Time, Time, Time... See what's become of me...

Finally the update you've all been waiting for. I've been lazy these last two weeks. Plus I was waiting to see if I can get some photos of me running to add to this post. But all I have is more flowers. Aren’t they lovely?










The good news is it's been two weeks and I've competed in 2 races. Yeah Me!!! The bad news is that neither race did a spectacular job of tracking time. Both races put you through the ritual of strapping on these little timing chips then twice they failed to capture the time that you actually finished the race. In one case, the event coordinator sent out an e-mail asking people to send him the time you "think" you finished the race. So, being that this is my first year participating in these races, I'm not so confident about this whole timing thing. So, here are the gory details…. BTW, this is another long one.

ACT I: The Sea Colony Triathlon - Bethany Beach, DE

My First Triathlon!!! Well, my first relay triathlon. I was so nervous. I couldn't sleep. Actually, I had an easy time falling asleep, but I couldn't stay asleep. I woke up the morning of the race so incredibly tense. I made at least three trips to the bathroom. I heard through the grapevine that there were reports of 4-5 foot waves in the ocean. As a result, the coast guard made the decision that the waters were not safe for swimming. So the swim was canceled. To compensate they replaced swimming with a half mile run down the beach. Not much of a challenge for a Tri-athlete. Most of those guys were back in the transition area before the smoke from the starting gun disappeared. It's my understanding that James, our swimmer, who I met for the first time this weekend, is a really good swimmer. But he gave the impression that he was definitely a fish out of water when it comes to running. Luckily it was only a half mile and our team wasn't trying to win, we just wanted to finish and have fun doing it. James returned to the transition in a decent amount of time. At which point he transferred the chip to Marshall our cyclist. Marshall is the one who put the Fighting Goldfish together. He's been competing in this triathlon under the Fight Goldfish name for years. Apparently, the members of this band have changed over time, but he's still the lead singer and chicks dig him. Anyway, James came back, Marshall took off and I hung out in the transition area waiting. Waiting, waiting, stretching, waiting, waiting, take Motrin pills, waiting, waiting, oh look there's Al, Hey Sweetie, waiting, waiting, commotion in the transition area, bikers are returning, I'm chatting with James, Marshall appears out of no where, I grab the chip and I take off running.

So, there I am running like the wind. I picture myself in that scene from Forest Gump where he's running across America complete with theme music. "Running on - running on empty. Running on - running blind. Running on - running into the sun. But I'm running behind." I pass the Fighting Goldfish fan club on my way out the gate. I give them a triumphant wave and then all went quiet. I never knew how lonely long runs can be without your headphones or people to chat with. I ran out and back along highway 1 in Bethany Beach. I basically passed the time trying to remember lyrics to 90s rap songs. "…Y'a down with OPP? Yeah, you know me." I waved at Vijay when I saw him heading back to the finish line, but after that I just maintained a 5:1 interval and finished in less time then I thought I would. According to the "Unofficial Results", which are the only results posted, my 10K time is 1:12:43. Not bad if this is accurate. I broke the 12 minute mile barrier. There apparently was some type of interference at the finish line and many people's finish times didn't register. But overall, I had a great time at the triathlon and look forward to doing it again next year if they'll have me. I raised $415 dollars for the Make-A-Wish foundation. Thanks to everyone who made a donation. I couldn't have done it without you.

BTW, I know I said I didn't have any photos, but I'm always talking about my friend Vijay, the Triathlete. Well check out these photos of him from the Tiathlon. Isn't he a major hottie?
Vijay, The Tri-Athlete

Intermission - Please stay tuned as we pause for this public service announcement.

