checkin' in...

first off, how's the mending going? are you on the fast track to health, or have you gone and done something you shouldn't have?

i must say the last couple of weeks have been hard for me, motivation wise. i just don't seem to care that much. i've been getting in runs, but i am not sure if they've been of any great quality. i did one run that i've been trying to use measure my growth, and showed no improvement. maybe it was the day, or maybe it was just me. however, i think what might have gotten in the way is, i need to think of how am i going to hydrate myself...if i learned anything from latest monster endeavour, it was that i need to figure out how to keep water and electrolytes in--especially with my marathon coming up (october--you want to come and run it?).

check in with me.

beat the bridge

so this morning i went out and did "beat the bridge". it is an 8k and in which you have to try to make it to a drawbridge before it goes up. needless to say, i beat the bridge. they actually only raise the bridge 20 minutes after the last wave starts, so i was in the clear the whole way. it was a nice run and really flat by Seattle standards. i ran it at about an 8 minute mile pace, give or take a little, but made it in in under 40:00--39:40. i was pleased with myself. i think i could have done better, but i really began to feel last weeks run part way through the race.

however, i managed to stay focus, with a little game i will now call green light. the goal and solely purpose of green light, is to pass everyone with a green shirt. it is called green light (beyond obvious) reasons, because green means go. today there seemed to be no shortage of green shirts, so victory was easily within arms reach. i made it through the last half of the race this way, because my body was starting to ache and feel a bit creaky. you should try it on your next run!

also, my friend's wife and one of her friends joined me for the run, however, not it the same pace group. it was both of theirs first race and so they were quite excited with finishing, and i was quite happy to hear that the only time that didn't run was when they didn't beat the bridge.

doost--what updates do you need done to your race preview list? i know you are currently out of commission so i figured i should allow our blog to reflect your current aspirations.--crage

i did it...

first off, i was in the newspaper!

so the race was killer. i don't think i could have even imagined something this hard. all the plans i had in my head as to how to tackle it, did nothing. 13.1 miles of brutality. so i went out the gate thinking i can do it, slow and steady, and NO walking. well, that was the plan. at about a mile into it, people were walking. the slowdown began and there was no getting past it--the first real hill, and it was narrow and slick, and everyone filed along--think "trail of tears". and this went on for sometime. the first 5k took almost 50 minutes. we did the 5k loop twice, equaling 10k...and then from there we went on to ascend a 1200 foot hill in under 1 mile. so once i reached the top--things went well for a while. the descent was awesome...about 3 or 4 miles of downhill. i was in heaven. of course that was when my stomach started cramping--ugh. it hurt. at about mile 11.5 we had our last aid station and as i was running through grabbing some water and who was there: Rhonda--my college girlfriend. i called out her name, to say hi, but she had no idea who i was--either she didn't recognize because of the weight loss or because of I was running. so at about mile 12ish, things feel apart--by body started to shut down: my legs cramped almost to the point in which i couldn't walk; i was stumbling; and i was close to out of it. the last mile or so, i walked and ran, walked and ran, etc. however, i RAN across the finish line.

i wish i could say the adventure ended there, but it didn't. my nutrition plan failed. my coach and i went into it with the idea of using two or three gels before the monster hill, but i used almost that many in the first 4 miles. so i was out of gels by mile 6. they handed some out at aid stations, but thankfully i read the ingredients--otherwise i would have been sucking down some gels with dairy...who knew that there would be a gel that was lactard-unapproved. needless to say--i crossed the line, but things didn't end well. after trying to get water in for about 10 minutes, i decided to go visit the medics. i spent about 40 minutes at the medics, warming up, trying to take in fluids, and getting oxygen. it was a little scary--i went there because i wasn't sure i would make it to the car, and if i did would i be able to drive. but i am fine now--sore but fine.

my end time 3:44--minutes before the 4 hour cut-off time.

Here I am

It is very late and my bible study ran long, but this is me trying to make an effort. Crage, my athletic endeavors have been been truly poor of late. I think that I recently complained to you of knee pain. Well, after much urging I went to see the orthopedist doctor guy and learned that I have strained the tendons surrounding my right knee. He put me on a prescription anti-inflammatory and ordered up 3 weeks bed rest. Well, not bed rest, but definitely no physical activity. I tested his skills b playing golf the next day and definitely paid the price. Subsequently, I put myself on the 2 week disabled list from softball, and here I sit, just letharging. Yes, I turned that into a word.
When I get to come back, I hope to hit it hard as I have some fall events to train for. I'm sleepy and will try to follow up tomorrow. Sorry, I've been such a bad blogger, life has just been a bit wild of late and by of late I mean like for a year or so. Also, I'm still looking for the ninja pic, I think it is on a disc and not my hard drive. Also, we are having another baby. Craig Crage part deux.

first, i shall opinionate myself on this loop business

I am going to agree that only the diagram in the upper left represents a loop, to me. In way of a formal definition, I would suggest that to run a loop one should not run on the same compass bearing for more than 1/3 the total distance. I just made that up, so chew on it. The Doost has spoken.

what makes it a loop vs. an out-n-back?

so the roommate and i are having a debate about the definition of what is a loop...please weigh in: i believe that both of thin strip with a dot in the center counts as a loop, but what the picture doesn't show is all he has done to make it a "loop" is cross the street. i believe that he has simply two out-n-backs and not a loop. what do you think?

i, at one point, had made a concession that he might be able to refer to his street cross as a "hairpin loop", but said concession has been revoked..

iBlog, you don;t

so my coach mentioned that he thought i recovered really quickly from long runs, i sort of thought i did...but now i really believe him. i cranked out 12 miles yesterday and although it hurt a little post-run, i am disabled by it today. and there was no ice involve. yesterday's run was a little weird in that i guess i have no idea how few miles there are where i live, so to speak. i planned the route out in my head, but looking at my clock (because the run was based on time) I was always coming up short...i even had to run past my house to get my time in. i am getting to quite efficient and so it looks like more miles are easier.

then last tuesday at my track work out we did 3-one mile repeats, and i did 7:25, 6:50, 7:18--watch out overby i'm going to be leaving you in the dust.

also, i would like you join the debate on something, but it will require you seeing the visual, which is on the work computer--hopefully you can settle an ongoing debate i am with roommate.

blog dude...