Big day tomorrow

Tomorrow is the day all of this becomes official:


REGISTRATION TIME, STARTING AT NOOOOOOOOOOON!


I spoke with the race director at the Boston Marathon expo, and he said that I shouldn't even bother trying to sign up at noon tomorrow. Of course, he had zero idea who he was talking to, so I will not hold it against him. Brian Hetzel, not attempt to register at the exact moment it starts, when this has been on my mind for the last gabillion days?

I will be there, finger above the enter button, counting down...

11:57...

11:58...

11:59...

11:59.59...

GO TIME.

Sorry dude, I will be one of the peeps flooding your server. Best belieeeeeeeeeeeeeve.

For a cool little interactive map of the course, check this out:

http://map.mapnetwork.com/event/dc/marinecorpsmarathon/

Steve-O, get your credit card out, find an internet connection that works, and bust it!

Finally

I went out last night in the rain to test the legs and finally, they held up. I ran about 6.4, just a 10k, and that was about as far as I was going to go. My legs still have a ways to go to fully recover, as the last mile was pretty painful.

Stop running? Haha, um, nope.

I would like to reproduce yesterdays run tonight, but, we'll see. It has only been a week, and maybe I should take it easy.

So it looks like 6.4 tonight :)

Muuuuuuuuuuuhhahhaha

It worked! My plan for the finish of Boston was to find a registered runner and cross the finish line as close to them as possible without seeming creepy. As luck would have it, I caught up to someone I knew and finished with them. I made a point to remember her bib number, which was key.

Why?

No, I don't want her number. I just want the finishing photo, people, and just as I planned, it worked!

Check it out if you feel like it:

Go to this website:
http://www.marathonfoto.com/
Look up Boston Marathon 2008
Last name: Ingram
Bib number: 23820

Look for the wierd looking guy in the nuclear green tank-top and hair wings....you will see what I mean.

Thanks Kristina!

Seriously...

I have had a longer than expected spell of health issues as of late. I haven't been able to run much, mostly due to the shinnanigans associated with the Boston Marathon. I also have a condition that tends to zap my energy, it comes and goes, and for some reason it has stuck around longer than usual this time around. I am going to head out today with the mindset of getting at least 6 in, I need to start getting my miles back. We will see, though. The last few times I have done so I made it about 2 and had to stop and walk. I just felt like I had nothing in the tank. I even stopped and sat for a bit two days ago. I need to get this taken care of and soon. Time to call my primary care physician that looks like he is 18....

Getting there

I am finally starting to feel better. Or at least somewhat normal. I
was warned not to run for a few days, maybe longer but I will head out
for a short one today to test the legs. Now I just have to get rid of
this head cold!

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."- Mahatma Gandhi

Random thoughts and pictures from this weekend

It is always a blast when SLU running alumni, or non-running alumni get together. Also, you can always bet on a) humor b) an innapropriate comment or two and if Sammy is involved, c) signs:

I take no responsibility for his actions, by the way. But hey, he got after it and had an extra ticket to the Red Sox game. Well done, Sammy, I applaud your gumption.

I must say that in my time, I was known to rock unnecessary amounts of spandex. That's right, knuckle pants, three bean salad shorts, etc. Hey, it got cold up in Canton, NY and spring track meant 40 degrees, snow, sleet, and sprinting. Anyway, I was tasteful about my outfits, relatively speaking. So when Sammy and Meg thought this was me for a second, I was appalled:
Sammy and Meg, I would never, EVER wear that hat. Jeez...

Here are a few Saints, reppin' the Scarlet and Brown...

...and we bring the cowbell.

Also, I am all about giving it my all, 100%, etc. when it comes to qualifying for the Olympics...well...that is if...you know what I mean. Anyway, this next image is where I draw the line. They can have their medals, I'll stop before this happens:

I guess she really didn't give a crap what I thought...

And to close this one up, I have a piece of evidence that will explain why my arugment about fanny packs is sound:

Lady, I don't know what you all do deep in the heart of Texas, but we don't roll like that up here. And will you just look at this specimen, please? It is quite rare, the Embroidered Fanny. Soak it in, soak it in.

Photo credits to Sammy. Ladies, please see www.run4stlawrence.com to contact him.

Health Update

I didn't go in to work until noon, and probably should have stayed home altogether. But, I needed to find out how all of my runners did. By stomach still hates me, my feet are pretty blistered up, and I still feel dehydrated for some reason but other than that, I feel OK. I will not be running for a while, maybe a couple days, based on how I feel and due to the threats I recieved from my father.

