Day 18 Leaving Car at Home

Not much else going on in life now.  I'm still enjoying Lost, and I'm at 25 miles for the week so far, with three training days left.  I've been drinking too much beer lately and tried to trick myself into cutting back by buying some really bad beer.  This trick worked long ago when I used to smoke.  I was spoiled living in Korea and smoked only Dunhill Lights, but then wanted to stop and bought a pack of "Pine" and that was the end of that.  My Busch Beer is the same idea.  Compared to Sierra Nevada, it is like drinking piss. 

Only five days until Patriots Day and the Boston Marathon!!  It is ironic that Patriots Day falls on the 15 Anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing and the big march on DC by the Tea Party folks.  Part of me wonders if there will be violence, even if it is a false flag who fires the first shot.  Are we ready to crush these guys when they get out of hand?  I just hope these Tea Partiers don't cause any problems with the real issue of the day, the Boston Marathon! 

LTC Lakin (Lacking in brains) is in the news again.  Looks like he is going to get the book thrown at him.  I would think that he will get out of the deployment and get an early retirement before it makes its way through the court system.  I still think it is bad judgement to bring up "birther" claims in uniform right before deployment.  He should have picked a better time than right before heading out the door to do your duty, it makes him look like he is just a pussy and not the "patriot" that is questioning authority, which I have no problem with (out of uniform).  Anyway, it will be fun to watch this.  I just wouldn't want to be a Commander and have a bunch of my Soldiers use this same excuse.  We have a job to do in the military and actions like this only make it that much harder.

Finally, I found this Tea Party banner with multiple Rand references and had to post it, if for nothing more than my love for John Galt and Howard Roark.  I know you may think it is strange that me as a liberal can have hero's in such men, but there is something to be said about those who are the engine of society ("who is John Galt") and to those who demand true perfection (Howard Roark) despite what society tells us.  I cannot think of two better books than Atlas Shrugged and Fountainhead. 

Copper Basin 50K - 6:46:32

Up early and hit the road by 5am in order to make it to Prescott for the Copper Basin 50K.  The course was GREAT.  Here are some pictures from the day.  The course had a few climbs and the altitude (5100-6500 ft) got my attention, but overall it was well marked and the footing allowed for running most of the way.  My time of 6:46:32 felt pretty good even though that comes out to be an average pace of 12:57 per mile.  The leaders went 5:59 and 6:02; I placed about 7th overall I think.  The results will be posted pretty soon.  It was a great end of the training week and 71 miles!  Cannot wait to go right back up to Prescott in three more weeks for the Whiskey Row Marathon.  Here are a few pictures from the day. 

During the race we passed a section that had snow on it, and I was able to see a horny toad on the course.  It was nice to see pine trees instead of all the cactus we see all the time down here in Phoenix.  Also you will see in the pictures here that there were a few stream crossings that kept your feet wet for at least half the day.  The last 18 miles was dry, so there is not much to complain about, plus I'm getting used to running with wet feet; not such a big deal, and now that I have two toe nails that are currently black and about to fall off I have nothing to worry about.   

After the race I came straight home and tried to rest, because early Sunday morning (0545) I had my APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test), but I did pretty well despite having very heavy thighs.  My pushups were 56 in two minutes, situps 80 in two minutes and the two mile run I was able to knock out a 12:32.  I like being with Reserve Units because they are usually full of a bunch of REMF and even though 12:32 is not that fast I was able to beat the next closest person by more than 50 seconds (yes even the youngsters....I'm 38 and twice the age of some of our young Soldiers).  Anyway, being number one will not last forever, there is always someone faster and as I do more and more ultra's I am becoming more comfortable with the middle or even back of the pack status.  I can't believe that sometimes I'm just happy to finish, but on the longer races I do just want to finish before the cut off times!

Great story here about Scott Jurek.  Not sure I would have told my story quite like this, but it was very interesting and telling.  Balance in life is the key.  Even from a back of the pack runner, this story makes one think about the why.  I sure want to get 100 miles under my belt, then I may back off.  It seems like 50/100K races are doable and only take up one day, but 100s are such an investment in a whole weekend, not to mention the huge price tag involved.  I want a couple of buckles, and after that I hope I can calm down and settle with one or two races a year, but I do think my road marathon days are limited.  If I'm going to race I do want to put in a full days work! 

Maybe tonight I'll go see Alice in Wonderland.  I have a free ticket that is registered to my name.  Usually I would use these as a gift, but they are getting weird and making you log into a site and they issue a secret number tied to your name and all so you can not transfer it.  Strange?

Day Seventeen Keep Car at Work

Nice run home and back to work.  Also, I found a LOT of 24 ounce beer cans this morning.  I guess there are good things about living in the ghetto. 

I'm at 40 miles for the week and ready for the 50K tomorrow.  I hope I don't have another disappointing performance, but at least it will be in a beautiful location.  I love Prescott! 

Boy staying motivated at work is quite a challenge.  With under 100 days left and daily work that takes less than an hour in any 10 hour shift really get to a person.  My next position will keep me much busier and time will fly by more quickly, but I'm actually having a hard time appreciating the lax tempo that a lot of people would love to enjoy. 

