Relay For Life and One More Birthday

What a great birthday week for me.

Spent the weekend of my 50th birthday down in Manteo with just about my whole family and a bunch of friends.  I also got to spend a good bit of time on Saturday and then again Sunday morning helping out at Dare County's Relay For Life event.  And what an incredible event it is.  It's kind of surprising how much positive feeling can be generated by hearing about, and seeing, such terrible life experiences.  But that's exactly what happens.

It seems to me that we tend to find the greatest strength and hope in the face of adversity.  Of course it's easier to push back against the weight of the world when there are others facing something so similar to yourself.  The whole "strength in numbers" thing.  And events like this leave me feeling humbled and empowered at the same time.

I remember the first one I attended here.

I had just finished up my radiation treatments, gotten over "the plague", and had worked my way up to walking three miles in a row.  I'd also gained back about 20 of the 40 some pounds I had lost.  I was driving in between contracting jobs and heard an ad for Relay on the radio.  "That's perfect!" I said out loud to myself and jotted down the website address so I could sign up when I got home which is exactly what I did.  I didn't join a team, or create one, or anything.  I just signed up.

Because somehow I thought it was a 5K.  And I could walk a 5K and maybe even jog some!

The next Saturday I heard another ad and heard the words "24 hours."  WTH?  Seriously?  Who the hell does any running or walking for 24 hours?  That's when I decided to actually read the website.

"Oh," I thought.  "I'm going to need a team."

So Sunday morning I stood up in church during the prayers and concerns, admitted to everyone that I was an idiot and needed help forming a team and raising money.  A dozen or so people joined up just about immediately.  It was great.

One of those folks was my Cancer Compadre, Shane.  He and I co-captained the team and did a pretty decent job of fundraising bringing in almost $ 1500.  We also had a good time camping out together that night and talking about ways to do a better job the following year, now that we understood what the hell it was we were supposed to do.  Shane and I walked a lot, too.  Hours and hours together and taking turns.  I don't know what got into me, but I started walking at the noon kickoff and just didn't stop.

While Shane and I talked about things I had mentioned that I wanted to get back to running because the past six months had given me all I ever wanted of feeling helpless and weak.  I talked about what I used to do in high school and Shane even said that he could never really be a runner because his knees always hurt and he just knew he'd hate it.  Well, as we walked a thought sort of got in my head and I wanted to see what would happen if . . . I just didn't stop walking.  How far could I go beyond the three miles I had done a few times that past week?

Turns out that was 105 laps around the track.  26 and a quarter miles.  A marathon.

I was so exhausted and limping, but I made myself do it.  Then was in agony for the next several days, but hey.  I walked a marathon.  Having done that I decided it was time to train and do something even better.  That's another story, but six months later I ran my first and only marathon. 

One year and one day after being diagnosed with cancer.  3:48 and change.

Shane started running after that day, too.  He said he was inspired by me and my efforts and since then the guy has just blown me and himself away.  He's done marathons, Half's, ultras, and even a 200 mile relay!  Had an article written about him in Endurance Magazine.  Totally cool.  He also created the Cupcake 5K as the team's fundraising tool for each year's Relay For Life.  Now it's also become the "big finish" for the weekend.  He and his wife's efforts, along with a long list of others, has taken something as rough as cancer and created a shining diamond of a moment for many, many people.

This year we sold out weeks before the event with 400 runners.  Next year we'll have to go even bigger!

So this entry doesn't go on forever, here's some pictures from the weekend.

There's Shane with the mic getting the volunteers together.

 

 

 

 

Happy Faces at the Starting Line

 

 

The fast guys take off.  Blue shorts up there, Chad, won it.  Second was Millar the guy in black there, and third went to my motivation/inspiration, 48 year old Keith in the white with black shorts.

 

 

 

On the far right edge of the picture is the Mile 1 sign.  Missed it by that much.

 

 

It's an "out and back" course, so here's heading out...

 

 

...and heading back.

 

 

The course finishes on the track with all the attendees hanging around and walkers still on the track, too.  The runners move out to the outside lanes and through the finish line by the main stage.

 

 

In my last post I talked about coming in last on purpose to encourage the folks that were struggling to finish and take the pressure off anyone who was worried about that stigma.  Well at the Cupcake 5K, the last place finisher gets the biggest applause and is accompanied by almost all of the other people who have all ready finished the race!  Another of Shane's brilliant ideas.  The race has always had people in it that were currently going through some serious cancer treatments, so there has always been people using that event, that moment, as a way of showing they were still there and still fighting.

 

This year was no different.

 

The last place finisher went the whole way using a walker and hauling her oxygen tank along with her.

 

 



 

When she finished she took the mic from Shane and encouraged all of us to take advantage of our lives and live them to the fullest.

 

 

 

That wonderful experience was enhanced because I had another friend who came down from Maryland to run the 5K and support me and the team.  My fraternity Little Brother, Blake.  If you've read my book he played a significant part in a turning point for me during my treatments.  He and I walked together behind this woman and chuckled at each other because we were both crying behind our sunglasses.

 

 

 

And heeeeerrrreee's Blake!

 

 

 

All in all I couldn't have asked for a nicer way to spend my birthday weekend.  I even was able to win my age group.  Of course it helped that I wasn't lumped in with Keith anymore.  ; )

 

 









The Joy of Running Isn't Automatic

Ed -

Life is made up of moments.

Those of you who've known me for awhile have probably heard me say this more than once. I don't have a clue why I latched on to that idea so early in life, but I've always believed it.  Even wrote a couple of articles for my high school newspaper on that exact subject.  Used a typewriter.  No kidding.  Sure, it was electric, but we still had a "manual" at the house I used a time or two.  No formatting or spell check.  Just banging away and hoping the ink ribbon didn't get dried out or tangled.  Those things were a pain in the butt to change.

But I digress.

Again.

Over the last couple of months I've seen a couple of moments that others experienced.  One I saw as it happened and the other I simply saw the result.  Both made an impression on me and have inspired me to take a little action.  First off to write this down, share it with you then ask you to do something that I'm going to do as well.

A little while back I signed myself and my wife up for an evening 5K fun run sort of event.  It was called the Wine Down 5K.  It was held at a winery in North Carolina and your entry fee covered the race, some cool swag, and a couple of glasses of the local wines.  As I just mentioned it was held at night.  My wife, who is not a runner, looked at the website and saw that it was a timed event.  She said she'd go but would wait for me at the finish line with her wine.  I told her it was timed, but it wasn't really a "Race" type of race.  It was for fun and no one would be taking it all that seriously.  I told her we would walk it together and just enjoy the landscape, it wound all through the vineyard and out to the Sound, I knew it would be pretty and we'd have some fun at the end.