So for now, folks, I will be subsisting on the items below and straight chillin with my tubesock sunburn.

GI Bug + 13 miles + not enough fluids= very bad ending

I wish I could say my run went well today, but that would be a monsterous lie. A GI bug that I picked up last night haunted me every 1.5 miles until the finish, and is still hanging out, acting a fool. What I didn't realize was that I was not taking in nearly enough fluids until it was too late. I just got home about an hour ago. After finishing the race, I wandered for a little bit and realized I was in some trouble. I walked to my sisters apartment in Southie in my singlet and draped in a silver thermal blanket, looking like a handicapped super hero; not an ideal method of walking 3 miles after having just run 13 but I made it. Thankfully she was there, as I was holding on to a thread at this point. She called my mother, who mentioned that I maybe should go to the hospital, but I was not really up for that. I knew that I needed an IV, but I just didn' t have the strength nor the desire to go. So I took a 45 minute shower, water bottle in hand, sitting in the fetal position. I then got out, put my running shorts back on, put on my sister's medium sized sweatshirt, and lied down in an effort to find a comfortable position. I stayed that way until 9:30, when my sister brought me back to Wellesley to get my car. I just came from CVS, where I bought some Boost, pepto, immodium, gatorade and saltines. I don't care what it all tastes like, I will do anything make this feeling go away...

I learned a lesson today - when you are peeing out of your butt every 15 minutes, you should stop running, it doesn't end up well. But hey, I guess it is better than my sister's friend; 300 feet from the finish, she fell and broke her femur. How one does that, I do not know, but she managed to. She is having surgery tomorrow morning, not good. At least the nice fireman ran across the finish line with her shoe so that she would get a time :)

Never dull when Brian Hetzel's involved.

Huge, major, jack-diesel props to my younger sister, Toons, for taking care of me while she was juggling a million other things. She really is a Galoon, that one.

What?!

The lead runners just went by and that is not running.

That's a dead sprint!

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."- Mahatma Gandhi

Women's Oly marathon trials, downtown Boston

So yesterday, on the eve of the regular marathon, saw the best of the best toe the line in downtown Boston for the start of the women's marathon olympic trials. And I illegally parked just in time to catch the gun!

Now I am generally not cruising the Boston Commons at 7:45 AM on a Sunday, but these ladies can straight up fly, and I competed against one of the runners in college...well...she spanked our team every time but, you know what I mean. Melissa White track and XC for Geneseo State back in the day, so a bunch of us from SLU thought we would lend our support. Melissa currently trains with and runs for the Brooks Hanson Project in Michigan. Not bad...Here she is hammering along:

Although she started out really strong and hung on until mile 18 or so, she eventually dropped a bit and finished out of the running for a spot in Beijing. Hey, she made it to the trials and was in the running up and to the end so I give her nothing but props. Well done, Melissa!


I have never been to a marathon before, especially not the Boston Marathon, which is THE race of races. I have to say that so far, everything has lived up to the hype. Even non runners get psyched about Marathon Monday in Boston, even if it is just another excuse to booze and get lit. I have to say that these Women did a great job kicking of the festivities and blew me away at their ability to just out and out HAMMER for 26.2 miles. Check out this pace:

Yeah, that would be 16 miles in an hour and a half.

WHAAAAAAAAAAT?! That is flying! The buzz around this woman was that she was relatively unknown, and that she put the hammer down and stretched her lead to 2 minutes over the rest of the field, including Deana. I seriously was waiting for Ashton Kutcher to tackle Deana, screaming at her about getting punked. But, what I came to learn, was the Deana is Deana and she is world class for a reason. Fast forward to mile 24 and the once 2-mute lead had shrunk to seconds and saw Deana just put the hammer down and blow by the leader. Now, some were saying that Magda, the second place finisher, died and went out to fast.

Wrong.

She didn't die, she ran 5:45 miles almost the entire way. Deana just decided that she was going to negative split the second half of her race and run 5:30's like they were a jog in the park. Her she is kicking it in for the win:

Yep, she crushed and took her bagillionth title. I would say that I wasn't surprised as her qualifying time was a 2:19, way ahead of the pack but she was so far behind. I guess that is why she is going to the Olympics and I am not.

