Persistence of Vision

10/3/2011: Lewis and Clark Marathon! 26.2Miles of fun…
5:30am
We all got up early, were moving slow and ended up leaving about 30min late. I got about 4 bites of my pinole (no where near what I wanted fuel wise)

6:45am (race starts at 7:15)
We are sitting in TRAFFIC 3 miles from the parking lot for the race we were all getting stressed.
About 3 cars ahead of us someone got rearended! So “First Things First” at least we didn’t get into an accident!
Put everything into perspective!

7:00am
We enter the parking lot at The River Port Plaza and I jump out of the van to head to the starting line. I pass several lines for the porta johns thinking “Thank GOD I don’t have to pee or poop!” When I exited the van the outside temp was 42F…. COLD!

7:10am
I’m in my pace “slot” around 8min/mile and ready to go!

7:15
The race begins with a quick walk to the starting line then a slow walk across since there are around 7K-8K runners… Sarah and the girls are there but I didn’t know and I didn’t know where they were so I just took off.

I ran at a comfortable pace for the first 5 miles. I was feeling great but drinking very little. People EVERYWHERE…
#1 Grosser than gross: snot rockets EVERYWHERE people are disgusting!
#2 Gu and other race gel packets EVERYWHERE. I am not really a greenie, but GIVE ME A BREAK people…
#3 Skipping the porta johns before the start SEEMED like a good idea, it was not… Having to pee for almost 14 miles sucks…

13.1 Miles:
I crossed the 1/2 Marathon line after 1:48 into the race. 3 mintues slower than my Mckendree University “Super” Half Marathon.
I was ok with the slower 1/2 since I wanted to take it easy so I had some in the tank for the second 1/2
I saw Sarah and the girls cheering me on… Tears welled in my eyes and I fought back a strong wave of emotion, these waves visited me on and off the the last 13.1 miles. Distracting but unavoidable. My feelings for my girls is so intense at this point I couldn’t do anything but keep going and RUN!

14 Miles:
PEE PEE PEE I hit the aid station as I was planning during the last 10 miles I ran (about 90% of the runners were 1/2 marathoners so there was no line here! YAH!)
When I left the porta john my knees felt stiff and difficult to run on but after about another mile the loosened up.

Miles 15-18 were all about the GU BABY! I needed fuel and I was taking every chance I got! GU GUMMIES, GU GELs…
My miles 18, 19, and 20 I started seeing the GU Gummy wrappers on the ground and wondered “Maybe someone dropped a full bag! 10 second rule does not exist after running 20 miles!” Then: “What A WASTE OF GOOD GU GUMMIES!”
At this point I didn’t really care about the environment, just the wasted fuel…

Miles 21-24
I was locked into a speed. I could have walked, but there was no variable speed I could go. At times I tried to speed up only to realize my body was not interested in doing what my mind was telling it to do. I hit no “Wall” but I did hit a point. My point was a disconnect between what my mind knew I was capable of and my body telling my mind to STFU.
So by mile 24 I owned and when I say owned I mean OWNED that speed. At many times during the race I was passed and I didn’t care. At this point I was starting to pass people!

Miles 25-Finish
I was actually alone for almost a mile! I was a beautiful morning and I was able to appreciate it even at this point. Coming to the finish line I saw Sarah and the girls cheering me on and I almost broke down on the spot. I was emotional beyond belief. I love my family so much and to see them almost made me want to quit and get hugs right there, but I soldiered on… I was passed right before the finish line by a guy who (after he finished) looked like his legs were made of rubber. They were flopping all over the place! GROSS!

I got my metal, and grabbed some snacks for my girls (all 3 of them…) and left the race. My left ankle was sore but I was walking! I even carried Katelyn for a little while.

I knew when it was all said and done, I was NOT! I had a 10K on 10/17/2011.
Post race my ankle swelled up and took 3 days to look normal. Then I got to experince achillies tendonitis! Thus I ran 5.5 miles on 10/11/2011 testing out my left leg. It was a mistake… I ran the Go! Saint Louis Halloween 10K in a little over 47minutes! That was fun but again agitated my tendonitis…

Now I am babying my ankle… I bought some Virbam Five Fingers KSO’s and some Terra Plana Daharma’s since while I am babying my leg I want to transition to minimalistic footware. I also ordered some New Balance MT101 minimalistic trail running shoes.
Currently I am signed up for Psycho Waco Ultramarathon (50K) on Feb 12, 2011 and plan on running 3 or 4 marathons next year.

