Certified Runner?

You know you're a certified official runner when you get a certificate in the mail form MasterCard. During our group run this morning, Javamom and I decided that spending money is what makes you a runner. OK, we're a bit punch drunk by this time. Another group run with Javamom, Pokey and a new addition - GGT. We ran up the canal to the gas station and back for 6 miles. Then GGT had to run (ha ha) and the three of us did another 2.5 miles in Tumbleweed park. My garmin's battery died in the parking lot, so no maps this time.

During our run, the Java Spot was found. Lisa, did not beg and plead to stop. Although she might have driven their afterwards.

Now Lisa had this great ideal to run off road to extend the distance. Which lead to the train tracks and a not so friendly trail. Pokey and I were so intent on keeping our eyes down on the wooden train ties that we didn't see Javamom, who found some flat dirt. See picture - Pokey on the tracks and Javamom running easy.

The price you pay for leading your running group astray.

Then I dropped Lisa and Karen off at their cars and thought I would add 2.5 miles on my run to make it a perfect 11 mile run. Back to the canal and I headed south on new (to me) trails. But, I forgot my bodyglide and my shorts were making me miserable at this point. I added about a mile onto the run. I thought about using the horse trough to take an ice bath, but I came to my senses before I did.

I thought this was cool. You push the button on the left and the trough fills with water for your horse.

All in all, I got 9.5 miles in. A little bit over 2 hours on my feet and a week away from my next half marathon.

OHH! I forgot to tell you about the bathroom. At around mile 8, we stopped so that Lisa could have a potty break. She went in and who should appear but 6 cute little cheerleaders cheering their cute little cheers at a very high level. All heading for the bathroom too. I told them if they kept the cheering up in the bathroom I would give them a buck. So, in they went cheering their cute little cheers while lisa was busy in the same bathroom. They even cheered "Go Lisa Go" which is quite appropriate giving that she was in the bathroom. The cheerleaders came out, all six of them and I couldn't just give them one dollar. I ended up giving them $6, so the math would be easy for them. After all, they are cheerleaders.

Funny thing is, Lisa was a cheer coach in her teaching days. I would have taken a picture, but I realized I was an old guy hanging outside a public restroom giving cute little cheerleaders money. As you would guess, I ran away before the cute little cheerleaders told their daddies about me.

State Quarters

Katie in Baltimore needs three state quarters to finish her collection. I'm sending her Idaho. But, she needs Wisconsin and Nebraska too. If you have it you might want to visit her blog and send her the coin. Now, if you're not sure which one's are the correct one's; just send all your quarters to me and I'll sort through them.

That's Idaho. My cell phone doesn't do close ups.

Katie is very inspiring. If you go to her blog, click on 'my body' and read about her journey.

A Beautiful Day to be on the Golf Course

I spent time on a golf course and didn't make a single bogey, nothing over par. Of course, I didn't bring my clubs.

Today I headed out to the canal to run 6 miles. I park in the golf course parking lot and I'm the only one there. It's 7:30 am on a beautiful day in Arizona and the golf course is empty. This is the week the golf course overseeds the course with winter rye. The sprinklers were all on and no golfers.

I ran on the canal for the first 3.5 miles and then back to the parking lot. My plan was then to run north thru the golf course to Kiwanis Park to get in a total of 6 miles. But, hey no one was using the golf course and the sprinklers were off so I ran on the cart path for another 2 miles. I really liked it. Nice rolling hills, no cars, no golfers and just a few landscaping types.

I finished back on the canal to get my 6 miles in at a 12:33 pace.

Not today. No crazy golfers chasing us runners in their souped up golf carts.

We are protected on the path that runs along the golf course. Thank you Tempe, AZ.

Like I said, no golfers today.

Running Schedule: Now Javamom likes to plan out to 2011. I like to plan out to next month. I was going to run the Montezuma's Castle 10k this weekend. It goes from Camp Verde, AZ to an Indian ruin called - Montezuma's Castle. It's missed named, because Montezuma never stayed there. I've decided I'm not doing it. Instead I am going to run in the 1st annual Casa Grande (The Big House, another Indian Ruin) Half Marathon on October 7th. It's kind of a test run for this marathon and only 45 people have signed up for it. They give medals for the top 3 in each 10 year age category. So, if you are a male in your 40's please do not run in this race. Hundreds, if not thousands of people beat me in my other three half marathons. Not this time.

Darn it. I just thought of J-wim and her adventures with having the 'hearse' follow her to pick up DNF runners. I may very well be the last runner. So, if you run 3 hour HM's please sign up for this great race. Not that J-wim runs 3 hour HM's, but I figure I need a cushion, so slower runners please sign up for this race.

Here's my prediction - I will finish in the top 100 runners. I will finish in the top 5 in my age category and I will attempt to medal by finishing in the top 3. My time? 2:39:59.

