I'm Normal Again!!!!!

Now there isn't anything wrong with me, not was I living with some strange disorder.

I did something today that a normal person would do.

I the guy that will stop running when my body says to stop or I've reached the destination that I planned on running to. If my Garmin reads 2.2 or 9.8, I stop! I no longer the runner that would have to round up to the next mile.

Today's weather was absolutely summer-like with temps reaching the mid-eighties. Since my long runs are the weekend, I use Friday as a transition day. Transitioning from afternoon or evening runs to my early morning weekends runs. Since it was so nice out today, I just ran a couple of miles instead of being the runner that would run longer because the weather was so nice.

I only had to run a little more than five miles to have 100 miles for the month, which is what a runner would have done. Instead I ran my two miles and was happy about it.

So, I can once again say that 'I'm normal again'....

Have a great weekend peeps.

Three Thing Thursday

1) My TNT spring 2010 team is jinxed when it comes to the weather! The forecast for Sunday's Flying Pig is 70% chance of heavy thunderstorms..... I sent them the link to a YouTube video of "Singing in the Rain" with Gene Kelly. He was so happy to be in the rain, maybe it will work for them.


2) Holy Hot-tub Time Machine...... I saw a guy at the Community Center put on one of those vinyl sweat suits that people used to wear to lose weight! Then he topped it off with a Velcro corset type thingy. All of this under a sweat shirt. I hope he didn't pass out while exercising.


3) Our weekly TNT Track workout was moved to a different track when we got there and the middle school was actually holding a track meet! Fortunately there is another school track about three miles away that we were able to use. The team kicked out some great intervals, although we have some work to do on their drills skills. It was comical to watch adults try to butt kicks and knee highs with no coordination...

Had a fantastic lunchtime run, so I got that out of my system. Bring on the crappy runs...........

Wednesday's Why????

Some jobs are really, really tough........

Okay, since the pain in my arse just reminded that I did walking lunges as a part of my workout!

Why the hell don't I do lunges on a regular basis????

It never fails that I throw lunges into my quarterly leg workout and they come back to bite me in the butt, literally!

Why do we stop doing things that we know are beneficial for us but just don't do?

The wind has finally gotten under 25 mph and I had a half-way decent run where I once again had to bribe my legs into continuing. This has been a weird week of running. Nothing feel right and I don't feel like I'm properly fueled. How am I suppose to lose any weight when I'm starving???

I have a new found respect for anyone trying to lose weight, this sucks! The intensity of my workouts is effected by my food consumption, which I'm limiting while I try to up the intensity of my workouts.............. Arghhhhhh

When is Talk-Like-a-Pirate day????

Tuesday WTF

Okay, now I really feel like the contestants on the Biggest Loser! I got on the scale after a week of good choices and good running and not so good strength training thinking I would drop a few more lbs. But nooooooooooooooooo, that damn liar of a scale said that I had gained two pounds. WTF???? So I proceeded to give my speech about how hard I had worked during the week, blah, blah, blah..........

I really expected to have lost some weight but it just makes me more determined to watch what I put in my Pie-hole of a mouth.

So the extended forecast for my last group for TNT spring team is rain for the Flying Pig! Once again WTF?????? I hope that whatever weather pattern moves in another direction and stays away from the Queen City.....

Spring is always a fun time to run in because of the weather but why are we getting sunshine and blue skies with 1000 mph wind gust, WTF????????? Who wants to do their mime impressions of running into the wind and a Usain Bolt impressions running with the tailwind? WTF????

Nashville Notes and Stuff

This weekend was suppose to be the second event for my TNT spring kids in Nashville at the Country Music races. Well, the one thing we have no control of 'Mother Nature' reared her ugly head! Torrential rain, wind, lightning and tornado warnings!!!! That's no way to treat visitors to your city.............

For the safety of the participants, the race officials had a contingency plan to close the course with a 4:30 time limit for the full marathon. Anyone else would be detoured to the half-marathon. As it turned out they diverted runners and none of my team completed the 26.2 miles!

Everyone was still grateful for what they had accomplished both physically and financially for the cause.

We had a wet weekend in the high-five state and its nothing better than running in the rain! (sarcasm)...... Our spring season is winding down and we only have one more week of training before the Flying Pig event. Boy, these kids grow up so fast!

Honestly...........

