Another 5

Around 5:30 pm I made my way to Kiwanis Park in Tempe. It is one of my favorite places to run. I parked near the softball fields and ran to the lake. A few laps around the lake as the sun was setting and then back past the softball fields down towards Guadalupe road.

5 miles in 57:28. an 11:27 pace. I like walk breaks, so I can drink, take pictures and rest. But, tonight I just took one at 1.6 miles. I was going to take another around mile 3, but I was enjoying the run and before I knew it I was so close to finishing, I just kept running(kind of like this sentence).

I got back to the softball fields to watch the start of the 6:30 game. I watched a half inning and then headed over to the batting cages. Mike, our coach was there and I took turns in the cage with him. I used my free pass that I got last week. Strange story. I was hitting in the cage last week and I noticed a man 2 cages down hitting softballs. He had his 4-5 year old son in the cage with him. The kid was standing behind him and a few steps back near the gate to the cage. He was jumping up and down every time dad made contact. Ok, this isn't safe. Should I talk to the dad, volunteer to watch the kid while he hits or tell the batting cage operators? Before I decided, the man put a helmet on and started hitting fast pitches with his kid in the cage. I couldn't take anymore of this so I told the guy selling the tokens. He ran out there and immediately got the kid out. I thought the dad had the kid in the cage because he didn't want to leave the kid alone and unattended, but it turned out his wife was sitting on the bench watching both of them. As I was leaving last week, the attendant gave me 6 free tokens.

Back to this week. Our 2nd place team played the first place team tonight. We led 12-9 going into the last inning. I was pitching and between my pitching and our fielding we gave up the lead and headed into our final at bat behind 14-12. This was the kind of game in which whoever bats last wins. And we did 15-14. Now both teams are 4-1 with two games left.

Run 5 miles, batting cages and softball. What a night and we finished it off by having a team party at Chuey's. I hope your Friday night was just as much fun.

Whanna Race?

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=toughguy2007

Their website:

http://www.toughguy.co.uk/

Another Day, Another Canal

Today I ran the Crosscut canal in Mesa. It passes the Mesa City Cemetary and Hohokam Park (this is where the Cubs begin their yearly journey toward medocrity). But, maybe not this year with Sweet LouPinella at the helm. I ran east to the South Canal and then north a bit.

5.06 miles in 59:57. An 11:49 pace. I think I ran better today because I was thinking about baseball. It sure wasn't because of the wind that was in my face the whole way back. I don't remember it helping me as I ran out.

Nike Ipod: A couple people questioned how the Nike Ipod works. When you hit the center button on your run it will give you your realtime pace. If you run real fast for a few seconds before you hit the button, it will tell you a pace of 7 or 8 minutes, even when you are running an 11 minute pace. When you go online it will tell you what your pace was at the mile splits, but not for that mile. Only for that precise moment when you reached the mile interval. I added up my splits for three different runs and compared them with the total time. These times should equal if the Nike Ipod was recording splits. I had a difference of 10 seconds, 46 seconds and 1 minute and 28 seconds. The last one I calculated gave me my pace at mile two of 16:26. I was walking at the time, I'm sure I ran that mile faster than 16 minutes. Try it yourself and see if I am right. The next time you are running, just before you reach the first mile (maybe at the .85 of a mile spot) walk until you pass the 1 mile mark. It will give you a reading of 15 minutes or more, but you'll see your time is much less.

Softball: I forgot to tell about our softball game. We played Verizon Wireless, my cell phone provider, and we won. I was the coach for the evening, which I prefer not being. We won 18-8 in 7 innings. Scoring 13 runs when there pitcher couldn't pitch a strike. He walked in 5-6 runs that inning. Now we are 3-1 with 3 games to go. But we have to play the top team and the next two teams under us. Hopefully, we'll do well.

18 days and counting

It's 18 days until the Valley of Gold Half Marathon in Tucson. This is a marathon put on by John 'the penquin' Bingham. He's a columnist in Runner's World Magazine and author of several fine books on running. I hope to start this run with Javamom. We started the New Times 5k together back in November and she's been training really well for this. If you haven't read her blog, I would encourage you to do so.

Today, I have a home inspection to attend to in Mesa, which is conveniently close to a canal. I plan to do 6 miles on the canal after the inspection. The weather should be ideal. 65-70 degrees and clear skies. This is a canal I haven't run before, so I'm excited about that. Hopefully, I'll get some interesting pictures.

Update: As I was getting my gear ready in the Fry's Parking lot and worrying about my left knee, it dawned on me that it's not the time to be adding mileage. So I decided to do my normal 5 miles. The canal path was in great shape. The weather was perfect with a slight breeze. Lately my legs and knees feel tight for about the first 1/2 mile and then I start to get into the run. My Ipod Nike + doesn't record splits, so if I want to know my splits I have to memorize them. Fortunately, this is a good way to while away the time during the run. I finished the first mile in 11:30 and then the subsequent miles were run in 11:50, 12:40, 12:20 and 12 minutes flat. I ran 5 miles in 1 hour, 13 seconds for a pace of 12:01.

Here's some pictures I took.

A view of the canal from Broadway looking south.

A large backyard with their own horse riding arena. You can see 3-5 jumping fences.

A very large fish. They place them in the canal to eat all the growth that they don't want. I believe this one is taking a siesta on it's back. Or maybe it's just dead.

The Pictures are In

I just looked at the pictures from the Lost Dutchman Half Marathon. I'm a bit of a ham, so whenever I see a photographer, I always run a bit harder and try to be presentable. I remember Jenny, the learnedfoot, saying that the ultimate picture is when you arn't touching the ground. I got some of those in this group of pictures.

http://www.backprint.com/go.asp?18337967

Now, which one's should I buy? Let me know.

Thanks for the words of wisdom everyone. I did respond to some of you, so you may want to re-read the comments.

500 Miles and I'm still going

When I first started running I wanted to get to 100 miles. I got there and then it seemed like 200 came quickly afterwards. So I thought to myself I want to be somewhere neat when I reach 500 miles. Today, February 25th, 2007 Ireached 500 miles and when I turned around this is what I saw.

My car is at the other end of this road. Actually, only 2.5 miles away. Parked at the Dash In Gas Station. Thanks for not towing it. I was at the base of the Superstition Mountains. I'd love to tell you I celebrated at this point. But, the truth is I was in the middle of my run and I forgot that I had reached a milestone. Today I ran for 5.31 miles in hilly conditions. I had to wander thru the desert, at times on unmarked trails and up and down hills on mostly dirt roads. I had a blast.

Some of the run was on the very same roads I ran the half marathon on just a week ago. It took me 1:10:18 to do this run. I had a major walk in the middle as I was in the desert looking for a road. I wasn't lost. I knew to keep the Superstitions behind me and to walk in a NW fashion and I would either hit the Lost Dutchman Boulevard or Idaho Road. Either way, I could get to the Dash In from their.

It was nice to be back running in Apache Junction just one week after the half marathon. What brought me back? Work. I found a great condo for a client of mine. They needed a home to stay during the winter. They live in Payson, AZ up in the mountains and had lived in AJ before. We met and looked at this condo. They loved it. We needed to write a contract on it, but where? They suggested the Apache Junction Dog Track. So we ended up there. There are no races anymore, but they do have a lounge and they do similcast other races. We had plenty of room to make an offer, then we parted ways and I went to get my run in. Here's some pix of the former race track.

Those are bleachers on the roof. We were inside, but didn't bet on any of the races.

The infield is back to desert, but the track looked pretty good. You can see it in the foreground with the scoreboard further back. When I get more time, I will get some better pictures. It's a pretty cool place.

Just another day in my life. Thanks for visiting.