The Biggest Loser Week Three

Dan takes the lead in week 3, while Marcy falls way behind. Several teams are down to just two contestants, but after next week we all get to add a player. I've got some big questions and the latest standings on the "Biggest Loser Fantasy League" link to the right. Click on it and comment there, inquiring minds want to know.

No Hills Today

I thought you might like to see the parking garage or my hill workout.

Tonight was a light nite. I did a mile walk with my wife and daughter and then I ran 2.55 miles at a 12:14 pace. No walk breaks - I do love these cooler temps. It was day 76 and the third day of running in a row.

You could get arrested for that

the other day I was jay running across a busy street and was on the cobblestone island waiting for traffic to pass when a motorcycle cop looks at me like I'm crazy. He let me go on my way.

Tonight I'm running and feeling great and I decide to run over to the newly built 4 story parking structure. It was 9 at nite and the lights were on and I've been planning for months to use this for my hill workout. It's so new it hasn't even been used yet. You can see the picture above. The dirt is no longer there and has been replaced with acres of asphalt. Anyway, I run up the first ramp round the corner and get ready to go up the second ramp when what do I see, but Chandler's finest coming down the ramp slowly. Whenever, I get caught doing something I shouldn't be doing I act as if I'm in the right. So I waved to the police officer and kept running. As I look into the car, I see he's looking down at his computer screen. He doesn't even see me, so I keep running. At about a 9 minute pace up hill.

This was at the end of my run. I did 4.52 miles at a 12:10 pace. I did negative splits for the last 2.5 miles. I ran the entire time, garmin says 97% of the time. The only time I stopped was when I needed to pee. I peed where all the dogs pee. I didn't need to bag anything, thank you very much.

The cooler weather actually takes some getting used to. It felt weird the first half mile or so. Almost painful. And it was only about 78f. But, the cooler temps help me to keep my HR down. The 8 miler yesterday was all under 140 bpm and todays 4.5 was mostly under 150 bpm.

So, that's two weeks in a row over 20 miles. 76 days in a row of exercise. And I feel much more confident now that I'm running better in the cooler temps.

Charlie's Angels

Three beautiful athletic women and an old man they see in a fatherly way. Yeah, that sums up the run from yesterday. Thanks to the angels, they were great to run with. My wife was concerned that they would all be hitting on me and I couldn't get a good run in. But, they were ladies the entire time. And do you know how hard it is to google Charlie's Angels and find a picture that has the guy. You find many fine pictures of the Angels. None with Charlie, of course. And one with Bosley. Thanks to Allposters for the picture, you might want to buy one from them.

Kate Jackson. All you guys are thinking the same thing. Who's your favorite angel.

Another 8 miles bites the dust

I got to Tumbleweed park and saw a marathon training group setting up for the morning run. I thought how am I ever going to find Karen and Angie? I'd met Lisa before, but there might be hundreds of runners in this parking lot in no time. Luckily, Pokey and OnePinkFuzzy found me. And Javamom found us all.

What a great running group. We couldn't have been better suited for each other. As you could see on the map above, we headed out east to get to the canal and then north towards our goal - the gas station with restrooms and cold beverages. We actually went one mile further and then got to visit the gas station twice.

Now running with women can be awefully lonely. You don't get to talk much. You get to listen, but you often times don't want to do that either. When they want to cross a street, they use you to stop traffic. Now I didn't mind holding all their sports drinks, but I hated answering to, "Hey waterboy, I'm thirsty."

Pat with Karen, Lisa and Angie

I'm just kidding. I had a blast and we talked about all your blogs. We talked about Gels and Gu's (by the way, you might want to send all your empty Gu packets to Javamom, she's collecting). We talked about running and reaching that runner's high. Althought Angie had a different name for it.
They were so fast, I could barely take the picture.

But, not always. The run was great we covered 8 miles in under 2 hours. It felt like half that time. Hopefully, we will do another long run in a few weeks.

Oh by the way, this was my 75th straight day of exercise.

Calling all participants of the AZ Rock and Roll Marathons

Yes, there's a blog just for runners, volunteers or fans of the PF Chang's Rock and Roll Marathons. Visit it if you'd like to lurk or post.

I've seen several other races, both Ironman and marathons have a blog like this. It would be a great way to connect and we might even end this blog with a Pasta Dinner the night before the big race. Well, I guess we'll end this blog with a bunch of inspiring race reports.

So, check it out. I hope to meet a lot of you fellow PF Chang runners.

Where Have You Gone Joe Dimaggio?

I'm still around. I usually post everday, but this week has been on the quiet side.





Tuesday: The weather was great. I ran 5.02 miles in the morning. In the daylight. For us here in Arizona, it's like spring. We can come out of the caves and enjoy nicer weather. Now, it may heat up again, since this is early for us. But, the past few days have been woderful weather wise.





Wednesday: 2 hours of japanese sword class. We practiced various moves and just started learning to use our feet to avoid an attack. This class is starting to get very interesting. I call it Kendo, but I don't think it is exactly. Either way Tyler and I are having a blast. If you call, getting wacked with a bamboo rod, a blast.





