125 Miles in July

Wow, I hit 125 miles for July!

I needed 14 miles today to make it happen. A big task since my longest run this month was 7.5 miles. I know that it's recommended to only add 10% onto your long runs each time. I decided to just listen to my body (legs). I could bail at 7 miles since I loop back past my house at that point. I would also take some 1 minute walk breaks, but I WANTED 14 miles.

Out I went just after 8 AM this morning with temps in the upper 70's. My legs were a bit tired for the first mile. Had to play games with my brain about the 14 miles. I got into a nice slow pace and just ran. Weather was great, but still hot for running.

I snapped a picture with my Treo 650 in "my spot" with the run in my face just prior to the 4 mile point. Things were going good!

Here is my "part A" iRun Podcast early into the my run.

I consumed all my Accelerade drink by the time I passed my house at 7 miles. I stopped into my garage for 10 seconds to exchange my empty bottle for a full 16 oz bottle of water. It took me 10 seconds because I guzzled about 5 oz of water from another bottle I had set there waiting for me. I also dropped off an empty Accel Gel packet and picked up another. I had to be careful with all this stuff because I had it all lined up on the back wing of my NSX (car). I bet not many people have ever used an NSX rear wing as a a water station!

Back out running, I wiggled my toes to see how they were doing at the 8 miles. A couple of tired ones, but nothing was going wrong. No tight muscles either. I just kept the pace. Since I was running a loop I passed all the same stuff twice. Still didn't find it boring.

I snapped another picture with my Treo as I passed the same area at around 11 miles. More cloud cover by this time.

I could feel the fatigue starting, but I dismissed it. Here is my "part B" iRun Podcast at 11 miles into my run.

I passed the 1/2 marathon point at around 2 hours 12 minutes then took another 1 minute walk break before bringing it all home...ok, I didn't burning it up at the end, but I did push onward.

Completed the 14 miles in 2 hours 21 minutes and 44 seconds.

I've consumed about 100 oz of liquid since I started the run. Other than sweat, not much has come back out.

August is NEXT!

100 Plus

It is 100 from my view. You can look in the mirror!

Now I'm at 100 plus miles for the month every step forward is a personal record. It feels good! One more day of PR's then starting a new month.

I had a nice paced 7 mile run early this afternoon. I'm getting better at the hot run...accept for this past Sunday. I'm taking some liquid with me. Finding a good pace. Getting out there and doin' it.

I was thinking about boredom while I was out running. I've read about people getting bored while running. It's the reason they run with other people or listen to music as they run. I looked up the word bored to see if I'm missing something. According to www.dictionary.com, bored is to make weary by being dull, repetitive, or tedious. Hmmm, running is certainly repetitive and it is tedious. Maybe I'm bored and just don't know it? I don't think so. There are so many things to think about. So many observations to make about my body, my mind, my time, my progress, the weather, taking pictures, podcasting, eating, drinking and observations of stuff along the roadside like flowers, fields of wheat, the shape of the road as it goes into the distance, dead deer, dirty hats, pieces of clothing, dirty magazines, beer cans, ducks, horses, dogs, hawks, car parts, a shoe, horse poop, raccoon poop, dog poop, ???? poop, a CD, tape, dirt, weeds, stains, vultures, fishing lures and more. Maybe I'll have to take pictures of some of this stuff. Whatever the case, I haven't been bored at all during my 100+ miles this month!

My iRun Podcast:

Completed my 6.9 mile run today in: 63:53

More than 100

After starting work at 7 AM this morning, I decided to go run at 5 PM. A co-worker (Jeff from IT) was up for the run. We did a local bike trail heading north. Temp was around 75. We ran a slower pace than I did yesterday.

I don't usually run with other people so this was fun! I haven't been in good enough condition to actually chat while running. Today, we chatted the whole 7.5 miles and did it in 70 minutes 10 seconds.

HEY, I went over 100 miles for the month so far!

Here's the iRun Podcast:

PR me for 7!

What a difference a few days make. What a difference the weather makes for running. What a difference it makes to get off my butt and run more.

