Andrew Schrauben

Thurman Munson the Pilot

2009-08-02T13:40:00.010-04:00

Most people think of Thurman Munson as a baseball player, a talented and charismatic catcher for the New York Yankees during the 1970's. His success on the field was so impressive that Munson seemed almost certain to one day earn recognition in the Hall of Fame. Sadly, Munson's career and life were cut short 30 years ago today - August 2, 1979. It was his performance as a pilot, not as a ballplayer, that ultimately defined his legacy.

What
Munson was licensed pilot and on an off day during the 1979 season he took two of his friends, David Hall and Jerry Anderson, for a pleasure flight in his new Cessna Citation 501. During a series of touch-and-go's the aircraft descended too low during the fourth approach and crashed short of the runway, killing Munson and injuring his two friends.

How
Pilot error. Munson fell behind the power curve, both literally and figuratively. Literally because he flew his aircraft into a low speed, high drag condition that requires increased thrust as airspeed decreases. Figuratively because Munson failed to recognize a deteriorating situation and didn't take corrective action in time to avoid an accident.

Why
Preparation, execution, and luck. Most professional athletes excel because they are obsessive about their preparation and execution, and achieve greatness by being in the right place at the right time. My 7th grade teacher Mr. Pipkin was fond of saying: "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity." Munson was no exception and his baseball success was attributable to all three factors. Tragically, the failure of these factors - a lack of preparation, poor execution, and bad luck - led to Munson's death, one that was ultimately caused by his own judgement.

Lack of Preparation
Munson was a well-trained pilot with 516 hours of flight time, although just 34 hours flying Citation jets. While 500 hours is significant, the most experienced pilots measure their flight time in the thousands of hours. Some folks in aviation consider the 300-600 hour range of experience to be somewhat dangerous, the theory being that such pilots have enough experience to feel very confident in their skills, but not enough experience to fully appreciate the limits of their abilities. It's notable that John F. Kennedy Jr. had slightly over 300 hours of flight time under his belt when his fatal accident occurred, just to cite one well-known example.

Perhaps such confidence contributed to the fact that Munson never bothered to brief his passengers. This was especially critical as both of his friends were experienced pilots who Munson could've relied on for assistance; in fact, Hall was his former flight instructor (in a smaller aircraft) and was sitting in the co-pilot's seat. The NTSB report on the crash includes this quote from Hall:

"I was trying to convey to him my discomfort with the fact that we were getting a little bit low and that I was uncomfortable with the sink rate. I didn't want to come out and say 'I don't like this approach; please add power.' I was trying to feed that intormation to him in that fashion because, again, I had no experience in this type of aircraft."

A passenger briefing is required by FAA regulations yet Munson did not conduct one. As a result his friends were unaware of the specific aircraft configuration to expect for an approach, let alone the basics of emergency exits, etc. Notably, neither Munson nor Hall were wearing their shoulder harnesses (all three were wearing lap belts) and seatbelts are a part of any passenger briefing.

Further showing a lack of preparation was that Munson calculated the wrong target approach speed, Vref, which is based on aircraft weight. His jet was 1000 lbs heavier than he estimated and the resulting lower Vref gave him less margin for error as he flew into the "mush" regime of the power curve.

Lastly, choosing to perform touch-and-go's wasn't the safest way to demonstrate his new bird for his friends. Takeoffs and landings require a high workload for the pilot and to conduct them repeatedly while hosting friends on board increases the risk needlessly. A safer flight plan would've been to depart the airport traffic pattern and enjoy a pleasure flight at higher altitude in less congestion.

Poor Execution
During the flight Munson did not refer to any checklists. Even professional airline pilots with over 10,000 hours of flight time will always use their checklists. It's far too easy to forget a step, especially when unexpected events interrupt the series of tasks. During the accident approach Munson simply forgot to lower the flaps, an omission that reduced his margin for error by limiting the lift-to-drag ratio of the aircraft. He had even forgotten to lower the landing gear but his friends reminded him of that critical detail.

Compounding Munson's high workload was that he wasn't hitting his marks, and much like a pitcher not finding the strikezone and falling behind in the count, Munson fell behind the power curve. He wasn't holding the proper airspeed or altitude in the traffic pattern, forcing him to divert attention to make corrections while also communicating with air traffic control and his passengers.

Another odd choice was Munson's decision to deliberately fly the third approach (which was ultimately successful) without flaps and allow Hall to handle the controls. While it's possible to land without flaps, it is challenging and Munson decided to perform this maneuver spontaneously. Handing the controls to his friend was downright careless. Even though Hall was an experienced pilot, he had never flown a business jet and hadn't even been briefed on how to land in a normal configuration, let alone with a no-flaps setup.

Landing without flaps is analagous to driving a car without using first gear. Remember your first time driving a stick-shift and how difficult it was to start from a stop without stalling? That's what Munson asked his friend to do, while adding the challenge of starting in second gear.

During the fourth approach Munson forgot to lower the flaps but his friends assumed they were doing another planned no-flap approach and thus never alerted Munson. Being distracted by a change in traffic pattern assigned by air traffic control didn't help the situation, and Munson being poorly set up in the pattern further taxed his mental resources. Munson eventually realized that his jet was too low and still sinking so he began to add power, but only incrementally.

Jet engines require more time to "spool up" in response to a throttle change, and despite being aware of this fact - Munson had even cautioned his friends about it during an earlier approach - he was slow to react to the low thrust condition, perhaps due to his limited jet experience and high workload. By the time he realized that full power was needed, it was too late to stop the aircraft's momentum from carrying them all the way into the ground.

Bad Luck
In this accident luck wasn't much of a factor in avoiding the crash. However, luck played a critical role in the accident's survivability. The aircraft crash-landed into a field of small trees, skinny enough that they didn't result in any violent impacts as the aircraft skidded across the field... Except for the one huge tree stump four feet in diameter. The Citation slammed into the stump, spinning the jet 180 degrees before coming to rest. The stump impacted the left side of the cockpit, directly underneath Munson.

A few feet to the right and it might have been Hall who died; a few more feet in either direction and everyone may have survived. As it happened, both of Munson's friends were relatively unhurt by the impact. However, Munson's seat detached due to the force of the tree stump's direct hit, thrusting him into the instrument panel. The impact broke his neck, but Munson was alive.

Once the aircraft came to rest Munson asked his friends "Are you guys OK?" When they asked how he was doing, he replied "I don't know. I can't move. I can't move." With the aircraft engulfed in flames, Hall and Anderson struggled to free Munson but finally were forced to abandon their efforts when the flames became too intense. Both of Munson's friends suffered severe burns as they delayed their own exit while courageously trying to rescue him.

What If
As with most every accident, whether in aviation or any other discipline, a cascading chain of events eroded risk to the point that disaster was inevitiable. Breaking any single link in this chain would've resulted in a safe outcome, if not prevent the accident altogether. There were numerous opportunities for Munson change the tragic outcome of this flight:

What if Munson had...

remembered to lower the flaps? The approach likely would've proceeded uneventfully.
used the proper checklists? He wouldn't have forgotten to deploy the flaps.
briefed his friends of the flight plan? They could've alerted him to the forgotten flaps.
calculated the correct Vref? The aircraft would've carried more speed during the approach and required less corrective thrust.
flown a more stabilized approach? The reduced mental workload might have allowed him to react more quickly.
applied full thrust more quickly? The aircraft could've made it to the runway.
worn his shoulder seatbelt? It may have reduced the severity of his injury enough that he could've helped extricate himself.

Indeed, this succession of pilot errors was cited in the probable cause of the NTSB's accident report:

"The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the pilot's failure to recognize the need for, and to take action to maintain, sufficient airspeed to prevent a stall into the ground during an attempted landing. The pilot also failed to recognize the need for timely and sufficient power application to prevent the stall during an approach conducted inadvertently without flaps extended. Contributing to the pilot's inability to sufficient power application to prevent the stall during an approach conducted recognize the problem and to take proper action was his failure to use the appropriate checklist and his nonstandard pattern procedures which resulted in an abnormal approach profile."

To err is human - all pilots make mistakes. The key is not going into a situation where a few simple mistakes can be deadly. Thus I view this accident as the result of a single failure: Munson's judgement.

Munson exercised poor judgement by chosing to conduct a complicated flight in a high-performance aircraft in which he had little experience. He could have flown a more simple flight plan at higher alitude doing basic maneuvers, or even waited to demonstrate his new aircraft for his friends until he had accumulated more flight hours in the cockpit.

I'm reminded of some advice my flight instructor once shared: "Takeoffs are optional; landings are mandatory. Sometimes the best flight is the one not taken."

References
NTSB accident investigation report (PDF)
ESPN article from 2004

Remembering Chris Tragna

2009-04-02T21:41:00.000-04:00

Seven years ago today began like any other day... except for the crow.

As I walked towards Hazelrigg Hangar where I worked as a flight test engineer, my gaze drifted above the building's distinct external truss roofline to marvel at the glowing purple pre-dawn sky over the Chesapeake Bay. Perched on the peak of a truss I noticed a crow and for some strange reason the deep purple sky behind the bird suddenly felt ominous. "Something is going to happen today" I found myself muttering; quickly I silently chided myself for being so superstitious.

Soon I'd forgotten about that silly crow and was busy with the work of getting my F/A-18F Super Hornet ready for testing. I can't remember what we were testing or even if we flew that day, but I do remember when an image appeared that afternoon on the TV screen from a camera monitoring the runway at Patuxent River Naval Air Station.

A small aircraft sat motionless on the runway with a white sheet covering the cockpit, surrounded by rescue personnel. We recognized the aerobatic aircraft as one of two Extra 300's being used by the Navy Test Pilot School (TPS). One of our colleagues was enrolled there and we all had trouble focusing on our work until we were able to check the schedule and confirm that our buddy wasn't flying at the time.

Later that day our boss, test conductor Howard Gofus, got a phone call. The news wasn't good - he relayed to us that LCDR Christopher Tragna had died in the accident. "Trags?!" was my immediate reply; I can still hear the surprise in my voice.

Trags had been one of the test pilots assigned to our group, flying the Super Hornets we tested before he moved on to become an instructor at TPS. He was the pilot for several test flights on my aircraft and our personalities were a good match; preflight and postflight briefings always went well when his name was on the flight cards.

One of my favorite memories of Trags occurred during a test plan review. The plan was not very well written and I frequently proposed changes to improve the document. The plan's author became impatient with me, asserting that since all of the correct technical information was in the plan, why bother fixing the language?

Most test pilots always seem to be in a hurry and would've sided with the author, eager to approve the plan and go flying. When the author lamented my attention to detail, Trags responded that he was happy to see an engineer who knew how to write. In fact, Trags had a long list of his own suggested changes! I replied that it was equally refreshing to have a pilot who appreciated good writing.

Trags was a quiet and thoughtful guy - not your typical test pilot - yet he was also intensely intelligent. Unfortunately I didn't get to know Trags more closely; I began working at Pax River just six months before he transferred to TPS. Eight months later he was gone.

As I walked out of the hangar after work I looked over my shoulder and was startled to recall the eerie premonition from the morning. If nothing had happened I would've completely forgotten about seeing that crow.

The sun was setting and I thought about the advice my mentor, Chris Blundell, had given me about the culture of flight testing: "Remember that sooner or later, one of the guys sitting across the table from you in the preflight briefing won't come back."

A Screaming Good Time

2008-10-25T22:59:00.000-04:00

Haven and I having a blast racing in the 2008 Bailey's Doggie Dash.

Since I began running almost five years ago I've participated in 25 races (including 3 adventure races) but surprisingly only three events have been repeats. Twice each I've run the Grand Rapids Marathon and the Irish Jig 5K, and now I can add Bailey's Doggie Dash to the list for the fourth time!

My first ever organized race was the 2005 edition of the Doggie Dash and it's been an annual staple for Haven and I ever since. Why? You'll be hard pressed to find more fun packed into a 5K!

Haven poses as Amanda takes advantage of beautiful photography settings.

Haven has always been a fast runner - after all, she's a dog! They're born to run, even the lazy ones. :) My training over the years has helped me keep up with her and our Doggie Dash results show a favorable trend:

2005 Bailey's Doggie Dash - 24:39 - 10th overall, 1st/1 age group
2006 Bailey's Doggie Dash - 22:42 - 5th overall, 1st/4 age group
2007 Bailey's Doggie Dash - 20:17 - 3rd overall, 2nd/3 age group

(A note about the age groups... Yes, I "won" my age group in 2005 by being the only runner in it! Although technically I'll never truly win my age group as long as Joel Bierling and his dog Anubis are here - they've won the Doggie Dash outright every year since 2004, and Joel is my age. In fact the top three humans in 2007 were all 31 years old!)

The one and only Bailey, the "assistant race director" of Bailey's Doggie Dash.

Could Haven and I continue to improve in 2008? Sadly, no - I am still recovering from a lingering hamstring injury and knew going into the event that I would not be able to run near full speed, but Haven didn't get the memo...

We lined up behind the chalk line with "START" scrawled on the pavement - part of the appeal of this race is how casual and old-school it is - and Haven immediately began screaming in excitement! Just like before last year's race - she knew exactly what was going on and just couldn't wait to get going.

Krista Durham heard Haven (who couldn't?) and walked over to say hi as I tried to buckle the Ruff Wear Roamer leash around my waist. Krista and Ron discovered the Doggie Dash - and indirectly their dog Kasey - last year thanks to my blog! In 2007 Ron won his age group but this year was Krista's turn and she assured me that she was no threat to win an award.

Race director Kevin Sweeney "barks" out final instructions before the start of Bailey's Doggie Dash.
Photo courtesy of Jim Falk, Kent County Parks Foundation. The race is held at Wabasis Park in Kent County, and 100% of the entry fees are donated to the Foundation.

Finally we were off! As you can see in the photo below, even though I was trying to go easy Haven was definitely in afterburner. The pack began to thin out a bit when suddenly a Golden Retriever whizzed past... off leash! I heard a woman behind me calling for her dog but it was having too much fun! I stopped a couple times to try and snag its leash but without luck; however, the dog was soon back in hand.

Haven launches us off to a quick start - who do you think is having more fun?

Heading up the first hill from the boat launch a young Husky mix kept trying to play with Haven, but Haven wasn't here for games - she wanted to catch the lady in front of us! To Haven's chagrin I instead struck up a conversation with Neil, the owner of the playful Isla. This was Neil's 4th or 5th Doggie Dash but the 1st for recently-adopted Isla - in previous years Neil had to borrow his daughter's dog!

Going downhill pulled away from Neil and Isla and Haven settled in behind a woman and her Irish Setter, who was also using a hands-free leash like us. We followed about half a mile, reaching the 1-mile mark where I realized I'd forgotten to start my watch! I started it here and based on my finish time, was able to deduce later that Haven and I posted an 8:16 first mile, faster than I've run in a long time.

Neil Bierling and Isla work their way up a hill.

Once again it was a downhill section that allowed us to pass a runner and Haven and it made the turn onto the wooded trail section of the course. With nobody in sight ahead or behind us, Haven must've realized the sudden privacy - she stopped for some "business"! Fortunately I carried a couple Business Bags in my pocket and cleared the trail of landmines, but then had to carry the live ordnance until we found a trash can! When all was said and done it was almost a one minute delay.

A few dogs and people passed us during the pit stop and I must've subconsciously accelerated a bit - we ran the second mile at a 9:05 pace including the poop delay, but by this point Haven was finally growing tired of giving my pace a free ride. The leash went slack and I was on my own!

Surprisingly I felt pretty good but I didn't let the slow pace fool me into thinking I was fit enough for anything faster. We jogged through the campground where a camping family was watching with their dog. They asked me about race and I ran backwards a few steps as I explained the basics before Haven coaxed me onwards.

Haven and I cresting the final hill and still having fun.

At long last the final uphill was in sight and we did our best to maintain momentum. Along this stretch of road Amanda was lurking on the shoulder to snap some photos with the amazing fall colors in the background. Every year the Doggie Dash has seen great weather - clear, sunny, cool, and leaves every color but green.

Cresting the hill I noticed that Neil and Isla weren't far behind, so Haven and I made sure we didn't get lazy as we chugged towards the finish line. Woo hoo! Yep, it's an old-school event - no chip timing here. A volunteer ripped the perforated tab from my bib number while another wrote down my time on a clipboard. 26:59 was written by my number, probably my slowest 5K ever but also among the most enjoyable!

Juanita Stasik and Lance working hard - well, one of them is working hard. :)

The last mile clocked about 8:45 - not having Haven's help really exposed my slowness! We hung out at the finish to watch some other folks finish, including a couple of my friends from work. Juanita Stasik and her yellow lab Lance were running their second Doggie Dash after discovering the event in 2007.

Bob Fry and Monty make their way to the finish. Monty was glad for the cool, 45-degree weather!

Making his first Doggie Dash appearance was Bob Fry and his Pomeranian mix Monty. Bob is one the guys I run with at work during lunch (when my leg is healthy) and a former Boston Marathoner. Notice that "50" on his shirt - I'll bet that he and I were the only two runners wearing shirts from a 50-mile ultramarathon! Monty probably took as many steps in this 5K as Bob does in a 50K!

Now it was time for the treats - dog biscuits for Haven and Halloween candy for me! Race director Kevin Sweeney sure knows how to dish out a post-race spread! He also knows how to organize a smooth event - low tech, low stress, high class and high fun!

Haven is in full-on begging mode, explaining in dog language why she deserves yet another biscuit!

Once all the runners and walkers had finished it was time for the awards. First up were the door prizes and I finally won! The loot was a hand-made blanket - I've been pining for one of those hand-made dog beds and blankets that are given out each year.

The little wizard, winner of the Bailey's Choice costume award.

Next were the costume winners as chosen by local meteorologist Peter Chan - many great outfits but there was a certain charm about the winner - a little wizard. And finally the running awards... Once again Joel Bierling and Anubis won overall but he had to pass a high school cross country runner on the last hill to earn his victory! If that kid is back next year, Joel and Anubis are in trouble. A girl from the same high school took a close 2nd overall for women, too!

I should mention that trophies are handed out for the people and engraved bowls for the dogs! Three deep in each age group, so there's a lot of hardware going home. Neil and Isla won their age group as did Bob and Monty! However Bob had already headed home, so after the awards I got their trophies and dropped them off with Bob at work. He has two other dogs besides Monty and he thinks they'll be jealous of Monty's engraved bowl.

Not to be outdone by our co-worker, Juanita and Lance went home with some hardware, too! They finished 3rd in her age group, a task made easier by arriving on time. Last year Juanita took a wrong turn while driving to the park and started the race 10 minutes late! Apparently she still had so much fun that she came back for more.

Krista Durham and Kasey try to shrug off their award after promising at the start to not win one. ;)

Remember Krista's promise that Kasey wasn't going to win anything? Wrong - they placed 3rd in their age group! Kasey is 2-for-2 with trophies and now has more than either of his owners. Ron had his own race the next day - the Grand Rapids Marathon as his first 26.2 and he rocked it with a 3:37! Wow.

Finally it was time for my age group and... nothing. Lots of guys in their 30s can run faster than gimpy me, so poor Haven had to endure the shame of no engraved bowl this year. But hey, we won a blanket!

Haven relaxes on our door prize, an evidently comfy hand-made blanket.

Even though it's only a 20-minute drive home, Haven slept the entire way - she was one worn-out pup. We posed for our photo in front of the burning bush in what has become a post-race tradition, then went inside to indulge in more treats. As if Bailey's Doggie Dash wasn't enough of a treat already!

The traditional post-race photo - we'll be back in 2009!

55 Miles in the Rain

2008-09-20T13:48:00.001-04:00

No worries about gas prices when running on human power!

For several years I've been hoping to go for an epic bike ride from my house in Lowell to my parents' house in Ann Arbor, a distance of roughly 120 miles. With my recovering hamstring preventing me from planning any running races, I thought that maybe this year I could squeeze in an all-day bike ride.

However, "real life" gets in the way as it often does and I wasn't able to put in enough training to prepare. Sure I could've pulled it off, but I figure that to do something like riding my bike across an entire state ought to be done right. For example, a decent road bike would help compared to my 6-year-old "comfort bike".

Yeah, that's what my Giant Cypress DX is called and it's since been "tricked out" with a new seat (twice), bar-end hand grips, new pedals and second-hand pedal clips, bottle rack, speedometer, rear rack, and a cheap bike computer. It has served me well over the years on the roads, mountain bike trails, and even in adventure races. But it's not a fast bike.

A few years ago I bought a 25-year-old Peugot road bike for $65 just to see what a road bike feels like. Despite being an old 10-speed I easily averaged a full 1 mph faster on my standard routes. That bike is now in need of repair so the Cypress is all I have, meaning that a 120-mile ride would take 10-12 hours including food stops whereas a nice road bike could shave a few hours off of that time.

Ready to ride despite the rain.

Instead I planned a ride that traveled 55 miles, starting near Lansing and finishing at my parents' house. Last Sunday Amanda dropped me off near Webbersville at the I-96 exit in a heavy, steady rain! I was standing in a two-inch deep puddle as I unloaded my bike from the car and got ready to go. Due to the weather I had to keep all of my gear in a dry-bag bungeed to the rack on my bike and I wore a rain jacket to stay warm. You can see what the weather was like in Amanda's video:

The first 15 miles of my ride were solo as I pedaled my way to Stockbridge where I would meet Dad. It took me about an hour despite a strong WNW crosswind on my southbound road and the steady rain blurring up my sunglasses. Believe it or not I found the glasses to be of help because they kept splashes and road grit out of my eyes, but also being polarized it really cut down the glare from the wet road.

No frogs here, yet...

Worse than the wind and the rain were the frogs - dead ones. The shoulder of the road was littered with hundreds of dead frogs! I don't know why so many were trying to cross and getting hit and why they ended up on the shoulder but I was constantly weaving my tires among the slimy amphibian bodies, not wanting to get a taste of frog leg sushi kicked up into my mouth!

Finally I made it to Stockbridge and rendez-voused with my parents. Dad's raincoat was rather heavy - it's meant for field work, not cycling - so Mom offered him the $1 "emergency poncho" that she keeps in her car. He was quite pleased although the poncho went down to his knees and he just about fell over trying to hop on his bike when the plastic caught on his seat! Mom had to trim off a foot or so of plastic and after the obligatory photo, we were on our way.

Dad and I are "waterproofed" prior to hitting the Lakelands Trail

Our route took advantage of the Lakelands Trail, a linear state park created as a Rails to Trails project. The first several miles of the trail were packed dirt that was rather rough in some areas due to horse traffic. We'd had several days of rain here in Michigan and the ground was wet but not soft. The bumpiness was pretty rough on me as Dad kept looking back wondering why I was lagging behind. I think his fresh legs had a bit more pep that mine after having ridden for an hour just to meet him!

Soon after starting down the trail the rain stopped and since the temperature was already 70 degrees even in the rain, we were plenty comfortable. It was actually splendid weather for a ride with overcast skies, a now NW breeze and warm air temps.

When my water bottle ran dry we stopped in Pinckney at a gas station to refill and we also chomped on some food: a Power Bar for Dad and some Clif Bloks for me. When planning the ride we talked about stopping here for food but we both were feeling very good and decided to just continue to our "dessert stop", a Dairy Queen in Hamburg.

For quite a while I was telling stories about the interesting politics I've been getting involved with in Lowell, only to be occasionally interrupted when Dad would point out one of "his" many projects in the area - a water tower, a subdivision, a boardwalk, and more - he's a land development civil engineer with lots of handiwork in Livingston County.

Suddenly Dad said "Oops!" It turns out he completely missed the turn for Dairy Queen! We'd been distracted by the conversation and since I've never been on the trail before, I was relying on his navigation. We only went about half a mile out of our way so it wasn't too bad, and when Dairy Queen is the destination you don't lose any motivation to get there.

At the DQ Dad got a large chocolate shake and I ordered a Blizzard with M&Ms, but asked if they could use chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla. The guy at the counter suggested their "Chocolate Extreme" flavor - chocolate ice cream with hot fudge syrup, fudge brownie chunks, and pieces of hard chocolate mixed in. Awesome! Yes, I love chocolate, but I also learned that even I have limits - a large Blizzard more than filled me up, but it was worth it.

Sitting at the outdoor table at DQ my dad whipped out his Blackberry and showed off some coolness, like how he can pull up a weather radar image. Days before our ride he had mentioned this and I teased him, saying "How would that help us on the ride? Are we going to see imminent rain and decide to pedal faster?"

We'd been riding precipitation-free for hours but looking at his Blackberry the radar image showed that a ton of rain was right upon us despite the bright but overcast skies. Wouldn't you know it... five minutes later as we pulled out of the DQ parking lot some big, fat drops of water started to fall! We could only laugh at the irony and besides, we'd been soaking wet since Stockbridge.

Soon we were at the end of Lakelands Trail and heading south on back roads near US-23 on our way home. The skies never did manage to open up - occasionally it would sprinkle a bit but then stop. Since the rain was coming from the NW and we were riding south I think we were keeping ahead of the weather.

Recharged with chocolate I was feeling pretty good but Dad was starting to tire out and we took a couple of extended water breaks on the side of the road to rest the legs. With about five miles to go our quads began to cramp up - both of us at the same time! Yet fortunately a couple miles later our legs relented and allowed us to finish our ride in comfort.

All smiles after dozens of miles.

But not in style - the first thing Mom said when we pulled into the driveway was "Wow, you're muddy!" Actually I didn't think it was that bad, but Mom insisted on a "rear-end view" photo nonetheless. Dad explained how only a two mile stretch of Warren Road was to blame - the rest of the entire route was paved or puddle-less dirt.

If Mom thinks this is "muddy", wait until we go mountain biking!

Dad and I also discovered that one or both of our bike computers isn't calibrated correctly - mine had logged a couple more miles than Dad's over the same course! I used MapMyRun to determine that my Webberville-to-Stockbridge solo ride was 15.2 "mapped" miles compared to 15.4 "computed" miles so it seems mine is a bit off. However, it's hard to say for sure about the rest of the ride since our double-back for missing Hamburg can only be guessed for distance.

All told my computer showed 55.3 miles, so assuming that it's off by 0.2 every 15.4, my total distance would be 54.6 - not a major error. I'll just call it 55 miles and be content.

Soon after getting home the "Blackberry rain" arrived and it began to pour cats and dogs. Two of the dogs were mine - Haven and Beacon arrived with Amanda and her parents, as did Ryan and Megan. We all (except the dogs) went to dinner at Red Robin where it rained even harder and the restaurant even lost power for a couple seconds before the backup kicked in! Perhaps it was a good day to not be riding 120 miles after all!

Overall the ride was a total blast and surprisingly "easy" if 50+ miles can ever be deemed easy. The route was pancake flat except for a few short hills between Hamburg and Ann Arbor and traffic on the non-trail roads was never a problem. My legs were sore for the next couple days but I never felt bonky or worn out. I'm already thinking about doing this again! But not this weekend. :)

50K and 26.2 on 8 Wheels

2008-07-16T22:19:00.000-04:00

4th of July weekend I set out for the fourth time in my new inline skates; my previous three sorties carried me 7.5, 7.5, and 5 miles. I figured it was time to stretch into the double digits so I drove over to the White Pine Trail and laced up the boots.

Almost three hours later I arrived back at the car after covering 33.4 miles! I felt great - yes, I was definitely tired, and my heart rate had been 150-170 (that's above "easy run" range for me) the whole way - but I was nowhere near toasted. My quads felt a bit crampy over the last half hour but not painful. Before setting out I was confident that I could finish 30+ miles, but I never thought I'd cover it in 2:58 and still have some pep left over.

Last Sunday I talked Amanda into joining me on the White Pine Trail again, but instead of skates she was riding her bike. The night before she kept telling me "I think I only want to go to Rockford" (that's an 8 mile round trip) and I assured her that we'd just go until she got tired then turn around since it's uphill going north and downhill back south.