Some Runs are made in Heaven

Today was one of them. It is beautiful here in Arizona. Right around 70 degrees, sunny without a cloud in the sky. I took a long lunch to run on the Western Canal up to Ken McDonald Golf Course and then back to the parking lot. It's funny, the parking lot I run from has a restaurant called the Heart Attack Grill. They serve single, double, triple and quadruple bypass burgers and the waitresses are scantily clad nurses. At least they're dressed like nurses. I like to say I'm running from a heart attack when I run this route.

I ran along the Western Canal. It is nice and quiet. It runs thru a typical neighborhood and I only have one major street to cross. After I've crossed it, I get to run along the golf course. The first have of the course, I am enclosed in a fence to protect me. The second half, I have to watch for flying golf balls and those mean golfers.

I got out for 2.5 miles, turn around and head back to the Heart Attack. I never ate there until today. The single bypass isn't any worse than a big mac, calorie wise. It tasted ok. The burger was wrapped in paper, so I saw more of my waitresses buns, than I did my burger. I was too shy to take a picture.

Pictures: I hope you like the pictures. I took them with my new Treo mobile phone. My new toy is great, but I have it because of work. It has a palm pilot inside it so I can store all my clients info, open lockboxes to enter homes for sale and play games when I have nothing else to do.

Lost Dutchman Photos

These are the beautiful Superstition Mountains. I feel priveldged to get to see them on most days. I'm gonna have to run near them more often.


This is the view of the lead runner. If you've never lead a half marathon, you've never seen this. I got to for less than a minute. Then over the next 2 hours, 544 runners passed me by.


These are the runners behind me when I took the lead. As you can tell, all the faster runners took the wrong turn. We were just fortunate enought to be pointed in the right direction.

This road is only about 35-45 minutes from my house. I will diffently run it more often. At this point it's a dirt road and the traffic is sparse.

Here I am around mile 8 or 9. The lady with the lobster hat is from Las Vegas. I joked that the best part of the picture was that I was ahead of her, so she took off and I never saw her again.

Unfortunately, some of my pictures did not develop. I had a great picture of me with Teton, the prospector, his big ass (mule) and his dog. I'll have to get it again next year.

Lost Dutchman Half Marathon

I have to go show homes this afternoon. A Realtor's job is never done. I will do a race report later. But, just to wet your appetite, I was leading the half marathon just past the 2 mile marker. That's right. Every half marathoner was behind me.

The Race Report

It was a beautiful day in Arizona, sunny and in the 60's to start. I got to the start line with more than a half hour to go, so I didn't feel rushed. The parking was great and the shuttle to the start/finish area went very smoothly. We parked in the Rodeo grounds that are about 1/2 mile away.

I got some photos on a disposable camera that I will share, once I get the pics developed. They're similar to the pics from yesterday, but with runners. The course discription is a flat course rising slightly on the way out towards the mountains and heading downhill on the way back, except for one hill at mile 10. I wasn't prepared for this kind of flat. We ran on rolling roads of asphalt and crossed rock. A bit more hilly than flat. I got to see a few of my teammates from the Team In Training program. I wore my TnT Leukemia tech shirt, so I was easy to spot.

I felt really good starting out, running just a bit fast at the start. Now I said that I was leading all 755 half marathoners at around the 2 mile mark and it's true. As we got up to our first intersection about 100-200 runners in front of me turned left. The barricades were up in front of them and they naturally thought that they were to go left. By the time I got to the intersection, the volunteers were scrambling to get us to go straight. I read the map and knew this to be correct, but I usually follow those in front of me and I would have thought there was a last minute course change. As the volunteers were getting the lost sheep turned around, I found myself about 20 runners from the lead. Some of the other runners ran 2 miles total out of their way. I joked with the runner next to me that someone should sprint to the lead. Then I thought, why not me. I went from doing an 11 minute pace up to about an 8 minute pace and took the lead. I snapped a photo of the road ahead and behind for verification. Of course, I then went back to my 11-12 minute pace and watched as 543 runners passed me in the next 11 miles. It was worth it, because it will probably be the only time I can say that I lead a race of this distance at the 2 mile mark.

The entire race we got to see the beautiful Superstition Mountains, the water stops were manned wonderfully and I just kept plodding along. I got to the turn around at 1 hour, 17 minutes and was pretty pleased. My plans for a 2:4o half were still achievable. Around mile 8 I started getting tired and was doing more walking than I had hoped. Miles 9,10 and 11 were not much better. At mile 10 we reached a pretty big hill. I got a drink at the station at the bottom and put my head down and started to climb. At the top, they have a plywood wall with bricks painted on it. It has a doorway for the runners to pass thru as a photog takes pictures. A kodak moment, as it were. That gave me a bit of adrenaline, so I ran a bit more. Towards the finish line, we had to make a turn into Prospector Park. I thought the finish line was right past the entrance and I couldn't see it, but I decided to turn up the pace. I can usually run a sub 8 minute pace for the last 200 feet or so. The crowds went wild, as I started to run faster, but then I saw the finish line and it was still a couple football fields away. I crashed. Luckily there was a gap in fans and I was able to walk until I was about 200 feet away from the finish and I then ran hard again. The fans loved it. I'm such a ham. They didn't know this was my second burst of energy to try to get to the finish.

My time? 2:43:07. This time was about 5 minutes better than my Rock N' Roll time, so it's a PR. 544th out of 755 runners and many of them ran a couple extra miles. The race director apologized at the awards ceremony and told the runners that they will make a decision, but it won't be fair. How could it? They did say that anyone that went the wrong way will get a free entry to next years event. Now, I wish I would have gone the wrong way. I could show them my time and they'd believe I must have gotten lost, but I won't. I hope no one takes advantage of the situation. I will be running the Lost Dutchman next year and will gladly pay for it. It's a great race.

Post note: Several times during this race I thought of Jenny, Thelearnedfoot in the RW forums. She is in a much harder battle, dealing with Hodkin's Disease. She has shown courage, determination and a positive attitude and I know she'll beat this disease and will be a stronger person (and runner) because of it. Take care Jenny, your in my prayers.

Half Marathon Two - The Lost Dutchman Marathon

In about 12 hours I will be running on this road in my second half marathon this year. Heck, my second half marathon ever. My bib number is 2634. I wasn't very nervous for the Rock N' Roll last month, this time I am. My left knee is still bothering me, but not when I run. I didn't get to do as much mileage between half's as I wanted to, but I did get one 10 miler in. I'm sure I'll be fine. I think.





The RnR was an in city race. The views were of buildings, strip joints and fast food restaurants. The Lost Dutchman is in Apache Junction. It's one of my favorite names for a city. We'll run towards the Superstition Mountains and turn around returning the same way we came. The view at the end is the picture above. The marathoners will join us for their final 6.55 miles to the finish. There will also be the 10k'ers and other runners finish their runs.







This is the Superstitions. The story goes that there was a dutchman, Jacob Waltz who found a gold mine in the Superstitions way back when. He would sneak up into the mountains every so often to retrieve some of the gold, but he would never tell anyone where the gold mine was. On his death bed, he told his best friend where to find the gold. Of course, that friend never could find it. Hence, the mine is what's lost, not the dutchman.

Race report to follow. Oh by the way. I ran the RnR in 2:48. I want to under 2:40 for this race.

Here's a before and after shot of me. Tyler and I went camping about 2 years ago. We camped on the Mogollon (Muggy-own) Rim in northern Arizona. It's beautiful there, but the picture of me isn't so hot. The second shot is of me finishing the PF Chang's Rock and Roll Marathon last month. I was about 6 pounds heavier then, than I am today.

Young Pat

This is my wife, Amy and I around 1986 at the wedding of our friends, Debbie and Steve. It was in Tacoma, Washington. I don't know what I weighed back then, but I'd love to be at that weight now. I wouldn't mind being 25 again, either. Mike up in Wisconsin puts in older pictures of him and his wife and I thought I should too. Until today, I never used my scanner. It's pretty simple.

