Detroit Marathon Teaser

No time to do a full recap today.  I will let you know that I survived and I'm sore.  I'm also in the Detroit Free Press, thanks to Bill Laitner.  I didn't find that out until I made it to work and had to field questions regarding my erectile functions.  Pretty awesome memory just being in the paper alone, but the marathon itself is something I'm not going to forget.  More later...promise.

Now you all know my real name.

Broseph Liebsterman

Shannon over at I Survived & Now I Run nominated me for a Liebster award.  After my first impulse of "What the H is that?" and my second impulse of "Does this have anything to do with that real life senator that looks like senator Palpatine?" my third impulse was that maybe I could actually follow through on one of these bloggy communitish thingamawhosits.

Real Senator or Star Wars Senator?

The idea is to get more followers, and, of course to win, but Rod Roddy hasn't told me what I could win.  I assume that's because he's no longer with us, but Shannon didn't seem to tell me either.  So I'm going to assume that if I win I get taken to a remote location, blindfolded, and have to swing at this pinata that will be full of extra blog followers.  Kind of like that trojan horse thing, except they don't kill you, just read your blog and tell you how you shouldn't be drinking Big Bear Malt Liquor the week before your marathon.  However, I believe it was making the Detroit Tigers win.  So I refuse to stray from the strategy.

Those aren't mine...

Anyway...shall we get on with it.  The Liebster award is not like 'Nam, there are rules, and they are the following:

Okay first off, let's throw up that Brent "fact" board:

1)  I can't stand our political system in all of its corruption, ineptitude, and the lack of control we seem to have over it anymore, yet, 90% of my "leisure" reading seems to be political non-fiction.

2) I almost never read fiction, because I believe that real life is just as interesting or more, and reading about  things that never happened seems like too much of a waste of my time unless I'm really really buying into it.

3) Like my nominator, I also have never been on a plane.  I don't have a lot of fear of the dying or crashing or any of that.  I just don't want to be up there.  Pretty much like being on the roof at work.  It's impossible to fall or ever go through, but, again, I just don't want to be up there.  Also the plane is 1,000 times higher.

4) My first not under-the-table job was a McJob, and I assure you the egg doesn't come in a round loaf like it shows in "Clerks 2"

5) I have weird issues with people I don't know really really well touching me.  I have a huge comfort bubble that has many layers you have to slowly peel over time.  Some of that can be dropped really quickly, but it takes a certain type of person, I suppose.

6) I have always considered myself a cat person, but my wife made us get a dog.  Now I love him, so I'm fairly pet neutral now.

7) I don't like spending money.  That literally goes for everything, even grocery shopping.  Letting go of money and/or having debt for any reason makes me anxious.  The only time I was actually able to not have this bother me was for my wedding/honeymoon.  Though I still refuse to tally the costs of that.

8) I have a huge affinity for old/dead technologies. I still love cassettes.  My original nintendo and my father's atari are still in prime working condition.  I've always had vinyl in my life, even before it became cool again.  Also, I still have refused to upgrade most of my movies from VHS because I have a perfectly good VCR.

9) I'm sure I've seen every movie John Cusack's been in and apparently my man-love for him is so obvious that it was brought up in my best man's speech on my wedding day.  I pretty much love Joan too.

10) I have an embarrassingly large collection of Care Bears for a grown man.  I don't know how this started.  I know as far as collection hobbies goes...I mean..."I shouldn't have had it, but I just couldn't help myself.  Do you think I lack self-discipline?"* (* - See #9)

11) If I could go back in time and see any band live, I'd probably go see Queen, at least that's been my steady answer for the last 5 years.

Questions from Shannon


1) Best thing about your life? My lady, and no I'm not pandering, because I don't think she even reads my blog anymore.

2) Scale, yes or no? I only use the one on the dock at work when I walk by it.  Otherwise I don't really use a scale.  We have one at home, but I mostly use that for weighing the dog and cat.

3) Worst running injury? I haven't really had one directly from running yet, knock on wood.  I've had a nasty trampoline injury, though (see my first post ever)

4) Favorite place to visit on Vacation? Sleeping Bear Dunes.  It's easy to relax there.