Thursday: I ran 4.07 miles in the morning. Great weather. My garmin was acting up. The pace was wrong, the distance was wrong. The time was right. I later googled my route to find a more accurate distance. Later that night, I played 2 hours of softball. It was the first time I pitched for the men's team. We won the first game 29-8. Everyone was hitting and anytime I can keep a men's team under 10 runs, I'm happy. It's softball. The second game we lost. Not sure of the score. Something like 11-6. I think. I did strike out two of their batters in this game. I take a little pride in K's.





Friday and the weekend: My plan is to play a coed softball game tonight and do an 8 mile run on the canal tomorrow. A possible 3 miler will be on tap for Sunday, depending on how I feel.

72 consecutive days of sweating!

Saturday's 8 Miler

Karen, Lisa, Angie and I will be doing our long slow 8 miler from Tumbleweed Park on Saturday. We plan to head over to the canal and head north. There's a gas station at around 3 miles and then again around 5 miles for us to stop and buy supplies, if needed. I hope I said Tumbleweed, near Germann and McQueen. Here's a google earth shot of what I think we'll be running.

The Biggest Loser Week Two

Week two is in the books. See the standings and results at The Biggest Fantasy League post.



For those not interested in this show, can you guess which sports team stayed at this hotel for spring training?

Any Guesses?

Not so Hot

I could feel the chill in the air this morning. It was in the low 70's and felt great. My plan was to get 5 miles in and enjoy the morning weather. I did the neighborhood route and then cut over to Desert Breeze lake. 5.02 miles in 1:01:49 for a pace of 12.18 per mile. I felt great and I ran about 90% of the time. Running in the daylight is nice too. For the past 4 months, most of my running has been after dark.

Last night I practice the kata one with my son followed by 30 minutes spinning on our stationary bike. Amy said I needed to give my legs a break. That was my break. Today is the 70th consecutive day of exercise.

Komen Race for the Cure: Anyone here in Phoenix planning to do this race on October 14th can sign up with the ASU Gold team and get some cool extras. Here's the deal. If you sign up online and with the ASU Gold team you get an extra tee. It is a gold tee with ASU on it just for this race. I haven't seen it, but we are all going to wear it on race day so that we stick out a bit. That's in addition to the race tee. Plus, you can carpool down to the race with us from the east valley. This is being done thru my kid's venture crew. We are all going to meet at our church race morning, get our bib #'s, shirts and carpool down. So, if you want to do this you need to sign up online and let me know. You must pick up your stuff race morning at the church. You can elect to drive down by yourself, but it's gonna be crowded. To do this, you need to sign up today or tomorrow. I don't know why.

The Biggest Loser Fantasy League: Tonight is the second show. Everyone has picked their first three (except J-wim?). Good luck, everyone.

the Official Time

click to see my official time. the kid that finished below me had to be at least 8. And his dad and friends helped him along at the end. But, I ran my race and beat him. LOL. he was amazing for being out there in the heat and not giving up. the first 2.75 miles he ran alone. good job Joel.

The 10k race was the same course done twice. I was real worried that the winner of that race would beat me. Matt Repak came in at 37.33, just 14 seconds behind me, but twice the distance. But, I did give him a 43 second head start. Good job Matt.

It's kind of cool to google the names of the top finishers. Who beat me in the 5k? Lewis Elliot, an Ironman. He finished 8th overall at last years Arizona Ironman.

"I Did A Run" on tired legs

Today's course was at the Arizona Horse Lover's Park. We ran the trails that the horse's do. It started just above the big horse ring and went counter clockwise. The canal below is the Central Arizona Project and the water is from the Colorado River. It was a beautiful desert trail run.

After yesterdays 9 miler I took a nap. Then I took another nap in the early evening. Then I had to pick my daughter up at 11:30 pm from the homecoming dance. I went to bed thinking I was tired and vowed to get up and see how I felt. I got up at 6 am and felt tired with a headache. But, I thought I would eat breakfast and see how I felt. Then I got in my car and drove north into Scottsdale figuring I would see how I felt. I was still tired, sore and I still had my headache. But, since I was there I thought I would run. I switched from the 10k to the 5k.

This race is free for Arizona Road Racers members. If you sign up for ARR, you get to run it for free. No tees, but lots of food and drink at the finish line. It's called the "I Did A Run". But, there were no dogs to pull us along the way (Ididirod).

I actually took pictures at the start. It was chip timed so I ended up being the second last one to start running. I did splits of 10.36,11.46 and 12.32. My final 1/10 of a mile was at a split of 8.45. I do like to bring it home on the fly.

This is a fun course because you run on dirt trails that are used for horses. It's the Arizona Horse Lover's Park at Reach 11.