I ran today for 1 hour. I set my Ipod Nike + for an hour and ran until it told me to stop. I made it 4.96 miles. And yes, I did stop a couple times to take a drink, pee and put on a baseball cap.

Jenny, The learnedfoot.

I follow a lot of blogs. Most of them because they are runners that might be around my age, or may need to shed a few pounds, or have had success at getting healthier. Some blogs are runners that are inspiring because their fast or can run forever. Some blogs are just in neat parts of the world or the writer is just plain interesting. Jenny in Cleveland is just plain interesting. She's a great runner too. She puts up ungodly amounts of mileage every week. She's into Indians baseball (ok, we can't all be perfect), horse racing and is a big time civil war historian. Her blog is just so interesting. Yesterday, she told the world that she has Hodkin's Disease. She has a mass that has grown near her stomach, that she calls lumpy. I believe HD is a form of lymphoma, but i d0n't know much about it. My heart goes out to Jenny, because she is just so postive. The Runner's World forumites are all behind her and she has people from all over the world praying for her. I hope you all will pray for Jenny too.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is the largest supporter of marathon runners in the world. They have the Team In Training program that I was a part of in my Rock and Roll Half Marathon last month. If you get a chance, please support someone who's running in an event to raise money for this great cause. Or, better yet, run with Team In Training and raise money too. We need to eliminate blood cancers as soon as possible.

On Sunday I will run in my second half marathon, the Lost Dutchman event in Apache Junction, ARizona. I will wear my Leukemia Society marathon shirt and I will run it in Jenny's honor.

“One dropped habit alters your destiny. What do you grumble about most often? If you can give it up for the next three days, your life will change – incrementally at first, and then remarkably.” - a fortune from Angie's blog.

Becoming a runner and dropping the sedentary life has done this for me. It's touched every part of my life. I get less grumpy, have more energy, better health, and on and on.

Today I took a carload of teenage girls to Goodwill. It wasn't a donation, but half price saturday. So, my daughter and her friends shopped. And I ran. I ran from the parking lot down Guadalupe Road (noisy) to Kiwanis Park. North past the adult soccer players, past the tennis courts, past the softball fields (where we lost our game last night) and around the lake. It was lunch time and the temperature was around 70*. I got to see people playing games, feeding ducks, riding rental bicycle type contraptions, paddling on the lake and picnicing. I kept running for 5 miles in a bit over 1 hour. I felt great.

As I was going down one hill, there was a lady in a wheelchair going up. One slow step at a time. I had passed her twice before on level land. This time I made a comment about the hill to her and offered my services to get her up it. She said she was fine, so I continued on. Now there was a lady sitting on a bench that overheard me and she said she wished she had a wheel chair. I thought it was strange, but before I passed her, she continued on that if she did it would be nice to have a guy like me offer assistance. I laughed and kept on running. Two things to note here. One, I think she was hittin' on me. Two, I run real slow to have a conversation with two people and not get out of range from either.

After my run I got to see some clients of mine that I haven't seen in 2-3 years. Andre and Elmarie live in Florida, but bought a place here for their daughter, while she goes to ASU. Their daughter just got back from Asia. She was paid to play golf with executives the entire time. She's a pretty good golfer. Now, that's a job I'd like to have.

Softball report: We finally lost. 9-8. We had the winning run on in the last inning, but ran out of hits. So, now we have 2 wins and 1 loss and two weeks off to rest.

75 Fahrenheit and sunny

It was a super day today. My knee felt much better, so I got to run. Of course, it only hurts when I'm at my desk or in my car.

Today's run was 3.5 miles in 42:35.

Busy Busy Busy

I haven't gotten to visit other blogs and comment on them like I have in the past. I've been busy. Sorry, but I still read all your blogs. A guy gotsta work afterall. The last half of 06 was slow in real estate, so I had plenty of time to blog, run and do other things. 07 has been very busy. I mean very busy. So work comes before blogging and running is right up there with work. Oh yeah, and the family is pretty important too.

The weekend was great. Our softball team won the second game in a row on Friday. We're 2-0 now and I finally contributed on the offense. I scored twice and hit a home run to right. I pitched, as I always do and almost lost it in the final inning. We were up by 5 and let them score 4. They had a runner on third with two outs. In coed softball the lineup alternates guy/girl. A guy was up and if he is walked with two outs, the next girl gets to go to first and he goes to second. But, we needed a force out so I intentionally walked them. It worked, as the next guy hit a bad pitch to our third baseman. Gina tagged the runner going to third and we won 12-11.

My knee has been hurtin' off and on for a month or more. It's the left knee that I hurt 25 years ago when I was a sophomore football player at Earlham College. It's the only part of my body that I have issues with. And it doesn't hurt when I run. Just when I'm sedentary. I'll sit at my computer and then can barely bend my knee when I get up. My client will go up stairs when I'm showing them homes and it'll take me forever to catch up. Today my client kept telling me to stay on the main floor. Well, I ran on Wednesday and took the next three days off. I thought it was better and I had a great run on Sunday. Ten miles, relatively no pain anywhere. Afterwards, it was if someone super glued my knee in place. Oh, the pain. But, after walking 10-15 feet, my knee would be ok. Today it was much better. So, should I run tomorrow? I've taken two days off in a row and it feels much better.

Super Bowl Sunday

It's a great day for a run. I did my long run right after lunch. 10 miles in 2:07:03. I like this run because it takes me thru several neighborhoods, a park with a lake and train, some homes with horses, goats and other assorted animals and past a couple gas stations where I can refuel. Today I got to race against the train for a short bit. It's one of those minature trains that the kids love to ride.

As far a the game. I'm just hanging out at home. I'll watch the game, amy will watch the ads. My son will eat all the snacks. My prediction:

Indianapolis 21, Chicago 10.

I like Peyton Manning, but I hate the idea of rooting for a team that left Baltimore high and dry. But, then Baltimore stole the Browns from Cleveland. Here in Arizona, we've been trying to find a taker for the Cardinals, but no one wants them. I'm still a Bengals fan

So here's some Bengal facts:

What you call a drug ring in Cincinnati?

A huddle

Four Bengals in a car, who's driving?

The Police

Why can't Chris Henry get into a huddle on the field anymore?

It's a parole violation for him to associate with known felons

The Bengals had a 9 and 5 season. 9 arrests and 5 convictions.

How do the Bengals spend their first week at mini camp?

Studying the Miranda Rights.

--compliments of Bill Nastold, high school buddy and Cincinnati Cop.

8 Months down

It's been 8 months since I started running. I still remember the first day that I ran past about 7 neighbor's homes and then I walked to finish my half mile. That week I ran, but mostly walked every day and I felt like a champ.

Fast forward to today, the last day of January, 2007. I've run 7 races, including a half marathon. I've run in 4 different states, parks, canals, busy streets and quiet neighborhoods. But, what I'm most proud of is the 452 miles I have logged since I started keeping track August 2nd.

This week I ran 5 miles on Monday in 1:01:00 and 3 miles today in 40:17. It's been a busy week and I wish I would have a few miles more, but I'll take what I can.

New photos from the RnR Half Marathon

I had a disposable camera with me on my run. Here's a photo of me and the Corona del Sol spiritline. My son goes to this school. To see other pictures go to my Rock N' Roll picture gallery. It has pre race pictures of the course and race day pictures too.

Run for the Islands 5K

It's Race Day. After playing softball last night until 10:30 at night, I had to wake up at 6 am to get to the "Run for the Islands 5K". The Islands is a community in Gilbert, AZ. No, islands that I know of in this community, but they do have two lakes. The 5K was an out and back on one of their main roads finishing in a large community park. This race might have reached 150 participants. Not sure yet. I started near the front for a change. This was my first experience near the front so I started by keeping pace with the other runners. At least for the first half mile I was running in the 8:30-9:00 mpm pace. Way to fast for me, but oh well.

