We Like Mike!

It's hard to really understand Baltimore unless you're from Baltimore. Sitting in the shadows of DC and probably the least known city of the I-95 corridor Megalopolis -- DC to Boston -- we've always had a bit of an inferiority complex to DC.

Baltimoreans are brought up to hate DC sports teams. Before the Washington Wizards were the Washington Bullets, they were the Baltimore Bullets until the evil Abe Pollin relocated the team to the rich DC market. When the Colts fled Baltimore (thanks to the devil himself, Robert Irsay), we wanted nothing to do with the Redskins. We'd cheer for whoever was playing the Colts first, then whoever was playing the 'Skins. It's not personal, really, it's just in our blood.


When Edward Bennett Williams, a Washington lawyer, bought the Orioles in the late 70's, we feared the worst -- a move to the nations capital.

Our sports heroes have been good guys. Johnny Unitas, a Pittsburgh transplant who adopted Baltimore and became a favorite son. Brooks Robinson, a Little Rock native and my sports hero growing up, owned the town and still commands serious bucks at autograph sessions here. Cal Ripken, from just a few miles up I-95 calls the Baltimore area home. The people of Baltimore and the country loved them and we call them ours. But it's been a little dry in the six or so years since Cal hung up his cleats.

Now there's 23-year old Michael Phelps. When word came out just a few weeks before the Olympics that Michael had bought a place and would return to Baltimore after the Olympics, the city cheered. When Michael rang up one gold after another, we cheered louder. When Michael talked about life after the Olympics, he starts by talking about his return to Baltimore. (I'm sure I wasn't alone looking for the slightest hint of an "O" from his lips during one of the eight Star Spangled Banner played in his honor, just like you'd see at any Orioles home game.)

He talked about how he missed the city after his years in Michigan, so what's he gonna do? He's gonna buy that North Baltimore Aquatic Club with all of his new gold-medal-laden dough and make his coach the president. Now we've got a good four years to cheer for him until London in 2012, but from the sounds of it, he'll be around a lot longer. I'm pretty sure he won't have to buy a meal in this town for at least 20 or 30 years.

With the Olympics now finally over, we're looking forward to welcoming Michael back home. Local boy done good. Welcome home, Michael, the town is yours!

L'Chaim!

Rite of Passage

Finally, I've added the missing link to my bike. I now have a pair of these sporty new clip less pedals fully installed. They go great with my shiny new Diadora shoes, too.

A friend suggested that I ride around the neighborhood just practicing getting in and out of them. My biggest fear is falling, but pretty much everyone I've talked to says that you can't avoid it. It's gonna happen. The goal, then is to minimize the potential witness pool to the future carnage.

So, last night, I decided to ride with the Wednesday night HoCo Cyclists. I've done a couple of weekend rides with the group, but this is a regularly scheduled Wednesday night year-round ride. First, though I rode a couple of miles around the neighborhood, as recommended, to do little more than test the new pedals. More specifically, to get my shoes in and out of them. I could almost immediately feel the added power the they bring when pulling up on them. After a few ins and outs, with no falls, I loaded up the bike and headed out.

I was surprised by the size of the group. At least 50 riders. At the appointed time, the leader sent the A's off. A few minutes later, the B's were gone. Not knowing where I'd fit, B or C, but leaning C, I didn't want to embarrass myself too much by having to keep back of the B group, so I went C short ride. The "short" route for the night was 22 miles versus 33 for the long, hilly route.

The comfort level of the new shoes is much greater than with the old ones and the pedals work pretty well. Soon after the ride started, I began passing people and within a couple of miles, found myself riding third of fourth of the 20-25 in the C group. I was also maintaining speed in the 15-16 range fairly easily. This would definitely not be possible with the old pedals. Of course, all was well and I was thinking that maybe I'd avoid that clip less rite of passage. As you've no doubt figured out, I was wrong.

Riding to the top of a short hill following a downhill, a stop sign appeared and the few guys ahead of me were stopped, just waiting for some of us (like me) to catch up. I stopped and took my right foot out of the pedal. No problem so far. Then, time to go. There was still a few feet of incline left. Of course, I'm in a big gear, more suited to downhill. Had I downshifted, all would be well, but as soon as I tried to go, I was at a standstill and just fell right over. It felt like it was in total slow-mo. I knew it was gonna happen, and it surely did. No problem. I got up and told the three other riders obviously holding their laughter I was okay. Got back on the bike and proceed to fall over once again. OY! Not my best effort avoiding the witness pool.

Now, smart guy (me) figures out to turn around and start on the downhill. DUH! Back on the bike and riding again. A few aches, but nothing more. It wasn't until a few miles later when I went to scratch my right ankle that I came back with blood on my hand. It wasn't until I got back to the start that I saw the blood on my right knee (pictured). It wasn't until I got home that I saw the nasty welt on my chest.

It's always fun to ride new places. I was just 10 miles west of home and at least 20 miles of the ride were new to me. Just nice, picturesque, country roads, a few cornfields and it seemed at one point, more churches than houses.

I was a bit disappointed that the other riders weren't very social. At one point, riding near the front of the pack, I definitely felt like I had crashed their party. My favorite part of these group rides is the bike chatter, especially since I'm not riding with any speed demons. These guys were not talking. Maybe I need to keep hanging with them until they feel like they're crashing MY party!


For better or worse, I made it through the ride. In case you're wondering, in these parts, apparently a relatively flat 23 miles is only 1800 feet of climbing. And that was without my small chain ring that I still couldn't get working from the weekend.

