BOWLING FOR DOLLARS...

Anybody else remember that show? Bonus points if you can recall the hosts name.

I am having a bowling fundraiser this Saturday at Astro Lanes in Madison Hgts.

INFO.....
TEAM IN TRAINING AND THE LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY PRESENT
BOWL FOR A CURE
Please come out for a night of fun and bowling to raise money to help find a cure for blood cancers.


When: Saturday November 3
Check in 8:30pm – 9:00pm
Where: Astro Lanes
32388 John R
Madison Hgts
Cost: $25.00
Includes 3 games of 9 pin “no tap” bowling
2 mystery games
Pizza, pop and salad
Strike Ball
And if that wasn’t enough we will also have a bowling ball raffle, silent auction items provided by Sports Authentics, 50/50 tickets and much, much more!!!

If you bring 5 or more people you get in for free!!! Only one free entry per group.
Please contact Bob DeLisle for details 586.883.0067 Please RSVP by Nov. 1st.

Anyone in the neighborhood who would like to come out is more than welcome.

Thanks,
R.P.D.

P.S. starting to feel really stressed about my upcoming marathon...more to come.

THE NOTHING RUN...

While running I usually think about all of the days events, I run at night, and I will work out issues I am having or just enjoy the noise, etc. Last night I can't remember a single thing about my run. Other than starting and finishing that is. First time this has happened, my senses are usually amped up when I am running. I notice everything, but last night, NADA!!!!
So, sorry for the short post. :o)

6 miles...58 minutes...

R.P.D.

FREEP Half post race...

At our team fundraiser on Thursday a friend told me that he was not going to be able to run in the 1/2 marathon in Detroit this past weekend because of a stress fracture. Since he already paid he asked if I would like to run, since it fit perfectly into my training...What the heck!

I have always wanted to run in the FREEP so off I went. The early part of the day was uneventful. I parked and arrived about an hour before the start. I milled around for a bit until I finally found some people I knew. About 15 minutes before the start I headed to the porta-potty for my pre race bathroom break. OH MY GOD, the line could not have moved slower and as the national anthems finished I still had about 40 people in front of me. I just finished my business and made it to the back of the line as the gun went off.
Slowly we made our way to the start and crossed the line some 7 minutes after the gun. My goal was to finish the half at the same time the winner finished the full, 2:17:ish gun time. So I needed to finish in 2:10:00 or there abouts by my calculations. At about 3 miles I finally was able to maintain a pace without dodging folks and headed for the bridge. This is only marathon that crosses into AND back from another country. The crossover into Canada is made on the Ambassador Bridge. Just onto the bridge we cross mile 4 and for the next 1/2 mile or so there is a 5 degree incline. Then a short level off and then down hill to Windsor. With maybe 200 yards to go the bridge started to vibrate in unison with the cadence and I will admit I sped up just a little.
After about 3 miles in Canada we made it to the tunnel back to Detroit. Another unique feature to the FREEP is the underwater mile. Upon entering and leaving the tunnel you activate your 'chip' and get to see your underwater split time (8:58). The climb out of the tunnel was the hardest part of the day for me, mostly because there just was no air moving and claustaphobia was starting to set in. Once out, however the sunshine and breeze were back and there were people everywhere, what a lift!!
As per usual I hit a semi-wall between miles 11 and 12, once I finished that mile it disappeared, again as per usual. With four blocks to go you could see the finish and the crowd was huge on both sides of the street and this is where is got a little surreal. I could hear the guy on the microphone saying something about he needs to finish under 2:17 to get a bonus of $2,500.00 and it gonna be close. Lets make some noise to help him across. That was nice of him! Then I realized he was in fact not talking about me, but the winner of the full. I was maybe 50 yards from the finish as he made the turn to home and they raised the finishline tape as I approached. Again, that was nice of them to do that for me!!! As I broke through the tape to the gasps of the fans... Kidding!! I just missed crossing the line with the winner. I beat him by about 19 seconds. That fact that he ran twice as far has no bearing on it what-so-ever!
Finish time...2:07:30.
Everything was great, the weather, the course, the fans, the volunteers, the views and all of the people working the aid stations did a great job! Thanks to them especially and my family/wife who let me relax most of the day after I got home.

R.P.D.

THE CLEANSING....

Have you had one of those runs? One of those runs that if asked you could figure out all of the world's problems. Not only did I feel cleansed afterward, I felt lighter, much lighter. Running at night lends itself to the feeling of being alone. The darkness and the lack of other people is why I usually do it. That and it is the only time I seem to be able fit it in. Tuesday was different from the start. The alarm on our mini van kept going off for no reason. every couple of minutes it was HONK HONK HONK HONK!!! Beth took it for a spin around the block to see if that would help and sure enough no more alarm. I still expected to hear it go off as I started down the street. I started to notice things like all of the animals that cross my path. Mostly squirrels and rabbits. Once I got to the main roads it was unusually loud, but quiet at the same time. The trees seemed to be closer to the sidewalk than normal and it reminded me of a time years ago when I went for a walk while reading The Lord of The Ring. There is a chapter in that book where a band of travellers have to go through this forest, I just happened to be reading that chapter at that time and I still remember feeling like I was part of the story. Then there was the sound of the tires on the wet road. Sounds just like butter wen you put it into a hot pan. And I never realized just how load fire trucks are. One passed me and man oh man it was loud.

