That was the back of the T-shirt I saw while standing in line at Boston Logan Airport: Wicked Fast Run. Sums up Boston - - Wicked is the adjective used for everything good in Massachusetts.
There were a lot of marathon folks in line at the airport and in the security line, you can tell because they are wearing marathon paraphernalia - - Finisher’s medals, the shirt we got for the race (light blue, long sleeve technical shirt, pretty cool), sunburned, or just plain walking funny. That was me, sunburned and walking funny. In 2006, I could hardly walk the next day my quads were smoked from the downhills and my hamstrings were giving me lots of problems. This year, I am moving much better, my legs are just sore and a little on the weak side. I think I am going to not be running for a couple of weeks, I will probably hit the gym on Monday, taking the rest of the week off.
The finisher’s shirt brought my total of free shirts for the race to 4: Finisher’shirt, KIA/WIA shirt for getting them donations (Wellsley Football girl got that shirt, I put my email address on it, I’ll see if she sends me a note), USASOC Boston Marathon shirt (donated by UnderArmor) and a T-shirt from the Boston Police Department. The Boston Police Department is going to Wade, he would probably like it. The finisher’s shirt will probably go in the bottom of the drawer with the rest of my finisher’s shirts that I never wear, nice shirts, but I don’t want to get into one of those running conversations with a stranger, you never know where that will lead.
My pre-race photos have been posted to the blog - - I will post my race photos as soon as I get em from the pros.
JFord kicked in a dontation, I am not over 1800 bucks. Still waiting on the boys in the Tampa choir, I will find out about that in a few days. Thanks!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
3:13:11 Personal Record at BOSTON
Race Day, woo hoo.
Finally time to do the deed and toe the line. Team USASOC linked up with the Boston and Massachusetts State Police Department team, they really squared us away. We had a police escort all the way to the start line in their charter busses. While everyone else crammed into school busses, we were riding in luxury to the start line. We got there about 7:45 am, and wandered around a bit. I took some pictures of COL Torrey at the start line, and he did the same for me. There was also a Korean Church’s drum team going nuts right next to the start line, pretty cool. (pictures will be posted to the blog once I get home and get my camera cable). Hopkinton (where the race starts) is a great town on race day, just about everyone is turned out and was going crazy at the start.
We got to spend the pre-race hours sitting on the warm bus, instead of at the athlete’s village. Big advantage. Dry, warm, comfortable, instead of sitting around the football field with all of the other runners. The fine folks of Hopkinton are pretty laid back, they turn out and support the runners and put up with some, umm, less than savory traditions - - just imagine 25,000 hyper-hydrated runners, with pre-race (this is THE Boston Marathon, not some other marathon) jitters. There were folks pee-ing everywhere. There were three Hopkinton town policemen wandering around trying to protect the lawns and trees of the fine citizens of Hopkinton, but they weren’t having much success. I gotta say, most folks were good sports about having their shrubberies violated.
The marathon runs from Hopkinton through several small towns and winds its way to Copley Square in Boston. What is so cool about the marathon is that everyone in those towns turns out to watch the race. Little kids line up on the road and hand off oranges or want to get a high five from a runner, whenever you need a little lift or your feeling kind of sad about things, just go get a high five from one of the kids, picks you right up.
I Gu’d it up at the beginning of the race and took a potassium/sodium pill (E-cap?), I had never heard of those, but they helped me to avoid cramps for most of the race. John Y (the elf) turned me on to them after we had a discussion about cramps and how to avoid them. I started off with the white shirt, with “I Love Wellsley” printed on the front, not many folks understood that one, but it served its purpose. I went with the new blue shorts (good choice, I barely felt the Gu in the pocket), sockets and my standard Nike Air Vomeros.
The first 13 miles are all downhill, so, they went on by kind of quick. I kept putting on the brakes to keep me from going too fast and burning out too early. I hit the water station every mile, and had Gatorade much earlier in the race than normal. It was about 55-60 degrees, with a gentle head wind. The head wind was not enough to slow me down, but it did cool everyone down nicely.
The race was uneventful up to Wellsley, where the wall of college women greeted everyone, once again. For the record, they dug the shirt. One of the lucky ones got to keep it, I tossed it to a very nice young lady that was wearing a Wellsley Football shirt, I thought that was funny (Wellsley is an all girls school - - no football team) so I gave her the shirt. Interesting coincidence of the race: Addidas hung up some bill boards throughout the race course, on the billboards they put inspirational messages up that folks had written for runners - - each one had a runner’s number and the message. At mile 12, they had a huge bill board with MY NUMBER ON IT. 6408. Very wild. The billboard said: “Brace your Ears” - - this was right before the Wellsley chicks, my favorite part of the race. Whoever wrote that down, I do appreciate it. That made me say, hmmmmmm, but was very cool to see.
