6.0mi, 54:25, 28 FEB 07, Fort Leavenworth KS

Bjork and The Cure (mashup), "A Hidden Forest"
The Cure, "A Forest" (from the 1984 album Concert)

WX at 0700: 39.9 (4.4) DP 30.9 (-0.6) BP 29.65 (1004) E 22 overcast RH 69

Odometer 3: 216.7mi

Z3-4.

This morning called for some intermediate distance. It's been a while since I've done a run I call the Teardrop of Suck, because of its extensive uphill segments, but I think the recovery is continuing. The ability to get back up to speed once on level ground after an uphill is improving - although my uphill speed continues to be slow. Not much that can be done in the short term on that one.

Downhill speed was considerably better, but what else is new?

For anyone who has seen the video for The Cure's "A Forest," this morning's conditions were damned reminiscent of it...making this morning's iThink selections very appropriate.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.32 02:58 02:58 09:16 09:16 0.32
1.57 17:06 14:08 09:01 09:04 1.89
0.67 23:03 05:57 08:56 09:02 2.55
2.24 45:09 22:06 09:51 09:25 4.80
0.86 52:10 07:01 08:07 09:13 5.66
0.32 54:25 02:15 07:03 09:06 5.98

3.0mi, 24:49, 27 FEB 07, Fort Leavenworth KS

The Go! Team, "Huddle Formation"

WX at 0700: 25.0 (-3.9) DP 21.0 (-6.1) BP 30.04 (1017) ENE 8 clear RH 84 WC 15 (-9)

Odometer 3: 210.7mi

Z4.

Late start = short, fast run.

Or something short and relatively fast. 7:46 for a comparatively flat level is not bad for now.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.27 02:20 02:20 08:39 08:39 0.27
1.24 12:32 10:12 08:14 08:18 1.51
0.86 19:13 06:41 07:46 08:06 2.37
0.65 24:49 05:36 08:37 08:13 3.02

6,000m on Concept2, 25:42, 26 FEB 07, Fort Leavenworth, KS

Bjork and The Cure (mashup), "A Hidden Forest"

WX at 1200: 37.0 (2.8) DP 24.1 (-4.4) BP 29.84 (1010) Variable 3 clear RH 59

Z3 high.

Somehow, it just doesn't feel like 37F outside. it sure didn't after 6,000 at speed on the Concept. First time in a while.

It felt, well, surprisingly therapeutic. A recent thread on the Dead Runners Society Main List discussed rowing as an alternative exercise. I now don't feel as bad at not being able to regularly hold 2:00/500m because I'm short and kind of chubby. Still, today was distinctly faster than in the past. I was also going 4000m less than I usually do.

Splits
Distance: 6000
Time: 0:25:42
Per 500m: 02:08
Drag Factor : 178
Per Mile: 0:06:53

Not the way to start the season

If the rest of the season goes like this, it's going to be a long spring at Johns Hopkins.

Conventional wisdom is that Johns Hopkins is almost unbeatable at Homewood...which makes this gargantuan upset at Homewood by none other than ALBANY, of all schools, that much more of a kick in the nuts.

Of course, other teams that took it in the shorts this past weekend:
Maryland (loses to Georgetown for the first time)
Syracuse (go Army!)

And it sucks to be a returning national champion:
men: Virginia (losing to Drexel?!)
women: Northwestern (lost to Chapel Hill in 2OT last week)

That said - Duke beat both of their opposition - Dartmouth and Denver in their first game back from 2005. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Georgetown or Duke's sitting at #1 tomorrow.

Denver had a bad weekend in the Triangle, losing both to Duke and Chapel Hill.

I don't think this lacrosse season could get any more topsy-turvy. I can't wait to see what the different polls will have to say later this week.

9.0mi, 82:22, 25 FEB 07, Fort Leavenworth KS

Death Cab for Cutie, "All Is Full Of Love"
For Against, "Sabres"

WX at 0900: 30.9 (-0.6) 24.1 (-4.4) 29.6 (1002) W 16 overcast RH 75 WC 19.8 (-6.8)
WX at 0800: 30.9 (-0.6) 24.1 (-4.4) 29.57 (1001) WNW 20 overcast RH 75 WC WC 18.5 (-7.5)

Odometer 4: 15.8mi

Z3.

