What a great day for a run. It was 72 degrees with 75% humidity at the start of the Annapolis 10 miler. The humidity was a bit much, but considering the race is generally insanely hot, I would take the humidity.
The first 4 miles are through wonderful downtown Annapolis. Brad, Sondra and I managed to stay together for most of it. The first mile was painfully slow moving in and out of folks trying to get our own pace. As we hit mile 1 or so, we settled into a groove. Once we turned to head up the hills into the local neighborhoods, we all lost each other in the crowds. With 4500 people running it wasn’t hard to lose each other.
I managed to keep a good pace through the hills and neighborhoods. As I crossed back over the river by the Naval Academy I had just over a mile to go and was feeling great. Once I saw the Naval Stadium, I was able to give a little kick and finish strong. With a goal of one hour and twenty minutes, I finished at 1:18. Sondra and Brad finished shortly thereafter. We all celebrated with a huge breakfast toasting the great day.
I am by no means a professional athlete. I don’t even pretend to be a professional athlete. I only endorse my friends, their talents, skills and businesses...expect right now. I tried a new product at the race today and was completed blown away. I got some enlyte strips yesterday at the race expo and figured I would give them a go. I know, don’t try a new routine on race day. I don’t listen very well and I am glad I don’t. These little bad boys are phenomenal. Stop reading this and go get some now, you will thank me later. I used a couple before the race and then some during and felt great. I am really impressed. No, they aren’t paying me a damn thing to write this. If anyone at enlyte happens to read this, wanna pay me to sing your praises? www.stripitup.com
It is 5:30 pm EST and John is just wrapping up the bike portion of the Ironman. According to the reports we are getting, he is looking good and relaxed. Keep it up amigo…we are cheering you on!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Race Weekend
I have just returned from picking up my number and timing chip for the Annapolis 10 miler tomorrow. It has been a pretty good training week...felt good coming back from camp and jumping back into the schedule. The Annapolis race is always great…running through the streets of Annapolis and the local neighborhoods is beautiful. The first five miles are fairly straight forwarded…the second half has some nasty little hills to smack you around. If you find yourself awake around 8am in near Annapolis, come on by…cheering is always welcome! Check out the race at http://annapolisstriders.org/A10info2009.htm.
John is out in Vancouver this weekend racing the Ironman Canada race. My 10 mile race is a joyride compared to the hell he is going to put his body through tomorrow. To say I respect him for this is an understatement…I can’t imagine the mental and physical challenge. He is runner 866…track him online at http://ironman.com/events/ironman/canada/?show=tracker&y=2004.
Thanks to everyone who has donated to the cause. In under a month I am already at 20% of my goal. Keep the word out there…feel free to pass this webpage around…I would love support from all over the world!
Monday is a rest day with Tuesday being a 5 mile run. Come on out if you want a nice jog around the Washington, DC Mall. Time for some pre-race carbs…
John is out in Vancouver this weekend racing the Ironman Canada race. My 10 mile race is a joyride compared to the hell he is going to put his body through tomorrow. To say I respect him for this is an understatement…I can’t imagine the mental and physical challenge. He is runner 866…track him online at http://ironman.com/events/ironman/canada/?show=tracker&y=2004.
Thanks to everyone who has donated to the cause. In under a month I am already at 20% of my goal. Keep the word out there…feel free to pass this webpage around…I would love support from all over the world!
Monday is a rest day with Tuesday being a 5 mile run. Come on out if you want a nice jog around the Washington, DC Mall. Time for some pre-race carbs…
Saturday, August 22, 2009
I can't feel my legs
I am sitting on my couch debating going to bed [it's 4:04pm EST] or taking a nap following an amazing week at Camp Oasis. The kids seemed to have a great time and so did the "adults"! With swimming, golf, ga-ga, dances, a luau, an outdoor movie, hours of music and countless other activities, it is no wonder I am totally exhausted. We had an incredible staff of counselors and an amazing medical team. Thanks to all who participated this week giving their time and energy.
In order to keep pushing the envelope, we amended the already successful scavenger hunt to include movies and music. This year, the campers had to help find Chad [Chad Hollister, musician extraordinaire comes each year to share his tunes and expertise helping the students write and record their own music...www.chadmusic.com] who got lost attempting to find polar bears. I think the video speaks for itself...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peUo52O5Aew
We did this in a 36 hours period with our genius filmmaker, Todd Lewis. The campers seemed to love it and made sure we learned the finer points of the buddy system. We are now taking ideas for next year's hunt. Assuming we continue to up the ante, I presume we will have pyrotechnics, Mr. T, Frankenstein and Magnum PI.
Don't forget to check out the outtakes...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKorScucZAk Although we appear to be professional actors, we had our share of mistakes.
After my week of camp food and junk food snacks, training picks back up tomorrow with the Annapolis 10 miler in one week. This is going to hurt.
Heading to horizontal...good night...
In order to keep pushing the envelope, we amended the already successful scavenger hunt to include movies and music. This year, the campers had to help find Chad [Chad Hollister, musician extraordinaire comes each year to share his tunes and expertise helping the students write and record their own music...www.chadmusic.com] who got lost attempting to find polar bears. I think the video speaks for itself...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peUo52O5Aew
We did this in a 36 hours period with our genius filmmaker, Todd Lewis. The campers seemed to love it and made sure we learned the finer points of the buddy system. We are now taking ideas for next year's hunt. Assuming we continue to up the ante, I presume we will have pyrotechnics, Mr. T, Frankenstein and Magnum PI.
