Egg Hunt, or on Being a Parent

I don't usually delve too far into my personal life here in this blog (are anywhere else for that matter ?), but today a completely off-topic event reminded me of a 5K, so here I am, writing about it.

I'm not your typical parent- at 42, pushing 43 pretty hard, my son is just 3 years old, and we have only a few friends with young (or any) kids, and I would not say those are friends we spend much time with. I'm not exactly tapped into the kid nation either. I had sort of an odd childhood in that my parents were even older than I am compared to my son and I'm not sure they were dialed all the way in either, although they tried pretty damn hard and on scant resources. As a result, there's an awful lot I don't know about what is typical family activity.

Take the egg hunt. Branford sponsors a town-wide egg hunt and this is a pretty well-attended event. My wife was swimming out in New London until 9AM, and really wanted me to go to the egg hunt. For this and other reasons I was left with getting my workout (and shower) in between 9 AM and 10:40 AM. I went long on the bike yesterday (in my basement) and in honor of the EH crew being out in Arizona, did another part of the virtual reality Arizona DVD from Coach Troy- the Mt. Lemmon climb (yesterday was Gates Pass). If you really want to work your backside off on the trainer, get this DVD. If half an hour straight in Big Ring 13 is not to your taste, then this is not the DVD for you (or you're not working hard enough, pal). There's the workout related, on-topic part of the blog.

At 10:30 I was in the shower, and at 10:40 we were in the car for a 5-10 minute drive. This was still probably a little bit too late to leave the house. We pulled down the side-road to Foote Park wedged between minvans and Jeeps, grabbed one of the last parking spaces in the park, and headed over to the start. We ran into a number of Ian's friends from school- children that had been in his pre-school class at day care until recently when he moved up. We happily settled into line with them and snapped some pix as the VFW volunteers waited for everyone to get into place for the 'hunt.'

Now, as hunting goes, this is a step above hunting with Dick Cheney (how a guy shoots you in the face when the birds he's supposed to be shooting are basically stationary until the moment of they are flushed and he knows where the birds are going to be, in other words in the air, not at ground level, in other words, accident my ass), but a step below English foxhunts. The 'eggs', hundreds of them along with store-bought candy bars, are laid out on a relatively flat patch of grass in corrals, divided into different age-groups. Meanwhile, the Eastern bunny was roaming around- costume perfect except for some pretty beat-looking basketball shoes that kind of ruined the illusion for me.

The problem was that Ian, standing with his friends, was in the 1-2 corral. We moved over to the 3-5 corral and I smelled trouble. First of all, we couldn't even get to the line, second, their was a slew of parents blocking the way and hovering over their kids. The VFW crew announced that parents could follow their kids. I determined not to do that, but wow.

The whistle went off and I finally knew what it was like to be on the wrong end of a 5K. The locust went up the grass and with the machine efficiency of terminators, they eliminated every egg, every piece of candy, every wrapper. It was a horde lurching up over the Urals, while I watched it retreat away from me. Even the grass browned under the press. Ian got a decent amount of candy, but was not exactly the high earner.

He happily scooted over into the 1-2 corral, where he had half the area to himself and filled his basket without depriving anyone else of their candy.

Man, being a parent is weird.

300- Spinning Movie Review

I don't usually watch movies when I spin, but I rented 300 on the iTunes store and had- you guessed it, 2 hours left to watch the movie before it expired- Apple only gives you a month. Sad.

The movie actually starts out a little on the slow side, to be honest. A lot of talking, a boy and his dog victim, politicians, and so on. But that doesn't last and anyway, when I started spinning I had 1 hour and six minutes left to watch.

Now, there's no sense talking about history here. First of all, the real Xerxes was probably a little over six foot tall, not seven-eight feet tall and oddrogynous. Then there are the particulars of the stand of Leonidas and his men, many of which followed him and his to the grave and certainly were at odds with what you saw in the movie. And let's not even talk about how the Spartans were just as often the worst Greece had to offer as the best. Nevertheless...

300 really turned out to be a guilty pleasure. Because it's always a little guilty for me, as someone who generally thinks that war and killing are exactly the sorts of things the human race should have figured out by now how to do without, to really sit down (on my bike in this case) and enjoy- really enjoy, a movie that at its essence, is about the most brutal, most violent sort of conflict.

This is a great movie for when you're trapped on your bike looking to generate some intensity. The fight scenes are top-notch, graphic, but well done. The slower parts still carry the right sort of music and storyline that you'll find yourself cranking out a nice steady high-aerobic effort while watching the movie. A good movie to spin to immerses you without being distracting.

And let's face it- while the Spartans are standing to the last man against Xerxes you feel like the least you can do is suffer a little spinning...

Hybrid Workout

Yesterday my coach gave me a two hour outdoor ride, but it was thankfully set up in a way that was also easy to spin- warm up, 20 minutes in C, 20 minutes easy, 20 minutes in C, steady B to end. I've done plenty of outdoor riding this winter, but the one thing I won't do is ride in cold and wet/raining conditions, and it was a wet morning. So while my coach was on his way to Tucson, I popped in Stargate SG-1, the Ark of Truth, and started my workout. Because the downstairs TV is beyond its last legs, the only way to really see anything on it is to turn out the lights, making the basement dark enough you can see the TV.

Shortly after I started my second set in C, I noticed bright light. It was coming in through the basement windows and with 45 minutes left after the set, I decided that even though I was enjoying this straight to DVD treatment of the Ori saga (I know, geek alert), it was time to hop on the Elite and get outside. I didn't want a long transition, so I just threw on tights, a jacket, gloves and a hat and got to it.

Of course, it looked nicer from inside than it was on the outside- so typical this time of year- you want it to be nice so badly that you maybe force it a little, but then again, even when it's bad, it's not really that bad. It was sunny, but not all that warm. I started out with the wind at my back and I was flying, chasing along with the cars and feeling really good. For not having been outside in two or three weeks I was surprised at how strong I felt and I was thinking that all the spinning I'd done really was paying off. Of course it's easy to feel good with the wind at your back. That didn't last. As soon as I got into the crosswind I nearly fell over and for the rest of the ride I was off more than on the aerobars, fighting the conditions and not feeling like I was mid-season shape anymore.

It was still a good forty-five minutes outside and probably in some ways the best part of the two-hour ride, however, towards the end, when my feet were cold, the wind was blowing me all over the road and I was climbing a hill, I couldn't help but think back to how I'd been on the trainer sweating, watching a movie with warm feet, and how that was preferable to being cold, and wind-blown at 12 mph.

Which was why it was good that I had to throw the bike back in the basement, grab my running shoes, and head out on my brick run. There's no better way to get the feeling back in your feet, after all...

Who am I ? Here's One Tongue-in-Cheek Answer

Which Naruto Character Are You?

My Result: Kakashi Hatake

We bet you're always getting hit up for dating advice, homework help, or even ninjitsu training sessions! Whatever your specialty, people tend to look up to you and respect your opinions. Your experiences have taught you a lot, and you often enjoy helping others with what you've learned. But sometimes when you spend too much time thinking, it's easy to get wrapped up in the little things instead of seeing the big picture.

Sure, you've got a lot of stuff figured out, but that's no reason to take yourself too seriously. The most important thing is to do what makes you happy and help the people you care about. Just don't forget to relax and enjoy yourself now and again and you'll come out on top!

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=narutoogt&c=50652

Shamrock and Roll

One thing that has definitely changed for me when it comes to road races is my desire to warm-up before the race.

I got to the race about 40 minutes before it started, quickly registered and went out and ran about a mile and an half. After that I went straight to the starting line, did my strides and picked the straightest course I could through the start by doing about 20 stride-outs. The start is not as all straight- the street kind of winds it way up the road, but you can run a perfectly straight line if you want.

Surprisingly, people didn't really want to stand right on the line. So I was pretty amazed that as we went to turn the first corner I was in about 30th place and some clown in black cut me off at the corner like it was a 1500 indoor track meet. As there was ice at the corner, I let the man in black cut right across me, something I usually wouldn't do. Then it was into the canyon of everlasting night there at the turn and we were running uphill into the wind.

I looked at all the people in front of me and forced myself to stick with my plan. I mean, it was disheartening- I have rarely run a race this size (less than a thousand people) and been so far back place-wise so early (later yes, this early no). And it didn't exactly look like the usual crowd of kids, high school students, and the terminally insane. But I started up the hill- and noticed what looked like a guy in a red-white and blue jacket running on the sidewalk to our right. The running form looked familiar but all I could think as I started slowly moving up was 'Why is some guy in a jacket running as fast as me ?'

That guy was Chris Schulten, who was out for a training run and intersected the race by accident. I won't say that he dropped me on the hill, but it was close to it. I continued moving up and even passed Michael Dolan (who would pass me back after 2 miles). I took the turn and settled in and wouldn't really change places much except to fall behind Michael on the downhill.

The race is really a hard race, because it's a real dash up the hills for the first half of the run. At least this time, none of the motorcycle cops tried to run me over...

I thought I ran the downhill well, and pushed hard to the finish. Not much really happened on the back half of the race- I ran as hard as I could, held my position, and banged out an 18:15, after I which I downed two Guinness and did my warm-down with Charlie Hornak. I beat my time from two years ago by 15 seconds and for the second time this year felt like I ran a good race, which, since I raced twice, I'll take.

But I still went out in the afternoon and ran for 75 minutes because Sunday is my long run day and I'm training for an Ironman.

Cats

We'll miss you, Worfette.

Snow ?

I found myself driving through a snow squall up north of where I live on the way home around 9:30 tonight. There's something wrong with the weather and our climate when I see more snow in late February than the whole rest of the winter put together.

