The Worcester Celtic Pride 5K. Ya, I focused on the big picture but it all got fuzzy.

I am still short the goal money I needed to raise for my Boston Marathon run for charity. I'd appreciate any and all contributions. No amount is too small. If you are so inclined/motivated to donate just hit the button at the top right of my blog and thank you in advance.

Yes I was in the middle of marathon training but if I go for more than a couple weeks without racing I go crazy. So, I figured why not squeeze in an easy 5k? Its not much race mileage, should be fun and I'd still be able to go out and do the 13 mile training run I had on the schedule. Now the Celtic 5k is one of a 3 part 5k racing series that takes place in MA and RI. I considered racing all 3 to see how I'd fair but decided to just go with race in Worcester since it's so close to my house. The race happened only a few hours before the Worcester St. Patty's Day parade so there was a TON of people out to offer support while they were setting up in their spots to watch the parade. And, since it was pretty much the only race going on in the area that weekend and it was a "series" race, there was a A LOT of people racing. Notice I didn't say running. Yes, when you go to any race the participants are broken down into 2 classes: people "running" and people "racing". And now a public service announcement from me: As an FYI, the "racers" are normally adorned in local running club attire or sporting their marathon of choice clothing. Being in Massachusetts means "racers" are normally wearing BAA or any of 3 or 4 high end running club's gear or Boston "qualifier" clothing. They normally look like little gazelles and are warming up and stretching frantically before the start. If you see these people, they are taking this race seriously and are hoping for a placing or top ten finish. And now back to the recap. All that contributed to a "mini-Boston" kind of feel that was kind of cool (although after running Boston it wasn't even 5% of what I would experience at the Mara).

There were quite a few things this race had going for it (at least for me): First off it was on a chilly morning. Yes, I consider myself a Southern boy but I don't run well in the heat anymore. The cooler, the better. Second, it was an out and back course. I LOVE out and back courses. Yes, the turn might suck a little but it helps me gauge pace going out and coming back and if I can see the finish it motivates me to stay fast throughout instead of living off mileage markers to know where I am in the race. Lastly, it was flat...I mean damn near pancake flat! The race had expected pace corrals also set up and asked people to self seed. So, even though I knew I wasn't supposed to go all out I figured I'd move my way toward the front and see how I'd fare. The race starts and I'm off. I went out a little too fast (see the trend here...). And by fast I mean fast! I hit the 1st mile in 5:55 without even realizing it (and I was only in the top 50 with that time). Part if me was excited (come on, who doesn't want to be speedy?!) and part of me got concerned. I did have a 13 mile run on the schedule today after all (that longer mileage after and all out race is gonna suck).

So, I laid off the gas... or so I thought. The turn was hairpin, so a little precarious, and we were back on our way to the finish. I hit the 2nd mile marker...at 12:30. So much for laying off the gas. I was surprised actually. I felt good, I wasn't winded, nor hanging off for dear life which is my usual race regimen. It struck me that I could grab a PR. That elusive animal all we runners chase. I set a 19:54 at the 5k distance a year earlier (yes I have run a 19:30 but I was 20 at the time so that does not count now at my advanced age, with a broken body and over a decade layoff from racing) and I realized that I could beat it. Talk about a devil and angel sitting on your shoulders! In the span of about 30 seconds I ran through every discussion in my head. Should I turn on the gas and try for the PR? Should I lay off the gas since the focus of the winter was training for Boston and just finish? Or...should I stay at my current pace and just see how I fare? In the end I settled with Boston being the ONLY thing I should be focusing on and laid off the gas...finishing in 19:54 which put me 63rd out of 1426. Are you f'ing kidding me?! 19:54 and I laid off the gas? Sonuva!!! Yes, I know that I wasn't supposed to be "racing" the 5k but like I ever show up for a race to run "just for training" or "just for fun" even.Yes I know that there was a bigger picture but I am me after all. I could've smashed a PR. You know as a runner, when yo get fast, bating a PR by even 15 seconds is a big deal. We're talking I could've cut a minute, even 90 seconds off my PR. Ugh!

