Rants, Reviews and Run-dezvous

Sitting on the bus on the way to Kitty Hawk, NC, the start of the OBX Marathon, I over heard a women talking about a race coming up in the near future where she had requested the bib number 100. She was a little frustrated since she was told those bib numbers are reserved for the Kenyans. She replied I don't think the Kenyans would mind. I jumped in the conversation suggesting that maybe she just make her own or email Road ID and see if they would help.. then just pull that sucker off at the last minute revealing the "real" bib as she runs though the finish line. She seemed to think that was a good idea. I could not help but wonder so I asked what was the importance of the bib number? She told me it was going to be her one hundredth marathon!! Holy Crap, that is awesome I said. ..And what marathon would this be? She replied this one is number 90. I had to learn more so I continued to question her, asking when did she start running marathons and she told me in the year 200...

Happy to be a finisher!! This will be my third marathon in 12 months! My first last November being this one that I am about to run again, the OBX marathon (3:49) and my second being the Shamrock in VA. Beach (3:43). I am hoping for one of two results at the crossing of the finish line on Sunday... An over all PR marathon time under 3:43 or.. And it's a big or, that I come in under last years OBX marathon time for a course PR. Looking back at my calendar, I was logging 30 to 40 miles a week leading up to this weekend. That has not been the case this year. While I have been active in many races (almost constantly) I have not been up to par with my training this year. Far too many long runs without the very important shorts runs in between. However, over all, I feel good about race day and my pace goals. Analysis of last years splits show a consistent pace in the 8 minute range up until mile 19, the dreaded wall we all know is waiting for us around that time frame! I did not hit t...

TUNA RUN 200 Hey, let's run a 200 mile relay race from Raleigh, NC down to Atlantic Beach, NC... And we'll take turns doing it with 6 people, we'll be an ultra team! (we would later find out that this would make all of us " super-cool ") These are the words I spoke to my friend and running coach Andy one morning during a training run and next thing you know we were putting a team together. Rachel and Kathy  The team, now named "OBX Ultra" was Andy, our friends Rachel, Kathy, Tim, Pete and myself. All of us completing an ultra distance race of 31 miles (50k) 1 or more times,  except Pete, who was perfect for the team and ended up being the fastest runner during our 30 hour event on October 19th and 20th, 2012, running an average pace of all 6 legs at 8 minutes and 6 seconds per mile, shaving 13 minutes off his his estimated total time. So basically what happens in a relay like this is each runner runs a pre assigned series of legs based o...

"I'll be fasting for 60 days on nothing but juice and I'm going to do it on the fattest place on earth, the United States!" said Australian native Joe Cross, maker and main character in his documentary " Fat, sick and nearly dead ". My wife I first saw this film about 6 months ago and were very inspired. So much that the thought of getting a juice machine was great idea.. and it was.. for about a week, until the motivation of the show fizzled out. Isn't this true about so much in our lives? We get motivated, even inspired to make a change, make difference, to do something great, and then, if we jump in at all, most of the time it just doesn't last, right? It's too much work, I don't have the time, the time isn't right, etc, etc. You know what I mean, you have said it, I have said it, we have all spoken these words at one time or another.. Well, the other day my wife and I watched the documentary again, and low and behold, just as the...

"It's a nice flat course..." The Stonewall Jackson 20 Mile Ambulance Run is an annual event that takes place in beautiful Spotsylvania, Virginia. I had only recently heard about this race as a good friend of mine had run it the last couple of years and mentioned it in a conversation. Later, looking at my race calendar I decided maybe this would be a good one to run. 20 Miles is a different kind of distance race. I have trained with 20 milers, but never raced one. I thought, this might not be so bad... Half Marathon distances of 13.1 are fairly challenging and somewhat easy in the off season. Full Marathons are always challenging at 26.2 miles, so 20 should be right there in the middle. Challenging, but over about the time I am ready for a Marathon to be over... right about mile 19 or 20! Thomas Jonathon "Stonewall" Jackson was a Confederate General during the Civil War and was one of the best-known Commanders after General Robert E. Lee. The night b...

My Review of the Beachbody Ultimate Reset I sat down with my wife to watch the overview video to a program she had just purchased that cleanses your system while detoxifying it over a 21 day period. My initial thought process was that I would support her in the endeavor by eating the same food as her, while on the program. Well, I was very inspired by the video and since I had been heading in the same direction of food choices that the program was designed around, I thought, what the hell! So my wife ordered up one more complete program for me and we were going to do this together! The program is designed around specific food groups over three, seven day phases and a set of supplements that are taken throughout each of the 21 days, which also changes slightly in each phase. Before I go on, I should tell you that I had to give up coffee (yup, I just lost half the readers here), ice cream, alcohol, all sweets such as candy, chocolate, etc, flavored beverages such as...

 Waking up at 3:30 am the morning of the 22nd of January felt kind of like I remember as a kid on Christmas eve, eyes open wide, staring up into the darkness, thinking about what was to come in the morning. After about 8 weeks of training, and starting out having a hard time just running for 2 minutes straight, I, along with my wife,was about to run my first race, a 5k race amptly name "The Frostbite 5k".   Like that kid, lying in bed awake early on Christmas eve, I did get back to sleep but awoke a short time later around 6 AM. Vicki was right behind me, both of us excited yet nervous as could be. It was the unknown, the wonder of how we would perform, could something go wrong? I was really wanting to be able to run the entire distance without stopping. Vicki just did not want to come in last. I assured her she would not come in last and that just finishing this will be a huge accomplishment regardless of what place we come in. She agreed. I am not sure really how ...