We took our son sledding for the first and second times ever Friday and Sunday. As a kid, sledding was what you did in the winter. We had the best hill in the whole neighbourhood and all the kids came over to my house- whether I was out there or not. This was the 1970s, when of course things like liability where not an issue.

We got some good sledding in and it was great to see Ian was totally psyched and didn't want to leave either day. But I have to wonder at how little sledding there is in CT. The kids on the hill didn't seem to have the basics down- that you have to groom the course to keep the run from wearing down to the dirt, that headfirst is the fastest way down, that you have to keep the line moving, and most of all, never turn your back to the run unless you want someone to cut you down at the ankles.

Still, it's too bad that the days of snow in winter in southern CT seem to be gone for good...

Ironman Replay

A few hours after running the Sweetheart, I found myself on my bike in the basement, spinning out an Aero Base Builder. After all, Saturdays are for the bike, not running races, so there was no question I should do the spin after resting and recovering from the race.

I have an Apple TV with a number of Spinervals set up on it, and that and its monitor sit on top of an old TV. So when I went downstairs the ironman was on, however, I didn't turn it on right away. There was the fact I'd already seen it once. There was also the fact that, well, I have a little bit of a sore spot there.

It's an hard thing to get by. I'm really fortunate to train with, know, and even be coached by people who not only have been in the big show, but conquered it nicely. As someone who never thought about qualifying, to have qualified and then not gone is- it makes it a little difficult to watch this ninety minute celebration of other people at Kona. Which is incredibly selfish. So after refusing to turn it on during the first five minutes of my spin, I did flip the TV on.

Of course, I was glad I did. It's good to get past your own selfish hangups. There are the obligatory reminders about how good you really have it. There was the kid with the scar running the length of his chest, the blind man, the guy with zero legs.

But what really affected me was Rutger Beke. My own race at IM Arizona was brought back to me in force. I was embarrassed. I was shocked with myself, but mostly, I was just disappointed. And then I watched this man, a true professional, an accomplished athlete, the sort of guy who is looking at breaking not just 11 hours, or 10, but who is a top ten finisher, and multiple Kona finisher. And there he was, honouring the race, walking the marathon not because he wanted a finisher's medal, not because he planned to walk the marathon, but because he could no longer run.

That was something. That is something I'll take into races with me, a reminder about determination, about looking inside yourself to find something, even when nothing is left...

A Good Race, but Five Seconds ???

I really went into yesterday's race with a feeling that there would not be much I could do. I didn't say anything to Margit as we'd be racing as a team, but when I haven't raced in two months, I usually don't do anything worth writing about.

It was cold and windy, not quite bitter but certainly bordering on too cold for the racing shoes I was wearing- bright orange Mizunos that stick out and draw comments. I went off on my own and warmed up, running almost two miles and feeling like I was sucking wind on a comparatively small hill. This was not the 2 hour plus bike ride which has become my Saturday staple.

The race thankfully started close to on time and I very quickly found myself set in with a group of four runners, Ryan Pancoast (congrats, Ryan) leading the way on the first downhill mile. There's something nice about racing in February. It really was a sedate first mile. I was in the lead group, so I decided to try and step outside myself and stay with this. We went through a mile at 5:38, but that's as downhill a mile as the 4th is uphill. We climbed a bit and then broke onto a straight away and I told the two college kids with me that Ryan was just waiting for them to draw up with him. Right then, Ryan looked back as he took the turn and after the race he confirmed that was just what he was doing.

We took another hill. I fell back on the opening part of the hill but then surged past everyone but Ryan as we crested. He was only holding about 50 yards, and although I know I could never beat Ryan, I made an attempt to close the gap, but it was so small. I couldn't, and that effort probably hurt me.

I spent the next mile pulling away on downhills and getting tangled up in a mix of what had become 4 runners including myself. We hit the three mile mark and I fell back to fifth. Ryan had left us behind and Fred Willis was slowly pulling away, but we went up that long hill and fell into fifth, just biding my time. As we finally crested, I tried my best to find an extra gear and on the downhill pushed into third place. I ran hard, but after the last turn onto the main road, I slowly fell back to fifth.

The clock was at 23:49 when I first saw it and I knew it would take a titanic effort to break 24:00. It didn't happen. I ran 24:03.

As soon as Margit finished we went out and ran the course backwards with Robin Passander, cutting out the upper loop and just doing about three miles. I was thinking Margit and I had a very good chance to win. I didn't know that Ian Frankel had been randomly matched up with a 15 year old girl that finished second overall and we lost our chance to be three-time champions by 5 seconds.

5 seconds ?

A Race ?

I haven't run a race since Christopher Martins last year and haven't even really considered running one either. It's been 2 hours on the mountain bike or spinning Saturdays and 90 minutes or more of running every Sunday- I got back up to 1:45 last Sunday.

When Margit suggested running the Sweetheart Run, I was taken a little off-guard. I haven't really done any speed work running. it's been slow runs in the b range, spinning, the occasional swim. Work has been unusually busy- a series of mishaps caused by people who are supposed to be helping me with me picking up the pieces- so getting in two workouts a day has been rough sledding and often if I get one workout in, it's on the bike.

The Sweetheart course is a hard course, with a big hill and usually some good competition. I'll be interested to see how I do.

Electronic Voting Machines- Burned by a Bad Idea

I want to preference this by pointing out something obvious to anyone who knows me- I'm no luddite. I'm an early adopter of technology actually- from wireless networking to the iPhone, I'm on the front edge of this kind of stuff.

But I'm also a major privacy advocate, and I have always felt that electronic voting was at best a good idea with slipshod implementation, and at worst a dangerous undermining of democracy- yes, that sounds paranoid, but Diebold is the big player, and these gentlemen shouldn't be making cash registers for elementary school lunch programs. It's interesting that their ATMs rarely make errors, but I think that's because banks aren't not very tolerant of third-party mathematical errors in consumer transaction. Of course for me the big concern is that the underlying possibility that Diebold has a political agenda.

But this isn't a Diebold rant. This is a generalised rant. I went. I voted. Only my vote wasn't counted. That's right. I filled out my 'ballot'. I walked over to the machine. I put my ballot in while watching the total count. It was at 209 before I inserted the ballot, it stayed at 209 while the ballot was inserting. It stayed at 209 after it disappeared.

I went over and got a volunteer. Astonishingly, she took a key and opened the ballot box. That's right, opened it. One person, with no one but me watching her. She confirmed that my ballot wasn't jammed. I asked what happened next.

She took my name and phone number and told me someone would 'look into it.'

The monster that ate my vote, of course, just sat there, a big, dump, fraking box. My ballot ? Gone. And here at 11 PM,
the state has been called, my vote is still gone, and who knows if this particular machine will be audited. The sheet that my exception was written on was either the 3rd or 4th exception- it was hard to read them as they were hand written. That's between a 1.4 and 1.9 (or so) margin of reported error. Over 1% ?

Not acceptable, not at all.

iTunes and Device Control- Another Opinion

One of my big theories about the internet is that it's always hard to evaluate anything based on what's written on the internet. People who really like things seem to be slugs for the most part, while the haters out there seem to have a ton of energy.

Now don't get me wrong. I hate the record companies as much as the next guy. I'm also a pragmatist. The iTunes store would never have happened without DRM, and the DRM (FairPlay) has never caused me a problem. I've never been unable to play a song when I wanted to and where I wanted to. And I'm way outside the curve. I actually have 5 computers that get daily use- a MacBook Pro, a MacBook, a G5, a Mac Mini, and an HP PC of dubious origin.

The MacBook Pro has, for the entire time I've had it, been my primary iTunes box. It's the machine all my iPods, my iPhone, and my MacTV are linked to. It's also dead as a doorstop due to an odd series of circumstances. I wasted no time moving my portable needs to the MacBook, but with the MacBook Pro on its way to Texas to get some Applecare, I didn't want to set the MacBook up as my iTunes home. For one thing, the hard drive isn't big enough. For another, if the MacBook Pro does come back alive I don't want to have to do all that work twice.

Now, if you don't set iTunes up properly, when you sync your iDevice, it will wipe out whatever is on it and replace it with whatever you've told iTunes to autofill the device with from that computer- usually nothing.

But if you do set it properly, you can still plug in, get a charge- and transfer all the purchased items from the iTunes store that are on it to the computer, but only if you want to.

That device control- which usually gets knocked as a DRM-centric, crippling liability- actually has allowed me to keep my devices charged and full of their own music, and not have to cross-pollinate the different iTunes libraries that are divergent on my different computers.

I like it. I don't feel crippled. i just feel like I have the control that I want.

What a week !

By 9 PM Monday night I was sitting in an ambulance, with my son throwing up on me. He tripped and fell at IKEA and ended up with a mild concussion, a CAT scan, and an overnight stay at Yale-New Haven. That was a little disconcerting.

He wasn't really the same until Thursday, and as each day went by some other major or minor catastrophe seemed to creep into frame. I'd missed half a day of work on Tuesday after being off Monday. On Thursday I had my six-month dentist's appointment. Five hours later I no longer could find my MacBook Pro- it would eventually turn up, but dead as a doorstop. I was, however, the proud owner of a faxed, partially hand-written list of new students for our meal plan- that's right, hand-written.

Saturday morning I woke up (at 5 AM) to one cat dropping a load on the kitchen floor, another one vomiting all over the closet. That night we we at a party in the Bronx until 12:30 and it was 2AM by the time we hit the sack to call it a day.

