of that early in the year (I swear!).

There you have it. Thanks for all of your support!

L'Chaim!

2009 Tri-ing to Du and Other Stuff

2008-12-26T17:13:00.000-06:00

Finally getting around to firming up the 2009 event calendar.

Three major events are already on the calendar -- the American Odyssey Relay in April and the Seagull Century and Marine Corps Marathon in October. I'll likely do one of the two latter with Team in Training again. Frederick was such a great experience last year and it is such a worthy cause. (Don't worry, you'll be hearing from me again on this, no doubt!)

I've never been interested in the whole triathlon thing, but there's one that looks intriguing -- an indoor tri -- 10 minutes of swimming, 30 minutes of stationary biking and 20 minutes running on a treadmill with preset transition. So what if I can only do a few laps in the pool. No stress on transition, either. Looks like a great way to get my feet wet. Pun intended!

A duathlon -- run, bike, run -- is more up my alley. Hope to get one in. Not sure when, though there are a few options. Will add later.

The big winter event will be the Gasparilla Tampa Half Marathon. Just so happens, we have a long weekend planned in Tampa while the kids are off of school. Just so happens this is going on while we're there. Score! (But, shh, kids won't know we're going until we pick them up from school to head to the airport!)

The rest of the schuedule is filled in with plans for a few other running events.

So, here goes:

1/1 -- New Year's Prediction Run 8k
2/21 -- Tri to Help -- Indoor Triathlon
3/1 -- Gasparilla Tampa Half Marathon
4/19 -- Clyde's 10k
4/24-25 -- American Odyssey Relay
4/26 -- Pike's Peek 10k
5/3 -- Frederick Half Marathon
5/31 -- Inaugural Maryland Half Marathon
6/14 -- Survivor Harbor 7 Miler
8/30 -- Annapolis 10 Miler
10/10 -- Seagull Century Bike Ride
10/25 -- Marine Corps Marathon
12/6 -- Columbia Metric Marathon -- 26.2k

Looks like a busy year. Hopefully, my feet will hold out for a change.

L'Chaim!

Merry Hanumas!

2008-12-24T21:06:00.002-06:00

Wishing all our friends in blogland a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

L'Chaim!

Too Many Fours

2008-12-20T22:03:00.003-06:00

So much has gone on since I last posted. Where oh where to start.

There was the unplanned day trip to the Corporate Office. Then a planned two-day trip to Corporate that expanded to three. The work crunch has been relentless and stressful, and it's not been positive to the exercise and healthy eating regimen.

This week's trip really threw me. In the middle of the week was my 44th birthday. I knew there was a chance that my Wednesday meetings would keep me late or even over to the next day, but the kids couldn't wait for me to get home. Gut wrenching, really. As the day wore on, I realized that I would not make it home on Wednesday and my mood truly soured. I didn't want to talk to anyone on the day my phone and email never stopped with best wishes for the big day. I got home a full day late and met the family for a belated birthday crab cake dinner, finally starting to feel the numb of the prior few days wearing off.

I diligently packed a couple sets of workout duds for the trip, unfortunately, leaving the office after 8 pm and back in at 6 am doesn't bode well for that which would have cleared my head. I brought home two sets of clean gym wear.

A bigger issue this week was at meal time. Some of that old fat Jeff was out and about. Looking back, it seems like every meal had me full half way through. I know I finished every meal -- good to the last drop. There was the awesome too big, too good Greek salad that I shoulda taken half back for a late afternoon snack. Birthday lunch included half a loaf of onion bread, dipped in goo -- olive oil, Parmesan cheese and spices. Birthday dinner started with two nice glasses of red wine, an order of my favorite roasted red peppers and mozzarella, bathed in olive oil, followed by a big bowl of seafood pasta -- worked to completion of course. At the family crab cake dinner, after I finished mine, I finished Matty's cake and then Zach's. Friday was a day of grazing on everything in sight.

I started to feel like I was in a competitive eating contest, with me as the only contestant. Four days of feasting. Four days without exercise. Happy 44th to me!

I got on the scale this morning knowing that the news would be bad. It was. But I was off to the gym for my Saturday double -- Body Pump followed by spin. While I was spinning, I was thinking -- when I start the day with exercise, it sets the tone for my eating. Yeah, sometimes I compensate with a little extra food on the big days, but nothing like this. I was totally out of control. Part of me enjoyed it, but most of me hated it.

Live and learn -- one of my toughest four day periods in the past 2 1/2 years and I failed in the diet and exercise departments, but if I learn how to deal with the next one, I'll bump that grade to a C.

L'Chaim!

White Out

2008-12-07T18:42:00.002-06:00

What a weekend so far, I expected more
The forecast was dry, but cold for sure

On Saturday we hiked to Frederick you'll see
Going to meet Aaron, a guy much like me

5k was the plan, jingling all the way
Check out Aaron's blog for news of the day

Yes it was chilly, and we weren't quite fast
It was Zach, me, Paul and Aaron -- but at least we weren't LAST!

Late afternoon it started to snow
Didn't expect it, this could really blow

Not quite cold enough to stick to the streets
My buddy Dave suggested running in cleats

Easy for him to say, he thinks I'm a fool
Cause today he ran the Vegas full

The dining room table was covered with my crap
There was so much stuff, looked like a death trap

Three layers on top and two on my seat
Just two on my head and three for my feet

Didn't sleep well from about four
Before six I gave up might as well start the tour

Ate a bit, got dressed, head to my toes
Turned on the computer -- why who knows

Ann Marie's Facebook note said it all
Roads are icy, too easy to fall

I looked outside and what did I see?
A complete layer of white -- how could it be?

Maybe just a quarter inch was enough to do it
A slip and a slide was guaranteed to screw it

Despite my efforts to train quick and fast
I was so ready to go, the disappointment won't last

So what did I do with my unexpected day of leisure?
Not a damned thing (does anything rhyme here other than siezure?)

Time to start thinking about 2009
And finish this rhyme, it's mighty fine

Thanks for hanging through it I do appreciate
Your support and a kind word or two, four, six or eight

L'Chaim!

Cool Runnings

2008-12-05T16:25:00.001-06:00

No, this isn't a post about the Jamaican Bobsled Team. It's a look forward to this weekend's running events.

Temps around these parts have been hovering mostly around freezing. This weekend will be more of the same.

Tomorrow's event is the Jingle Bell Run 5k in Frederick, MD. This was not an event I had planned to do, but a local soon-to-be-formerly-fat blogger, Aaron, picked this as his first 5k and it's too close to home not to join in for the fun.

This brings back memories as my first 5k was the Jingle Bell Run just 2 years ago. Will be heading west with the family early. Looking forward to temps in the upper 20's at the start. BRRR! I'm thinking those temps outta get Aaron to the finish a couple of minutes quicker than he's thinking.

I had a great 8 miler on Saturday with the Team in Training crew. Ran the full distance other than water stops. Even better, I was able to run the uphill mile or so back to the start -- a first for me. This was a great final long run leading up to this Sunday's Columbia Metric Marathon. With my times still consistently running between 10 and 10:30/mile, my concern about finishing in under the 3:30 time limit is all but a distant memory. Now I'm more concerned about being able to start out slow. The goal is an 11 minute pace -- just enough to break 3 hours.

For the first time, I'm excited about a race in a very different way -- there is no worry about times or IF I can finish. Baring injury, I KNOW I will finish. It just feels different. I can hardly wait!

(Oh yeah, forecast for the 8:15 start -- 32 degrees, windy and dry!)

Looking forward to sitting on my couch Sunday night watching the Ravens kick the Redskins butts writing my race reports.

Have a great weekend everyone!

L'Chaim!

Milestones

2008-11-28T10:54:00.003-06:00

I've always been amazed by how weight loss and speed seem to come when I least expect it.

