What a great way to begin....

SUMMER!! With a half day of work looming in front of me before I began my summer vacation, I decided to run into work. 18.96 miles later and 2 hr 59 minutes later and I arrived at my destination, but not before some noteworthy experiences.

1. I made $.45 by traversing the beautiful mile roads and crossing over the hallowed line that seperated the EAST from WEST side.

2. I rediscovered the joy of listening to my Ipod to kill time on the roads and have found Phedippidations, a self described goofy little podcast about running, to be a great way to do that.

3. As I bought my celebratory gatorade at the local 7 eleven before getting to work, a weathered old lady puts 2 22oz of Old Milwaukee's Best on the counter and tells the girl behind the counter, " I am gonna need some Marlboro Reds as well" It is 8 a.m. our time, but I guess it is noon somewhere.

This would have been a full enough day for me, but then I received a call on the bat phone from Twinkle Toes that if Dirrty Girl and I were interested that they may need some ringers to help the SEX PANTHERS of the Adult Kickball League maintain their pristine record. With a resounding YES, I was off in search of Dirrty Girls long lost cleats

and a talk about her strategry:

1. Show bunt...uhhh, this is kickball not softball
2. Not to be the worst one out there...she goes 3 for 4 and 1 run scored


3. Not be the slowest one out there....i decline to comment, but as long as she tried her best that is all that matters.

For better or worse, we at least participated in helping the SEX PANTHERS maintain their perfect record and enjoyed a great alternative to the standard date night!

Little Dirt Dawg Rides to Victory over Twinkle Toes!!

Fresh off of his Lumberjack 100, Twinkle Toes faced his toughest race so far this year when little dirt dawg challenged him to the "Around the Block and Read House Numbers Sidewalk Race" held this evening. The course measuring .32 miles provided numerous challenges including undulating terrain on the city sidewalks and plenty of stopping and starting as the contestants had to read the numbers off of each house as they passed. At the start, it looked like Twinkle Toes would blow the doors off of little dirt dawg in his full team kit and roaring red bike.



However, perhaps following in his father's footsteps, little dirt dawg started slow and kept it at an even enough pace that he could roll easily by and read house numbers. Twinkle Toes, not wanting to incur any penalties was forced to match the effort of the wily youngster.


Coming into the homestretch, little dirt dawg hung on and forced Twinkle Toes to watch him roll across the line in victory



After the race, little dirt dawg was proud to say that he could hang with the big boys.

Field of Dreams

Besides being Father's Day, today was the day of my long awaited Fantasy Batting Practice @ Comerica Park courtesy of the wife (a.k.a. Dirrty Girl) and D.O.D. (Dear ole dad).

Scheduled for 1-4:30 pm, I along with approximately 35 other hopefuls brought bags of gear and hope in our pockets that we would be able to take Dave Rozema deep.

After a quick check in, the gates were open and we filed down onto the field and into the visitor's dugout.

No checking of tickets, or worrying that we might miss the first pitch. No today the field belonged to every one of us, still with the heart of the kid, that we to had made it to the bigs, even if only for BP.

Before the actual BP began, I had a chance to warmup throwing the ball in right field . With Rozema on the mound, each of us filed into cage to hack away. With my dad in the stands, just like back in the day of little league, and traveling teams with doubleheaders on Saturday, I stood firmly and whacked a couple out of the INFIELD! Woo Hoo!!!

After I was done, I hung out in the outfield and shagged balls as others attempted to put one out, with no one succeeding. And just like that with the last batter, Rozema said, "Thanks for coming out" and retired to the dugout to sign balls, take pictures and our certificates.


A great experience. Thanks again to the wife and my dad for making it a reality!!

After 2 weeks

So after 2 weeks of training and a scheduled mileage total of 86 miles here is a breakdown to date:

87.79 miles - 14 hr and 58 min/10:13 mile

13 runs - longest: 16.16 miles
- shortest: 3.07 miles

3 days with 2 runs per day

Overall, pretty solid weeks as far as meeting the mileage goals, but with school still in session and my daughter's baptism had to make some changes to the scheduled mileage for the day. No signifcant aches or pains.

FRB & TdF 2032

Today marked the end of the Fun Run Series with the first ever banquet and beginning of little dirt dawg's quest to win the Tour de France in 2032.

First things first. Held at the local watering hole, J-NO, Abstract, Twinkle Toes, Goucho and Huff N Puff all knocked back a few cowboy pops and received their coveted awards

for participating in the inaugural season of the fun run. Participants reminisced about the highs (86 degrees) and lows (4 degrees--BRR!!)of the season and marveled at the # of miles covered this year (400+) as well as classic moments such as Vanna White stopping and sitting down and telling J-No and Abstract to go on w/o her; Big Red asking, "So you guys run to the bridge right?" (which is only a 1/4 mile away); Twinkle Toes tripping on his shoelaces and landing spread eagle in the middle of the road, and Einstein with the classic quotes such as , "“Can’t you make his dr. appt @ 3:30? I have to run today.” & “It’s not the points, but the avoidance of ridicule and emotional abuse that I would have to endure that is my motivation.”