5) Favorite thing to do on a rainy day? Probably pop on a record and grab a book, but most of the time when I get stuck inside, I waste all my time cleaning the house because it needs it.

6) Favorite piece of exercise equipment? I don't really have any.  Usually they must end up being clothes racks for people, and I haven't met a piece of equipment I would actually use.  Does the Wii count?

7) Favorite Season? Fall.  Leaves, colors, cool weather, and pumpkins.  That does it for me.

8)  One thing from your bucket list you have done? Finally made it to Fenway Park last year on our honeymoon.  That was a nice checked box for me.

9) Favorite Celebrity? As I said before, I get a lot of guff for my Cusack love, so we'll roll with that.  There's a few others in the competition but we'll go with him based on long-term stability.

10) Favorite holiday and why? Toss up between Halloween and Thanksgiving.  Halloween because I love costumes, and being surprised by what people dress up as.  Now that I'm older, I also like taking a tally of what the kids are going as so I actually know what's the big thing with them these days.  Thanksgiving because I can do a road race, eat food, watch football, eat more food, and then (if my birthday is close enough to that Thursday) I get presents.

11) Favorite food and drink? Not to be a complete male stereotype, but there's nothing better than a pizza and a good cold microbrew.

Blogs I'm nominating (there's one renom in here that Shannon already got, but everyone else had 200+ followers and there was nothing in the rules about duplicating nominations).

1) Thru Thin and Thick

2) The Journey is the Reward (the duplicate)

3) Running Spike (even though his back-up team is the Yanks)

4) GaUDeNTiUS: Fat Runner

5) Running one mile, 13.1 times

6) Run Lily Run

7) Read/Write/Run

8) "OH BOY" I need to run!

9) FEAR The Carbs

10) John's Barefoot Running Blog

11) Running, Writing, and Chasing the Dragon

Questions my nominees need to answer (if the want to).  I can't really twist your arm.

1) What kind of animal(s) do you have, and what are their names?

2) Do you have a favorite or "lucky" article of clothing?

3) When you have a night to yourself to go somewhere, where do you hang out?

4) What's the last movie you saw in the theatre?

5) What's your guilty music pleasure? (we all have one)

6) Do you have a personal catchphrase or motto when it comes to life?  If so what is it?  If not, make one up...now.

7) What's the one possession (not your family or animals, let's assume they're all safe) you'd grab if your house were going up in flames?

8) Do you run outside in the inclement weather?  Is there a limit where you draw the line and say "nope, not today," and do you switch to indoor exercise of some type?

9) What's the most "jerkface" thing you've seen done during a road race from a fellow runner or even a spectator?

10) If you were going to be turned into an aquatic animal, and there was no way to avoid it, what would you choose to be?  (anything that spends a majority of its time in water is allowed)

11) Have you ever been part of any kind of protest, and what was it for/against?

I look forward to your answers.

Also, I'm guessing this will be the last time you hear from me until the Detroit Marathon (D12) is over.  Wish me luck.  Right now I have to admit I'm honestly very nervous, almost panicky.  I'm just not very calm about it.  In about an hour here, I'm heading down to the expo to get my packet, and then I'll be milling around one of the Detroit bars hoping that Michigan State can pull one more win out against Michigan.  My hopes aren't high, considering I didn't do my normal cursing ritual at the Big House and didn't run the annual Tailgate Challenge (both superstitions I like to keep).  So they're going to have to do it themselves.

Hopefully I'll calm down here.  I should be okay, right?

Who's reaching out to tickle a horsie?...

...everyone knows it's Brencho.

My running P.I.C. worked Friday, and was busy this weekend.  So I'm not going to just go out there and run by myself on a Saturday and actually push out any real mileage right now.  I'm done with this.  This window is closed.  I want to run my stupid marathon, and immediately start training for the Santa Run (which is just eating cookies and milk).  I'm usually done by now.  Last year I stretched out the season with the Brooksie, and this year it's Detroit Marathon 2012 (D12) making me run when I just want to hang out and enjoy the fall.