Looking forward to testing out the pedals again real soon. Gotta get that chain ring fixed first.

L'Chaim!

Pedal and Paddle, Finally!

Hard to believe it's been three months since Lou, one of the Hebrew School Biking Dads told me about Pedal and Paddle. The 3rd annual event was originally supposed to happen in July, but got pushed back to yesterday.

The original plan was to bike to each of Columbia Association's 23 outdoor pools and swim a lap at each. Because of the reschedule, 8 of the pools are now closed for the season, so 15 were listed on the cue sheet. The cue sheet also showed about 42 miles of biking between the start and stop to swim.

Since the event would take about 5 hours, hydration and nourishment would be key, especially in light of Saturday's issues. Deb was planning to be at stop #10, so I had her set up with a stash of backup stuff -- a granola type bar, two cold bottles to replace mine, and a change of clothes in case I'd need it.

Then there would be the schlep. I'd need a towel and something to carry my other crap -- cell phone, keys, Power Bar stuff (somewhere just before half way, I broke out a pack of lemon Power Bar Gel Blasts. This was the best tasting carb product I've tried so far), gels, etc. I picked out one of my kids sling bags, thinking that this would be comfortable and easy to get off and on.

In preparation for the day, I had secured some triathlon shorts to be able to ride and swim without changing. I have one bike jersey that has a full zipper, rather than a half. Thinking that would be easiest to get in and out of, that was the attire for the day.

The start was scheduled for 10 and I got there just before. It quickly looked like the turnout would be small. By 10 after, there were just 5 of us and we were off.

At the first pool, we were met by just a life guard. The town was kind enough to open a couple of the pools early for us. Just 10 minutes or so into the event, a few things became apparent:

• As slow as I am running, lap swimming redefines the word ssssslllllllooooowwwww!
• Form is an afterthought. My swim goal is to go from one end to another without touching the bottom of the pool.
• A lap is not a length. Go figure. I thought we'd be doing one way "laps." Ed said that's a lenght -- make it a round trip.
• Transitions suck. With 15 stops, each having 2 transitions, the learning curve is quick. Come into the pool with everything on -- dump on a chair -- swim -- back to the chair -- dress. 15 times.
• What I thought was a cool sling bag seemed to not want to stay in place. I must be doing something wrong.

One down, 14 to go.

Most of the pools were close together, but two were lying fairly distant from the to the others. En route to pool number 4, River Hill, a few more things came to light:

• That friggin sling back sucks! No wonder my kids stopped using it. Every other minute, it was working its way around front, then I'd have to sling it back. What a pain.
• Riding 38 miles of hills the day before this event. . . maybe not my brightest idea. The hills on this route are not really bad compared to others outside of the town but I was truly suffering.

After River Hill, we had a fairly long stretch to get to the next pool with one of the steepest hills. On my way up, I dropped my chain. F*#k! (Has anyone dropped a chain going down hill? Ever?) Then, I dropped it again. S&%t! Then again. F*#K-S&%T! I must have knocked something out of alignment on Saturday.

So here I am, only 4 of 15 pools in, maybe a dozen miles done and I've lost 9 gears (well really only the two or three easiest gears that I use with the small front chain ring), I'm beat, I'm waaaay last (but thanks to Bryan, I'm not alone) and I'm just thinking. Only 6 stops until Deb will be awaiting my arrival. Do I throw in the towel (literally) at our home pool? I could. I'd only have to suffer through the knowledge that I'd be wussing out 2/3 of the way through. I've done that plenty of times. The old fat me was king of the wusses. Well, now I've got nothing but time and 1/3 less gears to think. I can't stop before that or I've got a lot of walking to do.

Thankfully, the next set of pools were very close together. I'm pretty much dealing just with the pain in the butt sling bag, wet socks and trying to remember NOT to drop to the small chain ring.

Along the way, the one woman that started off with us dropped out and we pickup up a guy for a one pool ride.

We got to my home pool, Dorsey Search, at around 2. Deb was awaiting our arrival with camera in hand. My boys were very excited to see us all there.

Form? What form?

Deb had everything I had asked for -- two fresh iced bottles, change of clothes, new towel. I dumped the sling pack and put what I needed into my carry sack on the bike. I was the only one using a towel and had stopped at around the 5th pool so the sling pack was extraneous at that point. Amazing how well air drying works! She even had a bagel with peanut butter. Took one bite and we were off again.

Here we are in all our glory. From the left, me my son Zach (how'd he get in there?), Ed and Lou, the shirtless founders, and Bryan, another first timer.

From Dorsey, we had one last long ride to the next pool, then we nailed the balance in fairly short order, finishing sometime around 3:45.

After 43.1 miles on the bike and 750 yards in the pool, Ed pulled out a batch of home made chocolate chip cookies, which this formerly fat guy gladly ate.

Other than a few now seemingly minor issues, it was a really fun day. I felt really good about the whole hydration and nourishment thing, eating pretty regularly along the way. Thankfully, this wasn't a race or I'd have been hours behind the rest. That's one of the big differences, though, between bike events and running events. From what I've seen, most bike events (non-triathlon) are go at your own pace. It was very social and I'm ready to sign up for next year! Thanks, guys!

L'Chaim!

Catching Up

Finally back from vacation, trying to get into some kind of routine. Hard to believe it's mid-August and school around these parts starts NEXT MONDAY!