So we went, and as I thought, it wasn't really all that serious an affair.  There were under a hundred people, and most were part of a group that did morning boot camp workouts together.  I knew a lot of folks there, but the "really fast" and "really serious" runners weren't there.  Two guys I recognized and told Debbie they would be the first ones across, but the rest were just there for fun like us.

Not true.  I was assumptive and arrogant.

For a number of people this was a big deal.  They had been focusing on it for some time and probably chose this as their first 5K because of the fact it wasn't all that big a race.  It was low key and therefore hopefully low pressure.  One lady in particular stands out to me now.

She was over weight, but there and dressed out ready to run.  I heard her talking to a couple of her friends that she referred to as "real runners" and said things like "this is so easy for you guys."  I could tell she was anxious, but her friends were telling her she'd do fine.  Since we were planning on walking the race she was right near us at the start.  Also next to us was the "sweeper."  You know, the person who follows up the runners to make sure no one gets lost or hurt and left.  I think most runs have something like that, but especially ones like this where we'd be off on some small trails in the woods.

Well, the lady looked like she had a plan when she started out jogging and then after a couple of minutes would walk.  Then jog again for a couple of minutes then walk again.  I pointed out to my wife that was a smart way to approach a long distance you haven't ever done, or are just starting out.  But even though we were just walking, we slowly gained on her as she got slower and slower.  We ended up coming along side of her just after the 1.5 mile mark.

She apologized for us having to go around her, even though that part of the course was wide enough.  We told her that was nonsense, she was doing great and told her she was half way there and would make it fine.  But I could tell she was struggling.

We looked back several times and the last couple walking behind us passed her, but the sweeper was there with a friend.  I felt like the lady would have company and encouragement so my wife and I kept on walking at our quick pace.  And every time I thought of it, I'd look back to check on the lady and she was there pushing along.

The course wound around a bit between some sunken fields that I guess they could use to flood them for something like rice that needs to pretty much grow in water, but at any rate as we got to a long wide open point I looked back and way behind us was the sweeper and her friend, but no lady.

She just wasn't there.

And if she had quit the shortest distance left to cover was to the finish.  She couldn't have gone back to the starting line to her car.  Then I remembered that at the turn around point there were people there with water and they had driven to that spot.  I figured she had called it quits and just hitched a ride with them, back in.  As we finished the race and got our stuff, my wife and I chatted with some folks I knew and went and got our wine.  I saw the Sweeper and asked her about the lady because I was feeling weird about it.

"She said she just had enough and didn't need any one's help," Sweeper told me. "Then she just went off by herself back towards the start."

"And you let her?"

"She seemed perfectly okay and just laughed it off. Plus the water folks were following her in their car."

I grabbed the race director and the lady who led the course on her bike and they went out looking for the lady.  No luck.  I hunted around and found her friends, and tentatively asked if they had heard from her.

"She texted me," one said.  "She said she couldn't finish and just wanted to go home, but we should stay and have fun.  But we're getting ready to leave right now. Thanks for asking."

Man.

I felt like crap for her.  No one should feel that defeated, embarrassed or whatever in life.  Truthfully, I have no idea what she was really feeling, but it was obvious she didn't want to be near the group of people who had finished that 5K.  Not even her friends.

My wife wished we had just stayed with her.  But how do you do that with a stranger and not embarrass them more?  I'm not sure I know the answer to that, but I wish I'd have hung back, too.

The second moment I wanted to write about was a facebook post by the little sister of a friend of mine who had just finished her first ever 5K.  I just happened to catch it on my timeline one day.  In that post she printed her time, over 51 minutes, and stated that for most people that would be a "crappy" time, but for her it was fantastic.  Her goal was to break one hour and she did it.  She had been training for a couple of months 4 days a week and that 5K was a rousing success!  Her enthusiasm and boldness in her post made me laugh and cheer while reading it.  It was incredible.

After immediately sharing it myself on my timeline, her older sister who went to high school with me, thanked me in a message for sharing it and gave me a little more back story.  Her little sister had been trying to heal up from a broken bone but hadn't had been doing all that well since she was so over weight.  Her doctor told her she needed a very specific goal to help keep her on track and out of all that came the 5K.  She stuck to the training, lost 60 pounds in the process, and finished her first ever 5K.  She proclaimed it as a major life event!

So there you have it.  5K races are probably ALWAYS a major life event for someone.  There's time spent training for it.  Time spent worrying about it.  Time spent putting pressure on a moment.  One that could be either triumphant or tragic.

A moment that many of us are around on a regular basis, but it's not our moment so we may not notice it.

So here's the action I mentioned us taking at the beginning of this:  Be a Sweeper or a Pacer.

We all have our own goals for races, even the fun runs.  Some of us have volunteered to help with races we haven't run and worked the water table or the course, or the finish line.  Those things are necessary to make a run successful.  I've been a Pacer a couple of times for friends and a stranger or two, but I've never given any thought to being a Sweeper.  Now I have.

I'm going to pick a couple of 5k's and offer to finish last.  To be the guy who hangs back with whomever to make sure they're not alone and offer encouragement.  I imagine that many folks fight the embarrassment of being last.  Or won't even enter because they worry that might happen.  I don't want anyone to feel that way.  I want to take away that stigma and alleviate that fear that can be pretty scary for many people.

Maybe I'll even get a shirt made that says, "Last Place" so it's clear what I'm there for.

"Nope, sorry.  You don't get to finish last.  That's mine."

This probably goes without saying, but when have I ever been accused of not saying enough?  This isn't a pity thing.  It's about support and encouragement.  I've benefited from it a number of times in my running career when other people were there to commiserate, push me along or even hold me back and help me maintain the right pace to avoid flaming out.

The running community is full of super caring, and encouraging people.  It's one of the things we all know, but that's because we're all ready in the community.  Let's find ways to let those folks on the outside who want to be in, see that there's nothing to be afraid of, and that there's so much here to enjoy.