Look for the Fun Run Series to return in September!!!!!

After ending one weekly ritual, little dirt dawg and I got out the bike that he said was too small and performed some surgery on it.

5 minutes later, he was well on his way to scaling the Alps and Pyrenees and yelling out, "Daddy, me ride around block with you." and "Me ride with Timmy".Look for him to be a contender in the GC at the 2032 Tour de France!!

An adventure is what you make it

I don't have back door access to trails, fire roads, or pathways that lead to those epic adventures that you read about in magazines, so when the opportunity arises to turn the average run into a mini adventure, i have learned to take full advantage.

With the M-I-L (Mother in Law) watching the children and the wife headed over to pick them up, I gladly stated that i would go home, let the dog out, pack up my


with a change of clothes and run over. 8.96 miles later and a high five from an employee i ran into at a parking lot and i was there. No added pollution to the environment, no sitting in traffic, and a recovery run at that!

*** Justin Verlander throws a no-hitter, striking out 12 and I missed it!! Due to family time, i received a call from my dad saying he was 2 outs a way from a no hitter. Not believing him, thinking back to the time when i was an RA in college and he pretended to be a student saying there was a fire on his floor, i was skeptical. Dad was right****

10 B4 6

As i was sitting in church yesterday for my daughter's baptism, i began wrapping my head around the idea that i could try a 10 miler before work tomorrow morning knowing that i had a sitter for the kids and i could leave a little later than normal for work. 10 miles B4 6 am, i told myself after watching The Soprano's fade to black.

Can't say i had the most restful sleep as the daughter, still amped from her baptism was up repeatedly, which included a rocking stint from me during the wee hours of 3-3:30 am. Nevertheless, i woke up at 4:30 and was out the door by 4:35 am. After yesterday's pedestrian stroll, this was a bit more work, but the legs felt good. Can't say i was a spring chicken the rest of the day, but the workout let me know the training is working.

STATS:
10 miles
1 hr. 17 min 53 sec
7:47 mi/avg
159 avg heart rate
172 max heart rate

G.O.T.W.

With family in town for the princess dawg's baptism this weekend, Dirrty Girl and I headed down to the scene of our first date for the G.O.T.W. (Game Of The Week) pitting the Detroit Tigers against the New York Mets.


Until last year, Dirrty Girl and I never sat in the seats we actually paid for because the team was so bad and for her 31st birthday a few years back i was even able to score 100 tickets for 100 dollars. Those days, thank goodness, are gone and the atmosphere down there is electric.


After sitting up in section 218 for 5+ innings or so, some of Dirrty Girls friends came by and let us know they were sitting down on the lower level 12 rows behind first base and asked if we wanted to come down. Yes and Yes! The atmosphere is so much different and you really feel like you are part of the game. In the end, Todd Jones slammed the door on the Mets and the Tigers won 8-7.

Another Crack.....

After my hack attack at the batting cages last week, i pulled into the parking lot and scanned the cages trying to formulate a plan. I was trying to summon the strength to make contact, or at best at least not provide the surrounding cages with air conditioning. As my son currently is fond of saying, "Me have id!", the softball cages!!

Plunking down $6.75, equaling 3 tokens and 60 pitches,i walked confidently up to the slow pitch machine plunked in my token and awaited with anticipation/dread for the first pitch......PING...Back,Back,Back...or at least to the farthest reaches of the net. Looking like big melons, i swung confidently, just like when a major leaguer is so locked in (think Gary Sheffield or Magglio Ordonez right now)that they say they can actually see the stitches on the ball. Another token and i walked right into the fast pitch softball cage and swung confidently.

Bring on the 45 mph "The Bird" cage next time!

End of the road.....

Although we’ve come to the end of the road
Still I can’t let you go
It’s unnatural, you belong to me, I belong to you
Come to the end of the road

Boyz II Men - End Of The Road lyrics

Cheesy yes, but today marked the end of the fun run series for the 2006-2007 school year. What started as merely an alternative to Twinkle Toes kicking my rear on a weekly basis on that heinous two wheeled contraption, turned into a weekly series where a cast of merry characters aptly named J-NO, Abstract, Earth Woman, Vanna White, Goucho, Big Red, Einstein, Huff N Puff, and Yeagermeister all ambled along towards better health and comraderie.

I am better for sharing the road with them. Long may they run.