But the point isn't to complain here. Some of these things are serious, others just mild inconveniences. The high points were two fold- one, watching my son return to perfectly normal behaviour- the rapidly expanding vocabulary, the curiosity, but most of all, the willingness to continue to run around exuberantly (although often in ill-advised ways). After a head injury, you worry that there is going to be some permanent deficit. As someone that has had their bell rung several times as an adult, it's a scary thing.

The other thing that went right this weekend were the workouts- the 2 hours of spinning and half an hour of running Saturday, the 90 minute run today. It's nice to be able to unplug from returning students, domestic disasters, dead computers, and focus on something simple, direct, and know that, if you're following your plan, you're accomplishing something. then of course, it's time for a shower and back at the world, but feeling refreshed.

Polar Plunge 2008

Thanks to everyone who donated. It was a nice cold day, the water was pretty damn frigid, and there was a great turn-out as always, thanks to EH, to does a great job with this event.

Only one picture, but it should give you an idea of the type of day it was.



Ian was a real trooper, downing pop'em donut holes, playing with his Pollys and blowing bubbles while Dad ran into the cold water of the sound. My feet were cold for a solid hour, but hey, at least I got a good deal on a digital camera on the way home (Comp USA is going out of business).

I have to say I cannot image who in their right mind would do a plunge without some bigger reason, like charity. Jumping in ice cold water just for the hell of it ? No thanks.

Again, thanks for the donations...

Polar Plunge Tomorrow

The Polar Plunge is tomorrow and I'll be diving into the water down in Southport for charity at some time between 8:30 and 9:00 AM (http://www.hodska.com/plunge2008.html). We're supporting a small boy with Kawasaki's disease. If you're reading this there's a good chance I already asked you to donate 5.00 to the cause. If you'd like to donate, Paypal Eric Hodska- http://www.hodska.com/paypal.html

I'll post pictures tomorrow when I get them. It's gonna be cold !

I am going to work to get my whole body under the water this year. It's always easy in your mind, but hard in reality, to actually get under that frigid, nasty water.

Wow ! Steve Jobs Delivers again...

The MacBook Air is certainly the big deal in the set of announcements today from Steve Jobs, and it looks like the notebook everyone has been wanting. However, having just gotten a new MacBook Pro at work in late 2006, I'm not up for a new laptop until 2008, so I'll save the salivating for another day.

However, it was much of what was in the rest of the keynote that really made me happy. I started pushing for direct purchase/downloads to the iPhone the day I got it, and I'd been at least able to get that feedback passed along to people inside Apple. The same can't be said about my desire to be able to do the same. The people I know at Apple certainly want to hear my thoughts on the iPhone and Podcasting (I can't wait to get that new X-serve set up), but my Apple TV ? Please.

The biggest negative about the Apple TV (which I love), has been that I couldn't buy content directly on it and have had to clog up my MacBook Pro hard drive with TV shows and so on. And it's always struck me as a bit bizarre that I can watch movie trailers on the Apple TV, but not buy movies to watch. Well, in two weeks, that all changes. I'm not sure how many movies I'll really buy or rent. I've bought 30 songs on my iPhone so far, which is a few dollars a month, nothing big. But as I find myself spinning on my bike 4 days a week in the basement, a little purchasing power right on my Apple TV- sweet.

I'm also looking forward to getting my time capsule next month. Now I know Apple and January product announcements. when they say February as a ship date they do not mean February 1st. Fortunately, there's only 27 other days in the month- oops, 28 days. I have several fairly large external hard drives. I also have a small son, and for that reason I haven't bothered implementing Time Machine- I can barely negotiate with him to keep my MacBook Pro plugged in at night as he thinks the mag-safe power cord is a fire hose...

Anyway, I'm psyched, and to me, the biggest innovation won't cost me a penny... I was hoping for my iPhone apps, but hey, I can wait.

Keynote Coming at Noon

Could be a big product announcement day...

Sunday Run, Trail Run

I'm in that period of my training where the Sunday workout is a 90 minute run.

Well, I have to be honest, any Sunday I don't race is usually a 90 minute run (sometimes longer or shorter, but I haven't done 2 hours since late October or less than 75 minutes that I can remember). But this time of year that run is especially ingrained.

I usually run alone, although occasionally I'll get together with one of my Force 5 teammates to run. Today, one of the team, Jay, invited us over to run the trails in Guilford and with an offer to watch Ian from his wife, that gave Margit and I a rare chance to get our workouts in together, and actually run together as well.

We had a really heavy frost down by the shore last night, so once we got into the woods it was an interesting run, because there was standing water in some places, safe ice in others and a few places where it was slick. The sun was out and the sky was bright blue so it was a beautiful day to be in the woods.

I let Jay, as the host, pick the route and follow the trail and just kind of hung back a little and enjoyed the run. It's good to go out with a group sometimes and let the group sort of lead the way. Otherwise I end up out in front, not because I'm faster but because I have a tendency to want to lead the run. That's why it's also good to run with EH sometimes, where my goal is to survive.

It was a good time. We were able to talk as a group, caught some great views, bushwacked just a little and got in just enough technical trail running to make it a nice change of pace. Steve even helped me not spend an extra half hour tracking down my Oakleys.

If you always run alone, find a local group, and even if it's once or twice a month, get out with someone besides yourself, unplug the ipod and have a good time. Groups like Force 5 and Sound Runner here in Branford do several runs most weeks...

The Apple Store is Offline !

The charming back soon sign is up. Let's find out what's going to be on offer... should be new MacPros and Xserves.

The Primaries- Like the Electoral College All Over Again ?

Well, it has always threatened to be a political blog, hasn't it ?

When I was a little kid, I actually thought the Electoral College was a good idea, and also oh so American. Yes, a little quirky. That's a good thing right ? Quirky. Unique. I actually thought it meant that any state could grow up to be important to the electoral process. Hawaii's 4 votes ? Could decide the election, right ? The swing state.

Of course, I was eight. I also, rather embarrassing using my Light Brite to spell out 'Yeah, Nixon' back in 1973.

By the time I'd hit high school I came to understand how the electoral college really worked. Little states with a few electoral votes ? Who needs you, Vermont ? I think that Dewey was the last president to make a campaign visit there which lasted more than about two hours, and that was because his train had broken down in Poultney during a blizzard. Of course, I lived in New York State at the time, which back then was the holder of 36 glorious electoral votes- 5 more than today- damn you, US Census ! so it wasn't such a big deal that we were 12 Vermonts.

It was also obvious by the time I'd hit my late teens that the only thing the electoral college was good for was sending a candidate who lost the popular vote to the White House. And wow, would that come back to affect the nation in spades.

I have to admit to feeling the same way about our crazy primary system, right up until the other day. Over the last year I've listened to a lot of complaining from states that felt disenfranchised by our primary system about how unfair it was and I'm really embarrassed to say that I had the same reaction to it I had as a young child to the electoral college. So what ? It's cute. Let Iowa and New Hampshire have their little moment in the sun.

The idea of dividing the nation into four geographic regions and letting each one take turns going first ? Sounds OK, but do we really need to change the primary system ? Can't anyone win by winning enough big states ?

Well, there's two problems with this thinking. One is that letting Iowa and New Hampshire go first allows two of the most non-representative states in the Union speak first and speak disproportionally loudly and second, because the press spends so much time talking about who can and can't win the election and so little time actually talking about the candidates that one single caucus (and let's not even talk about how skewed and unfair the entire caucus process in Iowa is) can dictate not what has happened, but who people should vote for. People want to vote for a winner after all, and if the press is going to paint one candidate or another as having unstoppable moment after winning one tiny non-representative caucus where the total number of votes are literally in the thousands...

Then again, the press will turn (a la Howard Dean), so maybe a few early wins can be the worst thing that happens to you. Either way, having early results in small states actually determine who stays and who leaves the process is just not the right way to get the best candidates. Listening to candidates contort their messages to win votes in Iowa ? Disturbing.

Who wins Iowa, or in fact who wins Iowa and New Hampshire, should mean about as much as two states' 11 electoral votes mean in the general election. Since the press isn't likely to stop the hyperbolic coverage of who can win long enough to really present the candidates in a thoughtful and informative way, it's time- long past time- to scrap the crazy primary system we have and go to a format which makes all the states equally important, that shortens the primary season so that donors are giving less to primary fights and more to the general election campaigns, and that quite frankly, reduces the cynicism the current system generates.

New Year

Funny how a year that was generally (and unfortunately) warm and dry was ushered out a new year ushered in under the sort of cold and wet conditions that made me glad that my workout was a 60-75 minute run and not the ride my coach was on. I'd been out on the mountain bike several times since Christmas, thanks to the first real pair of booties I've ever had (up until last week I was wearing nothing more than sneakers and heavy socks).

I'm looking forward to this year- I always wanted to do 2 IMs and do Lake Placid again with Margit and this year I'll doing both (I hope).

Here's wishing that everyone finds at least some of what they hope for in 2008 and whether I see you at the races or not, I hope you enjoy yourself, whatever you're doing.

In Review- The Year that Almost Was

Well, I know it's New Year's Eve because I'm once again reviewing the wreckage of my Fantasy Football team as we head to the playoffs and the inevitability someone else will win the league I've run for 13 years.

I decided to take on some new challenges in 2007. Of course, the unspoken challenge is continuing to be an older first-time dad, something that is not always the easiest thing. It's ironic in a way, because my own adoptive parents entered the game late- my dad was 48 and my mom 46 when I was born, even older than I was. Hopefully, I'll see more than 10 of Ian's birthdays- number 3 is hard around the bend less than a month after Christmas. Potty training is coming too.

The year started off slowly, with graduate courses and slow, easy training. There was the misery of the diet and the misery of the Plunge on the diet.