On Sunday I ran in hot upper-90s weather. Had to walk on and off to even complete my 7 mile run (walk). I didn't run on Monday or Tuesday. Gave my legs a chance to recover fully from doing 18 miles in 24 hours over the weekend.

Today it was much cooler. I think it was about 74 F this evening. I set out with my asics shoes, my shorts/shirt, nike sunglasses, coolmax socks, Garmin ForeRunner 201 watch, fuelbelt with Accelerade to drink and my trusty Treo 650 & Jabra. I forgot to wear a hat. Good thing it was in the evening since I sunburn easily.

Since it was cooler, I had a few days rest and my last outing was VERY slow, I knew I was going to push it a bit this time. My times during July have "increased" instead of decreased, but the temps out have also been hot, hotter and hell. Well, I kicked it in with a faster pace right down my driveway to the road. I cleared the 1/2 mile at a bit over 4 minutes. I talked myself into a slightly slower pace. I hit the 5k, my GPS watch beeps, and I'm at 25:48. (Back in May I ran a 5k race slower than that.) I continued on. Decided to decreased my pace slightly, but keep pushing. Drank some Accelerade. Took a few pictures at "my spot" right before the 4 mile point. Thought about doing my iRun podcast, but it was too breezy and I didn't know if I could actually podcast and keep a good pace.

I hit 5 miles at 43 minutes and some seconds. I didn't record that exactly, but it's a spot where I turn onto another road heading north. I knew I had never gotten there that quickly. Now it's a straight mile and half on the road to my final turn. I talked to myself (inside my brain) about being on a record pace for this 7 mile loop. I realized that it was "possible" that I could keep this up all the way home. I then started considering whether to do my iRun podcast. Finally I just decided to do it. I got out the Jabra earpiece. Dialed the audioblogger number and did it. Here's the podcast while booking down the road running:

I cleared 10k at 53 minutes and something seconds. Whatever I said on the podcast. I forgot to hit the lap button on my watch. (My fastest race 10k was 49:55 a few years ago.)

I made the turn for home for the final home stretch. I finished in 58:35! My first time EVER in under an hour. I've actually never completed this 6.9 loop in under 61 minutes.

I am smiling! (dancing in my mind)

New Song Mix

Since I didn't run tonight, I thought I would finish up a new mix of the song I wrote called Didn't Think Twice. The mix is not "finished" finished, but gives an idea of where this song mix is headed. This mix has all the guitar parts goin' instead of just an acoustic thing. I also added the full live drum kit that Ron played.

I was almost ready to upload after mixing on my Mackie HR824 monitors when I listened on Sony MDR-7506 headphones. Man did I have the kick loud in the mix. I completely missed this by listening only to the Mackies. I guess I need a subwoofer to switch on/off.

No keyboards in this mix. I couldn't find a place for them. A poor fade at the end, sorry about that.

Feedback is welcome (unless it's from a mic)

Hot Hot, Hotter Than...

As I finished reading about Lance Armstrong in the Sunday's sports section, I knew that I needed to get out for one more run during the weekend. That means I had to run today. Well, it's not just hot outside. It's SUPER hot at around 100 F with humidity around 50%. Holy heat wave BM!

I decided to lace up my Nikes instead of the Asics just to give my feet a change of pace since I ran 11 miles in the Asics yesterday. I got myself about 16 oz of Gatorade and a GU Energy Gel along with a white running shirt and an off-white cap. Umm, I did wear shorts too...dark blue ones.

The first couple of miles were great. A nice slow pace with an excellent breeze in my face as I headed West. I took a 30 sec walking break when I turned the corner south at a little over 2 miles.

Back running, I hit a section of country road that was resurfaced last year. It's very dark black. The heat was intense coming back up off the road. I tried to run on the shoulder, but there really isn't one. Man it was hot. I hit the 5k point at just over 30 minutes, but the next 5k took me 39 minutes. I ran out of Gatorade at 4.5 miles with 2.5 miles left in the baking heat. I took numerous walking breaks so that I could live another day.