Still though, it's not time to completely lay back. I have two one big runs this week, and then it's a nice week off before the big boy. This past weekend I managed to force myself up early to go run the Brückeläufe. It was a long shot, game day decision. I told myself the night before I wasn't going to do it. I wasn't registered and I hate paying day-of premiums. I set the alarm pretty much assuming that I would shut it off and just wake up too late, make some huevos rancheros, and watch some Premier League and MSU simultaneously (which I did anyway after the race).

However, the alarm went off.  I got up out of bed, and started walking around.  I told myself that my heel was hurting too much to run, but 5 minutes later I found myself in the shower.  After that I got dressed to run, and headed out the door.  I was running late, and still had to get gas.  I had my last out when someone asked for a jump, but I didn't have time.  Usually I would, but if I did, I was going to be too late to run, and if I helped I knew I would have skipped the race.  Pretty sure they'd be fine.  It's a gas station, someone will help.  I still felt a bit guilty, though.

I felt less guilty when I arrived at the registration table at 7:53 for an 8:00 start.  I signed up really quick, dropped the race shirt at the car, and ran up to the start.  I said hello to a few familiar people (wow...I'm like one of these runner people now, aren't I?) before the national anthem, and we started the race (probably a little late).

The race course of 13 bridges over the 13.1 miles was fantastic.  We ran by a farm with a bridge on it around mile 8, and I had to stop and pet the horses.  I was just out there enjoying the race.  I haven't done that in a while on these longer runs.  I already had my PR last week, and this race was just about enjoying it while holding back enough at a semi-realistic marathon pace.  I was glad to be in that kind of mood for this race, because it gave me a chance to take in the sights.  A lot of it was a backwards version of the Volkslaufe, but the fall colors were beautiful throughout the farmland out there so it felt new.  It also made me care less when I had a huge head wind with a slight manure smell coming straight at my face from about 10.5 to 11.5.  I really couldn't do much more than fight it and laugh at everyone else fighting the wind or being seriously bothered by the smell.  

When all was said and done, I still popped in at a 2:09:05, which is only second to the PR I set the previous weekend.  So I still had a pretty good run, especially for not really pushing it.  I was honestly expecting more time on that clock.

On the way home, I stopped by the Farmer's Market to pick up some breakfast stuff, and i stopped by the Porter's Orchard booth outside to buy the famous apple cider slushie.  The woman said, "You're in shorts, and you want a frozen drink when it's this cold out, you must be crazy."  Instead of bothering to explain myself or the run, I just said "uh-huh" and turned and walked away drinking my slushie.

Shirt/Medal

Medal Close Up

Feeling UnstoppaBrooksie

As usual, my race prep. for the 5th Annual Brooksie Way Half Marathon left much to be desired.  The race itself is fairly early and about a 45 minute drive from me, so it was an early up.  I was up earlier than needed because I thought the 13.1 started at 7:30, but it was 8:05.  I didn't tuck myself in until about 1am, and it's usually at least an hour to get to sleep.  Saturday night it was more like an hour and a half, because I was either still wound up from MSU losing to Ohio State, or because of pre-race excitement.

Either way I didn't get enough sleep when the cell alarm came on at 5am, and it made me wonder for a split second why the hell I set an alarm for Sunday.  Luckily I was just alert enough to remember I had a race, and get ready.  I felt pretty good considering just hours before I had just downed a truckload of Little Caesar's pizza and went to the Double J for two PBR 40s after the Spartan loss.  Hopefully that's the last of the losses to hated teams this year, because the MSU/U of M game is the day before the marathon.  Maybe I'll just not watch.

J got here just as I was finishing up the whole get ready routine, including the new addition of "swaddle the foot and stuff it in a shoe," which you too can play at home.  On the way down he shared his story of parking right in front of a Dodge Ram who pulled horizontally across 3 handicap parking spaces to run into the gas station.  J pulled into the next open parking spot, immediately in front of the truck, so he would be forced to back out like everyone else, just to make a point.  That point being, "Being a lazy prick does not make you special."  He then waited in the gas station until the man got into his truck, visibly upset, and had to back out. Personally, I found this hilarious.  What makes it even better is that I kind of view the Ram as my nemesis vehicle.  Most of the people that have one seem to have no real functional use for it, so it's a complete resource waster.  On top of that, I just seem to have more problems with that make and model than any other vehicle on the road.  Their drivers seem to be universally dickish (even Esquire, which is only written and read by dicks, agrees, so they must be the dicks of even dick island).