And before I close, I have to tip my hat to Joan Benoit, who ran what most say is her last competitive race, which she finished in 2 hours and 49 minutes

At the age of 50!

So here is to you, Joan; Thanks for being a pioneer for the sport (and nice hat :) )

Marathon Week

I am writing from my apartment, 45 minutes before the Boston Marathon kicks off. I should be getting on my way soon, but that would be just too practical. I will wait until the last second, thank you very much.

It has been an interesting, if not trying, week of training. As if on cue, I came down with what I thought was just a cold earlier in the week. I thought I could just run in out of me, even though I don't know if that is actually possible. After about 5 miles of flem and fun, I realized I might have an issue trying to finish 13 miles come Monday if this keeps up. Sure enough, I broke out into some serious sweats that night and into the next day. My sinuses started to really bother me, my chest was getting in the act, and I thought it would be a good idea to just try and get a run in regardless.

Not a greaaaat idea.

I made it about a mile before I felt like I wanted to pass out. Awesome!

So, I have taken a bunch of days off since, and although not 100%, I feel a bit better.

What's that? Skip the Boston Marathon and take it easy? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Whoooo, that's funny. Come on, now, you know me better than that by now. I will be running in T-minus 3 hours whether I feel like gold or a box of smashed bums. 

Giddy up.

Bonk and rally

Spring finally held on long enough for a run in shorts yesterday. No, no, I wasn't rocking the pooms, although I wiiiiiiill, muuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhahaha. Anywho, after a rest day, I wanted to put in some decent miles, although nothing too far. So after procrastinating but bucking a few punk B's in Call of Duty 4, I shoved off for a long-ish run.

Now as I have said before, sometimes I get a little carried away on my runs, thinking that I just might be an extra in Chariot's of Fire. Translation - I take off like a bat out of hell. I don't know why I do it, you would think after dry heaving over and over again I would get that sprinting the first mile of a long run isn't so smart. Apparently I have memory loss in that department because as soon as I crossed the 93 overpass I was ouuuuuuuuuuuuuut. Seriously, I might as well have resurected my old nickname, The Caucasian Comet, as I was hammering along. The thing is, I normally do not feel great when I take off, but this time was different. I felt awesome, my legs felt fresh, I wasn't overtired, my endurance felt money, I got whistled at, etc. As I made my way down Dorchester Ave, I continued to pick up the pace, flying by D street, racing no one but believing I was winning anyway. When I got to my first turn point at A street, I was feeling money. However, the logical part of my brain must have woken up from its nap because thought ran through my head,

"Hmm, I have 5 and a half more miles left, maybe I should slow it down a bit."

Good idea. I took a right onto A and headed off to the financial district at a much slower clip, thinking that my sprint warm up was a good way to warm the legs up.

"You should have worn pants if you wanted to warm up your legs, @#$%#@$," I thought to myself as I walked along the Boston Commons. Yeah, that is right, I said walked. Apparently that Hyper Hypo start to my run zapped a good deal of my energy, as I felt like someone had stolen my mojo. My legs felt like wet noodles, I had no giddy up, and I was a looooong way from my apartment. The best part was that it was dark, and I had to run down some shadey sections to get back. Again, planning, not my strong suit.

I figigure I must have walked about half a mile, hoping that my legs would come back from their unannounced sabatical. But, after passing through the Theatre District and trying to cut back around to find 93, I thought it would be in my best interest to start running again.

I am not scared of running is strange places, dark alleys, etc. However, I do have, as those who know me can attest to, a very active imagination. So as I am running along the dimply lit roads along the railway, under overpasses, etc., the only thing I can here is the theme music coming from my own head. No, it's not the Rocky theme, although that would have been nice. It wasn't even Eddie Van Halen's SIIIIIICK guitar riff from Top Gun (which I have always wanted as my ringtone, which would go off in public and I would recieve high fives from all of the dudes around). No, Think creepy overcoat, scary voice, zero happiness.

Yes! You got it, Robert Stack. Wow, how did you guess that? Amazing...

The Unsolved Mysteries theme was playing over and over in my head as I was criss crossing my way home over railroad overpasses and under the highway. I can see my episode now....

Sketchy backlot scene that looks like it exists in no town or city, anywhere? Check

All KINDS of fake smoke and fog? Check

Overly confused actor in retro 80's running gear, complete with permed-out dome and purple jogging suit? Check

Last shot of overactor running into an ominous cloud of faux fog, in coordination with the line, "Never to be seen or heard from again." Check.