I mustard up the energy to run the last 3/4 mile. The 7 miles took me 77:40. WOW it was hot!


iRun Podcast #4

Full Mooning

I ran the Full Moon 4-Miler Race tonight. Finished in 32:33 according to my ForeRunner 201. I think it took me about 5-6 seconds to get to the starting line so my official time was something like 32:37. The Time Warner Bugs Bunny was at the starting line. Sorry I didn't get in the picture with bugs, but I was thinking about running at that time. At least I snapped the picture with my Treo 650.

My legs are feeling better good for doing this 4-miler considering that I already ran 7 miles earlier this afternoon. I snapped a picture of me in the dark (this did start at 9 PM) at about a 1/2 mile into the race.

This is my first 11 mile day since I did the 1/2 marathon back in January. Way to go, me!

The course had more serious uphill climbs than I expected. I'll have to check my ForeRunner watch to check out the climb, but we went up near the water tower. Since this was an out & back kind of race, we did get to go back downhill for a whole section on the way back. I was trying to tell myself that this was easy, but it didn't help me go much faster.

I'm satisfied with my 8:09 per mile pace for 4-miles. I wanted to do 8's, but this is fine. For those treadmill people, that's a 7.5 mph pace for 4 miles. I should mention that I passed 3-people in front of me over the last 100 yards. I didn't even feel bad about it. LOL! One of the guys was in my age group too. Overall I came in something like 125th out of 500. It was fun. I feel good!

Prior to the race, I knew that the band Alibi was going to be playing post-race. I went over to the tent to checkout their setup. I snapped a pic. Since the Treo 650 doesn't have a flash, the night pictures aren't all that great. You can kind of see the Alibi drumset and lights behind me.

I got a chance to say "hi" to Heather and Erik. I had commented on their new blog a few days ago. I was thrilled to see a local gigging band adopting the technology. I didn't mention that they need an RSS feed, but they can ask me about that if they're connected. I do think that Erik may actually live in a van down by the Fox River. I couldn't stay to listen to their final set, but I'm guessing he's a little green globbular by now since he hadn't been in a gardening accident. I actually saw Spinal Tap live at the Riverside!

Ok, back to tonight's events. There was a big search light going for the whole event and fireworks. Fun time!

Interesting the decision we make in life. It was this 4-mile race with entertainment by Alibi or hang out in Chicago backstage with Gregg Rolie who founded Journey & Santana. I went for this! It was more effort, but a great time.

Rollin' Thunder

I haven't run since Tuesday so I was getting antsy to get moving.

I've decided to run the Full Moon 4 Miler race tonight, but couldn't resist getting out this afternoon for my normal 7 mile run. I bebated with myself for 15 minutes about the pros/cons of going out running this afternoon prior to this race. A big positive for running this afternoon is that if I run the race slower than I like I can always point to the fact that I ran 7 miles earlier in the day. Ha! I finally looked at my miles for the week. I only had 13.8 miles. A 4 miler would make it 17.8, but I really should be doing more than 20 each week. Even my doctor told me to workout more.

So, I powered up my feet with BlisterShield. Put on my running socks, shorts, shirt, cap, ForeRunner, Asics and FuelBelt. Added a Accel Gel to my belt along with my Treo 650, Jabra 250 and 12 oz of Gatorade.

Did my iRun Podcast #3. Check it out here!

Finished in 1:06:56 with 83F temp. Overcast & started raining on my head the last 1/4 mile.

Full Moon 4 Miler

I've decided to PodCast from the Full Moon 4 Miler tomorrow night! This 4 mile run/walk is an editors choice for the summer from Runner's World magazine. It's a bit of a drive to do the race, but it should be fun.

In addition to getting to run a 4-mile race (is there another 4-miler anywhere?) I get to check out the band Alibi. I've NEVER heard them, but I already like them 'cause they've started a blog this month!

