Half Pics

They're up, here's some good ones, for some reason i couldnt find any of jess, I tried by name and by number and nothing, she must have been really sneaky

Cherry Tree Half Marathon

First off, congrats to the runners, PRs, and this team for winning as a team. Much thanks to Greg and Lauren to cheer us on. Undefeated at 1-0. Sub 1:45 score.

Friday:

Working 2nd shift the day before the race was good in that I got to enjoy a Mavs game (albeit a loss) and pick up everyone's packets. This was my first time stopping in to Rhode Island's speed bump on I-95, Pawtucket. Seeing the carnival set-up with the overcast/foggy weather was definitely ripe for the end of days that was predicted for 5/21/11.

The set up wasn't too bad as I picked up the 5 bib numbers and fell victim to another documented case of 'Pat Knows Everyone'. In a stuperous state after staying up for the game, I thought the person handling the pick up asked if I was Pat Henderson (duh Aaron, you're not a white kid from NK) to which he said he ran with him and knows The Greg.

The packet itself ain't bad, although the tech tee is a bit effeminate along with the canvas-like purse/bag and a gazette featuring the man who knows Pat (because of course it does).

Saturday:

Working 2nd shift the day before the race was bad in that I can never fall asleep after work and rocked about 4 hours for the race. Pre-race Kara Goucher vid, Without Limits vid, peanut butter and banana sandwiches and toilet paper utility belt, check. Pins and bibs in tow, I headed through fog and overcast to Ashton Mills to meet up Pat, Kevin, and Knapp.

Before parking at the Apex, DD drive thru for bagels served with a side of some gnarly teeth.

Thanks to my lack of foresight, I didn't know where Jess was and I had her bib 20 minutes before the race. Thanks to the nature of running, the portapotties are the runners' version of the water cooler and the bib found its rightful owner.

Lining up for the race, we heard the all too familiar emceeing of the Englishman who apparently is the only announcer for races in Rhode Island, running a racket in road races and waxing poetic about Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus.

As we lined up together minutes before the start, English guy told us we were facing the wrong way so we were basically towing the line while the rest of the racers gave us a 50 foot bubble. That meant a ton of people passing me for the first 6 miles and me going out way too quick for the first 4 miles, as each clock kept insisting I was rocking a 7:30-45 pace. How I knew I would be running positive splits? I saw Pat at the out and back portion early on as we passed the point and high five. I also saw Kevin close behind as we rocked the point to each other. There was only one decent hill in a neighborhood that you could see well ahead of time and this was the point where my watch and left forearm decided to throw in an itchy rash and I had to pocket my watch mid-run.

At this point, delusions of grandeur crept in to my skull and I was then brought back down to Earth and humbled when Kevin caught up to me at mile 5. Miles 5-8, we kept together as we approached the bike path near Ashton Mills. At this point, I threw out of my arsenal a special 2 song playlist of Grand National's "Talk Amongst Yourselves" and Empire of the Sun's "Walking on A Dream" on a loop until the end. Running with Kevin definitely helped my time since I was slowing down before I saw him and kept me within striking distance of my ultimate goal of a 1:45 half marathon time.

In the back of my head, I kept telling myself the last 5k of the race I could crank it up.

Wrong.

I crawled through the last 5k, probably anywhere from 8:30-9:00 pace and could always see Kevin about a minute ahead of me and reverted to my Dallas Half ways and was visibly upset whenever I thought I saw a water station/mile marker/mirage only to be greeted by a congregation of crowd support sans water. My right shoulder even locked up when I tried to crack the right side of my neck.

At mile 11, I was at 1:30, and thought if I just run 9:00 pace, I could PR. The last 2 miles went by so slowly but the switch turned on for at least a little bit of time as I saw the Greg and son of Greg, Pat, cheer me on. The final 0.1 miles, I sprinted home in yak mode and to my surprise, had the English dude read my name over the speaker as I crossed at 1:47:46.

Spotted Kevin and Lauren and went further down the course to cheer on the rest of the runners with Greg and Pat per tradition.