In the past month, I've averaged 5-6 workouts a week, some even double ups. In that time, the scale has been pretty flat. I've worked to control the intake, but for the most part, there has been little movement. Yesterday morning, I hopped out of bed and did my daily check in with the scale expecting more of the same. Happily, the same was not to be. For the first time, the scale showed the reward I've been looking for -- the first two digits were black jack -- "21". Black jack was not followed by the nine point eight that would have been good enough for me but rather eight point zero.

Although I don't need numbers to define my success, I'm a numbers guy and they are a good benchmark to measure progress objectively. One of those measures is body mass index, or BMI. The BMI takes a person's height and weight and calculates a number that is defines them on a scale from underweight to morbidly obese. My new BMI of 29.6 is in the overweight column, which is a good thing. For the first time in probably 35 years or more, I am no longer obese.

After doing a little "Hey, I'm not Obese Anymore" song and dance next to the scale, I quickly gathered my cold weather gear for the Green Valley North Turkey Trot. In stark contrast to
last year's run with temps around 70, this year the forecast called for low to mid 30's: running tights, two pair of socks, three layers on top, gloves and hand warmers were the order of the day.

I arrived at the site about 15 minutes before the scheduled 9 am start with a Starbucks Venti already warming my blood. Checking in, I picked up my t -- a very nice technical t, rather than the all cotton version that they handed out last year -- and one extra since I had registered the whole family, even though they decided to stay warm instead. Since I parked a good 10 minute walk from the start line, I put one t on and another in my pocket. I was feeling a bit like Santa with my four layers and bulging pockets -- extra t in one, gloves in another.

A bit after 9, the race was a go. I had no idea how my recent speed surge would translate to the course's rolling hills, but I'd soon find out.

The first mile, more downhill than up, was in at 9:44. Holy crap that's fast. I mean WAY faster than anything I've ever recorded. Okay, just one mile and downhill at that. Let's see if I can average that out to stay at 10 for 2 miles.

Sure enough, 10:16 -- dead nuts on for a two mile average of 10 minutes.

Mile 3 was another down-more-than-up mile and another sub 10 minute mile at 9:45. At this point, I'm thinking out loud about a sub-50 minute run. (Yeah, and you should've seen the looks I was getting, too!)

Shortly into mile 4, I was feeling the three miles before. No way can I keep up this pace. I'm tired. Want to walk. Can't walk. No walking. Less than two to go. Almost there. Uphill mile 4 in at 10:09. Holy crap, 4 done in under 40. Just a mile to go!

Mile five was slow. More uphill, damn! By 4.5, I was 20 seconds off the pace. I've lost it, but I will still blow away anything I've ever done. Mile 5 in 10:11, but the run isn't over. The last piece is straight down hill! 1/20 of a mile in 22 seconds, 8:19 pace -- I was sure this body wouldn't go that fast!

Final: 5.05 miles -- 50:29 -- average of 9:59.8/mile! Better than a minute and a half faster per mile than a year ago.

Honestly, I wouldn't have thought that possible. I felt great!

Back to the car and a quick stop for some Dunkin Donuts coffee for me and the Mrs. and then home to enjoy the day.

Without a doubt, I did a bit too much celebrating over Deb's fabulous dinner last night. I couldn't move after two plates of turkey, roasted sweet potatoes, squash casserole, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, cranberry sauce, a cookie bar and a fat free/sugar free pudding with cool whip to top it off. Waaay over indulged. I certainly felt fat. Thinking back, I used to enjoy that feeling of too full. Not any more. Yuck.

Hope you all had a great and Thankful day!

L'Chaim!

Icicles

2008-11-25T21:06:00.002-06:00

Where the hell did fall go? It's been frickin cold here. Like unseasonably cold. Not that I'm doing a lot outside, but . . . the cold really sucks. Last week we even had some snow flurries. Brrrr.

The Metric Marathon is just 13 days away and my training plan is in full swing. Last week was two thumbs up on that account. Almost 25 miles of running last week, all on the treadmill, of course. Somewhere along the line I seemed to have found some speed (at least for me) and consistency. Each of my four runs averaged between 10:41 and 10:47 and my long run was my fastest time. Talk about a negative split!

As for consistency, these have been my steadiest times ever. My last 6 runs, 41 miles, have all been between 10:59 and 10:41 average. I feel like I can finally predict how fast I will be. Maybe this is temporary, but I finally feel like speed work might actually work. Of course, this is all well and good in a controlled environment. What about outside?

For sure, this coming weekend I'm planning to get my long run in on the neighborhood streets. Will see how it all translates. I'll be pulling out all of the cold weather gear, no doubt.

Hard to believe Thanksgiving is just two days away. Happy turkey day, everyone!

L'Chaim!

Slacker

2008-11-17T19:42:00.003-06:00

I am a slacker. That's what one of my biking buddies called me on Sunday, so I'm sure he's right.
Saturday, I hit the gym for the Saturday Double -- Body Pump followed by a spin class. Great start to the day. At 9, Deb dropped the boys off for kids Zoomba. Sounded like fun if I could get them into it. It was tough going, but they did get out there and dance. I joined them in the back row with a few other parents (moms) and the kid's were more comfortable. They did plenty of whining, but by the time they told Deb about it, they were ready to go back next week. Guess the double will become a triple. Throw in the post Zoomba swim and that makes a quadruple. Yee Haa!

Sunday was long run day. My buddy Dave was heading to Lifetime Fitness early to hit the treadmill for a 14 miler. I invited myself to use one of his guest passes and met him there at 5:45 with a goal of 8-10 miles. This would pretty much determine if I would register for the Columbia Metric Marathon. Need to be relatively comfortable that I could meet the Metric time cutoff of 3.5 hours -- a pace just under 13 minutes per mile.

We were off and running by 6 and I felt really good. For the first 2-3 miles, Dave and I were conversing comfortably. My first walk break was at 3.5 and I was a keeping a pace better than 10:30. By 5, I knew I would go for 10. As the miles ticked by, I was keeping to just under 11 minute mile average with walking occasionally. At 9.2, I was 30 second off the pace for sub 11, but I had enough in the tank to push myself to pick up those lost seconds. At 10 miles, the ticker showed 1:49:58 -- a pace of 10:59, by far my fastest run of any distance beyond 4 miles. I was feeling pretty jazzed. This run pretty much sealed the deal for the Metric. I signed up Monday night.

When I saw one of my biking buddies at 9 and he saw me sans cycle, the first word out of his mouth was "slacker!" Well deserved, no doubt.

With just three week's to the run, I'm pioneering Jeff's 3 Week Slug to 26.2k Training Plan.

Week 1 -- Tue - 3, Wed - 6, Thu - 3, Sun - 12
Week 2 -- Tue - 3, Wed - 4, Thu - 3, Sun - 8
Week 3 -- Tue - 3, Thu - 2, Fri - 2, Sun 26.2k/16.2 mi

And there you have it. If it work's out, I'll publish! In the mean time, I'll just be a slacker.

L'Chaim!

Finally, Just a Run

2008-11-13T16:23:00.002-06:00

It's been a while since I just ran. All this other stuff has been getting in my way, which I have enjoyed, but other than the 2 miles I credit myself with at boot camp, I haven't had a single longer run since the Baltimore Half almost 6 weeks ago.

Like every time I think about running, I have a backup plan. I sign up for spin or Body Pump as a backup, but the backup always seems to become the plan.

Yesterday, I signed up for spin for this morning as my "backup." Unlike the last 6 or 8 times, today I went the direction of the treadmill instead of the spin studio.

And I ran.

And it felt good.

And I realized that I missed it.

It was a good run. A bit over 4 miles in 45 minutes -- a sub 11 minute average. That's a great time considering my lack of running.

What next?