Don't forget to check out the outtakes...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKorScucZAk Although we appear to be professional actors, we had our share of mistakes.
After my week of camp food and junk food snacks, training picks back up tomorrow with the Annapolis 10 miler in one week. This is going to hurt.
Heading to horizontal...good night...
Thursday, August 13, 2009
off and running
So after a week of sitting around, I am back on the running train. Who knew a little tiny cut could erupt into a Staph Infection? Apparently my wife. And just about everyone else but me. Alright, settle down, lesson learned.
Regardless, I am feeling jittery from not doing anything athletic for a week. Time to lace up the boots and get back out there...the Annapolis Ten Miler is in a few weeks!
Thanks to everyone who have donated! I am so impressed at how generously and amazingly fast people gave! A quick kudos to Kari Petyak who donated so quickly that there was a burst in the sound barrier. You rock!
Meeting at 11th and C NE at 6:30 for 5 miles for anyone interested..................................
Regardless, I am feeling jittery from not doing anything athletic for a week. Time to lace up the boots and get back out there...the Annapolis Ten Miler is in a few weeks!
Thanks to everyone who have donated! I am so impressed at how generously and amazingly fast people gave! A quick kudos to Kari Petyak who donated so quickly that there was a burst in the sound barrier. You rock!
Meeting at 11th and C NE at 6:30 for 5 miles for anyone interested..................................
Monday, August 10, 2009
have you lost your mind?
I have never been one to sit still..."relaxing" isn't really in my vocabulary and with "24" on summer break, there isn't much reason to sit now. In 2002 I decided the best solution to avoid becoming stagnant was to try running a marathon. The day before my 30th birthday I ran the Marine Corps Marathon and survived...
I swore I would never do it again...
A couple of years ago, having no recollection of the pain, I decided to do it again. Following a great training season, my best friend John Murray and I ran Marine Corps. The race was fun, but the training was the true blast. Short runs during the week with long runs on Sunday followed by breakfast. Life was not bad.
In the continuing saga of pushing my aging ankles and knees to the limit, John and I are stepping up to another challenge...The 2010 Goofy Challenge. In the beginning of January [9th and 10th to be exact], John and I will be venturing through Disney World in Orlando Florida. We won't be riding Space Mountain; rather, we will be running a half marathon on Saturday followed by a full marathon on Sunday. 13.1 miles + 26.2 miles = 39.3 miles in 2 days.
Why you ask? A valid question...
My answer...why the hell not? The only live once, why not try something nuts every once in a while.
On 20 April 2000, I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. In December 2007, I had 12 inches of small intestine, some of my large intestine and my appendix [they threw this in for free] removed. While the benefit of carrying less weight on long runs seems like the crux of this decision, it was actually the Crohn's that had made this a non-decision...it had to happen.
For the last 6 years I have volunteered in a variety of capacities at Camp Oasis in Kintnersville, PA for one week every summer. Camp Oasis is for kids with Crohn's and/or Colitis and is one of the greatest parts of my year. In one week, I will be in PA at camp and I could not be more excited.
As a result of this thrill of working with incredible kids, I am raising money for this slightly insane run to go directly to CCFA. Every PENNY donated goes directly to CCFA and its endeavors to cure these diseases. I encourage everyone to get involved. Donate $1. Donate $5. Donate $10. I speak first hand when I say that this is money well spent.
Thanks to the wonders of the internet, you can donate online at http://www.active.com/donate/lv09dcvirginia/GoofyChallenge
Keep coming back to this site as I chronicle our training adventures [and mis-adventures] leading up to the big weekend. If you want to get out and go for a run, we love training partners!
I swore I would never do it again...
A couple of years ago, having no recollection of the pain, I decided to do it again. Following a great training season, my best friend John Murray and I ran Marine Corps. The race was fun, but the training was the true blast. Short runs during the week with long runs on Sunday followed by breakfast. Life was not bad.
In the continuing saga of pushing my aging ankles and knees to the limit, John and I are stepping up to another challenge...The 2010 Goofy Challenge. In the beginning of January [9th and 10th to be exact], John and I will be venturing through Disney World in Orlando Florida. We won't be riding Space Mountain; rather, we will be running a half marathon on Saturday followed by a full marathon on Sunday. 13.1 miles + 26.2 miles = 39.3 miles in 2 days.
Why you ask? A valid question...
My answer...why the hell not? The only live once, why not try something nuts every once in a while.
On 20 April 2000, I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. In December 2007, I had 12 inches of small intestine, some of my large intestine and my appendix [they threw this in for free] removed. While the benefit of carrying less weight on long runs seems like the crux of this decision, it was actually the Crohn's that had made this a non-decision...it had to happen.
For the last 6 years I have volunteered in a variety of capacities at Camp Oasis in Kintnersville, PA for one week every summer. Camp Oasis is for kids with Crohn's and/or Colitis and is one of the greatest parts of my year. In one week, I will be in PA at camp and I could not be more excited.
As a result of this thrill of working with incredible kids, I am raising money for this slightly insane run to go directly to CCFA. Every PENNY donated goes directly to CCFA and its endeavors to cure these diseases. I encourage everyone to get involved. Donate $1. Donate $5. Donate $10. I speak first hand when I say that this is money well spent.
Thanks to the wonders of the internet, you can donate online at http://www.active.com/donate/lv09dcvirginia/GoofyChallenge
Keep coming back to this site as I chronicle our training adventures [and mis-adventures] leading up to the big weekend. If you want to get out and go for a run, we love training partners!
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