Coach Liz tagged me to post 10 Honest Things about Myself. Wow, this is going to be strange,

1) I got lost walking home from school as a third grader. We had just moved and my older sister left without me. It was a two block walk but I was eight years old. I'm sure the pee stained pants and constant crying drew some attention.

2) I've only had one official fight in my entire life and I won! I was about thirteen and Danny Parks and I went at it. I got in a lucky punch somehow and stopped him in his tracks. I think I lived on that reputation for a few years afterward.

3) Not sure why but our class learned how to swim in the buff! Sans swimming suits for everyone. Can't imagine that happening in these times.

4) I am scared to death of drowning! Even though I know how to swim, it's all done in a pool where I can see lane markers and touch the bottom. Never have swam in a lake or river or ocean.....

5) I procrastinate with the best of them. Not sure why but it's been a thorn in my side for years. I guess it gives me a New Year's resolution each year.

6) I received a scholarship to attend college for engineering and hated it!

7) Initially thought that runners were not athletes and that anyone could run a marathon, boy was I wrong.

8) Love being around my kids now that they're adults as much as I did when they were little kids. Just seeing how many of my good and bad traits they inherited is so cool.........

9) Wonder when I'm going to grow up and act my age.

10) Love my TNT family and wonder what my life would be like if I hadn't been given the opportunity to be involved with them.........

Wow, I hope I wasn't too honest! TGIF

Three Things Thursday

1) Wednesday's hill sprints kicked my arse! My glutes are screaming at me and my legs still haven't recovered. Why the hell am I doing this? Oh, that's right those Canadian women are kicking ass and taking names......

2) We had an awesome TNT track workout. Although the temps went from 70 to 50 in a matter of minutes it seemed like! It was okay for the team, they were running. I was standing with my clipboard recording times..... Brrrrrrrrrr

3) Some of my spring team arrived in Nashville this morning for the Country Music Marathon. It looks like the temps will be okay but maybe some rain to keep them cool. I've been to this event several times and loved every minute of it. Go Team......

Biggest Loser contest weigh-in is tomorrow and just like the real contestants, I can't tell if I've lost anything or not. We had cake in the office and I chose to have an orange instead. I miss potato chips and chocolate anything cake and potato chips..............

Oh well, when I'm breaking the tape at the finish line of the Olympics there had better be potato chips........

Wednesday's Why????

Why is it when I take money out of an ATM, I feel like I getting my money, but if I get cash back from a Debit card transaction, I feel like I'm spending my money??????

Congrats to the Boston finishers that I'm acquainted with, I got tire of looking up times:

1. Dave Dysert

2. Anna Weisbrodt – 3:21:20

3. Nick Budzyn

4. Mario Granato

5. Angela Lipanski – 3:26:58

6. Veronica Alatorre – 3:30:28

7. Sara Figueroa – 4:17:18

8. Dawn Alexander – 4:03:40

9. Kathy Clark – 4:17:18

10. Bob Kosen

11. Chris Waters

12. Anne Kurtis – 3:58:00

13. Doug Kurtis – 4:36:47 (LOL)

14. Amber Williamson – 4:06:45

15. Randy Step – 4:

16. Gary Morgan

17. Tom Artushin

18. Jan Artushin – 4:05:51

19. Maggy Zidar – 3:50:31

20. Veronica Femminineo – 4:00:49

Happy Patriots Day..................

What does it mean when you know so many people that are participating in the 114th running of the Boston Marathon and you're sitting at your desk and can only track five of them????

It means that I hang out with a fast crowd!!!!!

Remind me to never complain about 80º running days, that only lead to a weekend of 80 mph winds!!!!

Our TNT training consisted of me and a group of nine women! Now don't get me wrong, I did appreciate the good looking company but they were all about five feet tall. Who could I draft off of?????

We still have TNT participants stuck in Paris from the marathon last Sunday! Since it was Paris, a few of them decided to extend their trip and got caught in the volcanic ash dilemma. Not only are they probably running short of money, clothing but a cheap place to stay..... I'm sure there will be some stories to tell, whenever they get back to the states......

We start our TNT Wednesday track workouts this week and I am excited. What should I schedule to torture them on week one??????

Okay, time to track some runners in Boston.......

Why Didn't I think of That?????

Have you ever looked at a product that seemed so simple and said why didn't I think of that?

The latest Snuggie craze, who knew??? It's just a blanket.....................