My rebuilding continues. There's a possibility that I overtrained this past week which might explain yesterday and today. I do find it hard to believe that going from about zero to 29 miles in a week constitutes overtraining, though. That's not really that much. Maybe it is.

Today was even more brisk than yesterday, with gusts forecasted for up to 30mph today. Better do it now than later, though.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.34 03:03 03:03 08:58 08:58 0.34
0.87 11:33 08:30 09:46 09:33 1.21
2.28 31:47 20:14 08:52 09:06 3.49
3.82 67:08 35:21 09:15 09:11 7.31
0.28 70:11 03:03 10:54 09:15 7.59
1.10 79:57 09:46 08:53 09:12 8.69
0.27 82:22 02:25 08:57 09:12 8.96

4.7mi, 44:13, 24 FEB 07, Fort Leavenworth KS

Unsensored, Life With Derek theme song (yes...shut up. They actually kind of remind me of a much younger version of Cruiserweight.)
The All-American Rejects, "It Ends Tonight"
Death Cab for Cutie, "The Sound of Settling"

WX at 0800: 42.1 (5.6) DP 39.0 (3.9) BP 29.51 (999) ESE 17 rain; mist RH 88

Odometer 3: 207.7mi

Z2-3.

I so did not want to go out this morning. Noting the wind, it was brisk, baby.

Still, I slept in yesterday (bad call) so I needed to go today.

Nothing ambitious, but just burning fat.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.27 02:34 02:34 09:30 09:30 0.27
2.09 22:20 19:46 09:27 09:28 2.36
2.09 41:48 19:28 09:19 09:24 4.45
0.27 44:13 02:25 08:57 09:22 4.72

3.0mi approximate, time indeterminate, 22 FEB 07, Fort Leavenworth KS

Silverstein, "My Heroine"

Odometer 3: 203.0mi

Z3-4.

This ordinarily wouldn't be worth commentary if I had not gone and run to the urinalysis I had to do this morning. I knew I was going to get chumped on the run, so I ran to the test site and back.

Return leg took about 12 minutes for 1.35mi or so.

6.8mi, 58:42, 21 FEB 07, Fort Leavenworth KS

Death Cab For Cutie, "The Sound of Settling"
Chris Cornell, "You Know My Name"

WX at 0600: 33.1 (0.6) DP 28.9 (-1.7) BP 29.86 (1011) SSW 8 clear RH 84 WC 26 (-3)

Odometer 4: 6.8mi (new shoes, woo hoo!)

Z3.

And the road to recovery continues. My legs were tired going uphill. I don't know if this is a consequence of not training consistently for the last few weeks, running on dreadmills only, or just residual suck from the Psycho WyCo 20-miler.

At least splits were generally negative. Mostly. The 1.24 legs were necessarily going to be longer - they included significant downhill stretches, whereas the .85 legs were mostly uphill or level...so the last 1.24/.85 block is a good sign - but I was speeding up to try to burn some runners ahead of me. Uncharitable, yes, but I don't care.

At level of effort, maybe I didn't lose as much as I thought I did. There were still some patches of ice that moderated my effort since I didn't want to totally wipe out on those isolated patches and skid on concrete.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.27 02:30 02:30 09:18 09:18 0.27
1.24 13:01 10:31 08:28 08:37 1.51
0.85 20:30 07:29 08:48 08:41 2.36
1.24 31:04 10:34 08:31 08:38 3.60
0.85 38:34 07:30 08:49 08:40 4.45
1.24 48:57 10:23 08:22 08:36 5.69
0.85 56:18 07:21 08:39 08:37 6.54
0.27 58:42 02:24 08:53 08:37 6.81

That's my laser pointer, the one with bad muthaf--

Your results:
You are Mace Windu
Mace Windu 73%
Chewbacca 69%
R2-D2 68%
Luke Skywalker 67%
Lando Calrissian 67%
Qui-Gon Jinn 66%
Han Solo 66%
Obi-Wan Kenobi 65%
Princess Leia 64%
Boba Fett 64%

Tall, dark, handsome and hairless. Others look up to you, so if you were a little less of a grump, you'd have more friends.

(This list displays the top 10 results out of a possible 21 characters)

Click here to take the "Which Star Wars character are you?" quiz...