I've been waffling on whether to run the Columbia Metric Marathon on 12/7 -- 16.2 miles with a 3 1/2 hour time limit. Registered last year, but didn't run due to injury. Today's little 4 miler has me thinking seriously about training for it. (There must be a 16 miles in 4 weeks or less training plan out there somewhere, right?)

So I think the bug is back. Stay tuned for the plan on this one.

L'Chaim!

20 Years!

2008-11-12T09:22:00.002-06:00

When I tell people about my conversion from fat to fit, they usually say something like "Wow, think about how many years you've added to your life! Of course, that's pretty tough to know, right?

Well, I found this cool life expectancy calculator and now I know the truth (because I sincerely believe EVERYTHING I read or get from the internet.)

After answering 40 questions about my life, health, family history, etc, I know with absolute certainty that I will live to 91. Then, I went back and plugged in the fat me information -- 71 years.

Just think -- that's an extra 20 years to drive my kids crazy. Something to look forward to!

L'Chaim! -- and a very long one at that!

Where Have You Been, Joe DiMaggio?

2008-11-10T21:36:00.000-06:00

Well, not Joe, but me. Yes, it's been two weeks. Sorry about that. Life in the way, once again.

So let's see, when I last left you, I was enjoying the buffet at the gym. During the past two weeks, I've continued to enjoy.

4 Body Pumps

2 Boot Camps

4 Spin Classes

2 21 mile bike rides

Food wise, I feel like I'm eating pretty well. Not a lot of changes from the South Beach plan. A few strays, but nothing noteworth.

With all of that activity and the eating going well, the pounds are just falling off. They must be, right? Not so fast, bucko. Stagnation is more like it. Much to my surprise, I've been in a groove between 222 and 224 pretty much every day for the past two weeks. Not a bad place to be, but not exactly where I thought I'd be, considering. No doubt I can tighten the plan down a bit. My goals are still in sight and achievable for year end, but the clock is ticking.

So that's all I've got. More to come when the mood hits me!

L'Chaim!

Ass Kicking Update

2008-10-27T05:23:00.004-05:00

It's been a long time since I did a Monday Update where I report my successes, or lack thereof, from the prior week. Seems that these updates are a lot easier to write when the news is good.

If variety is the spice of life, last week was close to a habanero pepper with nothing less than a buffet of activities: boot camp, two Body Pump's, two spin classes and a 21 mile ride yesterday.

As for South Beach -- I was able to maintain the plan with one intentional variation -- Kashi Go Lean. A couple of months ago I was reading one of Lance's posts about the virtues of the stuff. I tried it and now, I'm hooked. It's not on Phase I of South Beach but it is on Phase II, so there's my exception. Bowl of Kashi, skim milk and a banana (also Phase II). Aside from all the good stuff in it, it sure keeps the body plumbing moving -- one thing that South Beach has a tendency not do.

For the most part, I had no issue with the reduced carbs and exercise. One notable exception was yesterday's bike ride. By 70 minutes in, I was hurting and started to trail the group I was riding with. Even though I had the cereal and included a bottle of G2 on the ride. Only question is whether that was a function of the reduced carbs or the exercise for the week. Guess time will tell on this front.

With all of this good stuff going on, the numbers on the scale have been shrinking. Since my request for ass kicking two weeks ago, I'm down 14 pounds, from 237 to 223, a new 30+ year low and a far better result that I thought that I would see. It's only two weeks, but it definitely feels like the first couple of weeks on a new plan.

Next up is to plan out the activities for the next six months. With no major runs or rides on the calendar until April, time to make some plans.

L'Chaim!

The Prophet

2008-10-22T16:52:00.000-05:00

It's really pretty amazing all of the response that I've received on my need for help getting back on the wagon. I've received some great advice and a number of private emails from some folks looking for help or looking to share their similar frustrations. I appreciate them all.

When I checked my mail this morning, what awaited me was a five start comment from a guy that found this blog by accident.

Hi Jeff, By accident, I stumbled upon your blog and immediately was sucked into your story. A very inspiring read.
I too am turning my life around and I can very much relate to your experience of running the 10 miles when you realized you would never be the same Jeff again. I had that same experience a few weeks back when I completed my first sprint triathlon after training for several months.
After that experience, never will I be the same unfit, depressed and overweight David again. While my weight problem was not close to what yours was, I could feel myself heading that direction fast.
Let me say this, One of the best gifts you can give yourself is the gift of health. In giving that gift to yourself, you will inspire others to also give the same gift to themselves and the domino effect goes on.
You have no good excuse not to give yourself this gift. You owe it to your future, your family and your loved ones. I assume you have no illness or disability. You have everything you need to become the person you want to be. No excuses. I hope I didn't just waste the last 20 minutes reading your story because when I found out you were back to 237 I was kinda
disappointed. It was like I was watching Rocky and I just knew you were going to win...and now...237.
So you let the old Jeff...the old unmotivated coward that gives in at the first hint of something tasty, you let him kick you down. That behind you now. Its time to "kill the coward" Jeff. You have everything you need to get it done. What you've done so far is incredible. Congratulations. But guess what, your not done yet.
Its time to make some bigger sacrifices with your diet and your exercise. Its time to feel a little more pain.
Getting and staying healthy is a lifestyle. A LIFESTYLE. So get it out of your mind that someday you will "arrive" and you will get to go back to eating lots of ice cream and late night snacks. Those days are over Jeff. Say goodbye. Its a lifestyle not a diet. It will be hard but you will thank yourself for having the determination someday.
Here are some quotes that have inspired me...
"Genetics might load the gun but lifestyle pulls the trigger"
"Hunger is ugly leaving the body"
"There is a certain joy in the pain of exhaustion"
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
'I become a happier man each time I suffer.'-LA
"There are two times to train - when you want to, and when you don't."
"Stop saying 'I'm going to exercise' and start saying 'I'm going to train'...it makes you more bad ass"
"Ride like you stole something"LA to F Landis
"Without pain, there's no adversity. Without adversity, no challenge. Without challenge, no improvement. No improvement, no sense of accomplishment and no deep-down joy. Might as well be playing Tiddly-Winks."Scott Martin
"Don't look away, it's the life that you choose, now believe it."
Posted by David S.

I read this and then reread it. It pretty well stopped me in my tracks. This really sums up so many things that I needed to hear.

"So get it out of your mind that someday you will "arrive" and you will get to go back to eating lots of ice cream and late night snacks. Those days are over Jeff. Say goodbye. Its a lifestyle not a diet." Long ago in this journey, I had wondered what happens when I get "there". You know, that place where dreams are made -- the goal weight. That magical, mystical, subjective weight that is really little more than digits on a screen. David points out that realizing that number is not then a license pig out. The goal should not be a number, but a level of health. Unfortunately, there aren't a whole lot of easy measurements to figure out a part of this. Nobody is going to have blood drawn to check their cholesterol every day. Besides, I'm a numbers guy, so it's easy. I just need to put it all in perspective. I've said it to people hundreds of times -- I'll be dealing with my weight for the rest of my life. Now, I just need to understand and accept what that means.

Since this was a late post, I know a lot of my friends are also struggling with weight that they're having to lose again. I hope that David's words will help you too.

David -- thank you for taking the time and effort to write. I can't help but wonder if your accident wasn't the product of something unworldly. I'm grateful that it happened. Please stop by again.

On another note. . . I had planned to write about something totally different today.

This is Bryan. We've ridden together a few times and we both belong to the same gym. About a month ago, I got Bryan to try out Body Pump at the gym and now he's a regular. In return, he told me of all the virtues of Basic Training class. There was one excuse and then another why I didn't go. Yesterday he reminded me again and it was all about the weather. I don't do sub-40 degrees outside. (Okay, yeah, wimp, fine, I can live with that.) Monday was in the mid-30's at the 6 am start.

