Running on Empty

I have to say, for someone who spends most of his time on the treadmill and elliptical, I am thrilled.  I will say, compared to last year, I did make an effort to get outside for one longer run a week and I think that helped my legs quite a bit. 

Prerace, I was fairly confident I could hit 2:55, and the race predictor had me just under 2:53.  I thought I would just run by feel and see how things went, of course having some idea of where I hoped to be along the way, but no specific spits or pace chart.  I have to say, it was a good omen that even the portopotties freed up right before the race so I could have a last minute second visit.  I love seeing so many friends before.

1		6:20		Very comfortable, a good sign as I was 45 seconds faster than last year.
2		6:35	12:55	Again, trying to run within myself and it was dark so I waited until the mile marker to know my split.
3		6:23	19:18	I tried to not get too excited here, it is easy to get caught up with other runners.
4		6:17	25:35	Miles are going by fast.
5		6:25	32:01	Feeling good.  Breathing is good.
6		6:05	38:06	Maybe I should have dropped to 5:xx just so I could have had one.  :)
7		6:05	44:11	Look, matching splits.
8		7:14	51:26	I didn't want to push too hard up Veyo, as i still consider myself better on the downhills.  My uphill treadmill running, however, has helped.
9		7:02	58:28	Hard for me to be too aggressive on these uphills.
10		6:43	1:05:12	Some headwinds, but not too bad.  I still have not settled into a group with anyone, just sort of running my own race.
11		7:14	1:12:27	Perhaps a bit slow, but I know I am ahead of goal pace.
12		6:45	1:19:12	Still feeling good on the rollers.
13		6:22	1:25:35	Getting steeper Half in 1:26:30 !
14		6:31	1:32:06	Didn't want to really gun it, still a long way to go.
15		6:05	1:38:11	Nice fast downhill, maybe too fast.
16		6:10	1:44:22	Still feeling good, though can feel the last two steep downhills.
17		6:31	1:50:53	Too early to celebrate, but no crash and burn.
18		6:27	1:57:20	Same old.
19		6:55	2:04:16	Last of the bigger uphills.  (Probably too slow, since it is a different pounding on the legs.)
20		6:32	2:10:48	Don't quite have the legs to just open it up and still 10k to go.  Looking back, probably should have dug a little deeper without opening up and tried to go 5- 10 seconds faster pace for the next few . . . oh well.
21		6:12	2:17:01	Wondering if 2:50 is within reach.
22		6:33	2:23:34	Doubting sub 2:50 since this was not closer to 6:00.  Again, my math was off.
23		6:12	2:29:49	Why do my math skills go away this late in a marathon?  I was loser than I thought.
24		6:37	2:36:24	Just couldn't hold 6:00 with 3 to go.
25		6:30	3:04:43	Felt like I was going much slower than I was.
26		7:18	2:50:13	I admit, sort of rested with 2:50 slipping away.
26.2		1:20  (6:04 pace)	2:51:33	I did manage to come down the stretch strong (not blazing) and passed my loving family with a real smile and one guy to move up a spot.

Post race thoughts:  I probably did not open up enough on the second half since I was so far ahead of 2:55 pace.  If I had more confidence in how I felt I could have flirted with sub 2:50, by going a little faster a little earlier.  Still, very satisfied.

Back to the gym today:

One hour barbell strength, took it easy working the legs, but otherwise was nice doing something again.

3 equivalent on the arc trainer.

6 equivalent on the elliptical.

8 equivalent on the arc trainer.

10 equivalent on the elliptical.

Nothing too exciting, other than I have a gopher or gophers in my back lawn that I can't seem to get rid of.

12.5 elliptical equivalent.

One hour strike class. Cross training (and cross dressing?)

3 easy at 8:30, random incline to 2.2%.

2 at 8:30.

One hour barbel strength.

2 equivalent arc trainer.

8.5 equivalent elliptical.

2 at 8:30, random incline to 2.0

5 at 7:00, -2.5% decline.

1.5 at 6:27,  -2.5.% decline.

.5 at 6:00, -3% decline

1 at 5:40, -3% decline.

10 equivalent on the elliptical.

11 equivalent on the elliptical.  I am trying to practice what I preach and make sure I have recuperated before going hard again.  

One hour strike class.

3 arc trainer.

Finished with one mile at 5:55 on the treadmill.

(Count the people in the picture below. After they shift, count them again. One moment someone is there, the next gone, but back again.)

1 at 6:25.

One hour barbell strength class.

1 at 8, .5 at 5:20 (-3% decline).  1 arc equivalent cooldown.

Trying to keep a long-term perspective:

No run today, but try this out.

If your eyes follow the movement of the rotating pink dot, you will only see one color – pink. If you stare at the black + in the center, the moving dot turns to green. Now, concentrate on the black + in the center of the picture. After a short period of time, all the pink dots will slowly disappear, and you will only see a green dot rotating if you’re lucky! There really is no green dot and the pink dots don't really all disappear at the same time.

8.5 at 8:00, random incline to 1.5%.

 Another few illusions:

There is no actual animation in this picture:

Nor is there any no actual animation in the following picture:

Now, in the picture below, simply concentrate on the center black dot, until both of the blue rectangles disappear

13 elliptical equivalent.

1 hour strike class.

3 at 8:00, random incline to 1.5%

.5 at 6:00, -3% decline.

.5 at 5:20, -3% decline.

Modification of image posed last week, if you concentrate on the black center the dots will appear yellow then disappear altogether:

Now, the image of the woman below is not objectively “spinning” in one direction or the other. It is a two-dimensional image that is simply shifting back and forth. But our brains did not evolve to interpret two-dimensional representations of the world but the actual three-dimensional world. So our visual processing assumes we are looking at a 3-D image and is uses clues to interpret it as such. Or, without adequate clues it may just arbitrarily decide a best fit – spinning clockwise or counterclockwise. And once this fit is chosen, the illusion is complete – we see a 3-D spinning image.

By looking around the image, focusing on the shadow or some other part, you may force your visual system to reconstruct the image and it may choose the opposite direction, and suddenly the image will spin in the opposite direction.

An apology always sets things right, right?

.5 at 8:00.

.5 at 6:00, but decline at -3%.

One hour barbell strength class.

And in honor of the World Series and the amazing skills of baseball players:

6 elliptical equivalent.

Perhaps some Halloween dinner.  Yum.

8 at 7:30, -1.5% decline.

6 at 6:39, -3% decline.

Now in honor of Halloween, some brilliant thieves tried to make their own costumes to hide their identity, with permanent marker on their faces.

Police say guilt was written all over their faces.

Police received a call Friday night that two men with hooded sweatshirts and painted faces had tried to break into a man's home in Carroll, Iowa.

When police stopped a vehicle matching the caller's description blocks away, they were stunned by the men's disguises.

There were no ski masks or stockings pulled over their heads; instead, Matthew Allan McNelly, 23, and Joey Lee Miller, 20, streaked their faces with permanent black marker.

Carroll Police Chief Cayler told CNN the strange disguises made it easier for his officers.

"We're very skilled investigators and the black faces gave them right away," Cayler said jokingly. "I have to assume the officers were kind of laughing at the time. I've never heard of coloring your face with a permanent marker."

Only managed to get in 50 minutes on the elliptical after trick-or-treating with the kids.