Dirt Dawg

Fartlek and Trails

Fartlek, which means "speed play" in Swedish, is a form of conditioning which puts stress mainly on the aerobic energy system due to the continuous nature of this exercise. The difference between this type of training and continuous training is that the intensity or speed of the exercise varies, meaning that aerobic and anaerobic systems can be put under stress (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

Ok...that being said, today called for some speedwork, and since i abhore the track and was not in the mood for a tempo run since i had the dog with me, some fartlek was the easiest thing to do. While Nemo ran hopefully envisioning finally capturing that elusive squirrel, i ran glancing slightly at my heart rate to see what it would go up to with an effort.

Run #1 for the day: 5.17 miles in 48:18/21:29 or 44% spent in the Zone 3 (Aerobic Zone) and 15:15 or 31% in Zone 4 (Hard Effort): Max Heart Rate 163

I had planned to do another short run after school today, when the wife said she was picking up the children, so with the temp hovering in the mid sixties, sunny skies and a cool breeze, i headed out to Stony Creek for a 4 miler which seemed to just fly by.

Outside of hanging with the family, i must admit that there is nothing better than getting out and running some trails. Speed is never important, but today the legs felt like they weren't even touching the ground :)

Soggy Dawg

Beginning of 50 mile prep called for a long run of 16 miles, so I headed out the door @ 5:17 a.m. to a sticky 69 degrees and 83% humidity, which meant that i would have to keep well hydrated. After a recovery week, legs felt really good and hummed along for 16.16 miles in 2 hr 38 min w/o incident until the last 1.5 miles where i ran into a pretty good patch of rain which rendered one satisfied and soggy dawg at the end.

STATS:
Miles: 16.16
Time: 2 hr 38 min
Avg.: 9:46/mi
Average Heart Rate: 141 (75%)
Calories: 2373 (this seems a bit high?)
Fuel: 6 packets of chocolate outrage GU
1 20 oz. bottle of Hammer HEED
??? oz from Camelbak

50 Miler Prep....Summer of the Dawg

It is time to start the 16 week buildup to the North Country 50 miler. Plan to follow, CHECK, Heart rate monitor, CHECK, Pasty white knobby legs for motivation, CHECK, Soon to be free from work responsibilites (school's out for summer!!) to dedicate self to plan, CHECK.
Year to date total: 724.71 miles/125 hr 13 min


Taken from a Trail Runner magazine, this will be my living document for the next 16 weeks.

BP

For my birthday, Dirrty Girl and D.O.D. (Dear Ole Dad)got me a slot in the Detroit Tigers Fantasy Batting Practice scheduled for June 17th.

Now, I must admit that i was a pretty good ball player back in like 6th-8th grade and even played JV in high school one year when my knees had some growth plate thing going on, but i haven't stood in and faced a pitcher in like 13+ years. With the impending fantasy opportunity coming upon me, i looked at the early release from school to get in a few hacks, and i mean hacks, in before picking up little dirt dawg for some swimming at Goldfish Swim School.

After forking over $10 for 5 tokens equaling 100 pitches, I walked over and scanned the cages. My plan was this, take 2-3 tokens in the cage named "The Bird" which had a speed of 40-45 mph to warm up and then move up to the 50-55 mph for a few swings.

I never made it. It was terrible. I swung and I missed a lot. It was like 89 degrees and i felt like i was in air conditioning as much flailing as i was doing. After about 75 pitches, i started to make some decent contact but I am admittedly nervous. I need to practice.... a lot..... I knew that i wasn't going to into Comerica Park and go softball guy, but I want to get it out of at least the infield!!

Rollin

After sacrificing the weekly Fun Run for my son's parent/teacher conference in which we find out that along with his speech we must work on tearing paper and putting his jacket on, the wife went to pick him up and with 2 hours on my hands i headed home and jumped on the 7005 Superlite butted alloy/carbon frame (Felt F65) for a jaunt.

Riding with the heart rate monitor for the first time, I rode at my usual pace w/o looking at the monitor. Results yielded: 25.17 miles/ 1 hr 41 min/ 14.9 mph/ average heart rate: 132/ calories 1393. Pedestrian like and certainly not worthy of the Who Cares I'm Flying Award but a great day to get out and work on the tanning of those pasty whites!

Motivation

Okay, so there I was watching the Tigers clobber the Devil Rays and waiting for the Dee-troit Pistons to decide if they wanted to show up and play ball in the Eastern Conference Finals when I thought to myself, now this upcoming 50 mile prep schedule is all fine and dandy, and i can put it down on paper, but i need a visual reminder, a motivator, when i thought, "Let's go bald....get the Nair!!!"

Now, i have gone bald only 3 other summers in my life. The first was when i was 14 and watching Greg Lemond win his second Tour de France over Laurent Fignon, next when i tried my hand at triathlons and was asked by then future olmpyian Sheila Taormino if i needed help in a short course, and then 2 summers ago, of course i got the obligatory " Is he gay?" @ the family get together over the summer, when i got my Felt F65 and made a run at bike racing. All of them have failed miserably in the sense that i never gave them all truly a chance to see if i would become passionate about it, or has been the case a dabbler.