The Song of Gilligan

It is exactly three weeks from the half marathon.  Three weeks.  This will be the fifth time I have done this particular one.  I remember when I did it the first time.  I said it will be my last one...ever.  So, five of these and a couple of other ones later and I'm still at it.  I keep saying that I'm not going to anything with the word thon in it again.  But, I keep signing up.  As the pain goes away from my last marathon, I am even considering doing another one of those.  I kind of feel like the last one beat me.  I'm trying to decide if I can live with that.  My biggest realization in the last few weeks is that I am pretty much full of shit.  I don't mean to be.  I fully intend to concentrate on shorter races, like 5k's, but then something happens and I get the urge to do something else.  I've done three Tough Mudders.  I thought the first one would be my last.  The second one definitely was my last.  Until the third one.  The third is probably my last.  The cost is getting prohibitive.  That is my main reason.  The cost is crazy high.  I have also gotten to the point where I don't just sign up for lots of stuff anymore.  The costs of numerous races is just a lot of money.  I'm trying to pick and choose the ones I really want to do and the ones that are for a good cause.  I would like to do something Tough Mudderish, because I like to climb over stuff and I like mud.  I like the upper body challenge.  Blah, blah...blah.  This is really boring.  I am boring myself to tears writing this.  Do I stop?  Have I gone too far to delete?  It is sort of like an out and back run.  Once you go too far, you have too far to go back.  All the sudden you are running a crap ton of miles, or in this case, writing a crap ton of words.  I'm like the Gilligan of blog post.  Go out for what you think is a three hour tour and then I'm stuck on a island for years.  This post is my island.

Let's regroup here.  Due to the fact that this is a running blog, I'm going to say something about running.  Today, while running through the woods with my friends, I made the statement that I could run forever if my legs didn't get tired.  They laughed, because the legs always get tired, but what if they were so well conditioned that they didn't?  At least for a long time.  When I was coming off my plantar's issue a few years back, I experienced a moment of zen.  I had such a bad case, that I could not do regular runs for months.  That is when I started doing the step workout, switched to training in Vibram's, running in Kinvaras and fully embraced the minimalist thing.  Taught myself to run on my forefoot again, like I did when I was a sprinter in high school and college.  Got my stride back, and stopped being a plodder.  Anyway, I strengthened my feet and my calves by doing lots of step work.  Also, did lots of kettlebell work.  When I started running again on the road and the trails, I made sure that I did a quality run.  Quantity did not matter at the time.  I just wanted to run and finish strong and with a positive attitude.  If that was two miles or three miles, it was fine...as long as I finished strong.  The kettlebells and the steps worked my legs in a way that was just incredible.  Flash foreward to my first 5k after my comeback and my legs never died.  They felt strong the whole way.  I was actually surprised to see the finish line.  It was awesome.

Knowing that my long runs have not been real good leading up to this half, I have been beating my legs up in other ways.  They are sore and tired.  I am hoping to pull all this together in the next few weeks and have a decent performance in the half.  In a way, this is like my first one again.  I just do not know what to expect.  I know I can finish.  I know that I can do okay, but I'm just not sure what okay means. Last year I knew that I could do a sub 1:50 if I was on my game.  This year, I'm not sure.  I'm getting excited to find out.  Then on to bigger and other things.

I believe this is one of the reasons I still love running.  I'm still surprised and amazed to see what my body will do on any given day.  I have to stop writing now and find a way off this island.

Choices

This was a pretty good week of running.  I did 13 miles on Sunday.  That is the most since the marathon in October.  It seems like it has taken me a long time to get back to this distance.  Both physically and mentally.  The physical thing started with the knee issue.  That got better, but I couldn't seem to push it.  Couldn't get past certain mileage.  For a while, I thought I may have lost my love and desire for running.  It seemed to coincide with my loss of feelings for my business.  I love to build.  I've spent years teaching myself the trade and the ins and outs of the business.  I made many mistakes.  My business plan was to make cabinets and sell them.  Pretty simple, really.  I jumped in and made lots of cabinets.  I loved it and I grew.  I got lots of jobs.  Too many jobs.  Knee deep in cabinets all the time.  I got behind.  I had some horrible customers.  I had some employees that milked me dry.  I was not the best manager.  When I say that, I need to make it clear that I would love to work for someone like me.  Someone who is passionate about what they do, and really only cared that the end product was good.  I am a person who hates being told what to do.  I'm quiet about it, but I hate being told what to do.  Probably makes me not such a great employee.  But my work ethic is strong.  I will work like a mule.  When the economy started to tank, I still had lots of jobs, but not lots of money.  I told myself this is not why I got into the business.  I did not want to be a manager who told people what to do and watched.  I'm hands on.  I want to be involved in the designing, the building, the installation, etc.  I started the business with a cavernous workspace.  Hardly any electricity, no showroom, no office.  On my first appointment, I had a brochure of door styles and a piece of paper to take notes.  I got the job.  I started framing out a showroom and office and making displays.  I worked all the time.  It was exciting.  Every time the phone rang it meant opportunity.  Over time, I became a slave to the business.  Payroll every week.  Overhead expenses.  I would dread when the phone rang.  I wanted to throw my cell phone in the river.  I finally had enough.  I wanted to downsize.  I wanted to be just me again.  But how to finish all these jobs with no employees?  Work all the time is how.  I had to deal with the fact that I was going to be behind, but the product would be nice.  I had some angry customers, but all the jobs got done.  I am proud of all of them.  The jobs, that is.  I got stiffed royally a few times.  Not getting paid at a time that I was already a bit sour on things really added to the fun.  But, I knew it would all be over as long as I stuck to my plan of not taking a job just for the money and not getting dependent on an employee or any other help.  This process took about two long years.  I finally cleared the slate around December of last year...2012.  I took a part time job.  Not because I didn't have work, but to see what it was like to do something else.  A couple days a week.  I like the job.  It is easy.  Just go to work, do my thing and go home.  Rinse and repeat.  It was a bit hard to balance that with the business at first, but I started to get used to it.  I thought maybe I should just get out of the business entirely.

My running during the last few years sort of became my sanity.  I would run when I could fit it in.  I'd save my Saturday mornings for the running group.  I would almost always work after the run, but I wouldn't schedule anything until I had run.  I remember having an appointment after a 13 mile run a few years ago and I could barely stand up.  I am in much better shape now, but then 13 miles was monumental.  I had to ask them if it was okay if I leaned on their table.  I explained that I was training for a half.  I would laugh sometimes at what I thought was going on in people's minds.  Here's this cabinet guy who could barely walk and he's saying he is going to do a half marathon.  He has to be full of crap.  Anyway...my worst days in the business sort of coincided with my best days of running.  2012 had me dreading work yet I was pr'ing in every race I entered.  The year ended with the marathon in October, running wise.  Business wise, it was December.