PF Chang's Marathon: I read a unique race report this morning about last years PF Chang's half marathon. My first race was also the first race for this couple. But, this race report was done by their friend who was attending a marathon for the first time. It's a different perspective, which I enjoyed reading. If you read it, you might want to leave them a comment. I'm sure they'll be befuddled (yes, befuddled) that strangers are reading this post so long after they wrote it.

The Longest Yard

Actually 15,840 yards. That's what I ran today. I got up at 5:10 am to get my long run out of the way before it got hot. It's 97 degrees as I right this. My plan, as you can see on the map, was to run to Desert Breeze Lake, then past the Intel Plant, down the Gila Springs running trail and lake, down to the path that runs through Twelve Oaks and then north along side the Stellar Airpark. I needed to add a little bit to this run so I did the 'ladder' for the first time. You can see that part of the run on the map. It's a series of switch backs (without the elevation gain) near my home. All in all, I got in my 9 miler in 2:11 and some change. I hadn't run for this long since my last half marathon back in March.

This time, however I walked almost 40% of the time. I don't know why, but I felt tired after 2 miles. I thought about turning around and just doing a 4 miler. I'm hoping cooler weather will allow me to go further. I kept going and did walk breaks often. I ate some shot bloks and that seemed to give me a little bit more 'get up and go'. They say the long run is about time on your feet. If that is the case, then I got time on my feet and my 10 miler in two weeks won't be as difficult. Hopefully, it will be cooler.
The Biggest Loser Fantasy League: Week two is almost here. Most of you have picked your next two players. If you haven't you need to before Tuesday. My picks are going to be Bill on the black team and Phil. We don't know how much the black team lost the first week. So, if anyone picks someone on the black team and we cannot determine how much they lost each week, I will take an average. If you want to see who picked who, go to the link to the right of my posts titled 'The Biggest Loser Fantasy League'.

Do You Know What This Is?

I like to read beth's blog Fake Plastic Fish, a blog about our consumption of plastic and one persons quest to eliminate as much plastic from her life as possible. She's also a runner that just did the Disneyland Half Marathon down in Anahiem earlier this month. She talks about plastic things that we really don't need and will probably end up in a landfill for the next few centuries. Here' one I own. Do you know what it is? Hint, it's a kitchen item that we use, but could live without too.

About a month ago I got read of the word verification and braced myself for the onslaught of spammers. None. That's right, no mass mailings to my blog. I'll let you know if things change, but you might consider dropping your word verification. You might get more comments.

65 Days and counting.

Yesterday was softball doubleheader night with the new men's team I play on. We got crushed. We got enilated. And then we imploded. I was playing second. There was a man on first. The batter hit a grounder up the middle. Perfect for a double play. But, Bill the shortstop and I took the same route to the ball and nearly collided. The ball shot past us into the outfield right between our left centerfielder and our right center fielder who just stood there. Booth of them looked at each other (little league moment) and expected the other to be hustlin'. For the next hour plus they yelled at each other in the field and on the bench. It would have been comical, if it was so depressing.

They say softball is grown men playing a game like boys. But, I don't think this is what they meant.

So, this was the 65th day of consistant exercise. I hit the ball hard almost every at bat right into the glove of a fielder. When I hit it weakly, I would get a hit. Go figure.

But, hey this is a blog for Runner's right? I didn't run.

But, I did read many of your blogs and I've noticed that there's some great words or phrases that are unique to running. My favorite is 'Vanity Fartlek' or when you run harder when you are in eyesight of someone, then slowdown when you are alone. I read other runners talk about being 'chicked' in races. They are usually fast males that don't like the ideal of women passing them in a race. I don't use this term. Because, quite frankly, most of the women are in front of me anyway. Heck, I get grandma'd and grandpa'd all the time. And if another kid in a baby stroller sprays me with his sippy cup one more time as his mom shoots past me, I'm gonna scream. Anyway, what running terms are your favorites?

I feel like I was hit with a Brick!

So Triathletes call it a 'Brick' when they do two of their sports back to back. Swim, then run. Bike, then run. Run, then eat ice cream. I did a brick of sorts last nite.

My son and I attended our second Japanese Swordmanship class. I call it Kendo, but I'm not sure if that's quite accurate. It's basically grown men (insert joke here) playing swords with bamboo (Shinai). Last nite for two hours I got whacked in the right knee a dozen times and in the right hand and thumb even more (insert joke here). Note to self: go to Sports Authority and buy a cup for Tyler and me.

That's bruising from not keeping my hands low enough when I was supposed to be protecting my right elbow from being severed. If I ever meet a Samurai on the streets of Phoenix, I'm dead. We also learned some techniques to remove a knife from a deranged individual. All in all, it was a painful class.

Tyler drove home (learning to drive) without crashing into anything or anyone. I then swapped my Samurai clothes (shorts and a tee) for my running clothes (shorts and a tee, but sweat resistant) and headed out at 9 pm for my version of a brick. The first thing I noticed was that after being whacked in the knee for two hours, you can feel the pain when you run. But, only for the first mile. My first mile was done in 10:52 and I was shooting for 11 minutes.