Think I could just get over it and move on? Why no, what do you think I got to ponder the whole time during the aforementioned 13 mile training run? Yup...welcome to being me. Note to self: if you have a chance to set a PR you'd better do it no matter what. If not...it will sit somewhere in that 90% of your brain you don't use and pop up at the most inopportune times...

The "Old Fashioned 10 Miler". The only thing "old fashioned" was the pain.

Of course I must remind you that I'm running the Boston Marathon this year on a charity number so I need to raise money in order to participate. If you are so inclined/motivated please click the donate button at the top right of my blog to donate to my cause and thank you in advance. Now onto the bloggy.

I have been struggling with not starting too fast and working hard to keep a steady pace while racing. If anything my posts, tweets, and Facebook status have showed you is I'm the "go as hard as you can" guy. Problem is you can get away with that for a 5k but once you stretch out to 10ks and beyond the idea of this mythical notion of "pace" becomes more and more important. The first 10k of my season, appropriately enough on New Years' Day (what better way to start the year I thought) I went out to turn the 1st mile in around 6 minutes and spent the race of the race trying to "settle" down. That effort led me to slowing down and being caught by very people I blew past at the start.

So being the good student, I decided to pick a long race a week in advance no less, as opposed to a couple days before which is my norm, and seeing if I could start "slow" and run a steady paced event. The race of the day was the "Old Fashioned 10 Miler" held in Foxborough MA. Luckily for me, one of my coworkers was running the race too and was hoping to run an 8-8:15min pace. How better to start well and then run negatives throughout I thought than to start with her? So, a light mile run to the start. Ya, I had no idea it was that far from the registration area but it was a great reason to get warmed up and tune the HR. We pushed our way along still iced over 3 foot snow banks to finally make our way to the front of the pack for the start. There we a lot of people racing today. A lot? Over 500 ran the event.

So while chatting about a run strategy with my coworker, the gun went off and the race was on. The course billed itself as "2 flat miles, 6 rolling miles and 2 flat miles". It may have been billed that way but couldn't be further from the truth. We were running uphill before even hitting the first mile marker. A quick glance down showed my HR at about 145 and we ran the first mile in 7:51. That's the slowest 1st mile I've run in a race in a long, very long time but I felt great! Pushing toward mile 2 my coworker said she was going too fast and was gonna lay of the gas. Goodbyes exchanged, we parted ways. I settled into a comfortable pace and the next thing I realize I hit mile 3 in 20 minutes. Guess I was feeling feel pretty good. Now it was all about keeping this comfortable pace and staying warm. Oh ya, did I forget to mention it was wicked cold?! We're talking 17degrees kiddies and with an equally wicked wind, the temp dipped down to the low teens. Brr, just brr.

This was a race of firsts all around. This race also had me wearing the most clothing I've ever worn for a race too. Nike head sock, Nike running gloves, under armor cold gear shirt, long sleeve t shirt, my new Polar running singlet and, and, and my new polar running jacket. Yes, it was cold kiddies. At one point I thought of taking off my jacket, rolling it up and running with it in my hand but then I'd hit a strip of shadowed road or a good gust would hit me and I thought better.

So while alternating opening and closing my jacket in rider to regulate heat I noticed a funny thing....I was actually ticking off miles at a steady 7:30 pace. Miles 4, 5, 6 ticked away and then toward the end of mile 7 was "the hill". Everest it was not but it was a climb nonetheless. So much so, you could almost hear my fellow runners' collective "pop" when they hit it. So if they hill is slowing them down then it's time to pump my arms and pass them. Which, I did like a champ however once I hit the top of the hill my hurt felt like it was gonna explode. A quick glance down to my Polar FT7 heart rate monitor showed my heart rate hit a dizzyingly high 236bpm. Less dizzy than black spot seeing which made me realize I need to adjust HR zones based on a massive max HR.