I settled down to doing about 10:20 miles. Of course I set my nike + up for a 5K, so it kept giving me kilometer splits. I did the math and figured I needed to be at about a 6:10-6:20 pace to be happy with my race. I liked the out and back because I actually got to see the leaders run back to the finish. The winner was under 18 minutes for the whole race.

With my fast start I needed a walk break around mile 2. I took a few walk breaks but sprinted home passing one runner for a PR of 31:05 or a 10:02 pace per mile. My previous PR at 5k was last December 28th at the Bumble 5K in San Diego. I had a time of 33:16. 2 minutes and 11 seconds faster. As you could guess, I'm pretty excited about that. After I got home and uploaded my nike +, I found out that I also set a personal record in the mile with a time of 9:39. Twenty seconds faster than I did two days before.

Althought this was a small race, they had about 10 vendors set up giving us all kinds of goodies. My two favorites were a bit of chocolate moose from one of those new "dinner" companies that will start your dinner for you and you finish it at home and a mini burger from Simply Burgers.

Now it's just 22 days til the Lost Dutchman Half Marathon. I need to get a 10+ miler in before that race.

Race Update: Out of 161 runners I finished 91. The middle of the pack. Out of 21 men in their 40's, I finished 15th. Before the race I met Roland, another Tnt'er and his son Tyler. They raced together and Tyler took 2 minutes off his PB. Roland and I both parked in the vacant lot across the street. It was just plowed (not sure if they grow anything on it) and it was very soft dirt. His truck got stuck, but he warned me to stay on the harder grassy area. After the race we hooked his truck up to my SUV and I pulled him out. It's the most manly thing I've done with my SUV.

I, also met Noble who ran a 26 minute race and Brian who's just starting to run and is enjoying it. My stats:

91 PAT MONAHAN 45 15/21 M 129 31:05 10:01

Softball Report by Mike (the coach)
What a game tonight. Up 4-0. Not letting them score. Then they have a big inning (thanks, in part, to a bunt, but I digress). The score is now 8-4. We threaten a couple times but can't make anything happen. Last inning. We get them down 1-2-3. Good defense all around tonight. Bottom of the last inning. Down four runs. Jeff nails one and circles the bases. Keri comes close. One out. Angus lays down a nice base hit. Cheryl moves him over. Two outs. Runner on second. Down by three. I finally get one to go the opposite way, Angus scores and I am on third with a triple. Down two. Gina steps up. Nails one. Circles the bases. Tied game. Pat craftily crowds
the plate and draws a walk. Geri graciously takes first base base.
First & second, two down, tied game. Duane pokes a single up the middle, Pat crosses home plate. We win! That's right, we win!
Of course, most of you know this. But I had to retell it. Already called my brother and Karen. We are now 1-0. Yes, we are already half way to our best win total.
Great start to the season. Thanks for all coming out. See you all next Friday for another late game: 9:30.
By the way, do you all remember that the St. Louis Cardinals won the world series?
Mike

SomeBurros Report: Amy and I did have lunch at SomeBurros yesterday. And they don't have anything low cal. Well, diet coke. Anyway, I think I did ok. I ate two chicken tacos. No beans. No rice. A few chips with salsa. I avoided the Fundido, the chimichanga I spoke of. My weight this morning was the same. So, I'll call this a small victory.

Weight Loss

Here's a great article about a man that lost half his body weight.

CNN Article
I get all choked up when I read about great victories like this. One of the things he mentions is to list all the things you cannot do because of your weight and then when you reach your goal, go and do those things.

I plan to start that list. Now he was 500 pounds and I am 229 pounds, so the things I can't do may not be because I can't fit, but because I can't do them well. But, none the less I will make a list.

So, far:

Run a Marathon
Hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
Fit into 34" pants or maybe smaller
Ride a horse (this maybe for the horses benefit)

Soon, I will add to my list. If anyone has any ideas to add to my list, please feel free to let me know.

My Weight:
Last June I weighed 257 pounds. That's about the highest I've ever weighed. On December 1st I weighed 234.1 pounds, a loss of almost 23 pounds. Now I weigh 227.5. Almost 7 pounds in about 7 weeks time and half of that was this past week. I knew I would just try to maintain thru the holidays. That stretched out to until the Rock and Roll Half marathon. Now it's time to shed some pounds and get my weight under 200. Well maybe after lunch, my wife just suggested we go to Someburros for lunch. They have this chimichanga to die for. It is huge with sour cream on top, rice and beans on the side. Hummm, I bet they might just have something low cal too. So, what do you think? Will I eat the Chimichanga or be good and eat something healthier with none of those free chips.

Latest Runs:
Thursday I ran a 59 minute and 23 second 5 miler in the neighborhood. It was great weather. 63 degrees, sunny and I got to wear shorts and a tee. I really like running in shorts instead of my sweatpants. My first mile was in 9:59. It tied my best mile ever back in November. I then ran 2 miles in 22:30, 3 miles in 34;30, 4 miles in 47:30 (another PB). I did do a bit more walking than I would have liked. I believe the bit of sluggishness I experienced was due to the fact that this was the second day in a row of running. I'm trying to run every other day with a back to back mixed in during the week. A run like this is good for the soul.

Girl Scouts

It's that time of year that the Girl Scouts are out selling cookies in Arizona. My daughter has for the past 6 years or so. I was even the cookie mom two years. If, the girls are selling in your neck of the woods, please buy some. It's a great cause. If, you're not eating cookies this year, have the girls donate your purchase to a retirement home.

My daughter has baritone practice on Wednesdays at the high school. So, today I dropped her off and ran in the neighborhood near the school. She told me that when she goes to that school next year as a freshman, I'm not allowed to run near it. Teenagers!

My run was 5.08 miles in 58:11 for a pace of 11:26. I felt great. I only walked once at the 2.5 mile mark for 1/10 of a mile to drink some gatorade. I could have run more, but the baritone lesson was over and we had to get home. It was in the low 60's and sunny. A wonderful day.

So, I'm thinking about running the half marathon at the Lost Dutchman race on February 18th. About one month after the Rock and Roll Half. Is that too soon? Then I want to run the half on March 18th in Tucson. Is that too often? I feel great and I was even thinking about running a half every month this year. Is that too crazy? Let me know what you think.

Greg from North Dakota

I was just logging my weight in on Runner's World's online discussion groups when I read about Greg in North Dakota. His story is worth reading for any of us that are losing weight. He, also runs sub 2 hour half marathons, so I think he's great.

Thanks Greg for sharing.

Greg's Story





Weather: On a side note. It snowed in Phoenix today. Really. Here's the story.

photo courtesy of Michal Chow/The Arizona Republic

Marathoners Everywhere

I went to a friend's 50th Birthday party last nite. I had a great time because it was the first party after I ran a half marathon. I got to brag a bit.

Then today, at church we're leaving and the guy in front of me says to another couple, "So, did you run the marathon?" It turns out that there was a couple sitting in front of me that ran last Sunday and the couple behind me ran too. That makes 5 runners in three pews.

Today's Run: 4.21 miles in 48:05 at a pace of 11:25. I cut the run short because the rain was coming. It rained all morning and we had a 4 hour window in the afternoon before the rain returned. I am so happy it rained this week and not last week.

The Pictures are In

The pictures are in. At the finish my time was 3:17:43, which makes my chip time even better.

2:48:57

To view the pictures go to http://www.asiorders.com/ and look for bib # 39364. For some reason, you might have to copy and paste. Blogger won't allow links to this company.

First Run after HM

I left home figuring I would do what ever my run dictated. If I walked 2 miles and went in that was ok. I could feel the lingering effects of the half in my upper thighs. My feet felt fine, but I think it's time to replace my insoles. The Spenco's have lasted over 400 miles and have done well by me. My heart rate averaged 152, topping out at 161.