My splits:

10.52 mile 1
11.23 - mile 2
13.37 mile 3
13.15 mile 4

I ran 85% of the time and for the first 2.5 miles. I am consciously trying to stretch my run times out. It's still hot here, but I know this will increase greatly once it's cooler (read below 90). I think it was in the high 90's when I ran last night.


I stepped on the scale this morning to see a reading of 222.5. The lowest I've been since I started running. There was a great quote on "The Biggest Loser" the other night from Kim, the trainer. They were talking about diets and she said, "If your body is burning sugar, it's not burning fat". In other words, watch what you eat. When you're running you want to be burning excess fat, not the ding dong you ate last night. I want to lose some serious weight during season 4 of "The Biggest Loser". You can call it the home version of the show.

Pictured above is the program from my senior year in high school. Aiken HS v. St. Xavier HS. We tied 10-10. St. X is the #1 catholic high school to go to in Cincinnati. There's an entrance test that I took when I was in 8th grade. I passed it, to my surprise (and everyone else's). But, I didn't go there, I went to the city school that was free.

Anyway, I got a bit off topic there. You can see my next to my name is 5-10 and 182 pounds. Which means, I've shrunk and enlarged at the same time. I doubt I was ever 5-10 and I am no where near 182 (which is puny for a lineman today). So, can I get back down to my playing weight?

Yes, I can!

One more thing . . . Here's another thing you can do with your ipod and a blender.

The Biggest Loser Week ONE

Who's winning - Dan's Eliminating Excess.

For complete standings click on "The Biggest Loser Fantasy League" here or at the right under my blogroll.

Now it's time to pick two more teammates. Remember you cannot have more than 2 of the same sex.

Let's Never Forget!

Today is September 11th, let's never forget that there are those out there who would like to take freedom away.

LET'S NEVER

FORGET!

A PHOTO TRIBUTE

The Biggest Loser is on Tonight

It starts tonight. However, I don't think there will be a weight loss announced. If there is, you will be credited with it. We have 12 teams playing. Watch tonight and start thinking about who your other players are going to be. I will create some kind of spreadsheet to track all this and so I won't have to retype the results every week.

But so far we have:

Pat's Pounders - Amy
Marcy's Meatrolls - Kae
Wim-sical - Isabeau
Jeff's Former Fatties - Neil
Dan's Eliminating the Excess - Phil
Bob's Waddlers - Kae
Ken's Weight and See - Bryan
Katie's FIRMin8ors - Ryan
Tiggers Hate Honey - David
Chubikins (Runnergirl) - James
Pokey's Potbellies - Nicole
Hunter's Hopeful's (Margie) - Bryan.

Day 62 Hurt

Growing up in Cincinnati you learn to love the Reds and Bengals. The Bengals played the Ravens on Monday Night Football tonight. I watched as the Bengals pulled out a close win (with a little help from the zebras). Then, instead of watching the local Arizona Cardinals in the second game I went for a run.

It takes about 3/4 of a mile before my legs get adjusted to the movement. Tonight it was a different sort of pain. My calves felt really tight. I mean really tight. I stopped to stretch them some and it helped, but most of the run I felt them. I ran around the neighborhood and then over to the lake. My Desert Breeze Lake run. Don't be fooled, there was no breeze. It was around 99 degrees, but the sun was down. 55 minutes later and 4.12 miles I was done. Last night I was on the stationary bike and I went as fast as I could for 30 minutes. I got 10.2 miles in on one of the easiest settings. That gives me 62 straight days of some sort of exercise.

Pants for sale

I'm going to have to buy some new clothes soon. I wanted to get under 200 pounds before I spent the money, but I might not be able to weight. I mean wait.

.

For What It's Worth: I was reading the rules for Badwater (no, I have no interest in ever running Badwater). Now, Badwater finishes at the portal for Mt. Whitney. It's maybe at 7-8,000 feet above sea level. The summit is over 14,000 (I think). One of the rules says that if a runner wants to keep going to the summit after running 135 miles in 120+ degree weather starting at sea level, they must remove their bib and any thing associated with the race before continuing. My question is, has anyone decided they wanted to go to the summit after running Badwater? That's amazing!

The Run to Remember

See Pat's T shirt collection

Ohh, the weather was wonderful this morning. Low 80's and I got to race at Kiwanis Park. This was the Run to Remember 9/11. It was a charity run to help support the 100 Club for Police and Firemen who have been hurt or died in the line of duty.

A few years ago my son was in Boy Scouts school with Rupert Snedigar. I was showing homes one Saturday and I heard that a Chandler Police Officer was shot to death attempting to apprehend a jewelry store thief. When I got home I quickly found out that the officer was the father of Rupert, Officer James Snedigar. He was the first officer to die in the line of duty in Chandler. Today I thought about Rupert and his younger sister (I can't remember her name, but she was in girl scouts with my daughter). They live in California and I hope they are doing well.