I won't torture with much talk about vacation since I'm still delayed on pictures from our early summer trip. In short -- we had a great time in Boston, saw a great game at Fenway, did the Fenway tour, learned a lot about the city and history, some folks we hadn't seen in a while. Sat behind many cars, trucks, etc. on the long drive up and back.

Because of all the travel for work and vacation, exercise took a back seat. I went almost 2 full weeks between any formal exercise and my body was craving some kind of activity. Even so, I signed up for classes at the gym on Thursday and Friday, but the 10 hour drive home on Wednesday was still catching up to me, so the 4:30 am wakeups were on hold.

Saturday, I finally got the bike off the wall and out for the monthly ride with the local bike club. The scheduled ride was 33 miles and I had planned to add about 15 from home to the start and back at the end. On my way to the start, I rode to the park where my old Team in Training group was running. Was good to see Jonathan and a couple of other folks. Really miss being out there with them, but my bike has taken over, for sure.

There were only seven of us riding on Saturday, so we split up into two groups -- three A riders and the rest of us B-C's. Since the area we normally ride is undergoing lots of roadwork, the leader pulled out an old ride that would take us into some new territory for most of us -- heading north into Baltimore County rather than the western Howard routes that are the norm. About half way, both Saul and I dropped our chains on the same hill. Since the other two B-C guys were regularly waiting for us at the next intersection, we sent them on and Saul and I, clearly the C's, would ride together, as we did in July.

Shortly after we separated, we realized that there were some monster hills on the route, including a few at 10%+. One downhill section started out with one of those truck warning signs with a 14% added to it. This particular hill had a 90 degree turn about 2/3 into it. Woulda been a fantastic hill, had it not been for the zigging and zagging. I was sure I'd wear my brake pads down to the metal.

Unfortunately, what goes down must go up. There were a few steep inclines, two of which required walking. I had hoped that I could handle these big hills, especially shorter ones, but I've still got plenty of work to do. The finale was a 2 mile uphill stretch at about 4%. Just a nice slow rise.

With the nastiness now behind us, we had about 10 miles back to the start. A few miles down the road, we got held up at a traffic light and both of my thighs began to cramp. I tried to massage them out quickly, but it was apparent that a simple traffic light massage would not do the trick. I pulled over into a grassy area and, with Saul's help and direction, was able to stretch out the cramps. Saul asked how much I stretch. I think I said "not much," which was really a lie -- "not at all" would be the truth. I was also low on liquids. Shoulda filled up at the start. Definitely need to work on the stretching and the hydration.

At the next light, I felt more cramps. At this point I was just about 2 miles from home and still 6 from the start. I decided to head back home. Once I arrived, I felt like nothing had happened.

In the end, 38 long and painful miles, but it felt great to be back on the bike. A good ride done.

L'Chaim!

Sucking

It's 2:20 in the morning and I'm working. Pretty much been putting in crazy crazy hours over the past couple of weeks and I have a drop dead deadline in the morning, so the shit's just gotta get done. This is on top of three straight weeks of travel -- very unusual for me.

Mostly, I've been cursing Excel. I've got these spreadsheets that have a few hundred thousand formulas in them and every time you change something or go to save, the damned spreadsheet recalcs and it just freezes for 3 minutes. (If anyone knows how to turn the auto-calc off, right about now I'd pay for that advice.) So, each time I get seized, I have time to write another couple of sentences.

Some of my travel has been to New Orleans. Not exactly a location known for light eating and I've been partaking in the local cuisine -- po boys, catfish, rice and beans, steak, you name it. Not looking forward to hitting the scale in the morning. (Well, later in the morning at least.) Exercise has been pretty non-existant during the week, though I did have a great 42 mile ride on Sunday.

This weekend, we're heading north to Boston. Going to visit friends in NJ, Boston and Cape Cod on the way. The highlight of the trip will be a visit to Fenway Park on Tuesday night. Deb and the kids are all looking forward to that. I've been there and, for me, I'll take Wrigley over Fenway any day. But what the hell, it'll be fun.

This will be it for a while. Will report back after the beantown trip.

L'Chaim!

Gaining Weight

Whenever one of my blogger friends, particularly those coming from the "formerly fat" club, stops posting for an extended period, I start to wonder the worst. Are they gaining weight, not exercising, or is there some terrible life event that has stopped them from detailing their every day life? Deb pointed out to me that I'm now one of those delinquent bloggers, both writing and reading. It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted and I'm way overdue.

The good news is, it's all good news. I've been diligent in keeping up the exercise and watching everything I eat. After a week or so of keeping the food journal it got to be too much work. This week I was out of town and tracking food is tough when you don't have a label for everything, just a lot of guesswork. I was still down about 2 pounds through last Monday.

I've been on a roll on exercise, too, with a long ride of almost 41 miles last weekend in the 90+ heat and getting in two Body Pumps a week.

This week with travel on tap, I found a gym in MA that had a reciprocal deal with my gym at home. (Fifteen bucks for a week pass. Not bad.) Was able to hit the gym for two Group Power (eerily similar to Body Pump) classes and one of the best spins I've had. As for the Group Power, Monday's class was taught by Tom, a local fireman. Okay, that's cool. Tom showed up and it was kinda like Rodney Dangerfield teaching the class. Not the humor part, but the body part. Usually these classes are taught by some pretty well defined ladies and gentlemen. Tom was not, but he got it done. It was surreal watching him move (slowly) around the gym and yelling out instructions in his very thick Boston drawl.

So it's all good for me on that end. Still struggling through the foot pains and I need to make some decisions on the fall schedule pretty soon.

