Adam’s Marathon Strategy:
5:00 AM – short stack of pancakes and coffee
12:00 Noon – meet family in East stands, south of 50 yard line
Friday, April 30, 2010
Tomorrow's the Big Day!
So the months of training are coming to their "climax" tomorrow! I can say that I am a little nervous, but mostly excited to get going tomorrow. I hope for the serenity of the Buddha, the strength of Thor, the speed of Mercury and the patience of Job. I have laid out a strategy for the day and I think I'll be able to be successful. I will let you know how it all goes as I write about each stage of my strategy next week.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
It would help if they knew what they were talking about...
Yep, you guessed it. I did not run today so instead I got out my soapbox as I got my dander up over all of the truly inane comments I have been hearing about the terribly intrusive Federal government; especially since the 2008 election. "Taxes are too high!" "Obama wants to run every aspect of your life!" "The stimulus is a waste of money!" "If Brown can't stop it, a Browning can" blah blah blah. My personal favorite is in some states that think the burden of of the federal government is too much when all they are really saying is "Keep your government hands off my Medicare, Social Security or my Social Security Disability Compensation!" It would really help if these people actually knew what they were talking about. Or better yet, because they all can't be that STUPID, it would be nice if they stopped lying. Let's attack each of these issues...
"Taxes are too high" - Taxes are truly lower as a percentage of personal income than they have been in over 25 years. The real complaint that is coming from the crowd is that did not get their taxes cut; the folks who make over $250,000 per year; roughly 2% of the population. Although it is true that only 53% of all families paid income taxes, that does not mean that 47% of the citizenry is a bunch of deadbeats. What it does mean is that people are buying houses and taking advantage of the first time home buyer tax credit, it means that people are going back to school to take advantage of the education tax credit and true enough, there are approximately 9.5 million people out of work. All that said, for those people who actually end up paying income taxes, it's not so bad to have a tax problem. IT MEANS YOU MADE MONEY! Also, those folks who paid no income tax also finance a portion of the federal deficit spending by contributing their social security taxes. Social Security is the largest investor in Federal Treasury bonds. Financing the government; not the Chinese, Japanese or any body else.
"Obama wants to control every aspect of our lives" - This is just plain silly. It's the other side of the aisle that cares about who you sleep with. It's the other side that wants to pick its nose into some of the most personal decisions that someone can face. Decisions that should be left to you, your partner and your higher power are not the business of old men sitting in the legislature. All that this administration wants to do is give everyone the same opportunity. That include the same opportunity as you and I to buy private health insurance and not get ripped off. That is all this NEW LAW does. The last government started the snooping ON YOUR PHONE CALLS AND READING YOUR E-MAIL.
"The stimulus is a waste of money" - Okay, tax cuts are a waste of money, 2.2 million new jobs are a waste of money, helping millions of homeowners improve and keep their homes are a waste of money. Money multipliers take time and although it's easy to erase 6 million jobs through lack of regulation and letting the inmates run the asylum, it will take more than 9 months to fix things.
My favorite one is the secession and militia movement. As Harris and CBS news mentioned, the Tea Party members are primarily Republican voters (92%) and there is an interesting discussion that needs to be had about how much of a burden the federal government truly is to the states. The Tax Amnesty Program follows net federal taxes paid compared to federal funding received by each of the states from 1981 through 2005. On average, 15 states receive less than $1 in federal funds for every $1 in federal taxes paid. 35 states receive more in federal funding then they pay for. Before I outline who these stalwarts of fiscal responsibility are and who the leeches are, I'll tell you what... If you are in a state that receives more than you share of federal funding, I will support your secession movement as long as you pay back the other states you owe money to. It will sure help balance some state budgets!
Okay, here it is, the list of states that pay more than the get, along with the % of each dollar funded that is received back and which Presidential candidate the state voted for in 2008. Also, before we go any further, JUST BECAUSE YOU LOST THE ELECTION, YOU CANNOT SAY THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS ILLEGITIMATE!
State $ received/$ paid Presidential Vote
Colorado $.80 Obama
California $.78 Obama
Connecticut $.70 Obama
Delaware $.77 Obama
Illinois $.75 Obama
Massachusetts $.80 Obama
Michigan $.90 Obama
Minnesota $.70 Obama
Nevada $.65 McCain
New Hampshire $.70 McCain
New Jersey $.60 Obama
New York $.80 Obama
Oregon $.93 Obama
Wisconsin $.86 Obama
Texas $.95 McCain
Washington $.93 Obama
As you can see, real hot beds of socialism here. The anti-tax stalwarts lead the pack on the other side, though. Alaska (Sister Sarah's home) gets $1.60 for every dollar it pays, Arizona, a real mavericky place gets $1.40, and Oklahoma, who recently had a legislator propose an anti federal militia, receives $1.40 for every dollar of federal taxes paid. Being someone who is a resident of a net payor, LEAVE ALREADY! We can balance out state and federal budgets without your leeching state being part of the union. Let's see how your state residents like having their taxes increase 25%-80% to make up for no more federal aid.
