FIRST FULL DAY BACK

I had my first full workout day since the Hatfield-McCoy Marathon. The Nintendonitis in my left knee seems to be abating.

MY NEW LONGER DISTANCE SHOES

Parts of western West Virginia have received a lot of rain in the past few months, leading to problems with flooding. Many people lost driveways, homes, and personal belongings ... I lost my beloved Nike Air Pegasus.

During the Hatfield-McCoy Marathon, there were parts, mostly between miles 14-17 I think, where the course became a trail and, at times, a swamp. There was one place where I thought there was rock that might provide good footing. It turned out to be quicksand-like and I rapidly sank up to my ankles ... both feet!

Dang! My shoes were waterlogged AND filled with a fine gritty material. Shoot! Still about ten miles to go. Now my shoes feel like lead weights. I was certain the fine gravel in my shoes would become unbearable ... but it didn't!

My two-year old Air Pegasus' are now nasty. My new shoes, Nike Air Pegasus+ 26, are seen in the photo above on the right, while my old shoes are on the left. At the beginning of the race, my old shoes were as white as my new shoes.

I've decided to use my old Air Pegasus for trail races and nasty weather road races.

-- Posted From My iPhone

BACK ON TRACK?

I was able to put in an hour's worth of training yesterday ... two ten minute intervals, one thirty minute interval, then finishing with a final ten minute interval. This was all virtually discomfort-free.

-- Post From My iPhone

DIAGNOSIS: NINTENDONITIS

Well, I saw an orthopedic surgeon today. The tentative diagnosis is tendinitis, so that's a relief. I'm going to start ramping up my workouts slowly and keep popping Motrin for now.

25 WII FIT WEEKS!

This past week last been a light one. Since Tuesday of last week, I've had some discomfort in my left knee. I was hoping a light workout week would resolve the situation, but I don't feel I'm much better yet. More tomorrow ... I have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon in the morning.


-- Post From My iPhone

400 DAY ANNIVERSARY!

What a touching occasion! I wish I'd been USING Wii Fit all that time, instead of letting it gather dust most of the first 200 days!


-- Posted From My iPhone

SANTA'S SUMMER RUN 5K

It was a beautiful, cool, slightly breezy morning in Piketon, Ohio, perfect for a little 5K run ... then the race started. The cool breeze died and the sun came out. My daughter and I ran together. We scouted out her competition and saw only one girl who appeared to be in her age group. As soon as the race started, this girl took off like she was shot from a cannon. Oh well, second in her age group wouldn't be bad. After we finished in a pokey time of around 34 minutes, I asked the girl how old she was and she replied "16". I couldn't believe it! She looked like she was 11! So, my daughter ended up winning her division ... in fact, she was the only runner 14 & under, male or female. She received a ribbon for her efforts. Even I got a medal ... third in my age group (I think there were only three in my age group)!

For an inaugural race, it ran fairly smoothly. A few more volunteers at the turns to ensure that no one got off course would have been great.

-- Posted From My iPhone

24 WEEKS OF WII FIT

-- Posted From My iPhone

100th ANNUAL THANKSGIVING DAY RACE

I signed up to run the 100th Annual Thanksgiving Day Race in Cincinnati, OH this year. I ran the race back in 1979 (the 70th edition). Yes, the photo is me running that race.


-- Posted From My iPhone

WEST VIRGINIA DOWN; 47 STATES TO GO!

Yesterday, I completed the Hatfield-McCoy Marathon. The heat, the high humidity, and the hills conspired together to ensure this would be no personal record day.

I had checked weather forecasts for Goody, KY & Williamson, WV on my iPhone using the WeatherBug Elite application. It predicted temperatures in the mid-60s for the start of the race, climbing to the low-70s by race's end (at least the end for me). When the starting gun sounded, the temperature was already at 71 degrees. By the time I finished, five hours and fifty-six minutes later, the temperature had climbed to over 79 degrees and humidity was at 100% in nearby Pikeville, KY, according to wunderground.com.

The course's major hill occurs from about the six and eight mile marker and is known as "Blackberry Hill". Blackberry? Sounds painful for an iPhone advocate! I can unequivocally say "The Blackberry experience is a miserable one". There were also other, smaller hills along the way. The last one, occurred around mile 22 or 23, was, in some ways, worse than Blackberry Hill. It wasn't as long and it wasn't as steep, but the temperature was higher and the fatigue factor was much greater.