More travel on tap this week, so I don't know when I'll get in another post.

Thanks for checking in.

L'Chaim!

Day 732 (+1) and Counting

What's the significance of 732 days? Is it just an anonymous number, picked out of thin air? Sure, that works. Or, it could be day one of year three of my march toward health and fitness. (The plus one? Oh, that's because today is really 733 but I didn't get this post finished on day 732, so let's just pretend it's yesterday, okay?) Just two short years ago I got off my formerly very fat ass and got on the treadmill for the first time. It's really hard to believe I've been on this path to health and wellness for that long.

Not to say that it gets easier, but every day I find it more difficult to believe that I used to live the way that I did. By the same token, I don't think I'll ever feel like I can't go back. Today, I just have a much different relationship with food. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I could care less what I eat, but I think of most food as just a means to an end.

In these past two years, I've run/walked more than 1000 miles and biked more than 500 miles. I've run 5k's, 10k's, 10 milers, 2 half marathons and a full marathon. Buying a bike last fall saved my progress from going south after the first of now three ankle and foot injuries. I look forward to getting on the bike more than just about anything exercise and enjoyment wise.

I think back to that first day when I stepped on the treadmill and recall how difficult that first mile was. I was so ready to hang it all up. In comparison, in the 24 hours period between last night and today (again, pretending that it's now Saturday, even thought we all know it's a total farce,) I biked to the gym 7 miles, took a one hour Body Pump class, biked to the pool, swam with the kids, threw in 10 laps, and then biked home. This (Saturday) morning, I rode 31 miles with a local bicycling club, the HoCo Cyclists.

As I got on the scale this (Saturday) morning, I was looking forward to breaking new ground, and that I did. The number staring back at me was 226. A loss of 188 pounds in two years and 40 pounds from this time a year ago. I've lost 22 inches on my waist, from a 58 to a 36. Those numbers all seems so normal.

It's truly impossible to understate the importance of my biggest fan and cheerleader, Deb. She has kicked my ass more times than I'd like to admit for getting out of a routine, eating too much crap, not doing the right kinds of exercise and any other general ass kicking that I surely needed and deserved. On top of it all, she's held down the fort particularly through the tough marathon training period. I could not have asked for a better partner. Thank you, my love!

Okay, enough sappiness, so what's in store for year 3? Well, I've already set my weight goal for the end of the year -- 199 is the number. As for events, hard to tell. We'll see how this foot/ankle thing does. Who knows, with the swimming, maybe a future triathlete in the making. For sure, I'll be looking for my first century bike ride by the end of 2009. Other than that, we'll see how things go.

Thanks, all, for reading and encouraging.

L'Chaim!

The "D" Plan

I'm tired of looking at the scale and seeing the same range of numbers. In the last three months, I've gravitated between 229 and 233. Just really holding steady. It's time for a jump start, so here's the plan:

• Diary: Yesterday, I started keeping a diary of my food intake. I've tried it before, but have never been able to keep it up for more than a couple of weeks, if that. Usually, I'll hit a bad patch and stop recording, but I know that this will get me to be more conscious of what I'm eating. I'm using Fit Day and you can see my progress here.
• Intake: Plan is to keep to under 2,000 calories per day. After one day, I quickly realized how many calories I had been consuming -- 3,000 or more per day, I'm sure. Ideally, the ratio will be 50% carbs, 30% protein and 20% fat. The fat will be the tough part, I fear.
• Exercise: 5 hours per week is the goal. The idea is 2 hours of Body Pump and three hours of cardio -- biking, swimming, etc. This is totally doable.

The goal is to break 199 by year's end. That's just 1 1/4 pounds a week. At 2000 calories a day, I should generate enough of a calorie deficit to lose as much as 2-3 pounds per week, but I'm not gonna get crazy -- heavy activity days will require more fuel, and that I'll take in.

So that's the plan. Not too complicated. Just need to stick to it.

L'Chaim!

Full Week Ahead

Looks like this will be a full week at the office this week with vacation and the holiday week now behind.

This weekend wasn't really what the doctor ordered. Plans were in place for rides every day, but the weatherman was completely uncooperative. Friday was blah. I was set for a group ride on Saturday, bike loaded up on the back of the car and ready to go, but then the rain came, just a as I was set to leave. Yesterday, despite the threat of a total washout, I got out with a friend for 26 miles west of home. It was a totally enjoyable ride and we were far from alone. There were cyclists out everywhere, obviously making up for the lost weekend.

Friday, I was able to squeeze in a couple of hours at the pool with the kids before the Independence Day festivities kicked off. There I did something new -- swam 10 laps. I don't think its a reach to say that these were the first laps I've ever swam. It was painful and it was ugly, I'm sure, but it felt good to add in a new activity. I'll be back to the lap pool.

Then there is the scale. Not so much cooperation here. I've been slowly ticking upward over the past weeks. It's been more than 5 weeks since I broke new ground and I'm sitting a few pounds over that average. As of today, I'm at 231.4, up 0.6 since last week. Still, I'm down 182.6 but this year, I'm down just about 10 pounds. To get a bit of recharge here, I'll begin journaling my food intake today. Although I know what's pushing me in the wrong direction, seeing it in writing will help get me back on track.

L'Chaim!

"Walk as Little As Possible"

I seem to be spending far more time in doctors' offices now at about 230 pounds and arguably in the best shape of my life than I did for the many years I teetered between 414 and the mid-300's. (Actually, no argument about it, I am in the best shape of my life.)