In any event, there are some actual benefits to going bald. The first is that road rash will typically heal faster. I mean have you ever been ambling along and then found yourself on the pavement going a rapid 6 m.p.h.? Secondly, there is the theory of "feeling faster". No need to explain. Last, but certainly not least, and the point i will make to all the people who intially scoff at my pasty, smooth legs is that it helps to faciliate therapeutic massage. I have become a big proponet of massage and have even found the stick to be useful.

About an hour later, and no Nair, just a razor and some shaving cream, produced the sickly looking legs below. I damm well better get out there an run!

Milestones

1. Today the wife, newly christened "Dirrty Girl"

and her sidekick "Black Mamba"

took the Fun Run into Wayne County and rambled along for 31 minutes on an approximately 1.78 mile course!!!

2. Son has become proficient in expelling excess liquid buildup in system standing up!

3. Princess Dawg just over 4 months old has graduated into the exersaucer!


4. As for me, no run today, but i did actually complete a workout out of this month's Outside Magazine called the Forever Workout developed by Chris Carmichael. This is huge for me since I am a conisseur of magazines, saving them and looking at all the different workouts, but usually always fail to complete, let alone start one.

Beep...Beep...Beep

Day 2 during recovery week begins @ 5:35 a.m. with an easy 7.4 miler according to both map my ride and favorite run, but the F1 Foot Pod (still trying to work on an accurate calibration. I do think it changes when changing shoes)gauges it @ 7.51 miles. I go with 7.4 miles and a time today of 1 hr 22 min and again an average heart rate of 123.

Whereas yesterday I was just getting used to finding a pace that would be in the Recovery Zone and the legs where kind of heavy, today the legs where actually feeling pretty good and i spent approx 5 min or 6% of my time listening to the annoying beep...beep...beep of the zone warner telling me I was over my self imposed alloted 131 beats per minute and to slow down. Recovery is hard work!

Recovery is one thing, family time is another. Today we managed a parade in downtown Royal Oak, St. Mary's Polish Fair
, and the littlest one and I walked uptown (2.56 miles roundtrip) for daddy's jet fuel for the week.

Recovery Week....

Since my first marathon 6 years ago, i have never really followed any kind of actual training program. I just kind of had an idea of what i thought i needed to run from purusing various plans and just ran raising my mileage as i went along but never building to a real peak,running intervals, fartlek or having a rest period. Fairly unstructured and probably what has led to mediocrity in my race results taking me 9 more marathons to lower my previous PR of 3:47 to this years' scintilating 3:44 @ The Martian Marathon.

However, after my disappointing attempt at a 50 miler last fall, I was actually feeling pretty good but got lost and was about 35 miles in @ the 50k checkpoint and just lost my focus, I am going to follow an actual plan this year for a crack at another 50 miler.

So far so good since the Martian Marathon on 4/1/07. Weeks of 34/35/39/25/41/41/44 miles have led to this recovery week. Finally succumbing to the technological wave and buying a heart rate monitor, i have to say that it is actually useful. The goal this week and this morning was to run in Zone 2 (60-69%) to facilitate recovery.

I actually had to work at keeping it in Zone 2 and the friendly beeper went off anytime I strayed out of it:

RUN: 6.51 miles - 1 hr 14 min - avg heart rate: 123

4:18 A.M.

A facet of being a parent that I have repeatedly talked about with other fathers is the need to be able to continue to go out and do the things that you did before children. Now most of them claim that they have no time or that they are too tired to do those things, but i firmly believe that it helps keep you grounded. If anything, it has made me really focus my time and effort to be more effective.

Now the rule the wife and i agreed upon was that i could continue to go for long runs on the weekend, although she is not really thrilled with me wanting to run more than a 50k, if i made sure i was home in enough time to spend the day with the family. Henceforth, a long run this morning that started at 4:18 A.M.

Alarm was slated for 4:30 A.M., but princess dawg was having a bit of the sniffles and promptly woke the wife and i up at 4 a.m. With the ever present comment, "You know the alarm is going to go off in 20 minutes," i thought well i am up so let's go.

Took Nemo for the 1st 5 miles before heading out for a bigger loop. Things we saw between 4:18 a.m. and 5:11 a.m. on loop #1.

#1 - A drunk guy walking with a plastic cup and talking on his cell phone about how he was going up to the corner grocery store, which doesn't open until 9 a.m. on a Sunday, for some cigarettes.