I have never been so happy to see a mile marker, even it it was only mile 8, even having 2 more to go.Mile 8 was tough however. I tried very hard to maintain my pace while getting my heart to settle down. Then there was mile 9. There is a certain happiness that comes from knowing you're closing in on the finish and it's only 7 to 7:30 minutes away. I wasn't familiar with the course so I gingerly started to get faster for fear theee was some dumb hill around the corner or I might gas out. After a few minutes I heard heard a local runner say there was about half a mile left so I tried to pick it up. I finished strong, crossing the line in 1:16:00 and flashed my new Polar togs with pride. I finished 138th overall out of 512, 118th male and 30th in my age group. Oh ya, this race seemed to be a training race for everybody in the Boston Athletic Association or ANYBODY who's racing Boston
So, first 10 miler in the bag (my first so it was a PR) with a decent result. Now I wonder if I can find another before the Army 10 Miler in October :)

There was nothing super about the Super Sunday 10k

I'm running the Boston Marathon this year on a charity number so I need to raise money in order to participate. If you are so inclined/motivated please click the donate button at the top right of my blog to donate to my cause and thank you in advance

I've been talking about doing a "race in every state" thing for a while but haven't really done anything about it. So, since it’s a new year it’s a perfect thing to add to the to do list. That every state in 2011 but at least get a good start. On a recent trip to NM to visit friends, there happened to be a 10k that fell on Superbowl Sunday. And 3 birds get killed with one stone: I get a race in another state, log some training miles and burn off some calories before eating the crap food associated with watching the Super Bowl. Add in that the weather here in MA was a bone chilling 10 degrees with 3 or 4 feet of snow on the ground and NM was a balmy 45 degrees and it’s a super bonus!

As always, I have to layout everything the night before. I know it's probably anal but if the Army taught me anything it's that unless it's laid out where you can see it, you're gonna forget something and I wouldn’t be able to sleep of this little setup wasn’t done (OCD much?). Because it's winter and it was "cold" in Albuquerque, the race started at 1100. The weather was supposed to be in the mid 40's (practically Spring for those of us in NE) but come race day the temp dipped to 20 with a whipping wind that made it feel like it was in the teens. I of course didn’t pack any real cold weather gear. I mean why would I the weather said nothing of this "chill" that moved in. But...I figured I'd warm up after the 1st mile and when the sun came out. I did however find a new use for the Everstride's anti-chafe stick during this experience. My face and lips were getting dried out just waiting for the race to start. I used it like it was a big tube of Chap Stick and it worked great! Soft face and supple lips...but I digress.

The course was pretty straight forward, after a winding start it was 2 laps of the course. Within the 1st mile, the wind died down, the sun popped out and it got warm. 40+ degree warm but warm nonetheless. As is my habit, I went out too fast. I know that I should run negatives but I just have not been able to get a handle on it. I had hoped to run steady 7min miles. Instead, I hit mile 1 at 6:46, mile 2 at 7:08 and then "settled in" at 7:29 and 7:23 for miles 3 and 4 respectively. Mile 5, as is my usual, trailed off to 7:49 and I spent the last mile plus trying to catch up hitting mile 6 at 7:35. All said and done, 15th overall with a time of 45:34 and placed 4th in my age group. Honestly I was a little bummed about that because the 1st and 2nd in my age group took 1st and 2nd overall. But hey, every race director does it their way and I wasn't very happy with my time anyway. Another race in the books, another lesson learned but at least I got in a race in another state and the scenery was beautiful.

Blood in the water...no really

I must remind you that I'm running the Boston Marathon this year on a charity number so I need to raise money in order to participate. If you are so inclined/motivated please click the donate button at the top right of my blog to donate to my cause and thank you in advance. Now onto the blogging goodness.

Look, I don't like to swim. Well actually that's not true. I'm happy to get in the pool and thrash about like an idiot as we all are apt to do on a hot summer day but I dread heading to the pool to swim laps. Laps being that joy of water time required to become a more efficient swimmer and therefore a better triathlete.