3 bottles of water, a banana, and 6 bags of kettle corn crisps and another bag of normal crisps later and I was ready for breakfast.

Modern Diner, as seen on TV, was the first diner AND in Pawtucket so Lauren and the 4 stinky men with the same shirts, medals and bib numbers showed up at the new hipster joint post race. Here, we rocked body odor and respect as a little kid let us seat first because we had just run a race. I also learned that I need to invest in the Rosetta Stone to teach me English because I tried to order a Tom. Pesto. Mozz. What it really was was a Tomato Pesto Mozzarella (because Pesto. is shortform for Pesto) Omelette. Also, someone mentioned the size of Americans in the past in reference to the size of the diner; were we the size of hobbits 50 years ago?

Quotables and other notables:

-Lauren: "Worst crowd support"

-KOB "Single Ladies" dance, Katy Perry trifectah playlist through the spanish-speaking part of town. 'Firework' may sneak its way on to the next running playlist (fortunately or unfortunately)

-"Pawtucket is the new Providence/What is this, East Village?"-in reference to the hipsters

-"How's your Tom Omelette?"

"Very tommy"

:time passes:

"oooohhhhh"

A sad day for some. The Magill Dynasty ended for 5ks today.

BTW, the Rapture didn't happen.

Pizza after races, who decided this was the go to food post-race? Bagels cost must be > pizza cost

iPod shuffle for running, how'd I go so long without it? As someone who listens to music non-stop, I am surprised.

Overall, I enjoyed the race as it was mostly flat, had mile markers throughout with your gun time, tons of water stations at pretty much every mile. Weather was perfect, in the 50s with no sun and a relatively small race.

T Shirt Timeeeeeeeeeee

So after washing my TRC shirt I noticed that it faded a lot, as a faithful uberprints customer I was very dissapointed cause their stuff is always of the highest quality. So I complained. They responded and they're going to re-run all of our shirts screen printed which they said will react much better to that material and wont fade like the digital print did. I told them they could send them all to me and I'd get them to you guys. I'll keep you posted.

Pat

*UPDATE* They just placed the order for us, it should ship next week. I'll send all of the Rhode Islander's shirts to Tang and he can distribute to the Texas/RI group. Everyone will get the exact same shirts you ordered before, but the logo will be screen printed and much more durable/fade resistant.

Cherry Tree Week

Congrats to Pat for increasing his 5k lead over all and PR'ing at 20:35 and

finishing 14th overall (male 5k PRs and RI don't mix))

Congrats to Lauren for putting up a new PR: 26:48 and 3rd ranked on the

female 5k list. (2011 racing apparently is the year of the PR)

Congrats to Knapp for breaking 1,000 miles. Double what these

guys would walk. I googled 1,000 miles to see how far you can go from

here and came up with this.

Or going from Providence to St. Louis, which is roughly 1,000 miles.

Race Preview

While we may have raced under the same team name or raced in a relay before, we have never had team shirts and a team of 5 racing against other teams. The Cherry Tree Half Marathon will be the debut of the team "competing".

There are some story lines to follow for the race as we race as a team. There's the ringer, Pat Henderson, fresh off of a little known marathon and 5k PR who will be gunning for a half marathon PR that will help the team's average.

The Cumberland Comeback Kids, Knapp and Kevin, have had some time in between races (that 10k in December?) and we'll see where those times will be. Knapp is making the comeback after marathon training and Kevin, the rising second banana on the team, is also making a comeback after a long hiatus.

Can the two Cox runners, Jess and Aaron, continue to PR their half times after only 3 weeks since the last half marathon? This year's runners have PR'ed 6 times out of the last 6 tries.

Forecast calls for rain, how will this affect the team?

We'll find out soon enough before most awake this Saturday morning.

Mystic River Herring Run (5K) Recap

On a whim last Wednesday I decided to sign up for a 5k for this weekend and found some save the watershed type thing in Somerville for Sunday which was perfect. I figured I could run the 5k to try and get a PR then do a distance run after since I hadn't trained for the half next week at all.