#2 - 3 cop cars go flying down the street w/o lights on

#3 - ever present smell of a skunk for a 1/2 mile w/o seeing one

#4 - some lady in a bra and panties runs back across the train underpass picking up clothes left in the street and hides behind one of the pillars as the dog and i pass by

After dropping Nemo off, I headed out for a longer loop. Passing the same spot where Nemo and I saw the lady, this time i spotted two people hiding behind the same pillar and groans coming from that vicinity. Rest of run is uneventful.

Thanks to my new toy, Polar RS200SD, i can look at all sorts of cool data and even see if my training is effective.

Today: 15.17 miles/2 hr. 31 min/ avg heart rate: 137 / calories 1874

Home in enough time before little dirt dawg comes out to say, "Good Morning"

Road trip to Ohi-yo

This weekend we loaded up the family and headed down to Cbus for a wedding between "Lightning" L.... and the former "Missile" C....... on what little dirt dawg said was a road trip to Ohi-yo.

Clearly you can not keep a 3 year old cooped up in a hotel for two days even with a pool, so he and I headed over to the Columbus Zoo to take in the monkeys, manatees, gorillas, and flamingos among others.

After a beautiful service and reception along the river, it was time for a well deserved rest and a morning jaunt down to :



Running past "The Shoe" and along the Olentagny-Sciato Trail certainly got the palate ready for a Mother's Day Brunch @ Lindey's

Overall rating for the weekend 10/10.

Long May You Run Unchafed

1. Lazily swing arm at alarm clock going off @ 4:30 a.m. Stumble downstairs and realize today is a 10 miler.

2. Put on wicking shorts and top

3. Slip on TNF Anurva Boa 50 (Remember all you really need is shoes)

4. Fill handheld bottle with Hammer Heed and GU

5. PUT ON NIP GUARDS TO PROTECT AGAINST PAINFUL NIPPLE ABRASION.

6. Run happily knowing that your chest will not look like you have been shot or have to take a shower and cringe like someone is picking the hair out of your nose bringing you to tears.

Cross Training

Cross training also known as conditioning refers to training in different ways to improve overall performance. It takes advantage of the particular effectiveness of each training method, while at the same time attempting to neglect the shortcomings of that method by combining it with other methods that address its weaknesses.

In truth, it means doing something else other than your favorite activity(RUNNING) in order to get exercise. Take for instance, my situation. I can't run every single day or else i will get injured and I don't want to miss out on family time. So, little dirt dawg and I in the face of gas prices being over $3.00/gallon, 80 degree temps, and an commitment to try being as green as possible, headed out in the THE TRAIN (1 Marin Hawk Hill Bike and 1 Trek Doodlebug) for a leisurly jaunt (approx 6.34 miles) around town in order to check in and receive orders from a friend who is leaving town.

This was followed by a quick stop for post ride fuel.

All you need is a pair of shoes......

Forget about your GPS, Heart Rate Monitors, Nike + Ipod Sport Kit, and watches that can store up to 300 laps, all you really need to go for a run is a pair of shoes. A pair of shoes that you won't have to think about as you are out on the pavement, trails, or where ever your feet take you.

Now I must admit, that I flip through the running magazines and scour the shoe reviews like the people who live vicariously through celebrities, or base their whole self worth and value according to such article titles as "Look Slim in any Shape" or "What your man is not telling you", but in the end I always revert back to my perennial favorite, Nike Air Pegasus. Just like warm apple pie.

That is of course until I have attempted to venture into ultramarathoning/trail running. I have tried a multitude of trail shoes and have yet to find "THE ONE". But with TNF Arnuva Boa 50 based on input from Dean Karnazes I just might have. Maybe I did fall for the advertising that stated no laces, but a dial that you use to adjust them, or hoping that I would feel just "Like Mike, or Lance, or Dean" in them, but straight out of the box and on a 13+ miler this morning they rocked!!! Just like warm apple pie.

On the Road

It would have been easy for the Fantastic Four to pack it in after participating in the school Walk a Thon and covering over 2 miles. However, given the perfect weather (64 degrees and sunny J) and fueled by hot dogs the couples (Couple #1 – Dirt Dawg & Twinkle Toes) (Couple #2 –J-No & Abstract) got out and averaged their respective times (26 minutes and 52 minutes).

* Bonus points to all participants

A Suite Day

For the past two years, Einstein and I have taken some our most deserving EI high school students to a Detroit Tigers game using tickets donated by the Tigers organization. In some cases, this will be the only field trip students will go on for the entire year and is sometimes the first time they have even been to a major league ballpark.

Eight students and 3 staff (myself included) were all excited to go as the weather looked perfect (65 degrees and sunny) and a pre game feast of pizza and pop awaited everyone, until a phone call came.

Asking for me, a representative of the Detroit Tigers asked me if we were still planning on coming down today. Of course, I answered. He then asked me if I would like to upgrade the seats to a suite!!! A suite, I answered? Yes, he said sometimes business owners and individuals donate their suites to organizations when not in use. YES YES YES....I said.