I still don't blame my knee issue on running.  My knees have gotten much stronger since I have been running more in the last few years.  I blame my job for my knee issues.  Kneeling, carrying...whatever. But, my knee was hurting for a long time.  Did the marathon hurt it?  Did the job hurt it?  Both. probably, but for the first time, I could not do both.  I needed to take a break from running.  Because of the business.  If I can't walk, I can't make money.  Two things that I loved to do were hurting me.  One financially and physically and the other physically.  I considered quitting both.

My part time job offered me a full time position this week.  I had a few days to think about it.  My running, to me anyway, pretty much was not going well.  I was thinking why bother anymore.  I can lift weights, and do other things.  Then, this week happened.  13 miles and it felt good.  Sprint work a few days later and that felt really good.  5 miles and dinner with some great friends on Wednesday, and today another 6 with more great people.  After my run today, I installed a bathroom vanity that I custom made.  My customer told me what nice work I do.  I called the part time people and told them that I was going to stay part time.  I've decided to stick with the business and the running.  I have way too much invested in both to quit.

I've been reading a book by Og Mandino.  The Greatest Salesman in the World is its name.  I haven't read a motivational book since my days in the mortgage business, but I thought I could use it.  Here is a quote that I like from it.

"I will live this day as if it is my last.  And what shall I do with this last precious day which remains in my keeping?  First, I will seal up its container of life so that not one drop spills itself upon the sand.  I will waste not a moment mourning yesterday's misfortunes, yesterday's defeats, yesterday's aches of the heart, for why should I throw good after bad?

Can sand flow upward in the hour glass?  Will the sun rise where it sets and set where it rises?  Can I relive the errors of yesterday and right them? Can I call back yesterday's wounds and make them whole?  Can I become younger than yesterday?  Can I take back the evil that was spoken, the blows that were struck, the pain that was caused?  No.  Yesterday is buried forever and I will think of it no more.

I will live this day as if it is my last."

Now, I've got to get some sleep.  I have to run in the morning and I have lots of shit to build.

Training Mistakes

Ed -

My wife got me subscription to Runner's World for Christmas and I was SO looking forward to get my first issue.  I LOVE Runner's World but haven't had a subscription since high school.  However, they messed up their information and mailed the first two issues down to Wilmington, NC to where my wife ordered them.  Goofy.  However, it lead to a nice little bonus.

When the publisher got the address thing straight they decided to give me a free subscription to the Running Times which is a magazine primarily targeting elite runners.  The articles are still really well written and interesting, but all of them have a lot more specific "how to" type of information.  I highly recommend it to anyone who's been trying to train smarter and better.

This month there was an article by Pete Magill about The Dirty Dozen which is about the 12 most common mistakes people make when training.  I devoured it and found right away that I had actually learned a few things from 2009 when I trained for and ran my first ever marathon in just six months.  However, I also caught a couple of things that had me immediately hopping on the computer and pulling up my spreadsheet.  Sure enough I had a couple of things to adjust to my plan.

The first thing was Mistake Number 4: Recover Inadequately.

In my zeal for lots of workouts and increased mileage I had done a poor job of scheduling my rest appropriately.  I happened to feel that this week after several days of hard running in a row I decided to take a couple of days off because of the way my right hip felt.  At least I was paying attention to my body and I'm sure I did the right thing.

I went to the spreadsheet and clicked on each week and looked at what workouts I was doing and what I was doing the day after each one.  I had to make several changes to make sure there was either a rest day or a very easy day after each Speed Workout or Tempo/Steady State run.  I feel really good about how the weeks look now for the next month now and my mileage is still increasing the whole time as it should.

The other mistake I was making I began to fix this morning.

Mistake Number 2: Make All Runs 'Medium Runs.'  I thought I had this one handled, but after reading the whole explanation I realized I was missing a big piece that I would regret later.

Each different type of workout is designed to develop a particular aspect of your body and ability to run some distance fast.  And every workout has target paces based on current and goal race times.  Doing a workout wrong; either by changing the number of reps, the length or type of rest, or the pace pretty much sabotages what that workout was supposed to do which screws up your progression and development.  My screw up was that I was flat out missing an important workout each week even though I thought I was getting it in there.  The Steady State run.

See, I'm pretty much a short distance speed type guy.  I love being on the track.  I love going fast, fast and doing interval type running.  I don't particularly like racing a 10K or longer since it hurts.  I was getting plenty of speed and sprint type work done, I had my long run each week, easy runs and my Tempo or long intervals.  But there was the mistake.  My long intervals and Tempo runs weren't long enough to do what they're supposed to do: make it easier to run longer at a faster pace.  Being able to do a fast 5K is going to make it easier for me to hold my 95% effort for a full mile.

The Steady State run is an entire run lasting somewhere between 20 to 40 minutes at about 85% of race pace.  This is where the McMillan Calculator comes in handy since I was a History Major and couldn't do this if somebody paid me to.  I figured I could run about a 20:30 (6:30 pace) 5K right now (based on my last flu ridden race and a healthy one last fall) and the calculator says I should do a Steady State run somewhere between 6:55 pace and 7:13 pace.  But I haven't been doing any runs like that at all, so when I stepped out last week and pushed that 2 mile Tempo I realized I was in no condition to hit the recommended paces and call it only an 85% effort.  I was almost horking for Pete's sake.

So I went back to the spreadsheet and changed all of my Tempo runs to either a Steady State run or a longer Tempo.  Nothing shorter than a mile.  I also set distance targets that were at the correct pace, but at the short end of the duration since I'm just beginning that training.  Today I ran five miles, but made sure the first three were at the correct pace and was able to hold 7:09 pace for the first three, then I had to back off because one long steep uphill wrapping up at mile 2.5 had me dry heaving on the hoof for a bit.  I didn't all together collapse and did a 7:33 pace the last two so I had a 7:18 average for the run.  Not horrible, but not 85% either.

That's okay.  Next week my Tempo will be two 2-mile efforts with a mile rest in between, and the following week will be another five miles where I try to hold sub 7:10 for the first four miles.

By making these two adjustments: correctly doing a long run workout and building in appropriate recovery days, I'm filling the holes from previous year's training efforts.

I feel very confident in what I'll accomplish this year!