After Wellsley College, there is about a mile of downhill, kind of tortuous at that point of the race. Once again I was standing on the brakes to keep me from blowing my pace wide open. It flattened out around mile 14.5 and stayed that way until mile 16, which was where of the first 5 hills was. I saw the hill and realized it was not as steep or long as one of the sisters, so I hammered it up the hill and kept up a pretty good pace through mile 22. There are 5 hills between 16 and 22, I did pretty well up all of them, and all the hills on Bragg paid off.
After the hills, I started to struggle a little bit, my hamstring kept tightening up, so I had to really watch my pace. I Gu’d up at mile 17 and 23, and took an E-cap at 22, that almost worked. I cramped up at 24, but was able to walk it off, didn’t lose too much time. I kind of had some delusions of grandeur - - if I could have kept up my pace from the hills, I would have hit just under 3:10. Those fantasies quickly passed. I didn’t cramp up nearly as bad as I did in 2006, but I did have to slow down.
About mile 23 or so you can see the CITGO sign. That is one of the landmarks of Boston – it actually is at mile 25, but you can see it at 23. It kind of picks you up and then puts you down - - you are very happy to see it, but you realize that you have another 1.5 miles before you get to it. By the time you to this point though, you know it is in the bag and you just keep going.
After you go past the CITGO sign there is a little downhill with a tunnel at the end. You go down through the tunnel, it gets real quiet because there are no crowds so you have a little time to think about stuff, check your watch, gather your thoughts and generally have a moment of quiet introspection. After you come up out of the tunnel, it is game on, there are HUGE crowds on both sides of the road as you make a sharp right for two or three blocks then a left onto Boylston street up to Copley square, literally a wall of noise and inspiration. That was probably my fastest half mile of the race, I will have to check the Forerunner out, but I finished pretty strong.
Racing Note: Putting your name on the front of your shirt works. I was constantly cheered on by the crowd, I think it gives them something to do and they get into it. Up all the hills, folks were cheering me on. Once I turned into the city, it was even louder. Very nice boost from the crowd.
Thanks for following the blog and making the donations. I think I will end up close to 1800 bucks for SOF Warrior and KIA/WIA.
Finally time to do the deed and toe the line. Team USASOC linked up with the Boston and Massachusetts State Police Department team, they really squared us away. We had a police escort all the way to the start line in their charter busses. While everyone else crammed into school busses, we were riding in luxury to the start line. We got there about 7:45 am, and wandered around a bit. I took some pictures of COL Torrey at the start line, and he did the same for me. There was also a Korean Church’s drum team going nuts right next to the start line, pretty cool. (pictures will be posted to the blog once I get home and get my camera cable). Hopkinton (where the race starts) is a great town on race day, just about everyone is turned out and was going crazy at the start.
We got to spend the pre-race hours sitting on the warm bus, instead of at the athlete’s village. Big advantage. Dry, warm, comfortable, instead of sitting around the football field with all of the other runners. The fine folks of Hopkinton are pretty laid back, they turn out and support the runners and put up with some, umm, less than savory traditions - - just imagine 25,000 hyper-hydrated runners, with pre-race (this is THE Boston Marathon, not some other marathon) jitters. There were folks pee-ing everywhere. There were three Hopkinton town policemen wandering around trying to protect the lawns and trees of the fine citizens of Hopkinton, but they weren’t having much success. I gotta say, most folks were good sports about having their shrubberies violated.
The marathon runs from Hopkinton through several small towns and winds its way to Copley Square in Boston. What is so cool about the marathon is that everyone in those towns turns out to watch the race. Little kids line up on the road and hand off oranges or want to get a high five from a runner, whenever you need a little lift or your feeling kind of sad about things, just go get a high five from one of the kids, picks you right up.
I Gu’d it up at the beginning of the race and took a potassium/sodium pill (E-cap?), I had never heard of those, but they helped me to avoid cramps for most of the race. John Y (the elf) turned me on to them after we had a discussion about cramps and how to avoid them. I started off with the white shirt, with “I Love Wellsley” printed on the front, not many folks understood that one, but it served its purpose. I went with the new blue shorts (good choice, I barely felt the Gu in the pocket), sockets and my standard Nike Air Vomeros.
The first 13 miles are all downhill, so, they went on by kind of quick. I kept putting on the brakes to keep me from going too fast and burning out too early. I hit the water station every mile, and had Gatorade much earlier in the race than normal. It was about 55-60 degrees, with a gentle head wind. The head wind was not enough to slow me down, but it did cool everyone down nicely.