It was overcast and wet but not raining on Sunday morning when we got to the course. Me and Lauren were rockin our TRC shirts proudly, lookin fresh to def. After a little warm up jog and listing to some guy drone on about saving the watershed it was time to race. There were 300+ people signed up but it looked like there would only be a small group of competitive runners so me and Lauren both went up toward the front. I ended up starting in the 2nd row.

This was my 2nd post high school 5k and it felt a lot better than the first one. I kept up with everyone for the initial sprint and then hit my pace, I went through mile 1 at 6:34, toward the beginning of mile 2 I slowed a little bit but then I caught my 2nd wind. There was this wobbly running girl just ahead of me the whole race up to this point who I knew was too wobbly, too short and too female to stay ahead of me for good, but she kept passing me again as soon as I passed her, then around the 2 mile mark I blew past her for good. Finished off mile 2 at 6:47.

I had to kick it up for mile 3 to get my post high school PR. The good thing about being in shape for distance was that I felt stronger every step of the way, the bad part is that I didn't have the speed I used to have. I looked at my watch at 2.60 and I was at 17:41 which made me say holy moley, I need to kick it up! So I took off and pretty much went full speed till the mile 3 marker then went 100% full speed for the last .1, I finished up in 14th place at 20:35, beating my previous PR by a solid 13 seconds.

I then ran back about a quarter mile to cheer on Laur and she came rolling through looking strong, she blew past a few people and finished up beating her PR by over a minute!

Good day at the races.

I then decided to run 10 miles to get some mileage in for the half next Saturday. I did it at an overall 8:44 pace, and my legs got a little sore around 8 miles which doesn't give me too much hope for a PR on Saturday, but I'm gonna bank on the slowness being due to the 5k.

Trending Now

No Shoes, No Shirts, No Service

As I entered my newfound neighborhood gym, I was shocked at the obscene amount of Vibram Five Fingers and Nike Frees being worn all around me. The barefoot movement has swept the nation (at least the part that is active). Anyone that knows me knows that I will have to move on to the next far out trend. I can't be mainstream.

Congratulations to fashion merchant Pat Henderson on designing the team t-shirt for the upcoming half marathon race. I remember having this discussion about a team t-shirt with Pat post-Cox half marathon and thinking this'll pop up in a couple weeks. Not for the fastest runner on the team. Hours later, the design was up and running (pun intended) and we can now at least look like a running team, as ridiculous as that may sound to race organizers and legit teams.

Since it seems most of my posts make me out to be a hypochondriac, I am happy to report this weekend's 10 miler with Knapp on the Cumberland bike path was excellent and the next chance I get, I'll lug along my phone and snag a couple pictures of a nice break from the city.

Summer/Fall Running Schedule

After finishing the COX half marathon, I realized that I was not signed up for anything else yet. As soon as I was able to get to a computer, I began planning out my running schedule for the season. When I started running, I made a personal goal of completing a marathon by the time I was 26 (26 miles by the age of 26). I think that goal is going to come early and I am hoping to achieve it at the age of 25. Last October, I ran the Newport Half-Marathon. I thought it would be a nice goal for me to do the full marathon the following year. The end of the race season will be me almost dying at the end of the Newport full marathon. I'm okay with that. I know I can do it! I decided to register for it, so that I HAD to start training for it. No exceptions. Here goes nothing.

I only signed up for 4 races so far, but I'm sure I will be adding more as the season continues. Compared to the active members of the TRC, I'm sure I have a similar running schedule but I'm going to list it anyway.

**Blackstone Half - May 21st
**Old Port 5k in Portland, ME - July 24th (Danato is doing the half... I'm super jealous, but I'm doing the 5k to support a friend who is just getting back on the running wagon)
**Narragansett Blessing of the Fleet 10-miler - July 29th
**Newport Full Marathon - October 15th

Based on my performance on the Providence Half, I decided last minute that I would do the Blackstone Half-Marathon in Pawtucket coming up in a couple weeks. I am really excited, especially for the possibility of wearing a team shirt created by Pat! Awesome job! Can't wait to see it when I get it in the mail.