9 PM race time forecast if for temps around 80F with 30% chance for rain.

A couple of days full of business meetings so it's now 7:15 PM without a run in 2-days. I wore some shoes dress shoes yesterday that I now realize are a couple of sizes too small. I didn't know how shoes should fit until I better understood runnering.

Talk with some business friends about working out and getting/being in shape. I had a couple of recommendations to add strength/weight training to my schedule. I did this seriously for 3-months a few years ago. I know I should work it back into my routine. Good advice. My brother has just started back up with some strength training so maybe that will motivate me a bit.

Today, another business friend was asking for advice for training for a triathlon he's doing in 3 1/2 weeks. I asked him what he'd been doing so far. "Nothing" was his answer. My recommendation was "don't drown!" ...I've never don't a triathlon, but not drowning seems like a good idea.

In the July 2005 edition of Runner's World, the magazine named the Full Moon 4 Miler Run/Walk (Wisconsin) as one of five races in the United States that one should enjoy this month (July). I'm either going to drive to do that race this weekend OR I'm going to drive to the Gregg Rolie concert in Oak Lawn (Illinois) to hang out with the band. If you're in the either area, check out one of these events. I'm sure both will be fun!

Treo Today

Hey! The iRun PodCast got a mention over at the Treo Today blog! Check it out 'cause the internet is cool!

By the way, the blue tooth issues with my Jabra 250 not connecting 100% of the time as been solved with the Palm OS upgrade. Makes me happy!

iRun iPodCast

Had a good afterwork run this evening. About 85F outside with the sun still fairly high in the sky. I took off on my normal 7 miles route. It wasn't so humid which let me pickup the pace a bit from the past 4 runs.

I snapped a few pix at 3.6 miles (my usually photo op spot) and was happy to see the Treo 650 working! It had bounced out of my fuelpack around 2.5 miles. My water was jiggling a bit up a hill and worked the Treo right out. ouch!

I couldn't do my podcast until after I got to 5 miles and turned toward the north. The wind was too noisy in the other sections. So this podcast is done as I'm running on the shoulder of a fairly busy highway.

I finished in 62:20

Geeked Out & Runnin'

Ok, maybe I crossed the geeked out line in the road, but yes that is me with a Jabra BT250 in my ear using bluetooth to my Treo 650 so that I can podcast to my blog while I run!

Running Podcast

It was hot today. Heat index 99. Temp was 95. Ran slowly, but was talking 4 different times, but the wind made it hard to hear what I was saying during the other audio bits so I deleted them. Finished in 69:47.

Kiss Me

Here is the new mix of my slow rock song "Kiss Me Again." I've been messing around with this mix over the past few days.

I've worked on the drum kit sound in the mix. Ron Wikso plays this track like he still has big rock hair. But in previous attempts at mixing the 13 mics on his live kit, I still had the drums sounding a bit whimpy. I ended up killing the L/R room mics and just going with the overheads for the cymbals and room feel. What do you think?

As in my demo, we've got a number of guitars on this thing. Kurt's just playing them better than me. Tried to find a few spots for the acoustic to come through in the mix. I've done some more aggressive EQing on the guitars to provide some more frequency band width for other stuff...like the vocals. Are the guitars heavy enough?

I decided to Melodyne a couple of harmony vocal parts in a few spots that seemed to need them. I was going to just sing them, but I knew that would have been a whole new tangent. I decided to see if I could just fake the harmonies using Joe Retta's orginal lead. Yep that harmony is fake. What do you think?

In the intro, I've got only percussion going instead of the full drum kit. We've got full kit recorded, I just didn't use it. What do you think of that?

The organ and piano are mixed for sweetening. Pecussion is done the same way in the mix. Did it work?

Mercedes-Benz

On a dark desert highway, Pokey has cool wind in his hair. There is a warm smell of colitas that is rising up through the air. Up ahead in the distance Pokey sees a shimmering light. His head grows heavy, and his sight grows dim.

He gasped, "My legs are bent! Ummm, where is she in that Mercedes-Benz!"

It was 92F when I started on my run today. Same loop as I usually do outside when I'm not traveling somewhere. I seemed HOT! Humidity was around 55 with a light breeze. I started at 1:30 PM.