A pointed editorial comment

What does this say about our level of national commitment?

In some of my more cynical moments, I've joked about a book I'd hypothetically call How We Lost The War.

This photo, taken at a Marine Corps base in Ramadi, Anbar Province, Iraq, would undoubtedly make the front page if that ever gets written.

~4.5mi, 42:27, 20 FEB 07, Fort Leavenworth KS

The Go! Team, "Huddle Formation"

WX at 0600: 33.1 (0.6) 28.9 (-1.7) 29.73 (1006) NNE 12 pcdy RH 84 WC 24 (-4)

Odometer 3: 199.8mi

Z3.

First run since the return of Household6 and the Sledgehammer...and it was a slow one. Some of this was also affected by the patches of sheet ice still on the ground from the last few days. Better discretion than valor, so I went easier today. I could feel it in the hip flexors, so I have a sneaking suspicion that March will be a rebuilding month. I also need to start doing situps and pushups in preparation for Air Assault School in a few months, hopefully.

I have noticed I need to wear a lot less snivel gear since I've gotten used to the cold. I didn't even bother with a hat when I went out this morning. This is either a good or a bad thing, but something that will undoubtedly change in the next two months...

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
0.27 02:25 02:25 08:57 08:57 0.27
1.24 13:45 11:20 09:08 09:06 1.51
0.86 21:59 08:14 09:34 09:17 2.37
0.20 23:49 01:50 09:10 09:16 2.57 estimate
0.75 30:44 06:55 09:13 09:15 3.32
1.00 39:41 08:57 08:57 09:11 4.32
0.27 42:27 02:46 10:15 09:15 4.59 estimate

10,000m on Concept2 Model C, 43:38, 15 FEB 07, Fort Leavenworth KS

The All-American Rejects, "It Ends Tonight"
shortly drowned out by the music coming from the aerobics class in the gym at the same time

WX at 0900: 5.0 (-15.0) DP -0.9 (-18.3) BP 30.44 (1030) NNW 7 light snow RH 76 WC -7 (-21.7)

Odometer 3: 195.2mi N/A

Z3.

First time on the Concept in a long while. I could tell I was going to take some suck on the time, but not really as much as I thought would be the case.

Still, I was looking for work, and work I got. It could have been so much worse. Hardest part was trying to maintain focus while the aerobics class (and its incessant music) was going on.

It's ungodly cold and will remain that way.

Household6 and the Sledgehammer return on Saturday. I think they'll be horrified at the weather since they're coming back from North Carolina.

Splits
Distance: 10000
Time: 0:43:38
Per 500m: 02:11
Drag Factor : 182
Per Mile: 0:07:01

3.74mi on the dreadmill, 30:04, 14 FEB 07, Fort Leavenworth KS

The Ocean Blue, "There Is A Light"

WX at 1700: 14.0 (-10.0) DP 5.0 (-15.0) BP 30.36 (1028) N 9 partly cloudy RH 66 WC 1 (-17)

Odometer 3: 195.2mi

Z4.

First run since the Psycho WyCo. It snowed 3-4" of powder since the run and I'm still single parenting.

This was not a catharsis run, but I felt good enough where I decided to turn on the jets as things progressed.

I started going about 8:34/mi on a 2% grade and by the end of mile 2 was going 8:00 on a 0.5% grade. By the last 6-7 minutes I was going progressively faster; by the time I was done, I was going 6:34/mi pace over the last 2 minutes of the session.

It was cold outside, but running sure felt therapeutic. Too bad it'll drop to 2F tonight for air temperature.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
3.74 30:04 30:04 08:02 08:02 3.74

20.7mi, 4:21:57, 10 FEB 06, Kansas City KS

stuck in the back of my head for the entire time:
- Chris Cornell, "You Know My Name"
- The All-American Rejects, "It Ends Tonight"

WX at 1200: 21.9 (-5.6) DP 3.0 (-16.1) BP 30.42 (1030) Variable 6 cloudy RH 43 WC 14.2 (-9.9)
WX at 1100: 18.0 (-7.8) DP 1.0 (-17.2) BP 30.43 (1030) Variable 5 cloudy RH 47 WC 10.6 (-11.9)
WX at 1000: 18.0 (-7.8) DP 1.9 (-16.7) BP 30.43 (1030) NNW 5 cloudy RH 49 WC 10.6 (-11.9)
WX at 0900: 15.1 (-9.4) DP 1.9 (-16.7) BP 30.42 (1030) NNE 7 clear RH 55 WC 5.1 (-14.9)
WX at 0800: 12.0 (-11.1) DP 3.0 (-16.1) BP 30.42 (1030) NNE 8 clear RH 66 WC 0.5 (-17.5)

Odometer 2: 346.5mi

Z3-4.