So last night I checked the weather and we're looking at low 40's. What could I do. No more excuses.

I met the instructor (drill sergeant, actually, right?) and he looked me up and down. I could read his mind -- "this guy's in no shape to handle my class." Just then, Pat, one of the Body Pump instructors walks by -- "Hey, Jeff, how was the Baltimore Marathon?" Sarge looked at me again -- "You ran the Baltimore Marathon?" Well, half, but yeah. The change in his demeanor was instantaneous. Timing was perfect.

Anyway, at 6, a group of 60 or so gathered outside. Start with 15 - 4-count jumping jacks. Okay, 20 push ups. Alright everyone, we're running to the college, about a mile and a half away. At the college, it was time for 20 minutes of intense calisthenics. More more push ups, 100 full range sit-ups (I didn't think anyone did those any more!), crunches, more crunches, squat thrusts -- oh man, it's been 30 years since I've done a squat thrust -- jr. high gym class -- they still suck. OK, now, run back. Then more jumping jacks, still more push ups, finally some stretches. Thankfully, form doesn't count, cause I didn't have any for most of this.

The hour was about as intense as anything I've ever done. The chill in the air was refreshing, for sure. I figure I'm good now to about 38 degrees! It will be nice to work this into the weekly repertoire.

I told Bryan that I hated him, but, of course, I don't. (He told me the same thing after the first Body Pump, too.) I'm thankful that he kept "reminding" me. Not sure how I'll feel in a couple of days when the soreness from the morning's activities set in, but I'll be back!

L'Chaim!

Back to the Beach

2008-10-20T17:51:00.001-05:00

Thanks to all for the kick in the ass. It was exactly what I needed and really helped me get some focus.

Today I headed back to the beach. . . South Beach that is. I had great success with South Beach from July 06 through early 08, but as my marathon training heated up, I found the need for more carbs. Since then, my weight has essentially been stable. Now I have nothing of significance on the calendar and workouts should be mostly an hour or so, so it's back to what worked before.

Last night I skimmed through the new "Supercharged" South Beach book. Best I could tell, the big difference is the section on exercise. The diet is the same -- lean meats and non-starchy veggies, especially during Phase I -- the first 2 weeks. No fruits at all. Gets more generous during Phase II after that with the addition of some fruits and more veggies.

I'm looking forward to some positive, ass kicking results in the near future.

L'Chaim!

Wait Loss

2008-10-14T17:37:00.001-05:00

I was truly looking forward to the summer running and biking season. With Frederick over and lots of miles to ride, I expected the pounds would just fall off. Looking at my Garmin uploads and seeing thousands of calories worked out of my system, I was SURE I'd be hitting my long term goal any day.

Well, my friends, that was then and this is now. Seems like all of those "free" calories took their toll. I haven't seen the 220's in almost 2 months. Yesterday, two days after the half and just 9 days removed from the Seagull (and the 8000 calories burned that day), the scale showed an eye popping 237. (Point Four!) The last time I weighed in at this heft? March 17, nearly 7 months ago!

Unlimited carbs for all of that exercise, right? Um, yeah, right. Ice cream before bed is cool, right? Hey, it was all low fat. I admit, it might not have been exactly the serving size on the container, but who eats those paltry servings, anyway. OY! Okay, I understand why. I did it to myself.

Now, before you start to comment with "It's okay, you'll get back on track" and "Hey, Jeff, you did it before, you can do it again" or "Dude, look where you came from, this is just a small blip, you'll be right back," wouldya just save it! Look, I'm just pissed at myself. I did it to myself and I missed an opportunity to drop those last 25 pounds, which are now the last 38 pounds.

Problem is, I started to enjoy food again. For two years, I got myself into a position where food was just subsistence. Now, I look forward to food again. I have my favorite places to eat and things to eat. For a long time, there was the boring old salad bar at the local Weis market for lunch. Now I crave Panera. Crave may not do my feelings for Panera justice -- when I die, I want to be baked into one of their multi grain baguettes and dipped into vegetable soup. I'm telling you, I'm in love. After Saturday's half, we hit my favorite Mexican spot -- chips, salsa, my clean plate, then I finished my kid's plate. There's the old Jeff in fine form.

What I need is a kick in the ass. Some serious tough love. Gotta get outta my friggin' food loving ways or I'll be playing Santa this Christmas without added padding!

No nice comments, please. Nothing peppy or I swear I'll delete it. I'm tellin' 'ya, I need the pain.

L'Chaim!

Baltimore Race Report

2008-10-12T20:49:00.004-05:00

The weather for Saturday would be perfect -- lows in the upper 50's, highs in the low 70's. Dry. Not much more you can ask from the stuff you can't control.

My neighbor Brian was also running the half. This would be his first "major" race. He'd done the Annapolis 10 miler a few times, but this would be his first half marathon. He was already stoked about the expo. We decided to leave at 7 to find parking and watch the start of the full marathon. As we headed in town, his enthusiasm and excitement was obvious. It felt kinda strange being the "expert" for a change.

The starts to the Baltimore events are staggered. The marathon kicks off at 8, then a 5k at 8:30, then the half at 9:45. The full course runs adjacent to the half at the start, then split for three miles, then the two merge at mile 3/16 through the finish. The delayed start is so that the leaders of the full have an opportunity to pass before there is a merge.

We arrived by 7:30 and headed to the start of the marathon. The place was all abuzz with tons of spectators. The Mayor of Baltimore gave a speech followed by one of the Under Armor commercial guys. Finally, Georgia Cleland, daughter of the founder of Team In Training and subject of the initial fundraising activities, along with her dad Bruce counted down. As the runners headed out, I got chills knowing what they were all in for. I can certainly appreciate their efforts, especially those in the back of the pack, now that I have completed one.

Once they were off, the 5k runners toed the line and they were off. On our way to the half starting area, we stopped by the finish line to watch the 5k runners finish. 13:53 later. WOW, amazing how fast these guys are.

Off we were, with a quick stop at the bathroom we headed over to Light Street where the start of the half would be. What was cool about the location is on the southbound side of the road, there were marathoners at about mile 7. Cordoned off from the half route on the northbound side of the street were runners at mile 13. Lots of spectators and cheering all around.

Brian and I hung around for a bit, and then I headed back to wave 3 to look for some of my running friends. I quickly found Katie and Tawanda, the other members of the Blue Crab Running Club. Then I ran into the TNT group, including Ann Marie who I met and ran with when we were training for our spring marathon's. We chatted for a couple of minutes, wished each other well and I headed back to start with Katie, Tawanda and their friends from disneyrunning.com.

FINALLY, the start was here, but not for us. Us wave 3'ers wouldn't cross the starting line for 15 minutes. I must say, by this point in nearly any other event, we'd be looking for the finish line. Frederick's 6:30 start would have us on our second beer by now (at least for the half!) At this point by the time we've started, I've been at the event site for more than 3 hours, my throw away sweatshirt is long gone and the place is heating up. Let's go already!

At about 10:00, we were officially off. The word on the street was that the course was "challenging." After Frederick's nastiness, I decided once again to ignore the elevation maps and just enjoy the run. It didn't take long to hit the first of the hills followed by what seemed to be a constant barrage of hills -- more ups than flat or down. Good news for me was that despite the hills, I was feeling pretty good. No foot or ankle pain. Plantar fascia in check. All good.

After about 2 miles, the hills got the better of Katie and I kept on going. Quickly, though, I realized that 2:30 wasn't going to happen and a PR was well in doubt. With 12 minute running miles, I'd need to go non-stop to the finish. Never one to say never, I was pretty sure it wasn't to be on this day. At 4 miles, I took my first walk break as one more hill was one more too many. Still, though, I was enjoying the sights of the city, and what sights there were.