I'm sure some of you won't remember the 'Pet Rock'. It's just a rock............

I came across the website for the HydroPouch and it seems like a simple idea that has good merit but I can't get my full brain around it.

It's pretty funny watching some of the testimonials of people that have issues drinking fluids while they race. They have footage of people being interviewed as the race is going on and people are in the background passing the runners speaking. Can you imagine someone asking to interview you in the middle of a race, 'excuse me, do you have a few minutes to be interviewed?'.........

Uh, I'm in the middle of a race that I think I can PR at, but what the heck. Sure interview me........ HA

We actually practice drinking on the run with my TNT teams, so they don't drown.

So which one of you has the next big idea???????????

Biggest Loser Update: Down to 197.8 lbs.

4.6 pounds lost in week one.............

Three Thing Thursday

1. Everyone knows is you give me an inch, I'll want to take a yard! Of course I glad and thrilled to be running again but I still have the need for speed...... So yesterday's post contradicted me previous 'blessed to be running without pain', but that's how we're wired....

2. Running in 80º temps in April? I almost died today at my lunch time run. How am I suppose to be acclimated to this weather? Don't get me wrong, I'm not really complaining about the heat, I'm just saying........WTF!

3. We had our last TNT clinic for the Spring team last night and they are ready to run!!!! I still don't know how you teachers do it? How do you let your little ones go when they're just starting to learn and go out on their own. This has been a fast five months of training.

Okay, I got my run in and now I have to mail off my income taxes. Yes I even procrastinate about that!

Happy TGIF Eve...........

Wednesday's WTF????

Okay, I know that years have passed for me in terms of my running age!!! But that's another post.

I'm currently working in the same area where I had some fantastic runs, when I was much younger.....

Back then I remember timing traffic lights based on my running pace. It was a thing of beauty to see me running effortlessly to a light and not skip a beat.....

Okay, maybe that's only in my mind but that's how I'm going to remember it!

Now I find my brain bribing and promising all types of things to my legs in order to keep them moving. Those same traffic lights are now much deserved respites for the legs.

When did fire hydrants become points of interest for me?

If a sign is a different color it triggers my legs to ask for more rest......

Don't get me wrong, I am getting in better shape each day but I'm still trying to find that thirty-something runner that just kept going without even thinking about it.

As the title implies WTF??????????????

To B or Not to B

It was a great running weekend in the High-Five state. I actually got in a run each day of the weeknd and I'm happy to report that I have no run stopping twinges or aches!

I know that most of you are reporting about PRs and ridiculously long runs but for me it;s just the joy of running.

That's right, this is what you have to look forward to when you aren't running PRs or peaking for a race. We older folk just enjoy the fact that we can run. That's my story and I'm sticking to it....

Okay, I had the pleasure of supporting one of my former co-workers that was running a local marathon in hopes of BQing. Since he's so much younger than me, all he needed was a sub 3:30. He had put in all of the training miles, speedwork, tempo runs and just barely eluded a calf injury.

The event just happened to be about an hours drive from home so I calculated that I needed to arrive at a specific time to ensure seeing him on the course at our agreed upon mile marker. Knowing all of this I gave myself some additional sleeping and coffee drinking time at home.

Some of the things you should do when supporting someone at an event, bring a map, know where the finish area is located and lastly arrive with more than 30 seconds to spare!

Yikes, I had just stepped on the course when my friend appeared out of no where! it was time to run.........

I stayed with him for what seemed like forever, okay just a little over a mile since I had to get back to the car and find my way to the finish. He was doing great, his BQ was in the bag.

Well as we all know, things happen in a marathon and not all of them are good. somewhere between miles 20 and 25 my friend hit the wall.

Okay, long story short. I finally made it to the finish area and there was my friend showing me his watch which read 3:31:44!!!

Forty eight seconds from Boston...........

He walker twice the last mile and that could have been his 48 seconds......

He took it like a champ and we proceeded to think of a strategy to find another event for him to run.

Well, it seems that my friend had neglected to stop his watch when he crossed the finish line and stopped it 1:24 after crossing. So his official finishing time is 3:20 and he BQed!!!!

So we thought we were consuming BEvERages while consoling him when in reality we were celebrating........... YAY Brian

T.G.I.F.

Sandy's son is a freshman on his high school track team and they had a Spring break invitational today, which we attended.