My time? 5 miles in 58:05 for an 11:35 pace. I did turn it up a couple times getting my pace down to about 8:30, but could only hold that for about 30-40 yards each time. I can't wait until I can run sub 9 minute miles.

Thanks. I wanted to thank all of you that have supported me by reading this blog. I really like that I have a wide range of people that visit and leave their 2 cents. If you don't, please do I always like to hear opinions, comments and whatever. If you have a question about running, ask. If I don't know, I'll mention it in a post and I'm sure one of my readers will know.

I'm moving on up

I checked the PF Chang's RnR Marathon website again by clicking any of the blue in the last post and my time improved. I now finished in 2:49:54. If this keeps up, by next month I might be under 2 hours.

I, also found out that I finished in 14,525th place out of 20,245 runners in the half. I finished 815th out of 977 men between the ages of 45-49. I was the 6359 man to cross the finish line.

Half Marathon Official Results

It's still a Personal Record:

Bib FName Age Sex ChipTime ClockTime Overall SexPl DivPl pace
39364 Pat Monahan 45 M 2:51:35 3:20:20 14413 6339 816 13.05

The official numbers aren't as good as I remember. But that's ok because it's not about the number, as much as it is about the experience. And the one thing they can't change is that I covered 13.1 miles. Except for the corner I took on the inside of the cones. But, hey I also ran on the outside of a few corners too.

Notice the difference in chip and clock time. That means, for anyone that hasn't run a chipped time race before, that I didn't pass the start until 28:45 after the gun sounded. So, when I started the leaders where around mile 5 or 6. It would have been a better race, if I would have gotten the 6 mile head start.

Running: Yesterday was a rest day. I'll run a bit later today.

John "The Penquin" Bingham: He's got a column in Runner's World and I've read his book, "The Courage To Start" His big motto is, "The Miracle isn't that I Finished, The Miracle is that I had the Courage to Start".

TnT had him speak at REI last night. About a dozen of us were there. I expected to see a table with books, tapes, marathon info and other stuff to buy. John shows up with none of that. He didn't push anything. He mentioned his marathon in Tucson. He answered all our questions and was very cordial.

At the end, TnT held a raffle for two free entries in the Valley of Gold Half Marathon that is to be run on 3/18 in Tucson. He drew the first number and then said, "what the heck, let's let everyone go for free". They then passed out about a dozen free entries. Thanks, John.

I planned earlier in the day to run this race, so the entry fee waived is a great deal. I'm excited.

400 career miles

I just noticed I reached 400 miles in my last training run before the half marathon. My lifetime mileage is very important to me. I don't feel the high that I got from completeing races such as the half on Sunday, but adding to this total and running on a regular basis is the most rewarding part of this sport.

I'm now up to

414

miles

2007 PF Chang's Rock and Roll Half Marathon

I am now a half marathoner. I ran my race and I'm very pleased with the results. I believe I finished around 2:47. My goal was to finish and enjoy the race. I did. I then wanted to finish under 2:50, which I did (I think) and finally I wanted to finish under 2:40. I missed this, but that's ok.

My day started after not getting much sleep last night. I woke at 5:30 am and left the house around 6:10 am. I had a bagel and planned to eat something at the start line food court. I dropped my car off at an ASU (Arizona State) garage, which no one was using. Walked to the north side of the finish area to the other parking, which everyone was using. This must have saved me half an hour. I then got in line for the bus ride to downtown Phoenix. There must have been 1000 people in front of me, but the line went fairly fast, until they ran out of buses. Then we waited. I was talking with two guys from the National Guard cross country team. I didn't even know they had sports in the National Guard. These guys were freezing there butts off. It was near 30 degrees and the sun had not come up yet. I wore sweats over my sweats, a full winter coat, a sweatshirt, gloves and a stocking cap. I planned to have most of that stuff transfer ed by UPS from the start to the finish. It worked out well. The gloves, were mismatched pair that I have had for over 10 years. I ditched them around mile 6. The sweatshirt was a Notre Dame model that I picked up at Goodwill yesterday for $2.48. And that included an older t-shirt from the 2005 Rock and Roll Marathon. Both looked brand new. At Goodwill I met another family that was doing the same thing I was. Buying throw away clothes for the RnR.

We got to the starting line a half hour before the gun. I had enough time to drop off my bag at the UPS truck, go to the bathroom and get in line. I was in corral 19. It took me half an hour to get to the start line. So, when we started, the leaders were probably at mile 6. No first place for us today.

The first 2 miles are through downtown Phoenix. It starts out at the state capitol and winds through a rough part of town. There was about 6 people with signs proclaiming that if you don't follow God, you gonna go to hell. It was interesting to say the least.

Boy, there were a lot of runners. We turned onto McDowell. A lot of people were chatting and having a good time at this point. I was enjoying all the atmosphere and before I knew it I saw the 5k sign and realized that I had run the entire time. I have never run a complete 5k before and I felt great, but it was time to take off the ND sweatshirt. I really liked the deal I got at Goodwill, so it was a bit sad to leave my new sweatshirt behind. I left it spread out on an unused drink table, so that ND fans could see it and be motivated by it.

I walked thru this drink stop and tried the Accelerade sport drink. I think I'll stick with gatorade. So, now I was running with only my TnT shirt and sweats. I had forgotten that I had put my name on my shirt. At this point a lady cheered me on by my name. I staired at her, trying to figure out how she knew me. I'm a little slow, but I figured it out. My name is on my shirt, dummy.



When I got tired I played a game. This was the first run I tried this and it worked pretty well. I would try to name three cities in each state. Some states I can name lots of cities, but the dakotas and Wyoming are tough ones. Anyhow, it kept my mind busy for a while. The other thing I did was ask fellow runners where they were from. I met people from Canada, Kansas City, Arizona, Boston, New York and a few other places.

I also, got a photo of me and Clark Kent while we were waiting to start the race. A fellow racer was dressed in a suit with a fedora that said, C. Kent, Reporter. He said he had Superman Tights on and that he would transform into the man of steel around the 12 mile mark. Pictures to follow soon. I got a picture of me and the Corona Del Sol Spirit line. That is the high school my son goes to. I actually used a disposable camera to take the pictures, so we'll have to wait for them.

At mile 9 I got to see my family. My wife, Amy. Son, Tyler and daughter, Emily were there to root me on. We then raced to the finish. I ran there before they could drive, park and walk to the finish line. Seeing them gave me a boost to the 10 mile mark.

Somewhere around the 10 or 11 mile mark I felt less than perfect. I made two stops at porta-potties, but that did not make me feel any better. I believe I lost a bunch of time between mile 10 and 12.

But all was not lost. I got my second wind as I started over the Tempe Bridge. Tempe Bridge is beautiful and it actually goes over water. A rarity in Arizona. The final mile I was passing people and I had a lot of energy. I believe I was doing about an 11 minute pace, which is pretty good for me.

At the finish I was all alone. There was a group in front of me about 10 yards and a group behind me about 10 yards. I was all alone for the finish photographer and the announcer said my name, mentioned how wonderful Team in Training was and asked me if I was a first time marathoner. With raised arms I said yes and the crowd gave me a pretty good cheer. Unfortunately, my family was still a bit a ways from seeing me. But, they did hear the announcer.

What impressed me most about the race, was the large number of Team in Training coaches and support people on the course. I bet there were TnT people cheering us on every half mile. I'll give you a report on my TnT experience later. But to say the least, the race day support from TnT was phenomenal. I will let them know about what a wonderful job they did today.

TnT also had a huge tent at the finish with drinks, food and seating. But do you know what I liked best at the finish? Spenco, the footcare people gave everyone a pair of slippers. Nice rubber slippers that felt soo much better than my running shoes at that point. I have spenco insoles now and I will continue, because I'm sold on Spenco now.