My 2011 tag line?

100+ miles in 2011!

BE FOREWARNED! THIS COULD CONTAIN TMI THIS IS NOT FOR THE WEAK HEARTED!

I began my weekend on the wrong foot, well before attempting to run on the cold, damn Sunday. On Saturday morning I went to McDonalds for a coffee before Amber’s soccer game and couldn’t get JUST a coffee… So I got the Bacon Egg and Cheese McGriddle meal… Then we took Sarah to Fazoli’s on Saturday for lunch which usually “forces” me to eat around 5 or 6 bread sticks with my lunch of pizza baked spagetti. While that along should make me gag, I went home and tapped into my largest source of glutony: Girl Scout Cookies.

So lets run the totals shall we? Ok assume 6 breadsticks for worst case senario: 150 cal/ea so there is 900 calories in breadsticks! Pizza Baked Spagetti? 750! True I shared with the girls, so take 50 off. Still lunch total of 1600 calories! OMFG Did the fun stop there? Hell no. I get home and eat “some” girl scout cookies, I’m ashamed to admit how many but lets just say 990 calories later I went outside to mow…

Yah I consumed 2590 calories. Check one of the 7 deadly sins off my list!
Oh and for breakfast? Yah I hit McDonalds. I got a Bacon Egg and Cheese McGriddle (420 cal) + Hashbrown (150 cal)

I am a ROCK star! 3160 calories BEFORE dinner! I realize I am running and I need to account for that in my caloric intake, but dear lord what was I thinking? Oh yah, yummy that sounds good!!

Then Burger King for lunch on Sunday… YUCK. I am sick of fast calorie ridden crap foods!

All I can say is NO WONDER I FELT LIKE SHIT FOR MY RUN ON SUNDAY! I FILLED MY BODY WITH SHIT GUESS WHAT I GET IN RETURN?!?!
I’m going back to work before I puke up my lunch. Man ignorance really must be bliss!

I ran with my friend Mel yesterday. I felt pretty good for the first 4 miles. Then my lungs started getting “gunky” I could hear a rattle in my breaths. It sucked! I’ve now experinced two ways for my body to betray me for a run. My lungs are needed for the whole stupid oxygen in the blood thing and when mother nature calls… Lets just say running changes from fun to something WAY less than fun! I got 11 miles of run/walking in and should be proud of it but I was hoping for >13. Thus it’s frustrating (to say it nicely…)

But as Sarah said… I did make it 11 miles. Oh well! Mel went on to 20!

Lets see if I can knock this before my marathon this Sunday. 🙁

Yes it’s time for LOTS of !!!! 😉
I like reading. I REALLY like reading about things I’m passionate about. Right now it’s running. I read “Born to Run” like it was candy… Seriously. We are quite literally BORN TO RUN! It’s genetic, just look at persistent hunting! Before we had guns or any weapons at all… We had our legs! I’d SO LOVE TO TRY IT! I just need to visit Africa or get a small group of 4-5 other dedicated runners who also love to hunt. It’s fun to try and model my diet based on this process!

Think about it for a minute!

When we all were fighting for dominance vs. Neanderthal (Neanderthal being stronger, bigger and smarter) we existed off a mainly vegan diet. Our largest source of protein came from persistent hunting. Thus we only ate meat everyone in a while. It’s difficult to align my life with this model, and I’ll never fully succeed… I love meat! 🙂 BBQ Ribs, nice juicy steaks, tender chicken breasts. Yummy!

Ok enough with this post… I’ll end it with this from Running Blog:
Did you know only three percent of the population can run over three miles? It’s a fact! In other words you’ll stand tall…in a crowd. As the years go by your long run will become longer. You’re not so tied down to transportation. For whatever emergency may come your way, you can always be the one who can run for help…if need be.

My last couple benefits you get for staying a runner year after year. If you like a flat stomach that’s another benefit uncovered of runners! One last benefit for runners if your one to have problems with constipation; runners have a tendency to not have that problem any longer.