So find yourself a Running Times and get reading, but if you're looking for another great resource for running check out the American Running Association website.  Our friend, Darren, brought it to our attention and I cruised around the site today and it is flat out full of cool resources and articles that will help anyone run better longer.

A post not about running, training, P90X, cross-training or any other super searchable words

So let me tell you how things work in my house.

My wife told me the tank on our toilet seemed to be sloping backwards.  I took a quick look at it and tell her it's because it's an old style toilet with only two bolts.  These things sit up straight because the rubber seal between the tank and the bowl has four little feet on them and after awhile they get squishy and it slopes forward or back.  "I just need to replace it," I say, "Only take fifteen minutes."

"We'll stop by Lowe's after church," she said while brushing her teeth.

We get into Lowe's and walk around to the plumbing supply area and I can't find the part I want.  I start describing it to the guy (there's always 'the guy' at Lowe's) and he says, "Yeah, that's an old toilet. We'd need to order that."

Debbie pipes up and says, "Let's just get a new toilet."

Fine.

So we cruise around two aisles and pick out a new one.  On sale!

"Hey," Debbie says, "We've talked about remodeling the bathroom anyways.  I hate that shower unit."

The Old Shower

"Sure," I chime in.  "We can tile the walls, get a nice tub and new fixtures. Let's see if we can find a tub that will match the toilet."

So we walk around the corner and immediately find a great one on sale because it's a display model and they were discontinuing the model.  There were only two left and we grabbed the left hand drain one and put it on one of those big ol' trolleys, leaving the toilet on it's own little one.  Fortunately, the designs of the two looked remarkably similar so we were really pleased with our luck.

From there we hit the flooring department to look for tile, and went to the piles of them they had on clearance.  There were several different kinds and I had figured we only needed about 60 tiles.  We narrowed it down based on color wanting to keep it fairly neutral in case we decide to sell or rent the place in the future.  The tiles we settled on were only 58 cents a piece which is just ridiculously cheap, so we decided we'd bump up the design a little bit with some sort of accents.

Normally in showers where I'm doing 12 x 12 tiles I'll go about 5 feet (tiles) then rotate the tiles at 45 degrees.  Makes a nice look.  In this case we also picked up some cool glass accents that I'll use to create a 3" divide between the first 5 tiles and the angled ones at the top.  It's going to be really nice.

So we haul everything home after miraculously getting it into the Equinox I'm driving right now.  Then from there I got it all upstairs.

We decided to just set it all in the guest room because it was going to take me a bit to get all this work done since I was only going to be able to work at nights and on weekends.

Notice how that one box of tiles is opened?  Bottom right of the picture there.  Well Debbie pulled some out and carried them downstairs.  I get down there and she's laying them out on the foyer floor.

"I really hate this old slate in here."

"Only because it's hideous," I reply, "So what are you thinking?"

"How much would it cost to tile the downstairs?"

"I figure we've got just under 790 square feet down here, so not even $500!  I'll call Lowe's and see if they've got enough of those tiles left."

They did and delivered them two days later.  41 boxes of 'em.

While waiting for the tiles to get there I made some attempts to get the slate up.  No dice.  They were installed into a bed of wet cement as opposed to be glued down to a slab.  The kitchen has tile that would pop right up, but then I'd have to level that floor with the foyer.  Same was true about the ugly laminate we have in the dining and living room areas. The laminate was glued down, so it wasn't going anywhere and was a nice flat surface. I checked the bottoms of doors and measured the dishwasher and decided I could just go right over the top of everything.  Not the best way to go about things, but sometimes the most cost-effective.

From there we talked about the layout and snapped some lines to follow to ensure the pattern matched up perfectly from the foyer and around the hall and kitchen.  Then I started removing doors and hauling stuff out of the kitchen, like the big hutch full of dishes, cookbooks and glassware.

Now our house looks like Oscar Madison's place.

 

Dishes on every flat surface

 

Tools on the table and floor

 

 

 

Everything shoved out of the way for the layout work

 

Doors and tile all over

 

Well, since I didn't have any of my tile saws up here I decided to get started doing all I could without cutting anything or putting myself in a tough spot to get a tile under a door jamb when I go to put those pieces in.  I've done that before and it's a big mess and pain in the butt because those pieces have to slide under the cuts I make in the jambs so I've got to leave room to slide the tiles.  And this way I could get that critical layout work done as well as get the dishwasher out of the way.

 

I got a long way prior to going to Manteo for the weekend and coming back with a saw which I needed to use to get things finished under the dishwasher.  Once that was wrapped up and put back together I got to get all the dirty dishes out of the sink and cleaned up at last.

 

So here's where I am right now:

 

Kitchen Floor

 

Foyer Floor

 

Connecting the two in the Dining Area

 



And here's where the toilet is that started it all:

 

... sigh.

 

"It'll take about fifteen minutes."



Feeling The Progress

Another week has gone by and I'm feeling better and better.  The cough is about gone.  The bicep is still hanging on by a piece of grizzle but that'll get fixed at some point.  I'm still waiting for the referral to come in for the ortho surgeon and it looks like I'll get Dr. Cutter.

Best name ever for a surgeon.

I've had this guy work on me before and I like him, because he's a sports medicine specialist and his entire staff is all about rehabbing folks to perform again.  In fact he's the surgeon who worked on Mary Lou Retton's knee just a couple of weeks before she won gold in the Olympics.  No slouch there.

I first met him because I had dislocated my shoulder in a softball game.  I got it back in okay that night so it was a couple of days later that I finally decided to go see him.  He did all the xray stuff and examined me pretty good then said, "okay...."

I thought, "here it comes.  He's going to tell me to quit playing competitive softball."  But instead...

"Can you bat left handed?"

"As a matter of fact I can."

"Okay, good.  Do that for the next couple of weeks.  What position do you play?"

"I pitch and I play outfield mainly, sometimes 2nd base."

"Okay, don't reach for any line drives straight over your head.  To either side fine, but not over your head and don't layout for a ball for the next two weeks."

He instructed me on using ice and ibuprofen and some PT stuff to strengthen the shoulder and that was that!  I was pumped.

So I'm looking forward to him stretching that muscle back up to my shoulder and sewing it up right.

Meanwhile, I'm still running according to schedule and feeling stronger.  Except in my first Short Hill workout since July.  My times sucked and I was gassed after just four reps.  But it was the first shot at it.  The first attempt at a workout is always hard.  I've got 400's coming up on Thursday and that follows up a couple of good distance runs and a good 6 x 800 workout.  This past Saturday my easy 10 mile run felt very easy and it was more than ten seconds per mile faster than just the week before and that run felt hard.