On the way to the park, i told the students that we had to go to guest services when we got to the park, becasue there was an issue with our tickets. I told them that I think they gave us the wrong seats and had to move us into some not so nice seats. The look on their faces when they found out that we were going up to the suites was AWESOME!!!

Things You Will Do When You Are A Parent

(1) Place a post it note on your computer alerting you that Thomas the Train: Live on Stage tickets go on sale @ 10 a.m.

(2) Sneak to your desk @ 10 a.m. try to buy tickets online

(3) Find out that you need have some special promo code only after purchasing $9.99 or more of goods from Toys R Us.

(4) Pack up your lunch, tell the boss you are taking lunch early and drive like a crazed soccer mom late for practice because you had to get some Capri Sun and slice up the oranges for the kids.

(5) Go and try to fine a $9.99 item at Toys R Us…..there are none!!! You will always spend more :

(6) Inhale lunch as you drive

(7) Go to mall. Find record store ( do they really still exist??) and wait for sullen teenager to tell you that you must purchase tickets online.

(8) Drive back to work

(9) Rush past boss, get on computer and find that server won’t allow you access to buy tickets…:(

(10) Start calling grandparents to see if they can get online…Get grandpa @ work to secure tickets!!! :)

Totals for day:

Productivity lost @ work 1-2.5 hrs
Toys R Us $ 11. 65
3 Tickets for show $144. 35
Look on son’s face from row 3 PRICELESS

A Perfect Day

4:30 A.M. - Little Dirt Dawg calls me to sleep with him because he has a cold

5:45 A.M. - Annoying little alarm on watch goes off, stumble out door to get in easy 10 miler before rest of the crew awakes.

8:00 A.M. - Family walk uptown for refueling...do you know how heavy and cumbersome a double stroller is?

11:00 A.M. - Head to Target with Little Dirt Dawg to get items on list.

1:00 P.M. - Walk into the home of the 2006 American League Champions Detroit Tigers..for a stirring game filled with cowboy pop, an odd tan on my knee from seats, and a walk off homer by Brandon Inge to win 4-3...Who's Your Tiger...??

4:45 P.M. - Pick up the wife and daughter, head to Mother in Law's for post game grub.

8:00 P.M. - Fall asleep with little dirt dawg....

The Fantastic Four

The Fantastic Four


After approximately 325+ miles completed by all of the participants during the course of the fun run series this year, it seems that it has been whittled down to the fantastic four. These supremely talented individuals have battled rain, ice, wind, snow, and sun all in the sake of participating in this small little event held weekly in an attempt to bolster their health and camaraderie.

Dirt Dawg after putting down a scintillating time last week, looked to tie for the series lead with Twinkle Toes headed out to Ciociaro to begin his assault on those who do not follow the credence of: THINK FAST GO FASTER. However, T.T. was not quite ready to relinquish his hold on first and the two mutually agreed to take it easy and once again fell into their weekly fireside chat that covered such topics as: tanning packages for cyclists, new running shoes, birthday gifts, training plans for cyclists and ultra marathoners and squatting.

J-NO in the 23rd hour peeked her head out the building, decided it was only mildly crappy out and armed with an umbrella and Abstract at her side ambled along the path.


NAME: POINTS: RUNS:


Twinkle Toes: 41 : 24


Dirt Dawg : 40 : 22



J-NO : 26.5 : 15

Abstract: 24.5 : 12

A Tradition Renewed

Like all great Monday night rituals, MNF (Monday Night Football), RAW (WWE entertainment), and guarenteed leftovers from Sunday night, a tradition was renewed last night.

The Wolverine Sports Club leads weekly group rides in and around Metro Detroit for riders of all abilities. Monday nights are usually considered recovery rides after a hard weekend of training and or racing.

For me, there is no bike racing or real training. I have tried it, racing that is and it is was not pretty, and decided I do not want to put the time necessary in the PAIN LOCKER to achieve any level of measurable success. So I look at it is a time to socialize and get out and see the local area and more of it than in my normal pedestrian plodding mode.

Anyways, the good news about that is that Twinkle Toes/AKA a real elite rider comes over, grabs some grub, and then rolls out of my house to the ride. Little Dirt Dawg is happy to see him and the wife (who donated considerable jack to help purchase the new ride above) likes to cook for us. Tonight we feasted on Mexican Lasagna and enjoyed post ride Pacifico's.

Date Night

First time out since the girl was born so the wife and I headed down to the "D" for a good meal down @ Traffic Jam and Snug and then for an awesome concert starring John Legend and Corrine Bailey Rae @ the Fox Theatre. Probably best concert I have been to.

Island Lake

Fueled by perhaps the greatest breakfast/anytime condiment known to man, Nutella, I rambled out to my favorite trails @ Island Lake today for a 10 miler.