I've already started my 28-week training program for the marathon. I have it set to beginner. The mileage per week seems reasonable and with my new work schedule in RI, I think I will definitely be able to manage the longer distances this summer. I'm excited to be living back in RI and being able to expand my running "scenery". I just love the East Bay Bike Path and hopefully I can get in some scenic runs by traveling down to Narragansett on occasions. I know the Cranston/Providence area pretty well and I am excited that I will be able to run where there are actual sidewalks :-) The Palmer, MA area really is a crappy place for avid runners...

COX Providence Half-Marathon

Kudos to Tang for an awesome race report about the half! Since he did such a great job and a thorough report, I really don't have to go into detail about the race.

Overall I think I did really well. I always seem to impress myself with my running and the times that I get. Maybe I just don't lift my expectations high enough for myself. I surprisingly had a fun time during this race, but I didn't realize how much pain I would be in afterward. That is basically due to the fact that I hadn't trained as much as I did for my last half-marathon.

It was a rough weekend for me. I have been in the process of moving back to RI so Friday consisted of two car trips from Palmer to Cranston, back to Palmer, then back to Cranston. Moved a lot of stuff on Friday. Then on Saturday, it was the big moving day where we rented a U-Haul and moved all my big furniture down. The couch was a big pain in the neck but eventually we got it up to my new apartment on the 3rd floor. After finally moving all my stuff, I was able to focus more on preparing for the race. I set out all my gear and clothes for the morning. Then Danato and I ate a nice big pasta dinner and also drank plenty of water throughout the day. We made sure we went to sleep early so we could be well rested for the race in the morning.

I thought it was quite chilly when we woke up Sunday morning. I was worried about my race gear selection since I had picked out a t-shirt and capri-length running pants. I decided to still go with it and I'm glad I did! It definitely warmed up, but not too warm. It was the perfect temperature for a run. Not too hot, not too cold. Definitely very nice and I think that helped our PR's a bit :-)

I knew that the first half of the run consisted of many hills or gradual hills so I wanted to take it easy at the beginning. That wasn't very hard to do since there was a swarm of people the first two miles of the race. However, I kept looking down at my pace and thinking that it was way too fast and I'm going to tire myself out way too soon. I couldn't help it. I think it was a combination of the excitemnet of the race, the people running around me, and the great weather we were having. I couldn't slow down from the pace that I was going so I decided just to go for it. I'm glad I made that decision because I was able to shave my previous PR down by over a minute.

At mile 1.69, my GPS watch had stopped recording for some reason. Either I accidentally hit the button or someone hit it while I was running within the huge crowd. I didn't notice that it was turned off until about a mile afterward. I turned it back on by then but that really messed me up. At every mile-marker I had to just believe it but then when I look down at my watch it was way off. I kept having to add 1.1 miles to my watch distance to be in line with what was going on and to make sure I was still doing alright. It really threw me off and in the end my data only showed me going 12 miles instead of 13.1. No big deal, but I really like my running data, and was kinda sad that it failed for a little bit :-(

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this run. I hadn't been running/training nearly enough because of the winter and work. I went into this run thinking just as long as I run the entire thing, I will be fine. "DON'T WALK! You can do it, you've done it before!". I was not expecting to put in a better time and pace than the Newport Half back in October. So to get any time better than that, I was very satisfied.

Since Tang brought it up, I have to comment on the drinking stations. From previous races, I have discovered that I absolutely suck at those things. If I want a sip of water, it usually ends up all over the front of me and none in my mouth. It's a hard thing for me to coordinate while running. Water bouncing around everywhere, it's probably just easier to throw it over your head and hope that some lands in your mouth. That's why I love my fuelbelt. I didn't have to slow down to grab a cup and I can just drink whenever I want. Plus I have a pouch that goes on it so that I can store some GU (caffeinated). My fueling strategy throughout a half-marathon:
-Only need to bring 2 bottles (not the full 4). I fill one with Gatorade, and the other one with water.
-Sip periodically throughout the race, I tended to grab some water whenever I passed a water station.
-At about mile 6, I have half a GU. By fueling time, I usually have a GU in one hand, then a water or Gatorade bottle in the other hand. I alternate sipping the fluid then having a squirt of the GU.
-At mile 10, I have the other half of the GU for that last bit of energy at the end. By this time I am also usually done with at least one of the bottles and have the rest to drink up before the finish line.