All in all, Elite racing did a fabulous job with the RnR Marathon here in Arizona and I'm now thinking about doing some of there other races. That is once, my legs and feet feel better.

Weather: We started the race at 30 degrees and finished at 41. The race organizers must have left the bananas out last night, because they were still pretty frozen at the end of the race. The Arizona Republic reported that it was the coldest low in Phoenix since 1990, or before I lived here. So, on the coldest day I've ever experienced in Phoenix, I got to run a half marathon. I actually felt fine until mile 11 when I felt cold and sick. But that was temporary.

Official Time: Elite Racing had some equipment malfunctions. I did not get a split for the 5k or the finish. I saw the clock when I finished read 3:17:xx. I know I started about 30 minutes after the gun. So I know my time is around 2:47-2:48:xx. As soon as I get my finish photo, I should be able to figure out my official time. My split for the 10 k was 1:11:11. 18 seconds off my PR from the Mesa Turkey Trot. My split for the 10.2 mile mark (I don't know why this distance) was 2:09:xx.

2007 PF Chang's Rock and Roll Marathon Health Expo

On Friday night Amy and I went to the Health Expo at the Convention Center in downtown Phoenix. It was well organized with virtually no lines to get my bib, t-shirt and goodie bag. Lots of vendors and stuff to buy. It was exciting because this is my first big race. It's billed as the World's largest Marathon and Half Marathon. They are expecting up to 39,000 runners in both races.

I, also got to meet Runnergirl (Jennifer) and MNfirefly (Denise). Amy and I met them at Seamus McCaffrey's Irish pub downtown. The four of us had a great time talking about running, blogging and life in general. I will have a picture of the three of us runners soon.





I'm 39364 in the race and will start in corral 19. Hopefully, I will get to the start line before the winner finishes. I plan to take my camera on the run, so expect some more photos. I consider this more of a tour, than a race.

Florida 41 OSU 14

So this week has started out on s sour note. Florida was unbelievable. So was Ohio State. So, what did I do during the game. I ate. and ate. and ate a bit more. Tostitoes, cheese and crackers, chili (the cincinnati kind) and ice cream. Losing football will do this to you.

But hey, it wasn't all bad. Urban Meyer played football at the University of Cincinnati and well, the Buckeyes did beat Michigan and that's the only game that counts anyway.

And it only gets worse. I get up the next morning and my computer screen tells me that it shut down and to expect an iminent disaster. I'm I about to lose everything on my computer. Thank God, my real estate data is saved on a server far far away. So I spend Tuesday spending $1400 on a laptop to replace my computer.

But hey, it wasn't all bad. I got a really cool laptop (Toshiba) and it's way faster than my old desktop.

And then it gets worse. I plug in my Ipod carefully figuring I could save my music. I clicked on the button to save what I had on my Ipod to the computer. I didn't read it and it saved the two pieces of music that comes with Itunes on my Ipod and dumped the rest. Now I have to run listening to Symphony #9 by Scherzo and Highway Blues by Marc Seales.

But hey, it wasn't all bad. We have a lot of CD's. I don't buy them, my wife does and I like some of them, so I'll just put them on my computer.

And then it gets worse. And probably won't get better because

I got tagged

by J-mom

and now I have to. . .

The Rules:Find the nearest book.Turn to page 123.Find the fifth sentence.Copy the next three sentences here.Tag three people.

.

.

.

It's the Baseball Encyclopedia. My third one. I'm really a stats nut.

I won't bore you but the 5th thru 7th line is the 1993 thru 1995 seasons for a San Diego Padre 1st baseman named Archi Cianfrocco. He played in 206 games those three years and batted 241 with 21 homers. He didn't have much of a career, but I'm sure he'll remember it for the rest of his life.

Which brings me back to my week. I may not have had much of a week, but I'm sure I'll remember it for quite some time. And hopefully I'll finish with a great run this Sunday.

I hope all of my readers are having a wonderful beginning to 2007.

Pat

Oh yeah, I did run today. 3.1 miles in 35 minutes and 6 seconds. An 11:16 pace on a beautiful day in the desert.

Nike + Problems

I dropped my daughter off at church youth group and planned a run in the neighborhood near our church. It's called Dobson Ranch and it is a master planned community built in the early 1980's. It has several lakes and I ran around the north lake. It was dark, so I didn't see much, but I enjoyed the run.

I started my nike + on my ipod but I didn't get voice prompts. The music played, the time and mileage got recorded. I just didn' t hear the lady tell me my pace and when I reached each mile. When I got home, all the data was lost. I hope this is only a one time problem. We'll see.

Before I lost the data, I did look at it. From memory I did about 4.8 miles in 1 hour and 1 minute and some seconds. I ran a bit better, but in the middle of the run I walked for almost half a mile. I don't know why. I was just enjoying the walk.

This time next sunday I will have done my first half marathon. Before than I will attend a TnT meeting on Wednesday, met several fellow bloggers on Friday, gone to the health expo and carb loaded with the Tnt'ers on Saturday night. On Monday I am going to hear The Penquin, John Bingham speak to a group of TnT'ers.

It'll be a perfect week, especially if the Buckeyes win big tomorrow night. (I grew up in Ohio and my heart is still with my Ohio teams: Buckeyes football, Bengals football & Reds Baseball)

Celebrity Look A Likes

I found this website that will do some analysis of your face and come up with celebrity look a likes for you. I don't know if it is real accurate, but it's fun. Especially when it says you look like James Bond.



Jan 6th run: 3.7 miles at 12:24 pace. Time, 46:01. I ran in a new place. The ASU Research Park is only a mile from my home and it has three lakes with asphalt paths around each. It was very nice, with other runners, walkers, dogwalkers, bladers, etc. And no traffic. The lakes are not connected, so you do have to do some cross country over the roadway to get to each lake or you can just stay on the path for the original lake you start on.

Half Marathon course.

PF Chang's Half Marathon Map

10 Days to Go

Happy New Year! So, in the first 4 days of the year I've gone from a run in which I spent the entire time thinking I'm a fool for committing to run a half marathon, to a run in which I thought maybe I can do a half to a run today in which I felt great and confident I can run 13.1 miles.

Jan 1 run: 5 miles in 1 hour 1 minute and 34 seconds. Walking way too much with an average heart rate of 148.

Jan 2 run: 5 miles in 59 minutes and 29 seconds. 2 minutes faster and a lot more confident.

Jan 4 run: 5 miles in 57 minutes and 50 seconds. Almost 4 minutes faster than on Monday. An average HR of 157. I felt great and loved the run. The first two miles I did in 22:15, a personal best and the first three miles in 34 minutes flat, a personal best (not counting races).

Now it's just 10 days before the PF Chang's Rock and Roll Half Marathon.

State #4 is California

On the 28th I ran the Bumble Bee 5k at the Big Balloon Parade. It is the race right before the Holiday Bowl Parade in San Diego, CA. We got to start our run in front of the grandstands, run the entire parade route in front of thousands of supportive on lookers. The race was very congested in the beginning. It took about 25 seconds to get to the start and then we walked for a bit before it thinned out and I could take off. My family was watching around the 3/4 mile mark and got to take my picture. I did have to circle around so that my wife could take it adding 20 seconds or so to my time, but it was worth it. We raced downtown San Diego passed the Padres Baseball stadium. Looped around the convention stadium and ran along the bay. Thru Seaport Village to the finish. From start to finish I timed myself at 33:16, another PR for me.

The official time was higher, but in my defense, several people passed me in the shoot and they collected my bib tag about 100 yards away from the finish. It could not be a very accurate way to get a finish time.

Vacation: We had a great time. My daughter got to see the set for Gilmore Girls. She's a fanatic. The whole Warner Brothers tour was great. We got to go to an aquirium, museum and the San Diego Zoo too. I didn't get to run as much as I'd like, but oh well.