Kiwanis Park is one of my favorite places to run.
This race started in a new location, the corporate picnic area. A much better place to start because it had lots of tables and seating. The race started with the singing of "The Star Spangled Banner" and was lead by a fireman in full gear. All races should start with either a patriotic anthem or the "Pledge of Allegiance".

I don't remember ever passing the fireman. He must have been moving. I started close to the front and did the first mile in 9:19, a PR for one mile. I got to the half way mark around 15 minutes and was hoping to PR this race. I didn't think I could do the 2nd half as fast as the first, but I gave it my best. Soon fatigue set in and I did my best to keep moving. I was happy with an 11:14 2nd mile. All during the race I kept hearing a group of runners singing. It was four guys with a flag and matching shirts. Army? Police? Fire? Not sure, but they were behind me until about the 2.8 mile mark. I was walking and they ran right past me. They weren't singing anymore.


If you look at the graph you'll notice at the end of the 5k (midway in my run) I poured it on and finished right behind the four. My garmin showed a finish time of 34:07. Not sure what my clock time for the 5k is. I was running a 4:18 pace at the finish according to my garmin. I do like to fly at the end (vanity fartlek).

I got some water, banana and orange for my rest. I got to talk with Mark. He's always at the races. Mark is going to be doing his first half marathon next week. I asked him what his top mileage has been. Mark said 4 miles. Good vibes go out to Mark.

After a rest, I ran some more. I wanted to get in 8 miles today. I ran the course in reverse. Going out I passed the last of the walkers coming in. Ran past the lake where there were lots of people doing T'ai Chi. Past a group of runners in a seminar and past a young group of runners finishing up a run with their coach yelling out times. I got back to the finish line completing 5.5 miles or 2.4 miles after the race. They were giving out awards, I grabbed a drink and looked at the finish times. I don't remember my time (I'll get online later), but I did see that I was 7th of 8 in my age group. No need to stick around, I started my 3rd loop on the race course. I did a mile around the lake, said hi to one of the race officials picking up signs and felt I was done for the morning. 6.4 miles done. My marathon training calls for 6 miles, but I wanted to get in more. It, also calls for a rest tomorrow, but I will probably do a short recovery run tomorrow to get my 8 miles in for the weekend.

I'm excited about the cooler temps. I hope they keep up. And one more thing, I got the t shirt above in a large and it fits. All my other tees have been of the XL variety.

Update: 169 out of 232 PAT MONAHAN 45 7/8 M 34:31 11:07
I think my garmin time of 34:07 is more accurate. I, also, found out that the winner was Kal Clark (his dad was second). It's just no fair having Kal in the race.

Softball

The past two nights have been softball nights. On Thursday we split two games. We're 5-3 so far. The first game I went 4 for 4. No power, all singles. The second game I went 2 for 5. Friday was the first game of the season for our coed team. We always get a large turnout for the first game. Which dilutes the quality of our play. It's a church team, so everyone plays. I pitched and held the other team to 7 runs. Pretty good for softball. However, we didn't hit and only scored 3 runs. I only got one at bat and made a weak out.

The streak continues and is now at 60 days.

Quote of the Day:
I think I'm allergic to exercise - I keep breaking out in a sweat! -Justthisguy.

Fantasy Biggest Loser Update

Our League consists of:

Pat's Pounders - Amy
Marcy's Meatrolls - Kae
Wim-sical - Isabeau
Jeff's Former Fatties - Neil
Dan's Eliminating the Excess - Phil
Bob's Waddlers - Kae
Ken's Weight and See - Bryan
Katie's FIRMin8ors - Ryan
Tiggers Hate Honey - David


Hopefully, we will get many more league members. Jeff asked what are the stakes? Good question. He suggested that the winner gets something from the other teams. I like this ideal. The item should not be too expensive, it should be something from your neck of the woods. For instance, he lives in Baltimore the home of Underarmour; so he would send some UA stuff. Again, not to expensive. I live in Arizona, so I could send a minature cactus, a scorpion in a paperweight or maybe some running gear with an arizona theme. You get the ideal. I will assume everyone's ok with this plan. If not, let me know. Again, this league is for the fun of it, more so than the loot.

Bob's Waddlers had a couple questions. You can lose a player. So when picking, choose players that can lose lots of weight, but also will stick around. You can trade players to other teams. I might trade a 'higher loser' to Bob for someone I feel won't get voted off. You can also trade for a player that no one has. Let's say no one picks Amber. You don't want Kae anymore. You can make that trade with the 'free agent pool', as long as you are trading an active player. You have to trade guy for guy and girl for girl.