With just a few cars in the lot, I knew the trails would be empty and the near freezing temp (approx 36 degrees) would guarantee stable footing.

Deciding to run the yellow loop out to the 5 mile mark and then turn back, the trail is now marked every 1/4 with a post which can be good or bad depending on how you look at it. Good if you are counting every inch until it is over or are doing speedwork, or bad if you are only looking at the posts and not paying attention to what is in front of you.

Course completed in 1 hr 29 min today with post run Mahi Mahi tacos @ Baja Fresh. Doesn't get much better than that!!!

Vacation.....

4 a.m. - wake up to change sheets on bed after 10 week old daughter pukes on wife and bed

6 a.m. - little dirt dawg comes up from his lair to bed for morning cuddle

6:01 a.m. - tuck in little dirt dawg and sneak out to get in run.

7:15 a.m. - return home after running 7.4 miles faster than yesterday's 10k with ThE cReW, but ponder the eternal question "Quality over Quantity?"

8 a.m. - make pot of jet fuel and pancakes for ThE cReW

10 a.m. - pack up little dirt dawg and daughter to go to my girlfriends (it is possible to just be friends with a female and not have sexual feelings for them) from work to hang out with their kids

2 p.m. - return home for short siesta

4 pm - consume more jet fuel and watch "Charlotte's Web" with kids

4:30 p.m. - take phone call from neighborhood mom for playdate tomorrow

5:45 p.m. - meet same neighborhood mom @ Detroit Yoga (www.detroityoga.com) for ass kicking and soul cleansing Vinyasa Yoga

7 p.m. - come home to sumptous lamb/potatoes and salad that wife whipped up.

8 p.m. - tuck in little dirt dawg, and collapse on couch to watch baseball.......

ThE cReW

Rare White Tiger...

Down the stretch they come!!!



PRE RUN WARM-UP

Back in Michigan again, out of the snow belt and for just today and today only ( 39 Degrees and rain tomorrow) the clouds have parted and ThE cReW is able to duck out and get in a few miles.

ThE cReW:

Dog (Nemo): 6.5 year old Border Collie Mix (www.michiganhumane.org )/ approx 42 lbs./ YTD mileage: 101.16

Son (lilttle dirt dawg): 3 years old/approx: 32 lbs/YTD mileage: 10.05

Me (Dirt Dawg): 31 years old/approx: 176 lbs/YTD mileage: 446.87

Supporting Cast:

Baby Jogger: www.babyjogger.com - /approx: ???/ Years of Service: 3 - best jogging stroller ever!!!

Boy and Dog take off down the block to the fire hydrant where son must enter the baby jogger and begin the 10k journey before us today.

Today son is overly talkative and says "Hello" to everyone he sees and ask me "why dad?" to every question i ask. Hit the turnaround in about 32 minutes. On the way back, 1 stop for blanket coverage after son says he is “cold”, and for photo op with:

1 Rare White Tiger

Finish run with wild sprint:

BOY AND DOG WIN!

RUN RESULTS: 10k (6.2 miles) – 1 hr 7 min
1.Little Dirt Dawg
2.Nemo
3.Dirt Dawg

Course available @ www.favoriterun.com

Easter "Training" Camp

Easter “Training” Camp

As Twinkle Toes and his fellow obsessed roadies (D.K.N.Y. and G.P.S.) headed down to Georgia to engage in a good ole boy pissing contest, I begrudgingly headed off to Conneaut Lake, PA (there is nothing worth mentioning, outside of the fact that it is in the armpit of lake effect snow reaching from Cleveland to Buffalo) with my wife and 2 offspring for Easter.

My Easter “Training” camp goal was simple. Run everyday so as to maintain sanity from having to be around family 24/7. You know how it is. If it is not your house, you can’t change the channel without so much as a group consensus, and in the true spirit of all family gatherings, my wife has it pegged when she says, “Grab a bottle and hunker down.”

5 days post marathon and the legs felt pretty good, so I scampered off down by the lake for a few miles. Friday goes ok, but by Saturday morning there is 2-3 inches of the powdery white substance sticking to the ground. Is this a sick attempt by the Easter Bunny to camouflage his entrance?

Luckily, the one thing Conneaut Lake has is the behemoth of low prices, cheap labor, and blue vests…WAL-MART. I had forgotten my sunglasses and lucky for me I found some that doubled as snow goggles (cost $5) as I headed out on the same loop, this time returning with a thin coat of snow on me.

Surely, going into Easter Sunday, there could not be more snow, I thought to myself. Low and behold, there was an additional 3-4 inches on the ground by morning. I had to actually get out and shovel!! Again the same route, just a little slower, slipperier, and closer to going home.