After riding and skating for an hour I asked her to check her bike computer and it read 10 miles, but we hadn't turned around yet! I knew that Amanda had been selling herself short the night before. We continued on since Amanda felt OK still, but within a couple miles she wanted to turn around. I pressed her on for another mile since then we could say we did a marathon.

And we did, going 26.8 miles in 2:31 although strangely I felt more tired than after my 33-miler. Amanda totally bonked at the two-hour mark and we inched along for about 10 minutes until her system finally rebooted and we cruised back to the car.

As impressive as it felt to be skating along at 11 mph for 2-3 hours, it blows me away that elite runners would've dusted me! I skated a 2:30 marathon and folks out there can run that same distance in less time. Wow.

It Almost Didn't Count

2008-07-16T06:05:00.001-04:00

Having stayed up until 2am last night this morning to watch the entirety of the 2008 MLB All-Star Game, I better make it worth my while and share some insight from my bleary mind. For those of you wise enough to get a good night's sleep, the game lasted 15 innings before the tie was broken, giving the American League a 4-3 victory that awards home field advantage to whichever AL team reaches the World Series.

Yes, you read that right - an exhibition game that impacts the results of baseball's crowning event. Why would the MLB do something so silly? To avoid something even sillier - an All-Star game that nobody cares about.

Tell a professional athlete that winning doesn't matter and the athlete won't show up, choosing instead to rest his worn out body for the remaining half of a season that does matter. Tell a fan that the players don't care, and the fan won't pay money to watch the event. So what to do?

After the 2002 All-Star game embarrassment (that ended in a tie after just 11 innings when both teams ran out of pitchers) the MLB decided to put the World Series home field advantage at stake in hopes that the players would care enough to show up and play hard, despite the slight risk of injury that any sport entails. The managers, it was hoped, would save enough pitchers in reserve to go the distance no matter how long the game lasted.

It just doesn't work that way. Pitching takes such a toll on the arm that many All-Star hurlers will adjust their usage before and/or after the game to accomodate the extra stress. Regular season games are played just two days before and two days after the All-Star game, giving pitchers little time to recover.

Most starting pitchers are limited to around 100 pitches per start - more than that might increase the risk of injury. Consider that the Milwaukee Brewers were so desperate for quality pitching that they traded their top prospect for a stud starter, CC Sabathia, just a week ago. Yet their staff ace, Ben Sheets, tossed 42 pitches yesterday. Should the Brewers be forced to sacrifice half a game of ace pitching while in the thick of a playoff race?

Milwaukee's division rival, the Chicago Cubs, saw three of their best pitchers throw 57 pitches combined. That almost seems fair until you realize that the St. Louis Cardinals - in the playoff race with the Brewers and Cubs - saw its hurlers throw zero pitches because none of them were good enough to be All-Stars.

In truth, the All-Star game will never be fair - after all, due to the whimsical nature of fan voting many of MLB's best players don't even get invited. Fundamentally the All-Star game is still an exhibition, so I wish baseball would stop pretending that "This One Counts" (the pleadingly sappy official motto of the 2003 contest) and instead come up with a solution along the lines of "We Care" because that's all that matters for an exhibition.

My proposal is to run the All-Star game as a charity contest:
-- Each player voted into the game selects a charity to represent.
-- MLB lines up corporate sponsors to ante up a significant pot of cash.
-- Players on the winning team split the cash as donations made in their name to their chosen charity.

Further, bonuses could be handed out, such as:
-- An "MVP sponsor" gives a extra bonus to the charity of the player who wins the MVP;
-- Additional sponsors could hand out bonuses for players hitting home runs or pitchers getting strikeouts;
-- The home run derby could have "jackpot" bullseye targets in the bleachers that could earn extra donations if struck.

And so on. If a player wants to back out of the game to go fishing instead, he'll have to endure the boos of fans for turning his back on a charity. Rather than being a physical burden, it would be an emotional honor for a player to compete.

Since the game has zero impact on regular season or post-season games, there's no need to drag it on for extra innings because something affecting the players' professional future is at stake. Instead a tiebreaker can be used - remember, it's just an exhibition put on for the fans. Some have suggested that a home-run derby can break a tie, but that's rather anti-climatic.

An exciting tiebreaker would be if the game is tied after nine innings then each subsequent inning starts with the bases loaded. The highlight of last night was when the AL loaded the bases in the bottom of the 10th inning with nobody out (albeit due to two errors and a walk) but failed to score a run as Aaron Cook induced three straight ground ball outs, getting two force outs at home plate.

If the current version of the All-Star game is so ho-hum, why did I watch? Because I'm a die hard baseball fan without cable TV, so I watch any televised game I can. Amanda is a baseball fan, too, but she decided to count sheep instead of innings. Fans don't care about World Series home field advantage in July. Fans do care about seeing their favorite players together on one field as they exhibition the skills that make them such beloved athletes.

Driving While "In-talks-icated"

2008-06-30T06:49:00.001-04:00

When running on roads I wave to passing drivers, especially if they give me a little extra space on the shoulder. It shows my appreciation for their efforts to put me more at ease, but I also want to remind them that runners and cyclists are people and by waving, it likewise conveys that I recognize them as people even though they're in a vehicle. My hope is that by seeing each other not as competing "motor vehicles" vs. "pedestrians" but as two friendly folks crossing paths, that they will be more aware and respectful of the risks they're responsible for when driving.

While most drivers do wave back to me and smile, many of them do not wave. Why? They're holding a steering wheel in one hand and a cell phone in the other. It's not a physical problem of having both hands full that causes them to not return my friendly gesture - they don't even notice me! I've observed that drivers on cell phones just stare straight ahead and zoom right on by without even a glance, and without giving me extra clearance despite a clear view on a wide, empty road.

Studies of cell phone usage while driving have confirmed my observations that such behavior causes visual fixation, reducing peripheral vision and overall situational awareness. On July 1st, California and Washington will join New York, New Jersey and Connecticut as the states that have enacted laws banning in-hand cell phone usage while driving. Will these laws improve roadway safety?

Post-accident photo of the bus (from the NTSB accident report)

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it best in a report on a commercial bus accident (PDF) where a too-tall bus collided with a too-low bridge caused by "the bus driver’s failure to notice and respond to posted low-clearance warning signs and to the bridge itself due to cognitive distraction resulting from conversing on a hands-free cellular telephone while driving." [emphasis mine] While this is just one accident, NTSB investigations are very thorough and they did some digging. In the report (page 16 for reference) the NTSB cited some cell phone studies and summarized the most critical results:

-- Using a hands-free cell phone is just as risky as using an in-hand cell phone.
-- The risk of a crash increases 30% when simply talking on a cell phone.
-- The risk of a crash TRIPLES when actively dialing a number.
-- The risk of an injury accident QUADRUPLES when using a cell phone.

Critics of the new cell phone laws, however, can point out a couple failings in these measures. Washington's law is only a "secondary" offense, meaning that the police can't pull you over for talking on the phone - all they can do is give you an extra ticket if you were on the phone when being cited for a "primary" offense such as speeding. Looking at the below graph of Michigan's historical safety belt use shows the benefits of secondary vs. primary enforcement. Michigan enacted a secondary seatbelt law in 1985, and upgraded it to a primary offense in 2000. I imagine that the impact to cell phone use would be similar.

Michigan safety belt use (plot from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute)

California's law is indeed a primary offense, but insanely does not apply to text messaging except for teenagers. Texting is certainly more distracting than talking and I find it baffling that the lawmakers didn't include such a provision for adults. Perhaps those very lawmakers want to continue using their Blackberries while on the road? I hope not. Considering that 89% of Americans actually want a ban and evidence that a crash is SIX TIMES as likely while texting, there's no excuse for any state to not outlaw text messaging while driving as a primary offense.

It was after reading the NTSB report over a year ago that I stopped using my cell phone in the car - a 30% risk increase just isn't worth it. Several more studies lay clear the dangers of driving while "in-talks-icated". In fact, that drinking-related pun is chillingly appropriate - one study found that cell-phone drivers exhibited greater impairment than intoxicated drivers (PDF). Perhaps the penalties for using a wireless device while driving should be on par with the penalties for drunk driving, too.

Overall the new laws will improve safety for drivers, runners, cyclists, and anyone else on the roads. Just like the seatbelt laws helped promote overall safety awareness and voluntary comlpliance, so too could primary regulations that ban the use of wireless devices while driving. It's unfortunate that these early laws are full of holes even before going into effect, but something is better than nothing. So I plead to Michigan and the other 44 states without meaningful cell phone laws, "what the h3ll r u w8ing 4?" Hopefully you aren't reading this while behind the wheel...

Happy Day, Sad News

2008-06-09T08:59:00.001-04:00

From Haven & Beacon

Happy birthday Haven and Beacon! My dogs turned 5 years old yesterday (Haven) and today (Beacon) and we celebrated in style. Beyond the new West Paw Tux toys, silly party hats and whipped cream 'n bread "birthday cake", I also took both dogs down to the river.

From Haven & Beacon

We ran one mile of trails to get there, then I tried not to fall down the steep, muddy hill that descends to the water. Sometimes I throw sticks for them, but this time I went into the river with the dogs, wading upstream as they swam along beside me. After a long night of heavy thunderstorms, the river was deeper than usual and running fast - Haven and Beacon couldn't keep up with me! I had the advantage of long legs that could keep contact with the river bottom to push me forward.

A few times I walked toward shore where the pups could take a breather in shallow water before mushing onward, but eventually we got to a point where the current was flowing so quickly that the dogs could no longer make headway! Time to turn around, and boy was the "float" back downstream an easy one.

While my dogs got to have fun on their birthdays, it's been a rough summer for the dogs of some of my friends. Six weeks ago Paul unexpectedly lost his beloved yellow lab Sky from a heart attack during hip surgery. Sarah's fluffy akita, George, died of bloat on Saturday. Not a day later, Matt and Lisa's greyhound mix Eddie succumbed to cancer just a month after the diagnosis.

All three dogs were exceedingly loved and are dearly missed by my friends. I feel so sad for them - it's just so devastating to lose a furry family member. One hard truth about dogs is that they just don't live long enough - a 10-15 year life expectancy means that the end will always be too soon.

Sky, George, and Eddie all lived wonderful lives and as time heals the grief, hopefully my friends will remember how lucky they and their dogs were to have had each other for so many years.

So much sad news, but it's also a happy day that I'm able to celebrate the 5th birthdays of my two dogs. When they go it will be too soon, but hopefully there will be many more trail runs, river swims, treats and birthdays in between.

Running with the (Dog) Pack

2007-10-23T15:40:00.005-04:00

Who's having more fun, the guy or the dog?

My favorite race of the year is Bailey’s Doggie Dash 5K, a cross-country run for owners and their dogs to benefit the Kent County Parks Foundation. It’s not a large race, usually drawing around 50 participants, but it’s very well organized and one of the best races around where you can run with your dog.

Haven and I first ran the Doggie Dash in 2005 as my first ever organized running event since high school. That year we finished 10th overall in 24:39 and won my age group by virtue of being the only one in my age group (after they pulled out the overall winner, who had tied the course record in 18:17). In 2006 we improved to 5th overall, dropping nearly two minutes off our time with a 22:42 finish and winning the age group, this time a “large” group of four runners. How would Haven and I fare this year?

Just last week I set a post-high-school 5K PR of 20:56 in the Harvest Hustle so I knew I was better prepared to keep up with Haven in this year’s Doggie Dash. But I also had a plan to use canicross tactics - rather than hold Haven’s leash in my hand, I instead tied it to a belt around my waist so Haven could help pull me along. Haven and I trained in this setup for a few weeks before the race to make sure we both felt comfortable. I learned that it was necessary to have some form of shock absorption so I clamped an automobile tie-down bungee between Haven’s harness and the leash - it worked like a dream.

Haven and I enjoying the perfect pre-race weather.

Saturday morning arrived bringing perfect weather - mid 40’s, clear blue sky, and near-peak fall colors that yielded some stunning photos by Amanda. The Doggie Dash sports a Halloween theme with a dog costume contest judged by the local weatherman Peter Chan and registration SWAG handed out in trick-or-treat jack-o-lanterns.

The "Collie Flowers", contestants for the Bailey's Choice costume prize, are as adorable as they are obedient!

While taking Haven for a warm-up jog a guy came up to me and asked "Is that Haven?" Turns out he recognized us (or rather, my dog!) from reading my blog. If that wasn't amazing enough, Ron Durham told me that he and his wife Krista decided to adopt their dog Kacey in part because of reading about my blogged adventures running with Haven and Beacon!

This is Haven's 3rd Doggie Dash, so she knows when we're about to start and she can't contain her excitement!

I think Haven remembers previous races - when everyone began lining up for the start this year one guy took off on a warm-up jog and Haven must’ve thought the race had begun. Haven started screaming in anticipation as I tried to calm her down - it was so cute and she was getting lots of smiles from the crowd.

GO! The start of the 2007 Bailey's Doggie Dash.

At last it was “Ready, set, GO!” and we were off! Race director Kevin Sweeney pedaled a mountain bike ahead of the lead runner to give his dog something to chase, a very keen idea. Haven bolted full steam ahead and we quickly settled into fifth position. One of the most difficult sections of the course was the beginning because it was downhill and paved - with Haven full of energy dragging me downhill, it was all my legs could do to simply not let me fall flat on my face! My feet and legs took quite a pounding right off the bat.

Next we slogged through a scenic wide-open lawn that was saturated with water and then up a short road to a wooded picnic area. Just before reaching the one-mile marker Haven and I passed two racers who were fading after a quick start. 20 yards ahead was a guy who looked way faster than me but I sped up a bit to keep close to him so that Haven would have someone to chase.

Race director Kevin Sweeney serves as a rabbit on wheels for the dogs at the front of the pack.

She loved it, almost too much! Whenever we rounded a bend Haven tried to cut the corner inside the course flags - she wanted to intercept the runner we were chasing. I repeatedly had to remind Haven to follow the rules but she didn’t want to hear it. Every turn we’d lose 5-10 feet on the guy ahead of us since I’d have slow up to pull Haven outside the marker flags, but then we’d hustle to regain the lost ground.

At the 1 mile mark I was shocked to see 6:20 on my watch! Haven was definitely doing her part and it was fun to still have the leader in sight although I knew it wouldn’t last. Down a slight hill the course turned off into a wooded section of singletrack for a 1/4 mile before heading out and around the beach playground. Here Haven kept trying to stop for a drink in the large puddles of water pooling in the sand. I obliged her at one of them and she tried to lie down in the water to cool off! Sorry Haven but we have to finish the race first!

After the beach we ran along a dirt road and then onto a paved loop that carried us through the park’s campground. We were still close to the #2 runner at the 2 mile mark - our second mile was run at a 6:30 pace! I was getting pretty excited but I also knew that one or both of us were going to hit the wall soon.
It wound up being Haven; shortly after the second mile we started losing contact with the guy ahead of us as Haven no longer had the energy to pull my weight. Running is hard when my dog isn’t helping! Haven and I ran side-by-side for the next half mile as her leash was now slack - she was just trotting but I was trying to run as hard as I could. Dogs were born to run; humans, not so much.

Notice the slack leash and exhausted human - sailing ain't as smooth without my canine tugboat!

With about half a mile to go as we approached a long hill Haven began to fall behind. Going up the hill we reversed roles as I found myself trying to pull Haven along! I tried yelling “RABBITS!!” to her, a word that usually gets her all spooled up (she LOVES to chase rabbits) but she was to tired to care. Finally at the top of the hill we had just a 1/4 mile to go and I still couldn’t get her to pull even with me.

Even though I knew we were losing time quickly, this wasn’t my race - Haven was every bit a part of this effort and it wouldn’t be fair to speed up and drag her to the finish. I did keep the pace fast enough to maintain some tension - I figured I might as well help her out a bit without pulling so hard as to bunch the harness up around her head.

Haven and I cruising down the home stretch.

Finally in the last 100 yard grassy home stretch I tried another “RABBITS!!” but Haven was done, so we maintained our pace to the finish for a very satisfying 3rd place overall. Better yet was our time... 20:17! That was the second-fastest 5K I’ve ever run in my life, even though I had some help. My high school PR was 20:08 and my next-best teenage run was 21:13. Haven is my hero!

Seriously, Haven was the hardest-working dog at the race. Both runners who finished ahead of us had humans that were much more fit than I am while their greyhound-mix dogs were running alongside on a slack leash; i.e. the guys who beat us did so without the canine assistance that I needed. Some other dogs behind us were certainly pulling their owners, but at 195 pounds I was probably the heaviest human cargo to be mushed by any dog. Those greyhounds couldn’t have outrun Haven if I were dragging them down!

Ron Durham and Kasey at the finish, proving that running with dogs is fun!

Post-race food was great - bagels, cookies, candy and cider for the humans and water and doggie biscuits for the canines. Naturally Haven got to eat first before I took a crack at the goodies as we watched the rest of the field finish with the song “Who Let the Dogs Out” blaring on repeat over the loudspeakers.

After everyone finished we were treated to a demonstration of frisbee dogs by Pawsitive Vybe’s professional dog trainers Apryl Lea and Ron Sutton. Spectacular show! Six dogs (IIRC) displayed their talents and some of them were insanely good leapers and blazing runners.

Apryl Lea shows off the amazing frisbee skills of one of her dogs.

Following the frisbee demo was the awards ceremony. Some very nice handmade dog beds were raffled off and for the third year in a row, I didn’t win one. One guy that did win a bed and a free pair of shoes was Ron! This was on top of him and Kacey winning his age group. I have a feeling they might make the drive from the east side of Michigan to run again next year. :)

Despite our 3rd place overall finish Haven and I wound up taking 2nd in my age group as the guy we’d been chasing for two miles is in my bracket. In fact the overall winner Joel Bierling - who also won in 2005 and 2006 - is in my age group, too, so technically I was 3rd overall and 3rd in my age group. Men 30-35 were representin’ at the Doggie Dash!

Haven and I at home showing off our hardware.

There was no way I could’ve caught either of those fast runners, but in retrospect I probably could’ve helped Haven and I get a faster time if I’d managed Haven’s workload more effectively. For the first mile there was nothing I could do but hang on for the ride, but mile 1.5 through 2.0 I should’ve quickened my pace a tad to ease the drag on Haven; that way she may have sustained her energy long enough to keep the both of us on the tail of the #2 finisher for another half mile until finally running the last half mile with a slack leash and not having to pull her.

Nevertheless, we ran an awesome race, had a ton of fun, and we’re already looking forward to the 2008 Doggie Dash!

Fur Wars Episode 5 - Bambi Strikes Back

2007-07-03T22:08:00.001-04:00

T'was a busy weekend. Awake by 0600 on Saturday for the Reeds Lake Run, then get ready for my little brother Ryan's bachelor party! I had about two hours at home between the race and getting back in the car to drive to Midland for his celebration which included grilling out on a softball field, playing frisbee golf, taking in a minor league baseball game, then hitting the cursory bar for a few drinks. Poor Ryan had to wear a plastic ball and chain around his ankle all day (amazingly he was still good at frisbee golf while wearing it!), a giant sombrero, and a t-shirt with a picture of a pinata and the caption "I'd Hit It". I wish I'd remembered to take a photo! I didn't get home until after 0300!

Sunday Amanda and I took Eddie to meet his future "parents" and otherwise tried to take it easy. However, Haven and Beacon started giving me those soulful looks of "let's go do something!" so I decided to take them to the river. After all, the weather was perfect - upper 60's, sunny, and a light breeze. My legs were a bit tired from Saturday's two races but good enough that we bypassed the river access near the parking area and jogged half a mile on the trail up and over a large hill to the prime river access point.

Rather than throw sticks for fetching, this time I took the dogs for a walk, or rather a "wade", up the river! The recent dry spell had lowered the water level enough that I could walk the 50 yards across the river without getting deeper than my knees. Even the dogs were mostly walking or bunny-hopping in the shallow water. We waded about a 1/4 mile upstream to a section of small rapids where there were a couple "nozzle" points that had rather strong flow. It was strong enough that I had trouble standing and the dogs had to swim as hard as they could just to stand still. We had fun playing in the rapids - I walked up the "nozzle" then back through while the dogs went for a theme-park-like ride through the chute!

Finally we jogged back to the parking area, a dirt cul-de-sac next to an old boy scout cabin. Haven loves to eat weeds (I have no idea why!) and there were some nice, long, un-mowed weeds in back of the cabin. As she bent down to grab a bite I was about to scold her when suddenly a whitetail deer fawn sprung out of the weeds! Haven was startled for just a split second before she gave chase, and Beacon soon joined her as they pursued the poor little deer around the building.

The fawn was a bit taller than my dogs, but clearly much scrawnier and probably only weighed 50 lbs to my dogs 65-70 lbs each. As the trio rounded the corner I heard the fawn start bleating like a goat, crying "Mmmaaah! Mmmaaah!" over and over - I feared that my dogs were going to kill it! I sprinted around the opposite side of the cabin, hoping to head them off and get between the predators and the prey to prevent serious harm.

To my surprise, when I rounded the cabin the fawn was nowhere to be seen! My dogs love to scarf their food, but no way did they eat that fawn. :) Beacon was in the parking lot scanning every which way trying to spot the deer. Haven, however, was one step ahead - she was sniffing underneath a wooden staircase. I walked over to grab Haven when the fawn clambered out from under the stairs right past Haven, who merely sniffed it as it started to run away again.

Seeing it run excited my dogs enough to give chase. While faster than me, the fawn wasn't nearly strong enough to outclass adult canine speed and my dogs closed in quickly as the fawn raced down the road. Knowing I couldn't accomplish anything by chasing, I ran back to the car and opened the back door, hoping to signal my dogs that it's "time to go" - usually they'll jump right in. Then it occurred to me... What if mommy deer hears the bleating and comes after my dogs? Luckily I was the only "adult" around!

When I turned back to the action, I saw one of the most improbable sights of my life - the fawn was standing frozen with Haven and Beacon motionless on either side of it!!! I so wish I'd had a camera right then. The fawn must've tired out or realized it couldn't outrun the dogs. Haven and Beacon started to sniff the fawn when Bambi decided to go on the offensive - it reared back and head-butted Beacon just like a goat would do! Beacon was startled and jumped back. Bambi lunged again and Beacon got down in a dog's "play bow" with his front paws down and butt in the air.

Beacon put a couple juke moves on the fawn, feinting left and right and when Bambi went for another "attack" Beacon ran away back to me for safety! I was really cracking up at this point. A little fawn put the smack down on big bad Beaks! Confirming my idea to open the car door, Beacon jumped right up onto the seat and I quickly closed the door to finally contain one dog.

Looking back to Haven, she was trying to sniff the fawn just like she would greet a new foster dog. She was trying to make friends! But the fawn was understandably less trusting and kept trying to head-butt Haven, moves that Haven was easily able to dodge. Finally I think Haven got tired of this belligerent potential pal and she came running back to me to see what happened to Beacon. I got her in the car just as Bambi turned to lope out of sight down the road.

Amanda couldn't believe me when I told her the story and she really wishes she could've seen it. I'm still amazed that the dogs didn't injure the fawn, but even more incredible is that they wanted to play with it! That image of Haven and Beacon standing either side of the fawn is permanently etched in my memory... Classic. I'll probably never see something like that again, but still I hope that someday the dogs will encounter another fawn and try to play with it. My dogs never cease to amaze!

Race Report - Reeds Lake Run 5K and 10K

2007-07-01T20:38:00.000-04:00

For the full race report, see the article in my Why Run? blog.

For a video my wife took of me at the finish, visit my personal blog.

Duathlon Dogs

2007-06-19T19:15:00.001-04:00

This year we're keeping track of our dogs' activities and thanks to Saturday's race and an easy run with Haven yesterday, the dogs can boast some milestones:

Haven - 202 miles running, 5 hours swimming
Beacon - 150 miles running, 9 hours swimming

The miles include on-leash running and off-leash running and hiking; the swimming is mostly fetching sticks in the river. If we could teach them to ride a bike they'd make great triathletes!

Amanda is a bit worried because Haven is keeping up with her! Amanda is at 208 miles, so I'm teasing her by saying I'll take Haven for a 12-miler this weekend. Although Haven needn't worry because I have yet to see Amanda swim in the river with a stick in her mouth. :)

Race Report - Healthy Paws Healthy Cause 4M

2007-06-16T14:44:00.001-04:00

*** For a race report with photos, visit my Why Run? blog ***

What is more fun than running a race? Running a race with my dogs! This morning I was joined by Haven and Beacon for the 1st annual Healthy Paws Healthy Cause Fun Run, a 4-mile event for dogs and their people. I've done two 5Ks with Haven before, but I've never attempted a race while being hitched to both of my wannabe sled dogs! This should be interesting...

The event was organized by the Cascade Hospital for Animals with proceeds to benefit Mackenzie's Animal Sanctuary. There were no age groups, awards, or even official results - it's just what it says, a "fun run" to get folks out enjoying the morning with their dogs. Over 80 people signed up, not bad for the first ever event. The race director I recognized (via her dog!) as Dr. Happel, the runner that I barely out-kicked at the finish of the 2006 Bailey's Doggie Dash (if you follow the link, she's in the orange shirt in the photos on the bottom row of the page).

Going into this race I wasn't planning to run all out; rather, I wanted to maintain a tempo pace as best I could but primarily just have fun with Haven and Beacon. Since most participants were planning to walk, I lined up near the front; there were about 7 runners ahead of me. Dogs and people were still milling about - in fact, one lady was petting Haven - when the race director shouted out "Five seconds!" And we're off!

The guy at the front broke free quickly and Haven and Beacon decided to chase him - hard! I had no choice but to join their pursuit and within 100 yards of the start we had passed everyone except the leader! It turns out that only eight people were running; the rest were walkers. I pulled alongside the front guy and we sheepishly confided that it felt rather weird to be leading a race. We kept looking back for a while, assuming that some fast runners would blow by us.

We chatted for the first mile where I learned that his dog - weimaraner named Bailey (not the one from Bailey's Doggie Dash) - was five years old, just a year old than my two pups. She loves the water and behaves well on a leash; so well in fact that the guy (funny how I know his dog's name but never learned his!) had the handle of his flexi-lead in his shorts pocket the whole time. If I tried that with my dogs they'd rip my shorts right off me!

With Haven and Beacon leading the way we cruised past the first mile marker in 6:45, a very fast pace for me. The course then ascended a moderate hill and Bailey's owner exlaimed "Uh oh Bailey, daddy's not feeling too good!" and sure enough, he began to fall back as my dogs pulled me upward. Going down the hill my feet were burning - I realized that I hadn't tied my shoelaces tight enough and the soles of my feet were sliding along the bed of my shoe.

Mile two was the beginning of an undulating portion of the course, most of which was run on paved pedestrian paths. With nobody to chase, Haven and Beacon slowed their pace and were no longer pulling me up the hills. Around mile 2.5 Bailey and her owner caught up with us and we ran side-by-side for the next half mile. This time we didn't say anything as we all needed to conserve our oxygen.

Somehow I must've programmed my dogs for a 5K distance (maybe they read my blog?) because soon after we passed the third mile marker (in 21:50, not bad!) they slowed waaaay down. Bailey and her runner kept their momentum going and pulled steadily away from us as I was forced to drag Haven and Beacon forward! Those lazy dogs. :) Finally they realized I wasn't going to stop and they ran beside me the rest of the way.

We passed some pedestrians going the opposite way to relayed to me that the guy ahead of me "was very concerned that I would catch him", but I told them he had nothing to worry about. Not only were my dogs worn out, I was out of energy as well and we struggled most of the last mile. After passing Amanda with her camera, we finally reached the finish line! Sure enough Bailey had won and Haven and Beacon shared second place just one minute behind in 30:29. It was about five minutes until the next runners began showing up. Walkers continued to trickle into the finish for the next hour.