All teams must have at least two players. So if you go below that you are allowed to take a player off the free agent list. If there's no one on the free agent list, then you are out of luck. Towards the end of the show, when there are less than 5 contestants, everyone will be shorthanded. What happens if they bring someone back, like they did last year? If that player was on your team and you have not replaced them, you get all their weight loss. If a player is sent home, they are still on your team. They just aren't counted and cannot be replaced from the free agent pool unless you are down to one player. You can trade them. If I was down to two lousy players and I wanted someone from the free agent list, I could trade with J-wim for a 'player sent home' and then since I only had one active, I could release one of my 'players sent home' for a free agent. Hope that makes sense.

If you haven't figured this out yet. I am making up the rules as we go. I'm sure at some point I will make a rule that doesn't work with another rule. If so, let me know. I will try to be as fair as possible. If you would like your weight loss shown next to your teams, I will show it. I will not count it and you do not have to list your weight. If you do list your weight, weigh in as close to the show day as possible.

Finally, talk smack, have fun and visit each other's blogs. All of you have great blogs. Blog about this league and get fans. If you have fans and want me to list them, I will. I will, also send a 'press release' to NBC and the Biggest Loser. This might just be the first fantasy league for them.

If you haven't joined our league or want to know more about it see the previous post.

KENDO

Last night Tyler and I went to our first Kendo class. It is a Chandler Recreation Department class on Japanese Swordsmenship. I am part Japanese (yes, theirs lots you don't know about me) and Tyler (like all teenagers) likes to play with weapons. We practiced in a junior high wrestling room with the mats. We learned the first Kata. Sensei Mark demonstrated on me. It was a series of attacks that I was supposed to block with my sword. Eventhought I knew where the attacks would be, I had a tough time of it. Since, my sensei did not stop, I kept getting hit. Left, right, high , low. And I paid for this class?

It was a good workout. My left knee was in agony the whole time. I tried to run afterwards, but could only manage about a mile of run/walk. I got 2 hours of Kendo practice in and about 15-20 minutes of run/walk in. I broke a sweat, so that counts as a workout and so I am now at 57 days. If I reach 100 days I plan to revise my workout minimum.

Fantasy Biggest Loser

Who wants to play "Fantasy Biggest Loser"? The premiere starts next Tuesday. There are 18 contestants listed on the Biggest Loser website. Each person will get to pick 2 guys and 2 gals. You'll need to pick one person before the show even starts. Go to the website and pick from the pictures. No info at this time. After the first show you'll get to pick 2 more teammates. After the fourth show you'll pick your final player. You get any weight they lose while they are on your team. You can also trade teammates with other teams. But you can only make 3 trades during this season and only players that are still on the show. So, you can't trade Manny that got kicked off for tony that's still on. You must maintain a 2 guy/2 girl split at all times. Both teams trading most leave me a comment 24 hours before the next show. More than one team can have the same team member. So, Amber could be on several teams.

If you want to play, you need to pick your 1st teammate by Sunday, September 9th. The winning team is the team that has lost the most weight.

I'll start things off with picking Amy (my wife's name). My team name will be Pat's Pounders.

If you think of anything I haven't let me know and as commissioner I will make a ruling. If you can promote this on your blogs I'd appreicate it. It would be great to have over 10 teams.

Did the streak continue?

Last night Tyler and I went to our first Kendo class. We got to make a shinai (pictures following) and then I had a 9 pm appointment to list a home (Realtors work strange hours). So I was in trouble of not exercising. The entire drive home I was contemplating whether to run or just ride the exercise bike. I got home at 10:30 pm and jumped on the bike. Not sure if the bike's clock works correctly. It kept beeping and reset at one point. I got at least 37 minutes in, so that counts for day 56. The downside was I was hot, sweating and I had trouble sleeping. I felt like I was sleeping in a sauna. Tonight will be difficult too. I need to run and Tyler and I have another Kendo class. At least this time the class will be about the sport and not making the practice sword. I'll run after wards.

Note To Self

I started my blogging mostly as a 'note to self' type of operation. I'm constantly amazed that others read it and I do appreciate your support. Today I changed the title of my blog to "Note To Self" since I do like to read over the old posts just to remind me of how far I've come. I hope you like the new name and photo. The photo has many of the things that motivate me to continue on.

Tonight I ran to the Desert Breeze lake and back. I went down a new street and got rewarded. There was a couple out washing their SUV. She was wearing her bikini and she looked like a runner. You know the kind that Runner's World puts on the cover. I tried to take a picture but the husband chased me off.

I ran 5.16 miles. If you look at the graph above (click on it to enlarge), you'll notice that I ran a 9:27 first mile. I need to do that three times in the upcoming race. That's gonna be quite the challenge. Then after the 2nd mile I posted negative splits the rest of the way out. It was a good nite for a run. After the run I spent some time in my pool. Swimming the length of the pool and practicing the things I learned on Javamom' s blog. On Sunday I spent some time lifting weights. So tonight was the 55th consecutive day of exercise.

Have you ever seen a track like this? Who can guess what it is?

Have you ever wondered how to run a 5k in 20 minutes. Now I know how.