There was the chicken guy. Yes, a guy dressed up in a chicken suit. Kinda reminds me of this guy:

(This is Steve Stenzel, one of the funniest bloggers out there. I've shamelessly stolen this picture of him right off his blog. Steve wore this costume during the Twin Cities Marathon a few weeks ago. I'm using this picture without permission just to give you an idea what a guy in a chicken suit might look like. In fact the guy in Baltimore wore a white suit and his face was not covered, so just close your eyes and imagine Steve and a costume like that.)

I much appreciated the Baltimore Department of Public Works leaving all of the roadkill in place. I counted two on my part of the course. Only explanation I can think of is that some of those super elite runners weren't paying attention and squashed some poor unsuspecting predators. Damn them!

The street people were great. NO, I don't mean people hanging out on the street. It was awesome that all of Baltimore's finest street people came out to watch and cheer us on. Seriously. I'm sure that provided hours and hours of entertainment that was more than the norm.

From mile four, plenty more uphill to about mile 7, where we went down hill to Lake Montebello. This is by far the most scenic part of the run. Nice, wide open paved running path with tons of spectators. It's where I realized that sunglasses and sunscreen would have been a good idea.

I was able to run the lake and out 33rd street past the senior housing development on the site of the former Memorial Stadium. More walking and running on some more hills until I came upon Ann Marie again. I was quite surprised to see her, but it was a welcome sight to see a familiar face. Soon, we were on the slow downhill portion of the course as we pushed each other running, then short walking spurts. At one point, with Oriole Park in view, Ann Marie dropped back and I ran the rest of the way.

There is something to be said about running into the chute with lots of cheering people. I got chills as I cleared the desolate Eutaw Street promenade of Oriole Park and went into the wide open area leading the way to Ravens Stadium. As I finished, I turned to see Ann Marie just 100 yards behind.

Official time: 2:49:24.

Considering that I ran less than 25 miles in the four months leading up to the race, about 10% of any training plan worth it's weight, this is pretty good. Considering the hills and the hills on the hills, my goals would have bee a stretch even if I had trained properly. Considering the starting temp at about 68 and finishing at 72, that's the hottest I've run this distance. Considering the couple of miles of walking we did before the run and the three hours from home to the start line, it was a long day. All things considered, I'm thrilled with my time and my finish.

After the race I hooked up with Brian sporting a big smile to go with his 1:55 time. Then it was time to find the Maryland Double award. This is the award for completing either the half or full at both Frederick and Baltimore. With 39 miles in the books, I wasn't leaving without it, despite the 20 minute wait in line.

The Corrigan Sports promoters do a great job and having Under Armor as the lead sponsor, there are no cheapie premiums. Back of the shirt and the two medals are below.

Looks like next year's Baltimore is out -- I'll be trading the flat Seagull Century ride for the Baltimore hills on the same day.

Thanks to all of my friends and Deb who encouraged me to stick this one out. It was well worth it.

L'Chaim!

Baltimore Half

2008-10-11T14:54:00.003-05:00

Just got back home -- Garmin shows time of 2:48. Official results not yet posted.

Despite my goals, I'm very pleased with the result.

More to come.

L'Chaim!

Ready for Baltimore

2008-10-10T04:03:00.000-05:00

Seems like almost forever since my last significant non-"hey, I'm injured AGAIN, no running for me" report so this should be something fresh and new.

With tomorrow being the UnderArmor Baltimore Running Festival and, for me, the Carefirst/Blue Cross Blue Shield Baltimore Half Marathon (shameless promotion here, hoping for some free UA gear or maybe a comp doctor visit) and all of the big biking events in the rear view mirror, it's time to run.

The plan for Tuesday was a long run of 6 miles. Not exactly setting the world on fire, but it would be my longest run since June and with little consistency, I was hoping for some kind of barometer for the big one tomorrow.

When I woke up Tuesday, everything inside of me said to turn over and go back to sleep. I didn't. For some reason, my mind was intent on me not getting out of the house. I crapped around for a good hour and a half. Can't even tell you what I did, but it wasn't run. Finally, I headed to the gym with just enough time to get in six, I hoped. What happened then was totally unexpected. It was a great run. I mean like one of those (seemingly very rare) runs that reminded me that I actually liked to run. I was able to run non-stop for more than three miles. As four and five ticked off, I was trying to figure out if the clock (the job, really) would let me do seven. Unfortunately, my screwing off at home came back to haunt me, it would only be six, but I left the gym totally stoked and psyched for the race ahead. My 11:23 average pace won't set the world on fire, but it's pretty good for me considering my lack of preparation.

Wednesday was another story. Hoping for some more magic, I think I pushed it a bit. Almost 2 1/2 miserable miles, but I'm chalking that up to needing recovery.

So tomorrow is the day. The blogger get together will just be Katie and me after some other friends bagged us (not that I'm taking it personally or anything.) Hoping for another run like Tuesday. As for goals, much as I'd like to break 2:30, a pace of 11:26 is probably out of reach. Would love to hit a PR of 2:36:02 or better. The course is challenging, though, with some early hills (up). At the end of the day, it's all about finishing.

Race report to come!

L'Chaim!

100 Miles Is a Long Long Way to Go

2008-10-05T13:09:00.024-05:00

To start from the beginning. . . well, not exactly the beginning, but the genesis of this century ride, after my latest "can't run, gotta ride" incident this summer, Deb asked what was the big, "marathon type" riding event. A century ride, of course. Well, one thing led to another and I was soon signed up for the Seagull, along with another 6000 riders.

Before yesterday, my last ride was a full three weeks before. That was a bit concerning, but between travel and weather, there was little I could do other than pick up every spin class I could find. On the positive side, there was no opportunity to break me or my bike in that time, so I had that going for me.

Before each event, I most definitely get stressed. More so for this one. There's just so much crap to schlep. Aside from the obvious, the bike, there's the clothes, the helmet, the gloves (full finger or half), tire pump, water bottles, etc., etc., etc. I started writing a list around Tuesday. When Deb spotted the list she remarked that it wouldn't keep me from forgetting anything. (Yeah, thanks for the positive thoughts, love.) Anyway, there was plenty of stress leading up to our departure. Thankfully, my family stands by me, knowing that next time around, it'll be easier (I swear!)

On Thursday, I pulled something in my right shoulder. I think it was something I lifted, but by Thursday eventing, I could not lift my right arm above my shoulder. This is not good. Not good at all. Deb massaged the area and that helped. Friday morning I was at the chiropractor for more relief. All helping, but still pretty scary.

The plan was to pick up the kids from school on Friday and head 2 1/2 hours east to Salisbury on Maryland's Eastern Shore. We loaded up the CRV with enough stuff to to last us a week. (Well, at least 3 or 4 days.) We were on the road at 3:30 with plans to be in Salisbury by dinner time. Unfortunately, we hit far more traffic that we should have due to construction and a couple of accidents. We spend about an hour getting through the town of Cambridge, otherwise, 5 minutes max.

We got to the hotel just after 7, dumped my bike in the room, and headed to the expo at Salisbury University. The kids, who had been fairly well snacked on the ride, spotted the pre-race party (food!), so the cries to get out of the expo started pretty much immediately. The one thing that I was concerned about for the ride was the temps. Looked like low to mid 50's at the start, but 70's by mid-day. I figured a pair of arm warmers would do the trick. I picked up a pair of US Postal Service removable arm warmers and it was time to enjoy the party. Chicken wings, home made potato chips, corn on the cob (drowned in butter) and ice cream. Not bad for an appetizer.

We headed from the University to get some dinner, then back to the hotel for a quick visit to the pool and whirlpool. I laid all of my stuff out for the next morning (and I had it all, thanks for the confidence boost, Deb.) Then to bed.