Day Sixteen Leaving Car at Work//Census Job Test

Kept the car at work again yesterday, but had to drive it today so I could go take the Census Test and possibly get hired to make a few bucks at night.  I only missed two questions out of 28, but with my 5 points Veterans Perference I should be at the top of the stack.  The pay is $15 an hour.  I want to be able to make enough to pay for the Vibram Five Fingers and the Across the Years race that I'm jonesing for.  I'm at 32 miles for the week with the upcoming 50K held on Saturday which is my last training day of the week; looking at a nice high milage week!

Just found out that the Hotfoot Hamster 12 Hour Night run will be a free event!  I can't wait.  I'm looking to see if I can get 100K in 12 hours and this will be the perfect chance.  It should be a hot night, but not too bad.  Also, I like to have a good reason to run long and have the support.  This is the same course as Across the Years, which I'm in the lottery.  I'll find out which race I make it into on 1 May.  Check out these great pictures of the race course:

Upcoming races: 
10 April - Copper Basin 50K
17 April - Pat's Run (Volunteer)
1 May - Whiskey Row Marathon
21 May - Hamster Hotfoot 12 Hour Night Run
12 June - Flagstaff 50K
24 Oct - Javelina Jundred
30 Dec - Across the Years 48 Hour Race (if accepted in lottery)

I'll be looking for something inbetween June and Oct, but I will also moving residency and may have slight disruptions in my training, and it seems like I always find something to do to keep my interest up.

I went to the local running store to buy Vibram Five Fingers, but found out that they were sold out.  I've been telling myself that I have to cut down on my running spending, so I'm kind of glad they were out, but the book Born to Run has me sold on the idea and I'll be running in a pair pretty soon.  I can not wait.  The running store said they can hold them for no more than 24 hours, due to the huge demand.  So I'm on the bandwagon of barefoot running.

On another note, I'm getting excited to watch the Boston Marathon.  I sure hope Meb Keflezighi or Ryan Hall can pull out a top three performance and put American on the marathon map!  This link talks about the 9 runners who have posted sub 2:07 times.  It should be a great race! 

Incredible National Championship! Go Duke! Day Fifteen Leaving Car At Work and Directions to Copper Basin 50K

First of all I have to mention the incredible game last night.  What an effort by Butler.  I really wanted Duke to win, but have to hand it to the underdogs and appreciate what a great display of athleticism!  The game was a joy to watch from start to finish! 

Ready for Copper Basin 50K this weekend.
View Larger Map

Directions:
Start/Finish line is located at the Thumb Butte Day-Use Area. Coming into town from the east on Highway 69, continue on Gurly street until it turns into Thumb Butte. Continue 2 miles up the road to the picnic area on the right. We will be staged out of the Group Ramada area.

I hope to be able to post a more respectable time than I've been running lately. If the course is marked ok and it is not too difficult I hope to come in under 7 hours.  Here is a link to a lot of great pictures of the course I'll be running on this weekend!  It looks so beautiful! 

On 1 May 10 I'm looking forward to the Whiskey Row Marathon. Even though it is one of the harder road marathons, it will be a cake walk compared to these trail events. I am looking for a sub 4 hour performance, and glad I'm got my Boston Qualification out of the way.

Check out how crazy people can get equating President Obama with Hitler.   Looks like there is going to be a "reserve civilian militia" for health/disaster emergencies.  I'm not scared, and if you can't beat them join them.  That is my best advice to all those on the other side, watch your electronic profile, because if it gets bad it is too easy to see who are "enemies of the state".

Go Duke//Family life

Boy what a great visit I had with my children and wife.  Family life and the joy of a loving family are so clear to me now.  What wisdom there is in making a family and loving them with all your heart.  Anyway, mushy stuff, but who wants to hear about that from a 38 year old fart, because a lesson like that is something you have to experience to feel the full impact.  In my 20's I would never have guessed that children and a loving husband wife relationship could be so powerful.

Now to juxtapose what I just wrote I hope this topless protest trend cotinues!

It was nice to have several days off of running, but now I'm back at it.  Got 5.3 mi this morning in 45:23 and plan on getting in about four more miles this afternoon.  I have a 50K race/run this Saturday, so I'm on track for pretty big milage this week.  I'm looking to build back up and maybe get 250 miles this month, but it might be hard since I'm planning to take off running from 23-27 April while I am home visiting.  We will see how it goes. 

I'm still at about 50% for my March Madness picks, but I feel pretty comfortable now that Duke will take it.  I was really surprised that Butler pulled it off, however, at least it was a very good game.  I sure hope that the game tonight is a good one! 

Going Home! Go Duke and Michigan State!!

First of all Go Duke and Michigan State!

There is a new crack pot LTC in the Army who is going public with his "birther" concerns about President Obama.  Check out this link.  He makes all of us Officers look bad.  I hope he gets a quick BCD and a kick, but first hope he has to deploy, because that is probably his main motivation. 

In just a few hours I'll be home with my family! 

I was able to get 50.9 miles this week in a short five days.  I'll be taking the next three days totally off then a medium week before the 50K trail race on 10 April.  I can not wait to go up and run in Prescott.  They are adking us to bring meat and some type of drink to share.  It should be a nice 7 hours of running then eating together; hope I don't get lost.