I swear, I was looking for that creepy rain coat. Thankfully nothing came of it and I was fine. I did, however, find my second wind. Now, I probably should have just ran a comfortable pace home and called it a night.

Nope.

I pushed the pace, as usual, down Dorchester Ave to see how long I could keep it up. I don't know where my energy was coming from as I certainly did not stop at a taco stand underneath the high way...although I would have if there were one. What? Meat under the highway, totally safe. Where ever it came from, I hammered all the way back to my apartment, at which point I came to the realization that a) I seriosly need to get some coaching for this training thing and b) my Unsolved Mysteries episode would be soooooooooo sick.

Guards for what?

To be a distance runner is to be completely content with your body, or at least that is what I am coming to realize myself. I guess it was only a matter of time before I found these things out and was introduced to the underworld of the distance running culture. 

"Dad, the run was fine, I got a pretty tired during the last mile or so. But, the one thing...um...the one thing that I...uh...bothered me the most were...um..."

"Your nipples?"

"What?! How did you know?!"

"Welcome to distance running. Just use some vaseline and a few band aids, or get a package of nipple guards.

[MUSIC SKIPS]

"Excuse me? Nipple what?"

Yeah, I heard correctly, nipple guards. Apparently this chafing business is a common problem among long distance runners and can get quite painful, which I found out this morning in the shower: soap + nipple chafe= not a fun experience. And for some, it can be quite embarrassing as this poor guy found out:

I don't know what your power song is, sir, but you need to invest in some nipple guards because that is nasty. I know, I didn't know they existed either. So as I was....

What? No, it is not a fanny pack.

What? No, it is not even related to the fanny pack family. Beat it, sir, you are not funny. Go take care of your nipples.

Anyway,as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, they actually sell these guards at specialty running stores like Marathon Sports here in Boston. Check these things out:

Maybe I am a bit immature, but I would be hesitant to walk up to any counter and plop these down.

"Yeah, I will take this hat, these socks and the *cough* nipple guards *cough*."

I would be afraid that the clerk would ask for a price check over the loud speaker.

"Price check on NIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPLE GUUUAAAAAAARDS. This guy needs a price check on NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPLEEEEE GUUUUUUUUUUUUURDDDDDDDDSSSSSSS!"

OK, so maybe I live and think that life reflects the movies but whatever. I don't care who you are, you don't walk up to the counter not feeling weird about the fact that you are buying something called NIPGUARDS.

With that said, best believe that I will be picking up a pack or two on my way home from work. Sorry, pops, I am not going to rub vaseline on my nipples. And for further reference, please never utter that phrase to me ever again, please.

Say whaaaaaaaaat?

Guess what, homies? The Kid ran 12 miles yesterday!

You's a BAD motha! Shut your mouth!

I know, that's really far. Believe me, going into the last mile, I seriously thought my brain was cooked. But to be honest, I don't think I could have stopped even if I wanted to. My legs were on auto pilot, just running. It was a really nice day out and I thought, shoot, why not bust a long one. 11 miles later, I was seriously questioning my reasoning, especially since I was wearing a pair of shoes I purchased two days previously. That made for some fun leg pains. My IT band is super pumped with me right now.

I have to say, though, I am starting to like this long distance running thing. I mean, it feels like you are out on the road for all of April, but it didn't take that long. This 12 miler gave some serious credibility to jumping into the Boston Marathon around Wellesley and running a half. What will not be super awesome about jumping in at this point is Heart Break Hill, which is only a few miles from where I plan on starting. Nothing says fun like a full 1.5 miles of incline; Whoooooooooooooooooooooo!

I have to admit that I didn't mean to run 12, more like 10.5. No, no, I didn't get lost, per say, just more confused than anything else. check out the map below from www.mapmyrun.com, which I used to plot out most of my runs. It may not look systematic, but I actually meant to run that loop, but got confused on a few side streets that ended up tacking on an extra mile and a half.

Before I go on, I just have to make a quick quip about a dude who made a comment on my tube socks.

OK, tube socks, maybe not what the majority of people like to wear. You know what, tube socks are dope, especially the kind that have the thick cotton around the feet like the Puma ones I rock exclusively (Puma, hit me up, I would love to rock your joints for a small fee). Before my run, a dude made a comment about them, how any sock that went above the ankle was off limits. See, I used to think so too, but there is something dashing about the tube sock now. I don't know, call it a fashion trend that has grown on me in my older years. However, this little dig at my tubes was not the problem. The problem was the source of the comment.