My Tempo Run this morning was too easy.  But that's because I thought I knew what my pace should be and it turned out to be too slow.

I used the treadmill at the gym because it was a really lovely freezing rain this morning and everything was covered in ice.  ...and I'm a wuss when it comes to "cold and wet."

The plan was to run five miles.  One mile warm up, a Tempo 5K, then another mile to cool down.  I had decided to do the Tempo at 7:30 pace because that would be about the pace for my last 5K race.  And I was a little scared.  I thought running a mile and then trying to do a quick 5K followed by another mile was just going to be really hard.  I should have looked at my McMillan Running Calculator pace sheet for workouts.

I did the warmup mile in about 8:40 pace then dropped into 7:30.  My mouth got really dry because I was indoors and my salivary glands still don't quite do all they used to, but I knew I was gliding along.  The second mile came and I figured if I still felt good after that one I'd speed it up.  1.95 showed up and I wasn't even panting.  I punched up the treadmill so I was at 7:13 pace.  It felt fast so I held there, but after a bit I knew I could do more and decided to speed up again with the last half and the tenth left to go.

2.5 came up and I hit the buttons again and dropped the pace to 6:58.  I was cruising and feeling really strong.  When I got to the end of the 5K I slowed up to 8:40 pace again and strided along through the last mile.

When I got to five miles and stepped off the treadmill I knew right away that I should've been a lot faster to get a good workout.

Oh well.

When I came home I looked at the sheet I printed off of the McMillan web page and sure enough it said I should have been somewhere between 6:57 to 7:14 pace.  I averaged 7:21.  7:10 would've been a beast of a run, and I think I could have pulled it off.  It would've been hard and I would've been making gross noises and whimpering as I got to the end of the 5K but I could've done it.

Oh well.

So tomorrow I've got an Easy Run of 7 miles to get in and then a rest day before my 400's on Thursday.  And my target pace is 8:30.  I've GOT to do the right pace so I get the benefits of endurance without really stressing my legs and joints too much.  That way I'll be ready to do the full workout of 10 400's at 1:25 pace on Thursday.  That's at the low end of the McMillan range of 1:23 - 1:29 so if I need to I can slow that down if I need to in order to get all ten reps in.

Last year I saw some great gains following the training strategies of David Holt combined with some of the workouts and all of the paces from Greg McMillan.  In fact, if I get my 1500 time down below 5 minutes as planned I am probably going to pay for a training plan and coach for the next year to see if I can really go sub-5 for the mile!  I may even go out to one of his camps in Arizona this fall.

We'll see.  It's just time and money right?

I'm looking forward to each week, increasing the intensity of the workouts and getting faster and faster.  I love running.  : D

Race Day!

Have you heard the flu is going around?  I've had it for two weeks now, and while I'm feeling much better than I did that first week I'm now very sick and tired of being sick and tired.  Enough is enough.

I've been a good boy and doing the rest and tons of fluid thingy the past week and even though I felt like I could run I haven't.  Rest, rest, rest is what doctors are preaching regarding the flu and I'm paying attention.  It does bug the crap out of me that I've missed two fun weeks of my awesome training spreadsheet and the beginning of my interval workouts again, but I figure if I take it easy now I'll be better off in the long run.  Hey, I just used a running metaphor in a blog about running!

Sweet.

So, two weeks off and I had a race today in the Outer Banks.  I registered for it awhile back and since it was a 5k I decided to use it as a way to move back into my running with a short, relaxed run with my friends in the Outer Banks Running Club.  And, once again, they put on a really nice race.

The Frostbite 5K is the OBRC's annual membership race and they do it up with something cool each year.  This year we got embroidered jackets!  Here being modeled by myself, Matt and my Cancer Compadre, Shane.  That's my buddy Joe the Plumber in the white.  ...and, yes, he actually is a plumber.

>

The weather this year was really warm, about 60 degrees, but it was a dreary looking day with all the fog.  There was an Adrienne Barbeau sighting early on and a couple of people thought they saw a guy covered in seaweed carrying a big meat hook.  From what I heard, though, we had as many finishers as we did starters so all were accounted for.

 

The Front Porch Cafe provided coffee and hot choclate and others brought cookies for all the runners to enjoy.  Shane played EmCee at the beginning to introduce the new Board of Directors for the club and get us all over to the starting line.

 

I lined up with a few of the folks I know, figuring I'd go out pretty quickly just to move my legs and see what my lungs felt like.  I got a picture of Jessica who went on to be the top female finisher as we were covering the first couple of hundred meters.

 

 



 
She's very quick so I was lucky to get a picture.

Another friend, Pete was with the lead group and right behind me when I got the picture.

"Hey look at Ed running a 5:30 pace!" just before he chugged on by me and left me in his dust.

However, I did get a picture of him LOSING to me for a little bit there.

I settled back into a comfortable pace when I had a brief coughing fit and decided I wasn't getting any air in my lungs. My legs felt great, but I wasn't going to be going to set a PR today. We ran through a neighborhood that led back up to the dirt road that would take us up into the woods to the turn-around. A few more people passed me as we went and got a couple of good pictures as we ran.

The dirt road.

The trail after the turn-around. High fiving friends as we passed each other. About here I decided I needed yet another running self portrait since I just think that's funny.

Goofy, yes.

 

Then it was back down the dirt road, through the neighborhood and a hard right turn through the finish line.

 

 

 

I got a 23:06 official time, so I immediately told myself I could've found 6 seconds almost anywhere on that run, but it was off to the coffee and cookies!

 

 



 

 

Thanks OBRC for another fun race!  Looking forward to getting back on track (literally) and actually making Pete race me....

The Peep is my Tiny Tim

Bob


I have a 5k on New Years Eve Day.  It is called the Peepsfest.  For those of you who are not local, it is sponsored by the company that makes Peeps.  Those little yellow marshmallow birds that you think you don't like until you eat one.  Then you remember that you like them and eat a bunch.  They make them right here in Bethlehem, Pa.  The race starts and ends at the  old Bethlehem Steel plant.  Once a huge and busy place, filled with workers and activity, Bethlehem Steel was the backbone of the area for a very long time that started a sort of depression in this area when it died a sad death.  The bones were still there and they laid ugly and cold until a few years ago when investors decided to revamp it.  Not as a steel mill, but as a casino and center for different kinds of arts.  I started my career here after college.  It was depressing and kind of scary to see.  Not only the plant, but what it did to the economy and the people who worked there for years.  Coming from the Washington, DC area to here was a culture shock.  I always thought I would return to Virginia, but never did.  Over the years, the  area was revitalized.  More businesses moved in and the medical community is huge here.  The old railroad beds and canal paths were made into running and biking trails.  It is a wonderful place to run.  Not so much on the roads, because drivers kind of want to kill most of us.  But the trails are great.