My fueling strategy seems to work well for me. I've tested it out quite a few times now. I could probably do full GU each time, but the consistency of the stuff really turns me off from doing the whole thing at once.

A couple memorable things that occurred during the race:

**Towards the end of the race, when the course went through India Point Park, there were all these signs and people there showing support for cancer patients. There were so many signs that said things like "Keep going!" "Run for a cure!", or "Keep fighting, you're almost there", etc. It had a lot to do with cancer but it also went along with pushing it straight until the end. For some reason, those signs really hit my emotional button and I was almost in tears. Until I finally ran out of the park and under the bridge to run right into downtown. It was an emotional part of the race for me because I kept thinking the family members that I have lost to cancer. Good thing I didn't lose it right there, because I would've had to slow down and try to collect myself before approaching the finish line. It was very nice to see those signs and I know that some of the people running in that race have (or had) some form of cancer. In my eyes, they are the true winners of the race.
**Before the very last turn of the race to the finish line, there was a spectator walking the opposite way. As he was walking, he was singing the tune to a very popular victory song that seems to be slipping my mind at the moment. If I can think of it later, I will post it. But it was a PERFECT tune for the end of the race. I had a good chuckle from it then I boosted up my speed to help me truck through the end.
**Running in the area of the Blackstone Path was very cool because there were a lot of people there watching and cheering us on. They were the same people that had seen the first part running pass Blackstone, and they just shifted to the other side to see the runners coming the other way a little bit later. I thought that was pretty neat and definitely encouraging. I love the spectators! Especially the kids asking for high-fives. I always try to get in a high-five throughout a race. It's simply awesome.

I was able to PR at 2:04:02. I was happy with this time but with new motivation, I hope to get it down to 2 hours in the near future.

Immediately after the race when we were all meeting up at the water fountain, I still felt pretty good. I think I was still high from the run. Because during that mile walk back to Danato's place, I could definitely start feeling it. Danato and I felt like two elderly folks walking back. It took probably double the time to get back to his apartment off of Angell than it took to get to the race that morning. It was brutal. We pretty much collapsed and did nothing the rest of the day.

I couldn't believe how sore I got. I wasn't nearly that sore after my first half-marathon. But when I thought about it, it makes sense why I was so sore. I hadn't been training nearly enough as I should have been and I probably pushed myself a little too much. I was very happy with the race and my performance but the next day at work definitely was a killer. Needless to say, I slept very well Sunday and Monday nights. By Tuesday, I wasn't really sore anymore. I made it a point to drink plenty of fluids Sunday and Monday. And I think being on my feet and walking around all day at work really helped me loosen up quite a bit. I was able to run 6 miles at a 9:30 pace yesterday and not be in any pain. I would call that successful.

Locked, Stocked, and 1 smoking Running shirt

Shirts, schedules, sales

Pat Henderson designed shirts on sale

Hopefully I am not stealing Knapp's thunder but during the 5 miler we did on East Bay, the itinerary looks to be already paved by Knapp:

Cherry Tree Half Marathon May 21st

Matty's 5k

Blessing of the Fleet 10 miler

Rock n Roll Half in August

October Half

Miami Half/ Full in January

Definitely feeling pumped after the long winter hiatus.

After the high I experienced from a Mavs victory Monday night, I locked down a gym membership, iPod shuffle via reward points, and the Cherry Tree Half Marathon on May 21st (while on call...).

3/4 Tang's Cox Half Marathon Race Report

Questions to be answered:

-Will everyone PR?

-Will I beat Troy Aikman's 1:49:47 half marathon pace?