I wore a heart monitor to make sure I didn't get too crazy and die. Tried to keep my heart rate below 160. I did pretty good with that. Carried 16 oz of water and an Accel Gel. I consumed the gel at 4 miles. Since I didn't run yesterday, my legs felt pretty darn good.

Completed the 6.9 miles in 1:08:02.

I did mess around with some Pokey pix in the road at 3.6 miles so that added 30-60 secs I suppose. Run Pokey Run!

Center Double Line

Nothing like running straight down the middle of the road!

It was another hot late afternoon run. It was supposed to be 88F this afternoon. Pretty good breeze at times so it felt really hot, but not deadly.

I tried my "tower cam" simulation today by holding my Treo 650 up in the air as I ran down the middle of the road.

My legs were a little tired since I ran this same 7 miles yesterday afternoon. I beat yesterday's time by 5 seconds which means I did EACH mile .8 sec faster!

Finished in 1:07:08.78

Pokey Says

Pokey says, "Oh no Gumby, I've fallin' and I can't get up!"



Today at the 4 miles marker! Yes, he came along again.

Pokey now has 14 miles in July.

Run for the Horizon

Ran late afternoon today in 84 F degree temps.

Saw that the house 2/10th of a miles from mine (one of my closest neighbors) is for sale. I ran into the front yard (didn't stop my watch) for the flyer. They want $430k. This house has been sold 5x since I've moved into my place. Seems like it sold for $239k the first time.

Did my 7 mile route. It wasn't fast, but my heart rate stayed right around 150. So all in all not a hard workout, but a nice run. I was sweating pretty good. Did an Accel Gel at 4 miles. Took water with me. Finished in 1:07:15

Bum Cholesterol

Well, I'm a bit bummed about my LDL "bad" cholesterol. My doctor called me on the phone about it this morning. My LDL is 138. The optimal is <> From what I've been told, the LDL cholesterol level greatly affects my risk of a heart attack and stroke. The lower my LDL cholesterol, the lower my risk. This 138 puts me in a borderline high catagory. The doctor said that since I'm working out, don't smoke, have good blood pressure and I'm at a good weight, he's more "concerned" about this being elevated.

My total cholesterol is 214. This is supposed to be under 200. I'm not grossly over, but not optimum.

My HDL "good" cholesterol is 60. My doctor said this is a good number. It makes my overall ratio on target at 3.6:1. According to the American Heart Association, the ratio is obtained by dividing my HDL cholesterol level of 60 into the total cholesterol of 214. The goal is to keep the ratio below 5:1; the optimum ratio is 3.5:1.

My triglycerides are 82 mg/dL. Normal triglyceride levels are less than 150 mg/dL. No issue here.

I learned online that LDL is calculated: LDL cholesterol = total cholesterol - HDL cholesterol - (0.2 x triglycerides). So mine is 214-60-16 = 138.

Hey can stress just make the bad numbers go up? According to the National Cholesterol Education Program,"Stress over the long term has been shown in several studies to raise blood cholesterol levels. One way that stress may do this is by affecting your habits. For example, when some people are under stress, they console themselves by eating fatty foods. The saturated fat and cholesterol in these foods contribute to higher levels of blood cholesterol." This makes sense to me.

What are the next steps?

1. Add lower my cholesterol to my 43things.com to do list.
2. Alter my diet -- less ice cream, less cheese, more veggies.
3. Keep working out for marathon
   
4. Blood test again in 3-months

I'm now a walking (and running) experiment. This will be fun!

Phobia

I really hate having blood tests.

It's not really a phobia, but it's close. I know it's not logical. It doesn't really hurt, but it makes me squirm. I hadn't been in for a physical in two years so I went today since I'm doing all this running.

Doc said things looked good. My blood pressure was 108/70. I'll get my blood results in a few days. I also agreed to get a Colonoscopy (koh-luh-NAH-skuh-pee). I'm kind of young for that kind of thing, but it's better safe than sorry! I'll have to post after that procedure...maybe I'll title that post "Pokey!" or "Pain in the Butt"

Domo Arigato

I love huge arena rock songs!