The organizers thought of everything, providing water (for both humans and canines), bagels, bananas, donuts, and dog treats for the finishers. Haven and Beacon eagerly helped themselves to some water while I shared a banana with Haven. After eating my peanut-covered donut, the dogs both got some treats and then finally I remembered to drink some water myself. Once we got home Amanda had the three of us pose for the obligatory post-race photo, all sporting our event t-shirt and bandanas. Haven and Beacon are now fast asleep at my feet. :) What a fun race!

Running Update

2007-06-15T20:02:00.002-04:00

A fairly light week as I'm taking today off to rest up for my race tomorrow - a 4-mile run with my dogs! For the first time I'll be racing with both Haven and Beacon instead of just one dog, so we'll see how that goes. On Monday I took both of them out for a 4-mile training run to make sure everything works - my leash system, my dogs, and my feet. We managed an 8:47 pace in hot weather, so I think we'll be OK. I'm not going to be racing all out but I want to at least maintain a tempo pace if the dogs let me.

Tuesday was supposed to be a fartlek session that turned into suffering! Heat stress. I ran 3.3 miles of fartlek alternating between 7:00 and 9:30 paces (estimated) but on the way back I only managed a couple more speedy minutes before being overcome by the heat and having to walk! I actually walked about 15 minutes of the return trip and finished 24 oz of water well before getting home. I even got a headache, a good sign of heat stress. That was a long 6.7 miles!

Wednesday was a run at work and we maintained a 9:15 pace for our 5 miles despite all of us feeling hot and worn out. It's been hot here lately and it hasn't even hit 90 yet! At least the race tomorrow is at 0800 so it should be plenty cool for me and the pups.

Run Around Town

2007-06-10T17:30:00.002-04:00

Saturday I went for an easy-paced long run for which I had zero plans except to bring the camera and stay out for 1.5 hours or so. The entire time I was never more than 2 miles from home, but I wound up covering 8.5 miles during the run and I snapped several photos along the way.

The morning air was cool and the river was somewhat warm, causing some beautiful steam fog on the surface. One spectacular effect of this was that the gentle morning breeze coupled with the rising warm vapor off the river created some mini tornadoes! This was the second time I've ever seen them; the first time was last summer during a kayak outing on Lake Malone in Kentucky.

Part of my run took me through the fairgrounds, where I got some photos of the horse arena and the dirt track where Amanda and I do our speedwork. In the background of the wide-angle photo you can see the grain silos of King Milling, among which I ran after going through the fairgrounds.

My little expedition also ran past my old elementary school and playground!

Happy Birthday Haven and Beacon!

2007-06-09T11:10:00.001-04:00

Our dogs are now 4 years old! In dog years they're catching up to Amanda and I. :)

Haven's birthday is June 8 and Beacon's is June 9. They're from the same litter, so how are they born a day apart? Their mother, Sheree (owned by friends of ours), gave birth to the litter late evening June 8th, sometime around 9-11pm that night. After our friends waited a few hours to make sure all seven puppies had arrived, they went to bed around 1am. When they woke up and checked on Sheree at 8am, there was an eighth puppy! It was Beacon, the runt of the litter.

Since Amanda has posted the birthday photos, I'll leave you with some of Haven's and Beacon's puppy pics...

Beacon is on the far left with his head down, pointing to the top of the frame; Haven is bottom center, her head straining to face the camera.

Beacon is on the left, Haven is on the right; they're almost four weeks old.

Trust No One

2007-06-09T10:39:00.002-04:00

Today was definitely a Fox Mulder day...

Adopt Her Already!
First the not-so-bad. Our foster dog Reese has been wanted by a couple for over a week now but they keep dragging their feet. We met them with Reese at a pet store last week and they liked her, but then wanted to see her interact with their current dog. Makes sense, but couldn't we have done that for the first meeting if that was an issue? So we take Reese to their house, she and their dog get along great, but one of the adopters is out of town and they want to discuss to make sure. OK... Finally they decide to adopt her and we arrange to meet at my office Thursday to sign the papers but she never shows up. Today we're supposed to meet, but she calls to say she's running late and won't be free until after I leave work. Now Amanda has to coordinate meeting her while I go for my run. To top it off they can't pick Reese up until Monday since one of couple is still on travel. If they'd been just a wee bit more proactive early on, Reese could've gone home with them over a week ago! Oh well. The good thing is that Reese is adopted, and we actually really like this couple. They're nice, patient with dogs, Reese and their dog get along great, they have a big fenced-in backyard, and they go camping a lot. Reese will be happy with them so this craziness is worth it.

Bad Business
Today at home Amanda gets a call from Fidelity where the guy says he has to talk to me about my retirement account due to the takeover. (Background: my company used Fidelity for their 401K but we've since been bought by another company that uses a different financial service.) This guy leaves his name and a direct line phone number. So I call him back from work and get a generic voicemail box saying "an appropriate associate will return your call"... I get suspicious and contact HR at work, who contacted Fidelity and was able to confirm that Fidelity's sales group was using a register of names acquired during the takeover to cold-call people at my company to pitch personal retirement accounts. How incredibly unethical! On top of that, it would seem to me to be bad business. Here's a prime example: I had been planning to leave the amount accrued from my former company in Fidelity's 401K rather than rolling it over, but now they have just cost themselves my account. Prepare to roll it over, Fidelity!

Play Ball! Not.
Thursday night was my softball team's fourth game of the season, except that it never happened. We all showed up, the other team showed up, the umpires showed up... and so did a little league team that claimed to have the field during our game time! I called GRAASA, our softball league, but the number was disconnected! The little league got the city parks and recreation director on the phone, who confirmed that the little league gets the field. Our game got canceled. What the heck? It turns out that GRAASA had reserved the field and the little league was supposed to play on Saturday; however, the little league umpires had a conflict that day so at the last minute the city gave them our field but never told GRAASA. What annoys me is that this same thing happened to another GRAASA game last week but GRAASA never did anything to prevent it from happening again. Isn't once enough to learn a lesson? Maybe not for these folks, as they have yet to demonstrate any thoroughness in their operation of the league. Our schedule was postponed by a week to start the season because they couldn't find enough fields. Then the first field was played on was a kids' field with un-attached bases and a storm drain in centerfield - dangerous! Turns out GRAASA never even looked at the field before reserving it. We're currently operating under league schedule revision 5 or 6 (I've lost count) because they don't proofread their schedules before sending them out. They didn't even proofread their rulebook, which explains the disconnected phone number - their phone works, but they wrote the wrong number in the rulebook! If that all wasn't enough, some of their umpires were unaware of some non-standard GRAASA-specific rules. To their credit they are 100% volunteer, but that's no excuse for not being thorough and complete. Today at work I had to write them a "nice" letter to explain my teams' lack of satisfaction.

So yeah, today was a tough day of dealing with people that can't be counted on.

Happily we still had two good reasons to celebrate the day - Haven and Beacon's birthday!

600 and Counting

2007-06-06T21:05:00.001-04:00

Since my 35-mile bike ride I've gone running every day! Monday was an easy recovery run with the guys at work. My quads were a bit sore at the end of that run so Tuesday I was planning to take a day off; however, by the time I got home from work I was feeling pretty good so I talked Amanda into running at the dirt track at the fairgrounds. She ran 3 miles! I forget the exact time but she maintained a 14-ish minute pace by running a no-walking 12-minute first mile, then walking four of the final eight laps while maintaining a 12-minute pace on the running laps.

Today I went for a solo run at work during lunch - I couldn't join the regulars due to a schedule conflict. It was a great run, covering six miles instead of the usual five and giving me plenty of time to ponder and draft my latest Why Run? article about running's role in dealing with tragedy. Going the extra mile (literally!) turned out to be quite significant - my yearly total is now 600.8 miles.

Country Roads

2007-06-03T21:07:00.001-04:00

I swear my life has a soundtrack... there's always a song in my head for everything I do. In fact, every morning I wake up with a seemingly random song broadcasting on my brainwaves! Early on in today's bike ride I thought to myself "How nice that there's no traffic on these country roads" and in an instant John Denver's song was playing in my head the rest of the way.

This is why I never feel compelled to iPod-ize my workouts - don't get me wrong, I love jamming to tunes on the run once in a while - but even without an iPod there's usually a song in my head anyway. It reminds me of Andy Dufresne in Shawshank Redemption when he tells Red about enduring solitary by remembering the music he had played over the loudspeakers to get him thrown in there: "That's the beauty of music. They can't take that away from you."

After a speed workout on Friday and a moderate 6-miler on Saturday, I was going to take it easy today with a 1-2 hour bike ride. As part of enforcing my plan I pressurized my tires to just 60 psi instead of the usual 75 psi I use for flying along pavement - that way if I tried to go fast, I'd get frustrated by the mushy tires sapping energy. I also brought the camera along to remind me to stop and shoot the roses.

Or lambs, as it turned out! I was cruising along one of those melodious country roads when I spotted these woolen kids grazing. The wet brakes on my bike squealed to a halt and every single lamb pricked its ears in my direction - how cute! Unfortunately by the time I got my camera out of its double-ziploc bag waterproofing they'd all resumed breakfast, but it was still a cool scene.

Finally I stopped to check the time and to my surprise 1.5 hours had gone by! I was feeling so good that it seemed like I'd been on the road for just half an hour. I had told Amanda that I'd be gone 1-2 hours and now I'm looking at 3 hours if I turned around right then. I called her up and we made some plans - I would continue on for a 3-hour-ish ride into town and she'd come pick me up and we'd go out to lunch.

Back on my bike, five minutes later Amanda calls me back. "Aren't you getting rained on?" Sorry honey, it's just cloudy. Turns out she was in Meijer and the metal roof was echoing a downpour throughout the store. Well guess what? Two minutes after hanging up, the sky opened up and I got soaked. Amanda cursed me! ;)

My only directional plan had been to ride south for a while, then return home. With no pre-defined ending point now, I simply wandered south and west for a while until I realized that I had no clue where I was! To make matters worse, there were signs of alien activity... Crop circles! Actually it looks like the work of a willy willy spawned by yesterday's violent storm front that downed several tree limbs. See the cloud bank at the top of that photo? A minute after snapping the shot I got rained on again, just as I got the camera back into its protective baggie.

Now I had to find my way to town so whenever I hit an intersection I rode either north or west, depending on how ridable the road looked. I hopped onto a nice westbound road but a mile later it turned south with no intersections for a few more miles. Ack! Finally I got on a westerly course and found myself staring at quite a hill. Luckily it wasn't too bad at my slow pace; in fact, this was typical of about a dozen large hills that I climbed - and descended - during the ride. According to MapMyRide my route involved almost 2000 feet of climbing - not bad for Michigan!

Going down those hills was fun and fast, but the raindrops really sting at high speed! Yeah, those raindrops - the last hour of my ride was in a steady rain. I was completely soaked, but it was 67 degrees and I felt great - perfect riding conditions if you ask me! I finally came to a road name that I recognized and called Amanda to look up my location on Google Maps. She told me that it was six miles to a familiar intersection, and from there I was "really close" to the airport. She emphasized that it wasn't far at all, so I figured I'd meet her at the airport viewing area and assumed it was 8-9 miles away.

10 miles later I was wondering what the heck Amanda had told me! Turns out that Amanda had thought I was at the familiar intersection, which was six miles from the airport. So instead of 8-9 miles I actually needed 12 miles to reach the rendezvous point. Less than a mile from the finish the road was blocked by geese! Two families with adolescent goslings (about half the size of their parents; the fuzz was shedding from their necks) were thinking about making a crossing. They ran back to the shoulder as I used the oncoming lane to get around them. I slowed down to watch them when suddenly one of the parents hissed loudly and started running at me! I accelerated and got outta there! :)

At long last I met up with Amanda and changed into some dry clothes before getting refueled at Pizza Hut. My planned 1-2 hour ride became a 3-hour affair (including phone call and photo stops) where I covered 35 miles! All told I averaged about 13 mph if I subtract out the stopping. Surprisingly I still feel great! Apparently last week's 50-miler with my dad has recalibrated my cycling endurance. Nevertheless, I'll go easy on my legs when I run tomorrow.

The Heat Is On

2007-06-01T20:21:00.001-04:00

The song "The Heat is On" comes to mind with the hot, muggy weather we've been having. As I got ready for my speed workout today I watched cumulus clouds building strength due to rising columns of hot afternoon air. My run was not going to be easy or pleasant! I leashed up Haven and jogged a warm-up mile to the track at the local fairgrounds where we met Amanda. At the track Haven was set free and promptly sprinted 100 meters at Olympic speed in pursuit of a squirrel! Silly girl.

I was hoping to run six 1/4 mile laps but only turned in four due to the heat and some lingering soreness from last night's softball game. (I was involved with a couple diving plays in the outfield - caught one; the other glanced off my glove - that resulted in "grass burn" on my left calf and right knee.) I paced Amanda for her first 100m sprint then continued around the track for my first lap, a surprisingly comfortable 92 seconds. Then I ran my hardest for the second lap and clocked 69 seconds! Woo hoo, my first 1/4 mile under 70 seconds since high school. Boy was I hurtin' after that one.

Another medium paced lap at 98 seconds, then my last one I managed to run in 77 seconds. Amanda and Haven were just as hot and tired as me by this point so we went home. I ran with Haven through downtown and we stopped at the riverwalk to watch some ducklings that Amanda photographed. Finally we made it home, where Haven and I headed to the basement to recover in the cool subterranean air.

Run, then Eat

2007-05-30T19:26:00.002-04:00

It's getting pretty hot these days here in Michigan. Tuesday morning I went for a run at 0600 with our newest foster dog Reese and it was already in the 60's! We only ran for 2.5 miles but I surprised myself (and perhaps Reese, too!) by holding a 8:15 pace without feeling too tired. We stopped at the river halfway and I discovered that Reese does not like water!

Today I ran with my co-workers at lunch, but beforehand I tried an experiment. Results? Don't eat before running! I completely wonked out on our 5-miler and practically dragged myself back to work. 87 degress and humidity didn't help the issue.

As long as I'm linking to my running blog I might as well add a link for my Memorial Day article honoring dogs.

Riding the Pine

2007-05-28T18:59:00.001-04:00

Alas, I was not a Detroit Tigers ballplayer this weekend, even if it would've meant sitting on the bench as we got swept by the division rivals. Instead I rode a different type of pine, rolling along the White Pine Trail on my bicycle with Amanda and my parents.

My dad and I have long been planning to do a 50-mile ride on this trail, and Saturday was finally the day. Initially I was hoping to ride the entire 92-mile trail to achieve one of my "wouldn't it be cool?" goals for 2007; however, complications involving car repairs altered my plans and I opted for the logistically simpler plan of just riding 50. Not that riding 50 miles is ever simple...

In fact it was only 49 miles, but my dad and I aren't ones to nitpick. :) Mom and Dad drove to our house, loaded up my bike, and the three of us drove to the trailhead in Big Rapids where Dad and I began our journey. Since it had rained all morning we brought along our raincoats but seeing clear skies in the north, we chanced leaving them in the car. I was well stocked with 4 liters of water (planning to give my bottle to Dad, since he brought just one) and tons of munchies.

Three of those liters were in my Salomon Raid Race 200 (bought two years ago for my first adventure race) that I converted into a hydration pack. In contrast my dad went old school, wearing a vintage REI knapsack with felt-lined leather shoulder straps, a wedding gift from 1974! Aside from the handy waist-belt pouches, my pack didn't seem any superior to his - both were lightweight, comfortable, breathable, and durable. Impressive!

The first mile was easy pedaling - all paved. That soon gave way to a dirt two-track for the next, oh, 30+ miles that had been softened by the morning's rain. While some sections were harder-packed than others, the soft dirt just sucked the kinetic energy right out of our tires, much the way EMAS slows down aircraft that overrun a runway. Both of our rides were hybrid bikes with relatively narrow tires that the soft ground swallowed up. We kept wishing for some good old 2" mountain bike tires and I finally tried to emulate those fat knobbies by lowering my tire pressure from 70 to 45 psi. It helped quite a bit, but we'd already ridden 20 miles at the higher pressure so the benefit was minimal.

The weather held up for us terrifically. Temps hovered in the 60s while the sky remained overcast yet without rain - very comfortable! Every 45 minutes or so we'd stop and have a snack. By the end of our ride we'd consumed four energy bars, one bag of dried fruit trail mix, and half a bag of Combos - I later calculated our pit stops to have totaled about 1000 calories for each of us! I swear we burned it all, too.

We were amazed at how far down the trail we could see in some places. The trail is a former train track - straight and flat - and at times we could see two miles ahead of us! It was weird to see a road intersection way in the distance, ride for five minutes and look up to feel as though we didn't get any closer! 33 miles along the trail we spot this pink thing in the distance - minutes passed before we were able to confirm our guess that it was Amanda, who had ridden up to meet us from Grand Rapids. She had to pedal 16 miles to reach us!

Now our group was 50% larger as the three of us slogged through some loose gravel on the two-track. All of this soft terrain was wearing on Amanda's legs and she had one goal in mind: pavement! Half an hour later we finally hit Russell Road, which marks the point where the rest of the trail south is paved. Ahhh! Our average speed jumped a few MPH as cruised along the blacktop. Another 30 minutes and we reached the town of Rockford, our temporary finish line.

In Rockford we met my mom, who had ridden the four miles up from Grand Rapids to meet us all for lunch. We found a pizza restaurant situated in a 100-year-old house that was cramped, but the food was served quickly and it really hit the spot. That pizza joint has the world's smallest bathroom - imagine fitting a toilet, sink, and towel dispenser in a space the size of an outhouse!

Loaded up on food, we walked around the Rockford dam for 15 minutes to digest a bit before hopping back on our bikes for the 4-mile ride to our awaiting parked cars. A mile into the ride it began to rain and quite honestly I welcomed it - after 4 hours of cranking the pedals and getting sprayed with sand and pebbles, the rain felt refreshing! At the very end Dad and I sprinted ahead to see how high of a max speed we could hit on his bicycle computer - he reached 24 mph while I was still gaining on him. It felt fast but then again, Olympic sprinters can run that speed!

We got so carried away we almost missed the parking lot! Dad and I racked up 49 miles, which was his longest ride since a 100-miler in his youth on Belle Isle. This matched my longest - last June I rode the same section of trail but in reverse, going solo from Grand Rapids to Big Rapids. Amanda notched an impressive 32 miles, topping her longest lifetime ride of 28 miles that she did last year, also on this trail. Mom finished at 8 miles, which isn't bad considering that her longest ride in ages was 9 miles a couple months ago. Who wants to go again? :)

Free Socks!

2007-05-16T22:39:00.001-04:00

Four months ago I wrote the "Ultimate Sock Review" about my experiences with 10 models of sock that I've worn over the years. Amazingly a representative from Bridgedale found my blog and sent me three free pairs of socks to try out!

Quite a nice thing to do, eh? After putting lots of miles on those socks (and my older ones, too) I wrote a review of the Bridgedales that includes an updated ranking of the now 12 models of socks in my drawer.

I never thought that any material good would come from blogging, but those three socks are my first "commission"!

Dawn Run

2007-05-15T17:51:00.001-04:00

Haven and I went running this morning...

Race Report - Riverbank Run 5K

2007-05-12T23:03:00.001-04:00

Today was the 30th running of the Riverbank Run in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The main event is the 25K, which serves as the national championship for that distance and naturally draws some very fast runners. I, however, ran the 5K in my quest to beat my 5K PR from high school, a 20:08.

You couldn't ask for better weather - when the starting horn sounded, the air was 52 degrees under mostly cloudy skies. The weather coupled with the 30th anniversary of the race drew record field participation in all of the events: 25K run, 25K wheelchair, 25K hand-cycle, 5K run, and 5K walk. If my memory serves, the announcer stated that there were about 6000 entrants for the 25K and almost 5000 folks doing 5K, plus 20,000+ spectators!

At 7:50 the wheelchair race started; at 7:55 it was the hand-cyclers' turn. Standing way at the back in the 5K corral a block up the street, I wasn't able to watch them start but I clapped anyway as the announcer kicked them off. At 8:00 sharp the crowd went nuts as the horn blasted off the 25K runners and the street in front of me slowly emptied. It took six full minutes for the 25K field to clear the start line! Finally the 5K legion marched forward and I took my place at the 7:00 min/mile pace sign. Very helpfully, the race organizers set up markers so that runners can start among others of similar speed. My goal was to beat my last race time of 21:07, a 6:49 pace, so I figured I'd be OK starting with the 7:00 folks. I didn't want to line up any further ahead because the 6:00 pace group was the first one!

Finally the clock ticked down to 8:10 and the horn sounded for our start! Right away it was clear that not everyone heeded the pace alignment and I had to pass countless runners in very crowded conditions. The course began on a 4-lane downtown street and it was flowing thick with striding bodies. I thought about mshobe and the difficulty he had weaving among traffic in his Chicago Marathon. It definitely slows you down! Within the first mile I was boxed in at least half a dozen times and forced to slow down and maneuver.

I reached the first mile mark at 6:55 according to my watch, but in 6:05 according to the clock they had stationed there! No way was I running 6:05 and I knew it was wrong; however, two guys next to me saw that and said "Whoa we better slow down" and I felt bad for them. Just after this point a little high school girl got boxed in to the left of me; instead of slowing down she jumped to the right, cutting me off! I nearly came to a complete halt trying to avoid running her over. That ticked me off, and she became one of my "marks" - I wasn't going to let her get away!

At the halfway point there was an aid station with water but I just ran through - I don't need to risk choking when I can barely breathe and 5K is short enough to do without anyway. It was here that I finally passed the last of the "soccer boys". At the start in the 7:00 pace slot was a group of six boys wearing matching soccer uniforms that looked to be about 10-12 years old. I thought they were a bunch of punks, assuming they would run slowly but as a pack and clog up the start. Four of them were indeed slow, but two of them were fast enough that they stayed ahead of me for half the race! I was impressed.

Approaching the second mile mark I was still forced to maneuver occasionally around folks who were dropping off the pace, some of them even walking! I can understand if a couple folks maybe pulled a muscle or had stomach issues, but 95% of they were simply tired. It bugged me that so many people were running a pace way beyond their means, apparently just to impress their friends by starting out so fast? In fact, that little high school girl encountered two such dudes who slowed down and she elbowed her way between them!

Mile 2 finally showed up at 13:50 - good for a 6:55 second mile - and once again the race clock was off by a minute! It's a good thing I started my watch or I would've been very confused. Climbing a slight incline my "mark" was right next to me - she had never been farther than 20 feet ahead - and I picked this point to pass her. I never saw her again! Satisfaction, baby. Cresting the "hill" (it was only a baby hill) I used the slight downgrade to accelerate my pace knowing that I had less than a mile to go. Boy was I feeling like crap, though! I was so tempted to rest for a few seconds but my heart convinced my mind to shut up for the next five minutes. :)

Apparently my mind just shut off instead - I have no memory of passing the 3-mile marker and thus have no clue as to my split time there. I was just trying to run fast - the faster I ran, the sooner the pain would cease! The course turned a sharp corner, ran half a block and then turned again and suddenly the finish line was 100 yards away! I dumped my last drops of fuel into the afterburner and passed several folks. Then I had a decision to make... left or right? There were two finish line banners because of the huge crowd of runners, and I was pointed right at the posts between them. Fewer runners on the right, so I ran right. Official finish time was 21:26.

While I was desperately catching my breath beyond the finish line, a guy next to me puked! Ew. I moseyed ahead to the food table and grabbed a water bottle, a breakfast bar, a bagel and a yogurt, then found a sunny concrete step to sit on while I ate the breakfast I earned. Food tastes so good after a hard workout!

Although I felt good speed-wise, I didn't feel great. Maybe having to dodge all the other runners in tight quarters slowed me down some, but even without that I might not have topped my adult-era PR from the last race. I'm happy that I maintained my pace throughout despite feeling rather crummy for the last mile; my finish time equated to a 6:55 pace, same pace as each of the first two miles. My legs had more speed than at my last race, but I think with more injury-free time to train properly I can go faster. Always something to look forward to!

Looking at the results online I see that I finished 18/260 in my age group and 204/4867 overall - must be that all the fast runners were doing the 25K. Speaking of which, after I called Amanda to let her know the outcome (she woke up tired and decided to sleep in rather than fight with the crowds) I walked back along the 25K course and watched the finishers for about an hour. Some observations... The top runners all had great form, smooth and powerful. The next batch of runners - fast but not elite - was mixed with good form and a form I call the "leg beaters" who have a stride that seems wildly inefficient. Some look like they're swimming, others stair-climbing, some are leaned so far sideways it makes me dizzy. These folks have the stamina to be top runners but for whatever reason, aren't efficient with it.

I stopped at the mile 14 aid station (25K = 15.5M) to wait for some of the runners I know to come by so I could cheer them on. One of the aid station volunteers was a colleague on my project who sits right next to me at work! I wasn't aware that he'd be there. It's amazingly fun to watch a running race and I'm totally sold on volunteering at one sometime. One of the aid station dudes, rather than handing out cups of water, was splashing it on the runners! Most loved it but a few got annoyed. The faster folks are in general more serious - you can tell that they have a plan and they pretty much ignore the encouragement of spectators. Slower runners more often will turn their heads when a spectator shouts out some good vibes, and some of them are mentally lost in space. Here we were, 1.5 miles from the finish, and some were stopping to rest - not just walking, but stopping! Just keep moving, people.

Many runners were busy wrangling their earphone cords. One guy going very slowly suddenly sprinted through the aid station like Forrest Gump and then collapsed in a pile of jelly legs. Weird. Another guy was dressed head to toe in a Spider Man suit! I encouraged him to use his Spidey Sense. One lady was clearly struggling with a look of sheer pain on her face as she reached her arm forward to the lady right ahead of her. The woman in front must've been a friend, as she took the struggler's hand without even looking back and pulled her onward the way she might pull the leash of a stubborn dog! It was a nice show of companionship - clearly they were going to finish together. Less cool was the young woman who took a sip of water and then puked about six times before walking on. She was clearly upset and I wanted to tell her "Don't worry, you'll feel better now!" but she probably wasn't ready to hear that yet. :)

Finally after cheering on almost everyone I expected to recognize (yet somehow I missed a few of them), it was time to go home. What a fun event - both racing and spectating!

Good Boy

2007-05-09T22:40:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I wasn't in the mood for running but I was a good boy and went out for a run anyway. I took Beacon with me and he was a good boy as well - usually he pulls a lot but for some reason he was super obedient for our run! Both of us had a lot of fun and I was really happy that I forced myself out the door with running shoes on.

I needed to do some speedwork so Beacon and I warmed up by jogging the one mile through downtown to the local fairgrounds, where there's a 1/4-mile dirt track. I let Beacon off leash and ran some laps. I hadn't done this in a long time but was happy with the results. My plan was to run the first lap hard, next lap medium, third lap hardest, fourth lap slow, and then go from there. Between each of these laps was a slow jog/walk lap for recovery.

It worked! First lap was 82 seconds, second was 90, third was 75 (holy cow!) and fourth was 105 seconds. The 75 seconds was the fastest I've run a 1/4 mile since high school, although I did run a 76 last fall. Then I decided to see how well I could "suck it up" and do another fast lap despite being tired and at the end of my workout. I surprised myself by clocking 77 seconds! I would've been happy just to get under 90.

This Saturday is my next 5K, the Riverbank Run, which is the biggest running event in Grand Rapids. The marquee race is a 25K - it's the national championships for that distance - but there's also a 5K. I was really tempted to do the 25K with the goal of running it in less than 2 hours (it's everyone's goal for that race, it seems) but this year I want to focus on speed (slow as I am) and run a good 5K.