-Will the course feature hills galore and heat aplenty?

Night before: rotini pasta (thanks to Souksanh liking that style) and a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats (thanks to Knapp's warehouse of it).

Watch the first 10 minutes of Without Limits (I know, I have gone from all of the movie to a quick shot of it)

Load up on fluids and last week's episode of Community.

Sleep: rocking the futon for 6 hours thanks to my vacation sleep style of passing out at 12:00 AM. The dream before waking up consisted of me with the whole team in a car, convincing everyone to run it which must have been my subconscious trying to convince myself to run the half. (End psychoanalysis here)

(3 out of 4 Tangs) Cox Half Marathon Race Report

After a carousel of bathroom visits and the usual english muffin with pb and banana, the walk down Broadway to the race started around 7:15. The forecast was perfect for running, 45-54 during the race.

With all this royal wedding buzz, I decided to wear something old (Rhody Rams basketball t-shirt) and something new (Nike gloves and shorts from the Lauren-approved Wrentham Outlets).

Thanks to the success of carrying TP during the Dallas half, I employed the TP utility belt as we immediately hit the porta-johns and it was definitely a must. I made sure to designate the fountain near Kennedy Plaza as the spot to meet up and we squeezed our way in to the crowd of 7,000, near the 10 minute pace area as the DJ played "Sirius" to pump us up along with other Jock Jams favorites.

The countdown began and the crawl to the starting line was expected this time, along with other nuances that I noted from my first race experience like the pedestrian pace at turns as people try to take every tangent.

The first two miles were crawling near the water and towards India until the marathon racers went their separate ways and the march up Gano Street began. Of note, it was nice of the race to avoid College Hill and take the gradual hill up to Blackstone. Also, the experience of Dallas meant I just accepted the crawling paces in the beginning and did not weave in and out, wasting energy but instead waited for gaps and shot through them to pass other racers and only once ran in to someone which is a far cry from previous races.

Along Blackstone, I ran right by my Dad and gave a wave as the first four miles set in and I realized that the runners shouting their paces aloud meant I was around an 8:45 pace (although I started way back). Towards the end of Blackstone, we took a right in to Pawtucket, the 2% of the race that I had never set foot in and looped back around in to the neighborhood Knapp, Kevin and myself had ventured in once when it was all ice that shot back out to Blackstone. There was a steep downhill in the neighborhood that ended with a 90 degree left turn that was pretty dangerous and cringe-worthy for heels as everyone had to slam the breaks here Fred Flintstone style. At this point, I wished I had gotten more sleep because my legs felt heavier and I usually am OK at mile 8.

Experiences gained from the Dallas half:

I swigged some water and dumped the rest on my head at pretty much every water station as I learned my lesson to not take the Powerade/ Gatorade. Training, I never took water.

I held back on the hills. In fact, I was passed so many times on the hills. I ran my race instead of blowing up.

The race shot down to the actual Blackstone Park that touches the water (and was mostly downhill, bye bye quads) which was a bit windy. There was a clock planted around mile 9.8 which definitely confused myself and a couple of other boisterous runners trying to calculate their pace since there wasn't a mile marker. I made the decision to run even and see how I felt around mile 10 to see if I could hit another gear. Since I started looking for mile markers and water stations as salvation, that gear wouldn't be seen here.

An older bald gentleman and I basically went back and forth from miles 10-12 and he told me to pass him around the Salvation Army on the east side after the uphill curve. Buddy, if my knee was 100%, I'd of hit 1:45 pace.

Gano was all downhill so I caught some speed there as the walkers became abundant and began to psychologically mess me up because my main goal was to not walk at all during the race. Whenever I see walkers, I have to fight the urge to walk. The last 3 miles were spent reminding myself I have done this distance before ( and more repeating 15 miles over and over ) and had run these streets many times before.