Weekly running: On Christmas day I ran 3.88 miles in 47:10.
On Wednesday I ran on the treadmill at the Holiday Inn, San Diego. 1.77 miles in 23:05 and then I ran another 10 minutes, but didn't keep any records.

I got tagged.

Stefano, The Black Knight from Italy tagged me. He has a great blog you should check it out, if you haven't already. Now I feel like I belong. I guess this is like a new age chain letter. Here's my answers. I guess I can't pass this along, since it's Christmas related. Consider my not tagging you as another Christmas present.

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Egg Nog when you’re decorating, hot chocolate whenever it’s cold
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrapped, and put out on christmas eve. My wife still thinks our teenage kids have no clue.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Colored lights. But, I do love the all white look too.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No, but that doesn’t stop me.
5. When do you put your decorations up? Early december
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Turkey and dressing.
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Christmas at Grandma’s.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I learned the spirit of santa can be in everyone at a very early age.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes, as a kid. Now we wait, per wife’s orders.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Fake tree, tangled lights, too many ornaments and family. We have a good time.
11. Snow! Love it or dread it? No snow in this part of Arizona. But, I do get a sick joy out of watching blizzards back east.
12. Can you ice skate? Only forward. The real question is, “Can the Phoenix Coyotes skate?”
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? No, but I remember the gift givers.

14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you? Family.
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Pumpkin Pie w/ homemade whip cream
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Christmas morning
17. What tops your tree? An angel.
18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Shhh. I do like to receive. I don’t really like shopping, but when I find a great gift it’s cool to give it.
19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Anything from my dad’s era. Bing Crosby is the best.
20. Candy canes? Grandma’s Mince Meat Cookies. See post below.
21. Favorite Christmas movie? It’s a Wonderful Life.
22. What do you leave for Santa? I think we should leave Santa a Garmin 305, lots of gatorade mix and entry fees to about a dozen different races. But, hey if you just want to leave cookies and milk that’s ok.

Running: Christmas day run of 3.88 miles in 47.10. I kind of felt sluggish, but I was happy with a 12.08 pace.

My Christmas Gift to all my readers

My Christmas Gift to you.

Grandma Monahan’s Mince Meat Cookies
Cook 1 jar of mince meat in ½ cup water, set a side to cool
1 ½ cup sugar
1 cup Crisco
1 egg
cream sugar, Crisco and egg

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda (not the drinking kind)
1 teaspoon salt
add this to the sugar
Then add the mince meat. Put a small amount on the cookie sheet about an inch a part. Flatten real thin. Bake 8-10 minutes.

When she says flatten real thin, she means it. Dollar bill thin. We use the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in dry flour to smash our cookies. We then will add nuts or candy sprinkles to the top of the cookie before baking.

We miss grandma Monahan, but remember her every Christmas with her mince meat cookies. We also, cherish every meal we eat on her dining room table. Christmas is extra special when you have great memories of Christmas past, thank you grandma.

Kiwanis Park Run

I got to run in Kiwanis Park today. It's a beautiful park with a lake, softball fields, picnic areas and other things you'd see in a park. Today, my daughter had another party to attend. This time a birthday party at Kiwanis. The beauty of Arizona is that you can have picnics and outdoor parties during the winter months. So, I dropped her off and went for a run in the park.

One hour and 46 minutes later I was done with a 8+ mile workout and she was ready for her next party. Yes, she had another party to go to at a friends house.

Not many runners out on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I only passed one other group. Two women with jogging strollers running around the lake. There was a party setting up for a wedding that looks like it will take place tonight. Hopefully, it won't be too cold. Arizonians get cold easily.

I'm up to 77 miles for the month with one week to go. Looks like I might have my first 100 mile month. The day after Christmas we will be going to California. First, we'll go to Burbank and take a tour of Warner Brothers Studios. My daughter is a big Gilmore Girls fan and she's sooooo excited about going to see the set. Then we'll drive down the coast to San Diego to go to the world famous zoo. In between I will hopefully run in the Bumble Bee 5k. It's cool cause the race starts right before there Big Balloon Parade and you get to run past 100,000 people. I'll have to get my mileage done in California if I want to get over the 100 mile mark.

Happy Birthday, Amy

Just wanted to say it's my wife's birthday. And she doesn't look a day over 29.

Amazing story on ESPN's website

New York City Marathon Photo

Just finished a 1 hour run. Got in 5.11 miles at under a 12 minute pace.

So, my daughter got us some free premiere tickets to see Dreamgirls at the Harkins Theatre in Scottsdales mall. It's a showing one day before the official release. We get there early because they said they gave out extra tickets and they expected it to be filled to capacity. We waited in line and only about 50 people came. The theater was practically empty. Before the movie they told us if we had an kind of recording devices, including camera phones we were to take them to our car, because we would not be admitted with them. They had a guy check purses at the door and throughout the entire movie two people used night vision binoculars (or something) to check each row. In the middle of the movie they escorted one young man out. I, literally felt like I was in an occupied country and if I even sneezed the secret police would take me away and I'd never see my family again. It was very strange.

But, the movie was great. Jennifer Hudson, from American Idol stole the show and Eddie Murphy was super too.

Recovery Run

After running a PB 12 miles on Saturday, do I take the day off on Sunday or do a slow recovery run? I decided to do a recovery run. I had to take my daughter to a christmas party a bit aways from our home. So, instead of making two trips, I ran while she partied.

I ran in Cooper Commons, a nice community of homes built mostly 4-5 years ago. My plan was to run slow and walk often. Which I did. I still had a pace of 13:04 and ran 2.61 miles. And my legs feel much better.

50 States: I would like to run in all 50 states. It doesn't have to be a formal race, just one mile or more. It would be nice if it was in a scenic location, a trail, big city or along a beach. Here's my total so far:

1) Ohio. As a youth. I probably did my first mile in high school on the Aiken HS track in Cincinnati. I, also ran my fathers treadmill earlier this year.
2) Indiana. In college I would run to the high school and back to my dorm. I went to Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. It was between 1-2 miles. Not real consistent. This year I ran in West Lafayette and on the campus of Purdue University. I even did the stairs at their football stadium.
3) Arizona. I've run a lot this year.


Not, many states, but it's a beginning. I will be running in California after Christmas and I will probably run the Vegas strip sometime in 2007.

Japanese Marathon

So, I'm looking for a runner's blog in Japan. I'm half Japanese, so I'm always into anything from the land of the rising sun. Which is funny, because I live in the 'Valley of the (incredibly hot) Sun'.

Anyway, I come across these two websites:

Marathon Day In Japan, please note that any long run in Japan is called a marathon. It looks like all kids do an appropriate distance for their age. We should do this in the states.

Folding a Shirt In Japan, I learned this and now my wife expects me to fold all our shirts.

If anyone knows of a runner's blog from Japan, please let me know. I'd like to follow it.

Pat

My Legs are Aching

Today was a scheduled long run along the Arizona Canal with Team In Training. 10-12 miles for the half marathoners. I got there a couple minutes after 6:30 am. The team was already stretching, so I signed in and started doing my leg swings. I really like leg swings, they really loosen up my hips and get me ready to run. But, I need a tree to keep from falling over. Someone said to hold your opposite ear and you can keep your balance. I need a tree.

As soon as we started to head on over to the canal, I realized I didn't have my gatorade. So my first 1/2 mile was running to the car and then to the canal. Last on the canal I started passing the walkers, dog walkers and other hearty soles that were out this early. There's 2-3 different marathon training groups that train here, so the canal was quite active. This time we headed east, a new loop for me. I planned on running to 56th street which would put me a bit over 6 miles out. The ground was terrific. West on the canal is a gravel road in places with some concrete and asphalt paths. The gravel part has some larger rocks. Going east the path was smooth crushed stone that was very powdery. I passed by the Arizona Biltmore, one of our luxury resorts. I started running with my sweat shirt on. Quickly, I decided the weather was too nice and I left it at a water station. The sun was coming up, so for part of the run I had to look into the sun. On the way back, no sun and it was wonderful. My legs started aching and haven't let up yet (6.5 hours later), but I'm sure I'll feel fine tomorrow and hopefully will get in a short run.