I have discovered that of all the sports and sporting endeavors one can participate in, swimming is the one you CAN'T muscle or fight your way through. It actually requires you to calm down. Have you met me? Calm down? What the hell is that?! I'm the same guy that was upset that I couldn't name my blog "Fueled by Anger"! But, I drag myself to the pool 2 or 3 times a week to swim. I'll be honest, I don't do "flip turns", I'm not fancy, I just try my best to get though the required distance of the day without looking like a complete retard.

Well today I guess my body was finally starting to feel like I do about swimming because while struggling through a "pulling" 100 my nose exploded. Not that I noticed of course. I was too busy focusing on trying to extend through the stroke and bilateral breathe and "relax" and all that other crap. While swimming I did feel something across my face. I wiped it away and kept going until I hit the end. Upon standing, winded and angry, looking back down the length I just swam I noticed a red trail. A red trail sitting on top of the water leading right to me. Unfortunately the other people in the pool noticed it at the same time, followed it to me and noticed that my face, unbeknown to me, looked like a crime scene and pointed in horror. Really, my WHOLE face was covered in blood as were my hands from wiping away what I thought was water. Great times. I grabbed my nose and left a wounded animal blood trail all the way to the showers where I spent the next 10 or 15 minutes trying to get rid of the "evidence". Then, once cleaned up I had to unceremoniously clean up my mess from the showers to the pool. All the while being looked at like a leper because you know there's no telling what's in my blood. NOW I totally understood what Charlie Brown meant when he uttered "ugh" in the Peanuts cartoon. After all the cleaning, I grabbed up my gear and left with my tail between my legs.

You normally beat me Mr. Pool but today you bested me beyond belief...ugh.

Defeat oftens begins with de feet...

Yes, I've decided to take on the extra challenge of trying to come up with a witty title for my posts. Hopefully it'll be one of many reason you keep coming back to check out my blog.

And...I would be remiss if I didn't remind you that I'm running the Boston Marathon this year on a charity number so I need to raise money in order to participate. If you are so inclined/motivated please click the donate button at the top right of my blog to donate to my cause and thank you in advance.

Now onto the blogging goodness...

When it comes to foot care and chafe relief, I've tried everything I can get my hands on. Having served as an Airborne Ranger Infantryman through my Army career, I lived on my feet. We routinely did 12, 20 and 30 mile road marches in addition to long morning runs for physical fitness. Keeping my feet in shape and preventing abrasion/chafing practically became a second job. Now that I run,ride and swim so much the quest has continued...until I was turned onto Everstride and their high performance skin care products for athletes.

Their Pro Foot Therapy is not greasy to the touch, gets absorbed by the skin fast and most importantly helps PREVENT blisters and chafing AND repairs and restores damaged skin. You read that correctly, prevents and repairs. I put a thin coat on my feet before a long run and another after the post run shower. I can tell you that my feet have never felt better and I've NEVER been blister or callus
free...until now! Because of all the time I spend in the pool (you know that chlorine leaches the moisture out of your skin) and the extreme cold training my skin has to endure during New England winters, I thought I'd try the cream as body moisturizer too. I was blown away that it was just as effective!

They also make an Anti-Chafing Sport stick too (yes, you now have competition Body Glide!).  Just rub it on any of the places you'd want relief; back of heels, thighs, arms (bra areas for you ladies) and you're friction free. And like their Foot Therapy its greaseless and I've had no issue with it easily washing out of clothes or gear.

They also have an nail anti-fungal solution that I'm trying out but thats for a later post...

So...because I love their product so much, the folks over at Everstride were nice enough to give me a coupon code that I could share with my readers/followers. Just head over to their website, buy any of their awesome products and use the code Ranger20 at checkout. That code will not only give you 20% off your ENTIRE order but they will ALSO donate a portion of the sales to the charity I'm supporting with my running of the 2010 Boston Marathon!

Six pack abs for show, power for dough.