I knew I was around a 1:23-4 at mile 10 so I definitely had the PR in the bag unless my knee blew up so I continued the pedestrian pace. I hit the Providence River with less than a mile to go and heard some green shirted runner's iPod blaring Empire of the Sun's "Walking on a Dream" and told him awesome pick since that and Grand National's "Talk Amongst Yourselves" (in a Kara Goucher BM vid) were my songs to pump me up for the race. Note to self: BUY A SHUFFLE.

So with that odd but awesome musical choice, I knew I was 2 minutes away from the finish line and tried as much as I could to pick up the pace without pushing my gag reflex over the limit. The last 100 or so meters, I decided to lay it all out there (aka went easy the other 13.0 miles) and sprint to challenge some other runner as we put on a bit of a show. Guy owes me for shaving a couple seconds off his race since he was going to jog it home. This was the only "racing" I did; the 13.0 miles were a warm up. Once the pictures come out, I will check to see if technically I beat his time because I am sure I started back further.

Post-race notes:

Thanks for the support. It really means a lot. Shout out to Pat, Knapp, Kevin, Lauren, and Nikki for coming.

3 weeks, another half? Why not, after a better half than the Dallas half, I want that 1:45 soon.

tang clan running club dri-fit shirts? Awesome Pat, put me down for 1.

Dallas vs Providence:

kilometer markers vs. mile markers (advantage Providence, USA)

Gordon Biersch beer, breakfast burritos, vs. coconut water (kind of), Ronzio's pizza, and Narragansett beer (advantage Dallas, obesity capital of USA)

Boston Marathon shirt cheerer in Blackstone Park let us know it was mostly flat. His idea of flat is quite different from ours.

Apparently, Mom took pics during the race. Dad wore the race shirt for the second straight race. Christ. At least everyone PR'ed by a couple minutes.

For readers that come here often, isn't it time for a new blog pic? Yeah, it'll be up soon.

Seen on the run: tons of Charlie Sheen Winning posters.

Tons of pot holes. They should have thrown down those traffic cones on top of some of those craters.

Body:

Right knee started clicking on the walk over pre-race. Hopefully when I start working out my legs at the gym I haven't joined yet, it'll get better. Around mile 8, the left ankle felt odd along the top of the foot, most likely due to the 3 week hiatus. The usual sore shoulders after a race was to be expected after the sprint.

Overall, I'm pleased with the finishing time. I could easily be upset at my knee for costing me a shot at 1:45 due to the 3 week lay off, but understanding that going in, I just wanted to PR. It was probably as even as I could have run it and I was able to throw in a finishing kick. Basically, the race I ran relied more on the mental aspect of racing than the physical aspect.

Earlier post:

Troy Aikman, sent via text from Mom, threw down a 1:49:47 in the Dallas Rock n Roll Half. Whether you love him or hate him (or don't watch sports/ are not American), my ultimate goal is to break 1:45 so for all intents and purposes. I will give you a breakdown:

Aaron Tang versus Troy Aikman :

Super Bowl losses: (0-0) Draw

Concussions: (0-10) I win, 1-0

described as a "mobile qb": (0-0), still 1-0

Pharmacy Degrees: (1-0) I win, 2-0

So yes, by these non-running metrics, you can see there's an ... OK chance of me beating him.

rare Quad Providence City PRs:

Aaron Tang 1:48:40 <1:49:47 Troy Aikman (shed 6:06 from last race)

John Tang 1:55:51 (newest sub 2 and shed 7:29 from last race)

Jess Ouellette 2:04:02 (shed 1:32 from last race)

Lisa Tang 2:08:52 (shed 1:10 from last race, moving up one spot to #4)

Rhode Island is basically PR for almost all the halfs now (check the list).

1:45 tips:

-iPod

-rest

-fluids

-not getting hurt before

TRC Logo/Shirt

Here's my take on a TRC logo/shirt, let me know what you guys think, me and laur think its pretty money, if you guys agree I'll make the shirts and send you the links to order. The shirt is a "dry fit" white is the only color we can get it in. This site makes them pretty money, they digitally print so it's not "ironed" on where it washes off. They'll be around 29 bucks each plus shipping. Let me know if you want one, I'll email you my login info for the site so you can go in and order one.