Anyway, after many long tangential conversations of laughter, we arrived at Oakland University.  Packet pick-up was really quick that early, and there was literally no waiting.  It was still somewhere in the 40s, temperature-wise, so we went back to the car and sat until 7:15.  Then we sat in the corral just in front of the 10 min pace mark for 15 minutes wondering what was going on and where everyone was.  I didn't find out they actually listed an 8:05 start until today.

This was my first half since The Legend and I wasn't about to sit back and not go for it.  The goal was to do like the Crim, start moderately quick and just try to hold that pace for as long as I could.  I pulled ahead of the 2:10 pacers about a mile in, and when I saw I was pulling up on the 2:00 pacers, I throttled back a bit.  J was pacing for his marathon, so he didn't run away like usual and stayed with me.

Official Pacer Outfits

Eventually, about 2 miles in I actually passed the 2:00 pacers and got some bright idea about getting a 2:00 monkey off my back like one of my fellow bloggers did.  Then the 2:00 pacers passed me back at 6 1/2 and started pulling away at 8, so that was the end of that.  For the record, the 2:00 things is not a barrier I consider beatable or realistic this year, so it's not even a mini-monkey.  I just wanted to see how long I could fight them off.

The second half of the race is a tough non-stop barrage of hills, and the first big one took a big cut out of me.  My legs felt dead, and I was starting to feel sorry I pushed so hard the first half, knowing what was to come for the rest.  I shook off a lot of negative thoughts and tried to keep pushing through that hill as hard as I could.  I think for the first time I actually told myself it would be okay if I had to stop, as long as I ran for as long as I could.  I really slowed down and sputtered up that hill.  I think for that sliver of time, it was probably pushing a 11/12 minute pace.  I was really worried that that was how it was going to be for the rest of the way, which would have just been brutal when I was putting everything I could into it.

You think you're doing good the first half, and then...

Luckily I snapped out of it and even found by the 3rd big hill I was starting to drop back into my running zone.  I was taking well to the hills and actually picking up a few spots again.  Still no sign of the the 2:00 pacers, though.  So I set my heart on not letting the 2:10 ones pass me, or holding them off as much as possible.  At least I'd finish in my usual range, or maybe, just maybe, push somewhere close to my 2:09 PR. Never did find anyone with a beer like last year, though, and I could have used a little hair of the dog.

I still had J with me, and the hills kept coming.  I was feeling pretty good the rest of the race, other than a little bit of a tight hammy that kicked in about mile 11.  With only 2 to go, it wasn't a big deal, though.  I'm sure it was from over-compensating for the heel, even though I didn't feel it that much during the race.  I just kept running, looking for that 12, then the 13, and then the time clock.  When the clock came up, I knew there was still a zero up there as the second number, and as I came into my push, realized it was reading 2:05.  I made a huge push to the finish.

I pulled in crossing at about 2:06:15, knowing I had a PR in the bag.  I got my medal and grabbed a water and an orange slice, and wrapped myself in a nice space blanket.  I met back up with J, who crossed when I did (and who could have went faster, but still set a PR), and immediately started to feel my heel.  Adrenaline is amazing, sometimes.  I didn't feel the thing at all until then, because I was all jacked up on the race juice.

We walked back to the race tent where they scanned our bibs with some fancy phone and it showed your time.  Officially, I was 2:05:15, which was absolutely fantastic and about 10 minutes faster than I had honestly expected.  It was a good run, and I did about all I could out there.

Today everything was sore.  My whole body hurt, especially my stomach muscles (yes, they're in there somewhere), my legs, and my back muscles.  Even my arms are a little testy.  I just feel like I put my whole body into this race, and I haven't felt this tired from a halfer since that first Martian Race.  I'm very content with ending 2011 with a 13.1 PR to go with the 5K and 8K.  I still wish I'd stepped up a bit more for the Crim and grabbed the 10 mile one too, because there won't be another ten.  I still have a shot at a 10K, maybe.  Of course, this year is still all about 26.2, and it may be my next official race.  Not a lot of time left, and I can attest to the fact that the anticipation is killing me.  It feels like Crim #1 all over again.

