No Free Lunch

January 13, 2026

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2008
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Location:

St. George,UT,AmericaUSAEarth

Member Since:

Jun 13, 2008

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Short-Term Running Goals:

St. G marathon w/ my good friend Mike.

Long-Term Running Goals:

not to run any more marathons.

Personal:

Yes, I am a Virginia Tech Hokie.  I pretty much live and die with VT football, so hide the pups indoors this fall if the season goes south.

I grew up in NJ, competed in middle school XC, was primarily a 400m sprinter (& XC) in h.s., and an 800/400m mid-distance runner at Virginia Tech.  Graduated VT with an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and currently am involved with the youth.

This blog is dedicated to my family and friends.  I have 2 (er 3, sorry Tambo!) wonderful sisters and 2 very supportive parents.  Kim is a Graphic Designer in D.C., and at one time rode and trained horses; Melissa is an English Lit teacher at an all-girls h.s. in NJ, in addition to being the XC/track coach.  She really likes comma splices.  Tammy is an Elementary Teacher and a crazy good soccer/basketball athlete, lives across the block from my parents, and is very funny.  All 3 have run at least one marathon.  I believe Tambo has run more marathons than I have.  I am ok with that.  I am very proud of them all.  Oh yeah, also 2 screwball huskies, Apollo and Zeus.

 

"It's ok kids, you've tried your best and you failed.  The lesson is, never try."  --Homer Simpson

 

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.  It knows that it must outrun the fastest lion, or it will be killed.

Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up.  It knows that it must outrun the slowest gazelle, or it will starve to death.

It doesn't matter if you are a lion or if you are a gazelle.  When the sun comes up, you'd better be running.

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Total Distance
10.50

Today was a good day.  Pending a few bloopers.  I was able to visit with the Schramms which was a lot of fun.  The workout was fine, though my choice of 'when' was poor.  I was unable to decide whether to run early morning or late morning, so out the door I went at 11:15 and sensed that I had made an error.  By the end of the workout the heat was approaching 100, and by the time I was back in the house I was pretty sick.  It seems that I must relearn this lesson every year.

Anyway, the workout was a 400 time trial and 3x200, all with adequate jog recovery.  Warmed-up 2 miles in 7:06 (turf), 6:15 (track), changed into flats, 3 laps of speed changes, then ran the 400 in 60 sec (29, 31).  The 2-3 sec positive split is about right for me in the 400m. 

This was my first time trial of the season, and I was quite nervous, which is a good sign.  Last year at this stage I had run 4 TT's (400/600's), so overall I was pleased today.  I have only been training for the sprints for 2.5 weeks now because I was initially planning to do the track 5000.

Anyway, so jogged 6 min., then 28 for my first 200.  However, I experienced a sudden sharp pain in my 2nd little toe (I have no idea what to call it) as I was entering the straightaway.  It worsened as I finished the interval.  I took off my shoe and sock, massaged it a bit, and it seemed fine.  I decided to test it with another 200.  The exact same pattern followed, except more intense pain, so I stopped immediately.  I believe my toe was being pinched in some amazingly painful manner, perhaps from the increased heat/friction.(?)  Gosh it was probably a Godsend though, considering the onset of heat sickness later.  I changed into my light trainers and put in another 5 miles.  Toe was ok.  Tomorrow I will attempt a few strides in my new flats (same model), with several toes taped.  Little Toe what's going on??

Right shin no pain today.  All other connective tissues feeling very healthy.  Weight dropped to 158 (I'm 6'3") which raised a flag, anything below 156 is red zone.  Ate a good dinner despite feeling sick.

Comments
From Burt on Mon, Jun 16, 2008 at 13:26:11

Welcome to the blog. Be careful with that toe.

From dave holt on Mon, Jun 16, 2008 at 15:31:33

Watch the heat! And continuing with the mullet theme - 2 years ago, I sported a wonderful mullet for about 2 weeks. My high school students loved it! My wife nearly disowned me!

From erichokies on Mon, Jun 16, 2008 at 16:36:45

Thanks Dave and Burt. I'm glad someone understands. No worries fellas, the mullet is coming in bodaciously and I look the bomb.

From Kim on Mon, Jun 16, 2008 at 20:23:14

I think it's time for some photos of this so called mullet. Not sure if I believe you since normally you sport the $5 shaven look ;} Oh and are you running the ST George marathon? I was told by another birdie that you might not. If so then I think you need to run it with the mullet and kill the big floppy hat this time ;) Either way good luck w/your runs and careful w/the heat.

From Melissa on Mon, Jun 16, 2008 at 21:34:59

www.weatherchannel.com

Try it!

From Kim on Mon, Jun 16, 2008 at 21:45:13

haha - nicely played :D

From Scott Zincone on Mon, Jun 16, 2008 at 23:16:09

Welcome to the blog !!

From erichokies on Tue, Jun 17, 2008 at 06:15:17

Hey! I'm not feeling a lot of love?

As explained to the birdie, it's possible that the training could reaggravate my stress fracture. You guys are still welcome to come that weekend or anytime, all you need are plane tix.

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