Morning arrived much earlier than necessary. No, not the alarm, set for 5:50, the little ones, who went to bed with no problem, but seemed to dislike sharing the queen size bed beginning just before 5 am. After a few dozen shhhhhh's and "get back to bed's", there was no point to further sleep. I was up and had a few helpers getting things organized for the day's event.

After a trip to the Hampton Inn breakfast bar, with my invited little ones, Deb joined me out front for last minute preparations and requisite pictures and I was biking off to the start, a short ride from our hotel.

At about 7:15, I was at the starting line for the "show and go" start. It was really hard to judge just how many people and bikes were actually there at that point. Seemed like there were bikes everywhere. Hundreds, at least. I quickly got in line and off I went.

The route was set up nicely with rest stops every 20 miles or so. The first two stops were pretty run-of-the mill. The third was at Assateague Island National Seashore. A great locale with water surrounding the stop as well as some home made breads baked in the University's kitchens. The last stop included various pies and vanilla ice cream. Not bad rewards after 62 and 82 miles done.

Being alone in an ride where it seemed that everyone was with a group or with friends, the goal was to find pace lines and grab on to the back. The first 20 miles I found a few loosely organized pace lines, but nothing lasting more than a mile or two before they fell apart. On the way, it was obvious that everyone had out their bike jersey finery.

I was totally impressed with many of the groups out there. Most outstanding were the Team In Training riders. They had 150 riders in the event and seemed to be everywhere. Each group had their locale printed on the back pockets that showed home areas from as far as South Texas. Always impressive at any athletic events in the area is the Naval Academy team. Being passed by their perfectly cadenced team in white was a site to see. That's teamwork. There were also "Guys who Get Fat in Winter" and "Big Fat Bastards" of note. Not to mention jerseys from just about every major college and university in America.

The good news for me was how I felt. After struggling through the metric just three weeks before with some pretty bad back pain, I put myself on a pretty strict stretching regime. Just about every night, I stretched for 10-15 minutes, mostly concentrating on my back. Then, of course, there was the panic from Thursday. I added some stretches at each rest stop as well. For the first 30-40 miles, I had no back pain whatsoever. Even then, the pain was pretty mild relative to a few weeks before.

As for the ride, I was able to hop a few pace lines along the way, but at about 70 miles, I hit a wall and struggled to push to even 15 mph. A few periods along the way, I was able to get up enough power to speed up, but for relatively short distances. This was very reminiscent of the wall at the full marathon at 20 miles. Timing made sense as my longest previous ride was just 64 miles. Regardless, I was able to make it through and did not once think I wouldn't finish. If I had to, I could have gone further.

While I was riding, Deb and the boys headed to Ocean City, Maryland for a little time at the beach. Even though the water was getting chilly, it didn't stop the kids from taking a dip. After a few hours on the beach, it was off to the boardwalk for junk food -- fries at Thrasher's, ice cream at Dumser's and caramel corn at Fisher's. (Amazing how long the lines are at Thrasher's, even off season, pictured left.) When I talked to Deb at the last stop and she told me of their stops, I asked if there was any caramel corn for me. "Of course, my love." Mmmmm, can't wait!

At 2:30, as I approached the final turn, there were Deb and the boys with camera in hand. It was a great sight! I turned the corner and headed for the home stretch. Shortly after I crossed the finish line, Deb and the boys arrived from their corner and I hit the showers.

Deb and I celebrated with a beverage at the beer garden. (Quite a sight from everyone dumping their equipment to grab a brew. Mine is out there somewhere. Can you find it?) Then we hit the road for an awesome seafood dinner and ride home. (And some Fisher's popcorn, too!)

So, what did I learn from my seven plus hours on the road? Well, a few things:

This was fun, but would've been a lot more fun with friends. I've got four or five volunteers for next year already.

Training matters. No surprise here. I had hoped to get in a 70-75 miler before yesterday, but I ran out of time. This woulda pushed the wall back another 10-15 miles, at least.

It's easier to train for a biking event than a running event. Don't know why, but it was. The marathon was 16, grueling at times, weeks of training. This was less than 10 and I took the last 3 off.

Biking events are VERY different from running events. Biking is much more social and there's a lot less stress. Not that one thing is better than another, just my observation.

My wife has more confidence in me than I have in myself. . . and thank goodness for that. Woulda been a pretty boring weekend if she didn't tell me that I could do it. (I just hope she doesn't mention Ironman or anything stupid like that.)

Time to go. Gotta START training for the Baltimore Half. Just six days away!

L'Chaim!

100 Done!

2008-10-04T21:05:00.002-05:00

Today was the Segull Century ride.

The weather was just about perfect, probably upper 50's at the start, low 70's at the finish.

Did the ride in just about 6 hours riding time, 7:15 with stops.

It was a great day for a ride.

All for now. More tomorrow, with pictures, too.

L'Chaim!

P.S. Thanks for all of the positive comments on the blog redo, too.

L'Chaim!

2008-10-02T04:44:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago, I talked about changing my blog name. Formerly Fat Running Guy just didn't seem to meet the bill any longer, especially since I've broadened my activities way beyond running and being Formerly Fat seems less relevant every day that I move away from that guy, in body at least.

Thank you all for your suggestions. Seems that the right name was right in front of me -- L'Chaim! (Thanks to Pat for pointing that out.)

L'Chaim is how I end each post and it really is the essence of the new and hopefully much much longer life that I've given my family, friends and myself.

The picture on the new masthead on the left is from 2004 at Mt. Kilauea, HI. The middle is from the St. Michael's Metric Century in September. The one on the right is from this past weekend.

L'Chaim!

136 to Home

2008-09-28T19:55:00.009-05:00

What a week. We moved from Louisiana to Texas on Tuesday. Hotels in Houston were tough to come by, but we found a Hilton in Clear Lake, right near the entrance to NASA, southeast of Houston, near some of the worst that Ike had to offer. When I spoke to the manager of the hotel, he told me that the only issue is that they didn't have an elevator and wouldn't have one until at least the weekend. There are 14 floors. At this point, you can certainly guess what floor I wound up on. 136 steps from the lobby to my floor. Twice a day on average. Made it into a contest even, 79 seconds best, with laptop bag on shoulder. Not bad, huh?

I had a beautiful lake view from the ninth floor.

Would kinda suck to have that nice first floor lake front condo with a big ass boat blocking your view.
No intention to make light of the disaster, just not used to a view like this outside my hotel window.

While I was in Houston, I hit the 24 hour Fitness near the office. Same fine folks that sponsor The Biggest Loser. Nice place, too.

Made it home late Friday and decided to take the day off. Time to hang with the the family.

Today, I hit the gym when the kids were in Hebrew School, thanks to the third consecutive day of rain. Did 4.5 on the treadmill for my longest run since June. Really a slow run, but I'm feeling more confident about the Baltimore half in less than 2 weeks.

This afternoon we went to the Orioles game. The end of a crappy season, at last! My youngest was determined to win the "Fan of the Game" -- you know, they pan the crowd for the most outrageously dressed fan. Well, whaddya think?

Can't believe he didn't win, but he was our fan of the game! We could believe that the O's tanked again. There's always next year.

It's good to be home!

L'Chaim!

A Date with Gigi

2008-09-22T20:27:00.002-05:00

I feel like I start every post with "It's been a while" along with some lame-o excuse as to why. Well, I'm not going to insult you with any of that.

Last Friday, I headed to Western Louisiana for work. (My company does some disaster clean-up and a little rainstorm called Ike has sent me to the gulf region.) This wreaks havoc with the last few weeks of training for the Seagull Century ride in just a few weeks. I also haven't gotten a ride in since the metric, 10 days ago. Working through the weekend also wiped out any chance of exercising. Quite the opposite, actually, eating crap. Then more crap. Drinking too much coffee and diet coke, not enough water. And a few beers watching football at Buffalo Wild Wings (and wings, too, of course.)