Post Race Medal Pose

Front (this medal's awesome)

Back

5 Shirt, 5 Medal

Maybe I Should Have Rethought My Blog Name

For those of you that have actually seen "Run Fatboy Run," you know Simon Pegg's character Dennis finishes his marathon on an ankle he has no business running on.  I am starting to feel his fictional pain.

Last week, I had to cut off our long run at 15 miles.  I just couldn't take it anymore.  Today, even with remembering to douse my foot in Icy Hot, didn't feel much better, and I was happy to be done at 13 miles, which was all we had on the schedule.  Last Friday, I tucked my doubts away with my wife and my friend  over a few Hofbrau Oktoberfest pitchers at Frankenmuth's Oktoberfest in the big steel beer tent.

Beer

After enjoying myself too much and possibly yelling several times of how this festival was "the best bar ever!" (even though it's not a bar), we left and had the compulsory pretzel on the way out.

Pretzel Time

So, I don't know.  I'm trying to survive this last month without finding out what's wrong, for reasons I've mentioned and, also, because I think if I find out I'll mentally give myself an out.  Like Dennis...I refuse to be stopped.  My mom, who is a nurse, insists I get it checked, but we'll just tell her next weekend that it feels fine now (while I pretend to walk normally right after running a 13.1 at The Brooksie Way).

Also, I would really like to point out that, as of September 3rd, I have been married for a full year, and my wife and I have been together for 6.  It has been a fantastic life since we've met, and I am incredibly lucky to find someone that makes every night feel like a slumber party with my best friend.

Epic Flint Photo

For our anniversary, we went to Ludington to relax and do nothing at a B&B.  We ran into my aunt, uncle, and cousins after my cousin Erica yelled my name from a truck when we were walking from the beach.  We got to spend some random time with them.  That was a nice coincidence, because, as I said before, I need to see them more often.  Right now I'm wishing I was down at the MSU/OSU game with my cousin, even though he's an OSU fan (blech!).  For the most part, we just went out to eat, went to bars, hung out at the water, and relaxed in the hot tub drinking champagne at the B&B (like a boss!).

Before we headed up there, we went back to the scene of the crime where we ate the first night we met, and were very happy that the same booth we shared 6 years ago was the only one available.

We did not order the same things, though.  It was breakfast, not 1am.

Brooksie Way Half-Marathon is looming tomorrow, and the Detroit Marathon is getting very very close.  This is going to get real interesting, real quick.

Overdue Recap #3 - The Crim

In Brent vs. The July I had vowed to get off my sorry ass and make myself accountable last month. With The Legend making me look like a complete jackass, I didn't think I was off to a very good start.  Just looking at my Crim time last year and how good and perfect I ran (for me), I just didn't see how I was going to get there.  The two weeks prior I had to shut down the "long runs" because 20+ miles was just more pain than I could bear.  Still though, I was doing 13ish and this was only a 10 mile race.  The main problem was I was pretty much carrying myself with my left leg, and by the end of Wednesday right before the race, it definitely felt like it. 

Despite all the "Accountability August" stuff, I wasn't going to make pre-wedding weight.  I dropped some poundage, though, and 10 lbs down in a month was nothing to sneeze at.  All things considered, I was about as ready as I thought I could be for the race.  So it was time to get into the mindset for it.  I went downtown to the all you can eat charity pasta dinner.  I'm not sure the charity made any money off of me, because I had a lot of food.  After my third plate, and realizing everyone I came into the tent with was long gone except one old woman, who i swore had 4 plates in the time I ate 3.  I am not a slow eater, or a light one.  I have mad respect for that woman.

I decided to stop into the Torch and get a quick Huma Lupalicious pint before heading home.  I saw two brightly dressed girls that I figured were going to the 80s events, but you can't tell with kids and their dressing these days, so I didn't want to ask and risk offending them.  So I quietly finished my beer and walked home to put my wonky leg up.  My wife was "Up North" camping with her work girls, so I had the place to myself for the weekend, but there was no excitement.  I take the Crim too seriously for shenanigans.  So I spent the rest of the night watching Patrick Troughton era Doctor Who episodes and working on finishing up Bill DeSmedt's novel "Singularity."  I turned in very early while our dog Renfield waited at the door all night waiting for my wife to come home.  He's a big time momma's boy.

