TTT

1) Happy Canada Day and Fourth of July weekend. Being so close to Canada, it's always funny how much more we know about the country than other parts of the USA. Does the same hold true for the state that border the country to the South of us????

2) Speed-work is funny. It kicks your ass while you're doing it but the recovery makes you think you can continue. There should be a way to remove your brain and re-insert it after the workout. Not only would it be less weight to lug around but you wouldn't be thinking about the pain.....

3) Does July 4th kick off summer for you or are you lucky enough to have started in May or June? We only have a few more weeks according to the calendar and the weather is still trying to figure out what to do. Bring on the heat!

Peace.........

Wednesday's Why???????????

Why is appearance sooooooooooooo important to us????

Why do we judge by a person gait or what they're wearing?

I'm not saying that we're runner snobs, but looking good is important to us......

I ran with my buddy that was attempting to do 100 miles for Relay for Life in a wife-beater and cut-off jeans........... SO I didn't look like a runner but did that mean I wasn't a runner?

I think we've all been in races where we see someone with a terrible gait, but they're ahead of us!

How about the guy in the cargo shorts that flies pass you?

So does size really.............. wrong post.

So are we running snobs????????????

Peace

Wow Weekend

This was an interesting running weekend for me. It started with a 4:00 AM wake-up call to make it to the start line for the Solstice Races.

My official title is Start Line Coordinator, which means answer any and all questions that arise at the start, since I will be the only race person there!

I had the opportunity to see a lot of familiar faces including Jeff from Detroit Runner.

We had over 3500 participants in all of the races which included a Maui Mile for the kids. The winning kids were neck and neck at the finish line with a time of 7:03 and one of them couldn't have been more than seven!

After the race I wasn't able to stick around because that damn grass keeps growing and I knew I had a guy running 100 miles for the Relay for Life!

Now this was my first experience with Relay for Life but I think most of the participants walk around the track as teams for 24 hours. My friend was the only runner and it made for some weaving between people as we ran. I knew that I wouldn't be able to spend a lot of time running with him but I did want to show my support. We were averaging 12:00/mile including little breaks. He had quite a following from our local running club and a few people that were running with him in the wee hours of the night. Needless to say, this old guy slept like a baby.

So my volunteer Saturday turned out to be awesome..............

So time to relax and start the BBQ....

Peace

TGIFunny Stuff

Just heard the tag line to Cameron Diaz's latest movie 'Bad Teacher'.

She doesn't give an 'F'..............

Do people in countries that drive on the other side of the street also go up and down stairs that way?????

How can we use a Porta-John after 23,394 people but get grossed out when someone forgets to flush a toilet?????

I watched some of the USTA track event last night on my laptop, while watching baseball on television??????

What did I do before Facebook, blogging and cell phones?????

Did you know that 26.3 miles is considered an Ultra?????

Can the Western States 100 be ran on the east coast?????

Has Tiger Wood's game gone to hell because of his lack of nookie?????

If you had to come with a name for running shoe what would it be??????

Just stuff that roams around my mind.........

Peace

TTT

1) We are getting dumped on with rain the past few days and it's interfering with my runs. I hate having to re-schedule a run due to weather! Just the kind of runner I am.......... I remember the first three years of my running carreer,ever running in the rain.

2) I have a friend that is doing the Relay for Life as a One-man team! That's right he is running the 100 miles around a track alone.......... Think I need to get a new set of friends????? LOL... I have to go and run a few laps with him. I thinking of picking a time of day when I can smoke him.... Good friend I am, I know....

3) Volunteering as the Start-Line coordinator for the Solstice Races in Northville. So if any of you are participating and want to be in the front of the race, let me know. You may get trampled but think of the photo op......

Peace.........

Wednesday's Why???????????

This is a rhetorical why question today.

After yesterday evening's speed work session and showing those young whipper snappers what we old guys can do....

I was awaken to the reality that I am OLD................

My legs are dead!

Where is my walker?

Why did I do this to myself?

Who came in here and beat me with a stick?

I used to be able to run races on consecutive days...............

Oh the pain.

Friends don't let friends do speed work!

Peace

Seemed Like a Good Idea.............

Temps in the high eighties and the humidity about the same, so why not go to the group speedwork session????

I can honestly say this is one of the times when guys take off their shirts and no on cares. Women run in as least as possible and no one notices. It just get this shit over with!!!!!

Tonight we were doing 1km repeats, which I hate because it's metric! Just kidding..........

Every time I passed the 1/2 mile mark, I cursed the metric system........

This is also the time of year when they have a tone of high school kids out there, which sucks, because we old guys have to show them what we can do.................. I know it's a guy thang!