The race was uneventful up to Wellsley, where the wall of college women greeted everyone, once again. For the record, they dug the shirt. One of the lucky ones got to keep it, I tossed it to a very nice young lady that was wearing a Wellsley Football shirt, I thought that was funny (Wellsley is an all girls school - - no football team) so I gave her the shirt. Interesting coincidence of the race: Addidas hung up some bill boards throughout the race course, on the billboards they put inspirational messages up that folks had written for runners - - each one had a runner’s number and the message. At mile 12, they had a huge bill board with MY NUMBER ON IT. 6408. Very wild. The billboard said: “Brace your Ears” - - this was right before the Wellsley chicks, my favorite part of the race. Whoever wrote that down, I do appreciate it. That made me say, hmmmmmm, but was very cool to see.
After Wellsley College, there is about a mile of downhill, kind of tortuous at that point of the race. Once again I was standing on the brakes to keep me from blowing my pace wide open. It flattened out around mile 14.5 and stayed that way until mile 16, which was where of the first 5 hills was. I saw the hill and realized it was not as steep or long as one of the sisters, so I hammered it up the hill and kept up a pretty good pace through mile 22. There are 5 hills between 16 and 22, I did pretty well up all of them, and all the hills on Bragg paid off.
After the hills, I started to struggle a little bit, my hamstring kept tightening up, so I had to really watch my pace. I Gu’d up at mile 17 and 23, and took an E-cap at 22, that almost worked. I cramped up at 24, but was able to walk it off, didn’t lose too much time. I kind of had some delusions of grandeur - - if I could have kept up my pace from the hills, I would have hit just under 3:10. Those fantasies quickly passed. I didn’t cramp up nearly as bad as I did in 2006, but I did have to slow down.
About mile 23 or so you can see the CITGO sign. That is one of the landmarks of Boston – it actually is at mile 25, but you can see it at 23. It kind of picks you up and then puts you down - - you are very happy to see it, but you realize that you have another 1.5 miles before you get to it. By the time you to this point though, you know it is in the bag and you just keep going.
After you go past the CITGO sign there is a little downhill with a tunnel at the end. You go down through the tunnel, it gets real quiet because there are no crowds so you have a little time to think about stuff, check your watch, gather your thoughts and generally have a moment of quiet introspection. After you come up out of the tunnel, it is game on, there are HUGE crowds on both sides of the road as you make a sharp right for two or three blocks then a left onto Boylston street up to Copley square, literally a wall of noise and inspiration. That was probably my fastest half mile of the race, I will have to check the Forerunner out, but I finished pretty strong.
Racing Note: Putting your name on the front of your shirt works. I was constantly cheered on by the crowd, I think it gives them something to do and they get into it. Up all the hills, folks were cheering me on. Once I turned into the city, it was even louder. Very nice boost from the crowd.
Thanks for following the blog and making the donations. I think I will end up close to 1800 bucks for SOF Warrior and KIA/WIA.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Shirts are made, ready to go
I have all of my stuff piled up, lined up, ready to go. My shirts have been made, I felt kind of bad about vandalizing the FASTEST SHIRT EVER, but I am sure it will help me up the hills, hearing my name get shouted out.
I went to the Expo this morning, not too crowded. While I was there I watched the Ladies Olympic Trials for a few minutes, I saw all of the ladies go by. There was one lady that I felt so bad for: Number 41, not sure who she was but she was struggling. I could tell that her stride was off and she was limping slightly. She was just a few paces off of the lead pack, but she looked like she was fading a bit at mile 8, she still had 18 more to go. That would drive me crazy - - Get asked to try out for the Olympic Team and then have an injury. Very difficult to watch.
I went into the expo and got my number, shopped around a bit, but decided there were entirely too many people hanging around for me to stay there, so I bolted. Pretty much hung around the hotel room for the rest of the day, went out for lunch and dinner, nothing to shake a stick at. Planning on an early evening, getting ready for a 0445 wake up.
Thanks for reading! Bib number 6408 if you want to check me out online.
I went to the Expo this morning, not too crowded. While I was there I watched the Ladies Olympic Trials for a few minutes, I saw all of the ladies go by. There was one lady that I felt so bad for: Number 41, not sure who she was but she was struggling. I could tell that her stride was off and she was limping slightly. She was just a few paces off of the lead pack, but she looked like she was fading a bit at mile 8, she still had 18 more to go. That would drive me crazy - - Get asked to try out for the Olympic Team and then have an injury. Very difficult to watch.
