Win

Front door to Blackstone to front door, exactly 10.0 miles at the door (GPS beeps at the door).

Inspiration

2010 commercial

1. Fans of the greatest show ever, The Wire, will enjoy the narrator

2. How pumped are you after watching this?

song: Apocalyptica-"One (Metallica cover)"

2009 commercial

song: Explosions in the Sky-"First Breath After Coma"

Long Run

This concoction is what I thought I would try immediately after reading Born To Run. After a 17 miler, my med student pacer Angela made this for me which was chia seeds, grapefruit juice, water, Sprite, and berries along with some roasted acorn squash. Pretty healthy? Don't worry, washed it down with a Rice Krispie Milkshake.

The long run itself? The weather wasn't as damp as yesterday's 5k and water and honey mid-run helped as we ran 9, got back to the car, then ran out another 8. All at 9:20 pace, similar to my last round of marathon training. Hopefully the results are better this time around.

NK 5K Race Report

48 hours before: worked 2nd Thursday then had Friday off so rest wise, this is ideal. Unfortunately, sleeping has been an effort for me (really? From the kid who slept 16 hours). Definitely didn't hydrate and stuffed my face with fettucine the night before.

Morning hits and it's odd to have a couple hours before the race due to the 10 am start time. I think for today's weather, an earlier time may have helped. The usual routine commenced: banana and almond butter sandwiches, multiple bathroom trips before the escort from KOB and Knapp came.

NK High School (or what Plano Senior High School could only dream of becoming) was the site for today's 5k. A slew of people turned out for the race as co-workers (Josh, C Feds, Jen, Libby) friends (Knapp, KOB, Pat, Nikki, Sri, Brian, Hoehn), countrymen (eh I might have been the only Asian) exchanged pleasantries. Also, apparently I signed up as a 27 year old.

As the clock neared 20 minutes before the race, Pat, Knapp, Kevin, Brian and I did a couple laps around the track to warm up/begin sweating. Missing from this race was my iPod, my team shirt, my Texas bracelet and I was sporting Lunaracers that look cool but don't necessarily fit my feet. Karma would not be on my side.

Lining up for the race, we slid in to the middle of the pack before the national anthem was sung by a person and not by a CD. 10 hit and we did the usual crawl for the first quarter to half a mile. I agree with Knapp in that this crawl though wasn't impeded by walkers left and right and that there was minimal weaving.

I remember seeing Knapp around the mile marker, then seeing the Incredible Bulk (shirtless giant) past mile 1, Josh around mile 2. All the while, my GPS watch this time actually kept me motivated as mile 1 was 7:02 and mile 2 was 7:00.

Hard to see but at mile 2-2.5, my pacing goes off 7 minute pace and that was all she wrote for a PR. Also, There was a hill at mile 1?

2.5 on, I tried to throw in the final kick but for whatever reason the upper part of my abs were not feeling it and I was dry heaving earlier than normal, thanks to not hydrating beforehand. The last 400, I picked it up and dropped 6 minute pace (uneven pacing? working on it) as the widely discussed tease of a finish made everyone cringe. Instead of cutting to the finish line, we had to loop around after passing the finish line. Hit the chute at 22:18, watch said 22:08.

The usual seeing Pat and C Feds at the finish and as THE Greg and the rest finished, we cheered on the rest of our friends.

How do I know we ran a race in the New England Area? There was a crock pot full of clam chowder served in styrofoam cups. Soooo good post-race. The donuts and hot dogs though, could not do it.

Final Thoughts:

Chatter of low expectations leading to setting PRs probably should've been my mindset as I thought I was ready to go sub 7.

More motivated to run now, and another 5k. I want that PR.

For what I thought was a small race, the swag was pretty decent (albeit Kent Hospital may have sponsored it, as seen below)

tech shirt, magnet, notepad, chapstick, sanitizer, man purse

Labor Day Long Run

Koan: what's the sound of one hand clapping?

Running Koan: does a long run count if no one knows about it?

Today's the Tang version of GTL (Go run and Tan shirtless, do Laundry)

2 things occurred to me when I ran long today on East Bay:

1) I like East Bay

2) I hate bikers

I am probably cranky from running 8 the night before (flashlight app on iPhone, so clutch for that) this morning's 16 but I am gonna go on a rant.

Wannabe Lance Armstrong/ Nascar sell outs ( check out the "sponsored" jerseys), can you scoot out to the 2nd lane on the path? I really don't feel like having you guys brush past my barely visible arm hair. God forbid, you or I trip. I realize I have dropped a couple lbs but it is still inexcusable to stay in my lane. Can't wait until the weather is "too cold" for bikers and perfect for us runners.

Rant over.

Thanks to a co-worker that runs, I may have found a more palatable solution to calories on the go; Honey Stinger. Just bought a box of it on Amazon.