This morning's slug-a-thon was the Psycho WyCo Run Toto Run trail race. What a smoker. I asked whether I should wear shoes with sheet metal screws in them, as I had done to shoe pair 2. Those saved my bacon. I consider myself singularly fortunate that I only wiped out once during the entire 20 mile run.

By the end of mile 9, I was about done for running uphill. Any uphill in excess of 1% was walked from there on out. I simply did not have the raw leg strength to get uphill, and there were times that it was step, stop, step, stop, step. The worst part was trying to walk uphill some of the really steep climbs, except with ice added on!

This is absolutely the most punishing race I have ever run, and this includes the abortion of a pseudo-marathon that I ran at COB Speicher last April.

Race administration was actually very good. I have to credit Ben Holmes (race director) and the Kansas City Trail Nerds for a great, great race. The nature of the course was that people were very friendly, helped each other up, all that. I caught some guy who was sliding, almost about to go arse over teakettle down a very steep hill.

I make no apologies for my change in pace in the last half of the run. My legs were just toast, and to compound that, my stomach was doing flip flops about midway through the race. I should've taken some of the Tums antacids midway through the race; my stomach felt horrible from there on out until later after the race when I did eat some, which helped a lot. The catch-22 to walking/running was that if I stopped going uphill, I was going to cramp, badly. I worked through some of it during the race, but the only way to make sure it got addressed was to finish the race. Period.

Aggregate in-race chow, broken out among 8 feeding stops:
4 Krispy Kreme glazed donuts
5 PowerGels
7 Pringle's potato chips - particularly vital when my legs started to do a lot of cramping from electrolyte imbalance
8 oz Mountain Dew
8 oz Starbucks Frappucino (That really hit the spot on my last rest stop, about 2.5mi out from the finish)
probably something like a quart's worth of Hammer HEED.

After the race:
2 bowls of vegetarian chili. That was quite tasty!
8 oz Red Bull, non-diet version.

About 2/3 of the race course was covered in hard pack ice. That made running uphill (and downhill in some cases) a downright sporty experience. There were quite a few hills where I got to the base, started walking, and the priority was to find patches of brown, preferably dirt, where my screws would grab. My tunnel vision from just hanging on was bad. Going up a lot of those hills, I was focused on the 1.5-2 meters in front of me looking for just that next brown patch to step on. That's how bad the ice was.

I finished strong, with a big grin on my face. That I could actually run to the finish was intensely gratifying. The hardware was a pendant with the Psycho WyCo race symbol on it. Not a bad piece of hardware, and man, did I earn that in spades for running two laps of suck.

There was a sizeable field for this event, the vast majority of whom cut bait after the 10 mile distance. About a mile into the second lap, I was thinking about what the rationale was for signing up for this kind of floggery. My prediction of the operative mindset being "you can't kill me" was accurate.

Evil practical joke of the course: The race administration posted yellow signs throughout the course. About 4.5mi into the course, there was a sign that said "Mile 1." About 50 meters after that, there was another sign that said "Just Kidding!" with a smiley face on it.

I ran much of the course blind. I had bad tunnel vision because I was concentrating so hard just to avoid wiping out. My GPS would simply not acquire a signal. Period. I was never able to get a complete almanac download or satellite lock during the race. Not that it would've mattered. I'm not sure how much I wanted to know how slowly I was really going.

I am SO glad I didn't even entertain the thought of the 50km (30 mile) distance. There was no way my fat ass could take another lap of the course. I probably could've finished it had I walked the entire length in its entirety, but I wasn't having any of that!

A miracle: no blisters. I wore double-layer Wigwam racing socks, but the absence of blisters is nothing short of miraculous.

Epilogue: I finished 16th overall in the 20 miler, 8th overall in the men's 30-39 age bracket.