I had tracked down a gym in Lake Charles, Louisiana, but hadn't made the call to see how they treat guests. Today, I brought my stuff to the office and around mid day, I made the call. Spin class at 5:15, $10 fee. Not bad. Tough part is getting out early enough to get there.

Getting back on track was worth the looks and comments that I got as I "snuck out" at 4:45. (When we're working on this type of project, it's generally 12-16 hour days for days on end. I put in a short 10 hour day.) I got to the gym, paid my fee, changed and was on the bike with time to spare.

After class, I hit the treadmill for my longest run in 3 months. 3.2 miles at just under a 12 minute pace. I was able to run 2 miles non stop. It felt really really good. One of my best workouts in a while.

So who's Gigi? That would be the name of the gym! GiGi Fitness Center. And we have another date for Body Pump in the morning!

L'Chaim!

St. Michael's Metric Century Ride Report

2008-09-13T20:23:00.011-05:00

Kind of a boring title, but it's been a long day. Long couple of days, to be honest.

Yesterday went not at all as planned. It started when I dropped my 2000 Nissan Maxima off at Meineke to have the recently illuminated brake light looked at. I though it might just be the emergency brake, which was feeling loose. A quick and cheap repair.

But when is a visit to the car repair place ever quick or cheap. Seems the brakes and most of the adjoining appendages require replacement. Oh, and by the way, there's something awry with the rear axle. That'll be $2,000.

Not so fast, Mr. Meineke guy. I had decided about six months ago that the next big repair would result in a trade in for something new. (Well, newer.) This was it.

I spent part of the rest of the day looking on line at options and headed out to a couple of dealers right after work. After visiting six dealerships and coming up empty, I headed home.

I know what you're thinking -- what the hell does this have to do with today's ride. Well, I'm gonna tell ya. I was supposed to drive to the the ride today. Not gonna chance the 80-mile drive in a car with no brakes. So, last night, on my way home from Carmax, I called Bryan to see if he could drive. "Ummm, sure, but I don't have a bike rack." No problemo, mi amigo, we'll put mine on your car. "Ummm, not sure if it will fit on my car. " Of course it will. What kind of car do you drive. "One of these:

Okay, we'll give it a shot. I'll be at your house extra early. See you at 5:15 am.

The day just didn't go as planned. With the car shopping exercise, I finally got home around 8. Dinner close to 9. Bed after 11. Wake up at 4. Not exactly the ideal schedule for the night before a 4 or 5 hour bike ride.

This morning, the alarm went off at 4 and I was up and at em. Got to Bryan's right at 5:15 and by 5:30, I had convinced him that our bikes would be fine on the back of his well kept sports car. We were on our way.

St. Michael's is a quaint little town best known for having a couple of incredible resorts as well as being the home of one former major leaguer, Harold Baines.

The town is on Maryland's eastern shore, which is essentially as flat as the Kansas plains.

After a 90 minute ride where at each bump and turn, we were checking on the stability of the bikes, we arrived at Harold's alma matter to check in and pick up our packets just after 7. This seemed to be a pretty small ride. One of the organizers said about 130 total for the three distances -- full century, metric and a shorter 30 mile cruise. The metric seemed to be the most popular. Our "packets" consisted of a cue sheet and an unremarkable t-shirt. Well, it's a small event, what do you expect?

Just about 8, we were off. We started off cruising. I mean really cruising. From the start to the first rest stop, we average 17.8 mph, which is smokin' for us (especially me.) We did do some drafting off of each other and that really helped. We both felt strong and we enjoyed the ride out to Tilghman Island. #1 item learned about riding on flat roads -- speed doesn't suck.

After that first portion of the ride, we headed back along the same stretch of road we originally headed out. Well, now it's not so exciting. the corn fields look kinda the same on the port side of the road as they do on the starboard side. We even muse about missing our home hills. #2 item learned about riding on flat roads -- boar-ing!

Lot's of road looking just like this.

At about 30 miles, my back starts to ache and I'm trying to stretch on the bike. Another 10 miles or so until the next rest stop. Our pace is definitely slower, but we're still moving okay. Bryan is ahead most of this portion of the ride and I'm trying to de-kink myself.

We get to the second rest stop at 39 miles and I'm working out the pain, while tossing down some ibuprofen. We grab some snacks, fill our water bottles and we're about to head off again when my cell phone rings. I look at the phone and it's Uncle Rog. That would be eye-of-Hurricane-Ike-just-passed-over-his-house Uncle Rog. They made it through alive and well.

Now, we're back on the road.

Within a few minutes, a group of four strong guys ride past and I quickly speed up to jump on their pace line. These guys are sizzling at almost 19 mph, and we're just enjoying the ride. After one guy drops back, he gets in front of me, so we're not moving up to take a turn to lead. I'm not sure what the protocol is, but honestly, right now I don't care. This is cutting big minutes off of the south side corn field view. The next guy is not quite as strong, but pretty close. We're hanging on pretty easily, but not for long. As soon as the next switch happens, we're toast. This guy must be at least 20 mph and I can't hold on. We spent about 6 glorious miles hanging on and now we're down to less than 20 miles to go.

The pace is definitely slower now and I'm struggling with my back aches. As we pass the start at about mile 50, I momentarily entertain the notion of pulling in and letting Bryan finish on his own. That thought went away and we trudged on.

Our final rest stop is at mile 56, where the full century riders take a ferry ride to continue on. (I wonder if the mile or two on the ferry count towards their hundred?) Another opportunity to stretch and we're back off toward the finish.

We pull into the school at about 12:30. Glad it's over but proud of our ride. This was the longest ride for either Bryan or myself by at least a dozen miles.

Final tally is 64.5 miles. Average riding speed is 16.4 mph.

This was a really good opportunity to experience a very different type of riding than we're used to. Not really about the speed, but when you're riding hills, you've got to move around a lot. You get your hear rate up going up and going down is an opportunity to relax. #3 item learned about riding on flat roads -- you've got to pedal all the time, and it's hard in a very different way than hills.

We got back home at about 2:30 and I was off to Zach's football game followed by reward for the family, especially me!

This ride really gave me a lot to think about for the upcoming Seagull Century. Very similar terrain, just another 36 miles of it. I need to work on my back stretches. This is my biggest concern. Seagull is just 3 weeks away.

Thanks for hanging in for this long post.

L'Chaim!

100k

2008-09-11T21:29:00.003-05:00

Got my bike back. New fork and all. I keep thinking I'm gonna be done spending money on athletic stuff, but that doesn't appear to be happening any time soon.

Glad to have it back -- I've really missed not having it for the past week.

I was tooling around on the Internet a few days ago and came upon some web site with bike rides on it. Looks kinda like a competitor to active, the site where you sign up for most running events, and some biking events, too. It's called bikereg.com. I was surprised to see so many bike events out there.

One in particular caught my eye. This Saturday, there is a century in St. Michael's, MD. They also have a metric century ride. Hmmm, this would be a nice tune up for the Seagull Century next month.

Before I continue, can I just say that I am married to the most amazing, supportive, incredible, awesome, fantastic woman in the world? Can I say that? Well, there, I just did. Now, back to our regularly scheduled post.

So, I mentioned to Deb that there was this ride in St. Michael's. What do you think she said? "No problem." She also said "Oh, I meant to tell you that I'm going out with a girlfriend Saturday night and you're buying!" Hmm, did I walk into that or what? That's okay, great deal.

I got a hold of Bryan, one of my riding friends, and he's in, too!

Keep an eye open for my ride report and hopefully some pictures (yeah, I know, I'm not so good with the pictures.) Oh, and thanks, Deb!

L'Chaim!