Then my mind shifted to my kids and how I feel inadequate as a father at times and all I seem to do is yell. Sometimes I wish I was different in that regard and I have tried to change, but change is hard and comes too slow. My step son brought home a progress report from school and he is doing really well. When he gave it to me I looked it over and didn't really give him the credit he deserved. Not sure why I do that, but it bothered me enough to surface during the run and I talked to him about it when I got home. Running is one of the few times this happens. Things just seem to be clearer.

The last 3 miles started with me thinking terrible thoughts about my kids being hurt or abducted. I wish those thoughts never surfaced, but as a parent they do. We worry something fierce. The Sunday before my run I went to the grocery store in the afternoon and noticed a pickup sitting at the end of my street with 2 guys I have never seen before. It didn't strike me a weird, but at the same time I decided to swing around the block and tell Beth, my wife, about it and asked her to keep a closer eye on the little ones. I drove past the truck again this time I took a closer look and as I drove by they put their seat belts on drove away. I turned around again to follow them, but by the time I did they had already gone. Probably nothing, but it got me thinking. Well during the run, as I said these thought creeped in and I didn't time it but I felt myself going faster. I think I wanted to get home and check on everyone. Everyone was fine as I knew they would be.

Anyway.. enough of my blathering on. The run by the way was 6 miles...59:01...nice and slow, but I needed it, so did my brain.

Thanks for stopping in,
R.P.D.

ANOTHER WEEK CLOSER...

12 miles
1:56:36
9:43 pace

It always scares me a little how fast the weeks, months, even years fly by. My step son will be 13 in December, my youngest just turned 3 and Honolulu is less than 2 months away!!!
The run Saturday, detailed above, went fairly well. I ran with 3 other people and we set out to maintain a 10 minute pace, which was fine with me I wanted to experiment with my pace. 1st mile was 10:14, then 10:05, 9:50, 9:45.... I can't remember the next 2 miles as my watch deleted my workout shortly after I finished. After the first 6 miles I lost my running partners. A quick Gu and I was off. I felt strong so I decided to pick it up a little and finished the second 6 miles in 56 and change. My slowest mile being 9:50 and my fastest was 9:01.
The best thing to come out of the run was I think I may have worked out me dilemma in regards to speed vs. pace. Starting out a slower pace and maintaining it for a few miles eliminated the usual aches and pains I have been feeling when I try to slow down and it allowed me to increase the pace later on in the run. I will try to maintain 9:40 pace through out the week and then decrease that to 10:00 on my longer run. If I can do that I should be able to break 4:30.

Sorry for the boring blogs lately, training has been weighing heavily on my mind lately. So my blogs have tended to be recaps of runs.

R.P.D.

HELP......

I worked on tempo again yesterday and I have a question.... First I did 4 x1 mile with 1/4 mile recovery. Minus 10 sec from marathon pace. Repeats were 9:39...9:40...9:40...9:22. I ramped the last mile up on purpose and I was again pleased that I was able to stay on pace.
Here is the question , however, my lungs like the slower pace ( around 10 mins), but my body likes it at around 9.5 minutes. Which way should I lean to, that is to say, which is easier to overcome my cardio or my muscles? When I slow down to 9:50 to 10:00 pace my legs just ache the whole time, yet at 9:20 to 9:30 I don't have any muscle issues until well into a run (10 + miles). If I try to maintain sub 9:30 pace my lungs feel as though they are going to come out of my chest after a few miles. Any thoughts? My ultimate goal is to increase my marathon pace to around 7:55-8:00. To qualify for Boston sometime in the next 7 years. Realizing that speed doesn't happen over night, but I'm not getting any younger either.

Thanks in advance,
R.P.D.

INAR......

I
Need
A
Run!!!!!

TRACKSTAR....

Well, that would be a slight over exaggeration. Last night was my first endeavour into track running. Someone from my TNT team suggested we get together at this high school from some speed work. I'm always up for speed work and group running so I jumped at the chance. First things first, actually running on a track is not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I envisioned my left knee hurting from the continual circles, but that never happened. I can see how tracks can lend themselves to speed work, but any type of sustained pace running would get old real fast! I think I would rather run on a treadmill, but it might be a toss up.
The workout itself was kind of a mosh pit of sorts. One warm up lap, then we did two laps of sprinting on the straights and recovery on the curves. Then a few laps at tempo followed by 1 fast lap. Then a few slower laps, then another fast. Everyone decided to call it a night, but I wanted to get 1 more mile in so I tried to run laps a bit faster than marathon pace, but at the same time maintain it. 9:14...9:13...9:14...9:02. I was very happy to see I am able to maintain pace without too much concentration. Total miles 4 @ 9 minute pace average. All in all it wasn't too bad.

