April 2006 Archives

Last year, I was pretty pleased with my improvements at the Crazylegs Classic 8K race. This year, I didn't know what to expect. Training for the marathon has really improved my running. I wasn't quite sure just how much, so I did a quick check of my running pace averaged from every workout and race for each month since I started training. Sure enough, there was some serious improvement: pictures are worth a lot of words. (popup) Note the uptick in September 2005. My average pace for the IM was 11:xx per mile, and I didn't run again for the rest of the month.

I first noticed there was some potential to run fast when I ran most of the Crazylegs route as a Fartlek and ended up near the Stadium finish line in thirty-six minutes, four minutes faster than last year. Then I got sick and took a business trip to El Paso, losing valuable back to back training weeks. My knee hasn't felt quite right since, and I didn't know how it would hold up in the race. I promised to be responsive and if it hurt too much, I'd rest and hang back.

Wave starts were new this year at Crazylegs. Thirty-six waves of runners would start thirty seconds apart. The first group had fifty runners, and then there were about three hundred split in the remaining waves. The main reason for the wave start was a picture of last year's start where a ten year old boy started with the really fast people. Lots of people complained. With more than 10,000 runners every year, something had to be done. Wave assignements depended on your time. They used your previous time if you had run Crazylegs before. If you were new, you only had to prove your time if you can run an 8K faster than thirty-six minutes. Based on last year's time, I was assigned to wave H. But, since I was in a wave that didn't require a proof of time, there were many ten year-old boys and girls in my wave. Two were standing right next to me as we started. Both shouted at each other over their iPods; his a shuffle, hers a bejeweled mini. They continued to yell at each other as we reached the first hill. She started cramping. It was mile 0.4. Kids. Sheesh.

My first mile went by in a flash. All of sudden my watched beeped and I looked at a 6:59. Say wha? Too fast. I dialed it back in mile two, up Observatory Hill and by Liz Waters Dormitory, the hilliest section of the course. I cruised miles 3 & 4. And kicked it in for the final mile. My knee started to act up as I pushed it, but nothing I couldn't handle. Just before the last turn, I glanced at my watch, 35:xx; I need to haul to get the line under 37:00. I started a nice kick and took about five people with me. We all sped to the fifty-yard line. I stopped the watch on the mat: 36:49.

A full four minutes faster than last year, and light years ahead of two years ago. Crazylegs indeed.

It seems that the upward trend of oil prices has lots of people talking. Robert Kiyosaki has some interesting thoughts on the coming oil crisis. One such thought that struck me:

The problem today is that oil companies are too short-sighted, the environmentalists too far-sighted, and politicians only concerned with being elected. As a result, there will be a gap between the end of oil and a conversion to less destructive forms of energy. In this gap, all hell may break loose.

In The End of Suburbia (website), they talk that the coversion away from oil-based energy sources will happen at a community level, not so much on a world-wide basis. Could you ban together with your neighbors to get a solar array built to provide energy for the community? Neighbor disputes about grass height turn into disputes on electricity use and how many lights are needed to landscape the front yard. A brave new world indeed.

Midas awards dumbass for driving 372 miles round trip everyday. Said winner Dave Givens:

"I have a great job and my family loves the ranch where we live," he said in explaining why he makes the commute. "So this is the only solution."

Here's where it gets good:

"We were impressed with the [nearly 3,000] responses," said [Rick] Dow [senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Midas.] "Apparently, there are a lot of Americans putting a lot of miles on their cars to get to the office each day. Consequently, it's more important than ever that commuters properly maintain their vehicles."

No word on the impact to the envrionment by each of the 3,000 contest entrants. Dave, I suggest you rent The End of Suburbia. Not that it's all true, but it does provide some interesting viewpoints on where we're headed.

Frank: I told my wife I wouldn't drink tonight. Besides, I got a big day tomorrow. You guys have a great time.
College Student: A big day? Doing what?
Frank: Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time.

In college, you spent your idle Saturdays doing nothing, then a half-hour before the liquor store closed, you hurried down the aisles for the last case of cold beer. If the ladies were coming over, you might get a handle of something to mix.

After you graduated, you might've spent your Saturday's browsing Target for toilet paper, shampoo, and knick-knacks to decorate your apartment with.

Now, as homeowners, we spend our Saturday perusing things at Menard's. Not that I'm complaining. It's just interesting to see the progression.

In the latest Triathlete issue, amongst the "Checking In" section, there was an annoying pull-out ad for Hammer Nutrition. It was the kind you pull it out without even looking at it. It featured pro and age-group triathletes alike, all swearing by Hammer Nutrition products. I thought I recognized the beach featured for Adam Brown's picture as the very same one in Racine on the shores of Lake Michigan, used for the 1.2 mile swim in the Spirit of Racine Triathlon. In fact it was. I recognized the swim caps, then I caught the goggles on the guy behind Adam. Those kind of look like mine...that shoulder looks familiar, and that does look like my top. Perhaps? A double check of the swim splits confirmed it: That, in fact, is me running behind Adam. Sweet!

I'm thinking of asking Hammer for some free stuff.