A truly great race! If I get another chance to try it, I probably will.

Splits
SEGMT AGGREGT SEGMENT PERMI AVGPC DIST
10.35 1:51:04 1:51:04 10:44 10:44 10.35
00.00 1:57:37 0:06:33 REST STOP AT 10-MILE POINT
10.35 4:21:57 2:24:20 13:57 12:39 20.70

2.5mi on the dreadmill, 22:29, 7 FEB 07, Fort Leavenworth KS

Theme song to Life With Derek. It was on the Disney Channel before the Princess and I went to her swimming lesson. So the song is kind of pedestrian, but it's stuck in my head.

WX at 1700: 21.9 (-5.6) 8.1 (-13.3) 30.34 (1027) NE 10 overcast RH 55 WC 11.2 (-11.6)

Odometer 3: 191.5mi

Z3.

I could open myself up to all sorts of cheap shots, but if I'm going to occasionally bribe the Princess with some glass tit milkage, it might as well be something I can tolerate. I don't mind the two shows that Disney has grafted from the Family Channel in Canada. Naturally, Sadie is one; Life With Derek is the other.

Ashley Leggat is kind of cute, but much more importantly, the writing in that show isn't so fucking pedestrian that it makes me want to climb a water tower with an M240B machine gun and a rucksack full of 4-in-1 ball and tracer mix...unlike, say, That's So Raven.

I find it really disturbing when That's So Raven is the most successful show in Disney Channel history. The only other show I really can tolerate on Disney Channel is Kim Possible, but I like shows about empowered redheads. (I wonder if that's why I latched onto the musical Annie at a young age...)

When I think of more provoking fare to watch with the family, maybe later, I have to think of My So-Called Life.

Anyway - probably second to last run before the Psycho WyCo this weekend. Controlled pace runs are becoming harder as I want to run faster. Tomorrow will be frustrating...plan is for two miles of pure wogging. Nothing more.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
2.50 22:29 22:29 09:00 09:00 2.50

Unbefuckinglievable

I don't watch the Super Bowl. I honestly chalk up the NFL with watching paint dry. My annual quota of 30 minutes of American football a year is secure after yesterday, after watching the Puppy Bowl III instead for a few minutes.

But I can't believe Garmin actually paid someone to come up with this ad that looks like something straight out of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.

That said, I almost fucking pissed myself laughing when I saw Super Strong Warner Siblings.

Potty, potty, potty! (watch your volume first.)

3.0mi on the dreadmill, 24:01, 5 FEB 07, Fort Leavenworth KS

Ashley Tisdale, cover of "Kiss the Girl." The one from The Little Mermaid. No shit.

WX at 1700: 21.0 (-6.1) DP 6.1 (-14.4) BP 30.4 (1029) E 12 overcast RH 52 WC 8.9 (-12.8)

Odometer 3: 189.0mi

Z4.

Probably too fast to be really useful, but mentally, this was a catharsis run in the making. This is the first run I've done since, well, last week.

I've been playing single parent in the meantime, as Household6 and the Sledgehammer are still away. The Princess just kicked a viral infection that had me quarantined in the house since last Wednesday, so no running then...well, I did run a mile and a half from the service station to get the Kubelwagen's tires rotated and balanced...to find that when I picked it up, one of the CV boots was damaged. I brought it in on Saturday, got it back today, about $430 looser in the shorts, although I did tie in the 40,000mi service that was also due on it. All things being equal, it was a hell of a lot less than what it would've cost had I driven the 35 miles to Gladstone MO to the nearest VW dealership.

I need to be more diligent on eating Naprosyn, regularly, so that I can generate the appropriate loading dose before I embark on the Psycho WyCo Run Toto Run this Saturday. I'm taking on the 20 miler. Nothing fancy, but I've screwed my shoes just in case...and I think that'll probably be a good idea based on conditions. I have a backup pair of unmodified shoes, just in case.

I have an opportunity to do one or two more runs as part of the taper. Those runs need to be real taper runs, not the festival of intemperate fury that today's run became.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
1.00 08:12 08:12 08:12 08:12 1.00
1.00 16:08 07:56 07:56 08:04 2.00
1.00 24:01 07:53 07:53 08:00 3.00