Okay I will freely admit to not only being a Type A plus-plus personality, probably with a touch of ADD and OCD, I'm a little narcissistic to boot. I mean come on, we're all athletic. We monitor what we eat, run/bike/swim/lift our asses off (figuratively and literally!) and all you have to do is pick up any magazine that supports our poison...err..umm..sport of choice and right there on the cover or within the pages of said magazine is some well built, little-to no body fat man or women showing off the body we all want.

And of course...we're gonna compare ourselves to them. Fine, if you won't admit it I will. I compare myself to them. I don't understand why monitoring what goes into my body, trying to optimize performance while reducing fat (and I'll admit, restricting calories) AND training this much does not result in some Greek God inspired, could be chiseled in marble set of abs for me like Ms. Dara Torres here. (Who, by the way I have met and is one of the coolest, most approachable famous people I've ever known and one of my heroes. If there's anyone you should aspire to be when you grow up its her but that's for another time...)

I mean really, is it so wrong that I WANT those abs?! Add in that I'm 38 and was afraid of my advanced age and never having had a 6 pack surely doomed me to be soft around the middle forever and you see my neurosis. I resigned myself to making the golf analogy of "drive for show and put for dough". If hitting the long ball on the golf course wows everybody but mastering the short game makes you a "true" golfer then certainly I could transpose this to meaning that you may look great when you take off that shirt but being able to generate high power numbers makes you the "true" athlete. Right? Right? I will say right now that I know there are plenty of people who have the shredded body and STILL generate power/speed/win events (like Dara). This was just what I would tell myself to make it all better as I cried quietly and desperately want a slice of bread.

So...I took my quest to Twitter (it is really the greatest thing ever) and posed my question out loud. Nicole, a USAT certified coach, from NEO Endurance Sports & Fitness decided to take my query. She was nice enough to do some research, and post her take on the matter over on her blog, which you can check it here. I can't thank her enough for taking the time to post an answer and hopefully you'll learn a little something like I did. I'd love to chat more but I have to replace all my breads and pasta with veggies and beans and then spend the next few hours doing some cardio.

Now to get this thing started...I'm running the Boston Marathon and could use your help.

Okay, I've had a number of people ask me why don't I, of all people, not have a blog. The truthful answer is that I have run a number of blogs/websites in the past and know how labor intensive they can be. Also, to be honest, I was concerned that if I started posting my workouts I would be ridiculed by everyone for not training correctly or enough or too much. But...to hell with that I say, my training life is an open book for all to poke fun and comment upon.

I am hoping that this blog will be a place where I can talk about my training, training in general, products and my successes and or failures in an effort to share what I'm doing and to keep me motivated throughout the 2011 season. Throw in my candor, twisted sense of humor and the fact that I seem to only have 2 speeds, 0 or 100mph and I think this blog will be entertaining at the very least.

Speaking of staying motivated...I'm planning on keeping the year jam packed with events. I'm up to about 20 races ranging from: 5ks, 10ks, half marathons, marathons, duathlons to sprint/Olympic distance triathlons. And how will I kick off my season? Why with the 115th Boston Marathon of course!

The Boston marathon has always been on my "bucket list" of races and I was lucky enough to get a number  through the Hopkinton Athletic Association. The HAA is a non-profit, 501(c) (3) organization whose mission is to promote the health and fitness through innovative, multi-generational programs.  A few examples of the programs the HAA has granted funds to are: the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the East Coast Jumbos (a hockey program for youths with special needs), The Angel Fund (for ALS research), the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and the "Marathon Fitness Challenge," (an innovative fitness program for 2^nd and 3^rd grade students). 

So...that means I need to raise $2,750 for the HAA in order to participate in this year's marathon. I've never raised money nor solicited for a charity but I'm asking now. Any amount is greatly appreciated and will get me that much closer to reaching my goal. In order to make donating as easy as possible, I've included a PayPal "donate" button on the top right hand side of my blog. Thanks for taking the time to read the first of what will be MANY entries in my new blog. Now I need to get back to training :)