With no race on Margit's calendar and Ironman Arizona the first on mine, we had much more important issues on our mind. Like where Margit was going to be working and where Ian was going to be in day care. These big ticket items worked out with a lot less difficulty than we at first thought they might as Margit hit on a temp job at Pfizer and I took over full-time day care transportation duties around January 31st. Around the same time, we came to the difficult conclusion Margit's mom would have to go into a nursing home...

My grades were good, really good, and so was my training. I was ready for Arizona, but at the same time, Lake Placid was weighing on me and I put a lot of pressure on myself. I have to be honest that I never really felt that I deserved the result I got in Lake Placid. I felt like I'd been in the right place at the right time and not really earned what had come the way I might have had to at a race with a better field. At the same time, having passed on Hawaii left me feeling like I had to try and get a spot again. That's not the best way for me to go into a race and one simple mental error- not taking sunscreen before the bike, really impacted my overall performance. It became my worst race, and yet out of, also a learning experience. I both broke and then, in the end, didn't break. Running the last five miles of a race I'd lost the will to continue in was, well something.

And hey, the beer was good.

Oh yeah, and Peter Daly beat me and I posted another second at Brian's two weeks before Arizona.

On a serious note, there was Dave Parcells passing away in Florida and that was- that was a blow for everyone. I can't really express anything other people with more right and eloquence haven't already said. Dave was a great guy. He left a hole.

I didn't take much time off- I'd signed up for Eagleman. I couldn't find time for courses with the afternoon pickup at day care, so there was parenting, day care, work, and training. Margit's mom's situation finally started to settle out, our cat population jumped to six, and of course, by May the lawn had gotten away from us.

I had to drop out of a duathlon in June just a week before Eagleman with a strained calf. That's the first DNF due to injury I'd ever had and so close to an half-IM... Ice solved the problem. I went to Eagleman, had a great swim AND overcame my math meltdown that had me thinking I'd had a miserable swim, survived the drafting on the bike, and posted a pretty good time for being hurt. I even learned to appreciate Avril Lavinge in the porta-potty line, and snapped a great picture of Ian reading a certain coach's catalog that he got a good laugh out of.

I think it was a good summer, although it's always hard to remember the best of the warm lazy summer days when it's 30 degrees. There was plenty of great weather- and oh yeah, an iPhone.

The big event of the summer for me was the Swim Across the Sound. Never in my life have I dreaded anything more (well, except that time I was waiting for Margit to bail me out on her birthday). The thought of being out in a boat, jumping off that boat into 80-100 feet of water. I'd rather be in a pressure suit orbiting the planet. But it worked out great. I wasn't the boat anchor you'd think I was going to be. The harbour made me horribly sick. I was sneezing up man-sized phlegm an hour after I climbed up on the dock. I couldn't breath well enough to sleep for about 48 hours.

John Brennan- thanks again for organizing that. Awesome job.

Margit went from a contract job to full-time at Pfizer. That was a relief but not a perfect solution- but hey, they do have their own triathlon (employees only). Ian switched day care- tough moments there. He still talks about his 'old school'.

While preparing for the Extrememan half-ironman I found myself helping to set up the Madison Triathlon. Steve Surprise and I sat on the 'race committee', we showed up a day early and helped set up transition- I even gave the race day instructions to the athletes and was a bike course marshall.

Then came my third big race of the year, and probably my only chance at winning a triathlon. I didn't get it done, instead coming third. Enough said.

I took that to heart and went on kind of a tear. I placed in the top ten at a half-marathon the next week. Another two weeks and I jumped into a marathon, cracked the three hour mark, slept it off and won a 5k the next day. Then it was Reunion weekend at Rochester and a second place at a dirt duathlon the following Saturday in one of Rochester's kick-ass parks.

My college reunion was a great time and a real reminder of how much I enjoyed the extended stay I had at UR. The only low moment was Richard Lewis at Curb Your Enthusiasm. Man, he just couldn't get it done.

Somewhere amid the races Margit's BMW crashed into a deer and was totalled. Car shopping sure is fun, isn't it ? A throw away call I made to the Acura dealership I bought my car at about a TL I saw on my iPhone while we were at CarMax led to Margit, well, driving a TL. Also, I lost a cat. Jonah, you were a great friend, the one cat I could count on to Bite the Hand That Feeds.

Of course, I over-raced getting ready for Christopher Martin's and put up a miserable race despite running my fastest 5k in years.

But the big story to end the year with was seeing my son have the first Christmas where he understood what was going on. From magic reindeer food and cookies and milk left out on Christmas Eve and sharing the classics- Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, to opening gifts, he was a great joy. We have some greed issues to work out, and I swear this is the last year I stay up until 1 AM Christmas Eve building a toy, but it was a great day.

Now, 2008- my coach says let's have a great year. I have two IMs on the docket, my family is healthy, I have a roof over my head- so I think that's a great idea.

My iPhone is calling

I thought that I'd test out blogging directly from my iphone today.

Ever see a bicycle frame thrown 30 feet up in a tree ? The bent
Cannondale frame toss Sunday night at Amity Bike ended just that way- on the first toss of the night...

Sent from my iPhone

Winter Weather Running

Not that I know anything about anything, but I certainly have plenty of experience running in the snow and slop. I ran 5 days a week in high school, regardless of the weather. Living in upstate New York, that meant fairly frequent runs in snow, sometimes deep snow. Of course, my focus is a lot different these days. But one thing hasn't changed- a long run in the wintery mix requires a slightly different approach. I think it's a great workout, but I also think it's a certain type of workout and one that has to be approached a little differently.

You don't really get that many opportunities to do a long run in the snow when you're down here in CT, especially along the shore, and I think it's just a great opportunity to have a really good time and enjoy yourself. You do a lot of long runs and most of them probably aren't all that memorable, but a snowy run or a run in a storm- you'll remember that a lot longer because it is special.

However, if you're looking for a red zone workout (there's nothing wrong with that, maybe you're training for a late January/February marathon), stop reading this, find the nearest treadmill, crank it up to your 20K pace and elevate it to 4-5% and have at it.

Here's my tips for having a great, enjoyable long run in the snow, sleet and wind.

1) Dress just warm enough and nothing more. It's cold, it's wet, you want to get bundled up. But it's easy to overdo it and you could find yourself sweating up a storm and melting down. Or worse, you might be tempted to remove that outer layer, which usually cools all that sweat and then your core body temperature can crash. It's ok to be a little cold the first 5-10 minutes. Running is one of the best ways to elevate your core body temperature and once you do that, you'll be fine.

2) Leave the beat-up old running shoes at home. If a pair of running shoes aren't good to run in on a normal day, they aren't good enough to run in the slop either. If you're a triathlete you probably have at least 2K invested in your bike and associated gear- you can swing 80.00 for running shoes if the pair you wear really gets ruined (and they won't). Give the old shoes to one of those drives that collects used shoes.

3) Turn down the volume on the ipod- just a little. When the roads are bad, you have to be able to hear the traffic, especially snow plows. The last thing you want to do is go around a corner and find yourself face to face with a plow blade

4) If you (micro) manage your music on the iPod, take it down a notch. Add some festive holiday jingles. Snow Patrol and Stars of Track and Field's The Antarctica EP are mandatory. Nine Inch Nails and Evanescence is probably a little too extreme.

5) The big thing- take the heart beat down a good 10 beats. Your leg muscles are going to be working extra-hard pushing off the uneven, sliding 'ground'. Run at your normal heart rate and you'll be beating up your legs, which shouldn't be the point. Keep it moderate.

Pick a route you don't usually run, or run one of your routes backwards. That way you won't be watching your watch and worrying about how far behind your usual pace you are. Running for 90 minutes ? Pick an eighty or even a seventy-five minute loop- you can always add on if you're ahead towards the end.

6) Wear glasses. You'll probably be headed out into a pretty gray day, and it may seem like the right idea to ditch sunglasses that will only dim things down more or fog up. But driving snow, sleet, or ice can make it impossible to keep your eyes open, much less on the road.

The bottom line is that a snow run should be fun. A good workout yes, but you might be better off leaving the red zone run for another day. Take time to enjoy the scenery and see the world a way you rarely do.

Christopher Martins 5k Road Race

I waited a few days before posting anything about this race.

Good news: 17:46 is my fastest 5K in years, probably three years.
Bad News: I got beat by several people who shouldn't beat me and finished 26th.

I really wanted to run well at this race. And I did. So some other people ran better. Oh well, time to suck it up, get in some strength training, and look at the all the racing I've gotten in in the last two months and say hey, not bad.

Enough said.

Hitting the Wall While Training

Thought I'd share this.

When I get 'off workouts', I do some weird stuff, especially during lunch workouts at the gym, where I admit to getting bored on the treadmill or the aerobics bike.

Today, I was doing sets of 10 minute time trials on the bike, with 5 2 minute intervals of increasing tension, followed by hopping on the treadmill, doing a minute easy and then four 1 minute intervals of increasing speed and elevation. I do a lot mixed workouts like this and one of the things I really concentrate on is moving quickly (read, running) from the bike room, which is enclosed in glass, and the treadmills. I've been doing this for a year and never run anyone over or been a hazard.

I also have a real pet peeve about the fans being on in the bike room. No one else is ever in the room when I am there for more than a few minutes and it's usually empty at lunch. Aside from the waste issue, I started using those bikes when I was training for Arizona and wanted to get a good sweat on. I much prefer sweating anyway. There are no electric fans at the big races...

I had turned the fans off in the room before starting but someone came in during the five minutes I was on treadmill and turned one back on. I did my second bike interval and it was bugging the hell out me the whole time. When the interval was over instead of just dashing out the door (I ride the bike closest to the door), I ran into the back of the room, pulled the cord out, and then headed for the door. There was another member walking across the opening to the door (double doors) so I shifted over to my right to avoid him, planning to pass through the right-hand door.