Yesterday's visit to the chiropractor yielded some relief for the foot pain I've been having, but this morning, I awoke to the same old thing again, so it was off to the podiatrist.

As you might have divined, the title of today's post is what the podiatrist said when I went to see him this morning.

Seems I have a case of plantar fasciitis that I aggravated about a month ago. (I'm sure you remember this post -- that was the actual last day I ran. It was later that day that the pain started.) It hurts most when I get up in the morning and try to walk on it. I usually have to turn my left foot upwards and walk just on the outer edge to manage the pain which often subsides throughout the day, but not completely. Some days I limp, some days not. It's unpleasant.

So the doc said it would probably take at least three months of rest, stretching, not ever walking on flat surfaces without shoes with arch support. He went as far as to include walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

As for exercise -- biking is the best -- no pressure whatsoever on the plantar. Swimming itself is good, but the walking around the pool is troublesome. Running? Well, maybe when I feel 100% I can try walking for exercise and build up to running. OY!

I wasn't quite prepared for this, but it's certainly not as devastating as last summer's ankle injury. I'll have to wait and see how the rehab goes to figure out the fall schedule. Annapolis in August (next month?) is going to be out. October events -- just wait and see and hope for the best.

Unfortunately, I couldn't talk the doc into writing a prescription for something like this:

L'Chaim!

Back from Vaca . . . So Sad

We got back Sunday from our trip west. Hard to believe we were gone for 10 days.

Some lights (high and low):

• Yellowstone was amazing. Almost a freak of nature with all of the geysers, springs, fumaroles and pools.


• "Bear Jam" -- term for what happens on the road when a bear is within 200 yards -- every car just stops and people start taking pictures. The bear jam is almost as interesting to watch as the bear itself. (Yes, we partook as well! Two bears: one black, one grizzly.)
  
• Kids whine but they absorb. Was quite impressed when my kids spewed out all kinds of info that they picked up from the mile and a half ranger led hike a couple of days earlier.
  
• After 4 days at Yellowstone, we headed south to the Grand Tetons. Deb and I got out at one point to look at the Tetons as they overlooked Jackson Lake. I must say that this may be the most beautiful natural site that I have ever seen. It was magnificent and breathtaking. I got chills and a bit choked up even. Pictures to come.
  
• Bikers everywhere. I was amazed at the number of people there were on bikes of all kinds. My eldest and I had a nice 2 hour ride into the park through a trail down to the Madison River. He said it was his favorite part of the trip. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy! I rented a comfort bike in Jackson Hole and got in a couple of long rides -- 17 miles on a flat trail and 16 early one morning into Teton park.


• My left foot continues to bother me. In fact, it can be downright painful. It all started about a month ago and I thought it would get better on his own, but it hasn't. Didn't run at all on the trip, including the trail race I had planned to run (but I did pick up the t-shirt since I had paid for it.) Did go out to cheer on the runners. Some were struggling after completing 2-1000 foot climbs over the last half of the 8k. Really sorry I missed those climbs.


• On Friday we had a no car day. Just bought passes for the Snowbird activities. A full day of zip lines, alpine slide, trampolining and the gondola ride to 11,000 feet. What a blast!


• Tons of bikers in and around Salt Lake City. Probably more bikers than I've ever seen anywhere. At one point, Deb said to me: "you wish you were biking don't you?" Yes, I did!


• Deb took more than 2,000 pictures. Will post some as soon as we figure out how to download them!

All in all, it was a great trip. The kids did great considering we did 1500 road miles and four hotels.

Time to start planning our next adventure.

L'Chaim!

Off in the Distance

Even though June is just half complete, my goals for the month seem well off in the distance. With vacation looming, hitting them is certainly in doubt.

My weight continues to stagnate. Even though I'm down 0.4 pounds from last week, I'm just right at my low point of 229.3. I'm hoping that since this vacation will be more active than those in the past, I'll be able to at least maintain my weight. Pretty much no chance at my 5 pound loss goal.

This was a decent week for exercise. I did two Body Pump classes, one spin and just about 10 miles running. The plan for fathers day was to get up and out for a nice long bike ride, but I chose some much needed sleep instead. In the afternoon, I took the boys, along with my brother and nephew to the BWI trail for a ride. Neil and I spent about an hour 40 listening to every whine the kids could throw at us. There was no way we were going to let them give up and we eventually completed the 11 mile loop. (I have no doubt there were some snickers or at least a few knowing head nods from riders heading in the other direction as they passed us for the second or third time around.)

Fathers day was great, with a quiet early morning, Dunkin' Donuts coffee delivered in bed, a game of Let's Make a Deal or No Deal a la Mommy Hall and dinner at my brothers with all the family in attendance. A very nice day!

Since I missed my ride yesterday, I headed out early this morning and put in 20 before work. First time I've done that. I figure there's only about another month that I can given the early sunrise that will start to get later after summer starts next week. I must say, it was a very nice ride -- kinda chilly even, maybe low 60's. My pace was 15.1 mph, my fastest ride for any length. Not bad, considering 1700 feet of climbing over the 20 miles.

So far, I've got only 20 miles run and 50 on the bike, so 50 and 100 are gonna be tough at best. With that said, I'm really enjoying mixing it up a bit with the body pump classes and spinning too. I'm hoping that I'll be ready to start the official marathon training plan in just one week.

That's about it for now. Gotta get packing. Not sure if I'll get another post off before we go. If not, will write when I get back!

L'Chaim!

Two Kiwi's and Me

Which of the guys in the picture above won the New York Marathon? Yes, THAT New York Marathon? Well it wasn't the guy in the middle.