J arrived right on time in the morning.  I had woken up right on time and stepped out of the bed to the usual heel pain, but went through my morning race prep routine anyway.  I was all ready with my blue Flash shirt on, and we headed on down.  He still had to pick up his packet and check what in it he wasn't wearing, but that didn't take too long.  We were in seperate waves (him in B and I in C), but we couldn't move once we got in the corral, so he had to stay back in C with us slackers.  We were reminded this was the last year they were doing the beer at Cashew point, pretty much daring us to all drink a beer there.  Then they let the groups ahead of us go, and finally it was our turn.  We hit the start gate while Genesee Towers protesters  uselessly waves signs to our left.  Not the time or place, guys.

Two miles in and my heel hadn't numbed up yet.  I was not near the pace I needed to beat last year, and it felt like I was still doing all I could.  Here I was only a 1/5th of the way through, and I felt winded, sweaty, sore, and tired.  No shocker that when I saw the man holding the doughnut box on University Ave., I didn't partake.  One of these years...but not this one. 

The third mile up and downs down University didn't do me any favors, but I felt inspired by the fact I was still catching people in my heat, and I was pushing up the hills, and cutting loose down them.  Still wasn't feeling great, but I was coming out of a it a little. 

In the stretch of the 4th mile, a little discouraged with the fact my heel and my speed weren't allowing me to beat last year, I gave in to the temptation at Cashew point and I had a beer.  I'm not sure which beer it was.  If I had to guess it was a Bud Light or Coors Light.  Whatever it was, I'd like to thank Denny Donlan and his family for doing this for the past 20 years, and giving the race some added charm.  I'm glad I got to partake at least once.

Miles 5 and 6, despite the Bradleys were just awesome for me.  I gave up trying to baby my foot.  I figured it was going to hurt no matter what I did, so I started making my right leg work again.  Just before hitting the second hill of the Bradleys was the 5th mile, and I realized I put up a flat 9:00 between 4 and 5.  Apparently my body reacts positively to beer during exercise.  So, what'd I do?  You guessed it.  At 5 1/2 there was another group of bros handing out beers, and all the bushed post-Bradley chest-heavers refusing them, left and right.  When they heard a "beer me" coming from this big dude there was a fantastic reaction from them, especially after I chugged it in one gulp, let out a warrior's scream of "hell yeah," and gave the tail-end guys in their group high fives.  I was all jacked up now, but I took a bottle of water immediately after and chugged that just to avoid any dehydration issues down the line. 

Through 7 and 8 I was still cutting off time.  I figured I still didn't have much shot at another Crim PR, but I kept up what I could.  The heel pain was really noticeable now, and getting worse.  I had to get done and get off of this thing.  I really wished I wasn't hurting.  Other people were hurting out there as well, just from being tired, hot and exhausted.  It wasn't a cool day by any means, and I spent a lot of this stretch talking to people and trading encouragements.  Then, I saw Bobby Crim near the back half of mile 7, and had to turn out of my way to take the chance to thank him.  The 81-year-old founder of the race said that this may be his last year running it, and there was no passing up the opportunity to be one of the many people that stopped to thank him before going on their way. 

The last two miles just sort of went.  I pushed through with about all I had left, and came down the stretch looking for familiar faces.  I didn't see or hear any, so I had to encourage myself into a sprint to the end.  I crossed a sweaty, sore, and tired mess to find one familiar face in J, who had already grabbed me a water and was waiting for me knowing I'd need it.  I admitted defeat, pretty much knowing I was not faster than last year.  My best guess at the time said it was 2-4 minutes slow, based on my clock time.

We grabbed our free pizza slice, and choked down some free Miller 64.  I think free was still too expensive.  It's awful, awful stuff.  I still maintain that they are cutting Old Milwaukee 50/50 with water ("you mean, like, in the toilet?").  We had to stop in to The Torch for a beer just to wash that out.  I went with my Huma, J with his newfound love for Sam's Boston Lager.