And smashed into floor to ceiling plate glass- I was one 'panel' too far to the right. I totally de-cleated myself- but I did get right back up. The guy was pretty shaken up, but I just grunted that I was okay, hopped on the treadmill and pulled my visor down so the blood oozing out of my head wouldn't drip...

Needless to say, this should have been at least mildly embarrassing.

Jingle Bell 5k

Some races seem to have a personality. It's all just the random chance of course, what type of weather- and in fact to some extent what week- races get and fall in.

But as I was running the course backwards with Charlie Hornak afterwards, we agreed that could not remember a year the race hadn't be contested in bitter cold, windy conditions. No freak 50-60 degree days (and that weather had been with us as recently as 10 days ago).

The 2007 version of the race was no exception. I parked at about 9:05, bundled in heavy running tights and my Force 5 jacket as I ran to get my number and go to the bathroom. Number- no problem. Bathroom- well I can understand why this church doesn't want bathrooms designed to be used a few times a day to get stank-bombed by about a 100 guys, most of whom probably fueled up on some combination of pasta and cheese the night before (do people still carbo-load ?). Nevertheless when it's 30 and you have to plant your backside on the plastic porta-potty seat, well, that's not how to warm up.

I ran back to the car, convinced myself I was going to run in my bike shorts and singlet (with arm-warmers, of course), and the cannon to starts the race goes off. Frak ! And it's 9:15- wtf ? Guess they were testing it. I convinced myself there was no way I could have missed the beginning of the race given the number of other people in the parking lot, then searched for some evanescence, and started warming up, mostly just doing sprints and lead-out.

The start of this race is always brutal. Uphill, dead into the wind, and since the race draws some speedsters, it's at a pace that by half a mile you are questioning why you're running a 5k and sure that the legion of runners behind you are about to overtake you. Then the wind picks up and you wonder if you'll ever get to the turn. Which you do. I was back and forth at this point with a teenage kind wearing the sort of warm-up suit that I thought only people on the Sopranos still wore. We hit the turn and tried to tell myself to be patient. But not too patient. I also felt kind of like this was my first cold weather race- only it wasn't- Cow Chip was.

We wound our way through the neighbourhood and I was perplexed by some of the people around me, who would be beat me up one hill and down the next, and then would beat them up and down the following set. I was trying to take it easy on the uphill and save something for the last mile. Somewhere past a mile they were handing out water. I took one and dumped it down my back, just because.

At the top of the last hill before you turn back onto the main road the race finishes on, which is about two miles, there's a guy that stands there and always says 'It's downhill the rest of the way.' This guy is dead wrong. The course has a series of uphill rolls, and then the last .3 or .4 miles is downhill. I was behind two high school kids at this point and closed on them. At 2.5 I passed them and tried to surge away, but I didn't have that kind of wheels and they separated from me- and beat me.

I still managed a 3rd in my age group, but it wasn't quite as fast as I would have liked.

Happy 40th Charlie !

Trumbull Cow Chip 6K

I had day to rest after the Turkey Day races. I used it to ride for about 90 minutes with Steve Surprise. We did the Wednesday night loop, since we're long past the time of year we can actually do the loop on Wednesday night. It was a little cold, but nothing ridiculous.

It was definitely colder this morning. When I left the house, it was still in the 30s, and I was still looking at rushing to get there within half an hour of the start. But I was pre-registered and not worried. This is a lower key type of race, although plenty of talent was there for this year's version. I got my number so quickly that I ended up standing around inside. I didn't want to start my warm-up more than about 15 minutes before the race, given that I was in a singlet and arm-warmers, with no gloves. I've been holding back on racing in gloves for no good reason.

I felt pretty good after the warm up in that I was warm, but not so good in that I was pretty gassed. After the ride yesterday we'd spent the rest of the day shopping and that's always a long day. I didn't feel that I had anything left, and with teammates like Ryan Pancoast, Rodney Furr, and Bart Wasiolek there, I knew I was only running for pride (and pain).

We headed out and like all the races this time of year, the opening lane was clogged solid with kids. High school and maybe even younger, including some crazy girl who must have been 12-13 and spent the first half-mile in front of me. Normally I don't have any issue with this youthful exuberance, but after I almost ended up wrapped around a garbage can, I lost my good cheer, bore down, and started making my way up through the chaff.

It was beautiful conditions for such a cold day and as we hit the trail, I was feeling pretty good. There were a couple people in front of my I felt I should be able to work my way past and I tried to push past, while also protecting my backside- someone was trying to get by and at first I was going to move over but then I reminded myself that it was cross-country and there's no reason to move over for anyone.

I broke out of the trail and moved up past one runner in Milford Road Runners gear and a Shoreline Shark. Then there was, quite frankly, a lot of hard running in open space, with the guys in front of me (five of them) out of reach. Well, one was almost in reach, but not quite. I also had one guys close enough behind that I worked hard, but I was still in space, where I spend too much race time. At about three miles Marty went by on his bike and asked me if I'd ran two races Thursday. I said yes and went back to running.

Although the guy behind me closed to within three seconds, I didn't have to sprint at the end, and frankly, I didn't want to.

This is a fun race. I hung out afterwards with Charlie Hornak while we waited for Marty's unique awards and as usual, Marty makes the race more than what it otherwise would be- a good time, fun, and most of all unique.

The Double- Turkey-style

Every since I started running in my mid-thirties, I've done my share of crazy things, but none more psychotic than the double- two races in one day (or at least twice in one weekend). This year I'd pretty much proven I'd broken away from that way of doing things. I passed up numerous small races getting ready for big races, eschewed races for 90 minute runs and so on. But starting with the marathon-5k weekend, there's been a big racing uptick.

I ran the 8k cross country race last Saturday, then went out Sunday and ran 90 minutes. I took it easy during the week, spinning for 45 minutes and swimming 40 25s in the pool Monday, doing a 10-10-10-10 treadmill/spin Tuesday (which turned out to be good practice running off the bike), and an hour hard on the mountain bike yesterday.

I'd pre-registered for both races but wasn't sure what I'd be doing. Margit had a masters swimming at 6AM and the chance she'd be back for me to do the 5k in Branford wasn't good. However, I pre-registered for both races to avoid crazy last-minute running around, just in case the double came to fruition. Talk about a good idea. Margit got home at 8:10 and by the time I headed out the door it was 8:20. i headed out on the mountain bike- didn't want to get trapped parking- and promptly went the wrong way. After about a minute, I realised my mistake, turned around and booked up the road the other way, my heart rate over 150 (I've been wearing the monitor when I run road races, just to get an idea what I'm doing).

I got there at 8:29, threw the bike down on the side out of the path of the start, and lined-up. the race started about five minutes later. As I get older, and road racing is less central to my racing portfolio, the 5K gets harder and harder. It requires a type of training I don't do, I can't run times I am happy with, and it hurts- a lot, sometimes.

But how could I pass up a 5K that is run on roads near my home, the majority of the roads ones I am on for part of every 90 minute run ?

We headed out from the school going right and there were a lot of high school kids ahead of me. Then JT was ahead of me and JT, being a great runner, well, I knew if I could hang on his heels I might have a good race. The first mile was fast, pretty flat (an uphill, but only noticeable if you know the road). I finally passed JT, and as I was determined to go all out, I want to hold him 2-3 seconds behind me. I picked my way past some high school kids and turned hard at the cone and started to push a little. It's tough when you're on road you can hit 25 mph on your bike on to be running just under 6 minute miles.

I would have guessed that I was in 9-10th place, but I came in 5th, with Margit and Ian cheering me on at the last corner and JT 2-3 seconds behind me. I walked out of the chute, grabbed my bike, checked with Margit. I saw Michael D. finish and immediately was on my way home on the mountain bike. It was 9 am and the Madison race was at 10.

I got home, switched kit, grabbed some clif shot blocks and then Margit came home. I waited as she changed and helped Ian build some railroad tracks, then we were on our way again.

It was 9:35 when we got to Madison and parked. I wasn't worried. I had my chip and my number, but we had to pack Ian in the jogger and register Margit. I ran ahead and filed out her entry and then we got her in the bathroom line. While I was waiting for her I ran into Jen Talon, who watched Ian and all I can say is THANKS ! Brian had told me she'd watch Ian and I'd let Margit know but she'd been a little hesitant as Jen already has two kids. I ran off to get Margit's chip, which she missed when she registered- chaos !

I worked my way to the start and settled in with a bunch of fast guys I knew would beat me. It was hard not to think about how I'd ran a 5k just over an hour ago. Then the race started and the first two things that came to me were- Charlie Hornak passed me and I figured I was in for a 30:30 run and he'd beat me, and I had no fraking clue how the course ran as we headed out towards the park entrance.

I decided to go with the patient style of running and after about a mile point five Charlie started coming back. I passed him then I started passing a bunch of high school kids. We wrapped around back to the start, headed out towards Meigs Point and I was still passing and battling with people. I schooled myself to not push before the turn-around and as we started around it I was 17th. I hit the place where the 4 mile clock was at 23:38 and thought I had a shot at breaking 30. Since I had not broken 18 at the 5K...

I think the 4 mile mark was short. I worked hard to hold on as best I could and still dropped three spots and came 20th, with three more high school kids within 6 seconds. I grabbed Ian right after the race, got a beer from Bill from the Jaycees, and hung out while Margit ran an awesome 36:24. Brian and Jen are just great folks and hanging out with them and Charlie made the race a nice social event as well, and there was plenty of beer !

What did I learn ? I'm not so young anymore, but I am still crazy !