Today being Saturday, it was the weekly Team In Training run. This week, for a change, the Annapolis, Baltimore and Howard County groups were joining together at a central location near BWI Airport.

Joining the Baltimore group was kiwi (thanks Andrew for the kiwi reference) number one, Bruce Cleland. Bruce is training to run Baltimore in the Fall to celebrate TNT's 20th anniversary and runs weekly with the Baltimore group.

Visiting Bruce this week was a kiwi mate of his, Rod Dixon, who just happened to win the NY marathon in 1983. Rod's the guy on the left. He has put together a pretty neat program called Kid's Marathon that gets schools and marathons to team up to get kids active. Over the course of a number of weeks, kids complete 26 miles of running and walking and receive a medal. Neat guy.

For the first half mile of today's run, Rod and Bruce were no match for my well rested legs, but alas, the overtook me finish just ahead at the end. Seriously, as he passed me I was amazed how slow Rod looked. Long legs just moving him forward. Very impressive. 5 3/4 for me today with lots of heat and humidity to enjoy as well.

L'Chaim!

School's Out For Summer Dah Dah Dah Dah. . . Dah Dah Dah Dah

How many times will Alice Cooper's School's Out for Summer be played on radio stations this month. It's crazy that the ode to the last day of school is 36 years old and probably played more today than when I was in school in the 70's and 80's.

Today is the last day of school for my kids and they're ready for it. Tonight we'll hit the Orioles game to celebrate and tomorrow our little league season (finally) ends.

Then, the packing begins. We're less than a week from vacation and I, for one, can't wait.

This year's trip will quite a departure from our normal vacation. We've always tended to hit big cities, like last year's trip to Seattle and Vancouver, a long weekend in NYC, or time at the beach. Not that there's anything wrong with this type of vacation, but this time, we're moving out of our comfort zone.

Next week we head out to the Rockies for visits to Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons and Snowbird. In a word, we're going out to nature. The word nature itself scares the hell out of me, just slightly less than the word camping. (No, no camping, although we are staying at a Holiday Inn Express!) I've spent my entire 43 years avoiding nature. No interest in fishing, hunting, bears, woods, even bugs. You get the idea.

This will be different. We'll be hiking. Deb found a spring for us to swim in. We'll be bonding with nature. (Again, I didn't say sleeping with nature, a.k.a. camping. A few years ago a woodsy coworker asked me about camping. I told him Jews don't camp -- Moses spent 40 years in the desert camping, so we stay at the Holiday Inn!) (That last statement shouldn't be indicative of all Jews. I do actually know some Jews that do camp. But it's pretty rare.) We're gonna do lots of fun outdoors stuff that we've never done like ziplines and whatever else Snowbird has to offer in the summer.

Deb even suggested that I try to find a race to run, and so I did. Quite conveniently, the Xterra Snowbird 8k is hapenning while we are there! How convenient! Looking forward to my first trail run.

Lot's to do before we go, but we can't wait!

L'Chaim!

Monday Leftovers

It's Monday and I've got a few leftovers from yesterday's race. Unfortunately, I'm in a bit more pain than I'd normally expect from a 7 miler. Although I've done plenty of whining about the heat and humidity, no more of that. I've got some blister on my right big toe and some pain in my left foot. I'm sure the foot pain is from failing to wear my orthotics. Strangely, it's the first time I've not worn them since they were delivered almost 6 months ago. Hopefully that pain will be gone in a couple of days.

Also, apologies on skimping out on a link for Fort McHenry yesterday. For my non-US friends, Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner, our national anthem while the Brits were busy bombing Baltimore in 1814. The flag, the city and the song survived.

As for the week in review, my weight has remained fairly constant over the past three weeks, really, varying less than a pound on average. Currently, I'm at 229.7, down 0.4 from last week, a total loss of 184.3.

Exercise wise, I did log 10.3 miles running, one spin class and one Body Pump class.

Last Tuesday, my brother and I took dad to Busch Gardens Williamsburg for a birthday present. We picked the day expecting light crowds with kids still in school and we weren't disappointed. We arrived just as the park opened and headed to their newest coaster -- Griffon. Check out this ride here.

The three of us riding Griffon at the bottom of the 205 foot drop at 71 mph!

By the end of the day, we had 15 or 16 coaster rides, including 8 times on Griffon plus a couple other rides around the park.

What a great day!

L'Chaim!

O, Say Can You Schvitz!

Today was the 5th Annual Survivor Harbor 7 run. I had decided to run it primarily because of the course -- it surrounds the Baltimore Inner Harbor, including Fort Mc Henry. (I was gonna post a link for Fort McHenry, but if you don't know what that is, you might want to check with your local 2nd grader.) Of course, Katie having run it before and planning to run it again, gave me added positives on the course.

As the week was moving on, this weekend looked like it would be far less than ideal running weather. Highs in the mid to upper 90's with equal humidity. Honestly, I was not looking forward to a couple hours of schvitzing right up until I left the house this morning.

Katie was nice enough to pick up my packet yesterday, which turned out to be a good thing as they only had 1500 shirts for 2000 runners. Had I waited till today, I would have surely been s.o.l.

I decided on the ride in that I was just going to do my best to enjoy the day. No thinking about time, no pushing it. Just enjoy it all. We met at the starting line at about 7, an hour before the start. Katie and her dad, along with her friend Towanda, also running today, and her husband Alan, there for moral support.