New Wheels

2008-09-09T05:35:00.000-05:00

Okay, I've really had enough of this falling down. At some point, I know I'm REALLY gonna hurt myself.

I did some checking and I'm thinking of adding something to help keep me upright. I found this cool gadget. It's a helluva lot cheaper than another trip to the bike shop.

Whaddya think?

L'Chaim!

Forked!

2008-09-06T18:24:00.006-05:00

Or How to Take a Dump and Live to Talk About It

I wasn't even gonna talk about my Thursday ride, but now I have to. Just have to. Why? Well, read on, my friends.

I headed out early, about 6 am. This was my first pre-dawn ride -- testing out my new headlight. Quickly, I found that the light was perfectly fine for others to see me. As far as me seeing anything, not gonna happen. Since I was in familiar territory, I pressed on as dawn was near and the ride was familiar.

One of my goals was to work on my out of the saddle riding and I'd have plenty of hills to work on that.

All was well. Traffic was getting heavier, but I was doing fine in and out of the saddle, feeling more and more comfortable. About 2/3 into the 20 miler, I decided to climb Homewood Road. Homewood is known as one of the steeper climbs around. I've hit 40 mph heading down Homewood.

As I headed up, I dropped down to my big gears to work up the short but steep section of the road. It didn't take long for me to run out of power and I was stuck. I knew I'd run out of power in my legs and I was pretty sure I shouldn't downshift while standing. As I slowed to a crawl, there was no way to get my feet out of the clips to keep myself from falling. So, I did. I took a big old dump on a big old hill.

I got up quickly. Just a little blood, not too bad. As for the bike, a different story. My front wheel was locked up. Musta done something to the brakes. I was able to pry them apart, but decided against continuing up Homewood and headed out a bit longer, but flatter route. Every couple of miles I stopped to pull the brakes apart, but made it home safely.

The front wheel was clearly out of alignment, plus I had had the brake issue. I knew one of my neighbors had the tool to be able to align the wheel.

Today, George came over and aligned my wheel. No biggie. He asked me what the abrasion on the fork of the bike was. Looks like just scratch in the paint covering the fork. Hmm, seems to go all the way around the fork. Not sure how a scratch could go all the way around. George suggested I take it to the bike shop to have it checked out. Sure. As I was leaning on the wheel less bike, suddenly, the bottom of the right fork bent. I'm pretty sure carbon isn't supposed to bend like that. Seems it's not EXACTLY a scratch.

SHIT! I've been forked!

Off to the bike shop. . . again!

L'Chaim!

This is Jeopardy!

2008-09-03T17:38:00.006-05:00

Only seemed right that since I left unanswered questions yesterday, I should pay homage to America's premier question-and-answer game show and host, Alex Trebek. (Yes, my Canadian friends, I'm well aware he was yours first, but he's ours now!)

Although, looking back, I kinda screwed it all up, since I gave the questions yesterday. This really isn't Jeopardy! at all. Well, screw it, I'm a Trebekkie and it's gonna have to stay. Now, on with the show. . .

As for the foot, it has been feeling better of late. After a couple of months feeling like nothing was going to work to get it better, I started to feel relief just early last week. So for now, I've got the Baltimore half and MCM on the schedule.

When I checked over the weekend, I noticed that Baltimore had a 5 1/2 hour time limit for the half. Now, by no means do I have any desire to spend 330 minutes doing a half marathon. That's a 25 minute per mile average. I'm relative certain that I could finish that on my worst day, on my knees, regardless of how my ankle felt. Besides that, and much more importantly, since I completed the Frederick Marathon, finishing the half entitles me to a medal for the half PLUS the all important third medal, the MARYLAND DOUBLE. At the end of the day, it's really all about the swag, isn't it?

I figure that my fitness level is pretty good with a solid summer in the books, but am I in for 3 plus hours of pain? Yesterday I hit the treadmill at the gym to see how a mile felt. I must say, I struggled a bit more than I had expected. Not so much in the ankle, which really felt fine, but more in the breathing department. I was able to run the mile with a couple minute walk break in the middle. Really, though, the good news is that the ankle didn't hurt. My plan now is to treadmill run a 3-4 times a week, gradually working up to about 8 miles. That should be enough to get me to a sub 3 hour half. If not, I've still got another 2 1/2 hours to play with.

As for Marine Corps, I'm really thinking this one is out of the question. Too far to go, too soon. Unless I feel terrific running in the next couple of weeks, I'll check into the deferral options for that.

Now on to important business -- the need for a change in the blog title. I've had this name since the beginning of my blog life, about 16 months. Up until this spring, the title was fair, even through the injuries, but now, not so much. Formerly Fat Running and Biking Guy just doesn't flow. Formerly Fat Guy, well, maybe some possibilities there. Something totally unrelated? That'd work too. I'm open to suggestions, so let the commenting begin!

L'Chaim!

Upright

2008-09-02T17:52:00.003-05:00

The good news is that I've been able to maintain my balance over the past week. That's right, after barely being able to stand or ride without falling, this week, I'm back to my old stand-up self.

Got my bike back Friday repaired as promised. I was pretty sure it would be since I had made a pest of myself during the week making sure I'd have it for the weekend.

Saturday, I headed out with the group that was with me a week ago when my bike broke, plus one of the pedal and paddle guys. The goal was to stay on the bike with no mechanical problems. At my request, we did the ride from the week before that I didn't get to finish. Along the route, there were three milestone pointed out by one of the guys -- the spot that I got "pedaled", at about mile 6 -- CHECK! Then there was the spot at 10.7 where I made some derailleur soup -- CHECK! Finally, and I had forgotten about this one, we passed the spot from two weeks before when I dropped my chain followed by a seemingly uneventful fall, which I believe led to the derailleur problems in the first place -- CHECK! At the end of the day, 34+ miles, one dropped chain (less than a mile from the finish, damn it!) and no falls.

On Sunday, after sleeping in past my scheduled ride, my neighbor Kirk called and we headed out for another 34 miles. Beyond enjoying the ride, Kirk has been pushing me to get out of the saddle more. I take that back, let's say get out of the saddle at all, since I'm pretty timid there and would sooner spend 10 minutes climbing a hill on the easiest gear rather than power up out of the saddle on a hard gear. I'm also gun shy about falling (hard to believe, I know.) Well, on the way home, Kirk had me up. Not for long, but it was not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I'm feeling the power!

After two hilly rides, I was desperate for some flat land. On Monday, I met my dad out at the Baltimore & Annapolis trail -- a 13-mile paved, relatively flat pathway. We did one round trip together, then I did a second on my own. 52 miles for the day. All upright, too.

So what's with all this biking? Well, I'm glad you asked.

Mrs. FFRG has been pushing me to do a century ride before the year is out and I've been training just to see if I could build up the mileage to do it. She even bought me a book -- this one!

So I've been reading and riding and riding and reading. The book finds it's way all over the house. I also did some searching and, there just happens to be a century ride on October 4 in Salisbury, MD -- the Seagull Century. Yesterday just happened to be the early registration deadline. I had hoped that the 52 miler would be 60 or more, but by the end of the second loop, my back was killing me and I was pretty cooked. When I got home, I checked out my trusty book and there are stretches in there for the back -- go figure! I also figure 120 miles over three days is pretty good prep, too. So, I'm all in! Now it's just a matter of doing the miles to build up to the big ride. Looking forward to that.

But that does leave a couple of unanswered questions that I'm sure have been driving you crazy:

What's up with those other foot type events on your schedule?
You know, the Baltimore Half and the Marine Corps Marathon?
How are the foot and ankle?
Ya know, FFRG, you've talked an awful lot about biking lately, aren't you the Formerly Fat RUNNING Guy?
Do you need a new name?
What's up with that?

Well, my friends, stay tuned. I hope to answer at least a few of those questions very soon but for now,

L'Chaim!