Madd Dash 5 Miler

Another out of order race blog.

It's hard to pass up a Sunday morning race that is contested on some of the same roads you run on during the week. Working at UNH, I frequently (almost every run) at least touch the course and on the days when I run through the park I do a decent portion of the race, although fortunately the race does not pass through where I was arrested while running (the longest 90 minute workout I'll ever have !)

The race is a good one. It seems like the course should be fast, but it always seems to be one of the first colder days and the wind can be a bear, which it was.

I always know the crowd that shows up is going to include some fast runners like Bryce Lindamood (good luck with your first child !) and some high school kids (I got beat by five teenagers this year). Add Marty paying a woman from NYC to come up on the train and run 28:16 and I expected after a two-week layoff to get buried. But it's a good course, I have friends that run it ever year like Charlie Hornak and I hadn't raced in three weeks, so I thought it was a good opportunity to get in a warm-up for the 8k (see previous post).

I wasn't expecting to break thirty minutes and I had decided to go out slow and build into it. That strategy has been working for me lately so I stuck with it and ran the first mile over 5:40. Pretty soon Barks went by me, then the woman, then Frank Tiroletto, who usually gets the best of me. There were also a lot of teens in front of me, so after a mile I started to work a little harder. Frank was clearly having trouble breathing and I didn't let that stop me from passing him again. He mentioned how the woman- Lisa Stublic had blown by him like he was standing still. She'd done the same to me.

I ran hard until mile 4 and passed a few people that started to fade. Then I passed the guy in 11th and started back around into the park, thinking I was set. Although I had a good race, he ran me down again and just nicked me at the finish line by about a second. I'd have been pissed, but I thought I was going to throw up so I knew I'd given it everything. I handed over my number and went to look for Margit and Ian, but I'd broken thirty and suddenly I felt ready to race again after two weeks off...

8K Cross Country Championship, West Hartford

It was a pretty tight assignment. Get in the car at 8:50 am, drive to West Hartford, run a cross country 8K at 10 am, hop back in the car and be home at noon.

A drive like that will get you ready for a race, that's for sure. I had half an hour to sign up, warm up, and get on the line- literally.



The race is not an easy one. It's a chicklet-busting uphill start to the race, followed by plenty of trail running, but it's also overall a fast first two miles. Given that the last three miles are hard miles, it's best not to go out too hard early. I was right behind Oscar Barretto starting up the hill and I was thinking, this isn't right (I hardly belong on the same course with Oscar), but we settled in pretty quickly and I soon found myself running in 13th place, right behind two teammates- Rob Barksdale and Brian Talon. We moved up two spots and then started up the hill at two miles and that was when the fun began.

It's more trail running at that point, and some real uphill. I let Brian and Rob separate because I know from having run the course 5 times that if you push early, you die late, and they are faster than I am. They quickly took out the two runners closest to me. I passed one but then settled in and began reeling them in more slowly . At three miles, they were well ahead of me and I was just passing another runner. We rocketed down one hill, took a set of turns and started heading up in the other direction. The guys in front of me were taller, younger- guys that could no doubt take me out on the road, but as I'd been gaining on them on the downhill, I was really looking forward to the uphill.

I had two guys in front of me I thought I had a chance against. I passed one at about 3.7 and he fought to hold me off and take his position back, so I really fought the urge to open it up and just keep moving forward. I was hoping to catch the last guy between me and my teammates before four miles, where there is a steep, dangerous downhill.

It didn't happen. We wound through the back of the course and I wasn't getting any closer to him. I wanted to get that last place but he wasn't coming back. We broke out of the woods, onto the trail by the road, and still I was two seconds back. then we got on the road, and in the final two hundred meters, I did pass him and put three seconds on him. I coughed a bit in the chute and Will asked me to let him know if I was going to puke so he could get the shot.

Oscar won the race, Brian, Rob and I came 5-6-7, and Charlie Hornak broke into the top 14 to give Hitek the win.

Another great race, a great course, and just a blast to run what's really a super-fast trail race...

Strides 5k- Day after Hartford Marathon

I don't usually go out of order, but hey, it's my blog/private record of my races and training.

I really wasn't expecting to run a 5K the day after the marathon. Margit was running the Strides 10K for the Pfizer team, and there aren't too many opportunities for us to run back to back races. The 10K was at 10AM, with the 5K at 11:30. I needed the extra recovery time, every minute of it. I had decided after the soreness in my left thigh, my calves, and both hamstrings was simply too much, that even a slow jog was going to be too much and that I should just come home and spin (or take the day off). But Margit gave me an extra little push in the morning, so I threw my Hodska kit on under my race hangout clothes and we piled in the car and headed out to the eastern end of the Nutmeg State.

I should note right up front that all the talent- the Mohegan Striders- ran the 10K. No one would have even noticed me if I ran that race, stumbling in 5 minutes or more after the race winner. Ian and I stood about a quarter mile from the finish- he banging his cowbell and cheering 'go team pfizer' as the 10K unfolded. Margit ran a good time, finished second in her age group, and about twenty minutes before the race, I started warming up.

It did not go well. Aerobically, I was fine, ready to go. But my legs were so sore than after half a mile warmup, the beginning of which was unbearable, that I was pretty sure I was not going to race. It seemed absurd to try.

I did some strides. These felt a lot better than the steady running. I pulled out my Cliff Blocks, ate them, though about it. I'd paid my 15.00 and gotten my t-shirt. I decided, why not ? It's just, unfortunately, the way I'm wired. I can make smart decisions in cases like this, but I rarely do. The night my nose was broken playing dek hockey, I went out, unable to play goalie, but came back in the second half playing center. That just makes me, well, stupid, and not really the good kind of stupid.

I got on the line, took off the headphones, and waited for the two commands. I decided that if I couldn't be smart, I could at least run smart. I didn't go out all out. I worked my through the crowds, but I hung back until I could judge the field and figure out what if anything I could do to control the race. We took a quick left and then went up a fairly reasonable hill. We hooked a right at the top of the hill and a woman master I recognise started to pass me. That was it. I might be hurting, I might be trying to stay patient, but I wasn't about to get beaten by any female masters who don't run for Hitek. I opened up my stride and to be honest, it started to not hurt as the muscles warmed up.

We headed out of the park, hooked another left and there were four people in front of me. I picked them off causually, not speeding up, just doing my job. Then it was there- I was chasing the police car, everyone behind me, stamping out a nice pace. I just ran, hard, hard as I could. The police car finally came to a turn-around in a gigantic circular driveway. I wasn't even sure I should be following him, because he turned strangely in the driveway, looking almost like he was parking. As I passed the bulk of the field going the other way, I heard 'Nice marathon yesterday'.

I never looked back and while it got a little tough in that last mile, I just kept striding out until I broke the tap.

Really, this race is great family event, with two road races, a fitness walk/kids event (all at different times), food sponsored by Outback Stake House (they did have caesar salad), long-sleeve t-shirts. I really recommend this race as a nice way to combine racing and family hang-out time.

Black Diamond Duathlon- Victor, NY

I'm going out of order here- it's been a long long week. First, I had to have one of my cats put to sleep on Tuesday. Then one Wednesday I did two workouts including a Spinervals, which made my coach think I was nuts. Thursday I dropped my son off at daycare and drove to Rochester. The luckier of my two friends landed an hour late, which was the only reason I made it in time to do the airport pick-up. The less lucky one spent the night in O'Hare airport.

Saturday morning came threatening rain. I'd been up late, had gotten wicked post-nasal drip the second I'd gotten to Rochester and woken up with a sore ear at 6:20 in the morning. I couldn't help but be frustrated with myself- yet another race on five or less hours of sleep, although I'd gone to Rochester to hang with friends, not race. I also thought about the article I'd just posted on Eric's site and reminded myself that like everyone, I've raced sick- one time I ran the Boston Build-Up 10K with earmuffs on so Margit wouldn't realise that my ear was swollen to twice its normal size due to a sinus infection (I ran a lousy time and was attacked by a dog).

I had to get on the internet and look up directions to the race, sneak my mountain bike out of the hotel room without waking up the guys, and drive to a place I'd never been before. However, packet pickup the day before had been in the same general area, and after being up there for races the last four years and actually driving places (something I never did when I lived there), I'm starting to feel like my sense of direction is starting to click.

Although it was very grey, it was about 60 degrees by race time (9 am) and I was a little incredulous to see some of my fellow competitors wearing full-finger gloves, tights, and light jackets. I mean you race in Rochester, you learn about cold- I think I've done as many races in the snow up there as I have down here.

It was an off-road sprint 2-10-2. Totally trail run, mostly off-road bike with about a mile of single track. I know there's one guy up there who owns me- that's a terrible thing to admit, I suppose, but the guy always beats me. Jason Urckfitz. Well, there he was, standing right on the line. While I'm not shy about standing right on the starting line at most local races, whether I belong there or not, and sometimes I don't, I didn't think I should do it there. I was already in my Force Five kit and was going to ride with my TT helmet. I didn't need to be trying to elbow my way into between people.

We started out and it was like every duathlon. I swear there were twenty people in front of me after 50 yards as we started up what would be a quarter mile of steady climbing, some parts steep and some shallow. I've thrown up all sorts of clunkers this year- Arizona, Extrememan, Marty's duathlon that I dropped out of, but one thing I have gotten much better at is being patient and not panicking. That certainly helped me at Brian's and again at Shamrock. I just needed to remind myself this always happens at duathlons.