 On the way back I saw a couple (complete with ginger girl, like my wife) that had just got married that day walking around Flint getting their wedding photos by the Cultural Center.  I mentioned to them that I was doing the same just about a year ago and congratulated them.  We got back to my place to check times.  He wanted to know if he beat another guy we know.  He didn't, and missed him by only 20 seconds.  I checked my time only to see I averaged a 9:30/mi with a 1:34:55, and missed my PR by only 52 seconds.  You know, about the amount of time I probably took between taking two beers, goofing off, and thanking a certain race dignitary. 

Even knowing that, I have no regrets.  I ran a great race, considering, and had I known that a PR was still on the line, I might not have participated so much in the race stops (especially the beer), talked to so many of the other racers exchanging words of encouragement, and stopped for Mr. Crim.  Maybe I could have done a little better had I drew out a race plan like last year, but I didn't because I didn't know what to expect with the heel.  There's not a lot of assurance that it would have helped me, either.  Sure there's a little nagging voice in my head that's still screaming, "A measley 6 seconds per mile.  You could have taken that off," but I said before I'd be lucky to get under 1:40.  So coming that close was really surprising, and I'll take it.

My apologies for no pictures.  The official photographers didn't get anything of me worth posting and, as I stated, my shutterbaby was out of town.  So here is a picture of the dog wearing my Crim medal instead.

Overdue Recap #2 - Blueberry 8K

Montrose's Blueberry Festival Race has been on my radar the last three years.  There's just something I like about its small, hometown feel that makes me keep showing up.  The first year doing this was was essentially to set up a desired Crim pace for my first ever shot at the 10-miler and see if I felt like I could go another 5 miles after the 8K.  Last year I just showed up, despite running a half the night before, and I still couldn't tell you why.  I think I just piled on every race I could, and running tired for this one just gave me a nice last place finish to show for it, and nearly a 10 minute pace.

This year was the first time I brought J with me.  He was supposed to work that morning, but, considering we were starting at 7:30 for an 8K and he didn't need to be to work until 10:30, he figured he had plenty of time to go with me, run, and get back home for a shower before work (this is foreshadowing that it was a mistake to believe that).  I was doing a really poor job of paying attention to him talking to me on the ride there, and once we were all signed up and ready.  I put it in my mind that I was running this one as hard as I could, start to finish, in a semi-dedication to my cousin.  When that wasn't in my head, the other side of my thoughts were wondering how I could even do that when my foot (mostly my heel) had been in pretty consistent pain since our run the previous Monday.

 I can't tell you how I hurt it or when it started for sure.  All I know is for the last four weeks I've had what is mostly a constant, dull pain in my heel, with small sharp ones that are present from time to time.  I was a little out of it on the run that Monday, but I vaguely remembered a few sharp pains during, which I'll get just normally if I land wrong on a foot with my weight, so they're often easy to ignore.  Later in the night it turned into a duller pain and my right foot was noticeably swollen.

The next morning, when I got out of bed, it felt like someone had been beating my heel with a hammer all night.  Pretty much every morning since has been some variation of that.  The mornings after runs are much worse, but I've been taking running much easier and skipping a few runs a week just to keep it bearable.  Before the Blueberry, I had rested it almost a full week.  It still hurt.  Screw it, though, I was there, and I was going to run hard and get this thing over with. J had even loftier plans.  He was going to try to keep the ambulance, which is essentially the "make way" vehicle for the leaders, in sight. 

When they let us go, I set up fast early, but definitely not as fast as my friend who, had run off with the leaders, making me wonder if I was going to eventually catch a very winded friend later and actually nip him at one of the races (which hasn't happened a lot this year).  Hell, about a mile in I was starting to rethink whether I could hold onto my pace.  I wasn't even gaining on anyone, and nobody was passing me.  I was in a nice little "me bubble."  I kept telling myself, "Keep running, those people ahead are going to fall off," mostly ignoring the fact that they were actually slowly starting to pull off from me.