I went into the expo and got my number, shopped around a bit, but decided there were entirely too many people hanging around for me to stay there, so I bolted. Pretty much hung around the hotel room for the rest of the day, went out for lunch and dinner, nothing to shake a stick at. Planning on an early evening, getting ready for a 0445 wake up.
Thanks for reading! Bib number 6408 if you want to check me out online.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Travelling Man
Sitting at the airport gate in Raleigh, NC, waiting on the plane. The lady in front of me was busted by the TSA cops for being an embroiderer (is that how you spell that?). This form of criminal is loosely connected to the dreaded quilt cult. I saw some evidence of the quilt cult, but the TSA did not pick up on that. Evidence of the quilt cult: Quilted purse and a quilted jacket on the shuttle bus, I didn’t sit too close. Hmmmmmmm. I felt much safer when I got off the shuttle, I didn’t want to be handed clothe swatches and asked if I had an interest in making warm, decorative blankets. My mom and several of her friends have been inducted into this cult, not sure if we want to break her out of it, it does keep her off the streets.
I don’t see anyone that looks like a Boston Marathon person yet; I suspect that when I get to my connection in NY there will be more. Normally, marathon people look skinny (except for me) abnormally tanned, wearing cool shoes, one of those goofy running hats and past race paraphernalia. I refuse to wear goofy running hats (any hat is hard for me to wear, except for my Green Beret, of course) and past race paraphernalia to current races. I think that is a bit over the top, no need to demonstrate my past performance, I will leave that for race day. Besides, someone might read my shirt then want to talk to me about that race and I would have to be social with a complete stranger.
Momentary bit of pre-race panic last night: I was talking to mom on the phone, going over her cult related activities, packing up at the same time. I realized I did not have a clean pair of blue shorts (the ones with the pockets). I had to run an emergency load of laundry last night. Good thing I checked, I would hate to have waited til this morning and then found out. No telling how wearing an unplanned pair of shorts would have effected my race.
In NY now, yup, more marathon people, a few hats, mostly you can tell because they are wearing their running shoes, some folks have their warmup jacket from last year. If they ran it last year, I salute em, the weather was terrible. Rainy and cold, I would have struggled with that.
In Boston, at the hotel, nice digs, Mom.
I will head to the expo tomorrow morning to get my number and stuff.
Donation update: Tony M made a huge donation, sending my total to over 1700 bucks. Thanks a ton, I will continue to collect until after the race.
I don’t see anyone that looks like a Boston Marathon person yet; I suspect that when I get to my connection in NY there will be more. Normally, marathon people look skinny (except for me) abnormally tanned, wearing cool shoes, one of those goofy running hats and past race paraphernalia. I refuse to wear goofy running hats (any hat is hard for me to wear, except for my Green Beret, of course) and past race paraphernalia to current races. I think that is a bit over the top, no need to demonstrate my past performance, I will leave that for race day. Besides, someone might read my shirt then want to talk to me about that race and I would have to be social with a complete stranger.
Momentary bit of pre-race panic last night: I was talking to mom on the phone, going over her cult related activities, packing up at the same time. I realized I did not have a clean pair of blue shorts (the ones with the pockets). I had to run an emergency load of laundry last night. Good thing I checked, I would hate to have waited til this morning and then found out. No telling how wearing an unplanned pair of shorts would have effected my race.
In NY now, yup, more marathon people, a few hats, mostly you can tell because they are wearing their running shoes, some folks have their warmup jacket from last year. If they ran it last year, I salute em, the weather was terrible. Rainy and cold, I would have struggled with that.
In Boston, at the hotel, nice digs, Mom.
I will head to the expo tomorrow morning to get my number and stuff.
Donation update: Tony M made a huge donation, sending my total to over 1700 bucks. Thanks a ton, I will continue to collect until after the race.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Why Boston?
For those of you wondering "Why on earth is Fritz running the Boston Marathon?" here is the answer:
Way, way back when I was in 7th Grade at Papillion Junior High, we were having guidance counselor interviews. These are the ones where the guidance counsellor asks some poor 7th Grade kid (who has just left the comfortable womb of the elementary school and is now suffering the trauma if being in Junior High) "What do you want to do with your life?". (For the sisters, my counselor at the time was Mr. Davis, they will get a chuckle because he was a hippie throwback which was pretty rare in Papillion, NE, after the interview, I realized, that man was kind of weird). Believe it or not, I had no really good idea at that point so I made a few things up:
Question 1: "What college do you want to go to?" Texas A&M of course, what other colleges are there? Just two short years earlier, the G family had moved from Texas and I kind of liked it, so I was still in the denial phase. Texas A&M had a very good football team in the 70s, so that was my answer. In the years after that, I slowly became a Nebraska fan and ended up going to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Strike one.