Track star??? The track star was this little girl, maybe 7 out there training. She said she was going to do 8 laps. Her mother, who was very pregnant and 2 of her sisters were there as well, but not running. On the back of her shirt.....

FUNNER TO BE A RUNNER!!

I am going to think of that and her when I am at mile 22 come December.

Thanks for visiting.
R.P.D.

HUMP DAY MUSINGS....

1st things first...8 miles 1:16:40 2 x 3 miles repeats tempo, 1/2 mile rest, 1 1/2 mile warm up.

I am almost always sore after a run, no matter the distance, but I never feel bad after a run.

Gas prices and the proprietors who set them are the root of all evil.

Being a parent is much, much harder than running a marathon.

Being a parent is much, much more rewarding than running a marathon.

Training the mind is much, much harder than training the body.

Is there anything better than vanilla ice cream after a long run?

If I had to do it all over again I would have become a Veterinarian.

I like keeping track of the miles when I drive and saying, "I could run that".

I like being slightly cold more than being slightly hot.

Having your back scratched by your child is the absolute best!!

Running with someone, even if you don't talk, is better than running alone.

Fundraising is harder the second time around.

Being a husband is much, much harder than running a marathon.

Almost as many people vote for the winner of American Idol as do for the president...

And the margin is getting smaller.

Lastly, there is nothing better than watching a child sleep.

R.P.D.

P.S.
Good luck to all of you heading off to Chicago this weekend, Tim and Al especially. Here's to PR's and good times had by all!!

NAKIN MILLS RUN....

So I woke up late on Saturday, as usual, not remembering what time the group run was suppose to start I found my schedule and as it turned out I wasn't late afterall.
Every year at this time Team in Training and Running Fit put on a 20 mile run at a place called Nakin Mills. It is set up just like a race, and for a lot of people it is the first time they run 20 miles. Last year was my first! I knew most of the people I normally run with would be out there, but I was still undecided, it is almost twice as far as I usually drive for my Saturday run. Because of the later start I was now early so of course I decided to lie back down. Oops!! Never should have done that. I pulled out of the driveway still unsure of where I was going, so I kind let the car drive itself and I found myself on my way to the west side. Since I was going to be late where ever I went I figured I would go to where the most people would be.

I got the course 12 minutes late according to the stop watch at the start, everyone was gone except for a few people still getting things organized and/or running late like yours truely. The way the course is setup you go out and back 2.5 miles cross over the start/finish line go out and back for a total of 16. Then out and back 2 miles for a total of 20. Last year it was basically the same except when you came back to the finish line you had to go and back 1/2 mile, that was BAD mentally. Since I was only doing 13 I didn't have to deal with that this year. The weather was perfect, sunny and around 60 with no wind. I ran the first mile in 9:06 and told myself to sloooow down. I would never be able to maintain that pace. At almost 2 miles the main group of runners passed me going back towards the start, I missed the 2 mile mark somehow and didn't pay much attention at 3 miles. Back at the start I crossed 5 miles feeling fantastic with 4 out and back to complete my 13. It was at this point I realized the miles were turning over faster than usual and at 6 miles I paid attention the watch, 56:13, whoa new PR for 6 miles!! I was still running alone at this point, but I found myself in a very unusual position. I was beginning to pass some of the walkers and slower runners. I told myself at this point to slow down, I was never going to make 7 more miles at this pace. Of course I didn't listen, it felt too good! Up until Saturday my 10 mile PR was 1:44 and the Crim in August. I crossed 10 miles at 1:35:03, talk about delusions of grandeur!!! I started doing the math and figure, what the heck I can maintain and do a sub 2 hour half!!! I was still passing people on a regular basis, but the "real" fast people had begun to catch me as I headed back to the finish. With 2 miles to go I hit the last aid station up for some water and headed for home. I was starting to feel the miles, but with just over a mile to go sub 2 hours was still in reach. Then something strange happened, dizziness. I caught myself running sideways and almost fell over. It was kind of like nodding off to sleep while driving. I snapped out of it and continued and it happened again. I took my hat off and walked for a minute. At this point I would have killed to see someone I knew, especially if they had water, but alas nobody in sight. Decision time! Walk, run or stop. If I walked in from this point I would have felt defeated, STOP!!! what???, so I continued to run, albeit slowly. I finished in just over 2 hours, 2:05 and change.

A few things I learned. The speed and strength work on Tuesdays has helped me, being the one who is passing is much better than getting passed and with a lot of hard work these next couple of months I might just be able to make it 26.2 in Honolulu!!

R.P.D.