Let's get back to the Peeps.  The Peepsfest has one of the best mascot races I have ever seen.  It doesn't really matter that it is the only mascot race I have seen.  There are numerous colleges here and their mascots, the Chic-fil-a cow, and many others show up.  And of course, the Peep.  Every year, I want to hug the Peep.  Last year, it was beside me and I got it from the side.  It didn't know I was coming and I hugged it.  It turned toward me and its little arms could do nothing.  Long legs, but little arms.  No defense from the hug.  Made me realize how vulnerable a mascot is.  There is one that is a wolf who looks really tough.  The Lafayette College leopard can hold its own.  If I am feeling tough that day, I may try to hug one of them.  But nothing will match the look on the Peep's head when I hugged it.  I will hug it again this year.  

I am not anticipating much from the run.  I have only run a few times in the last month.  It will be a fun run and one where I can kind of see where I'm at.  Then, I start training for the 20 mile trail run in February and the half marathon in early May.  I think my core training for the February run will be strength conditioning, weight loss, hills and steps.  If my knee allows, and I'm sure it will, I am going to hit all those things hard.  Every year, I train a little differently from the last.  Every year I have gotten faster.  I'm not happy that I have let my conditioning suffer and allowed my weight to go up, but I am excited to see what I can do to get in ever better shape than I've been in before.  I was a little depressed about the situation for awhile, even if I did it to myself.  Now, I can't wait to get started.  I look at it as a fresh start and an opportunity to kick my own ass.  It starts right after Christmas.  I'm going to be the Ebeneezer Scrooge of running.  My redemption starts with hugging the Peep.  

The Best Running Plan Ever

I always have a hard time coming up for a title for each post I do.  I noticed that I used the same one, or close to the same one a few times.  Must be that my brain just gravitates to the easy stuff.  Sort of scary because it makes me wonder if I write the same stuff over and over again.  I could go back and read them, but that would take time and energy that I just can't work up.  Like Vasco da Gama said a while back, "you can't go forward if you're looking back.  Unless you have someone holding your hand, and then it is cheating."  He said that and I agree, so I will not go back and read what I wrote in the past.  So maybe I will keep using the same titles.  Who really knows?  I named this one The Best Running Plan Ever because I wanted to draw people in.  To make them want to read it.  But I really don't have much of a plan right now.  I'm not sure anymore, but I think I ran a marathon not long ago.  If I did, I am still suffering some after effects.  Sore legs, puffed up knee.  There is no bounce in my stride.  The knee is the thing that has bothered me the most, so now I have initiated a two step therapy program which is as follows.  Step One -  stop whining and bitching.  Step Two -  beat the hell out of my legs and work my knee until the pain goes away.  You know the saying, "spare the rod, spoil the child"?  Well, since it is too late to beat my kids, I am taking the rod to my body.  I have always found that my body responds to intense stuff.  I get a feel for what works and what doesn't work and I crush the hell out of what works.  Sore knees can be a result of weak quads and thighs, among other things.  Therefore, in addition to running, I am doing leg curls, leg extensions, kettlebell goblet squats and a lunge which includes clubbells.  It feels great.  Proper form for everything is the key.  Proper form for everything is the key!!!  I am also concentrating on how I walk.  I am trying to keep a steady and controlled stride when I walk, just as I do when I run.  A weakness in one area leads to a problem in another.  It often amazes me that I feel better when I run than when I walk.  I limp around a lot when I walk, but when I run things are different.  Once I warm up, things fall into place.  I am like a young, newborn horse.  All wobbly and unsure legged.  Not covered with afterbirth, though.  That is gone.  So, maybe I am like a young, two day old horse.  All wobbly and unsure legged until I run about a half mile, then like a thoroughbred, I am.  Not a thoroughbred that races at the Kentucky Derby, but maybe one people take their kids to see and feed a carrot.  At any rate, I feel better when I am running, so I feel that if I really concentrate on how I walk it can only help.  The leg exercises are hard.  I do at least a hundred reps of all of them per day.  My legs are sore, but the knee feels better.  This will effect my running for a little while because my legs are pretty sore, but in the past when I have done this sort of thing, I have found that at some point I just feel incredible.  I don't recommend this for everyone.  I am fairly anti-doctor, so this self therapy and self-diagnosis works for me, but some may be uncomfortable with it or hurt themselves worse.  I have totally come to the conclusion that I will never be totally pain free and if I wait for the time I may be pain free, I will be dead.  I prefer running while I am alive.  Things seems to just be more vibrant and enjoyable when I am alive.  So, I will take the pain and the ability to do what I can do, the best that I can do it.  I know there are many others that feel this way, and I have seen it work.  Be smart, listen to our bodies...but not too much.  I am looking to pull this together by the Turkey Trot 5k the Saturday after Thanksgiving where I hope to get a pr.  Like Vasco da Gama said, "proper form is the key to everything."

Race and Train Weekend

Ed -

Had a blast this weekend running the Colony Lost and Found 5K in my adopted hometown of Manteo, NC.  This is easily my favorite race.

It's only a few minutes from my house, a bunch of my friends run in it as a speed workout for the Outer Banks Marathon or Half coming up next month, the course is pretty flat but runs through some nice trails and out to the water, and the awards are done at the outdoor theater where they do the Lost Colony play every summer.

The atmosphere is casual, friendly and fun.

And the shirts rock.  Long sleeve, heavy cotton with a cool logo on them.

This year the weather was perfect: clear skies, 60 degrees, and only a light breeze of about 10 knots.  That's light for the OBX.  There's a reason Orville and Wilbur came here to fly.  It's windy every freaking day.

As far as the actual race went it wasn't bad since I've tapered off my speed work and have been doing mainly long, slow distance.  I covered the 3.1 miles in 21:00 and didn't really push all that hard the first or second mile.  I did get a little motivated the last mile because this young guy wearing a bright orange jersey almost exactly like mine was about 75 meters ahead of me and I decided to catch him with a mile to go.  I got on his shoulder with a half mile left and we both began to really steam.  My stomach was tightening up and while I knew I could take him, I also knew it was probably going to mean I'd puke at the end.