Too bad I can't run it with Haven and Beacon!

I Would Walk 500 Miles

2007-05-06T20:00:00.001-04:00

How about run 500 miles? Back on April 25 I ran my 500th mile and on May 3 I went for my 100th run of the year. Just 500 more until 1000... "I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more..."

Today was a 9.8 mile long run - I ran to Meijer where Amanda met me and we went grocery shopping afterwards. Before and after the run I felt really good and somehow managed a 9:17 pace despite thinking that I was taking it easy - walking up a half-dozen hills, stopping to enjoy a couple scenic views along the river, etc.

Later today we took all three dogs - Haven, Beacon and foster dog Honey - to my Grandma's pasture to run around. We spent two hours hiking around and the dogs are completely worn out now! They got to have a ton of fun - they chased a rabbit, two nesting turkeys, a ruffed grouse, a deer, and a pheasant! Amanda will post the pictures as part of her DITL for today.

Yesterday I put a nifty new post on Why Run? about the physics of speed, pace and energy. I started thinking about it when Katiebell described some frustration when treadmilling recently:

"I was shocked to find that the difference between 5.4 miles per hour and 5.7 was negligible, but bump it to 6.0 (a mere ten min mile) and I could barely keep on pace...6.5 and I was struggling."

Thursday I was on the treadmill doing speedwork and it dawned on me how explain the physics of this phenomenon. If you're curious then check out my Why Run? article which even has a couple of cool graphs!

Tigers vs. Twins - 2007.04.29

2007-05-03T21:47:00.003-04:00

For my birthday last month Amanda planned an outing to a Tigers game. Last weekend it finally came to pass as Amanda and I were joined by eight family members to enjoy a perfectly sunny day at the ballpark. I still call it Tiger Stadium even though technically it's Comerica Park; not so much out of protest as much as out of habit. Speaking of which, I miss the old ballpark - I was lucky enough to attend the 4th to last game ever played there. On our way to the new park we drove past the old one:

It's sad how the city of Detroit and the Tigers franchise are allowing this historic stadium to rot away when there are so many folks willing to do what it takes to preserve it as a museum and/or exhibition ballfield. At least Comerica Park is a beautiful place to attend a ballgame and in my opinion underrated among the MLB ballparks.

We arrived early to watch batting practice, however the Tigers were already done by the time we arrived - despite arriving right after the gates opened. It always amazes me how normal ballplayers look - we stood about ten feet away from Joe Mauer as he warmed up and he doesn't seem any more fit than I am. Then you see him (and every other player) throw effortlessly and watch the ball rifle 150 feet and pop into a teammate's glove without having to move an inch. Wow.

Before taking our seats we wandered around the park, ending up among the statues of Tiger greats. We watched a few players warming up before taking our seats.

Our seats were great - upper deck front row along the LF line near the foul pole. It was a great view of not only the field but also the Detroit skyline. Amanda took a couple photos of the first batters before putting away the camera to enjoy the game.

And what a game! Johan Santana has been the best pitcher in all of baseball over the last three years but Mike Maroth matched him. Bottom of the 9th inning Brandon Inge hits a solo HR into the bullpen right in front of us and both the crowd and the Tigers dugout erupted in cheer! ROAR!

Some baseball observations:

Joe Mauer is amazing with the bat - in BP he would hit the ball on a line in every direction seemingly at will.
Justin Morneau has wicked bat speed, clearly a step above any other Twins hitter.
Magglio Ordonez was born to hit - he looks so comfortable at the plate, he makes it look easy. Fielding... no. He was born to DH - he never seemed to read fly balls well and on one play Curtis Granderson had to run all the way from CF to attempt a catch that was ten feet from Ordonez the statue; Granderson missed and Ordonez didn't back him up, forcing Granderson to run after the ball that became a triple.
Gary Sheffield is over his slump - aside from one pop-up, he hit every ball hard - he had a single that two-hopped to the RF and I swear the ball was never more than five feet off the ground.
Carlos Guillen is barely a passable SS - not only did he make a few bad throws, but his footwork looked as stiff as some of the 50-year-old guys on my softball team.
Mike Maroth doesn't throw hard - 88 mph was his max - which made it cruel on the Twins when Joel Zumaya relieved him and started throwing 100 mph.
Pat Neshek has one of the most unique deliveries you'll ever see - it's not your typical sidearm. Even better, Neshek has his own blog that he started when in the minors.
Jesse Crain... he gave up that HR to Inge, but I'm surprised that Crain isn't a more dominant pitcher. He had a 94 mph fastball to go with a 74 mph off-speed pitch, a combination that normally is quite deadly.

Race Report - Road Ends Trail Run

2007-04-30T21:24:00.002-04:00

The Road End Trail Run is a 5-mile race in the Pinckney Recreation Area outside Ann Arbor, MI. This event is just the opening act for the Trail Marathon weekend; Road Ends runs on Saturday and Sunday hosts a trail marathon and half-marathon at the same location.

Leading up to this race, the recovery from an achilles injury forced me to run just twice in the ten days prior to race day for a total of seven miles. Fortunately my conservatism paid off as my leg felt great on race day and I had no problems with any recurrence. Nevertheless, I was unsure how fast I could run given my lack of recent training and had difficultly coming up with a goal for the race. I had heard the course was quite hilly so I figured I'd be happy if I could maintain an 8:00 pace, i.e. finish the race in 40 minutes.

My dad, mom and Amanda were nice enough to come along as spectators, or maybe they just wanted to see me suffer! We hiked around the starting area and checked out some ducks and a loon out on Silver Lake using dad's binoculars. Finally it was time to assemble at the line and 259 folks packed together, eager to get moving so we could warm up! It was a cool, overcast morning at about 45 degrees. The race director informed us that mile markers 2 and 4 were quite accurate, but the markers for miles 1 and 3 were just "there for consistency". I chatted with a volunteer and a racer a bit while waiting and learned that the racer had just run the Boston Marathon two weeks earlier and the volunteer was going to do a 50-mile race in Colorado next week! Fun stuff.

Ready, set, GO!! We looped around a grassy area to thin the pack before converging on a narrow boardwalk through a marshy area. My plan was to run hard and see how long I could keep it up since I had no idea 1) what my fitness level was and 2) what my pace would be until two miles later. Initially I felt pretty good - one of the benefits of a long layoff is complete muscle recovery - and passed the 2-mile marker in 14:40, a 7:20 pace! My last 5K I ran at a 6:50 pace so maybe 7:20 over 5 miles is doable?

Maybe not... soon after the 2 mile mark I realized that my stride rate (e.g. steps per minute) was rather low, but when I tried to quicken up my leg turnover I was disappointed to learn that my legs wouldn't respond. Apparently this is one of the effects of the lost training time, that my leg speed just wasn't there. This hurt me on the flats since I couldn't accelerate and also on the hills because I couldn't "downshift" to maintain momentum going up.

The next two miles I was really hurting - my lungs felt OK and my legs weren't sore but I simply couldn't make my legs "go" - they felt "hollow" if that makes any sense. Halfway up a large hill I was actually forced to walk and felt rather embarrassed; after all, who am I to think I can run a 8:00 pace yet have to walk? At the top I found myself breathing rapidly as if at high altitude, yet within five seconds I was running again and feeling rather normal (at least, as normal as one can feel in a race). It seemed so silly that I had to walk up that hill yet could resume my race pace once at the top without a problem.

Less than a mile later on a smaller hill I had to walk again! Dang! Once again my lungs were fine once over the top so all I can reason is that my lack of training caused me to lose my running "power" - my stamina was there, my strength was there, but my legs wouldn't accelerate. This time I had a happier attitude while walking - I told myself that lots of runners both behind me and ahead of me had seen me walking up both hills, and I was going to beat most of them! So who cares if I walk? See you at the finish line, bubbas.

Finally I reached the 4-mile mark at 32:00... yikes! My last two miles had been at a 8:40 pace and now I had to run a 8:00 final mile to reach my 40-minute goal. I remained positive yet realized that this was going to be difficult - I had to push the pace and NOT LET UP for the next eight minutes. My legs still felt hollow and all I could fill them with was will power.

At long last I crested the final short hill and the finish line was in sight about 100 yards away; also in sight was another runner 30 yards ahead of me and I started my kick to chase him down. I quickly gained 10 yards on him but then he heard my labored breathing. My dad told me later that this guy looked over his shoulder and his eyes got wide; this guy had last passed me when I was walking up the second hill, so he must've been surprised to see me on his tail! He kicked into a sprint and all I could do was match his pace and wasn't able to overtake him.

That's OK - I was THRILLED because I finished in 39:45!! Somehow I toughed out a 7:45 final mile and the photos Amanda took really show the strain I was feeling. Boy oh boy. But as you can see in the last photo, it was all worth it and in fact quite satisfying to know that I wasn't at my best and I still managed a good run. Learning how my body responded to the injury recovery and lack of training was also quite enlightening. And of course, a post-race poppyseed muffin really hit the spot!

We stuck around for the award ceremony because I wanted to see who the winners were. The overall winner finished in under 29 minutes! Wow. Then they started awarding prizes to the top five runners in each age group. Names were called out and when they got to my age group I was stunned to hear the race director call my name! Holy cow, I finished 5th in my age group (out of 14) and won a coffee mug. Even though I know it's petty, it's still fun to win a prize at a race by actually being fast enough rather than a random drawing. :) Overall I finished 49th out of 259, and yes I'm quite pleased with that. Best of all, however, was being my 40 minute goal by running that last mile as hard as I did - nothing beats that feeling of achievement!

Bike, Hike, Run, Fetch

2007-04-22T20:30:00.001-04:00

Bike
Today did not go as planned, but it turned out very well. Due to a minor achilles injury that caused me to skip my race this weekend, I geared up myself and my bike this morning for our first ride of the year, planning to roll along some country roads for about three hours. All was going well for the first half hour - beautiful clear skies and 60 degree temperature that was rising quickly - when things suddenly fell apart, literally. I'm pedaling along a flat stretch when I hear a loud SNAP followed by the clinks of metal pieces falling on the pavement. My seat broke off!! Luckily I didn't fall; a triathlete friend of mine once broke his arm falling due to a seat failure.

I phoned Amanda, who had to abandon her walk less than five minutes after starting to come rescue me. While waiting for her I managed to ride about two miles closer, during which time I learned two things about cycling with no seat: 1) your calves get really tired if you keep the standard position of centering the balls of your feet over the pedals, so I centered my arches on the pedals instead; and 2) the bike gets quite unstable descending steep hills. I'm not sure why for #2, but I guess it's due to a forward center of gravity putting too much weight on the front wheel?

Hike
So much for my long ~~run~~ ride. Amanda still wanted to get her workout in so I joined her on a local trail for a hike. We stopped home to drop off the bike and we decided to take Haven with us. She loved the trails but we had to keep her on leash about 95% of the time since portions of the trail are near 55 mph roads and because there are lots of folks (and their dogs) sharing the trails. Legally all dogs must be on leash there but the vast majority of the ones I see are unleashed, and Haven never causes problems but with her muddy paws I didn't want to offend anyone and give unleashed dogs a bad name.

Amanda took so many photos that we were making slow progress around the 4.5 mile loop. We wanted to get home in time to watch a Detroit Tigers game - a rare opportunity to see them on a air-broadcast channel. Halfway around the loop we decided I should run the 2 miles back to the car and pick up Amanda at the north parking lot (we started at the south lot).

Run
Haven came with me and we ran at a quick pace up and down the sandy, leafy hills. We passed a few other people and dogs but Haven was so tired by this point that she was in no mood to be the social butterfly that she usually is. 14 minutes later we were back at the car (after having to jump over a 2-foot long hognose snake!) The run was tiring and felt great - my achilles felt a bit tight but nothing near as bad as last week. Still, I'm glad (in a common-sense sort of way) that I passed on the 10-mile race yesterday.

Fetch
Once we got home we traded Haven for Beacon and drove to the river where I played fetch with him for half an hour while Amanda drove out to Subway to fetch our dinner. Beacon needed his turn getting some fun exercise and he really loved it, screaming as he waited for me to throw the next stick. He finally started getting tired just as Amanda returned and we all went home for dinner.

Icing on the cake: we got to watch the Tigers beat the White Sox in a 12-inning thriller complete with two-outs-bottom-of-the-9th home run heroics!

The One That Got Away

2007-04-20T21:16:00.001-04:00

How about "the sport that got away"... Earlier I wrote about my "Sophie's choice" of sports in high school, wondering what may have been if I ran track instead of playing tennis. Finally I did run track after quitting the tennis team junior year, but I'm afraid I never tried the one event I was born for...

When I joined track I started with hurdles because the coach thought my long legs would be suited for it, and I also did high jump because 1) my friend was a high-jumper, and 2) a very tall and pretty girl did high jump, too. :) Even though my vertical leap was probably strong enough for me to clear 6'6", I never actually cleared more than 5'4" because my form stunk.

Early in the season I strained a hip flexor that prevented me from running hurdles so I moved to the distance events, finding that I most enjoyed the 400m and 800m races. By the end of senior year I was a decent 400m runner - my PR was 60 seconds. My dad watched one of my last track meets and afterwards he was reminiscing about his days as a high school track star, where he set (and still holds, I believe) the long jump record for his high school at something over 20 feet!

After the season one weekend I jogged from my house to school (about 4 miles), noticed the long jump pit and thought, hey, I should try this. I sprinted down the runway and took off - it felt good! Stepping off the distance, I estimated that I soared 17 feet! The best guys on my track team were jumping 17-18 feet, the state champ was doing 24', and this was just my first attempt. As it were, it was also my last.

Alas, what could've been? Had I started long jumping right off the bat, I might have been winning a few meets and who knows, perhaps I could've competed at the state championships just like my dad had done. Maybe I could've topped his "family record", too! With my dad's genes, was I born for long jump? I guess I'll never know, but clearly I let the opportunity get away.

Sophie's Choice

2007-04-14T20:10:00.001-04:00

A trophy. I was 14 years old and had won "most improved player of the year". It altered the course of my athletic career forever...

In 8th grade I participated in three sports: baseball, track, and tennis.

Baseball
I had played baseball since 2nd grade and enjoyed it, but was never great at it. This was partly due to poor eyesight because once I got glasses in 7th grade, my hitting instantly went from horrible to decent. I had no power but good plate discipline, culminating in an 8th grade season where I batted .670 with a .750 on-base percentage but just one extra-base hit (a bloop double). My coach batted me at the bottom of the lineup despite my stats (I was the only one who kept stats, anyway, being a nerd) because he never realized how effective I was. I tried to explain to him that my singles were almost as good as doubles because being the fastest runner on the team, I stole 2nd base every time and often 3rd base, too, without getting caught. He was a great coach and he liked me, but didn't appreciate a hitter without power.

Track
Even though I generally liked running, I never tried track and field until 8th grade. Being a late bloomer I wasn't a standout by any means, but I was still pretty good. I ran mostly distances of 100m-400m and my highlight was running the first leg of our championship-winning 4x100 relay, keeping pace with other team's fastest runners. It was a bit frustrating that I wasn't good enough to win any races on my own, but a few of my friends were on the track team and the camaraderie was outstanding. That was some of the most fun in a sport I'd ever experienced.

Tennis
I started taking lessons in 7th grade at a local athletic club in the beginner's group. Non-beginners, my best friend among them, played in class-type practice sessions ranked by ability, "Group 3" being the worst and "Group 1" being the best. My friend had been playing for several years and finally got promoted from Group 3 to Group 2 and was proud of it. Apparently I took quite well to the sport because after half a year in the beginner's group the coaches jumped me straight into Group 2, making my friend a bit envious. And for that I won a little trophy as the club's most improved player of 1990.

Entering high school the following year, I was faced with a mild version of Sophie's Choice: all three of my sports took place in the same season, forcing me to choose only one that I could continue pursuing. I enjoyed all three sports immensely - the drama of baseball, the excitement of track, the intensity of tennis - and because of that trophy, I chose tennis.

Tennis was the only sport where I felt that my achievements were recognized, a feeling given to me simply by that trophy. I never was awarded "most improved hitter" when I got glasses or a "most promising runner" when I held my own in the relay. It's kinda sad that such praise was so important to me, but that's who I was back then.

The epilogue here is that I played tennis for just three more years, making varsity as a sophomore on a top-ranked team but quitting in my junior year after becoming exasperated with a holier-than-thou coach and teammates who were more concerned with being better than each other than actually winning meets against other schools. Luckily for my parents' wallet it only took one expensive broken racquet to realize the error of my choice. :)

I never played baseball again, but I did play in a rec softball game between the two 11th grade chemistry classes where I happened to have a great day outplaying everyone including a handful varsity baseball players in chemistry class. The chemistry teacher was also a baseball coach and asked me several times "Why aren't you playing baseball?" Sometimes I wondered that myself but...

After quitting tennis I joined the track team because my good friend Jamey ran track. I went from being the best runner on the tennis team to the worst runner on the track team; however, I was setting PRs (personal records) every race I ran. By senior year I was an average runner yet still PR-ing every race, prompting my track coach to give me one of the best compliments I ever received in high school: "Someday you'll be winning master's races."

Ironic, isn't it? I chose tennis because of the accolades it gave me, but never found any respect in the sport again while the two sports I had cast off ultimately gave me the recognition that I craved. Nowadays I'm an active softball player and distance runner, but I haven't touched a tennis racquet since college. I guess I should've followed my own heart rather than the mouths of other people, or at least the words they etch onto little trophies.

Amanda the Trail Runner

2007-04-10T19:19:00.000-04:00

Amanda caught me off guard today - it was supposed to be a rest day for her exercise but I got an email at work asking "Do you want to go with me and run on that trail you found yesterday?" You bet!

We ran the first half mile or so - Amanda ran the whole way despite the challenging trail. It was funny to watch her have to stop and step over fallen logs, the same logs that I barely notice when running over them! Long legs can be an asset there.

After one lap we got out the camera and Amanda started taking photos. The awesome artistic ones are on Amanda's blog, some shots of the trail itself are on my new blog Why Run?, and this really cute one is looking right at you. :)

Finally I left Amanda to wander among nature while I ran the 4 miles home. I started out slow but kept upping the pace until I was really hurting. I somehow convinced myself to not let up and I finished in under 30 minutes for a 7:26 pace! It was hilly, too (including the last 1/4 mile up an 80-foot killer) so I'm happy, but very tired.

Do April Snow Showers Bring May Flowers?

2007-04-09T22:04:00.001-04:00

"April showers bring May flowers" so the saying goes, but I don't think those flowers had snow in mind! Isn't this crazy? But it makes for fun running. Here's the view out our front window this evening:

When I Grow Up...

2007-04-04T21:59:00.001-04:00

In honor of my not-so-secret birthday, let's discuss what careers we envisioned for ourselves as kids. Did you have just one idea that all your dreams were made of, or was your future more of a moving target?

I was one of the latter - each year I had a new profession that I was gonna be when I grew up. Here's my list; note that my "years" are based on school years not calendar years, as my memories are inevitably tied to what grade I was in at the time, not how old I was.

Pre-school - garbage man
I was in awe of the garbage trucks and how they could "gruff" the trash in the compactor!

Kindergarten - ornithologist
My favorite book was the Field Guide to Birds of North America and I loved to watch hawks and vultures soaring above.

1st grade - construction worker
I wanted to operate a lime green front-end loader because I loved giant construction machines.

2nd grade - center fielder for the Detroit Tigers and wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals
The hometown Tigers had just won the World Series and the Bengals had cool helmets; apparently I was going to be Bo Jackson!

3rd grade - paleontologist
I was going to dig up fossils to study prehistoric mammals; my favorite was Andrewsarchus for obvious reasons. :)

4th grade - zoologist
I wanted to study large mammalian predators such as wolves, bears, and big cats

5th grade - marine biologist
In particular I wanted to study marine mammals, especially orcas and dolphins.

6th grade - fiction writer
Reading countless Newberry Medal books got me thinking that I could write cool stories, too.

7th grade - forest ranger
I loved trees, especially redwoods and sequoias. A family trip to Yellowstone National Park inspired this one.

8th grade - canine and/or dolphin behaviorist
My plan was to understand dog/dolphin communication and ultimately learn to speak their language.

9th grade - astronaut
My dream was to take part in the first mission to walk on Mars.

10th grade - architect
I read a book about Frank Lloyd Wright and loved the concept of blending form with function.

11th grade - aerospace engineer
I loved airplanes and flying; plus, it sounded impressive when written on a college application.

12th grade - helicopter pilot
I had started taking flying lessons and preferred "low and slow" rather than "high and fast" flying.

How did I choose? With my eyesight too poor to become a pilot, I stuck to the most recent available career and became an aerospace engineer; besides, I kinda felt locked in by virtue of my choice of college major. In college I did revisit the pilot idea with the Marines when I found out they offered waivers for imperfect eyesight; however, my vision was way too nearsighted for a waiver and I didn't want to be a back-seater.

I might have considered careers in athletics had I thought that was an option; however, from an early age my mom instilled that such careers were dead-ends and sports were just games. Now that I realize how possible it is to have meaningful careers in athletics, perhaps my interests there would've received more serious attention.

Ironically (or perhaps predictably) I'm presently none of the professions listed above; I still call myself an aerospace engineer but in truth I work as a computer systems engineer for a company that puts their products on aircraft. In retrospect I probably would've preferred a career in the natural sciences because as cool as technology is, it's never more fascinating than nature.

Does This Count as "Multi-Sport"?

2007-03-29T21:49:00.001-04:00

Fairly busy day... after work I had softball practice, but I wanted to get my running in, too. I drove to the ballfields about an hour early and took a tour by foot of the nearest neighborhood. After 36+ minutes I'd covered 4.4 miles, which was nice because it sure didn't feel like I was holding that kind of pace. I changed at my car, transforming from runner into ballplayer and waited for my team to show up.

Within half an hour we were warming up our arms, and then shagging balls while taking BP. Surprisingly my legs felt great despite my pre-practice run - I was accelerating without problems, leaping high, etc. I even hit the ball pretty well considering I hadn't swung a bat since last August. My shoulder held up fine - in fact, I had better zip on the ball than last season; however, I still can't throw very far with a good heave.

So was this a duathlon? 4.4 mile run followed by two hours of softball? What's neat about this "du" is that softball was one of the motivators for me to start running again. Four years ago I played softball for the first time since college and got tired just jogging out to the outfield! Sad. I used to run all over the field and turn ground balls into triples, so I started running again partly to make sure that softball would never get me out of breath.

And wouldn't you know, four years later, here I am telling you all that today's run puts me at 401 miles on the year. :)

Rain on the River

2007-03-27T21:44:00.002-04:00

It seems most of my major hobbies had a big event recently:

Saturday - spent about 10 hours volunteering at the Pet Expo
Saturday - conducted my Mach League player draft 8pm-10pm
Sunday - went running TWICE for an hour each run
Sunday - fetched the dogs at the river before the Pet Expo
Sunday - between runs, volunteered about 5 hours at the Pet Expo
Monday - went to the softball managers' meeting after work, got home around 9:30pm

So there you have significant events for my hobbies of dogs, running, dog rescue, baseball, and co-ed softball. To top it all off, I'm a tad under the weather. This probably explains why my second Sunday run was so painful - my body was diverting its resources to my immune system, not to my "running" system.

I debated whether I should run today or take the day off, but since Amanda was feeling tired and sore and still went for her workout today, I figured I should get my work in, too.

It was very warm - 78 degrees - when Haven and I set foot (and paw) on the road, heading for the trailhead. Just before the trailhead we passed a couple kids playing with an unleashed dog in their driveway. Upon spotting us the dog - a border collie mix - started to follow us. She was very shy and Haven kept trying to chase her away, but this dog wouldn't go away. She had very bright blue eyes so I called her Blue Eyes. I suppose I could've been more creative but sometimes my mind turns off when I run!

Anyway, Blue Eyes followed us into the woods for about a 1/4 mile on the trail, so I decided I better bring her back to the kids. I walk up the driveway and ask the kids if this is their dog. They tell me no, that this dog came from down the road somewhere. Great. I checked for tags. Blue Eyes had a collar, but no tags. At least she was pretty submissive to both me and Haven and kept trying to play with Haven, so she was a friendly dog.

My next plan was to get her tired. One time a german shepherd followed Haven and I on a run and we got him pretty tired before his owner drove up to get him. We ran back into the woods and Blue Eyes followed; of course, border collies were meant to run. I exited the trail further up the road and decided to head back towards where the kids said she came, hoping to find an owner. Once on the road Blue Eyes took off, obviously familiar with her location and hopefully heading home. When she wasn't looking I unleashed Haven, pointed at the trail and said quietly but urgently "Let's go let's go let's go!!!" and Haven bolted down the trail with me in hot pursuit. I figured if Blue Eyes tried to follow us, she'd be less inclined the more distance we put between her and us.

It worked! No sign of Blue Eyes. Haven and I finished our work on the trails and headed for the river where we planned to meet Amanda and Beacon playing fetch. I could hear Beacon's eager screams half a mile away! Partly because of the strong NW wind that was bringing a cold front our way. Just before we saw Amanda and Beacon the skies opened up with big fat drops of rain!

We continued fetching with the dogs even as the pouring rain turned the surface of the river into what looked like a giant lemon zester! Despite the decreasing temperature and increasing mud and thunder we kept throwing sticks and the dogs kept fetching them. What a blast! We were soaked when we finally headed back to the car; when we got 100 yards away the rain simply stopped and within seconds the sun was out. Perfect timing!

Perfect Run and Painful Run

2007-03-25T21:50:00.002-04:00

Normally Amanda and I do our long workouts on Sunday mornings, but this morning we had a bit of a time crunch due to volunteering at the Pet Expo. I could only run for an hour so I planned to get in my long run via a "daily double" run.

This morning was 60 degrees and overcast; in fact, thunderstorms had just rolled through before sunrise. I got my running gear on, grabbed a water bottle and my iPod and hit the streets. Let me tell you, it was one of THE MOST ENJOYABLE runs I've ever had! Why this morning of all days? Perhaps the perfect running weather and the good music, but for some reason my feet were just floating. I was cruising along at just over a 9:00 pace and I felt as if I could've gone on forever. Never once did I feel even a hint of fatigue; I just ran and ran and ran for 7.3 miles, going faster every mile.

Before heading off to the Expo our dogs convinced us to let them get some activity, so we drove them to the trails to run around and fetch in the river for about half an hour. They would've preferred more, but it was all the time we had. Still, they were pretty happy. Dogs can be so easy to please! Then again, are we any different?

After the Expo it was time for the second half of my long run, and what a contrast! My legs were tired from the morning run, tired from standing at the Expo for hours, and here I am trying to make them run again. I eked out 6.75 miles at a 9:30 pace and barely made it! At least the weather was great: 75 degrees and partly sunny - perhaps the heat was part of my trouble for my winter-adjusted body? In any case, the first two miles my legs felt stiff, then for two miles I felt OK, then the last two+ miles my legs felt heavy and listless.

Hopefully one of these days I can figure out how to replicate the feeling of that morning run!

Mach League Baseball

2007-03-25T21:36:00.001-04:00

After spending all Saturday morning and afternoon at the Pet Expo, my day wasn't done yet. At 8pm was the annual player draft for my baseball league!

Ever since 1993 I've been part of a fantasy simulation baseball league. This isn't a rotisserie league; this is a keeper league that updates player stats every month and plays actual games using simulation software: the amazingly accurate and realistic Diamond Mind Baseball. Each week of the regular season we play six games for a total of 144 for each of the eight teams in the league. We use American League players only.

Mach League Baseball is our league; the name is an abbreviation of Machiavellian League Baseball, reflective of the ruthless tactics we used to use back in our high school and college days, exploiting every loophole and forming ad-hoc coalitions, etc. We've always had fun, but we're more laid back now. Since 2001 I've been the League President, which basically means I'm the one updating stats, playing the games, and most recently, organizing the player draft.