So it was a good evening to see a bunch of old friends and sweat out some BEvERages.

Now how do I replenish????????????

Peace

Tired Legs...........

Even though I know it isn't possible to contract 'tired legs' from other runners, it appears that it's something that is going around!

I kid you not, although I haven't hit with it yet quite a few runners around these parts have.

Sandy and I went out for a gorgeous Sunday morning run and she knew from the beginning that her legs were shot from Saturday.

Another runner friend we know had a craptastic long run this weekend and an ultra runner said the same thing.

Do you play any mind games when you run with a group? I was running with some of my TNT alumni and just for fun threw in some surges to see who would take the bait....... Of course they were on to my game and stayed at their pace but it has worked in the past.

Had a great Father's Day and even scored a gift card from a place other than a running store!

Sandy had her first encounter with poison ivy this season and I've been bitten by something other than a mosquito, it's been itching for three days now????

Okay, time to get this work week started......................

Peace

Runners Lie..............

That right, all you runners out there lie!

Today I was invited to join some of my former co-workers run the trails at Stony Creek. Now these guys are kicking ass and taking names with their training, but a couple of them were hurting a little with injuries.

So I took this as an opportunity to hang with the big dogs, since they were hurt!!!!

LIARS, pants on fire..............

They got me out there and I was sweating after the first 100 yards.....

We had a great time, talking and questioning how the hills kept coming. It was refreshing to be running with them again.....

So they lied, or at least weren't hurt as bad as they said. What lies have you told?????

We all know about these lies:

• You're almost there, just around the corner
• This is the last hill
• You're looking good

Peace............

T.G.I.F.

Now that TNT training is over, I have to decide what this coach is going to do on the weekends.

I could sleep in, mow the grass and yell at the neighbor kids! Nah, I don't want to be 'that old guy'.....

I could get on the bike and train for a century ride! Nah, then I would want to get a new bike....

I guess the only viable thing is to get up and run................

So even though I won't be coaching a team, I'll still be out at Stony Creek at some un-Godly time of the morning.. Yipee..........

Can someone remind me why I love doing this??????

Oh now I remember, The Running Redhead and Sun Runner both of them would die to run now!

Three Thing Thursday

1) I have become addicted to podcast, and I'm not just talking about running podcast! I find myself listening to them in the car, when I'm doing yard work and even at work! There is some pretty interesting stuff out there and some of it is even good. It's almost like the next step up from Blogging.

2) I've been eating like crap for the last few weeks and it's taking a toll on my running. I'm bringing my lunch into work but some days I just don't feel like eating what I've brought. I guess that's the little kid in me. Is it just me or does Summer make you eat less and more crappy stuff?

3) My season is officially over and I can sleep in on Saturdays! Do people still go out and party on Fridays?????? Just asking.............

Time to hit the gym

Wednesday's Why???????????

Why is it drivers will stop for you when you have a shopping cart but will run you down if you just walking in the parking lot? Is blood easier to get off than a ding from a cart?

Since most of you run thousands of miles a month, what parking spot do you normally take in the lot????

Okay I know when the weather sucks, it's nice to be close to the building but when it's not so bad???

Just asking, people look at me funny when I skip 324 spots to park.

Race Directors go Old School

Is it just me or is anyone else out there ready for a good cotton T-shirt from a race?

I was in love with the 'tech' shirts when races first started giving them to runners but enough already!

Now they're making the 'tech' shirts look like cotton????

Doesn't cotton look like cotton?

Here in the Mitten state a lot of the race directors are going with the two panel 'tech' shirt, which looks like crap when I don my cargo shorts for the BBQ!

Hey, any of you youngsters out there in Blogland remember when Runner's World had a T-shirt contest?

Speaking of Runner's World, they had a great piece on kicking cancer's ass and the charities that are trying to do it. Of course they also had the annual article about running in the heat! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Okay, I'm putting my soap-box away for now and getting ready to sweat!

Peace

Sunday is the Start of Something........

All of you bloggers that I stalk are kicking some ass and making me feel like $hit!

So on that note...... I have to get things in gear.

I'm talking about running, cycling and lifting like it's 1999....... I was much younger in 1999.

So today was an easy HR run in the morning, which had temps that seemed like September!

Now I'll go to the gym and get a little lift on.

It's a grey windy day in the Mitten state, so being in the gym won't seem as bad.....

The End of a Season

Wow, I can't believe that my 2010 Team in Training season is over!

Okay, I still have participants that will be traveling to Alaska next week, but today was our last group training.............. (tear slowly drips down cheek).

Once again it was an amazing season of people that were non-runners becoming endurance athletes!

Now I have to get my ass in gear and get my run on.......

Stay tuned for more details about that journey...........

Peace.............