Weekly Fun Run Sample

NOTE: Since i have mentioned characters from my weekly fun run/walk series, i thought it was best to include a weekly summary that participants receive. Please note the series takes place weekly on Thursday after school and is approximately 3.25 miles in length.



March 29, 2007



Bridging the Gap…..

2:30 p.m.

Dirt Dawg eagerly awaits Twinkle Toes to get out of meeting to begin fun run. Also notes that J-No is stuck in meeting as well.

2:31 p.m.
D.D. entertains thoughts of running by himself :(

2:32 p.m.

D.D. begins doing push-ups in parking lot.

2:33 p.m.

D.D. runs back to building and sees Huff N Puff J. Coerces him into cutting short his warm-up and begin running. H N P states that he won’t be able to keep up but D. D. tells him not to worry, this is a FUN RUN and has to take it easy for he has a marathon this weekend www.martianmarathon.com (YES, THIS IS A SHAMELESS PLUG)

2:37 p.m.

While D.D. and H N P were swapping stories about their Glory Days

Glory days well they'll pass you by
Glory days in the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory days, glory days

D.D. I spied Twinkle Toes attempting to bridge the gap.

Bridge: When a lone rider or smaller group of riders closes up the space between them and the rider or group in front of them. Most notably when riders catch up with the main pack (or peloton) of riders or those who are leading the race.
After successfully making the jump, T.T. stated that it was good practice for his upcoming race weekend, and left Huff N Puff to pontificate on his own “What is fun about this?”

Citing muscular strains and fatigue from aerobic squats, Vanna White sat out and left J-NO and Abstract to ramble the course in 52 minutes tying a previous course record!!

FUN RUN/WALK OVERALL STANDINGS

NAME: POINTS: RUNS COMPLETED:

Twinkle Toes 38 21

Dirt Dawg 38 20

EINSTEIN 37 19

J-NO 24.5 13

Abstract 22.5 10

Vanna White 11 4

Goucho 10 4

Huff N Puff 8 3

Big Red 5.5 1

Short Stack 1 1


LEFT FOR GREENER PASTURES:
EARTH WOMAN/YEAGERMEISTER

RECOVERY SUCKS...

Ok.... 2 days post marathon..and i hurt..i think they call it DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness)..well no shit, i just ran for over 3 hours for no other real purpose than to say that i covered that amount of ground faster this time than in the previous 9 attempts...it's kind of like that one time at band camp...

Anyways, yesterday was an easy walk and some yoga to just get the legs moving. My son added to my recovery by making me chase him around the block.

This morning, the dog and I set out for a run/walk. Run 5 min then walk 5 min in a further attempt to flush the lactic acid or whatever the hell makes my legs hurt that the copious amounts of tylenol has failed to do. I think the walk was faster than the run.

NOTE: The pic is of Twinkle Toes attempting to "choke my chicken" at our weekly fun run.

One for the ages!

Dirt Dawg Achieves New PB!!!



On a cloudy and cool day, with remnants of a storm lingering around, I had decided that this marathon (my 10th official) would be an easy long run to just get in some miles before I began in earnest again the pursuit of a fall 50 miler. In my head, I had projected a 4:15 or so given my last long run time and started off in route with my Go-Lite Tailwind Pack (www.golite.com) stuffed with Hammer Gel and Perpetum (www.e-caps.com) .



Naturally the cool weather had me bounding down the course like a happy sprite and the little voice inside my head said “slow down, you have a long day ahead of you.” The miles just seemed to float on by and I even garnered a few comments from fellow plodders as to why I had the pack.



“Are you getting ready for an adventure race?” (No, I just like gear and the refreshments provided by the race support I don’t use))



“Are you an ultramarathoner?” (Working on it)



The one thing I dislike about this race is after about 10 miles, the half marathoners make the turn around and the participants drop significantly. Basically you are running by yourself, a great exercise in focus. Passing the half marathon in 1:46 (8:05 /mile), I realized that I had a shot at breaking my PB of (3:47) set at Detroit in my first marathon attempt.



Things were going along pretty well until mile 19 and 2 things happened that I would never wish on anyone in a race. First, at mile 20 I had to go to the bathroom, which has never happened in all my races. Don’t hit the panic button yet, I thought, things are fine. Then nearing the 21 mile mark, the stomach started gurgling….Not good….. Slowed to a walk I had to stop by the side of the road and faced a dilemma:

(1) Continue at a walk and just make it to the finish, good effort for the day

(2) Blow chunks…hope it clears the mechanism and try and still set a PB





Ok, so I chose #2. It wasn’t pretty and I felt like crap the rest of the way but I managed to finish in 3:44, a PB by over 3 minutes! Thought when you set a PB, you were supposed to feel great the entire way.



TIME: 3:44

½ marathon split: 1:46 (8:05 per mile)

½ marathon split: 1:58 (9:00 per mile)