Saturday, April 11, 2009

Independence Day in ATL

While doing some online banking today, I noticed that the check for my entry fee to the Peachtree Road Race hit my bank yesterday. This can only mean one thing: I am a lucky lottery winner and will be running in Atlanta on the Fourth of July!

I'm already looking forward to getting on the road with 55,000 other runners to celebrate this great country's independence. Using my Dana Point 10K time from November as my qualifying entry, I made it into the "Sub-Seeded" grouping by 4 seconds. That means I'll only have the elite and open runners in front of me.

Original vs. Cover, Round II

Well, here it is ... Round II of Original versus Cover. In this edition, we have Elvis and Ann-Margret teaming up in the original of You're The Boss. Elvis and Ann-Margret cut the track while filming Viva Las Vegas in 1964. The track along with two others never made it into the movie.

The cover is performed by The Brian Setzer Orchestra. Paige has suggested that this music is "way too cool" for me. But I point out that I picked up the Setzer Dirty Boogie (1998) CD many years ago after seeing Zoot Suit Revue live. At the time the "big band" sound was making a mainstream mini-comeback. I was surprised when I first listened to the CD. I hadn't heard You're The Boss before but immediately liked it. The female vocalist literally jumps off the track for me. Many of you probably recognize the distinctive pipes. She went on to tremendous success as the lead vocalist of a pop group and has since ventured off on a solo career. I'll wait until voting is over to let you know who it is ... if you don't already know.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Original versus Cover

Well, the results of the inaugural Original versus Cover are in and it wasn't very close. Terry Jack's version of Seasons in the Sun eclipsed Blink 182's and Nirvana's. However, the voting wasn't without controversy. An astute reader, RaddyRad, called into question whether the clips were really Blink 182 and Nirvana (see comments) After some research, I found that the Nirvana version was definitely genuine but questions remain about the Blink 182 version. The artists in the clip may actually be Me Too and the Gimme Gimmes. RaddyRad correctly suggests that the posted clip doesn't "sound like Blink 182" and further offers that Blink hasn't done a cover. But if you believe Wikipedia there is a Seasons in the Sun cover by GOB featuring Blink 182. So I'm left wondering if the clip I posted is, in fact the GOB cover. I tried finding video to match my audio clip for verification but wasn't unsuccessful.

I hope everyone had fun with the OvC. Round II should be posted shortly.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Off on a Tangent

OBJECTIVE
5 mi.@ 8:09/mi.

ACHIEVED
5.08 mi.@ 8:07/mi.

5:16 AM 65° 90% 9 mph

If you read my running you know I oftentimes play some mental game with myself to pass time on my solo runs. I had two things going on this morning.

First, I decided to try running the tangents over my whole run today. I figured I've run this five-mile route dozens of times and I believe the shortest distance recorded by my GPS is 5.10 miles. Of course, I'm not rigid in my exact path of the course but I run against traffic (like all runners should) and generally follow the same routine. I also understand that handheld GPS lacks perfect precision. I've wondered about what is gained in races by running the tangents. So today's distance came out to be 5.08. So there is something to be gained by running the tangents (I should say that I was knocked off my line a few times this morning by oncoming vehicles.) If today's run was .02 shorter than my previous short on this course that ends up being about 105 feet. That is a huge difference at the end of a race.

My second little game this morning was just running negative splits. For some reason this morning I woke up with 8:30/8:20/8:10/8:00/7:50 in my head. In know that's weird. I actually tried going back to sleep ... and was partially successful but those numbers never left my mind. Today's run was 8:40/8:12/8:03/7:59/7:44. I know negative splits should not be the focus of an "easy" run but that's just how it worked out today.


My calves were fairly tight throughout today's run. I suppose it's the mile repeats on the track yesterday.

PRE RUN
water

POST RUN
water, multivitamin & honey-almond granola w/1% milk

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Back to the Track: 3x1 Mile

OBJECTIVE
7 mi. including
WU
3x1 mi.@ 6:24 w/800 meter jogging recovery
CD

ACHIEVED
7.89 mi. including
WU: 1.92 mi.
6:17 / 6:23 / 6:19
CD: 1.47 mi.

6:14 AM 46° 87% 4 mph

Got a late start due to being at the Astros-Cubs game last night. (Astros won 3-2 in 10 innings.)

This was one of those workouts that loom ominously …. I didn’t “feel” ready when I set out. When I got to the track, I saw Hillary ??? (her last name escapes me now) from the Klein High cross country and track teams running with a high school guy. They were running mile repeats too … as best I could tell. She’s a sophomore phenom who qualified for state cross country the last couple years. I think she may have even finished 15th at state last fall.

As usual I started too fast. I really got on top of the first mile early and just coasted in over the back half. That’s not how it’s supposed to be done. I’d rather “build” than blast out but for some reason can’t seem to get myself to execute. The blast out approach usually ends up putting me in a place where I extremely gassed when finishing the last of the repeats. This was the case today too. Although I focused on pulling it back over the second and third mile while running as-even-as-possible quarter splits.

As always, it’s great to have a tough workout in the books. Tomorrow is a leisurely five-mile easy run and I’m already looking forward to Friday’s rest day!

PRE RUN
Weight = 159
water

POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin, bagel sandwich including 2 poached eggs, cheddar cheese & turkey breast
Later, blueberry/cranberry juice smoothie

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Slow & Easy 5 Miles

OBJECTIVE
5 mi.@ 8:09/mi.

ACHIEVED
5.10 mi.@ 8:14/mi.

5:27 AM 43° 49% 5 mph

Morning stroll. Uneventful except noodling on a work situation.

PRE RUN
Weight = 159.5

POST RUN
Water, multivitamin & oatmeal w/brown sugar & 1% milk

Monday, April 6, 2009

Follow-up to a "Miserable" Evening

OBJECTIVE
6 mi.@ 8:09/mi.

ACHIEVED
6.12 mi.@ 7:56/mi.

7:08 AM 47° 52% 9 mph

I got a late start this morning due to an evening at the theater last night. I went to Les Miserables with Paige and Cameron. My review: good show; deep multiple meanings; unbelievably talented actors.

Traffic patterns are much different at 7 AM than they are at 5 AM. To stay off Cypresswood at commuting time, I went out-and-back on the first half of the Wimbledon Forest Loop. I felt pretty good. My pace was faster than I wanted. I’ll work to pull it back tomorrow. It was cool when I started. So much so that I wore tights, gloves and hat. Of course, this led to being too hot a little over midway through the run.

PRE RUN
Weight = 161
Cream of Wheat w/brown sugar & 1% milk

POST RUN
Water, multivitamin, 5-grain hot cereal w/brown sugar & 1% milk

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Apr 5 – 11 Training Schedule

Sun: Rest
Mon: Easy 6 mi.@ 8:09
Tue: Easy 5 mi.@ 8:09
Wed: 7 mi. w/3x1600@6:24 & 800 jogs
Thu: Easy 5 mi.@ 8:09
Fri: Rest
Sat: Long 10 mi.@ 8:09

Run for The Rose 5K Pics

Run for The Rose 5K Pics

I find my race pictures to be quite comical. From my eyes, they don't even really look like me but rather a caricature of myself.

Sidebar: I knew it was going to be a good day when they handed me bib number 367. That was my house number when Paige, Cameron and I lived in South Weber.