Question 2: "What do you want to major in?" Agriculture, duh. Texas A&M is an AGRICULTURE and Military college. Geez, these guidance counselors don't know a darned thing. I majored in Business and focused on Economics. Strike two.
Question 3: "What will you do after college?" Umm, join the Army. Agriculture and MILITARY, hello? (I got one right)
Question 4: "Is there anything else that you want to do?" Run the Boston Marathon. This was spring time and I had just read an article about the Boston Marathon and thought it was pretty cool. I had no idea what a marathon was. (batting .500)
About 5 minutes after the session with Mr. Davis, I flushed all of that out of my brain.
Fast forward to 1999, I had to stop playing rugby, 9 out of 10 doctors agreed that is was bad for my health, and had no idea what to do to keep myself busy, so I started running a little more. I talked to a bunch of folks at school (Command and General Staff College, FT Leavenworth) that were running the Army Ten Miler, and I ran that with them, it was pretty cool and I was hooked on racing. I signed up for the Disney Marathon, turned a pretty good time and it kind of hit me, I had told my 7th Grade guidance counsellor that I was going to run the Boston Marathon, I HAVE to do that. I got online and went to sign up for it and was told by the cold hearted internet, you have to QUALIFY (At the time, the Disney Marathon was not a Boston Qualifier, and my time was 12 minutes too slow for my age) for the Boston Marathon. My 7th Grade goal was crushed.
I moved back to FT Bragg, rejoined 3d SFG and got too busy to even think about running 26.2 miles. After I left 3d SFG, I had a little more time for proper training and I picked back up with the goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. I ended up qualifying for the marathon on my first shot (at the Gulf Coast Marathon in St. Petersburg, FL - - flat, fast, and a 20 mile an hour tailwind), and the rest is history.
This will be my second Boston Marathon, I will enjoy it as much as the first.
Way, way back when I was in 7th Grade at Papillion Junior High, we were having guidance counselor interviews. These are the ones where the guidance counsellor asks some poor 7th Grade kid (who has just left the comfortable womb of the elementary school and is now suffering the trauma if being in Junior High) "What do you want to do with your life?". (For the sisters, my counselor at the time was Mr. Davis, they will get a chuckle because he was a hippie throwback which was pretty rare in Papillion, NE, after the interview, I realized, that man was kind of weird). Believe it or not, I had no really good idea at that point so I made a few things up:
Question 1: "What college do you want to go to?" Texas A&M of course, what other colleges are there? Just two short years earlier, the G family had moved from Texas and I kind of liked it, so I was still in the denial phase. Texas A&M had a very good football team in the 70s, so that was my answer. In the years after that, I slowly became a Nebraska fan and ended up going to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Strike one.
Question 2: "What do you want to major in?" Agriculture, duh. Texas A&M is an AGRICULTURE and Military college. Geez, these guidance counselors don't know a darned thing. I majored in Business and focused on Economics. Strike two.
Question 3: "What will you do after college?" Umm, join the Army. Agriculture and MILITARY, hello? (I got one right)
Question 4: "Is there anything else that you want to do?" Run the Boston Marathon. This was spring time and I had just read an article about the Boston Marathon and thought it was pretty cool. I had no idea what a marathon was. (batting .500)
About 5 minutes after the session with Mr. Davis, I flushed all of that out of my brain.
Fast forward to 1999, I had to stop playing rugby, 9 out of 10 doctors agreed that is was bad for my health, and had no idea what to do to keep myself busy, so I started running a little more. I talked to a bunch of folks at school (Command and General Staff College, FT Leavenworth) that were running the Army Ten Miler, and I ran that with them, it was pretty cool and I was hooked on racing. I signed up for the Disney Marathon, turned a pretty good time and it kind of hit me, I had told my 7th Grade guidance counsellor that I was going to run the Boston Marathon, I HAVE to do that. I got online and went to sign up for it and was told by the cold hearted internet, you have to QUALIFY (At the time, the Disney Marathon was not a Boston Qualifier, and my time was 12 minutes too slow for my age) for the Boston Marathon. My 7th Grade goal was crushed.
I moved back to FT Bragg, rejoined 3d SFG and got too busy to even think about running 26.2 miles. After I left 3d SFG, I had a little more time for proper training and I picked back up with the goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. I ended up qualifying for the marathon on my first shot (at the Gulf Coast Marathon in St. Petersburg, FL - - flat, fast, and a 20 mile an hour tailwind), and the rest is history.
This will be my second Boston Marathon, I will enjoy it as much as the first.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Taper, taper, taper . . . .