Two miles in, I felt I was digging into reserves already.  My foot was screaming at me.  I couldn't even see J anymore (bad sign), and those same two people were still in front of me, about the same distance they were before.  At least they weren't further ahead.  I just kept holding on.

Three miles in, same people, same place, and probably the longest stalemate I've ever seen between runners behind and runners ahead of me.  Was it actually possible to run an entire 8K without passing anyone or anyone blowing by me?

Four miles in...nope, those late-comer fast people that always miss the start and catch you during the race finally pass me, letting me know how boss they are and that they can show up late for a race and still be finished before me.  We're on the way back, and the 5K walkers are starting to merge back with us for the last mile.  Alright!  People to pass!!  Speaking of, those two ahead of me are getting closer.  I'm exhausted, but I get them, and then latch on to a dude in front of me that I know, in my head, I have no chance to catch.  I go for it anyway.

Last charge (less than a half mile left).  I've actually pulled up on "Mr. Far" (yes, this is an intentional Crispin Glover "Clownly Clown Clown" reference).  We duck behind the school, off-road for a last stretch across the lawn and then across the parking lot area, before hitting the last part, which is a loop around the Montrose school track.  I'm dodging walkers and any remaining 8K people and making sure I fully empty out everything I have.  Today would not be like The Legend.  Even if my time isn't great, I was giving it all up.

Turning the corner before going into the track

I get to the track and look at the clock, and if there were anyone to talk to I'd be speechless (mostly because I can't breathe).  Just a small loop around a track, and the time clock is only reading 42 minutes and some change.  I could crawl on my hands and knees to the finish, and still have an 8K PR.  I didn't.  Instead I told myself to try to get in by the 43:00 mark, and pushed it even harder.  I crossed the finish line right at 43:00 (no chip start, so end time is official time), and immediately dropped down to the ground for a sit.  J was giving me some congratulatory words, but I was too out of breath to even give a "thank you" at that point.  It was a PR by just over 2 full minutes.

He told me he was able to keep the ambulance in range and finished at 40:08 (8:04/mi).  My 8:39/mile was the first time I ever broke under a 9 minute average for anything beyond a 5K.  Eventually I got up and leaned against a fence for a while, before proceeding to the gym for results.  The first round was just being posted and we saw we were first and second in our age group.  That was encouraging until, as they kept posting updated results, we realized we were the only two 30-34 year-old men there.

Who cares, though, we still get medals.  Unfortunately, despite the fact we were done running by about 8:15, the wait for the medals took forever.  J asked if they could mail his or he could get his early because he had work at 10:30.  Apparently the organizer didn't listen or care, and told him he couldn't have it and they don't mail them.  Giving out medals didn't even start until 9:45.  I think that's pretty damn ridiculous, personally.  I love running, and I'm all for seeing everyone get their swag and sticking around for it, but don't waste that much of people's time for no reason.  Even worse is the organizer did our race dead last, after 5K run, 5K walk, random giving away of stupid gift certificates, 8K walk, and then finally the 8K run.  Jason decided to stay for his medal, making him late for work, and it was about 10:15 when we finally got them.  That's two full hours after we, average runners at best, finished the 8K. 

Medal Up!

Front of the Frozen with the Regular

Double 2nd medals.  Both days only one other person in my age group.

One of the most infuriating things in the world for me is when someone wastes my time.  I'm severely mental about making good use of time.  Even my leisure time has objectives and targets, so wasting two hours sitting in the gym, waiting for medal for an 8K isn't my idea of a good time.  Had it been just me, I may have bolted by then, and I didn't even have anywhere to be.  I swear I'm going to start bringing a book, because there's always a little bit of a wait if you age group.  No, it's never usually two hours, but it's usually about 30-45 minutes.  That's reasonable, though.  The Blueberry wait was outrageous, and I'm tempted to boycott next year now.  I haven't been that mad at a race since the Turkey Trot gave my shirt away (that I paid extra for the XXL) two years ago (which is why I boycotted last year).  I was tempted to carve up their staff and bring them home to eat.  They probably deserved it much more than the turkey that day.  You don't give pre-registered people's shirts away before the race to late registrants.  You tell them they can have one after the race if the pre-registered ones don't show. 

I'm going to stop writing before I work myself up...