I got my packet from Katie and distributed t-shirts to the ladies for the inauguration of Blue Crab Running. What's that? Well, some time ago, blogger friends Pat, Lisa and Karen started the Tumbleweed Running Club out in Arizona. Katie and I talked about copying their idea when we ran the B&A Trail Half in March. A few weeks ago, Katie suggested the name and I enlisted my Aunt Debbie to do some artwork. A Zazzle order later and we were ready for today's world reveal.

Our fronts.

And our backs.

Of course, the awesome artwork. Thanks AD!

Planning for today took a lot of work. We all needed to ensure we were well hydrated. I put on my fuel belt for the first time since I had suspected it had caused an injury during marathon training. For today, I was prepared to stay hydrated, even at the potential expense of having to walk more than I'd have liked.

After posing for pictures, we did our thing until just before race time as the bagpipers strode up through the group of runners.

The run started just after 8 am. We were toward the back of the pack, so it was a couple of minutes before we crossed the start line. Temps were about 80 with 80% humidity. It felt every bit that hot and humid, not to mention the hazy skies. As we took off, it was clear that it would be a walk/run kinda day. Not even the slightest breeze evident.

At mile 1, we headed into Ft. McHenry. You might be able to pick out a few cannons in the background in the picture below. It was a very cool start to the run. About a mile around the outer pathway of the fort. I could almost hear Francis Scott Key humming the Star Spangled Banner.

One very nice lady offered to take my pic. Not the best picture, but you can see the hill that the fort sits on in the background.

After leaving the fort, I caught back up with Katie after taking an unplanned bathroom break at the fort and we continued on toward the Inner Harbor. We kept running up until about 3.5 miles when we started taking walk breaks. The humidity was really kicking our butts.

We continued run/walking around the harbor with some great views of downtown. With about a mile and a half to go, I break away from Katie and try to run the rest of the way. Good idea, but not happenin. The air is just too thick.

Approaching Canton Square we get toyed with. We can see the finish, but we're still a half mile from the end. We slog past the finish, around a couple more blocks and back to Canton Square.

Finally and mercifully, the race is over. I finished in 1:28:18 a 12:38 pace. Towanda was about 10 minutes ahead and Katie just a couple of minutes behind. At the end of the day, I really did enjoy the run. I love Baltimore and this was a great chance to see it in a totally different way.

The three of us en route back to the cars at the start line. Thankfully, you can't smell us. I'm thinking I shoulda pitched in for a car decontamination.

Of course what would a race be without the swag.

L'Chaim!

May Finale

May is finally in the books. I'm kinda surprised how the month ended up.

Despite running Frederick, I only totaled 49 miles running for the month. Seems like such a let down after running 96+ miles per month for the past three and having a 26 mile jump start.

Even though the running miles weren't there, biking did pick up -- 92 miles for the month in just 5 rides. Definitely enjoying the bike more and more.

For the month, I lost 2.9 pounds, totaling 11.7 for the year and184.2 since July, 2006. I really thought I'd be lower by now. There are many milestones in the next 30 pounds. Hope to share them with you . . . soon.

For June, I'm setting goals to run 50 miles, bike 100 miles, and drop 5 pounds. Hard to believe the training plan for Marine Corps starts in just three weeks. Yikes.

L'Chaim!

Catching Up

I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted. Time flies when you're having fun. Anyway, here are some highlights from the week past:

Cursing Every god Known to Man

Last Sunday night, we had the family over for dinner to celebrate dad's birthday. I asked brother Neil if he wanted to ride Memorial Day Monday. After complaining about his sore butt from his ride earlier Sunday I finally said I'd be at his house at 8 for coffee, on the road by 8:30. Deal!

Memorial Day was one for the books, at least the weather books. The morning was absolutely perfect -- upper 60's - low 70's, not a cloud in the sky, slight breeze. Perfect for a ride.

We headed out right on time with a plan to go west from Neil's house, out to Baltimore horse country. (I'm sure some of you are thinking "Baltimore horse country? Huh? You'll just have to trust me that there is such a place.) A few miles in, Neil had a mechanical. We had to stop to get his chain recalibrated. Amazingly, the two of us were able to fix his chain and get him back on the road. (Amazing? Yes, we come from a long line of not mechanically inclined family [nothing personal, dad.] Normally we'd call a guy for help, so it was pretty amazing.)

From there, we rode. As we came up on the next hill, Neil was surprised by my climbing -- "Oh, you have three gears on the front." Yes, bro, those granny gears do help on the hills. We saw quite a few other bicyclists out there. At one point, I even counted seven consecutive vehicles with bikes on the back. Seems everyone had the same idea.

As we headed north on Tufton Road (not to name drop or anything, but we waved waved to the Ripken's and it looked like Ray Lewis wasn't home) we passed a police radar set up. We were all set at a cool 12 mph on that uphill section.

We turned back towards Neil's house and he warned me about the hills to come. Falls Road is notoriously hilly. At one point, I hit an all time speed high of 41 mph.

The hills we hit down from Neil's house seemed a long long time ago. Now the uphill battle was in front of us. Nothing like saving the toughest hills for mile 23. It was a killer. On the way up, I was cursing out loud. I think I cursed every god known to man on that last series. It was brutal. Something to look forward to next time.

When all was said and done, we did about 25 miles including more than 2200 feet of climbing in just over 2 hours, mechanicals included.

Neil says I kicked his ass, but I know he'll be back to kicking mine once he gets a few rides under his belt.

It was a glorious day!