I am about 5 days from the Boston Marathon, in the taper down phase of my training plan. That puts a ton of doubts in my head about the race because I am not training aggressively right up to race day. One side of my brain thinks that I should be out running like crazy, going as fast as I can. The other side of my brain pretty much tells me to relax, go run the race.
I had my APFT this morning, part of that test is a 2 mile run for time. I have never had any problems getting a maximum score on the run. Because I am in taper mode, I had another crisis in faith during that. I was warming up for the 2 mile portion of the test, running a slow mile before the 2 mile, and I wasn’t feeling very strong during the warm up. Once again, one side of my brain was panicking, feeling weak and un-prepared, screaming out that I was in terrible shape, my taper plan was not going to work . . . . blah, blah, blah. The other side of my brain reminded me that I had donea ton of high quality running, including 4 x 20 mile runs during the train up, none of those had my pace below 7:30, 2 of them I was at a 7:24 or below pace. Of course, when I started to run, all that went straight out of my head and I turned on the jets, but not all the way. I turned a 12:26 for the two miles, which was good enough, I am pretty sure I could have gone much faster, but I didn’t want to jeopardize the marathon for the APFT.
Mike, Mary and Dixie (Mike and Mary's dog that only likes me because I throw the ball for her) made a donation, bringing me close to 1200 bucks. I have a few more irons in the fire, so that should increase. Thanks!
I had my APFT this morning, part of that test is a 2 mile run for time. I have never had any problems getting a maximum score on the run. Because I am in taper mode, I had another crisis in faith during that. I was warming up for the 2 mile portion of the test, running a slow mile before the 2 mile, and I wasn’t feeling very strong during the warm up. Once again, one side of my brain was panicking, feeling weak and un-prepared, screaming out that I was in terrible shape, my taper plan was not going to work . . . . blah, blah, blah. The other side of my brain reminded me that I had donea ton of high quality running, including 4 x 20 mile runs during the train up, none of those had my pace below 7:30, 2 of them I was at a 7:24 or below pace. Of course, when I started to run, all that went straight out of my head and I turned on the jets, but not all the way. I turned a 12:26 for the two miles, which was good enough, I am pretty sure I could have gone much faster, but I didn’t want to jeopardize the marathon for the APFT.
Mike, Mary and Dixie (Mike and Mary's dog that only likes me because I throw the ball for her) made a donation, bringing me close to 1200 bucks. I have a few more irons in the fire, so that should increase. Thanks!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
8 Miles
Last long sort of run in the bag. 8 miles on saturday morning, nice run. I got up early this morning, and decided to keep it flat, so I just ran out the back way, hit the country roads and ran one of my old routes. I used to run out in the country all the time, but have got away from that route for some reason. The area I used to run was used to be nothing but cotton and tobacco fields, now it is a bunch of subdivisions. Last time I ran there it was about three years ago, and they were just starting to build a few houses, now it is a full blown neighborhood. Pretty nice houses, too.
The run was pretty fast, I was trying to keep the pace slow, but just could not do it. I ended up turning a 7:15 pace for the 8 miles, which felt pretty good. I am more than ready for the race.
The only running I will do next week will be a short run on Monday, the 2-mile portion of the Army Physical Training test, and the marathon. Should be a good rest week, which will of course drive me crazy - - I am used to running 30 or so miles a week and when I just stop running, I have way too much energy. I guess I can deal with that though.
The run was pretty fast, I was trying to keep the pace slow, but just could not do it. I ended up turning a 7:15 pace for the 8 miles, which felt pretty good. I am more than ready for the race.
The only running I will do next week will be a short run on Monday, the 2-mile portion of the Army Physical Training test, and the marathon. Should be a good rest week, which will of course drive me crazy - - I am used to running 30 or so miles a week and when I just stop running, I have way too much energy. I guess I can deal with that though.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Last Tempo Run
Well, I am hitting several lasts . . . . last double digit run, last intervals and now, the last tempo run. I started my run at Bronze Bruce, right next to the headquarters building. Bronze Bruce is on the same plaza as a statue of Dick Meadows, one of Special Forces heroes. He was an important part of the SonTay Raid during the Vietnam War.
The plaza where Bronze Bruce stands is called Meadow's Field, that is where most SF parades take place. The plaza is surrounded by cherry trees, each spring I wait for the right moment to take pictures of Dick Meadows, it is a very pretty sight, these are this year's photos. If you click on the pictures, you get a much better view of the statue, Dick Meadows was a true hero and general stud.