I started moving up. Soon I was in the top ten, the top eight, then I worked quickly into fourth. I was watching Jason run and my evaluation was a simple as it was unfortunate. I was not going to be able to run down Jason and still be in any shape to get on the bike. I admit I was looking past the other two guys in front of me, but only because I was waiting for the right moment to pass them in the woods. I worked my way into second. I have to be honest, I'm not sure when, somewhere in the back during the grass loop. I came through the loop and promptly headed in the wrong direction. A course marshall redirected me and I started bushwacking- I was quickly back on course, headed downhill towards transition and came in second, but with third right on my back- he was in transition before I got out. The other guy that was in the mix I'd put thirty seconds on, but I'd see him again.

I was in and out of transition very quickly- toe clips, yes, I'm the guy who still uses them. I settled down on my aerobars- yes, aerobars, but at least I have a straight up Stump Jumper mountain bike with nobby tires, not a cyclo-cross bike. I even asked about the aeros to make sure they were legal for the race. Turns out so were cyclo-cross bikes, but i don't think anyone gets an advantage using one when there's any amount of single-track or mush. I started pedaling like mad but Jason was slowly pulling away. the trail we rode on is what you'd expect for a well-kept trail by a railroad track, hard-packed dirt with small crushed stone. Perfectly fine for aero work except for where larger stone was used to fill holes or at intersections.

Then we hit a section that was grass, like the run and your legs start to feel rubbery as you climb uphill on grass that's wet and kind of soggy (it had rained the night before). There were two-three inch deep ruts that you had to stay out of. Then it was back on the trail. Somebody yelled 'Go alan.' Still don't know who and I know they were talking to me. Then it was into the single track. I haven't been on single-track in a long time, months to years, depending on how strict your definition is. Halfway through I had to take my left foot out of the clip and it had to stay out until I got back on the trail. I rode well, but the guy that had been fourth on the run caught me after we got on the trail. He wasn't sure what to do- he sat off my shoulder about three lengths back and decided on when to make his move. That, well, I don't like that. But I'm sure it was clean. he went by and I went into 'no panic' mode. I'd beaten this guy on the first run, he had to change his shoes. I just needed to keep him in sight. I let him get four bike lengths and then tried to hold him there.

He was looking back, which was good. But four became six became eight. Ten. then we hit a wicked downhill with 'loose gravel' signs warning the bottom was dangerous. He went full throttle. I did not. I went into transaition almost thirty seconds down.

There was an announcer. He made a BIG deal about how much time I'd caught back in transition and as we ran out estimated that I'd make the catch within twenty seconds and he also said we were 1:38 behind the leader. I made the catch.

I'm very proud of the fact my second 2 mile loop was only 3 seconds slower than the first loop. But the marathon and 5k double had toasted me and the second loop was HARD all the way to the final downhill. I ended up losing by over two minutes. Jason would have beat me if I'd trained a month for the race and gotten ten hours sleep and drank five less beers then night before, but again, I went to the reunion to hang out.

This was a great race with great sponsors. But when the race director talked about how he'd been trying for three years to get Jason to come do the race, i had to laugh. He'd actively recruited the only guy that beat me. Too funny.

If you're in upstate New York next year the third weekend in October, take the mountain bike and expect a fun, well-run race with great timing by Score-This, pizza after the race, and a good fair course...

Hartford Marathon, Part II

20 people ?

I started hauling ass up through the ranks. My 'don't look back' rule had not served me well as far as a bathroom break went. I still had the guy in orange and the guy in blue and white in my sights, but they were pretty far off, and my immediate goal was to undo the damage my bladder had caused.

I caught the first fifteen, and I have to be honest, I was a little demoralised that there were so many more people hanging off my back. Worse, I had to work pretty damn hard to move back up and my whole plan was to not work particularly hard, but as I had in recent races, simply hang on, wait, then move up as people wore out.

I caught the last four guys. They were all post-college guys in their twenties, nine plus miles into the race and chatting it up, which was funny to me, but probably normal for them. One of the guys said that he'd run at UNH (New Haven). I otherwise would not have interjected myself into the conversation, as that would have been rude (and I had no desire to talk, another theme that would re-occur yet again). We talked about UNH's desire to move up to D one among other things. We ran as a group to the turn-around, and then started picking people off. At the same time, by the time we got to fourteen, the four-man group had split, with two in front, one in no man's land, and the other off the back. I tried to tuck in with the front two but they were setting a nice pace that was more than I had left in me.

We were all picking other people off. My left quad, or whatever that muscle on the front of your thigh is, was starting to hurt. With a long run of 90 minutes going into the race, I expected some things to ache a little. My left calf hurt, and my right knee hurts. But there were no bio-mechanical shortcomings in my stride, my breathing was good, the cliff blocks were helping me. I was dumping at least half a cup of water on my head at every stop, which I'd starting doing at mile 2- that's right, I went front to back pouring cold water on my head. At fourteen, I broke the race down into three mile segments and felt I ran 14-17 very well, and was running a good 17-20

But people were coming back to me. I took advantage of every 5-10 foot rise in the terrain and I felt really good- until some guy in yellow and black went breezing by me past 19. I thought he was going to simply bury me, and although he'd built up about 10 seconds at 20 miles, he never really pulled away.

I passed twenty, and except for this guy, I was feeling good. Here I was, untrained, cruising. No meltdown, no breakdown, no sick stomach or light-headedness or just plain feeling like shit. The course got as hilly as it was going to get and there was a little wind, but I could have cared less. People were coming back to me. I started using the guy who'd passed me as a barometer of my own pace, just as a check.

The older guy in the headband came back to us. The guy in blue and white, eventually even the guy in orange, who'd been out of site. Down by the field they use for Capital City, we went by a guy running in memory of an Iraq war soldier who'd been killed and he was doubled over. I'd just completed a pass of the guy in yellow and black and I clapped the guy that was struggling on the back and said 'You can do. you're doing great.' He started to run again, although it might not have lasted long.

I kept pulling away or closing ground on the short little hills.

My last pass was a woman just after the railroad tracks at mile 25. Someone was running with her and we exchanged 'you're doing greats' and then it was the long haul over that last mile, around the park, up the hill as you're doing it. I felt like I was blasting my way to the chute and who was there in the chute ? Marty Schiavone, with nothing but happy things to say and Margit and Ian were there as well.

I ran 1:27 and change going out, and 1:29 and change coming back, and wow, I was actually happy with that. Now if you'd told me I'd be running (and winning) a 5K the next day, I'd have laughed out loud

(more tomorrow)

Hartford Marathon- Buy Low, Sell High

After missing the online registration deadline by an hour Tuesday, I also passed on chances to drive 50 minutes to Manchester Wednesday and 45 minutes to Hartford yesterday, leaving only race day registration.

Note to self (what this blog is one big one of, after all)- bad idea. Second note to self- check HMF website late the night before if I make this mistake again. At about 10:30 last night they posted a warning that only 20 spots remained for the half marathon. By the time I parked my car at 6:50, the half was closed. Fortunately, I'd decided on jumping into the marathon back on Tuesday for some very specific reasons, so there was no issue for me. The registration was- well, getting registered was not bad. Getting a t-shirt ? That was bad.

Bottom line, I was late to commit to the race, and on race day you take what you can get and get what you can take, especially when you're jumping into a marathon you didn't train for. I know I did get a medium long-sleeve t-shirt- reading one of the message board some people who pre-registered didn't.

After weeks of being spoiled with hot temperatures, today was the first truly cold weekend day of the fall. It was less than 50 when I left the house, and at 7:45 when I dropped my bag off and was committed to a singlet and bike shorts, it was still a little chilly. Bill Sheetz saw me and was surprised I didn't have gloves on. I'm kind of an all or nothing glove wearer. It has to be pretty cold then I don't mess around with those disposable hand-peds. I didn't even bother with arm warmers- I was confident that it would be 56-57 and pushing towards 60 by the halfway point. I saw people with plastic bags and heavy shirts and headbands that covered their ears and of course, whatever works for you works (even if it's a big ear-covering headband and no shirt).

I ran into a large number of people I know in the corral before the race. Most of them were running the half- Charlie Hornak, Frank Tirotello were two.

We traded jokes about how loud the sound system was and kept it lose until the race started. We headed out and the first person I saw at the bottom of the park was Rob Straz, outrunning me early. We traded some pleasantries and Charlie and I settled in and traded casual conversation about fantasy football and the race. After the initial downhill and a short uphill out on the highway, the race got pretty flat.

I was wearing the Elite kit again, and sure enough someone came up behind me and said 'Dave Greenfield'. That was back before 2 miles. We talked about bikes for a while- this guy is getting a new Razor, I think, after putting down his T-Class. I've rarely spoken with so many people about one guy and had everyone be so positive (my coach Eric is another one of those people).

I noticed they had a gu stop at 2 miles, which made no sense to me, but I carry my own nutrition...

I started gently suggesting to Charlie that he should pick it up. My plan was to run in the 6:40 range for as long as possible, with the idea that even if I slipped to 6:50, I'd still break three hours, which was the only goal I was willing to discuss with anyone. But Charlie was running about the pace he planned to run, so we stayed together until the 4 mile mark, shortly after which the two races split. During that time I moved up when I had to, passing people who'd gone out to fast and bringing Charlie with me. I really wanted Charlie to go for his own benefit, but I wanted him to go for mine as well- the 6:36s we were running were too fast for me.

After the split I considered slapping on the headphones. They were not illegal this year although they are claiming they will be in 2008. I think this is a bad rule for this race, given that they don't use USATF for insurance and headphones simply aren't dangerous on closed courses for road races, nor do I buy the complaint from running purists about them either. But it wasn't going to be that kind of day.

I ran up on one athlete in blue and white that would be back and forth with me for the next ten miles somewhere past five miles and he started a conversation- the usual marathon banter, what time are you looking to run, how your form looks at that point, what your goals are. I was willing to discuss breaking three hours, beyond that any explanation would not fit into a marathon running pace.