There I was, stretching, getting ready to head out, you know, minding my own business when a middle aged dude walks by me and stops.

"Nice tube socks," says the middle aged guy with a snicker.

Now I could really have given a deuce, but after taking one look at this cat, I just got annoyed. You see, home slice was wearing a running tank top, which is fine, I have several. However, he was also wearing some SERIOUS poom poom running shorts. For those who are not schooled on just what poom pooms are, refer to the picture below:


Yep, those are poom pooms. You older folks might refer to them as daisy dukes, hence the picture of Catherine Bach. Either way you slice it, dude was sporting a serious pair of shorts. Now again, I don't care as yes, I too own a few pairs of short running shorts (what, they are comfortable for long runs...even though they are quite revealing). However, I do not, nor will I ever, own anything with floral patterns.

Yes, floral patterns. Dude was heading out on a long run looking like he was sponsored by the Talbots spring collection. I'll take the tube socks, thanks.

That is all.

-B

I know, I know

Yes, I have been neglecting my blog, and that is not a nice thing to do. But, to make up for it, guess what I did?

I got a new pair of kicks, of course! Check it-

Yes, they scream middle-aged-white-man, but I have to remind you that I only wear them to run in. You will not catch me wearing them with Levi's straight-leg 501 jeans, with dress socks and shorts, etc; just running. 

My old running kicks were giving me leg problems, or that is what I used to justify my new purchase. I had an old pair of Brooks Dyads a few years back, but I gave them away when I was in Tanzania. There is a little kid running around with a pair of size 11's, much too big for him, but hey, he was over the moon. 

I have a weird foot strike, probably due to the lack of ligaments left in my ankles. One I had surgically reconstructed, and so now I over-pronate in that foot. I have been putting off getting my other ankle reconstructed because, well, it is a pain in the G-Maximus. This unfixed foot, it has ZERO stability, I can actually dislocate it on command without pain. Gross, but fascinating. Because of the instability, I tend to supinate. Add the fact that I apparently have a wide foot, which I didn't know until I went to a specialty running store a couple of years back (thanks to Matt Magonis and his running peeps at Fast Feet Syracuse), my feet make for a tough fit. The Dyads could seriously be used to water ski with, they are that wide. Super comfortable, very steady, not too stiff; I am not sure why I ever went away from them. Sorry, Brooks, it won't happen again.

I am going to take a shot in the dark here but maybe it would be in my best interest to see an podiatrist and get some orthotics. Having one foot over pronate and the other supinate, probably not the greatest for my legs and back. Great, I heard orthotics are cheap.

Nope.

10+ a faux pas

OK, so I am a fashion snob, well, kind of. I like to call it fashion common sense. I mean, come on, who honestly feels comfortable walking out of the house wearing socks and sandals? No one except fashion criminals, right? Exactly. There are tons of these kinds of fashion breaches, many of which are on display in this undated photo of some stranger below:

You can see the deadly combination of the white tube sock and the active sandal, or what I refer to as the Honkey Sandal. I don't care who you are, where you are from, what you believe in, etc. You should be arrested and jailed for thinking, even for a second, that this combo is couth.

Not couth.

The jacked-up waist line is a gimme and shouldn't even be talked about, unless your draw string is needed to save a drowning baby. The flat brimmed hat has made a comeback among the hip hop crowd, but I say how dare they. Don't they know that the flat brimmed hat started the great depression in the 1920's? Such egregious behavior can prove to be fatal. Lastly, I would like to point out the worst blunder of all in this picture, the Fanny Pack.

Fellas, there is never, EVER a right time to wear one of these bad boys. I have often heard the excuse, "But I was at Disney World." What? I don't care if you were in a sauna with no clothes on...what...go with it...there is never a right time for the fanny pack. Ever.

Need to carry some extra cash? Get a bigger wallet. Need a place to put your passport? get a man-pouch that can tuck under your shirt. But never, EVER resort to using a fanny pack. One friend of mine did so on an ill-fated trip with his family to see Mickey and the concubines and he ended up losing all of his hair. Yeah, I know, I didn't know fanny pack wearage could cause such severe health problems, either. Just be glad that I told you.