My First Race

Today is the one year anniversary of my first race. Run For Brooke 5k in Kiwanis Park. Last year I finished August with about 62 miles run for the month. This year I finished with 81.4 miles run. The third highest monthly total for me. It took me 17 hours and 38 minutes for the month.

Which is ironic, because I've been reading about Iron Misty or Geekgirl who just finished the Ironman Louisville in just over 17 hours. That's in one day! If you haven't read here blog on her louisville experience you should. To fully appreciate it you should read from her post on 8/27 and then read in order to the present day. Oh hell, read from her first blog to today. It's inspiring.

How Inspiring?

So inspiring that I just got the crazy ideal that I could do the PF Chang's Marathon here in January. It pails in comparision to what she accomplished (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run), but I will run a full marathon for the first time on January 13, 2008. I said I would do it the other day, but did not commit fully to it. If my knee holds up, if I can get in the longer runs in november and december. Well, I'm dropping the 'if's' and I will be on the start line for the full marathon.

The Stephen Colbert Generator

A Dairy Queen Run

Last night I ran 3.48 miles in 46:57. My wife and kids met me at DQ for a after run treat. This is the 53rd straight day of exercise. No mad truckers during this run. Although, the guy at DQ gave me a weird look when I walked into their store.

My next race will be this Saturday at Kiwanis Park. It's a 5k and will be similar to the race I did one year ago. Except this year I will be trying to get under 30 minutes for the first time. On a mostly flat course I will try to do three 9:30 miles and then race into the finish.

108 Degrees in the shade

Yesterday the high was 108. Ah, a cooling trend.







Being the brilliant, wise runner that I am. I waited until after 8 pm to run in 99 degree weather. I was feeling pretty good after a mile and decided that I would stretch this run out and make it my long run for the week. My new marathon training plan called for a long run 0f 5 miles for week 1. I don't consider that a long run, so I was hoping to get in at least 6, maybe 7 miles for a long run this week. I crossed north over Ray Road and ventured into a new running area. As I got close to the Wendy's I remembered they have this new twisted Frosty, should I stop for one? No, I'm in serious training mode. No Ice Cream Stops!







However, I didn't bring extra fuel for a longer run, so I crossed Warner Road and headed to the 7 Eleven. Oh, thank heaven for 7 Eleven. I got a Reese's Fast Break candy bar and a pack of starbursts to go. I was a little over 2 miles into my run and that candy bar was unbelievable. A lot of calories, but unbelievable non the less. I continued on westward, past my kids high school and to stop #2 - Mobile on the Run(this is what came up for a link). I ran out of water and it was time for a Gatorade(Green Alert: not green, I bought a throw away bottle). As I was leaving I walked past a gas truck driver, so I said hi. He looked at me like I was some nut out for a 6 mile run on a perfectly good friday nite with a bit of a 'I got a chain saw in my truck, boy' look. I started to run. About a half mile down the road it was time to cross to the southside of the street. As I was crossing, I got to the center island of Ray road, a 4-6 lane road and I saw some headlights. So, I waited. Luckily, I did because here comes the gas truck barreling down the road and you know he would have love to make me his new hood ornament. I can just hear him with John Denver playing in the background -


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"Almost Heaven, West Virginia


Blue ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River


Life is old there


Older than the trees


Younger than the mountains


Growin' like a breeze."


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"Come on boy, cross that street" But, I waited and I live to run another day. I continued eastward toward home at this point. I ran past one house that had hundreds of plastic forks laying in the street in front. the high school kids like to 'fork yards'. I guess they had to abort this attempt.











I ended up my run in front of my abode after 6.22 miles.

(Give it up for Johan Lippowitz)

In 1 hour and 26 minutes. Day 51 is now official. I walked into the family room and sat on the stationary bike. My wife and son looked at me as they were sitting on their a..., chairs and said in unison - 'you stink'.

Ahh, the life of a runner.

Crossing Streets

How do you cross major streets. Here in Chandler, AZ all the major streets are exactly one mile apart and the head east/west or north/south. A large grid for the most part. I find when I go to a light, I have to wait and then I still might get run over by a driver not looking but turning right. But, away from the light traffic is lighter and there are times were no cars are near for a good minute or more. I like to cross at these points.

You can see on this aerial. I choose not to cross at the light. see all the traffic. I jayran down the road. I believe it's safer. What you think? What do you do on your runs? I'd like to know.

Going Green

You might notice I will have a Green Alert every once in a while. I am trying to think more green these days. Hopefully, you are too. It's mostly for my own sake. But, whenever I notice something that is good or bad for the environment, I will mention it. I by no means, think that I am a plus for the enviroment or better than most. I'm just trying to be better than I am today. If you notice something in my blog that is good or bad for the environment, let me know. I'm already using reusable bottles that I carry when I run. We're trying not to buy too many water bottles that get thrown away.

keep this to yourself - I like Almost Heaven by John Denver. It reminds me of my dad, driving on vacation down to Florida when I was a kid. But, don't tell anyone.