I ran with my buddy Carol, whom I'd met at the R.U.T.S. in Paducah, KY. We started out doing a Jeff Galloway-style interval technique, consisting of running two minutes and walking one minute. As the mile markers rose into the upper teens, it became obvious that, at our current rate, a sub-six hour finishing time wouldn't happen. At the twenty-mile marker, there was 10km left and only an hour and fifteen minutes remaining before the six-hour hour. I decided to use up what I had left. I'd either make it sub-six or crash 'n' burn along the way. Since my best 10km time is only about one hour and three minutes, it seemed like a Herculean task twenty miles into the race. I remained doing the 2 minute run/1 minute walk until mile marker 25, where I ignored my interval timer and just ran. I was hoping for better than 5:56:05 when I crossed the finish line, but I was relieved when it wasn't higher.

The race director, David Hatfield, did a fantastic job. At Friday night's pasta dinner, his monologuing, with his folksy humor, were my favorite part of the race. With the exception of one area, the race organization was top-notch. After the finish, you get your medal (a nice one) and, after your finishing position is posted, you can go to a table to pick up a finisher's award. It consisted of a metal plaque with the race logo and your finishing position engraved on it, attached to a block of wood, stuck down in a Mason jar. It was beautiful, clever, and creative ... quite the conversation piece. The problem? When I went to the table to retrieve mine, it had apparently been given to someone else. The ladies working the table seemed unsympathetic to my plight. After several minutes had passed, it became obvious that no quick-fix was to be forthcoming. I realize they can't pull one out of thin air, but there should have been an offer to make it right. I would have settled for an uncustomized one, without my finishing position (nothing to brag about anyway) or an offer to mail me one. An inauspicious ending to an otherwise great race.

CRAZY LADY I MET AT HATFIELD-McCOY MARATHON

Linda used to be race coordinator for the marathon, but she's been hampered a bit by breast cancer. She's recovering from a double mastectomy. You go, girl!

-- Posted From My iPhone

WHY IT TOOK ME 7 HOURS FOR R.U.T.S. MARATHON

Here is why it took me nearly seven hours to complete the Run Under The Stars Marathon ... And why I'm quite proud of it!


My 12 year-old daughter ran with me! She was able to complete 17 miles before her little legs gave out. Her longest run up to this point was one mile. This was a great event for her since it was on a half-mile horse track. She was never further than a quarter-mile from a place to sit down and rest.

She's eager to try for more in July at the 24 Hours Around The Lake event in Wakefield, MA. This will be great, since she'll have 24 hours to complete the marathon if she feels up to it. And, since it's on a three-mile loop course, she's only 1.5 miles at the most from the start/finish line.

23 WEEKS OF WII FIT!

My BMI finally dropped below 29.0 yesterday. My rate of weight loss has slowed somewhat, but I believe now that I'm doing more strength training, I'm putting on more muscle. While I have no scientific proof of this, I base this on these things: 1. my shirts are now tightest (and getting tighter) around the shoulder instead of my gut, 2. I can (barely) fit into my favorite jeans (it's been years), and 3. more and more people are noticing that I've lost weight.
-- Posted From My iPhone

I have plans to attend a conference in San Francisco in late October 2009. While I'm there, I plan to pick up a marathon in Oregon and in California. To that end, I made hotel reservations at the Desert River Inn, right next to the start/finish line of the Columbia River Power Marathon on October 24th.

FUNNY WII FIT COMMERCIAL PARODY

I know! It's old news. It's still hilarious though!


-- Posted From My iPhone

UP NEXT: HATFIELD-McCOY MARATHON

Next weekend, I head to Goody, KY for the Hatfield-McCoy Marathon. Since it starts in KY and ends in WV, it can count for either KY or WV (both not both) for the 50 States Marathon Club. So, this will be my WV marathon.


-- Posted From My iPhone

22 WiiKS STRAIGHT!

-- Posted From My iPhone

NO NYC MARATHON FOR ME IN 2009

As expected, I didn't get a lottery spot in the 2009 NYC Marathon. For race-planning purposes, it'll be easier to coordinate things by NOT going to NYC on November 1st, but it still would have been nice to go. For my New York marathon, I'm planning on running the Self-Transcendence Marathon on Tuesday, August, 25th, 2009.