I am telling you all of this because there have been some rumors floating around the internets that I have been wearing a fanny pack while running. First off, I would just like to say that is simply blasphemous; I did not have any relations with that fanny pack. Yes, I do wear a contraption around my waist that may or may not be misidentified as a fanny pack. I must assure you, though, it is by no means a fanny pack and I take great offense to such accusations.

Enter exhibit A: The contraption that I wear is below and as you can see, has a specific purpose for runners. I am not sure who reads this blog, but if you are a runner, you will know that running clothes do not hold much. Also, when you are out on the road suffering through pounding the pavement, you do not want to have anything in your hands. No, those are saved for dropping the Heismann move while dodging traffic, throwing bows at local dogs that may give chase, and showing annoying folks how you really feel when they cut you off. So, you need to put your water somewhere. In your pockets? That makes sense...

nope.

So some smart people took it upon themseleves to toe the faux pas line without crossing it and came up with the bottle holder. I am not looking to store anything other than my house key and some midrun excuses to slow down, that being a drink.

Enter exhibit B:

I know, I should have warned you all about the picture to the right. If I burned your retinas, well, sorry but I didn't come up with these horrible contraptions. Blame the middle-aged tourist with a lack of social grace, not me.

Anyway, you can see a clear distinction between the pack I wear and the one which scars people, young and old. One is simple, erganomic and people friendly, supplying owners with a resevoir of thirst-quenching liquid. The other is offensive in almost every category imaginable, definitely too many to list here. It often bodes national flair, as seen above. You want to sport flair? Throw on a red polo and some suspenders and get me an awesome blossom. You want to sport American flair? Call up my boy Kronic and seek an invitation to his world-reknowned Festivus Celebration - you will be hip deep in the stars and bars. But showing your patriotism by draping it across your booty?

Nope, not patriotic; at all, really. I don't care if you have a screaming bald eagle tattooed across you chest - still not patriotic to don one of these jammies.

OK, that is enough for now. Back to running....

My long run on Sunday was fine, nothing exciting. I did get to run it in Springfield, MA, my home town. Forest Park is my favorite place to run in New England, although I wish I could have taken it in more this time around. I was busy trying to think about the fact that I had 7.5 more miles to go. I did eventually get through it, although this one was especially slow. I don't know what it was, but my legs were just tight and tired. Unlike previous runs, 10 miles was the farthest I could have gone that day and I was glad to sit down afterwards.

And yes, I did wear my liquid FP.

Saturday is for procrastination

I woke up a bit late on Saturday morning and didn't get out to meet my team until around 8:30 AM or so. I was planning on running with them for motivation, but no one was around by the time I got there. I wasn't feeling THAT awesome, it was butt cold out and raining, so I listened to the procrastination side of me and decided to just put in a short run. Another training team was in the area and I hooked up with a triathlete heading out for an easy 3 mile run. Too bad his version of easy and my version of easy were not the same thing. Not one to ever say anything, or to tell myself that the pace may just be a bit quick for me, I kept up with him...until my legs felt like they were made of concrete. At about mile 2, I did something I almost never do.

"Hey, I am going to slow it down a bit, go ahead and take off with out me."

What? Right that down! Did you hear that? Yeah, I know, crazy. Typically I would have run myself into the ground out of pride, or better put, false pride. What can I say, I am a typical dude in that department. 

"Must...not...show...weakness..."(cue collapse on concrete)

Not this time. No, my running partner with the uber-tight leggings and oversized shirt (he looked like a toddler, it was weird) obliged and took off, leaving me to drop the pace a bit and find my legs. I never really did, but I did finish with the ability to walk afterwards, so that is a step in the right direction. 

I decided to go for my long run on Sunday, a justification for the three I just put in. Never the less, I am coming along. I may not feel like it, but I know I am making progress. Tomorrow will be a good test of how my legs have gotten used to the longer distances. 

After returning home for a quick clean up, I headed off to the bustling town of Suffield, CT to watch the Suffield Academy track team, my alma mater, compete in their first meet. Quite a strong group of kids. Can you believe that in this little tiny WNEPSA league, there are some of the nations elite HS boys 800 meter runners? Stay tuned on that, SA has a phenom of their own (www.suffieldacademy.org).

My NCAA gripe/rant right quick...

I can't write anything about running right now, I need to get this out and I will get back to what I came here to write about:

This game is a perfect as to why basketball is a stupid sport, and one more reason why all Americans should adopt football, not American football, as the sport of choice. Memphis proved they were the best team, up by 9 with 2 minutes to go. In comes the STUPID hack-a-shaq game style and Kansas gets back in it.