Each roster has 30 players, but in the off-season we can keep only 18 and thus have a 12-round player draft towards the end of Major League spring training. Back in the early years seven of the eight GMs (team General Managers, i.e. the league members) lived in Ann Arbor so we'd all get together and conduct a draft in person. It was great fun but soon we were off to college and scattered about.

Luckily the internet took hold around the same time and we began conducting our draft online using chat rooms. It was a great way to get people together but technical difficulties would bite us every year. This year we tried something new: a free telephone conference service and it worked like a charm!

It was strange to hear everyone's voice; many of my fellow GMs I haven't talked to in years despite keeping in frequent email contact. I was lucky to meet up with a couple of them over the winter holidays. In fact, a few of the GMs in our league I've never met in person before! We're not a public league and everyone who's been part has been a friends or family of someone already in the league; my high school friend Shane was one of the co-founders in 1990.

So there we were, all talking on the phone together and struggling to quickly learn how to recognize everyone's voice! It was a great time and you bet we'll be doing that again next year. Thinking about it, it blows my mind that I've been in this league going on 15 years now! We've seen many Major League careers come and go; I've watched as the rookies who used to be years older than me are now years younger!

We love baseball, we're great fans, but we're not obsessed. You can tell when a GM is having a busy few years of life when their team begins to tank; they just can't keep up with baseball news to make informed decisions. Even though we make sure baseball doesn't get in the way of real life, many of us have been in the league for several years and managed to keep it up. I sincerely hope that our current crop of eight GMs will be able to remain in place for years to come because they are all great folks and even if we can only talk once a year, it's worth it.

I Love Lucy

2007-03-25T19:54:00.001-04:00

We've had a busy weekend and hopefully I'll have time to write about everything tonight. First up is the West Michigan Pet Expo, a two-day event that Amanda and I attended as volunteers. Lots of people explored the dozens of pet-related exhibitors in the convention center and it was pretty crowded.

One of the dogs we were trying to adopt out was Lucy, a one and a half year old black lab mix. She was there both days and during our time there I grew quite fond of Lucy and she took quite a liking to me as well. It all started when I took her out for a walk, during which I ran her about 1/4 mile along the road. After that she would sit in her crate facing me rather than all the people who might want to adopt her!

She's a real sweetie. Occasionally we'd let her out of crate on leash to sit with us and she kept trying to crawl into our lap, and she's a 70 pound dog! Whenever kids would pet her she made sure to lick them solidly on the face. Over the two days I took her out for walks a half dozen times and each time I'd run her a 1/2 mile and she'd come back happy and tired. Problem was, nobody was interested in adopting her...

...until tonight! Someone took notice of her sweetness and Lucy got adopted! Lucky Lucy. :)

Down by the River

2007-03-23T19:59:00.003-04:00

It's nice and warm here - almost 60 - so we took advantage of the weather to hike with the dogs and play a little fetch. I'm just going to write about the hiking part since I had the camera during that portion.

The Flat River is near our house and there's a nice little trail network that runs by it. You wouldn't think you'd have to climb a steep hill to reach a river, but that's what we're doing in order to access a nice flat spot for fetching. You can see how high we are above the floodplain on the far side of the river and we're just halfway up the hill.

Near the top of the hill we're much higher, but the view isn't quite as good since some cedar trees block part of the view. Still, it's this view is well worth the climb up the leaf-covered trail.

We call Haven a "mountain goat" because she has no fears or problems negotiating steep terrain. Beacon, however, prefers to avoid it. He usually watches from a safe position as Haven contemplates whether satisfying her curiosity will be worth the trip back up this steep slope.

It's even tougher to climb when the ground is soft and covered in dry leaves, like today. Amanda did a hill repeats workout earlier today so it's pretty impressive that she tackled this hill just a few hours later. Notice how dogs make hills look so easy to climb!

Haven has a very strong curiosity drive so while Beacon is dutifully retrieving sticks from the river, Haven occasionally takes little sorties through the woods. What she's chasing, who knows, but she's loves to just run around weaving among the trees. On the last photo I attempted to apply some artistic touch with Picasa's soft focus effect and I think it looks pretty cool.

100 Miles on 4 Paws

2007-03-22T21:00:00.002-04:00

After logging Tuesday's run with the dogs I noticed that one of them reached a milestone: Haven has passed 100 miles on the year! She has 102 miles under her pads. Beacon isn't too far behind with 71 miles, but he also can boast 85 minutes of swimming whereas Haven has just 20. They've each done this in about 15 hours of activity.

This is also good motivation for Amanda, who has 84 miles on foot this year. Haven is kicking her butt and Beacon isn't too far behind. Time to move to the head of the pack! :)

Physical Therapy - Final Update

2007-03-22T20:04:00.001-04:00

Woo hoo! I'm done with PT! I had my last appointment today and they declared me well enough recovered that I don't have to go back. Actually it was rather fun to go there but it's also expensive at $25 a visit.

My abs/rib injury has been healing nicely. While not 100%, I'm able to do most anything I want without problems. My shoulder is actually progressing more slowly but still making progress. It's not quite strong enough to do "step-ups" (in a push-up stance, walk my hands up and down a stairstep) - I can do it, but it causes pain in the front of my shoulder. I'll have to keep working on that.

The coolest part of PT today was when the PT handed me a baseball and a mitt and said "Let's go see how well you can throw!" Yes! He grabbed a catchers' mitt and we went out into a wide hallway at the fitness club to play catch. Bringing my elbow back and up caused a slight click in my shoulder, but the actual throw posed no trouble. That's good, because softball practice will start next week!

The Stick, Not the Catfish!

2007-03-20T20:46:00.001-04:00

For about a week before the race I was battling a sore left IT band, then I must've overcompensated and caused some sore calves. I took it easy leading up to the 5K and it really paid off as my legs were able to recover. After the race my calves were a bit sore, but not as bad as the day before so that was cool.

Yesterday was my first run after the 5K, running with the guys from work. We managed a 9:00 pace over 5 miles and it felt pretty good and my legs were hardly sore afterwards. Still, I'm going to continue with a lighter training load this week to make sure my IT band and calves get all healed up before I crank up the intensity again.

That doesn't mean I won't run! All day at work today I felt like running so when I got home I packed the dogs in the car and drove to a nearby trailhead. It's only a half-mile away but it's a paved half-mile; I didn't want the pavement pounding my legs in trail shoes and I didn't want two big dogs dragging me around in their excitement, so I wussed out and took the car.

No worries though - once there, we ran. This way Haven and Beacon could spend the entire outing off leash and boy did they have some energy to burn! They were burning up the grass as I slowly jogged in pursuit. Three miles and 30 minutes later none of us were tired, but I wasn't going to push my legs today so we hiked to the river and I played fetch with the dogs.

Before I threw the first stick Haven was 50 yards down the riverbank, rolling in something in the bushes. I called her and waved the stick, but instead Beacon ran off to join her! Continuing to disobey, I ran after them and found the object of their desire - a stinky, rotten, dead catfish! Gross. Or "bogus" as we'd say in elementary school. Using a stick I pushed the carcass into the river and ran back to our fetching area waving the stick excitedly, leaping over a stream along the way.

Beacon as you may recall is a fiend for fetch. Haven usually just wades but this time she went after a stick in the shallows while waiting for Beacon to swim back. Next time I threw Beacon's stick far out into the river to give Haven more retrieving time, and threw her a stick pretty far out, too. Without hesitating she swam out and brought it back, and even enjoyed it!

Part of what I think has helped Haven is that when she brings a stick back, I get REALLY excited, jumping around and saying things like "wooooooooooo good girl, you got the stick, woo hoo woo hoo shake out that water shake shake shake WOO HOO!" I suppose if anyone saw me they'd think I was Daffy Duck going loony. But it worked! She started to get spooled up and was fetching sticks thrown as far as Beacon's were thrown. Both dogs are sound asleep right now, so I bet they had fun!

World Class Speed

2007-03-18T19:57:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Google I've since learned that the guy who won the race I ran Saturday is a world-class Kenyan runner who now lives in my hometown of Ann Arbor. Here's a good story and interview with Boaz Cheboiywo. Sounds like when he's ready to apply his speed to a marathon, he's going to race in Chicago!

Race Report - Irish Jig 5K

2007-03-17T13:45:00.001-04:00

The Irish Jig 5K is a much larger event than I expected - almost 2500 runners! I'm sure St. Patrick's Day is part of the draw since it provides a good excuse for those who want to drink on a Saturday morning. It was COLD, too! This past week we saw temps in the 50s and 60s but it wouldn't last. While we had clear skies, a bright sun, and light wind to cheer us up, the 20-degree air wasn't exactly ideal. Of course, I wore shorts.

Several of my co-workers were there, most of whom I never was able to find among the huge crowd. I did get to talk to a few both before and after the race, however. A couple of them were my lunch-hour running buddies so we'll have a lot to talk about during Monday's run.

My goal for this race was to get under 22:00, a goal I failed to reach in my last 5K. This wouldn't be easy, as my modern-day (i.e. after high school) PR for a 5K is a dog-assisted 22:42 last October. There was such a throng of runners that it took me 40 seconds to reach the start line! In the first mile I passed literally hundreds of runners, so while I may have started too far back I think the real problem was the slow runners starting from the front. I suppose they didn't know any better, but it was still a pain to weave past these folks.

I wanted to start out fast and see how long I could keep it up - I figured that if I crashed, at least I'd know my limits but no way was I going to start slow and finish with too much in the tank. I was hoping to get close to a 7:00 pace and was shocked when I passed the 1 mile mark in 6:50! Sweet.

Now I just have to maintain that pace... while it was certainly easier said than done, I was still able to hold a good pace. I was still passing people frequently, yet a few others passed me. For a while along this stretch I was following a young girl who must've been three feet tall! She was amazing - she couldn't have been older than 10 - wearing little pink sunglasses and a day-glow jacket that was probably necessary so that other runners wouldn't step on her! The course wound through a residential neighborhood with a fair amount of spectators, so I wonder what they though to see this bright little girl being chased by a guy twice her height wearing black. :)

Finally I passed the 2 mile mark at 13:50, which means I ran a 7:00 second mile. Not bad! Going up a slight hill I passed the little girl but just a minute later I was feeling TIRED. There aren't supposed to be any walls in short races but it felt like I was running through mud. One of the neighborly spectators was sitting in his driveway playing a well-known tune on his bagpipes! Awesome. I wanted to say something but I could barely breathe.

Actually it was all I could do to keep my pace up. If my attention lapsed for a minute I found myself unwittingly slowing down so I had to frequently remind myself to push the pace. I started looking for the 3 mile marker at around 15:00 - WAAAY too early but I was dying for the finish to be near. For inspiration I started thinking of my dogs and how excited they get when running - it kept my mind smiling rather than thinking about how much pain I was in!

I finally reached the 3 mile mark and looked at my watch, but I couldn't do the simple math to calculate my split and for the life of me I can't even remember what the time was. My mind was turning to mush. It was already a slight downhill at this point (thankfully) and I was picking up speed knowing that the finish was near. I rounded the last corner just 50 yards before the finish and kicked in the afterburner. Holy cow, doing that on a downhill can really make me go fast! My legs almost got away from me and my mental reaction time was so slow that I was afraid I'd crash into someone at the finish.

Almost there - just 50 yards from the finish line!

Luckily I squeaked into the chute without incident. Did I mention that my mind was completely gone? Amanda was photographing along that home stretch but I never saw her. At the finish I forgot to stop my watch and I never noticed the giant clock they have there, so I had no clue what my finish time was. Amanda thought she saw me cross at 21:47, which would be sweet if true. Unfortunately I had to wait until they posted the results online to know for sure.

The results are in - I finished in 21:07!!! Wow, that's much faster than I'd hoped. Before the race I would've predicted 21:45 to 22:15. Amazingly a 21:07 is a 6:49 pace, so I must've been pushing hard in that last mile. Needless to say I'm very pleased with my effort today. The results put me at 28/191 for my age group and 237/2488 overall.

That's almost enough for me to feel a bit fast, until I look at these guys below... Amanda got photos of the top four finishers and they all crossed the line under 15:00! Wow. The winner blazed in at 14:23!! Unreal. He finished 30 seconds after I crossed the 2 mile marker! Now those guys are FAST.

The overall winner in a time of 14:23!

These guys finished (left to right) 4th, 3rd and 2nd, all under 15:00!

Light My Way

2007-03-15T20:21:00.003-04:00

(Now I've got that U2 song "Ultraviolet" stuck in my head!)

Once again Haven and I took to the streets of Lowell in the pre-dawn darkness for a 3-mile run. I run in the streets instead of on sidewalks because the latter can be very uneven, booby-trapped with low-hanging tree branches, or might not even exist in front of the older houses. The streets here are safer, day and night, but in darkness I want to be sure I'm visible.

Passive visibility - the type provided by reflective items - is certainly valuable but it requires someone else to shine a light on me. A car might not see me approaching on a perpendicular path, or another unlighted jogger or cyclist (I've seen both) could be a risk as well.

Active visibility - the type that provides its own light source - is what I recommend for running in the dark. Let me tell you about the three lights that Haven and I use when we're out before sunrise. The effect of these lights can be seen in the photos below:

Haven is wearing a blue-and-white Bling Bling Blinker, which I wrote about recently. It's a small but quite bright clip-on light that strobes between a blue and a white LED very rapidly. For good measure Haven also has a generic orange reflective sporting dog collar. Keeping us together is a Just-a-Cinch leash, which was designed with built-in reflective piping and I reviewed it here.

On my head is a Princeton Tec EOS headlamp that I originally purchased for adventure racing. It runs on three AAA batteries for about 1-2 hours on maximum brightness, which will give you good visibility 100 feet ahead of you and will illuminate reflective items (e.g. street signs) about 150 yards away. It has three brightness settings; in the photo you're seeing the dimmest setting so that I don't blow out the camera. It can last for many, many hours on the dim setting, but I always use the brightest and use rechargeable batteries. This headlamp is simple and comfortable and even waterproof! I can attest to that after falling overboard during a 4:00am canoe leg down an obstacle-ridden river... what a way to start a 15-hour race!

The red light you see on the back of my head is a simple Fun Source Safety Light clipped to the headband of my headlamp. This serves as my "tail light" for anyone approaching from behind. I don't think it's waterproof but it survived my dunking that I described above! I've used it for two years and haven't had to change the batteries yet.

Some of these items are cheap. The Bling Bling Blinker and the Fun Source Safety Light were $5 each. The Just-a-Cinch leash retails for $20 but I bought that more for utility than visibility. The Princeton Tec EOS headlamp set me back $40 (plus another $25 for batteries and a charger) but it's well worth it - the headlamp is the most important item to have when running in darkness. Why? Because it'll show me the cracks I'm about to trip over, the ice I'm about to slip on, and the people walking nearby that otherwise look like shadows. Plus it grabs the attention of motorists when you point the beam right into their windshield.

In fact, the first time I ran with Haven in the dark I had nothing special except the headlamp. When cars approached, I would face the beam towards the car, then point it down at Haven so they were aware I had a dog with me. Now that she's illuminated, I don't have to do that but having a powerful, directable beam is quite useful.

Ideally I'd like to have some reflective clothing - most of my running garments are the cheap kind, but the good ones usually have some reflective elements built right in.

Come to think of it, running in the dark can be just as safe as running in the daylight. First of all, there's less traffic in the wee hours. More importantly, an actively illuminated runner is very eye-catching at night - think of how often you notice the guy wearing blinking lights in the dark as you drive to work versus the average daytime runner. So yes, it can be very safe running in the dark if you choose it to be. Best of all, you get to enjoy the stillness and solitude of running without the sun!

Happy Dogs

2007-03-12T19:38:00.001-04:00

At work today I ran the usual 5 miles with the peeps, but for the first time in weeks we were able to use the sidewalks! For some reason they don't bother clearing the snow off sidewalks around here; in fact, snow from the road is actually piled onto the sidewalk! So we've been running laps along the loading docks of a shopping mall, where the pavement is both plowed and salted. Crazy world.

Once I got home from work Amanda and I took the dogs to some nearby trails. Beacon is DRIVEN to retrieve from the water. Haven not so much, but she LOVES to explore and satisfy her curiosity. The four of us were doing things that we do well: Amanda was taking photos, Beacon was fetching, Haven was exploring and I was throwing sticks. Here are some of Amanda's photos...

Beacon the Loch Ness Dog waiting to ambush the stick I'm about to throw

Haven the Recon Dog returning from a mission exploring the woods

Impatient Beacon implores me to throw that stick!

I Forgot How Painful Long Runs Are

2007-03-11T16:00:00.002-04:00

Now that the weather is nice (if you call upper 30's nice, that is) and the roads are clear of snow, I finally got to make use of the great outdoors for my weekend long run. Lately I've been running for an hour on the treadmill with Amanda, but this time I took on one of my usual routes from last year, a 14.4 mile out-and-back on rural country roads.

Boy was it difficult! I never felt comfortable even in the beginning, so it was just one of those days I suppose. The last hour really sucked and it's probably because I haven't run more than 1:15 since running 2:08 on January 7, a 12-miler on trails. Today's time was 2:30, a 10:26 pace, a tad slower than the 9:30-10:00 that I would expect. I just never felt in rhythm and my legs complained the entire time, those wusses. My legs must've forgotten what it takes to endure a long run!

Luckily Amanda brought home some Subway sandwiches after adopting out Amber. That right, Amber found a home! I'm going to miss her and her crooked ears.

Disco Run

2007-03-11T15:42:00.002-04:00

I forgot to mention earlier that on Thursday morning I went running with Haven; yes this was the same day that I also did some speedwork on the treadmill. It was a calm but chilly 10 degrees, with clear skies allowing the moonlight to help add some glow to the darkness.

Because of this darkness I recently bought a little Bling Bling Blinker for Haven to make her easily visible to any traffic. I've already had my own headlamp and taillight, but our dogs deserve a similar measure of safety. We bought the blue one, which blinks an alternating blue and white light.

These lights are bright and flash very rapidly, giving the effect of a strobe light at a disco. If you ever take one of these into a dark closet and turn it on I bet you'd have a seizure! Luckily out on the road there was enough other ambient light (the moon, my headlamp) to soften the effect of the hyper strobe, plus the openness of the outdoors reduces the amount of reflection.

Haven didn't seem to mind at all except when trying to navigate the dark garage with just her seizure light for illumination. Now we're all set - I'm lighted, she's lighted, the Just-a-Cinch leash is reflective. It's hard to get up that early for running, but it sure feels good sitting at work in the morning, recovering from a nice run with my dog.

180 Steps Per Minute

2007-03-08T20:44:00.001-05:00

An article in the latest Runner's World mentioned that all elite runners who compete at distances from 5K to marathon run at a cadence of about 180 steps per minute. Interesting.

Today on the treadmill I tried this out - an easy method is to count just my left foot for six seconds, then multiply by 20; e.g. if my left foot strikes nine times in six seconds, that's 180 spm (steps per minute). Warming up at a 9:00 pace my cadence was 140 spm. I upped it to 180 but that didn't feel right; maybe 9:00 is too slow for my long legs.

I bumped it up to an 8:00 pace and settled into about 160 spm. Then I upped it to 180 spm and sure enough, it felt pretty good - quick, but easy. However, my plan for the day was speedwork so after five minutes of warming up, I throttled up to a 6:00 pace. I maintained it for six minutes - that means I ran a six-minute mile in the middle of a workout! Yep, cool beans.

What I noticed was that to run that fast, I was striding at 180 spm without even thinking about it. In fact, anything 7:30 pace and faster and I was naturally doing 180 spm. After recovering a bit, I then tried a 5:30 pace. I only held that for two minutes but I found myself striding 190-200 spm - perhaps that means that a 5:30 pace is too fast for me to run aerobically? Such a fast turnover probably uses too much of my inefficient fast-twitch muscles.

Slowing back down to an 8:00 pace, without thinking I settled into a 180 spm rhythm so I think my legs like that cadence once they've locked into it. It truly did feel comfortable. I still couldn't maintain that turnover at 9:00 pace, though, but I was doing 150-160 as opposed to the initial 140.

One amazing thing about running that 5:30 pace... after I slowed back down to 9:00 pace, it felt so agonizingly slow that I sped it up to 8:30... then 8:00, then 7:45, then 7:30 and it still felt slow. A 7:30 pace is supposed to be fast for me, but at that moment it actually felt easy. I knew it wouldn't last long, but I was enjoying the feeling so much that I kicked it up to a 6:30 pace and even that felt somewhat comfortable for the three minutes that I held it. So if you want to feel fast for a brief amount of time, run REALLY hard for a couple minutes then run slow for a couple to recover a bit then speed it up and that medium-fast speed will feel relatively easy for a while. I wonder if that's how elite runners feel when they're running 3-hour marathons at a 6:30 pace?

Cool Beans

2007-03-07T19:46:00.001-05:00

Woo hoo! I just logged today's run and noticed that it put me over 300 miles on the year.

In 2004, the year I started running again, I ran a total of 284 for the entire year and I thought I was cool beans.

Just keep running, just keep running, just keep running...

Welcome to Humbletown

2007-03-06T21:23:00.002-05:00

I was feelin' pretty good on the treadmill this afternoon. After warming up for 10 minutes at a 9:00 pace, I did a tempo run by cruising 20 minutes at a 7:30 pace. Not finished, I ran a 9:00 pace a couple minutes then charged into a 7:00 pace for a few minutes, then another 9:00 recovery and finally a 6:00 pace for a couple minutes! I got tired, but not worn out, so I was pretty proud...

Except for the fact that the guy on the treadmill next to me was running pops, doing the fast portions at a 5:00 pace!!! He kept this up for an hour, while I lasted only 45 minutes.

Note to self: Speed is relative. No matter how fast I feel, there are still thousands of people out there who can kick my ass. Some of them don't even train.

I guess the important thing is that I'm faster than Andrew of the past (except for the 1993-1994 Andrew and his 20:08 5K, who I'm trying to beat this year). If I can do that, then I'll be history's fastest me.

Yummy Icicles

2007-03-04T18:36:00.001-05:00

I ran 7 miles on Friday at work and the time just flew by - a co-worker were having a great discussion (i.e. debate) about space exploration and the consumption of resources on the planet. Pretty heavy stuff! We were having so much fun talking that we just kept running - my co-worker Ty hadn't run that far in years.

Today was another "treadmill date" with Amanda. I kept it easy today doing a 9:00 pace, planning to go 7 miles. I felt so good at the end, however, that I kept going until 8.5 miles. I stopped then because Amanda and I had errands to run, but my legs were begging to continue.

When we got home today we played with Haven and Beacon in the backyard. I found some gigantic icicles hanging off the carport and brought them out for the pups, and boy were they excited to see me holding a couple huge "treats" over my head! They sat obediently, hoping to impress me enough to earn a reward:

One icicle was about three feet long and must've weighed ten pounds! The other was only two feet long but almost as heavy. At one point Haven ran off with the big one, clearly happy but protective of her prize:

Beacon had been content with his icicle until he spotted Haven with an even BIGGER one, and naturally he became jealous. He transformed into predator mode, crouching low and staring intently before chasing after Haven and mugging her for the goods:

Satisfied that he now has the biggest and baddest icicle, does Beacon chomp down like a vicious predator? No, he wants to savor his treat just like a kid with his popsicle at the Tastee Freez:

Freezing Thunder

2007-03-01T20:59:00.001-05:00

Wet dogs: Beacon and Haven after running with me in freezing rain.

Driving to work in the dark this morning was exciting - not because the road was covered in ice, but because the sky would frequently glow pink due to lightning! It was raining steadily and the temperature was about 30 degrees. Rain was freezing to my car's body panels as I drove. Sometimes little ice pellets would be mixed in with the raindrops. I cracked my window open so I could hear the rumbles of thunder. Icy roads, snow on the ground, and thunder in the air! Very cool.

When I left work it was still raining, but the temps had climbed to 34. By the time I got home and changed into my running gear, it had dropped back to 32 - right at the freezing point. Anything above 30 is warm enough to wear shorts; my legs were going to be plenty warm anyway running hill repeats. I decided to leash up both dogs and into the weather we ran!

There's a residential street right next to my house with a .25 mile hill that ascends 80 feet in the first .15 miles before cresting and descending slightly, maybe 10 feet, over the last .10 miles. I ran up that thing seven times, running hard until I reached the crest and then walking or slow-jogging the flat. Then I turned around and jogged back down, then up I went again without rest. The first two ascents I felt surprisingly strong compared to last fall when I ran the hill. The last three I felt OK until I reached the top, then I could barely walk I was so out of breath! At least I can see my improvement, though.

Haven and Beacon couldn't figure out why I kept turning around. They're also not that fond of the rain but the heavy stuff let up a bit after the first two ascents. The dogs got to have their fun and now they're enjoying a well-deserved sleep, just as I'm about to.

Running Update

2007-02-26T19:24:00.001-05:00

A quick and dirty running update:

The big picture stuff...

In the past 17 days I've gone running 17 times! I ran twice on 2/15 and took 2/18 off (sorta - I didn't run but I played hockey and cut wood).
On 2/25 I went out for my 50th run of the year and also passed the 250-mile mark. Woo hoo!

Some featured runs...

2/24 I was back on the trails with Haven and Beacon, terrible footing and all. First I took Beacon on a 2-mile loop, then I repeated it with Haven. While on the trails with Beacon a great horned owl flew low over my head! The sound of a stumbling runner must've awakened it.
2/25 was a treadmill tandem with Amanda. She set a new milestone for her by running one hour non-stop! I must've been a bit inspired because I ran 8.6 miles in just under 70 minutes, a pretty fast pace for me over such a distance.
2/26 (holy crap, is that today?) it was 32 degrees outside and snowing, so it was warm enough for me to wear shorts, except for when passing tractor trailers splash road slush all over my bare legs! That wasn't so cool. But I enjoyed things enough to run 6.9 miles in 60 minutes.

Why Dogs?

2007-02-22T21:12:00.002-05:00

One question that sometimes gets asked of people who volunteer for dog welfare organizations is "Why dogs?" What they usually mean is: Why devote so much of your time and energy to saving dogs, when your efforts could be spent saving children or sick people or those in poverty? Aren't people more important than dogs?

Every person has their purpose, and every living thing has its place in this world. Somebody has to take care of the dogs, and I want to be one of those people. Ever since I first visited a humane society in 5th grade, I concluded that dogs not only need our help, they deserve it. In fact, we owe it to them because we made them who they are; we created them to be dependent on us. We can't just ignore them when they become a burden.

Dogs need humans. Wolves don't. What's so special about dogs? Over the past thousands of years humans have domesticated dogs to the point that, I believe, dogs expect humans to be in their lives. Many dogs couldn't survive in the wild; those that could, wouldn't be as happy. I've always believed that, and recently I found a study that puts some science behind my belief.

A researcher discovered that dogs instinctively respond to human gestures and other such physical cues. Wolves don't respond to us like dogs do. In fact, not even chimpanzees - our closest genetic relatives - interpret our gestures the way that dogs do innately. Follow the link below to a video on National Geographic's site to see a demonstration of this study.

National Geographic Video: How Dogs Became Man's Best Friend

Note: I had to use Internet Explorer to view the video - I couldn't make it work with my usual Mozilla Firefox. The study I'm referring to is in the second half of the video, so be patient; although the first half is pretty interesting, too.

The next time your dog responds to your body language, think about how and why it could be that another species of animal instinctively understands you. No wonder we love dogs!

Marathon Dream

2007-02-22T20:46:00.001-05:00

Yes, I dream of being able to run a 3-hour marathon, when I'm conscious at least. When I'm sleeping, apparently I have much more fanciful marathon dreams, like this recent one...

