Paul R Smith Dot Com

Running With The Cougars

On Wednesday night of last week, I got a chance to run with a co-worker buddy of mine who beat me into the ground by running on the hills.  It was one of those dirt paths leading to houses both of us could never afford even with a fairy god mother and a recording contract in tow.   

Now, I say run, but Steph is in much better shape than me.  She promptly ran me into the ground and I watched as she slowly morphed into my former personal trainer as she kept pushing me to keep running.  She also noted some very big paw prints on the same path.  But we were not worried.  We beamed with pride as some people swim with dolphins, we were running with cougars.  Besides, cougars hunted at night and it was merely early evening. Our scenic run went for about four miles.

We came back to the rental car parked on the side of the road.  Then with iPhone in one hand and a GPS in another, we took our sweaty selves in search of a Greek restaurant that stayed open past nine PM.  After a few, "we close at nine - most runners get eaten by cougars to be justify being open later" inquiry phone calls, we hit upon something called The Great Greek on Ventura Ave.   

There we left our diets tied to the parking meter.  We ordered something called the Great Feast and needed to have at least 2 people to eat.   These good people gave us little plates of eating joy.  Greek salad, pitas, hummus, greek sauces, pasta, grilled chicken, etc quickly got moved to each of our plates.  Steph and I hardly looked up as we inhaled this really tasty food. We took notes of what we were eating for future reference.   Every bite lead to a desire for more.  And that of course lead to another renewed promise to drop more weight as time slips by.  

May's 50 mile running goal

I Miss the Marathon

Last year at this time, I was getting ready for the Disney 2007 Marathon. It would be my first one, and one of my life long dreams.  The next one is Sunday and I feel like I missed a bus and still smell its fumes.

This year, mostly due to costs, I'll be in Texas  It's no mystery that Disney is an expensive vacation, I admit.  And I also admit a very guilty pleasure.  But, I really like it over there.  And, despite the heat of my last  26.2 mile race, I'd like to do it again.  Last year, I ran with a few runners who make it their yearly vacation.  I'd love that.  Although, it's a tad (no, try very) selfish to hose your family's vacation plans to run an over commercial course at an overpriced resort year after year.

Sigh.  It doesn't make sense with me either.  I usually shun such commercial plastic places.  (All right, maybe not Cinnabun.) But still, I'd kill (or maybe maim) to go back.  And to spend all that time training to run a very solitary selfish race.   The only other selfish past time I have is writing.   

Oh, wait. 

What Better Way To Bring On The New Year....

...Then the opportunity for humiliation.

Here's the deal.  Nike did this last year where make a resolution and then to further motivate yourself give yourself a consequence for not reaching that goal. 

To make this interesting...Nike did videos of some who didn't accomplish their running goals like:

This one:

So, my buddy at work, Steve help come up with this gem:

If I do not run 50 miles a month (going for 600 miles for 2008) I will get my nails painted at a mall nail shop.

Steve even promised lunch at the local biker bar to even add more of an incentive. 

Now, why do this?  Why bother? Well, this is helping me with two goals.  I'm willing to risk my life.  (The irony is the place is called Stroker's Bike Bar) to become more fit and lose pounds AND get back in touch with friends who I have let the communication slip.  I think that's worth a little laughter at one's expense.

I'll be putting this stuff on my website at www.paulrsmith.com as long as I can get TypePad to take the formatting.  Feel free to drop by and take a look.  I'm sure if I fall there will be pictures.  Brenda is oddly excited about this.  But sadly she didn't want to put one of her own in here.

Wish me luck!

Chicago 2007 Marathon Was A Disorganized Disaster

CNN Story that gets it wrong

If you read the CNN story, you would think, "Wow, record heat.  People should not run in high humidity when it's 89."

However, there have been plenty of marathons hitting those temperatures with that kind of humidity.  I should know. I ran one in January.  The Walt Disney Marathon had the same exact conditions.  Hot, humid, 89 degrees, record heat for that day in Florida, and an overwhelming sense of I really needed a new hobby while running. 

Look, I'm not an expert runner.  I'm barely a novice, but I've run a lot of races.  I've read reports on the race running out of water and Gatorade at the SECOND water stop and then on.  People were going for many miles without getting any liquid.  As a point of comparison, I ran this evening (85 degrees, no humidity, but it was dark) for 10 miles and I sucked down about 42 ounces of water I carry with me.  It's basically the size of a Super Big Gulp.   These guys got nothing in the sun for more than that distance. 

Chicago Marathon Forums

The above link has the real story.   Here's a snippet from someone talking about his wife:

"I just listened to the news as they declared adequate supplies. According to my wife stations 2-9 had nothing. She was in the 5:30 pace group. The first Gatorade she saw was mile 11.1. Also, my daughter volunteered at the 11 mile aid station. She said they ran out of water and cups. Eventually they located more water and cups, but not until thousands likely went by desperate for hydration. My wife also reported seeing people standing in line in Lincoln Park for drinking fountains...and even people forced to desperation drinking from decorative fountains."

If I can beg a favor, could you please digg this story right here

The good news is my friend Patrick did finish the race in 4 and half hours, but I'm sure he has some stories to tell. 

Running 8 Miles During a Sunny Day Is Bad

  I needed a test photo to see if I could post to my blog from my phone.  It appears I can.  So this should make some interesting and quick updates when I need to.  I don't even need to be near my computer.
 

My Nike Nano Sings To Me

Yes, I run with the Nike plus Nano combination.  Listening to the Nano as it tracks my runs with my music and lets me know how much further I have to run in distance...
"4 miles to go..."
or time.....
"10 minutes left"
or even calories...
'200 calories left to burn.  I guess you should have thought twice about that Sonics Route 44 Ocean Water you downed last night."

One of the interesting choices I can choose is the sex of the voice.  I can hear a male or female voice to let me know how I'm doing.  Based on that, when you break a record, a sports celebrity chimes in and congratulates you with a quick blurb in your honor based on either male or female voice.

For example, if you have the male voice you hear:

"This is Lance Armstrong.  Congratulations on beating your best time for the 10km."

I like Lance, but  I can never suppress my urge to yell, "You should have never have left Sheryl Crow." 

This has lead to strange looks at the park.  Especially since I like one town over from his mother.

But I keep to the female voice where after running for hours in the Texas heat I can hear....

"Congratulations, this is Paula Radcliffe.  And you've just made a personal best for the 10km.  And by the way I think you look damn sexy in those mickey mouse running shorts. (sigh) Why must I be in England."

Granted people tell me they hear her with a shorter version of the message.  They also tell me I should really work on getting more fluids into my system while running.  It does get a tad dangerous.   Bren gets real defensive if anyone with a British accent lately. 

"What was that?"
"Nothing  Bren...just the BBC webcast."

And then she will proceed to check the closet, under my desk, and sometimes even the pen jar.  As a world record holder in the marathon, Paula only weighs 24 ounces.  This is why every women in the world hates her.  She tries on Barbie clothes and asks her husband if they make her look fat.

So I keep running.   And the Nano lets me know how much longer I need to cook in the sun.  I want to tell you all that it is great fun, but it's like offering a big mac to Wolfgang Puck.  So believe what you will. I'm hoping to hear more from Paula as I go on. 

   

A New Record For Me

I've managed to finish my best 5km time in a long time:
28:20. 
5km Summer Series Results May 30th

Being cloudy and only low 70's helped a great deal.