Not Much of Anything

That pretty much explains Tuesday and Wednesday. My alarm went off early both days. I turned it off and turned back over both days.

Finally. . .

Thursday, I finally got to the gym for a Body Pump class. I really like the group weight class, cause I'm way too intimidated to going into the weight room. Need to get to a couple of these in a week.

Thursday night I went to the Team In Training Alumni thank you event. The guest of honor was Bruce Cleland, the New Zealander that founded Team In Training 20 years ago in honor of his daughter, who was afflicted with lymphoma. She has survived the disease and he has personally raised more than a million dollars for the cause. He's a pretty low key guy, but it's a great story and it was an honor to meet him along with about a hundred other TNT alumnae.

Friday was field day at school. Since it was my youngest son's 8th birthday, I had promised to volunteer. I hit both the morning and afternoon sessions. 4 hours standing out in a field as the temps broke into the 80's. It was good though, the kids appreciated it.

Yesterday I hit the road for 6 miles with the TNT group. Let me rephrase -- 6 awful miles. It's hard to believe that just a month ago I did a full marathon. These were the toughest miles I've had in at least a year. Clearly, the weather had an impact. It was hot, but not uncomfortably hot -- probably low 70's at the start. It was humid, very uncomfortably humid. Certainly 90% humidity or more. I struggled to run the first 3 1/2 before I had to walk. Then most of the last 2 1/2 were walking. I managed to run the last 2/10 mile to break just under 14 min mile average. I was just one big sweat ball. It sucked!

The weather concerns me particularly because I've signed up for the Annapolis 10-Mile Run. 8 am in Annapolis in mid-July could be pretty nasty. I've got some work to do to get used to the humidity.

With plans for a family birthday brunch mid-morning, I got up early and hit the road on my bike. Not too much going on at 6 am, so I headed into areas that I wouldn't normally go with traffic. Not a single car passed me for the first 4+ miles. That just doesn't happen around here. It was a very nice ride and speedy too, 21 miles in about 80 minutes. Just in time for brunch!

I think I'm all caught up!

L'Chaim!

Happy Blog-a-versary

It's hard to believe it's been a year since I posted my very first blog entry. I recall spending three days writing and rewriting that post, making sure everything was in there and it was proper English and all that!

Some highlights of the past year:

Then -- 279 pounds -- Now -- 229 -- a loss of 50 pounds
522 miles run
421 miles biked
Races completed: One 5k, One 5 miler, One 7 mile marathon relay, One 10k, Two half marathon's and, of course, One Full Marathon.

None of this was without pain, though. There were two ankle injuries and sciatic/piriformis issue that I had to deal with just a little more than a month ago.

Thank you all for your advice and support over the past year, especially Deb, who has pushed me out the door when I wanted to sleep in too many times to count.

It's been a great year!

L'Chaim!

A Few Unrelated Things

Wanna wish a happy birthday to my dad. Since I'm not getting any older, you must not be either! Have a great one, dad.

Priceless

We went to the Orioles game on Saturday and my youngest (almost 8) came home and started to craft a letter to the O's. That letter was good, but then he wrote 4 pages to the Mariners, his favorite team that's not the Orioles.

Dear Mariners:

How is Ichiro doing? I hope he is doing good. Hey, is your team doing good? I hope so. What place are you in. Who is your rival? I wonder if can you send me a program and some baseball cards.

Who are your rookies?

Hey, I want to tell you this – I do Tae Kwon Do.

I have 4 baseball hits. I have 3 bobble heads. I have like 1 of your hats. So can you send me one and some magnets?

Now, let me tell you about my life. I have an electric guitar. I love geography. I play baseball. I know every football and baseball team. So I have 3 metals and like 100
hats.

So let me ask you some questions: Who is the most famous person on your team? How big is your stadium? What was your biggest game? I have 3 baseball video games. Did you change anything about the park? Who are you playing this season? What is a mariner?

Even I have a rock star room.

I have only been to one of your games because I live in Maryland but I like the team
and I have only been to Seattle once and saw the Space Needle and I went on the
duck ride and the museum near by the duck ride. I have a ton of books like the Cat and the Hat.

So you must be a good team. You got a player from my home team. Erik Bedard. He was a good player but your team deserves him. So I only went to one O’s game this year against the Nationals.

I have a ton of stuffed animals. I have 3 blankets. I love sushi and Chinese. Those are my favorite things to eat in the whole entire world. I have 2 foam fingers and 100 baseball cards.

I have a cockapoo and his name is Andy. My favorite candy is Sour Patch Kids. I love sour things. They’re my favorite.

How is the weather down there? Is it warm? It was warm down here. So is it there?

My favorite book is Geronimo Stilton. My favorite sport is baseball. I go to
elementary school. I have a pencil that has all the baseball teams on them. I have a Playstation. I play kickball on the side with my friends and baseball, but we fight sometimes. But it is fun but I strike out most of the time because they throw too fast. So it looks good but it’s really not. Sorry if I spelled anything wrong.

Your Friend, Matty.

I live in Ellicott City. Don’t worry if I spelled anything wrong. It could or not. Can you send the stuff?

The actual version of the letter is a real gem. Misspellings and all. Too good not to share. Hope the Mariners agree!

Good Luck

Lots of bloggers racing this weekend. Good luck to:

Amy running the Ottawa Half Marathon.

Dan going for the Black Bear Half IM Triathlon.

Jenny and Mike hitting the road for their first full marathon at the Madison Marathon.

Hope I didn't miss anyone. Can't wait to read your race reports.

L'Chaim!