My dream began at the starting line of the Grand Rapids Marathon but I wasn't expecting a fast time - I was just running to have fun. It's a bright, clear, sunny, warm day and I'm just cruisin' along. At the 8-mile mark I check my watch and see that I'm on a 3-hour pace and still feeling strong! But I knew this race wouldn't be fast so I didn't get my hopes up; besides, this marathon was advertised as an adventure race.

Soon I find out why - I'm running through a beer tent during the Oktoberfest in Munich! I distinctly remember the giant, sky-blue and white striped circus-like tent full of very happy patrons all offering me a stein of beer. I kept saying "Nur Wasser, bitte!" ("Only water, please!") but none of them had water. So I pressed on.

Next I was running along the banks of Plum Creek... yes, the same Plum Creek of Laura Ingalls Wilder fame. The course ran us through her family's old dugout home. Immediately after that we were running through the Big Woods, you guessed it, taking a tour of her log cabin. I even had to climb the ladder into the loft, then back down, as part of the course.

The marathon continued to the great plains of Africa, where I ran through a humongous wood-frame tent with translucent canvas walls. It was easily the size of a large farm barn, if not larger, yet the interior looked like the inside of a zeppelin with catwalks everywhere. Again I had to climb a ladder, this one about 40 feet high, and then run along the rafters! Yet I wasn't nervous at all; in fact I was enjoying it and made a point to remember to thank the race director. Sleeping on panels of canvas all over the barn-tent were native tribal African couples. I ran out of the barn-tent and ran a big lap around an open field, then back through the barn-tent. This time through one of the sleeping couples were making love right in front of me! They ignored me and I did my best to ignore them, too.

My race was nearing the end but there was one more building to traverse - an old Spanish monastery somewhere on the California coast. It had stucco walls and mostly ceramic tiles on the roof, except for the tower which had an old, rotting, wooden roof. Once again I scaled a very long ladder to reach the tower roof and became nervous about having to run across the roof - it didn't look very sound. A monk appeared wearing a nun's outfit and coaxed me to come across, insisting it was safe. I took a few steps and my left foot suddenly crashed through! The monk-nun grabbed my hand and helped me the rest of the way across. As I climbed down the ladder on the other side I looked at my watch and saw 5:30 elapsed time, and figured I'd finish within 6 hours. I was quite satisfied with this time and thought to myself "This was quite an adventurous race! I'll sign up again next year."

The end.

Reason to Run...

2007-02-20T21:25:00.001-05:00

...days like today. After weeks of temperatures below 20 degrees, today we hit 40! It felt like spring. My legs are still very sore from playing hockey over the weekend. Actually, just my hip flexor muscles, my right one in particular - I can't raise my right knee halfway to my waist! But I wanted to go running away, so I went for an easy one.

I took both Haven and Beacon and dealt with the extreme pulling as we ran the half-mile to the North Country Trail trailhead, then I was able to let them off leash. They loved it! So did I. The wind was calm, the sun was setting, the air was warm. Warm enough that I was wearing shorts despite running through six inches of wet snow! What a blast!

A perfect run. I have to remember days like this on those other days when I don't feel like running, because being able to run with my dogs on days like today is one of the reasons why I'm a runner.

Lumberjacks and Cows

2007-02-20T20:48:00.001-05:00

After playing hockey on Sunday, we headed over to Megan's family farm to cut wood. Before that, we were treated to a yummy lunch of homemade mac and cheese, homemade dill pickles, and some flavored hot cocoa (among other things). Satisfied, we dressed into our cold-weather gear and hopped on the wagon as Megan's dad Greg towed us with his tractor out to the trees.

We were clearing dead trees from a swamp, a task made much easier since the water was frozen solid so it felt like dry land under all the snow. In fact, you could hardly tell if you were on land or water most of the time. Greg brought two wagons out for us to load up, and among the group we had three chainsaws to put to work. Most of the work, however, was the arduous task of hauling the cut logs from the swamp to the wagon on the other side of a fence.

One of the highlights of the evening was Amanda using a chainsaw for the first time in her life! I made sure to take a few photos and also caught the event on video:

A few hours went by and slowly but surely we loaded up both wagons with wood. The sun was setting and it was time to head back to the farm, where yet another meal awaited us.

Haulin' out. Left to right are:
Eric (head barely peeking above wood, far left)
Megan (pink scarf)
Ryan (dark yellow hat)
Amanda (gray brimmed hat)
Kenny (bright orange hat)
Greg (Megan's dad, driving the tractor)

Heading back to the farm with the first load of wood.

Megan's family farm - the little tractor is towing our first load of wood.

Looking back across the field as we haul our last load back to the farm.

Before sitting down to eat we took a little tour of the farm, visiting some of the resident cows and calves. Those calves can be pretty cute!

Amanda gets a friendly greeting.

One of the cute calves at Megan's farm.

During the farm tour we noticed a neat phenomenon: steam hands! We'd worked up a sweat chopping wood and hauling logs but with the sun below the horizon, the air cooled off quickly. Add in a hot human hand and a well placed light bulb, and see the results:

Ryan proves to Megan that he's one hot dude.

Dinner was yummy, of course, this time with tuna casserole, chicken salad, pickled beets, more flavored cocoa, and finally a "taste test" of the frosting for Ryan and Megan's wedding cake. Naturally we started talking about weddings and us elder folk provided Ryan and Megan (and Eric, since he's getting hitched a month after Ryan) with some cynical wedding advice. Basically we explained how we don't remember any of the details that seemed so important back then. Plus, all the stuff that got screwed up, it didn't really affect anything. My mom had the best tale: "My dad missed my wedding - he spent the day in jail for driving drunk and my mom was too angry to bail him out! But I didn't mind."

Hockey - A Family Affair

2007-02-20T19:36:00.001-05:00

At work last week I got a call from my brother Ryan inviting Amanda and I to the farm of his soon-to-be in-laws to help them chop some wood. It's always fun to be a lumberjack so I agreed to go. Then Ryan added: "You might want to bring your skates - we're gonna play hockey first!"

Last time I saw my ice skates I was vacuuming mouse turds out of them... They've been sitting in the basement forever. I hadn't skated in seven years! I warned Ryan about the potential for rust - both on my blades and in my legs - but he didn't seem to mind. Would I remember how to skate?

Honestly I wasn't worried that I'd forget, but I was afraid I was going to be pretty sloppy. I used to skate a lot in high school and college, although I rarely had a hockey stick in my hands. Mostly I just skated for fun - I loved to zoom around on the ice. While other kids played hockey on the neighborhood pond I instead would shovel a winding race course on the snow-covered ice and then pace myself in time trials, trying to go faster every time around.

Sunday morning there I was trying to squeeze my size 14 feet into the size 13 hockey skates that I got in high school. After puttering one lap around the rink, my other brother Eric handed me one of his sticks along with the advice: "It's easier to balance if you lean on the stick." Gee, thanks!

All six of the hockey players; left to right:

Megan (sky blue coat)
Ryan (green sweatshirt)
Andrew (black jacket)
Kenny (orange hat)
Eric (gray shirt)
Dad (blue jeans butt)

Mom is walking in the background, camera in hand, between Eric and Dad

Eric, Ryan and I never played any organized hockey growing up. However, Eric has been playing in men's rec leagues the past few years and now he actually looks like a real hockey player! He brought his friend Kenny along, and Kenny IS a real hockey player - he played in high school and still plays in men's "A" leagues (I think Eric plays in "D" leagues). Ryan, Megan, Dad and I just do our best to stay upright when chasing the puck. It didn't always work.

Getting up after taking a spill into the "boards" at the edge of the ice.

I had more than my share of tumbles. Once I fell into the snow bank, turning my black fleece jacket into a white one. Another time I was chasing the puck and looked up just in time to see Megan doing the same thing - from the opposite direction! WHAM. Somehow I landed hard on my knees so they're all bruised now. Other than that, my falls were relatively harmless.

Despite being about twice Megan's size, I was the one worse for wear after we ran into each other! My knees hurt, so I figure they must've hit her head when she jumped. ;)

After an hour of horsing around we decided to make a game of it. Eric, Ryan and I banded together as the "Three Brothers" against Kenny, Megan and Dad, who Megan dubbed "The Champions". Needless to say, she's pretty competitive for a hockey player who wears figure skates!

I don't think anyone kept score. At one point I scored three goals in a row (my only goals of the day), which really annoyed Megan because when we were practicing beforehand I was lucky to get the puck within five feet of the net whenever I took a shot. She exclaimed "Since when did you learn to shoot?" I save the good stuff for when it counts!

Eventually we decided to play "next goal wins". The mighty Three Brothers got the puck in front of the net when Megan swatted it to clear it out; however, Ryan intercepted her clearing shot and put it right into the back of the net for the winning goal! The Champions got chumped.

Notice the smile on Ryan's face as he redirects a nice pass from Eric that Megan and Kenny were unable to block. I was backing up Ryan just in case he whiffed. :)

After getting our skates off we headed over to the farm where Megan grew up, but I'll tell that story in another entry...

Are Triathlons Biased?

2007-02-17T14:55:00.001-05:00

Triathlons are probably the most popular multi-sport event out there. I've never tried one, although I have completed a few adventure races. One thing that has intrigued me over the years is that most triathletes I know are cyclists who converted to triathlons, or for whom cycling is their strongest discipline. There are a few runners who dabble in triathlons but I don't know many swimmers gravitating to the sport.

Why? At first I assumed that the meticulousness required of cyclists to maintain their bikes is an attitude well-suited to triathlons - you have to keep lots of gear in order. Maybe this is why most adventure racers seem to hail from backgrounds in either mountain biking or rustic camping.

Seeking a better explanation, I started by comparing the lengths of disciplines involved with triathlons, specifically the iron-distance variety: 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run. Is running a marathon equivalent to swimming less than a tenth of that distance? Let's examine a hypothetical situation...

Three buddies are training regularly for Ironman Hawaii. Each has a background as a single-sport athlete in each discipline. Sam is a Swimmer, Bob is a Biker, and Rick is a Runner. As a result, each is 10% faster than average in their specialty; in the other two disciplines they are average. In theory, they should each finish at the same time, right? Let's look at the results for the 2006 Ironman in Kona.

First up was the swim leg - average time was 1:16, which is when Bob and Rick came out of the water. Sam was 10% faster, so he finished at about 1:08.

Next was the bike leg - average time was 5:47, good for Sam and Rick. Bob's 10% advantage has him finishing in 5:12.

Finally the run leg - average time was 4:10, which is what Sam and Bob ran. Rick was 10% faster and finished in 3:45.

(We'll assume that all three of them were average in transition times at 4:30 per transition, 9 minutes total.)

You can probably see where this is going... Bob was the first of the buddies to finish, crossing the line at 10:47 and putting him 4.6% ahead of the average overall finishing time of 11:18. Rick finished 10 minutes later at 10:57, 3.1% above average overall. Then "straggled" in Sam at 11:14, his swimming prowess placing him just 0.6% above average overall.

No wonder most triathletes are primarily cyclists - they get the most bang for the buck! Swimmers get the shaft. For this reason some have proposed re-scaling the distances so that each discipline takes a similar amount of time, based on single-sport athletes' records for each. This has been called an "equilateral triathlon". For comparison, a traditional iron-distance swim/bike/run is 2.4/112.0/26.2 (in miles) while an "equilateral" iron-distance triathlon would sport distances of 7.5/60.0/26.2, where a world-class single-sport athlete could finish their respective discipline in just over 2 hours. Quite a difference!

However, is that really a fair comparison? What's more difficult: swimming 2 hours, cycling 2 hours, or running 2 hours? Maybe Sam's 10% swimming advantage only saves him 8 minutes of time, but also saves him proportionally more energy so that in theory he could do the next two legs a little above average, while Bob's 35 minute savings on the efficient bicycle doesn't gain him much extra energy over other racers.

Here's how I'd do it: Find out how many calories the average world-class marathoner burns over 26.2 miles. Then determine swimming and cycling distances where athletes of similar caliber would burn the same number of calories. That way competitors would strive for equal skill and efficiency among all disciplines in order to maximize their overall endurance. I believe that such an "energy distance" triathlon would be truly unbiased!

200 Miles

2007-02-17T12:26:00.001-05:00

During my early workout Thursday morning I passed 200 miles on the year! Including today's run, my 43rd of the year, I'm at 217 miles. Not too bad so far.

This morning was another treadmill party with Amanda. Since my legs were still tired from my Thursday double, I took today easy, running a 9:00 pace for 6.75 miles. To make sure I was running at an easy pace I didn't let myself breathe through my mouth - the whole hour running I breathed through my nose only! I'd never done that before.

I'll let Amanda tell her story, but I'll give you a hint: she hit a pretty cool milestone, doing something she's never done before.

Rehab Update

2007-02-16T21:30:00.002-05:00

I haven't written about rehab in a while, but it's been going well. My shoulder is getting much stronger and doesn't click nearly as bad as it used to. I can actually put my hands in my back pockets and then take them out again without a loud popping noise in my right shoulder. My exercises now consist of higher strength stuff - my favorite (and most difficult) is the "step-up" where I get into a push-up position, arms extended, and then walk my hands up one stairstep and back down again, over and over. Walk up, walk down. Very tiring but my shoulder is quite stable while I do it, so that's a good sign.

I'm also rehabbing my rib cage injury. The PT discovered that it's not costocondritis (rib cartilage inflammation) as my primary care doc thought; rather, it's a strained abdominal muscle. I did some stretches for a week and it felt noticeably better very quickly. Now for this week I have to do planks. Those are also tiring, but also quite fun, especially the ones you do on your side, kinda like a sideways push-up.

A cool tidbit - one of the patients that I've seen frequently at rehab is a basketball player for Western Michigan University (I'm not sure if he's current, or recently graduated). He's only about 6'0" (short for basketball) but this guy is RIPPED. Watching him do some exercises, he's as strong as he looks - I would describe his movements as "explosive". He tore his calf muscle a while ago and he's getting it back to full strength. The way he was exercising, I'd say his injured calf is stronger than my healthy one! He's a pretty nice guy, too.

Speeding Bullets

2007-02-16T21:14:00.001-05:00

Lots of running stuff to catch up on, so I'll do it bullet-style...

The day before Valentines Day I ran with my "second loves", my dogs. It was 14 degrees and very windy, but they loved it. Back to back, first Haven for 2.9 miles at an 8:20 pace, then Beacon for 1.4 miles at a 7:12 pace. Dogs were born to run.
Still running outdoors with my co-workers, but some of them are wussing out on account of the weather. Monday the 12th we endured steady snow flurries that made it hard to see (snowflakes on the eyelashes) and "balmy" temps in the mid 20's, the warmest we've had in a couple weeks. Wednesday the 14th we braved 9-degree air temperature with strong north winds. Today it was 19 degrees with a howling WSW wind.
Thursday was a double workout. At 6am I was already running on the treadmill at work doing "pops" - alternating 5 minutes of fast pace (ranging from 5:30 to 7:00 miles) with 5 minutes of slow pace (9:00 miles). Then before leaving work I hit the 'mill again, this time doing hill repeats - 2.5 minutes at incline alternating with 2.5 minutes of flat. My first incline I jacked it all the way up, which was 15% grade - holy crap, I just about fell off the back at a 10:00 pace! I barely survived that one. The rest of my inclines were at 10% grade.

My legs are rather tired now, so tomorrow will be an easy one-hour run on the treadmill with Amanda. I also signed up for my next race, another 5K on March 17.

Not All Legs Are Created Equal

2007-02-11T15:44:00.001-05:00

Last week I used some math to illustrate the difference between Amanda's legs and mine. Today I'll use video!

Here's a clip of Amanda's legs moving at her normal running pace:

And here we have a video of my legs, for comparison:

Which one has to work harder per mile? :)

Race Report - Heart and Sole 5K

2007-02-10T16:36:00.001-05:00

My first race of the season is complete! This morning I ran the Heart and Sole 5K, finishing in 22:44. That time was good for 6/13 in my age group and 33/160 overall. Not bad, but I was hoping to finish under 22 minutes. I never really got into the groove during the race - I just felt slow and unable to speed up. Part of the problem was the trace amount of snow on the road - not enough to risk falling but enough to reduce traction a bit. Oh well - I'm planning to run another race in about a month and hopefully the weather will be warmer! It was 15 degrees for today's race.

The race runs part way around Reeds Lake in East Grand Rapids; you can find a rough map of the race course here (I say "rough" because I don't know exactly where the start/finish line was). The entire route runs along blocked-off residential roads with a few mild hills.

Amanda and I arrived plenty early and I warmed up a bit by running the first part of the course. I saw that Roger Bonga was there... Roger is a local endurance athlete who I met at the Cascade Winery where he works. He's a very nice guy and a very fast runner. I ran part of my warm up jog with him and he told me that he was planning to "run it easy" and finish in about 20 minutes - I wish I could run "easy" at that pace!

Ready set go! Enjoying the first few seconds of the race.

The race organizers were very no-nonsense. We got a "5 minutes to start!" warning, and the next thing we heard was "10 seconds!" No speeches, no instructions, nothing. At the starting line I placed myself among the middle of the pack but once we got going, I quickly passed a few dozen people. However, it took forever to feel settled at the pace I wanted; usually after a couple minutes I'm locked in and cruising, but today my stride didn't smooth out until around seven minutes into the race.

Occasionally running among us were local residents simply out for a morning jog. Aside from the finish line, there were two spectators and three volunteers out on the course. Unfortunately there really aren't any good highlights to this race.

Around 12 minutes along I starting feeling pretty good, but at around 15 minutes I felt totally dead. Luckily that only lasted a minute or so and after that I was just "race tired". I pushed hard for the last mile but it just didn't feel like I could accelerate. You can see how hard I was working in the photo as I approach the finish, and also how worn out I looked immediately afterwards. However, within 15 minutes I was feeling recovered! Apparently I didn't run fast enough...

Almost there! Pushing hard down the final stretch to the finish... and not smiling.

Sadly, when I finished there was nobody nearby that I could chase to the tape - I love sprinting out a contested finish but the nearest competitors were about 25 yards ahead and behind me. Speaking of my competitiveness, only two women finished ahead of me! :)

Recovering just after the finish... whew!

Race headquarters was at the nearby high school and I used the locker room there to change into street clothes since Amanda and I had to head directly to the Grand Rapids Museum for an adoption event, helping out Vicky's Pet Connection. Our foster dog Joyce was there along with two others. I'll leave it to Amanda to tell that story.

Cold War Dream?

2007-02-09T15:54:00.001-05:00

Two nights ago I dreamed that I worked for the Air Force at Cheyenne Mountain. I was on an airliner, traveling on a business trip to the east coast with a Japanese woman, sitting in a window seat. Looking out the window I suddenly saw contrails arcing into the sky from the ground; one of them passed near our airplane and I instantly recognized it as an ICBM since I worked with those at my Air Force job. I watched the first stage of the rocket separate and somehow even noticed the MIRVs being prepared for deployment.

It occurred to me that a massive nuclear conflict had begun, and that we were still four hours from landing - being airborne, there was nothing we could do about the devastation that was about to happen. "The world is going to be a different place when we land" I thought to myself.

Then the airline pilot decided to divert to Kalamazoo. We landed in no time - before the missiles hit, even. I decided that I needed to find an airplane and fly myself to a desolate area outside of any potential radiation zones that would be near populated cities. My Japanese business partner and I ran through the hangars of the Kalamazoo Air Zoo, looking for an aircraft that was airworthy. Finally I found a WWII fighter plane in working order, except that it was missing a propeller!

I desperately searched the other museum aircraft trying to find one with a suitable propeller. Finally I found one (I remember it had a red hub) and tried to remove it discretely - there was a tour guide and her group of tourists wandering about the museum and I didn't want to attract attention. I got the propeller off, but I really struggled trying to install it onto that flightworthy aircraft. I was getting very frustrated...

...and I woke up. What an interesting dream!

Hoth Wampa

2007-02-05T20:43:00.001-05:00

Remember the Hoth Wampa creature from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back? It would've enjoyed the weather for today's run: -1 degree air temp, -20 windchill, roads covered in packed snow... Luckily I didn't encounter the Wampa!

Actually I didn't feel very cold - it helped that the sun was out, which caused the temp to rise all the way to +5 degrees by the end of my run. I dressed quite appropriately: screw shoes, wool running socks, heavyweight tights, long-sleeve fleece, wind jacket, thick gloves, ear warmer around my neck, ear warmer around my ears, hat, sunglasses, and most importantly a fleece scarf around my face. That scarf really saved my nose and lips when running into the wind, but it's tough to suck air through the fabric! Whenever the wind was at my back I pulled the scarf down. Screw shoes are a dream on hard-packed snow! I had very little trouble getting traction.

None of my usual co-workers dared to brave the elements with me and preferred instead to remain at Echo Base. That's OK - the Force was with me and I had a great run, somehow managing a 8:20 pace under the weight of all that gear!

Distance is Relative

2007-02-05T20:03:00.001-05:00

On Sunday while running the treadmill side-by-side with Amanda, I conducted a little experiment. I counted how many steps I took per mile, then I counted how many steps she took. The results?

Andrew:
(~1200 steps/mile) * (7.1 miles) = 8,500 steps

Amanda:
(~3200 steps/mile) * (4.4 miles) = 14,000 steps

I ran 61% farther but she took 65% more steps! How? Well, I bounded 4.4 feet with every step while her stride covered just 1.65 feet. Why? Partly because I was running an 8:30 pace while she ran a 13:00 pace, and partly because my jeans measure a 36" inseam while hers would be 26". (FYI - I'm 6'4" and Amanda is 5'0".)

This doesn't mean that longer strides make you a better runner. In fact, a study of collegiate cross country runners (I wish I remember where I read this) found that as the runners became faster over a given distance, their average stride length became shorter! Apparently turnover is more important than stride length?

Another mantra of running is that smaller people = faster people, since they have to carry less weight and also require reduced torque for their muscles to effect rotation about a joint. (This is also why smaller weightlifters can, pound for pound, lift relatively more weight than bigger folks.)

Anyway, there's no grand conclusion to be had here; just some fun numbers and comparisons. My favorites are these:
With each step of Amanda's, she travels a distance (20") less than what my two feet cover end-to-end (24")!
With each step of mine, I travel a distance (53") slightly less than her entire body covers lying down (60")!

How Embarassing

2007-02-04T15:09:00.001-05:00

After spending much of the day snoozing in a sunbeam, Beacon grew tired of sleeping au natural and decided to try on some PJs. Problem was, he tried on Amanda's! Pink is clearly not Beacon's color...

Life-Changing Books

2007-02-03T10:04:00.001-05:00

"What are five books that changed your life?"

Presented in the order that I read them...

The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss
The very first book I learned to read, and it's still worth reading! I was fascinated by the imagination, the rhyme, the made-up words, and the colors. Very few authors can represent "creativity" the way Dr. Seuss could.

Guide to Field Identification of the Birds of North America by Golden Books
I bought this as a gift for my dad not because he wanted it, but because I wanted it - I was four years old at the time. By kindergarten I had picked a favorite bird on each page and memorized its info (coloring, wingspan, etc.) Birds were the source of my interest in flying. There's now a 2001 edition.

Watership Down by Richard Adams
My dad read this book to me in 3rd or 4th grade, and I've re-read it on my own a few times since. The story is is told from the point of view of some rabbits! The author even created a glossary of rabbit language; our favorite was "hru-du-du" meaning any motor vehicle. This book caused me to wonder if animals have language, feelings, and societies just like we do.

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson
I first read this in 4th or 5th grade and it really struck a chord with me. Maybe I learned that stories can evoke strong emotions? After this book - a Newberry Award Newberry Medal and Newberry Honor books as possible. They are ALL very good and worth reading, even as an adult.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
A book I read in high school (and again in college) that seemed very emblematic at the time. Despite a darkly negative setting, to me the story was about hope. It was also eerily ironic that before reading this book, I had memorized the entire poem The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe because I enjoyed it so much.

If want to know some good books that I'd recommend besides these five, check out my Bibliophil library!

2007 Goals

2007-02-01T20:53:00.001-05:00

A while ago I wrote about my 2006 goals, but I haven't discussed the goals I made for 2007. There are currently 36 goals on my list, although that's a fluid number since I always reserve the right to edit my goals if situations change - in fact, I just added one tonight! I won't list them all, but here are a select few:

Plan a race schedule for the entire year

This has proved almost impossible since many races that I may want to run haven't been listed anywhere yet. However, I do have a huge spreadsheet with all known candidate races which I update whenever I learn of a possible race or commit to doing one. First race of the year will be Feb. 10 - the Heart and Sole 5K.

Run a 5K under 20:08

This is a HUGE challenge - my "modern day" PR is 22:42 at the 2006 Doggie Dash with Haven. 20:08 is my high school PR, back in the days when speed was easy! I'm just hoping to get under 22:00 at my first race this year.

Run a marathon under 4:00

I'm pretty confident I could do this if I train for it, but I'm not sure yet if I'm going to "race" or just "run" a marathon this year. We'll see.

Run at least 250 times

Initially I was going to re-up my "1000 miles" goal but decided to go for frequency over distance. I'm training for speed this year and I didn't want to feel compelled to rack up some slow miles. I ran 27 times in January, so I'm well over pace for this goal. However, I'm sure to replace some runs with bike rides when the weather warms up.

Track Haven's and Beacon's activities (running, swimming, hiking, etc)

Doin' it. I've run 32 miles with Haven and 10 with Beacon, but they also have their own "training" logs. Haven has gone 55 miles this year with either me, Amanda, or both. Beacon has gone 42 miles plus one session of fetch in the river. A tired dog is a happy dog!

At work - get into a lead role or other such role that better suits my abilities

This is going to be tough. I recently interviewed for what would've been a big promotion but was turned down; still, at least they considered me despite having far fewer years of experience than the job officially requires. My company isn't very proactive so I'm going to have to be rather assertive if I want to find a better role.

Write six article-type blog entries

My first one was a review of running socks. Let me know if you have any suggestions for future such articles!

So far, so good, but there are plenty of yet-to-be-undertaken goals on my list. 11 more months to go!

Fireplace Run

2007-01-29T19:23:00.002-05:00

It's 16 degrees Fahrenheit. The ground is covered in snow and ice. I'm out here running in it. So why am I thinking that it feels like I'm sitting in front of a cozy fireplace?

Because I just turned around, converting the icy blast of a headwind into a calm breeze at my back!

Today's lunch route had us running 2.5 miles south (into a 15-20 mph wind!) and then turning around to head back north. The first half was just survival - my co-workers and I didn't talk much. Instead they were using me as a blast deflector, running in my draft. I had thick fleece gloves and my hands still got cold. I wore an ear-warmer (those headband things) around my ears and another one around my neck! No, I didn't try to run in my shorts today. One of my co-workers wears glasses and his sweat formed a frozen icicle about an inch long off the bottom of each lens!

When we turned around it was a whole new day. Suddenly we're toasty warm and chatting up a storm, at least until we hit the treacherous drifted-over section of sidewalk. It's only going to get colder in the coming days, but we'll keep running outdoors every MWF. I'll probably do my speedwork on the treadmill for the near future.

But you know what? Today's run was still a lot of fun. I love running in such a variety of conditions - it teaches the legs and the brain a lot of lessons.

Running Side by Side

2007-01-28T18:02:00.001-05:00

Amanda isn't a big fan of running in cold weather, but she was tired of riding the stationary bike, too. We finally decided to "sneak" her into the fitness center at work - technically they don't want employees to bring family members there since it's a small facility, but who's going to be there early Sunday morning? Nobody, as it turned out - we arrived at 8am to a dark, empty fitness center and hopped on two of the treadmills. Amanda convinced me to bring my iPod, which was a good idea.