I'm stuck in that mode for life most likely. I came across the top 10 songs that killed arena rock. Even though I really like most of these songs, I couldn't help but laugh out loud about the #1 song. I remember listening to the radio in my apartment, in downtown Milwaukee, WAITING for the new Styx songs to be played. My jaw dropped as it played, I couldn't believe it was a Styx song. I didn't like it. I was mad at Dennis DeYoung. I got over it, bought the album, went to the concert and bought the VHS.


01. Mr. Roboto - STYX

"Dennis DeYoung proved he had been a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He masqueraded as a rock star throughout the 1970’s but with 'Mr. Roboto' DeYoung proved he wanted to be a Broadway star all along. This song single-handedly destroyed the original line up of the band. He forced his band mates to humiliate themselves by acting onstage. DeYoung was convinced that 'Mr. Roboto' would put him in the same light at Pete Townshend. Instead of seeing his dream reach the heights of classic rock operas like Tommy, 'Mr. Roboto' became the butt of a lifetime of jokes. DeYoung still defends 'Roboto'. He told this writer, ''Mr. Roboto' is now a vernacular of our culture. You can’t go anywhere without someone saying, Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto. I can’t even being to tell you how many television shows and movies that line has been in. From The Simpson’s to Howard Stern to King of Queens to Austin Powers to Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights to the Volkswagen commercial to Dodgeball, it is everywhere you look.' Hello? Dennis, time someone told you the truth…They are making fun of you!"

No running today. No Gumby today. No Pokey today, but I went to Starbucks in my Jeep! 

Hot Blooded

A very HOT run today!

I started a bit passed high-noon with sun cooking. I took along my last batch of Accelerade to drink. I also had a CHOCOLATE ACCEL GEL with me to chow down at 4 miles.

This run ended up being my slowest 7 miles (6.9 miles actually) of July. I ended at 1 hour 07 minutes and 33 seconds. The last 2 miles were slow with the temp will over 90F. By monitoring my breathing I could tell I was getting over heated. I was doing one breath in & one breath out for every stride. I was able to slow the pace to breathing in for three strides and breathing out for one. Much better...and I lived!

Pokey Gets in Shape

Once again at 4 miles the Treo 650 is back in action. Not bad for a 40 year old orange horse!

A horse at 6 months of age is equivalent to a 6 year old child, at 12 months it is equivalent to a 12 year old child, at 2 years an 18 year old child and thereafter 1 year of a horses life is equal to 3 years of a human life. A 40 year-old orange horse is equivalent to a 120 year old green rubber person.

Pokey Rants

"Where is my Gumby?!"

"I hope he wasn't sniped!"


Pokey was last seen talking to himself, "I wanna be a pack mule. I wanna be a pack mule. No, I'm a race horse. I wanna be a back mule. I'm like lightning. I hope he wasn't sniped. I wanna be a pppack mule. Where is Gumby? Oh Gumby? I'm not a horse so lead me to some water and make me drink!"

Save Gumby! Vote no to eBay.

"I'm Gumby, dammit! Please vote to save me from eBay!"

Gumby Stands

"See I really can stand on my own!"

"I don't need old Pokey to keep me upright. My leg might be fallin' off, but this green rubbery skin is pretty tough. And my skeleton is made of steel."

Save Gumby & Pokey?

A few weeks ago I found my old original Gumby & Pokey. These are probably 35 years old...maybe slightly older. I don't remember getting them, but I certainly remember having them as a kid.

Pokey has faired alright with only some small chunks out of his head and a worn tail, but Gumby is showing his skeleton in three different spots and his right leg is just holding on for dear life. I remember glueing his leg (about 34 years ago) even though if hadn't come completely off.

So the big question, should I sell them on eBay? If I do, should I sell them together or apart? Let me know your thoughts! Should they stay or should they go?

They've been together all these years in a box in my parent's garage attic.