Ok everyone who reads this Blog already knows I ran my first Half Marathon. It was fun, and a great overall experience. I ran fast. Then slow. Then slower. I ran my first 2 miles in 14:14 which is WAY faster than I have ever run 2 miles. I hit the 3 mile mark at a little over 22 minutes. At almost every mile marker there were volunteers which was awesome. They were almost all in great spirits and I had a good time joking with them. It was almost fun trying to get them to laugh as a way to entertain myself and make their time more interesting too! I kept thinking I would be so happy to see mile 10 since that would mean 3.25 more to go which is easy, right? Not so much! Hill after hill after rolling hill…. These were NOT huge hills at all, but they were frequent and wear you down over time. I was a little suprised and just tried to adapt. Another fun aspect of the run was trying to engage other runners. I thought it would bother me when people passed me, but it didn’t at all. Many did pass me 😉

By around mile 5 or 6 I was in 10th place. In the last half of the race I was passed 11 times. Of the 11 I would say I engaged 7 of them. Some highlights were the 2-3 runners who not only engaged me, but also seemed to hold back just to chat! I loved it! They were all older than me and were all kicking ass. I congratulated every single one of them for the fact that they were killing it and I admired them!

It was a unique form of respect. One born out of pain, strain, effort, and a mutual goal we were all struggling toward. One specific runner was a SLUG and in the same vein as my friend John Mossman (also a SLUG) chatted with me, ran with me and told me “Don’t disappoint me!” I know how that must sound to a non-runner. But let me tell you that this is NOT the first time I have heard this while running. As I said I feel like it’s a show of respect. They hold off a little to chat and hang out while we are running and thus they expect something in return, that you continue till the end, you will not give up, we will both see each other in the end. 🙂

I almost cried, and was choked up when I came to the finish line and saw Sarah and Katelyn cheering me on. I felt so much joy from seeing them and their smiles.

It was the start of a VERY long day. When I went to bed that evening, I was dead tired. I crammed more into that one day than I have in a very long time!

Next up a FULL marathon! Lewis and Clark on Oct 3rd. I know how 13 feels and I am pretty sure it’ll feel the same into the next 4 or 5 miles…. Everything after that is going to be a new kind of fun! The goal? < 4 hours! I ran 13.25 in 1:45:25.8 so I am hoping I can hit 3:30:00 But I'm trying to be realistic and say 3:59:59.9 🙂 I'm going to make friends with a new kind of running fun called "The Wall". I am planning on side stepping "The Wall" since I'd really rather not have my body start restricting energy from my legs to power my brain! I think I can avoid the wall by fuel management. Guess I'll find out soon enough! 🙂

I have my half marathon (they call it a “Super Half” since it’s 13.25 not 13.1… I hardly think that qualifies a Super). So I thought I would taper my running a bit (i.e. not run at all) today and tomorrow. But I feel the pull, the temptation, to just go. I ran last night with one of my friends (THANKS AGAIN MEL!)

I kept pulling ahead of her w/o thinking. It felt so good to be running. It was almost relaxing! I am not trying to belittle your effort AT ALL Mel! I know you can easily kick my ass at any time.

So with that in mind to my running giants John and Mel:
“If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants. ”
-Isaac Newton

Persistence Of Vision is a Myth which only improves the moniker for my uses! 🙂
Wikipedia Persistence Of Vision

No one could have presented my moniker better than BLUE MAN GROUP in “Rods and Cones”:
“When you look at something, the rods and cones in your eyes fire in rapid succession, but between each firing, there is a brief resetting period, during which your eyes are unable to take in any new information.

Your brain covers up these micro-scopic moments of blindness with lingering after-images which help make your vision appear to be fluid and uinterrupted even though it is not.

This phenomenon known as persistence of vision is the unique physio-logical quirk that makes the illusion of animation possible.

The dark spaces between each still frame of animation literally sneak by while your eyes are not looking”

Funny how things change. I’ve been so convinced that when I retire I’d just do a ton of fishing… Now I’ll have to do a ton of running too.

I’ll have to invent my own ironman boundary waters style! Some of those would be insane swimming events! I think I’d pull a few muscles on Agnes! I’d need some floaties or take a few breaks!

I’d laugh my ass off if I were on a boundary waters trip with Dad and saw some guys jog on by while I’m carrying the canoe… Jump in the lake and start swimming! I’d drop the canoe, fall on the ground and seriously hurt myself in a fit of insane laughter!

Oh and for future use I found some of the maps Dad has expose many in our family to!
Seagulloutfitters Website

Let’s try something new/different for me!! Hope the hammer misses my toes!!
Here is what I’m doing this Saturday am! Race starts @ 8am!

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