It's not often I get to run next to Amanda for any significant length of time, so this was pretty fun for me - we were running for an hour. Her plan was to alternate running and walking every five minutes, but she got bold and ran the entire last 15 minutes! I think she went 4.0 miles in 60 minutes via 25 minutes walking and 35 running, which is an impressive workout for her.

My plan initially was to run easy, about a 9:00 pace. However after 2.0 miles it was feeling too easy so I began incrementing the treadmill speed every mile. At 5.0 miles I was at an 8:30 pace and feeling strong so I got impatient and started ratcheting up the speed more frequently and in larger jumps. Soon I was running 7:30, then 7:00, and finally I ran a 6:00 pace for minutes 56:30 through 59:00, then ran the last minute at an 8:00 pace. I swear, the faster I ran the better I felt - almost as though I were designed to be a sprinter? I crossed the imaginary finish line of 7.1 miles in 60:19, an overall ~8:30 pace which for that distance is fast for me, but I don't feel overly worn out. Cool!

We rewarded ourselves with breakfast at Burger King, then did grocery shopping and finally headed back out to pick up our latest foster dog Joyce! She's been a real sweetie so far.

Parents and Grandparents

2007-01-28T17:54:00.001-05:00

Saturday my parents drove here from Ann Arbor to take Amanda out for her birthday dinner. We did far more than that, however! A little after 9am we meet them at Grandma's pasture to go hiking. Dad brought along Uncle Bob while Amanda and I brought along the dogs. There wasn't any real purpose to the hike - we just started walking and whenever we thought of something interesting to check out, we headed in that direction.

First was passed through Tarzan's Jungle (named by all the grandkids when we were very young), a dark, tree-lined stretch of two-track with a mucky stream beside it. As we exited the "jungle" Beacon spotted three deer about 200 yards away and he took off like a Navy jet catapulted off an aircraft carrier! Haven didn't notice and by the time I got her attention pointed in the right direction, she was 100 yards behind.

Those three deer saw Beacon coming and bounded away easily, but out of sight to the right were five more deer that neither saw Beacon, nor did Beacon see them until he was right upon them! The deer bolted in the direction of their herd-mates and Beacon was right in the middle, getting within five feet of one deer with two more behind Beacon! Alas, poor Beaks, the deer were too fast. Haven got there just in time to make a show of giving chase. After making sure no more deer were hiding nearby, Haven and Beacon returned to us - very tired and very happy.

We hiked past our woodpiles from last week's lumberjacking then maneuvered among the long rows of pine trees, following the many highways paved by deer hooves. There were plenty of turkey tracks to be found as well, and finally we caught up to them after about 90 minutes. Haven and Beacon ran in pursuit as we watched the clumsy birds crash among the tree branches trying to fly away. The dogs were so tired by now that their chase only lasted about a minute!

Lastly we trekked through a marshy area of the property that we usually don't venture into because it's usually rather wet and ill-suited for vehicles. It's a nice setting back there with occasional clearings and stands of thornapple trees - quite different than other parts of the pasture. After chatting briefly with Bob and Therese (and Gabe) we headed over to Grandma's (dad's mom) house to go over some WWII information about Grandpa.

Dad and Mom are compiling some info about Grandpa's military service for a local historical group and they wanted to let Grandma check it over for accuracy, etc. They also wrote up stories for Grandma's four brothers, each of whom served in WWII with a different branch of the military: one each in the Army (Air Corps), the Marines, the Navy, and the Coast Guard. Grandpa himself was in the Navy as a mechanic, and Grandma worked at a factory building ailerons for aircraft. As Grandma put it: "After Pearl Harbor, everybody supported the war effort. You didn't worry much about how it affected your life. We just did what needed to be done."

We continued to discuss life during a war, then and now. Mom asked how 9/11 compared to Pearl Harbor. Grandma explained that they were similar, but noted that "nothing really changed" in our quality of life after 9/11. During WWII there were gas rations; for example if Grandma and her friends wanted to go hang out, they had to find someone with enough extra gas rations and pile into her car. There were collections of surplus metal, war bonds to purchase, and everyone's job converted to supporting the war. Grandma's factory where she worked stopped making springs and started making ailerons. Grandpa joined the Navy.

Speaking of which, Grandma noted that her parents were unable to attend ANY of their five children's weddings! She took the train to San Diego to marry Grandpa while he was stationed out there. Her four brothers also married far from home; the closest was a few hundred miles away and her parents didn't have the gas rations available to attend "so they just couldn't go - that's the way it was" says Grandma.

As we found out later, that's the way it was for my other grandma, Grammy. Spur of the moment we decided to pay a visit to my mom's mom following lunch at a deli in Ada. It didn't take long to start looking through old photos and we soon found a wedding photo of Grammy and Grampy. She also traveled west, to Los Angeles, to marry my grandfather while he was on duty out there. Ironically, both sets of my grandparents got married in California despite living in Michigan all their lives! That was life during WWII. They also directly supported the war - Grampy taught navigation using Link Trainers while Grammy installed hydraulic lines in bomber cockpits. Was anyone not involved with WWII during that era?

Grammy also showed us a photo of her grandparents and other relatives of similar age. I don't remember when it was taken but those people were probably all born between 1850 and 1875! One of them is related to Commodore Matthew Perry, but I forget exactly the relation; I do know that I'm not a direct descendant of him, but he's somewhere in my family tree.

I forgot to mention that on the way to Grammy's house we took a little tour of Grand Rapids, driving by: a house that Amanda and I almost bought; the first house I lived in, also the first house my parents bought together; the first house my dad lived in after college, right on the Grand River; and a few other curiosities.

Finally we made it back home where we played a few rounds of a board game called Compatibility, where each player has a deck of cards with photos on them. A word is read (e.g. "retirement") and then you have to select, in secret, 2-5 photos that you feel best represent that word. You play with a partner, so the object is to pick the same photos as they do. So for "retirement" do you pick the photo of the old man, or the dollar sign, or the sunset, or the card that simply contains the word "happy"? A very fun game. Amanda and I managed to win both rounds by just one space on the game board!

Conserve Your Hearbeats

2007-01-26T23:06:00.001-05:00

One of the interesting facts about land mammals is that their life expectancy is the same - if you measure it in terms of heartbeats. All land mammals will live for about 1 billion heartbeats. A shrew has a heart rate of 600 bpm (beats per minute) and a life expectancy of just three years. An elephant with their 30 bpm heart rate can expect to live over 60 years. The hearts of each animal will beat 1 billion times in their expected lifetime.

Humans, of course, are the exception - we can last for about 3 billion heartbeats. I'm not sure why - maybe medical technology, nutrition, who knows. Marine mammals don't follow the pattern either, but let's stick with ourselves and our 3 billion heartbeats. There are 525,600 minutes in a year, and the average human has a resting heart rate of 72 bpm, so divide that into 3 billion and you get a life expectancy of 79.3 years.

I was talking about this topic with a co-worker when he asked me "So how many days of your life did you burn up by running that ultramarathon?" Holy cow. My heart rate was probably around 150 bpm for the 12-hours it took me to run 50 miles, so in half a day I used up just over a day's worth of heartbeats! More than that, I ran for 180 hours total in 2006 - that's 7.5 days of extra heartbeats spent on running! Is it really worth it?

Before I started running three years ago, my resting heart rate happened to be the average 72 bpm. Let's assume that I lived my first 28 years at that heart rate, which means I used up 1.06 billion of my life's heartbeats in that span. Now let's assume that I keep running (or cycling or otherwise keeping in good shape) for the rest of my life. My current resting heart rate is about 56 bpm, so if I keep that up for my remaining 1.94 billion heart beats, I would live another 69 years... to the age of 94!

By getting into (and staying in) good shape, I increased my life expectancy by 15 years! Each year I spend as a runner costs me one week of heartbeats, but the improved fitness adds 13 weeks to my life expectancy for a net of +12 weeks. Another way to look at it: Every month of regular running adds one week to my life! Diving deeper yet... assuming I run 3.5 times per week, that means that each run adds 12 hours to my life. How's that for a good investment?

Yes, it's worth it. Assuming, of course, that my clock will tick 3 billion times...

Run of the Mill

2007-01-25T20:51:00.003-05:00

Today was another treadmill day. As a general rule I dislike running without going anywhere, but sometimes it can be fun. I did a tempo-ish run today where I started at a 9:00 pace, then a 7:30 pace, then a 7:00 pace, then a 8:00 pace, capped off by sustaining a 6:30 pace during minutes 25 to 32 of a 35 minute run (the last three minutes at 9:00). I have to remind myself, though, that running on a treadmill is about 10% easier than in the real world of the great outdoors.

Speaking of "real world", some of my co-workers apparently aren't in it. Here are some examples of oddity:

One lady came into the fitness center and hopped on the treadmill next to me. She walked for all of THREE minutes before leaving again! Some workout.

A couple years ago I saw a guy run for 15 minutes on the treadmill in his work clothes! Shirt, slacks, loafers and all! If only he was wearing his labcoat, too...

Another guy, when using the treadmill, lets the belt get up to speed before hopping on at a full run! He would run five minutes, then hop off with the belt still whizzing! He would do this over and over. I was surprised he didn't fall on his ass, but I kinda kept hoping he would. :)

The strangest was a guy about my age. One early morning (6am and still dark) I was lifting weights while he rode the reclined exercise bike on level 1 (this particular bike I would ride at level 12 or so; it goes up to 20) for about 15 minutes, hardly breaking a sweat. Suddenly I hear the bike revving up to an insanely high RPM and I look over to see him pedaling as fast as humanly possible - still on level 1 - all while grunting as loudly as those dudes on the World's Strongest Man competition. I thought for sure he was going to spontaneously burst into flames! Then he abruptly stops and heads for the shower. As he walks past me he looks at the falling snow outside and comments: "It's gonna be a frightfully chilly day in the Hundred Acre Wood!" I'm sorry, but when there are two men alone in a fitness center and they speak just once, they should not be referring to Pooh Bear!

Running 101

2007-01-23T22:15:00.001-05:00

101 miles on the year following this morning's run with Haven! We went 3.1 miles in the dark, pops-style. I ran hard to one light pole, then easy to the next one, then hard to the third one, and so on for the whole run. Haven loved the fast part but got impatient with the slow stuff.

101 miles in 20 separate runs, just over 5 miles per run average. Even though it was a goal to run more frequently this year, I'm still happily surprised with how well I've been doing at it. My body is actually getting acclimated to this frequency as my legs can recover from easy runs in less than a day; hard runs still take a day or so.

What's helped me do this is having a plan: Mon, Wed, Fri I join my co-workers for an easy-paced 5 mile run, although I run Friday's as a negative split (easy first half, hard second half). Tue and Thu I do speed work, which can be track laps, pops, hill repeats, tempo runs, or other similar workouts. Saturday is a day off. Sunday is a long run; 8-12 miles so far but that will go up when the weather warms up.

The result is that if I miss a day, my plan is all messed up so even if I don't feel like running on a given day, it's mentally easier to just do it and keep the plan intact instead of having to figure out something.

It's very, very early in the year but I'm on pace for about 300 runs, which is amazing considering that last year was the most I ever ran and I went out just 143 times! Compared to 128 times in 2005 and 101 in 2004. Hopefully I can keep this up, but I'm sure that at some point it won't be as smooth sailing as it has been...

Warm Enough for Shorts

2007-01-21T20:40:00.001-05:00

On Friday it was 25 degrees, windy, snowing steadily and there was 4" of snow on the ground. I felt like having a little fun so I ran wearing shorts! The temperature wasn't all that bad but some parts of the sidewalk had snowdrifts that swallowed my bare leg halfway up to my knee... that was cold! And fun. When I finished the five miles there was un-melted snow all over my ankles and my skin was quite red, but everything still felt fine and functioned OK. Next time, though, I'll wear long pants. :)

Deep snowdrifts weren't the biggest challenge, however. That 4" of snow was composed of 2" of thick, lumpy slush underneath 2" of smooth, contour-hiding fluffy snow. It was like running through mud! I timed a mile at which I felt like I was running a 8:00 pace, but it turned out to be a 9:40 mile! That's how sapping the slush and snow was. I was wearing my screw shoes and they provided me a significant advantage over my non-studded co-workers as my feet didn't slide as much when pushing off.

Today I ran an easy eight miles and felt stronger and stronger as the run progressed. It was cold (about 20 degrees) but the roads were mostly dry so it was a welcome relief from the trail-like conditions on Friday.

Running on Ice (or not)

2007-01-18T21:05:00.003-05:00

Another week of running is quickly going by. Monday we ran through fresh slush which was just like running on sand - not slippery but it saps your energy. Tuesday I ran up a hill over and over until I felt bad - it sucked because I was tired to begin with, it was very cold, my toes were numb, and it was getting dark and it was hard to see when going fast back down the hill. At least Haven came with me and she loved the fast running part! I also got to try my screw shoes, but they don't give much advantage on soft snow. Screw shoes?

Thanks to Matt Carpenter for the idea, I installed some sheet metal screws into one of my old pair of shoes, giving me a "studded" shoe for traction. Matt calls it the screw shoe. (Note: If you haven't heard of Matt Carpenter, go check out his site. Lots of good information and he has an enjoyable writing style. Oh, he's a world-class runner, too!)

Screw shoes do their best on ice, which is what we had here Wednesday. They really work! I ran across smooth swaths of ice and eventually didn't worry about falling on my butt. For me half the benefit is simply the concept of making and wearing screw shoes - it's fun to figure out exactly where to put each screw and see how they work.

Despite screw shoes, I elected not to run outside today because I wanted to do some speed work. It wasn't the ice that dissuaded me so much as the lumpy, frozen slush on the sidewalks - I don't want to worry about rough terrain. Instead I wore my normal shoes on the treadmill and enjoyed the speed. Boy, do I ever love running fast! I just wish I could do it for more than two minutes at a time. There's something almost calming about stretching out my legs for a long, fast stride and suddenly the ground feels so soft and my feet so light. And then my lungs implode, so I slow down and wonder when I can run fast again.

The Ultimate Running Sock Review!

2007-01-17T21:51:00.001-05:00

All you need to go running is a pair of shoes, right? (OK, you'll need shorts and maybe a top to run in public!) Your local running specialty shop has experts who can find you the perfect shoe. But when it comes to putting something between that new shoe and your old foot, the expert don't say much about socks. So I will!

I've tried out ten different running socks from seven different brands, which can get expensive. Virtually all quality running socks cost $12-15 per pair, but I've managed to buy most of mine on sale for $7-10 a pair - not cheap, but worth it if you can find a good pair. Hopefully this review can help you do just that.

First a summary of the socks, listed with an overall "letter grade" in order of rank:
1. Brooks Adrenaline GTS Ped: A
2. Defeet Aireator: A
3. Smartwool Running Light Mini-Crew: A-
4. Smartwool Adrenaline Light Mini-Crew: B+
5. Bridgedale Active: B
6. Unknown Basic Liner: B
7. Smartwool Running Light Micro: B-
8. Wright Double Layer Coolmesh: C+
9. Injinji Tetratsok Mini: C-
10. Smartwool Hiking Medium Mini-Crew: D

A detailed review of each sock follows below...

Brooks - Adrenaline GTS Ped (left side, gray toe w/ blue stripe)
The Adrenalines feel different to the touch - the fabric is somehow stiff, yet soft. Some parts are thicker or more flexible than others. Niftiest of all, one pair consists of a right and a left sock! They're constructed specific to each foot; e.g. your big toe gets more room than your pinky toe. My feet stay cool in warm weather and quite warm in cold weather. The only improvement I could suggest would be a thinner mesh on the top of the foot for the hottest of weather. I have yet to see anyone else make a sock like this. An ideal all-around running sock!

DeFeet - Aireator (upper right, white "Striders" and blue/gray "Infiterra")
By far the coolest sock on the planet, both in terms of keeping your feet cool as well as offering the sweetest graphic designs! Aireaters are a thin sock with a ventilating mesh on the top of the foot. The fabric is smooth and thin, making these useful as either a liner sock or a second layer - perfect for long trail runs. You can also wear them solo. Your feet will feel great in hot weather, but you'll want a second layer in colder temps. The versatility and quality make them great gifts for a running friend, especially since there are so many nifty designs to add some flavor to your feet! The blue pair I won as SWAG at an adventure race - notice how the race organizers, Infiterra Sports, were able to customize the sock with their logo and web address. The white pair promotes Striders, the running store where I bought them.

Smartwool - Running Light Mini-Crew (right side, black/red)
Your feet have never felt anything more luxurious than wearing a brand new pair of Smartwool socks! Unfortunately that feeling only lasts a few weeks before the interior of the sock looses that silky texture and feels like any other sock. Smartwools tend to keep your feet warm, although the Running varieties have mesh uppers to vent some of the heat. Excellent in cooler weather (especially in wet conditions) but not so great in hot temps. Smartwools are rather trendy and almost live up to the hype.

Smartwool - Adrenaline Light Mini-Crew (bottom center, black)
Designed for multi-sport athletes, Adrenalines are good all-around socks. They don't ventilate as well as their Running cousins, making them poor for the summer but great for the winter. Very good when wet, however. Mine had a problem where the back section over the achilles wore out completely after a year; none of my other socks have worn out nearly as much.

Bridgedale - Active (bottom left, light gray)
Intended for all-around use, it's a good but not great sock. The Active is somewhat warm and overall very similar to the Smartwool Adrenaline; however, the fit isn't as snug and the cuff doesn't hold as well. I use it as a base layer under Defeet Aireators for long, cold, snowy trail runs. It would probably work well solo in cooler weather on short runs, too.

Unknown - Basic Liner (top, plain white)
I don't remember the brand, but it's a decent sock and the cheapest of them all - I bought them in a pack of three pairs. It's very thin and on hot days you can wear it solo for shorter runs. However, I like it best as a liner under the Defeet Aireators for longer trail runs. Useful, but not very versatile.

Smartwool - Running Light Micro (bottom left, dark gray)
This is the same as Smartwool's Running Light Mini-Crew, but with a shorter cuff. Unfortunately that cuff is too short and doesn't grip the ankle very well, which allows the sock to move around on your foot or even bunch up near the heel. Plus, trail/road debris can more easily get inside your sock rather than just inside your shoe!

Wright Sock - Double Layer Coolmesh (upper left, navy blue/gray)
My first running sock. It has two layers designed to prevent blisters, but the two layers occasionally bunch up, which can actually cause hot spots! Ouch. The fabric doesn't wick or dry as well as others, making them a poor choice for wet conditions. Oddly enough they don't insulate well either, so they only work best in mild, dry weather.

Injinji - Tetratsok Mini (top, black w/ red tab)
Some people swear by these unique socks, which are constructed with individual toes! Many of my blisters (on the rare occasions I get them) are between my toes, so I thought the Tetratsoks would help. However, they're designed only for feet where your big toe is your longest toe (my longest toe is my second one). Their pinky toe is also too big for my little guy. On top of that there are rather large seams inside the toes; as a result these socks cause more blisters for me! Adding insult to injury, the fabric doesn't wick or ventilate very well. If your feet are shaped exactly like the sock, you may want to consider them, otherwise don't bother.

Smartwool - Hiking Medium Mini-Crew (bottom right, gray/blue)
I won this sock as SWAG from an adventure race; I wouldn't have bought it otherwise and for good reason. It doesn't wick well and doesn't ventilate at all - I'm not even sure I'd like it for hiking, let alone running. At least it's better than running in cotton socks!

50 Miles Already

2007-01-11T21:27:00.001-05:00

Just 11 days into January and I've already passed the 50-mile mark by running 10 times in those 11 days. I doubled-up one day and took two days off. I was at 39 miles this time last year, so not a big difference really.

Tuesday I jogged a mile to the local fairgrounds where they have a dirt track. It was 23 degrees and snowing a bit but I still wore shorts - my legs feel better with the freedom of movement. One of my favorite things about the spring is that I can wear shorts again! At the track I ran 12 laps, alternating fast 90-second laps with slow three-minute laps. It felt really good - running fast is such a thrill. For some reason I love going around the curve in a track while running hard, perhaps because I can feel the sideways g-forces and I guess it just makes me feel fast. By the time I got home I was warm except for my hands, which got numb despite wearing gloves! When they started to thaw out they HURT like crazy! Holy cow, was that painful, as if each finger was entirely a big bruise that was being smacked over and over. Ow ow ow ow.

Today I tried to do a tempo run with Beacon. I say "tried" because I didn't do the tempo part much faster than the slow part - the slow was too fast and the fast was too slow. But hey, Beacon had fun and behaved pretty well, so it was all worth it.

Tomorrow I'm running an easy 5 miles at work, just like I did Monday and Wednesday. I'm planning to keep that up for a while and use those as my easy days, since two of the four guys who run with me don't go any faster than 10 minutes miles. One guy can do 9:00 and another can do 8:00 over that distance, so I used to run with them if they ever pulled ahead, but now we're all doing an easy pace.

I forgot to mention one cool thing that happened during a recent PT session. On Tuesday my trainer asked what I did over the weekend. I mentioned that I went for a trail run with my dog. "How far?" he asks; "12 miles" I reply. "Wow, so, uh, you can just go out and run 12 miles whenever you feel like it?" was his response. I guess I never thought of it that way, but it's pretty cool that yes, I can just go and run 12 miles whenever I want. Three years ago I remember thinking how someday I'd go on an epic six-mile run! Amazing how my perspective has changed.

Progress on the Shoulder

2007-01-11T20:49:00.001-05:00

Another PT session today and it went pretty well as my shoulder rarely clicked during the stretching exercises. Nothing really feels different, but apparently progress is happening. Today I was the only person there most of the time so the trainer and I were talking a bit.

He told me about how he gets lots of wannabe bodybuilders who have lots of back and neck pain because they only work the "mirror muscles", i.e. only the muscles they can see in the mirror! As a result they don't work their back and everything gets out of whack.

I commented about all of the PT "toys" laying around and he said that his kids love to visit him at work and play with the equipment: giant rubber bands, medicine balls, balance balls, blocks of foam in various shapes. A friend going through some PT of her own recommended that I ask about the "ballistic squat machine". Unfortunately my trainer didn't recognize the term, and asked how she described it. Since I didn't actually talk to her about it, I replied "that's all her email said" to which he replied "Tell her to send a picture!"

My curious trainer isn't done; he asks why my friend is in PT. I tell him they think it's compartment syndrome in her leg and he responds "Oh, that's why she's doing that squat whatever thingy, to make it worse so they can confirm it." He's pretty sharp! He then describes the painful aspect of needles and possibly cutting the fascia, and adds that most people don't like to watch that stuff. I explain how I actually prefer to watch procedures being done to me so I know what's going on (e.g. when drawing blood). He agrees, but then casually states out of the blue:

"Except when I had my vasectomy! I couldn't bear to watch that, you know." I didn't quite know what to say; I was trying figure out how the conversation went from compartment syndrome to vasectomy so quickly!

Maybe I shouldn't be so surprised - apparently there's no place for modesty during therapy. One time I asked a female PT where a certain tendon was on the front of my shoulder. She replies "Here, feel where mine is" and she guides my hand to the spot, but first has to move her bra strap out of the way. Ack! It's really no big deal but I wasn't quite prepared for such an open environment. After all, this isn't the kind of stuff you'd do at the office!

Awkwardness aside, my PT is impressed with the progress on my shoulder so whatever they do, it really woks.

An iPod for Dogs?

2007-01-07T19:31:00.002-05:00

After enjoying our new iPod Shuffles for the past week, Amanda and I wondered if our dogs were missing out on the fun of rockin' while runnin'. Do dogs enjoy music? I'm not sure, but if they do, Haven has the perfect gift idea!

Does your dog get bored on long walks? Do the slightest sounds distract your dog? Or perhaps you want to boast that your dog is more spoiled than the neighbor kid! If you love your dog and you love your iPod, then you'll really love...

...the dPod!

Poodles and Turkeys and Bears, Oh My!

2007-01-06T08:00:00.001-05:00

On today's trail run Haven and I encountered lots of various creatures in the woods. First we spotted some turkeys in a roadside lawn - luckily Haven didn't pull hard but she whined a bit. Then we met a lady on a dirt road walking her two poodles; I allowed Haven to go say hi but after a few sniffs she clearly felt there were better things to do than hang out with a pair of little yappers! We saw a cat crossing the road ahead of us and Haven forced me into a sprint. (If the cat is half black and half white, does that mean I get some bad luck and some good luck?) Later on Haven chased a half dozen deer through the woods.

The biggest scare happened as I descended a technical hill that was rocky enough that I had to watch my step. Finally at the bottom, I looked up to see a black bear standing just 30 feet in front of me with Haven (off leash) standing halfway between us! My mind flashed the following thoughts in sequence (amazing how one can remember this stuff in this adrenaline-inducing situations) over the next, oh, 0.5 seconds:

"Holy cow, a BEAR!!!!"
"How am I gonna get out of this situation?"
"How will I keep Haven safe?"
"Do I call Haven and turn around and risk it chasing us?"
"If I try to scare it off, will Haven try to chase it?"
"If I have to fight it, I could do that, and a big stick would help"
"Oh... It's a DOG!!!"

No kidding! It was some shepherd mix with wooly black hair plus a splash of white on its chest and some tan on its muzzle - the exact coloring of a black bear! In case you are like me and can't tell the difference very easily, the first reference photo is a black bear and the second is a bear-ish dog.

Haven and the bear-dog cautiously sniffed each other before Haven went on to jump all over his owners, a couple who were 100 feet or so behind their dog. Everyone politely said hi and we went on our way.

Haven started lagging behind a bit over the last 20 minutes, so at least I wasn't the only one to get tired! We finished our 12 rugged miles in a little over 2 hours, a nice weekend long run. Right as we finished we saw Amanda and Beacon jogging from the opposite direction, finishing their 1-hour workout. Once inside, Haven found the nearest sunbeam and lay down for a nap, rolling onto her back to ensure she gets an even tan. :)

Three Dogs, Two Runs, One Day

2007-01-04T20:54:00.001-05:00

I ran twice today! Both were rather short, but remember I'm trying to improve speed this year. I noticed in my running logs for 2004, 2005 and 2006 that my average pace was right around 10:00 miles for all three years! While I've been going farther and farther, I haven't become much faster.

Well today was a decent start. O' dark thirty this morning I leashed up Haven to my brand new Just-a-Cinch leash that Amanda got me for Christmas and struck out under a bright, full moon. I started out fast and kept it up for 12 minutes before slowing for a couple, then I pretty much alternated fast and slow every two minutes until I got back home 2.9 miles later. We did it in 23 minutes, good for an 8:00 pace, so my first 12 minutes were probably 7:30 or so.

Funny story of the run was that Haven got freaked out by a Christmas tree! Someone had put their old live tree on the curb for pickup and in the moonlit darkness Havy must've thought it was a monster and wouldn't go anywhere near it!

By the way, that Just-a-Cinch leash is awesome! It has reflective fibers woven in for visibility, it has a round (instead of flat) cross-section, and best of all there's a slight amount of stretch to it so there's less jarring whenever Haven spots a squirrel and tries to take my arm off.

When I got home from work I felt like running some more, so I did. Wary of over-doing the mileage, I decided to do a short run and make up for the decrease in miles with an increase in speed. I even took both dogs with me! It started raining as soon as I walked down the driveway and it was a balmy 47 degrees out! Great running weather. The first minute felt good but at my fast pace I felt pretty wasted for the rest of the run. Luckily it only lasted 1.4 miles and it felt like 10-11 minutes. To my amazement when I finished my watch read 8:41 - that's a 6:12 pace!! Wicked. Earlier this summer I was happy to run a 1/4 mile lap on a track in 90 seconds (a 6:00 pace). Maybe the dogs were pulling me along a bit, but I also had to stop once to untangle their leashes.

Must remember to take it easy running tomorrow at work...