Since I didn't even know we had a track team when I went to high school this was totally different for me. It was so cool to see all of these kids warming up and running and jumping, all for the fun of it.

Of course since I was there the weather took a turn for Winter instead of Spring.... 38º isn't the same when you're sitting in bleachers as opposed to running in it!!!!

The other thing that really stood out for me was the way the kids enjoyed their teammates. One girl finished in last place in her 100 meter race and she still had a huge smile on her face. It was truly inspiring and reminded me why I love to run so much.

I know that I probably won't make the Olympic team in 2012 but I'll continue to train like it's possible.

Oh, it's Opening Day in the Motor City, so I'll go off my diet for a day.

Go Tigers.................

Three Things Thursday

Okay I'm going to try this was see how long I can keep three things going.

1 - We're having a Biggest Loser contest at work and I'm joining in on the fun. I can lose about 10 pounds, which my knees would truly appreciate. I'm starting at 202.2 lbs (I'm a big boned Kenyan) and we'll see if just increasing my exercise and cutting out snacking will do the job.......

2 - Tiger/Tiki - Nuff said.......

3 - We'll be having our informal TNT Track Wednesday workouts starting and I am so excited to get the speed started. This is a chance for all of the current and alumni to get together and sweat.

Today was a rest day for me and the weather was cooler, windy and overcast! Did I say rest, I meant a non-running day, time to go to the gym and hit the weights.

Wednesday's Why???????

I have to admit that I am becoming increasingly obsessed with my web-based running logs.

That's right I said logs!!!!

I loved Coolrunning when I used it years back, instead of the old school paper and pencil method.

Once I purchased my first Garmin, I was hooked on the RoadRunner sports website where I could just upload data and have it appear like magic.

But was that enough for me, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

I'm always on the lookout for another way to skin a cat! (okay, its just an expression). Although it would probably be painful and messy to try it.

That brought about Buckeye Outdoors and recently the Daily Mile and the list is probably endless going forward.

So my question is WHY am I keeping all of these logs current????

I know that we runners are anal, but to what extreme????

Today is HILL repeat day for me and the weather doesn't look like it's going to cooperate. Rain, rain go away.......

Happy Hump Day...........

Easter Weekend Recap

This was the 20/12 miler for the 2010 Spring TNT team, so we combined the area teams for one big TNT training run.

It was a little earlier than normal but the sun eventually came up!

I try to emphasize to my team to go out slow and gradually increase their pace, which they did perfectly. A lot of times when the groups get big the adrenaline takes over and they pay for it in the late miles.

The course was a ten mile loop with a lot of rolling hills that made for some sore ankles and stiff knees, but overall everyone did fantastic.

As you can see we wanted to simulate a true race environment with race bibs and fluid stations.

I was really concerned that the warmer temps would reek havoc on everyone but the sun stayed behind the clouds for most of the morning.


It made for a long day for this coach and I knew I had a Final Four game to watch and empty a few BEvERages.

I got in a few miles with the team and by Sunday my body was talking to me! But that didn't stop me from going to the track and running in circles for a few miles. Boy, my legs love running on the softer track but my brain hates it!



Can you tell this is the beginning, look at all those smiling faces...............

T.G.I. Hooky F.

Temperatures in the seventies with sunshine and blue sky. Top it off it's Friday!!!

Can you say "let's play hooky"?????

That's right today is go run, bike and go to the gym day.....

This is truly a Good Friday for me.

We have our TNT 20/12 tomorrow morning @ 7:30 AM and I have to drive 60 miles to get there...

It's going to be a hot one. Have a great weekend and remember 9 out 10 dentist prefer Trident..............

Thursday's Thoughts

We are having summer temps and it is absolutely fantastic! I am even tempted to run on my rest day, just to be out in the sunshine.

Pet peeve - people (men) that put gum in urinals............... Why?

I always find myself forgetting stretching, icing and strengthening whenever I start to run without any issues.

Hill repeats are becoming my newest bestest friend. It's easier on the body and I'm becoming stronger(I hope). I still get my knees in better conditioning and the hills let me know that.

We'll be starting the TNT track workout next week and I hope to have a good group.

Do any of us still play hooky from work to go to that baseball game or just take advantage of a beautiful sunny day?

Tomorrow is the high is going to be near 80º with more sunshine. I think I feel a cough coming on...................