I was asked once by a friend why I do that so often.  I think part of it is that I can definitely push myself past that pain threshold when I want, but the other part is the fact my salivary glands don't work all that well.  After 15 minutes or so of breathing through my mouth it gets pretty bone dry in there and makes it very hard to swallow and I have to concentrate just so I don't choke on my tongue sometimes.  So I'm thinking that has something to do with it.

Anyways, I really didn't want to go into the dry heave fits at the end of this since there were small children around, and besides it was going to be a slow time for me.  Who wants to look like they just gave it all they had when they really only kicked in the last half?

With 50 to go he kicked (and it was a good kick; the guy flew) and I just hung back.  He beat me by two seconds.  Nice finish dude!  Here's his pic:

The young woman standing next to him is Jessica.

She's fast.

Funny story:

My first ever 8K was a couple of years ago and I ran it hard.  Even had my best 5K time when I hit that split.  At the finish I was dry heaving when my buddy Shane came up to me and said, "Nice run, Ed!  You almost beat the pregnant lady."

Jessica looked over at me while I continued to gag and said, "Good times, Ed.  Good times!"

Here she is today along with the little girl who beat me while in utero.

That shirt is so last year, Jess....

I may have been blown out of the Female Age 25 to 29 group but I got first in the Male Age 45 - 49 group!  Thanks in no small part to the fact that Keith, who's only 47, won the whole thing and placed out of the division.  That's him in the middle there.  Look at this guy's legs!

A cool little tidbit happened here.  A couple of my friends and I finished 7th, 8th, and 9th overall and each one of us won our age group!  We were high fiving and taking pictures at the awards ceremony like we were watching our own kids at graduation or something.  So adorable.

That's Pete getting his medal while Shane was taking his picture.

There were trophies for the top finishers, both male and female, and when Jessica sat back down in front of us with her trophy her husband pointed out the person on top of her trophy was a guy.  That's about when Keith came over and showed Jessica that his trophy had a girl on it.  They traded and laughed.  We figured every one's trophies might have gotten confused so Shane yelled over to Adam, the third place male and asked him, "Adam!  Does your trophy have....ummm...boobs on it?"

Adam's wife hollered back, "Yes I do!"

Thanks again to the Outer Banks Running Club for putting on such a great race.

The next morning I was up at 4:30 to run 13.1 miles with Shane, Pete and a bunch of other Running Club members.  The stars were incredible and the run was a blast.

I ended up throwing a couple of half mile or so fartleks in there, including the half mile UP the bridge at mile 10.  Shane was revving up the group as we approached it.

"There it is!  Are you READY??!!"

I got pumped up and took off for it.  I could hear Shane behind me saying things like, "there he goes...he wants it..."  I accelerated more and he started yelling, "Ed eats hills for breakfast!!"

I drove up that thing with absolute authority and it felt SO good.

We all finished up together with Shane and me talking about how each one of us had inspired the other through our cancers and now our running.  Shane's off to do a 200 mile relay with 5 other runners and then he's doing a 62 mile Ultra next spring!

Such a beast.  And a wonderful guy.

He and I are both inviting people out to the Outer Banks next May 18-19 for our Relay For Life event.  Shane is putting on The Cupcake 5K as part of that weekend and I'll be using that race as part of my 50th birthday celebration.

Mark your calendars and join us!

Succombing to Saucony

Ed -

Did I spell that right?  Succombing?  Spell check says, "Oh HELLZ no! It's 'succumbing.'  Cracker ass mutha f&%$#^."  I have the Detroit 2.3 version of spell check.

I got the silent "B" so that's like almost nailing it.  9.5 biotch!

Bob mentioned his Kinvaras in his last post and I chimed in that I owned a pair as well.  I bought the Kinvara 3's at Dick's Sporting goods early this summer because I have a need to buy a new pair of running shoes every six months.  I don't wear them out nearly that fast, but I miss that new shoe smell so much.

Actually, I have a geeky runner reason to do it.  I alternate shoes every run.  Doesn't matter what sort of run it is, but I like to have two different pairs of two different brands and switch back and forth.  The logic for this comes from hearing about how running shoes with tons of support and structure are actually bad for us over time and weaken our own God given structural support for our knees, hips, etc.  What I figure is that if I rotate between shoes, I'm getting a different sort of support structure and my body is rotating back and forth adjusting for it, ergo no weakening!

I just used Latin in a sentence.  Twice!  Etc and ergo.  Sweet.  My daughter who was a Latin wiz in high school would be so proud.  Side story:  she came with me to my 30th high school reunion and wound up having a blast.  We went on a tour of my old school and they had this huge mural of our seal and motto painted on this one wall.  My best friend from school, Dwayne, was talking to his daughters about it.

"What's 'Esse Non Videri' mean, dad?" One of them asked him.

He didn't hesitate, "I Didn't Do It."  My daughter's head snapped around at me like I should say something. I just shrugged.

So I rotate shoes and I think it helps me out from a physiological standpoint.  The fact that I buy a new pair every six months also means I retire a pair every year with about 400 to 450 miles on them.  I read someplace that's a good thing because it helps prevent injuries.  Bottom line, though, I get to buy new shoes every six months!

It's like a mini Christmas party for me, and, yes, I'm goofy like that.

The Kinvara 3's I have now are the blue and bright green version.  Voila:

Here they are situated in juxtaposition to my older and more preferred pair of Saucony's; my A4's.

Damn, that was one adult sounding sentence.

I do like the Kinvaras, but I love those A4's.  They are so light and almost zero drop in them from heel to toe.  I bought them for road races and to help move me to more minimal shoes (again with the get away from structure theme) and ran in them for a year now.  I still use them for 10K races just because they feel so stinking good, but the heel on the left one is beginning to show some wear.

It's really not horrible, but I don't like that it's so far back.  I've been told my form is good, but obviously I scuff that left heel now and again.  The right shoe shows nothing like that.  Still, the heel is almost flat so I put them on to race even if they're no longer in the training rotation.

I've never been a real brand fanatic,  but Saucony gots a good thing going and I'm probably going to pick up another pair of the A4's next time out.

Now for a random picture of one of my dinners when my wife is out of town.

. . . and, yes, I'm in front of the TV.