Ok, back to the run. It was a pretty standard route, through 3d SFG, onto Chicken Road then open up the pace for a few miles, turn around and come back at pace. I went 2 miles out and 2 miles back, plus a miles worth of warm up and cool down. The tempo portion was a 6:32 pace, I felt pretty strong on the hills, it was a nice little chunk of running.
Dennis and Allison McC are making a donation, and I got another one from Joe Cap, one of the LTCs I work with. Pretty good amount so far, Thanks a ton.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Tapering Down
Yesterday's run was a quick 7 miler, I hit the trails around Ritz Epps Gym and took it kind of easy. Not too much to say about it really, I hit a firebreak that went out to Longstreet, went over the first sister then hit another firebreak that took me all the way to Yorktown Victor. From there I went up Yadkin extension onto Gruber Road and back to Ritz Epps. Pretty fair run, some nice hills.
While I was running I kind of realized that two weeks from yesterday, I will have completed the Boston Marathon and be heading back from Boston to Fayetteville. Pretty cool. My next run is tomorrow, a quick tempo run, just to make sure I still have some speed.
While I was running I kind of realized that two weeks from yesterday, I will have completed the Boston Marathon and be heading back from Boston to Fayetteville. Pretty cool. My next run is tomorrow, a quick tempo run, just to make sure I still have some speed.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Last of the Double Digit runs
Today was my last run that has double digits before the race, it was a nice, easy 12 miler. I ran from the house, onto Raeford Road, hit Wayside Road then Chicken Road onto FT Bragg. Pretty fair run, I got on the road about 0830, it was actually sunny outside when I started. It stayed sunny til I hit about mile 8, then it clouded over again. You can always tell when it is about to rain in NC, it starts to get cool and the wind picks up a little bit. It was starting to do that this morning, so I picked it up a little bit more. I hate running in the rain - - Nothing you can do but just get wet.
Luckily, I made it home before it got going, there were just a few sprinkles coming on down when I made the turn back into the neighborhood, it has been spitting, starting and stopping all day long. I guess these are the April showers, I will let you know how May goes. Pretty fair run, I had a pretty steady pace for the 12 miles, right at 7:20.
There was some artillery firing on the range, it sounded like two guns, one would fire then about a second later the other would fire. Pretty cool. There was a short time that I could hear the guns firing, then hear the rounds impacting. That kept me entertained for a couple of miles.
Next week are some mellower runs, I will have a little bit of speed on Thursday, a nice run on Tuesday and something on Saturday, probably a 6-8 miler.
Luckily, I made it home before it got going, there were just a few sprinkles coming on down when I made the turn back into the neighborhood, it has been spitting, starting and stopping all day long. I guess these are the April showers, I will let you know how May goes. Pretty fair run, I had a pretty steady pace for the 12 miles, right at 7:20.
There was some artillery firing on the range, it sounded like two guns, one would fire then about a second later the other would fire. Pretty cool. There was a short time that I could hear the guns firing, then hear the rounds impacting. That kept me entertained for a couple of miles.
Next week are some mellower runs, I will have a little bit of speed on Thursday, a nice run on Tuesday and something on Saturday, probably a 6-8 miler.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Raining, again . . . .
OK, Saturday morning, raining, no running. I will knock out 12 miles tomorrow, unless it rains.
I was cruising through my most recent edition of Runner's World . . . and found out I am not the only crazy one that has favorite clothes. Check out the link below:
http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/microsite/article/0,8029,s6-239-420-0-12546-0,00.html
The black pants and another running enthusiast. Of course, I am sticking with the clothing plan . . . new blue shorts with the pocket, FASTEST RED SHIRT EVER (with my name added on) and a second shirt with something special for the Weslley ladies written on it.
I will let you know about the run tomorrow.
Kitty T kicked in a huge donation, well over 1000 bucks for donations. I do appreciate it.
I was cruising through my most recent edition of Runner's World . . . and found out I am not the only crazy one that has favorite clothes. Check out the link below:
http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/microsite/article/0,8029,s6-239-420-0-12546-0,00.html
The black pants and another running enthusiast. Of course, I am sticking with the clothing plan . . . new blue shorts with the pocket, FASTEST RED SHIRT EVER (with my name added on) and a second shirt with something special for the Weslley ladies written on it.
I will let you know about the run tomorrow.
Kitty T kicked in a huge donation, well over 1000 bucks for donations. I do appreciate it.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Ah, intervals
I kind of like intervals, it is like driving a car really fast, you feel pretty good when your done and enjoy the speed. Yesterdays work out was 4 x 1 mile intervals, pretty much designed to improve my leg strength. It seemed to work. I really wasn't pushing it too hard, but came away with some good, consistent interval times: 5:58, 5:58, 5:57 and 5:58. I have no idea how I could have slipped up so badly on number 3 - geez a whole second off pace.
