Go, you chicken fat, go away!

Time: 24:24 (8:18 pace)

Finish time: 9:45am

Temp: 76

Workout Weight: 210

I rode my bike 11.12 miles this morning.  I had about a 2 min. rest and then off and runnin'.  I'm doing just under what I'll be doing next week when I do the triathlon (12 and 3.1 miles).  The problems are I haven't been in a pool since my last triathlon, and I know there are some significant hills to which I haven't trained at all for.  I'm still optimistic.  I know I'll do better than last time.

I did not time myself this morning.  My intent was just to take a nice leisurely jog so as to not work myself too hard before the race.  I'm not sure if that's really a good idea though.  It seems that the slower I go, the more bouncy I get, and the more my tremendous girth tends to damage my joints.  But I feel good now, so no worries.

Time: 13:35 (7:54 pace)

Finish Time: 11:00pm

Temp: 61

It was good to be back in my old stomping grounds.  I know those hills are still growing because they weren't that steep when I was in high school.  The race didn't start until 10:30, but I got there a little after 8am because I wanted to see the 5k.  I found out that they were starting the 5k and the triathlon at the same time this year.  I saw Juana Diaz who was bummed because every year she does both the 5k and the triathlon.  I also saw professional triathlete Kate Ellis.  She was nice, but I don't think she likes her celebrity status (or she's just real humble.)  I also saw my Athlinks.com buddy Kimberly Slocum.  She and Dan Springborn won the race last year, so I had my wife take my picture with them.  They said, "Don't you want a picture with this year's winner?"  I said, let me preface this with saying that this was before the race, "I'll take a picture with Kate next."  I don't think Kate finished the race, though.  I heard she crashed or something.  Not sure.  Dan won again.  And I'm not sure if Kim was the overall woman's winner.  I'll have to wait until the official results come out.

The race started at the pool right next to my old high school.  I was the 51st person to start.  They start the participants every 20 seconds.  You swim in the 35 yard long pool 3 times back and forth in a serpentine style, get out at the other side, run to the entrance point again, and swim it again.  I'm a horrible swimmer.  I never even put my head under the water.  And with all the swimmers going back and forth, the waves kept going in my mouth.  I was pretty water logged by the time I finally paddled my way through.

Then it was out of the pool and on to the bike.  Did I mention how windy Kingman is?  Well, it's pretty windy, and it was cold coming out.  But I was so pooped that I didn't notice too much.  Side story: the cutest part of the day was during the kids tri when this little two year old came out of the pool with his little life jacket on and cruised over to the bike transition area.  Back to my report: 

The bike was fun even though it was extremely hard.  The first few miles I was still trying to catch my breath from the swim.  We ride three miles out and three miles back twice.  The ride out is mostly uphill, a few rolling down.  A couple of times I was riding in the lowest gear I had just to keep myself moving.  But that made coming back all the more fun.  I seriously love going that fast on my bike.  It was awesome.  The wind was blowing tears in my eyes even though I had my glasses on.  I got passed twice, but I passed about 6 or 7 people.  I don't know how some people are so fast on their bikes.  Well, my bike isn't the best, but still.  There was one hair-pin turn right before the freeway underpass where I saw a girl biff it.  I felt bad for her, but I think she was all right.  I don't think it was Kate.  One of the coolest things was having my entire family (mom, mother-in-law, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and my family) rooting me on.

I got off the bike, took a swig of Gatorade, and was off and running.  I should say jogging, because I didn't want to go out too fast and crash like I usually do.  The strategy paid off because I was able to finish strong.  I passed three girls right at the end.  In your faces females! 

My time was about 3 minutes slower than my last tri, but I'm happy because this was a much harder course for all three parts.  Even Dan Springborn's time was 3 minutes slower than the last one.  But being that the overall winner is in my age division, it hurts my chances at medaling.  Oh well.  It's all for fun.  I think I'll do some duathlons from here on out.

I took Ginger out with me this morning.  She enjoyed it, but she pooped again.  Who would think a dog running that fast could do that?  But I guess when you gotta go, you gotta go.  I totally forgot to bring a bag with me and then I forgot to go back and pick it up, so it's still there in the middle of the sidewalk.  I asked my sister to go get it and she freaked out.  Whatever.

After my race last Saturday, we cleaned out my mom's storage shed.  I found this picture from the 6th grade (1985.)

Time:  23:29 (7:59 pace) new record!!

It's funny how fresh you feel and how well you can run after some rest.  I'm sure I'll be feeling it tomorrow and will not be able to run quite as fast.  I am a firm believer though that consistency is better.  If I were more consistent, my times would be better, but they wouldn't be as drastic of a drop.  Does that make sense?  In other words, if I was running every day, I might shave off a few seconds off my pace each day.  In a week I could shave off 15 seconds for example.  But if I take a week off, and I'm feeling fresh, I might shave off 10 seconds, but it seems more drastic because it happens all at once instead of 2 or 3 seconds a day.

Time: 23:15 (7:54 pace) new record!!