I thought penalty kicks were the worst way to decide a game, but this is leaps and bounds beyond that. Penalty kicks at least decide the game between two legitimately tied teams. This was just bunch of bull. I am not even a Memphis fan, as Caplipari left UMASS when I was a kid for nothing but money when he said he wasn't going to. That and I picked Kansas in my pool. No, this was just a frustrating game to watch and unfortunate for Memphis. Without a question the better team did not win tonight, by a long shot. In my opinion, they (whoever decides these things) need to make intentional fouls an automatic 2-shot-and-the-ball situation. Scoring then fouling before the inbounds? That isn't basketball, that is straight crap. What a cheap way to win a national title.

Sorry coach Cal, you should have played footy.

A few I am sorries

Ok, so maybe I have been slacking a bit on the update piece. For that, I apologize. I would like to say it will not happen again, but, that may be a bit of a stretch. Nonetheless, here is what I have been up to-
I first would like to apologize to my new friend, who I disrespected the other day.

Goo, I am sorry.

I know, I called you something along the lines of hot trash. I was a little dehydrated at the time, I wasn't thinking clearly; I don't know what got into me. I feel as though our relationship has gotten off on the wrong foot. I would like to start anew, take a clean slate approach - what do you say? I promise not to call you names and say you taste like mung if you promise to provide me an insane amount of energy similar to rocket fuel. Deal?

So I pounded out 11 miles this past Saturday. It was really far, the farthest I have ever run. I know 11 miles is eleven miles, but this was a really long 11 miles. Remember that whole bit about my problem with planning? Yeah, well, that kind of came into play again. You see, Hopkinton, MA in regards to the Boston Marathon, sits up on a hill, allowing the runners a fairly drastic descent over the first 3 to 4 miles. I knew this before I set out to run my pre-determined 10 mile long run. Did I map it out, check to see what type of run this could turn into? HAHAHAHA, whoooooo. No, no I did not to answer your question.

I knew I was in trouble after the first few minutes of this particular journey. You see, I sometimes have trouble gauging how fast my pace is. By that I mean I refuse to feel like I am going slow, so I tend to go out too hard and end up sucking wind within the first few miles. And wouldn't fate have it that two people I work with show up at the start line just as I am about to head out. Of course, these two guys are super fit as they plan to run the Boston Marathon in a few weeks. So what do I do? Yep, you guessed it, I tried to keep pace with them. ten minutes and a few F-bombs later, I was knee deep in the hoopla and this starship was off to a bad start.

Luckily for me I am impatient, which led me to slam that Goo before I started out. Let me tell you, my new friend might taste like a bag of smashed booties but man, can they fire you up. And those of you who know me, I don't really need much to reaise my energy level; I my day to day speed is usually measured at the ludacris level. However, after kidding myself and running like I stole something, I was in need of a pick me up. I;ll tell you, that gooey scrumtrulescence is amazing stuff. I was able to make it to the 5 mile marker without seriously considering hailing a cab. What I did know was that I had just descended some SURIOUS hills and I had to turn around and go back. One goo pack of Mint Chocolate and a few watery-eyed dry heaves and I was ready to go.
Yeah, I can't accurately portray the world of pain I was operating in on those last 5 miles. Instead, I would like to explain myself through pictures, a before and after montage if you will:

Before:

or as my younger sister, Annie, likes to think I look like:

Liono? Really? I mean, besides the forearms, I don't see the resemblance. Well, maybe the cat-like moves I guess, but that still is pushing it.

And after being drop kicked off of the pain train:

(I will fix the formating in the morning...)

Yep, didn't feel AWESOME after that run. But, I got my 11 in, one more than I planned but that will do.

What? I have a mullet? Easy, there is a difference between a true business in the front, party in the back dome slice and the hat-mullet. I have a mullitude of hair, I don't enjoy it in my face as I am swearing my way up mountains (hills, mountains, whatever. You didn't know K2 was actually in eastern MA? Look it up, on wikipedia). So, I have to bite the bullet and rock the faux mullet every now and again.

That is all for now. I have another long run tomorrow morning. I had some minor surgery done this morning and I was told not to run for a few days. But, my primary care doctor only went to medical school, so what does he know?

I haven't been slacking, I will post tonight. Check this doozey out for the time being.