I ran on the Polo ground, which is a kilometer long track that is around what used to be FT Bragg's Polo Field. Of course, polo is no longer played on FT Bragg so it has been relegated to what most every large strip of empty grass in hometown USA has been relegated to: Youth Soccer Fields. In the mornings there are normally several corps level units doing Army PT on the fields. You can tell they are corps level units because all of their PT uniforms are very clean and match and the PT isn't too intnense: Lots of stretching, a few pushups then some soccer or frisbee football. At lower levels, the uniforms get messier and the PT gets much more intense. (a corps level unit is one that is a higher headquarters support unit like a medical unit, a finance unit, personnel services unit, etc. Not the fierecest of warriors, but they are necessary and I appreciate the fact that they are doing PT instead of eating donuts and drinking coffee somewhere, even if they do sometimes clog up the track).
OK, editorial note: My older sister busted me out - My ID card that I hate carrying only weighs 0.1 ounces not 1.7 ounces, it should be no problem to carry, but I just don't. I think it is the mere fact that someone is telling me to carry the card that makes me resist carrying it. Brand New Airman really reinforced my resistance to carrying the card last weekend.
On a brighter note, I sent my blog to a couple of my Scout buddies, and JoAnne P has mentioned that she would like to make a donation. Between her, Kitty the real estate agent, and the choir folks from Tampa, I may go over a grand. I will keep you posted.
I ran on the Polo ground, which is a kilometer long track that is around what used to be FT Bragg's Polo Field. Of course, polo is no longer played on FT Bragg so it has been relegated to what most every large strip of empty grass in hometown USA has been relegated to: Youth Soccer Fields. In the mornings there are normally several corps level units doing Army PT on the fields. You can tell they are corps level units because all of their PT uniforms are very clean and match and the PT isn't too intnense: Lots of stretching, a few pushups then some soccer or frisbee football. At lower levels, the uniforms get messier and the PT gets much more intense. (a corps level unit is one that is a higher headquarters support unit like a medical unit, a finance unit, personnel services unit, etc. Not the fierecest of warriors, but they are necessary and I appreciate the fact that they are doing PT instead of eating donuts and drinking coffee somewhere, even if they do sometimes clog up the track).
OK, editorial note: My older sister busted me out - My ID card that I hate carrying only weighs 0.1 ounces not 1.7 ounces, it should be no problem to carry, but I just don't. I think it is the mere fact that someone is telling me to carry the card that makes me resist carrying it. Brand New Airman really reinforced my resistance to carrying the card last weekend.
On a brighter note, I sent my blog to a couple of my Scout buddies, and JoAnne P has mentioned that she would like to make a donation. Between her, Kitty the real estate agent, and the choir folks from Tampa, I may go over a grand. I will keep you posted.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Tuesday's Run
I was going to run on Monday, but it was ahhh, raining. I have a strict policy about running in the rain: It is bad for you, so I don't do it. I just went to the gym and hit the eliptical trainer for an hour. Tuesday, I knocked out a medium speed 8 miler. I ran from the headquarters building, through 3d SFG and hit the trail to the Nuke Site. The Nuke Site is a traditional run here on FT Bragg, the actual site is where they stored nuclear rounds for the 82d Airborne Division and 18th Airborne Corps during the Cold War years. When they stopped doing that they turned the site over to the Emergency Ordnance Disposal (EOD) company here on Bragg. It is almost exactly 2 miles from 3d SFG.
Once I got to the Nuke Site, I turned up onto MacRidge and went a couple of more miles, turned around and came on back. Pretty fair run, I did another negative split, finishing off the last four miles really strong. When I checked the ForeRunner it told me 7:25 pace for the 8 miles. On the way out, I averaged just over 7:40, so those last 4 were smoking fast, which is always fun. My next run will be some intervals on the Polo Field track tomorrow morning.
Kitty T, my real estate agent, has kicked in a good donation and John C's Church Choir Group is actively collecting, I may just break 1,000 bucks. Thanks!
Once I got to the Nuke Site, I turned up onto MacRidge and went a couple of more miles, turned around and came on back. Pretty fair run, I did another negative split, finishing off the last four miles really strong. When I checked the ForeRunner it told me 7:25 pace for the 8 miles. On the way out, I averaged just over 7:40, so those last 4 were smoking fast, which is always fun. My next run will be some intervals on the Polo Field track tomorrow morning.
Kitty T, my real estate agent, has kicked in a good donation and John C's Church Choir Group is actively collecting, I may just break 1,000 bucks. Thanks!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)