ANYWAY, it's time to base arguments in fact; no, it's past time. No more with the lies, the spinning and the made up stories about 9/11 AND about the secret Kenyan birth certificates. You know, Rodney King may not have been wrong! Let's get along and have reasoned debate, not hysteria.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Three Weeks!!!
I am beginning to feel a lot like Forrest Gump these days ("I just kept on a runnin'"). Oh well, the last real big training week then taking it easier over the last two weeks.
Tuesday - 11.07 miles at 9:55 (I ran in the evening and and it was very warm out (upper 80's)
Wednesday - The Spring Bloom killed me and I went to bed early and slept for about 10 hours.
Thursday - Woke up feeling feeling a bazillion % better and it showed... 5.55 miles at 8:49 per.
Monday and Friday are lifting and Sunday is the monster---
20 miles + on Sunday. I will try, repeat, try to beat 10 minutes. Hopefully it will be a little cool out and I will go in the morning to avoid the wind. Well, I started out at about a quarter to 8 this morning; pancakes at 6:45, had my electrolytes/carbs/protein in the camelback and the energy gels and the Ipod and I came in AT 9:17 PER MILE! 22.25 miles and it felt GREAT! Only 2 energy gels (at 13 and 18) and only about 13 ounces of electrolyte/carb/protein drink. If I feel like this in two weeks, I really believe that my time can start with a 3!
By the way, Curious George was one if my favorites, too. On to May 1st! If you can make it, would love to see you there! Excelsior!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Under a month to go!
Okay, this week is 5, 5, 5, rest, 8, 13 Tuesday through Sunday (Monday and Friday I lift (maybe on Wednesday, too)). Weather is good, mind is in the right place and after the first mile, my ankle does not hurt anymore!
Tuesday - 5.55 miles - 9:04 pace
Wednesday -2.5 miles on the tread mill. I was kind of out of sorts. 9:30 pace
Thursday -Made up for lost miles. Got 8.4 miles in at 9:27 pace felt great. Chilly evening; great running weather.
Saturday - Cross training workout. Burned over 1,300 calories
Sunday - 12.3 miles at 10:09 pace. Lots of climbing in comparison city routes
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
32 days to go!
This week it is 5 Tuesday, 8 Wednesday, 5 Thursday, rest Friday, 5 Saturday and 20 on Sunday. 32 days to go! I am feeling confident!
Tuesday - 5.76 miles - 9:07 pace - First thing in the morning
Wednesday - 9.14 miles (I know, I planned on 8, but I felt pretty good this morning) - 9:24 pace
Thursday - Another 5.76 miles - 8:54 pace - Beautiful morning, great run! First day without a long sleeve shirt!
Saturday - Rain, Hail, otherwise a nice run. Slow pace (not much sleep last night) - 5.1 miles - 10:00 pace - Tomorrow is the big one!
Sunday - Wow it was windy today! Got those parts out of the way early, but spent myself into the wind. Oh well. 3:30! This my marathon pace for 26.2 miles, so I need to pick it up some still over the rest of the month (about 25% faster!).
One more 20 miler before the race (2 weeks from this Sunday). Only concerns are hips and lower back.
Later!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
I CAN DO IT!!!!
After years of being riddled with self doubt, I have come to a point where I have tested myself on a number of things lately and the answer that came back every time was "You Pass". I feel great about it!
First, at work, I am in my element and being successful. Sr. Management and the Board are looking to me to answer questions and they are at a point where they rely on my expertise for strategy. The challenge for me is to continue on team building and maintaining a sense of humility. I am confident that I can keep my ego under control and continue to be a cog in the machine without clogging up the works. This week I am also going to put some real energy behind a couple of additional projects to get them the momentum they need. Over the past several months, I'll admit that I have spent too much time at liberal blogs and on Facebook when I should have been working; so... the motivation is back and when I am in full gear, I'm pretty tough to stop. A busy 6 weeks are ahead of me and I expect to have plenty of accomplishments to show for the effort come May 1.