Physical Therapy - Session 4

2007-01-04T20:23:00.001-05:00

Another session of PT today and it went pretty well, probably in part because I was one of just two patients being seen by the two PTs, so my work was one-on-one today. My PT was a lot more talkative, although as a result I learned that he just started here in November and used to be a back and neck specialist rather than a sports specialist. Still, he's done a good job so far.

Lots of exercises today, including one where he said "do this to exhaustion". I clarified "you mean until I can't lift the weight anymore?" and he replied yes. After about 50 reps my hand started shaking but I was still getting the weight up and down, so he finally took it away from me, saying "uhh, I think you're done now!" I'll be sore tomorrow.

There was also an exercise where an elastic strap attached to the wall was placed around my shoulder; I then walked forward to put backwards tension on the shoulder joint and then proceeded to raise and lower my arm about 40 times. It was supposed to hold my joint further back in the socket to prevent the clicking whenever I raise and lower the arm, but it didn't work today. Perhaps I need more tension, or maybe I just need stronger muscles that will improve over time.

The PT also worked out yet another knot in my infraspinatus muscle (it attaches to the shoulder blade ridge and runs to the shoulder, under the trapezius). However, the pain in the front of my shoulder he thought was my biceps tendon. I'm not so sure about that since working my biceps has never caused pain, but doing pushups or pullups does cause the front side of my shoulder some pain. The frustrating thing about all of this is that it's gonna take time to see some change since I have to wait for those muscles to develop!

Beautiful Day for a Run

2007-01-03T20:31:00.001-05:00

I went running with a couple guys during lunch hour and we really loved the "winter" weather! Nice and sunny, 42 degrees with a stiff breeze. I wore shorts and felt very warm by the end of the run. We talked a lot about Gerald Ford (he was buried here in Grand Rapids today; his motorcade drove past my office yesterday), Howard Hughes, and military strategy. By the end of the run I was the only one talking - it was a very easy pace for me but not as much for the other guys. I sprinted the last 1/4 mile to burn up some energy.

The highlight of the run was being spotted by my cousin, Ana! She goes to college here in town and recently started a part-time job at a storage facility that we run past. I'd completely forgotten about that when suddenly I hear someone yelling "Andrew!" way behind me, and I turn to see her waving in the distance. We had a brief shouting conversation before I turned to catch up with the guys.

Physical Therapy - Parts 2 and 3

2007-01-03T20:13:00.002-05:00

Last week I forgot to write about my second PT session, which didn't go so well. Session 1 was run by a PT assistant (not a full PT) and one who was just a contractor substituting for the regular guy, Doug. For session 2, Doug was still on vacation so I saw another PTA substitute and she was rather clueless. She hadn't read my file by the time I showed up and didn't know what was wrong with my shoulder. She was about to ultrasound the outside of my shoulder (the deltoid?) when I informed her that it was a different muscle, one on the shoulder blade. So we did the ultrasound and then she worked the front of my shoulder, which was rather painful. Actually, it hurt for three days afterward! I don't know if it's supposed to do that but it feels OK now. At least she was friendly and willing to explain all that she could.

Yesterday, session 3, went much better since Doug was finally there. He's very knowledgeable but rather distractable, too. It didn't help that there were only two PTs on staff there and I was one of five patients in the room! Nevertheless, Doug did some good detective work trying to figure out my shoulder. I raised my arm, and it clicked going up and down as usual. Then he would hold my shoulder in different positions within the socket while I moved my arms again, trying to see if there was a place where the clicking would stop.

He found it, too - it turns out my shoulder has kind of drooped forward against the front of the socket. The injured muscle(s) on my shoulder blade are so weak now that they don't hold the shoulder tight. After loosening up the muscles a bit, he had me do some exercises that were different than what I'd done before. Boy can I really feel it today! My shoulder blade muscles feel sore, the good kind of sore. My next session is tomorrow.

Next time I have PT, I'm going to ensure that the regular PT is the one to see me for my first appointment because after yesterday, I feel like the first two sessions were pointless and a waste of $25 copays. Speaking of which... I elected the best health insurance offered by my employer just for reasons like this and I figured that $25 (for a maximum 30 sessions per year) must be good. While I'm in line waiting to pay, two college students in front of me discuss their coverage, which is $15 copays and 60 visits per year! What?! Why doesn't my company offer that?

New Year, New Shoes, New iPod

2007-01-01T16:13:00.001-05:00

Naturally I went running today - gotta get an early start on those 2007 miles! ;) I brought Haven along while Amanda walked Beacon at a nearby park where I would eventually end up. Haven and I tallied 6.2 miles in under an hour through the chilly drizzle, although I got warm enough to take off my jacket after four miles.

I treated myself to wearing my brand new shoes for the first time, shoes that I had bought a couple months ago when Striders had a sale. I now have three pairs of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 6 shoes: one with 400 miles that I only use for casual purposes now, one with 300 miles that I'll now use for sloppy conditions, and my new pair with 6 miles. If it ever snows here again, I'd like to experiment on some icy trails by converting my 400 mile shoes into screw shoes.

And for the first time ever, I ran while listening to music! I'd never tried the walkman thing before Amanda wisely convinced my family to give me an iPod Shuffle for Christmas. I must admit that it was a lot of fun to get lost in my own world of tunes, although I was still able to hear vehicles approaching from behind. The first song to accompany the rhythm of my footsteps: Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line".

Ultrasonic Infraspinatus

2006-12-21T20:08:00.001-05:00

I went to my PT appointment this morning and if it weren't for the fact that I'm there due to an injury, I'd love to go more often! Seriously, it felt like I went to a museum or something - it was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. They even had all kinds of sports items - posters, pennants, even mock lockers for Steve Yzerman, Derek Jeter and Mia Hamm! My exam room had an autographed Jeter photo, photos of Tony Clark and Alan Trammell in action, and a "timeline of baseball history" poster. Awesome!

FYI, I have two injuries - a bad right shoulder that's been bothering me for a few years, and also a strained rib cage that I hurt six weeks ago. This PT appointment addressed the shoulder; there's not much that can be done for the rib cage aside from rest.

The therapist started by asking a ton of questions, then started prodding me all over on my back. She did mention that my back appears to be unaffected from my rib cage strain, so that's good. Then she hits my right shoulder and says "Whoa, there's quite a knot back there!" That was news to me; I'd never noticed anything like that. Next I had to move my arms around in various directions with the palm of my hand facing one way, then another, etc. Some of those motions caused a clicking sound in my shoulder, which I expected - it happens quite frequently. The last step in her diagnosis was for me to push against her hand with my arms in various orientations, e.g. push outwards one way, push down another way, push up yet another way, etc. One such configuration resulting in my arm shaking as I pushed up with very little force, although I didn't feel any pain.

At last, a diagnosis. We walked over to a wall chart depicting all of the muscle groups and she pointed out one in particular - the infraspinatus. That's the one that was all knotted up. She concluded that I don't have any tearing or significant damage to the muscle - sweet! The problem is that the muscle is quite inflamed, especially around that knot and especially where it connects to my upper arm bone (the humerus), which is where I can actually feel some pain if I push on that area.

The problem is that the inflamed muscle doesn't behave properly - when flexing the inflammation apparently weakens it and disrupts some of the nerves trying to control it. See how many muscles connect to the shoulder? It's a complex joint, so when one is out of whack and the shoulder moves, certain motions can be rather uncoordinated and cause the clicks that I sometimes feel.

The solution? Ultrasound! Seriously, the therapist wheeled an ultrasound machine into the room, set the timer to eight minutes, and proceed to rub the wand around on the back of my shoulder. She explained that the ultrasound warms up and relaxes the tissue. It worked! After the eight minutes she confirmed that the knot in my shoulder was gone. Wow.

Next I had to sit in a chair parallel to a table and rest my right elbow on the table next to me with my hand raised as if I were doing a casual wave. She then pressed her fingertips into that infraspinatus muscle and leaned into it so hard that she nearly pushed me out of my chair! While she's doing that, she asks me to raise and lower my hand a dozen times... dang did that hurt! Not sharp pain, but rather it felt like my shoulder was full of lactic acid. After I'd completed the dozen reps my hand was all tingly and pale white - it felt really weird. And I was done!

I'm scheduled to go back next week, and then 2-3 times per week after that for 3-4 weeks. I don't know exactly what they're going to do, but I assuming something similar to today. I was also given a few simple exercises to do daily. Amazingly, the entire day my shoulder has felt all limber! I guess I never realized such tightness had formed but boy that ultrasound must've done something. I still get the clicking, so I need to build that muscle back up to strength before that will go away.

How did this injury happen, anyway? Well, I used to be a fairly serious tennis player back in high school - the strongest aspects to my game were my uncanny quickness (rarely is the tallest guy on the team also the quickest, but somehow I did it) and my booming serve. I loved serving and practiced it often, even throughout college as a way to burn some energy. I also played rec softball in college. Needless to say, my right shoulder must've been pretty well developed.

Then I stopped. For several years I played neither tennis nor softball, then a couple years ago I started playing softball again. My mind remembered how to throw a ball hard, but my muscles didn't and over time my now under-developed shoulder muscles couldn't keep up with the expectations I was putting on them, and one became inflamed. Hopefully after all of this PT has run its course my arm will be strong enough again to hurl a softball a couple hundred feet again, without injury!

A Zoo with Flying Tigers?

2006-11-30T15:38:00.003-05:00

Yep, you can find flying tigers (on pink WWII fighters, no less!) at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo! Amanda and I visited this aviation museum yesterday and we thoroughly enjoyed it. They have several real aircraft plus many more replicas and mock-ups. While the entire history of flight is covered, the emphasis is on World War II aviation. Some highlights...

Missions Theater - an old half-cylinder hanger was converted into a theater that shows 3D movies - not IMAX but the kind where you wear 3D glasses. It featured the story of a WWII B-17 crew on a bombing mission and the film was great.

Flight Simulator - a popular attraction is their full-motion three-axis simulator; you won't find this at Putt-Putt! You're strapped in as tightly as you would be on an inverted roller coaster, although at 6'4" I barely fit. "Full-motion three-axis" means that you can fly complete 360-degree rolls and full loops where you physically go all the way around! What a blast. However, there's a delay with the control input - when I push the stick left, there's a half-second where nothing happens, causing me to push the stick further left and suddenly were doing a full-rate barrel roll. Classic control delay causing pilot-induced oscillations. I got more used to it but it was still a very difficult simulator to control.

Simulation Station - a collection of real cockpits that guests are allowed to sit in. This was quite fun because you're able to get a hands-on experience with the controls, instruments, and what it feels like to try to fly one of these things.

I'm going to let Amanda further describe those and other highlights of our trip because I want to focus on one of them: the Link trainer.

I won't try to explain the history of the Link trainer when the Air Zoo already did it so well (see photo above). Basically it's a small cockpit mock-up with real flight instruments and some pitch-roll-yaw motion to train pilots how to fly without visual reference; i.e. flying just from the instruments. In the photo below you can see me sitting in one at the Air Zoo.

The reason I find these things so cool is because my maternal grandfather (we called him Grampy) used to teach pilots on these simulators! Grampy was in the US Army Air Force during WWII and was assigned to train future pilots. I don't know how he got selected for that - he's wasn't a pilot himself and never had an aviation interest that I'm aware of. My maternal grandmother (aka Grammy) recently dug up his duty records, which showed that he was sent to Indiana or Illinois (I forget which) to be trained in flight instrumentation and celestial navigation. After that he spent time training future pilots.

Interestingly, Grammy was also involved in the war effort as a "Rosie Riveter" - she didn't actually do rivets, but rather she installed hydraulic lines in the nose section of a bomber aircraft, but I don't know which model. Grammy has registered Grampy at the National World War II Memorial (a great site to check out sometime).

FYI, my paternal grandparents - we simply called them Grandpa and Grandma - were also involved in WWII. Grandpa was in the US Navy a diesel engine mechanic on board a landing ship, an LST I believe. Grandma worked at a factory assembling ailerons or artillery shells.

In these next two photos (above and below) you can see a more complete Link trainer than the one I sat in. The complete one has a hood on top to complete enclose the cockpit, giving the pilot zero reference to the outside world which simulates flying in the clouds or total darkness (real Link trainers didn't have a window like this museum piece has). There's also a gimbal mechanism as the base, which can move the cockpit to simulate the motions caused by various control inputs and simulation conditions (e.g. engine out or turbulence).

Particularly interesting to me, the Air Zoo had an instructor's station for the Link simulator. This is where I assume Grampy would've sat when teaching the student pilots! Unfortunately we didn't get a better photo of the desk. On the right side of the desk is a data recorder which kept track of the student's actions during the simulated flight. On the left side are some flight instruments that show the same values as what the student is seeing on the same instruments in the cockpit. On top of the desk (you can't really see it in the photo) is an aeronautical chart where the instructor could plan simulated missions and track the student's progress.

It's always so fun and enlightening to take a walk through history, especially when there's a personal connection.

How to Dogsled in the Summer

2006-09-03T16:51:00.001-04:00

This morning I woke up around 6:30am and one of my first thoughts was "Hmm, I feel like going for a run." Despite calling myself a runner I don't usually think such a thought in the morning, probably because I rarely run in the morning.

As I got dressed into my running attire, Haven began watching me intently and then started whining when she realized that I was going running. She convinced me to take her along, and I decided to add foster dog Ella to the mix as well.

Instead of two leashes I used just one, which I clipped to both of their lead-collars - this allowed me a free hand with which to carry water. It was early on a Sunday and for the first 40 minutes of our trip we only saw three cars! We had the road to ourselves and were also treated with a low 50's temperature, clear sky, and some thick fog near the river.

The excited girls tried to push the pace for the first four miles before finally showing some fatigue, but I think they helped pull me along. By the time we got home we had run 6.75 miles in just under an hour, a pretty good pace for me despite an easy effort.

Since Beacon had missed out on the fun, I rewarded him with a 15-minute session of frisbee fetch - long enough for his tongue to drag just as low as the tongues of exhausted Haven and Ella!

Last Long Run Before the Big One?

2006-09-01T20:37:00.001-04:00

I took the day off from work to give myself a longer holiday weekend, and decided to do my weekly long run today instead of the usual Saturday or Sunday. I planned for about 12 miles but ran out of time before Amanda and I had to pick up a couple dogs from the vet for Vicky's Pet Connection, so my run only lasted 9 miles.

Both Haven and Beacon joined me for the run and they got pretty tired, but they tired me out, too - it's hard to manage two dogs using two leashes while running! At least on the trails they were able to run off-leash. In order to give them access to water, I detoured down an old two-track that's strewn with giant downed trees that I had to climb over rather than "steeple-chase" over. This is important because once the dogs and I left the river, I got stung by a hornet on the elbow! OWWW!! They kept chasing me so I flat out sprinted back up the two-track, somehow jumping and clambering over the massive tree obstacles.

My run ended when I met up with Amanda, who was walking our foster dog Ella. Amanda left just five minutes after I did and had trekked 5 miles already, and then we walked the last 2 miles home together. While walking home, wouldn't you know that Haven got stung by a yellow jacket! Right on her front leg - I had to use my foot to knock it off her. She was clearly in pain when it stung her, but the little trooper didn't complain once we resumed walking.

A 9-mile run isn't terribly long, but it helped that I had the 2-mile walk at the end of it. My big 50-mile race is just two weeks away, so next week's long run might be just a long hike to ensure that my legs are rested up for the long day of running. Just a few more miles of training until I (hopefully!) add a cool 50 to my training log!

Short Long Run and Softball

2006-08-26T20:35:00.001-04:00

Today's long run was shorter than usual because Amanda and I wanted to take some batting practice before heading over to the local animal shelter to pick up our new foster dog, Ella. I was planning to run 12 miles but wound up doing just 9.25 to make sure we had enough time for softball.

The cool thing about this run was that I ran a 10:30 pace for the first four miles, but then started feeling good and ran the last 5+ miles at a 9:20 pace! Negative split! Amanda arrived at the local park just five minutes after I did, so I changed into my softball cleats and stepped onto the field.

I must've been a bit tired, or maybe just out of practice, but my swing was UGLY. I can't remember any ball that I hit really well, at least right handed. My second series of swings I took lefty and made some pretty good contact. When I play softball I bat and throw right-handed, but I'm fairly capable left-handed and I have a smoother swing from the left side. Often times I'll bat lefty just to remind my right side how to swing a bat!

Kayaking Lake Malone

2006-08-22T22:52:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite adventures during our vacation last week was an excursion I took in the kayak I borrowed from the cabin's owner. It's just a short, 9.5-foot recreational boat but I decided to take it on a long trip and see if I could reach the public beach that was barely visible in the distance.

Lake Malone was once a network of rivers and tributaries that were dammed up several decades ago. The surrounding topography is rugged enough such that the lake never filled out like some dammed rivers, but instead sports several "fingers". The shoreline is mostly vertical sandstone bluffs anywhere from 10 to 200 feet high! It's amazingly scenic - Amanda's photos from the pontoon boat tour exhibit the scenery quite well.

You can see in this map the approximate route I took while out on the water. Initially my plan was to simply head north from the cabin to the beach near the dam; I figured it might take me half an hour or so. It wound up taking just 15 minutes! Kayaks are amazingly fast, even the stubby one that I was paddling.

I proceeded southwest along the coast, pausing for a few minutes to watch a pair of pied-billed grebes fishing for some breakfast, sometimes as close as 20 feet away! Then I continued until I reached one of Lake Malone's "fingers", an inlet that's part of the state park and doesn't have any cottages on its shoreline. I paddled upstream through the mist - in fact, throughout my entire voyage there was steam fog rising from the calm surface of the water. This inlet was shrouded from direct sunlight and the surroundings had an eerie "Jurassic Park"-like feel about it. Part of me kept waiting for a dinosaur to burst from the trees on the cliffs above!

Despite my imaginary fears I bravely paddled deeper into the mist until the water became so shallow that my paddle hit bottom. I'd now been on the water about 30 minutes - that's all! It felt like a day-long adventure already except that I wasn't tired. In fact, I was feeling very much alive despite the prehistoric ambiance. Several times I drifted close enough to great blue herons that I spooked them into flying away, sometimes remaining perched until I was just a few feet away! If any birds look like dinosaurs, these are the ones.

As I emerged from "Jurassic Park Gorge" I was blinded by sunlight from two angles - the sun from above and its reflection off the water from below. Luckily I brought my sunglasses! Being at this angle relative to the sunlight provided an amazing spectacle I'd never seen before - minature tornadoes of mist! They were invisible with the sun at my back, but were relatively easy to spot (in a ghostly way) with the sun in my face. First just one, and I even paddled through it! I couldn't feel a thing as there was barely any strength to this vortex. What was happening was that the sunlight was heating up the water, the rocky bluffs and the trees; however they all warmed at different rates, creating different velocities of upward-moving air as it warmed in the sunlight. The results were faint, gently swirling but distinct rope-shaped tornadoes. As I moved further out of the inlet and faced a wide expanse of open water, these twisters appeared everywhere! Literally dozens were dancing in front of me - it was an eerie scene as if I were watching the formation of the planet except instead of raging with powerful fury the tornadoes were tiptoeing with delicate grace.

I guess you'd figure that leaving a place that reminded me of Jurassic Park would bring me back to the present, but instead pushed me further into pre-history! However, my hungry stomach reminded me that breakfast was in the near future and it was time to head back to the cabin. Starting from the north shore I decided to hammer the pace and see how fast I could go. What took me 15 minutes on the way out took just nine minutes this time! I could see our dock in the distance and was surprised to see the silhouette of a heron standing on it; however, as I got closer I realized that it was Amanda! Apparently I was still stuck in the jurassic era...

Running Kentucky Hills

2006-08-21T21:47:00.001-04:00

While on vacation last week I took a break from my training regimen, in that I only went for two short runs. Both jaunts were the same 3.7-mile out-and-back course starting from our cabin. On both occasions I brought along my favorite running partner - my dog Haven.

It's probably common knowledge that Kentucky's terrain is far more challenging than what you find in Michigan (at least in the vertical aspect; adventure racers would tell you that Michigan sand, swamps, and scrub makes for an awfully arduous trek). There are a couple good hills near my house here, but otherwise routes are either flat or gently rolling. The route I ran in Kentucky had FOUR good hills, and that was just going one-way; I had to hit those hills on the way back, too! I didn't complain - the challenge was fun and the views they provided were awesome!

Our first run was Monday, when I woke up early and headed out with Haven to beat the heat that was coming later that day. Even at 7am, however, it was still hot and muggy. Our cabin was in the middle of nowhere, which meant that the road we ran on rarely saw any traffic. As a result, Haven got to run the entire course off-leash! She's so smart about running with me by now, though, that she rarely strayed more than 50 feet away and generally kept within 20 feet in front of me on the road.

As we approached one of the several cow pastures along the road, I noticed up ahead on the fourth hill that two cows were in the road, outside the fence. Haven noticed, too, and quickly gave chase! One of the cows immediately ducked under the loose wire fence to the safety of its pasture, but the other cow tried to outrun Haven on the shoulder of the road. Not a chance - Haven was soon on the cow's heels and when the cow realized how close Haven was, it also ducked under the fence to safety. Luckily Haven didn't try to follow them into their pasture! The funny thing is that Haven just wanted to play with the cows!

On our way back as we approached hill #3 again (i.e. the sixth of eight climbs on the run), Haven and I spotted a beagle-hound mix staring at us. Haven paused, watching the dog, then took off in a full sprint to go say hi. Once Haven had covered half the distance between them, the other dog turned and ran away! Now about 75 yards away, Haven turned around and politely (albeit anxiously) waited for me to catch up. As we rounded the bend and started up the hill, the dog came back with enough courage to introduce itself.

The dog had a brown head with big droopy ears and a white body marked with three large spots, two on one side and one on the other. It was a female, and she stood just a tad taller than Haven but appeared underfed and probably weighed just 60 pounds. Because of her big ears and the fact that her first reaction to Haven was "run away!" I decided to name this dog "Bunny".

Bunny had no collar or other identification, but Amanda had seen her in one of the pastures the day before, so I figured she was a local farm dog. Haven and I continued with our run and interestingly enough, Bunny decided to join us! In fact, she stayed with us for the last 1.5 miles and came right up to the cabin's front door - I had to keep her from coming inside! She eventually made her way back home. I wish I had brought some treats with me because I really wanted to give Bunny some food.

Friday was the second run but it was largely uneventful. The weather was just as muggy and the hills just as steep, but all cows were fenced in and Bunny was nowhere to be seen. Haven did manage to get four ticks on her, but I saw them easily on her white fur and removed them before they had a chance to take a bite. Both of our dogs use Advantix which I thought was supposed to repel ticks? Oh well, no harm done.

I went for a run Sunday after we got back home, but boy was my body out of it. I don't know if it was the messed up sleep schedule or lack of training or both, but I just didn't have any energy. I still mustered out nine miles and I must admit that once I was done, I realized that it felt good to run. It was nice to have a very light training week, but at the same time both my mind and my body missed the exercise! Hey feet, it's good to have you back.

Running with Dirty Dogs

2006-08-11T22:43:00.001-04:00

The barge is towing the tugboats!

Amanda suggested that I take BOTH Haven and Beacon running today to get them nice and tired for tomorrow's 10-hour drive. If you've ever tried to run with two labs attached to one arm, you'll understand why I chose to run on the North Country Trail near my house. Out on the trail, I can let these four-wheel-drive beasts off leash to burn off their energy!

We started out on the street for half a mile but luckily it was uphill, so I took advantage of my two tugboats until we reached the trailhead. The weather was great - sunny and 74 - and the trail was all my own. Some parts were so overgrown with prickers, however, that I had to gingerly tiptoe my way through them. I didn't bring any water for the dogs because there are two streams on this out-and-back course, meaning they'd have water access four times during the 75 minute run.

Alas, the plan didn't pan out. The first stream was mostly black mud, but there was enough water for the pups to wet their tongues. Then at the second stream crossing I was surprised to find it all dried up! The dogs were surprised, too - they kept wandering up and down the streambed looking for the water. I had to take a detour and go off-trail for a 1/4 mile to the Flat River, which is NEVER dry - it's a major river.

At the river the dogs happily jumped into the water to drink and cool off. I gave them five minutes, then we turned around and headed home. Crossing over the last stream of black mud, Beacon decided to put on his commando war paint and plow his head and body through the mud! This yellow lab became a black lab; wisely Haven declined to join in. By now the dogs were worn out and in the final half-mile stretch home I literally had to tow them!

Luckily for the dogs Amanda was waiting for them when we got home with a kiddie pool full of clean, cold water. Of course it was no longer clean the instant Beacon waded in it! We eventually had to hose them off. Needless to say, they've been sleeping ever since! Now it's my turn.

Some worn out dogs!

A closer look at Beacon's dirty fur.

Just Keep Running, Just Keep Running

2006-08-10T22:11:00.001-04:00

Remember Dory from Finding Nemo? "Just keep swimming!" Well this week's running has become symbolic of her motto. I don't know why but I've been in a mood to run every single day and nearly did just that but I wisely forced myself to take a day off after the long run. Here's a summary:

August 6 - My weekly long run. I ran 21.6 miles at a slow, comfortable pace and 4h45 later I was still feeling great when I stopped. Usually after 3 hours I feel like crap and I just tough it out another hour or two, but this time the entire 21.6 miles felt like an easy jog. Amanda picked me up at my office, where I used their fitness center to shower and change clothes so as not to disgust everyone at Chili's! We at lunch and I was ravenous, consuming my entire black bean burger and all the fries, plus four full glasses of strawberry lemonade. Usually I eat just half the burger and fries.

August 7 - I made myself take a day off, but my legs didn't feel too sore and I kinda wanted to go out and run.

August 8 - Before coming home from work I lifted weights in the fitness center. Usually I just do upper body stuff but I felt a little ambitious and I did some squats and calf raises, too. Then I drove home and promptly went for a fast 3.4-mile run with my dog Haven who didn't appreciate my negative split, increasing the pace at the turn-around. My legs did feel a bit sore from the squats, but not too bad.

August 9 - I went for my weekly Wednesday lunch run with some buddies at work, tallying a slow 5.0 miles except I was feeling so good at the end that I flat out SPRINTED the last 200 meters just for fun. One of my buddies tried to keep up but could only hang close for 50 meters. It was also a fun day of social running because the four of us discussed heavy topics such as the role of individuals in ensuring our survival as a society, and just what society needs to do to survive and if human nature is up to the challenge, etc. I just LOVE such discussions, and the guys I run with have great perspectives. Incidentally, they're all 45 to 55 years old and have been running and/or cycling at least 20 years each!

August 10 (today) - Lifted weights after work again but this time spared my legs because I was planning to run. Once again I took Haven out on our 3.4-mile course but at a comfortable pace. The local police had set up one of those radar signs that show your car's speed and it clocked me at 9 mph! I was hoping to get Amanda out there with a camera tomorrow so I could try a full sprint but the cops took it away this evening.

The other experiment going on was Haven trying out her new "pawdometer", a step counter designed for dogs that Amanda got as a free sample. Pedometers in general are difficult to make accurate, especially for running, so I didn't think it would be any better for dogs. At least we took a measured route so that regardless of how accurate the device thought Haven's stride was, we'd have a benchmark for how many "steps" per mile. Today it came out to about 9.5 feet per stride! I swear, my dog is NOT a giraffe! Even my long legs can't do that, let alone Haven the 65 lb labrador retriever.

August 11 (tomorrow) - Yes, I'm planning to run again, looking to go 6-8 miles at a medium pace. We'll be driving all day Saturday to a rental cabin in Tennessee for a week-long vacation, so Saturday is my rest day.

Sooner or later I'll probably lose this drive to run every day - it always happens - but that's why I have a bike. That happened a few months ago so I went on a few epic bike rides to give my mind some variety in training. If only I had a kayak! It's on my wish list for some future day...

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