Forget everything I said yesterday.  I just blew that theory out of the water.  I took Ginger again, and she dragged me like a dog.  Now she likes to do her business in the middle of the intersections.

Time: 25:13 (8:35 pace)

Sorry Rocket, no PR today.  I took it nice and slow.  I got out a little earlier than I usually do and it was a little cooler and a lot darker.

****************************************************************

17.5 miles on the bike.

Thanks for the reminder, Camille.  How could I forget?

Time: 44:36 (9:00 pace)

I had Jeff Lecheminant drop me off at Ocotillo and Ironwood, and I ran home.  Last time I did this same run there was more traffic, which was good because the cars' headlights provided almost constant lighting for me.  Today there were less cars and more running in the dark than I would have liked.  My lower back was tight the whole time and my knees are sore.  I think I'll take it easy tomorrow.

Time: 23:56 (8:08 pace)

I ran into this lady this morning.  I don't think she spoke English too well.  I yelled twice, "On your left!"  So the second time right as I was trying to go around her left she stepped right in front of me.  Luckily I had time to put my arm out, brace her shoulders, and kind of guide from not moving any further in my way as I went around her on her right.  She was like, "E-soddy."  Pretty funny.

No running today but here's a song:

Touch down
Every morning
Ten times!
Not just
Now and then.
Give that chicken fat
Back to the chicken,
And don't be chicken again.
No, don't be chicken again.

Push up
Every morning
Ten times.
Push up
Starting low.
Once more on the rise.
Nuts to the flabby guys!
Go, you chicken fat, go away!
Go, you chicken fat, go!

Left! Left! Left! Left!
Left a good pound and a quarter.
Was it right, right that it should be left?
Yes, I left! Left! Left! Left!
Left a good pound and a quarter.
It was right (left), right (left) that it should be left!

Now, touch your toes with me. Ready!

Touch down (up)
Every morning (down)
Ten times!
(Three!) Not just (up)
(Four!) Now and then (up)
(Five!) Give that (up) chicken fat
(Six!) Back to the (up) chicken and
(Seven!) Don't be (up) chicken (Eight!) again
(up) No, (Nine!) don't be (up) chicken again. (Ten...halt!)

Hit the dirt! Hit!
Push ups next,
Nice and steady.
Not too fast.
Ready!

Push up (down)
Every morning (up)
Ten times!
Push up,
Starting low.
(Down! That's five.) Once more (down) on the rise
(Six!) Nuts to the (down) flabby guys.
(Seven!) Go, you (down) chicken fat, (Everybody sing!) go away.
Go, you chicken fat, go!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I ran this race last year, but they changed the course this year.  It was raining throughout the night and very cloudy this morning.  I went to where it started last year, and nobody was there.  This is just a neighborhood 5k put on by people I go to church with.  Since I moved, I emailed my friend who did it last year to see if they were going to do it again this year.  He told me they were, but he didn't tell me the starting line had moved.  The stake president didn't want anyone to cross any roads for safety reasons.  So I figured that somebody should've been there because I got there about 6:55am.  When no one was I figured they whimped out and canceled it.  Then I tought, "Come on.  The SGM was held in way worse conditions than this."  So I drove to the park and saw them there.

The race started at 7:45am.  It was great to see my old friends (even though I only moved away 4 months ago.)  As the race started a bunch of little kids took off.  There was a 16 year old rabbit that jumped out to the lead.  After about 200 yards the littler kids tired out.  I was running behind the 16 year old about 20 feet behind him.  After a quarter of a mile I looked behind me and nobody was there.  I know that there were two guys running that were faster than me including the bishop.  Bishop MacKinlay was on my Ragnar team last year.  For whatever reason he decided to run at a 9 min. pace.  He probably ended up going even slower.  And Doug Tueller decided to run with his 8 year old son.  So I decided not to push it too hard since no one else aside from the 16 year old was pushing it. 

They had a drink station set up with no one manning it at the mile marker.  The 16 year old wasn't sure if that was where we were supposed to turn around or not so he stopped.  I caught up to him and said we have to run down to Southern Ave. (another half mile.)  He took off again and I just let him go.  When he turned around I slapped him high-5.  Then I got to the halfway point and started slapping everyone high-5 as I went by them.  I knew everyone was just doing it for fun so there was no need to kill myself.  In my mind though I was going back to the post on the discussion forum about which is worse: a marathon or a 5k?  I think unanimously it was voted that a 5k is more painful.  I thought that I never push myself hard enough for it to hurt as bad as the elite runners say it does so maybe I should.  But I knew that I was in first place out of the adults and with no fear of anyone catching me. 

The 16 year old (sorry, I can't remember his name) ended up finishing in 22:05.  I came in second in 24:21.  That's a little faster than my training pace.  So I'm happy with that.  I might've pushed it harder if Bishop and Doug were running harder, but it was just a feel good fun race.  Even still I got a certificate for beating the Bishop, and I got a medal for first place in my age division.  Now I'm ready to eat turkey!