Secondly, as you know, She came for a visit. That went really well. A lot of things that needed to be said face to face were said face to face and we laid out a road map for putting our old relationship to bed. In addition, I think that after the walking on eggshells that happened for the first 20 hours or so, we opened up to each other and also set a preliminary plan for how we will work on having some sort of relationship in the future. Too soon to fully define what that will be, but I think we are and can be positive for each other. We will cover a lot of those bases over the next few weeks and then on onto the summer. I feel really good about that, too.
Finally, today, 21.21 miles in 220 minutes! I know, the pace was not all that great, but I felt pretty good during and after the run. I had a medium stack of pancakes with honey, not syrup about an hour and a half before the run, so I had a good carb base on board. I also loaded up my camelback water pack with my recovery drink (4:1 carbs to protein) and took sips at mile 13, 15, 17 and 20. Also brought the iPod along with me. At 10:24/mile, it was not near my 3:30 marathon goal pace, but I had really good pace for the first half (probably too much ABBA; Waterloo is a great running song!). The key for me is that I ran a marathon -5 miles and I feel confident that if I had to go the last 5, I could. 4 hours would have been lost, but with 40 days to go, I believe I can get there (sub 4 hours; 3:30 will have to wait for an autumn race)
I guess what I am saying is that I have not been afraid to be open minded and to try something new. A big part of it is managing expectations for myself and others. I was not quick to blurt out answers at work before I had done my homework, I let She know what I was looking for from the visit and all I wanted today was to finish the route running and not collapse at mile 17. In every case, I stayed within myself and I met the goals I set for myself. A great foundation for a wonderful year has been poured and the concrete is about to set. I'll let you know how things go from here.
Next up, several runs in the community over the next several weeks, the Big Race on May 1 and tanning season is upon us, so back to becoming the bronze Adonis that I was last summer (the body is in great shape, just need the color). More tests to come, we'll see how things go. So far, everything is looking good!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Feeling Great!
9 weeks to go and things are going pretty well. I am averaging between 25 and 30 miles a week and making pretty good time. I have been able to shave up to 30 seconds off my mile pace for runs up to a half marathon so I am now under 2 hours. So, things are looking up. However, we have also learned some things along the way.
- Take a rest day between 8-10 miles and then trying to run 20
- Energy gel packs are a good thing
- One bowl of oatmeal and 4 cups of coffee are not sufficient to provide enough energy for a long training run (15+ miles). If you are going to do that, be sure you have cab fare to get back to your starting point.
This weekend, I ran 8.4 at 8:57 on Friday and that felt really good. On Saturday, I had a reasonably light breakfast (see above) and then went to the office for a while and then tried to put on 20 miles. I was at 1:57:40 at the half marathon point and then at 15, I had to stop for a traffic light. At that point, my lower body said "Enough! We're hungry and you think you can still push us like this with hardly anything to eat?" I realized that I was truly abusing myself and I acquiesced to the protests from my lower regions and then slowly jogged the 3.5 miles back to the gym where I drank a recovery drink and then sat in the shower (the one reserved for handicapped) for probably 20 minutes. I ate a little and feel better today. A little sore, but okay. Now, if I add the distances from the last 2 days together, I have accomplished a marathon in a bout 4:40. It gives me great motivation that I got as far as I did with such little fuel. I will work some more in the first part of the week coming up; but I have something that takes precedent over training that is going on next weekend...
As if I were not already a glutton for punishment (who in their right mind would run so much when it is just as easy to get where you are going by car?), I am taking on the biggest challenge I have faced over the last 7 months next weekend. After not seeing each other for over 2 years (sure, we have communicated over the phone and via e-mail), SHE is coming to visit. You have read in previous posts how I have alluded to SHE and how I have struggled with where our relationship has been, how it is or should be put to rest and whether there is anything there to set a foundation for a future relationship. Well, I guess it was an aligning of the stars or just some mental weakness that got us to agree to meet for the weekend. There will be few if any distractions, so we might be able to get some ground covered. I hope so. As I am putting together a life, there is a big piece missing in the puzzle that is Adam and hopefully, getting some shape to this piece, whatever shape that is, will keep people from looking entirely straight through me; like they can see through the hole that is there. I am keeping expectations low, being open about what I hope to get from the visit and trying to be sensitive to how lives and people change; not only for me, but for everyone who has ever known me.
Anyway, enough about that. I will fill you in on how things went later on. Back to running... May 1 is the Illinois Marathon and I have a number of 5 and 10 k's to run before that, plus training in high gear. Need a massage in a couple of weeks. Maybe after all this work, including the visit, there will be "happy ending" (get it...happy ending/massage?). Oh well, enough!
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