The bottom line is that I ran a pretty solid marathon within my LP Ironman in 2006. Since then ? Another meltdown at Mystic last year starting at around 19 miles. Despite running a 2:55:40, I was on pace after 15 miles to run under 2:50 and just couldn't hold it- and I was trained for the race, doing long runs and two-a-days specifically to be ready, and that was pretty much how every Mystic went- 2:55, 2:56, 2:58, 3:01. That was followed by my run-walk-run marathon at Arizona. Result- I needed to prove to myself that I can succeed at long-course events, and that means being steady. I wasn't trying to run fast- if I were, I'd train and look to break my lame 2:46 PR, which I believe I can do for the next few years. I wanted to run as close to a flat time between halves as possible. Why ? I want to have my best marathon at LP in four tries next year.

I separated somewhat from that runner, partly to get alone with my thoughts and partly to get away from some foot-slapping noise. Soon a guy with a headband who looked about 50 or so went by at around 6. This is where you ask yourself whether you need to be patient or show some intensity- it's easy when you are being patient to slow down too much. I decided that patience was in order, and also reminded myself that I would be beat by women (5), by guys 50+ (2), teammates (2), maybe even by people I didn't particularly like (0).

Another runner in an orange shirt came up and the same conversation issued. I did share with him that I really needed to use the port-a-loo. I'd actually needed to pee since before the race started and was not willing to do the urination shuffle I'd seen one other runner do. I can pee on the bike. While running ? Forget it.

At the next port-a-loo, I started to break across the road, only to watch a woman wearing two sweatshirts and baggy pants and carrying a purse start in. Someone must have seen that I wanted to go because there was actually an outcry from several nameless spectators (thanks !) but the woman didn't hear and I wasn't going to stop AND wait. I went on. I let the guy in orange pull away and focused on hitting the loo at approximately 9 miles. Since I basically refuse to look behind me, I ahd no idea what was going on but I had this ideal (false) that I was running in a vacuum. Why not ? I typically do.

I ducked in, peed, and timed it. Fifteen seconds was all I gave myself. Anything more I was not willing to try and make up over the next mile. That might be silly, but I figured I'd better have a plan, or I might regret letting nature call later.

When I came back out, at least 20 people had passed me. 20 people ? I was- unhappy.

(more later)

Half or Marathon

Hartford is in three days and here I am debating whether to run the half, the whole marathon, or nothing.

I logged on Tuesday morning around 9 am to sign up, having decided that despite my coach telling me to run the half and wanting to do well at an out-of-state duathlon the next weekend, I was going to do the marathon just to get one in this year.

Online registration had closed at eight- I know this is picky, but if you're going to say registration closes on Tuesday, at least make it noon...

I really don't like running marathons any more and have done Mystic out of a sense duty/because coach says to do it. The marathon is a very hard thing, harder in some very specific ways than an Ironman. I wouldn't say that the marathon is harder, but it is harder in some ways, and I haven't exactly enjoyed the last few. Running that far, as hard as you can, it's a lot of really, really hard work and the satisfaction I get out of it is just not like that of even a bad Ironman.

That's a very personal thing. Marathons are great races and the fact that I haven't really enjoyed the last few I've done doesn't mean it's not a great distance or that Hartford isn't a good race. But I have no intention of running Boston next year- I've run Boston and don't feel an urge to go back- nor do I think a spring marathon makes for a good summer Ironman (in my case). At the same time, I've run the Hartford half two years in a row and there's something a little, well, it's not the same running the other race at a big race. The half-marathon is actually just one of the other races Saturday (along with the 5K).

So, the marathon it is ?

i in iPod for inDestructable ?

Last Sunday, after running the Niantic Bay Half-Marathon, my Force 5 singlet was tossed in the wash. I'm not sure how or who did it and it doesn't matter, but this particular iPod Shuffle has been through a lot. It's gotten lost twice, dropped repeatedly (with the dents to prove it) and used by my son. The shuffle is special, however because it was given to me with my 2006 Lake Placid Ironman time engraved on it- guess that's one way for me to always have a reminder of what I should be focused on.

The ipod was still attached to the pouch on the back of the singlet. It went through the wash. Mostly likely still attached, it went into the dryer. Now, the constant banging in the dryer, which is in a closet in my kitchen, should have been a tip-off, you might think. Not at all. While I gave up all my '80s era buckle-festooned clothes around 1990, I live with a two-year old and a woman, so I take it for granted that the dryer cycle is loud, large, and live.

So I was surprised when Margit handed me the iPod the next day and said, 'here, this came out of the dryer.' I was taken aback, and not in the good way. Still, I have had other 'soaked' Apple products continue to function, so I plugged it right into my Mac immediately.

It showed up in my iTunes straight away and was identified by name and I thought I was golden. But I know that a single mount is not a guarantee a piece of computer equipment will work. I gave it a minute, unmounted it and plugged it back in. The light on it flashed- first red, then yellow, then green, then red again. No ipod showed up in the list.

I left it plugged in, hoping it would charge overnight and then work- and it did.

I've done three ninety minute plus workouts since and it's made it through each one, and damn, I'm psyched. While I do have a spare shuffle, having my favourite audio workhorse still game for my workouts is a big deal.

Niantic Bay Half-Marathon

After running the Mystic Places Marathon or marathon relay every year, I was disappointed (although not surprised) to have the Marathon fold. It was replaced by the race I ran today, which was JB kindly comped me for in exchange for doing surveys for the Marathon.

I have to admit that I wasn't really looking at this race with very much focus. As usual, I am still in triathlon mode in the end of September and I'd just come off consecutive races- Hammerfest and Extrememan. I did transition myself to duathlon training this week- I skipped the short pool workouts and took my my bike to work or ran at lunch every day and did another bike or run after work. I also knew I'd be doing a fifty mile ride the day before, and while the Ride for Rick is a charity ride, the front end of the 50 miler is fairly brisk. I led the way up most of the hills and then the big boys did the hard work on the flats and the last 5 miles, but the ride left my legs just a little bit tight and certainly it wasn't the right way to prepare for a long road race. We also spent the afternoon at the Durham Fair, so by 7 PM last night I was beat.

There are no excuses on race day, though. Well, if you get to the starting line, that is.

After racing at the park every year I was taking certain things for granted- like the starting line being at the same place. It wasn't. About 15 minutes before the race Margit came over and let me know I was in the wrong place. It took a good five minutes to run to the starting line- soon after I got there JB announced that the 5k would start in 4 minutes, the half-marathon in 9 minutes. I wasn't just warmed-up, I was over-cooked.

I spent a few minutes talking to teammate Oscar Gonzales-Barretto, who is just an awesome 40+ runner and the certain winner of my age-group. The start of the race was one of these crazy 100 yard wide start line funneling into a single lane road- kind of like a mass start of a swimming, but for me, less frustrating.

The start went amazingly the well- the top ten runners (including me) were able to get to the road without any problems and then we started racing. I was running alongside Charlie Iselin and we started talking. I was counseling a moderated approach and New Haven came up- Charlie brought it up. At New Haven I let Charlie run away from me, but he started to struggle at about five miles and I eventually came back on him. Today, I was trying to get him to stay with me, and that worked for about 3 miles. We made it out of the park and were headed out towards Giant's Neck. But shortly after three miles, Charlie and another runner had who'd come up on us started pulling away and I let them go because their pace was not where I wanted to be. Unfortunately, some 50 year-old runner who would end up finishing about 5 minutes behind me was absolutely stuck to me, occasionally passing me, then falling back behind. A shuffler, the noise was driving me crazy. That's one of those things that is really tough. Everyone has every right to run however they want- I run with my number behind me and cliff shot block packages rustling in my pouch.

You can't turn around and tell someone to run quieter. The low point was at around four miles. I was running into the wind, uphill, the shuffler in front of me, Charlie and the other guy just a little farther head than I wanted then. I felt tired. My left hamstring was so tight my calf felt it was going to cramp. I tried to stay calm and positive and ate my first bag of Cliff Shot Blocks. I had another nine miles. I worked to start to slowly close the gap between Charlie and his running mate, and hopefully that would drop the shuffler. I overtook them just before the turn back onto the main road and started running downhill into the park. They gave me some encouragement, then they closed me down and we ran back towards the finish together. As we headed for the turn-around they passed me and I felt like I was having trouble hanging on- I think they got a better bounce from the crowd than I did, although i was the one trying to work JB and Mark G. to say our names and give us the props. However, as we started heading out, I caught site of the guy in front of us- he had almost 30 seconds. I turned it on and dropped them short of 8 miles and that would be it. From there I was working my ass off to close this guy down. At the 9 mile mark, though, he still had ten seconds, I was again running into the wind, I needed to eat and I felt like I still had people close behind that might close me down if I faltered at all.

I did the only thing I could do- eat. We exited Giant's Neck and on that long stretch back we had to run on the yellow line because the one side of the road was open and the other was full of runners. I finally caught Vin, another 42 year-old, father of a 2.5 year old, triathlete and IM LP veteran, as we turned onto the main road.

I tried to pass him. He surged. I tried again, and again, and again. He was up to every challenge. I was just about out of gas. At Mile 12 I decided to make one last push, and that one got me the separation I was in desperate need of. I ran like I had just kicked a car and came in with a little time to spare, followed by Vin, who ran a great race and really put himself out there.

Especially coming off last week, running hard in the back half of the race and running away from several people really made me feel a lot better about my running. It might have been a week too late, but it's important to have a short memory when you race anyway.

Margit also had a great race and I owe her for getting me to the starting line...