I finished the 12 miles in 2:34;10. I believe this is the longest I've run by about 23 minutes and the furthest by 2 miles. I hope to do another 10+ run before the RnR Half Marathon in January.

My Year In Review, 2006

See all my race t-shirts

The first half of last year I never, ever thought about going for a run. Not a jog, not anything faster than a leisurely hike and not any distance further than a mile or two. Then I went for a short one mile run in June. It was around 100 degrees out, but I went after sunset.

Since that first run I’ve run over 300 miles and have competed in 4 races. The longest of these races was a 10 kilometer or 6.2 miles on Thanksgiving Day morning. I have plans to run a 5k race in San Diego on the 28th of this month and then to run a half marathon (13.1 miles) in January.

Runs this week:

Wednesday – 5 miles in 1:00:22 at a 12:05 pace.
Thursday – 5 miles in 1:02:05 at a 12:20 pace.

Monthly mileage:

December: 42.5
November: 78.4
October: 70.9
September: 75.2
August: 60.8

Races:

9/2 “Run for Brooke” 5k 42:15
10/29 “Ghouls & Goblins” 5k 34:35
11/12 “New Times” 5k 34:00
11/23 “Turkey Trot 10k 1:11:05
12/28 "Bumble Bee-SD" 5k ????

Monday night TV

It's the only night I watch tv with a plan. How I Meet Your Mother, The Class, Two and a Half Men, The New Adventures of Old Christine and Studio 60. Just don't tell anyone that I'm not watching Monday Night Football.

Today's Running: I ran in the neighborhood for 1 hour, 12 minutes and 43 seconds. I covered 6.23 miles and my pace was 11:40. I only walked three times. Just think in June my first venture out running was about 6-8 houses. I finished walking around the block for almost an entire mile.

Fellow Bloggers: I get a lot of inspiration from my fellow bloggers. Almost every other day I click on my favorites which you can too. Look down the right side of my blog and you'll see my favorites by location. Lately, I've been really motivated by the Texas gang. These runners in the Houston area are special. If you're into running, check them out.

#39364

I got my confirmation and final instructions from the Rock N' Roll Half Marathon. I'm number

39364

and I'm starting in corral 19. Which I'm sure is near the back, but that's ok. There's no rush.

Looks like instead of going thru downtown Tempe, the half marathon route will go along the Rio Salado (Salt River) Parkway just north of Sun Devil Stadium. I've shown you some of the photos from the half marathon course. Now you can see them all by visiting my RNR Half Marathon Photo Album.

My training is going well. The slight detour for my vasectomy hasn't slown me down too much. Yesterday I ran 5 miles with only three walk breaks and I did 8 miles last Thursday. I'd like to do a 10-12 mile run sometime within the next week and do 30 miles for the week.

Amy and the kids are going to see me somewhere in the middle of the race and at the finish. I need to start thinking about strategy for race day. I think I can predict when I'll arrive at each mile (give or take 20 minutes), so I think I'll have them wait for me at the Chinese Cultural Center near mile 8 (10:15 am). What I'm not sure about is how many minutes will it take for corral 19 to get to the start line? There will be over 19,000 runners in front of me.

I plan on carrying my phone, some gu and maybe a camera. I'll also have my Ipod to keep track of my pace, not to listen to music. There will be a dozen or more bands lining the course and just as many cheer squads. I should be suffiently entertained.

Any experienced marathoners that have any words of wisdom for me, please leave a comment.

The Bumble Bee 5k

My next race is going to be in San Diego. It's the Bumble Bee 5k at the Big Bay Balloon Parade. This is a really neat 5k run in downtown San Diego the day of the Holiday Bowl. Right before the balloon parade, the runners will take off in front of 100,000 spectators. We'll run south with views of the Pacific Ocean and downtown. Then we'll loop back north and finish near the parade route. I figure my family can watch the parade and see me at the finish line.

Thursday run: My plan was to do a late morning run of 10 miles. Work kept me from leaving my home until 11 am. I used my ipod nike + to determine mileage. I went west past my daughter's school to Gila Springs subdivision. They have a nice dirt trail that leads north and thru another community past parks and homes. At the half way point I turned back east past my son's high school and back home. It turned out to be a bit over 8 miles total, but I was pretty tired at that point and was walking more than I wanted too. I finished at 1:45:53, a 13:07 pace. The weather was great. Maybe a bit to warm at 71 f. But, I was able to run in shorts and a tee. I'm sure a lot of you up north would love to do that in December.

Meep Meep

I frequent Runner's World website and converse with a lot of other runners from all over the country. My screen name is Meep Meep. Taken from the cartoon roadrunner. Anyway, I found this postcard at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Papago Park. It says the roadrunner is from the Cuckoo family, which is kind of appropriate for me. The bottom paragraph says the "When the Roadrunner senses danger or is traveling downhill, it flies, but cannot keep its large body airborne for more than a few seconds". I know how he feels.

Anticipation

I enjoy the anticipation that comes from knowing that I have a run to do later in the day. Throughout the day I will occasionally think about the run and where I am going to run and how far. There’s a feeling inside you that builds.

It reminded me of when I played football in high school. On game days we’d wear our game jersey’s to class and everyone knew you were a football player and you had a game that night. Before the game we’d go into the cold musty locker room and sit on the bench in front of our locker. I’d open my locker and see my equipment just as I left it the day before. The shoulder pads taking the majority of space, sitting vertical because that’s the only way they’d fit in the locker at all. It was a ritual. I’d put on the pads the same way everytime and the anticipation would build. I’d help take the team through stretching drills, individual position drills and then we’d practice a few plays before we headed back in the locker for the coach’s pep talk. Finally, we played the game.

Today, I remember the pregame stuff more than the games themselves. It was the anticipation of something important.

And so it is with running too. I couldn’t run if I didn’t enjoy the anticipation, the run itself and the euphoria after I ran. I plan to run for the rest of my life. Some people say that they just want to do this one marathon and then they’ll stop and that they don’t really like running. I couldn’t do that. There’s not enough in a single event that makes it worthwhile.

But, there is something about knowing that at the end of the year I will have run so many miles and I will have improved my stamina and health. And there’s something about the anticipation of my next run (whether it’s a race or just me).

This week’s running:

Sunday: 4 Miles in the neighborhood at a 12:09 pace. Time, 48:52.
Monday: 5 miles in the neighborhood at a 11:41 pace. Time, 58:55
Tuesday: 2 miles in the neighborhood at a 12:20 pace. Time 24:41. I ran the first mile with my daughter Emily. We finished in 13:30.

Terry Fox

I got my copy of Runner's World. It's really good this month. In it is an article about Terry Fox, the Canadian who attempted to run across his country on one leg battling cancer. He is amazing. If you haven't read the article, buy a copy, go to the library or find a doctor's office that has Runner's World.

You can also click on his name above to learn more. On September 17th of each year there are Terry Fox runs all across Canada. I can't believe there's not much going on here to honor Terry Fox.

Today I ran. After 4 days rest from my vasectomy, I couldn't stand it any longer and I went out for any easy 2 miler. I had to put the garbage out at one of my vacant listings, so I ended up running on the canal that goes by this property. It's a part of the canal that is not landscaped for the public. Just a gravel drive for SRP trucks, but it worked for me. I ran at a 12:37 pace, which was faster than I thought I was running. It was just great to get out in the cold (54 F) and enjoy a run. The good news; I ran pain free.

The Scale: I thought I would gain weight this week, since I wasn't running. I, actually lost about 1/2 pound and weigh 233.5 (a low for this year).