Are you a long distance runner experiencing mild to moderate knee pain? Do you notice a pain along the outside of your knee gradually increasing during long runs? Are you tired of taking pain pills and strapping on knee braces before every race? Do you watch South Park? Are you wearing pants? If you answered yes to any of these questions then you're not alone. Millions of runners each year suffer from a disorder known as Iliotibial Band Friction Syndrome or ITBFS. ITBFS is an overuse injury of the soft tissues in the lower thigh near the outside of the knee. It's caused by repetitive friction or rubbing of the iliotibial band against the bone on the outer side of the knee. This disorder strikes 1 out of 10 runners each year causing untold frustration for thousands of hard working runner's as they are passed by the fat and elderly at finish lines throughout the country. But there is help. Once the factors contributing to the increased friction are corrected, a series of stretches, strength training and massage therapy can reduce and eliminate the symptoms associated with ITBFS. Consult your physician and be sure to ask about ITBFS. ITBFS: Don't let bad runs happen to good people.

Now back to the show….

ACT II: The Army 10 Miler - Washington, DC

So, I saw this public service announcement the other day for ITBFS and I decided to consult my physician. He prescribed a regimen of stretches, strength training and massage therapy. Then he gave me his blessing to run in the Army 10 Miler. This is the largest 10 mile race in the country. People from all over the world come to Washington to compete in this event. The registration closes after 20,000 entries. I was really excited about this race. This was going to be the longest timed race that I've competed in since I started running. The starting line alone was about a half mile long. And the energy right before the starting gun was just… it was just… it was…. um… well… hmmm… indescribable.

I went down to the race with Joyce, Vijay and Vijay’s stepmom, Fatima. We all wore color coded bib numbers that identify your position in the starting line-up. Vijay and Fatima are a lot faster then Joyce and I, so they stood in the fast people's section of the starting line while Joyce and I headed to back. We were in the very last group of starters, kind of like the coach section for runners. The elite, first class runners were up front. The executive, premier and business class runners were in the middle and the "also ran", coach class runners, like me, were in the back. I know this isn't true, but I felt like people were looking at us the same way people look at you when you're the last person to get on a plane, you're in the last row and you're dragging a big suitcase that you know won't fit in the overhead compartment. Luckily, once I got to the back of the plane I stood with my favorite group of coach class runners, the DCFit Red Team. There isn't a better group of people to travel with on the road to the finish line. I met with these people every Saturday morning for four months. Getting up before dawn, running in the cold, the heat, the rain and loving every minute of it. This was going to be the first time we ever ran together in an official timed race. We were going to dominate. Had it not been for the Kenyon men, the Norwegian women, the active-duty and retired military, the amateur and professional athletes and healthy people in general, we could have won this race. Either way we had fun. We ran our usual 5:1 intervals. The first 7 miles went by with very little struggle on my behalf. We chatted the entire way. About work, movies, travel, blah, blah, blah. It's amazing how much easier it is to run when you're not focusing on the run. But by mile eight I was starting to slow down. I took longer walks and slower runs. During this time I started to notice that there were no more mile markers and we weren't on the original course layout, but I wasn't fazed. I figure they just moved the finish line to a new spot. I also noticed near the end that I was still 1 mile from the finish line and I was not going to make it there in under 2:15. 2:15 is my slowest 10 mile time on record and this puzzled me because even though I was running slower at this point, I made excellent time during the first 7 miles so why am I so behind on time. Turns out that the new finish line added another 1.4 miles to the course. But that didn't bother me as much as the fact that when I crossed the finish line there were no timing mats, just folks collecting timing chips. OK, what's going on? Is this that new high tech system where infrared scanners capture our finish time and transmit them via satellite to a state of the art processing center that will not only post our times on the internet within seconds of us crossing the finish line, but will also place our names on a mailing list to receive an unprecedented amount of running related SPAM from shady internet-based retailers throughout the world? Not exactly. The truth is they didn't capture our finish time at all. Because they had to reroute the race for security purposes it was declared an unofficial race, aka a "fun run". Well, it was fun until I found out I wasn't getting a finish time. I think I ran somewhere between 2:15 and 2:20. I stopped my watch at 2:23 after I've been stretching for a while. So, I'm not really sure how I did. The good news is that I finished, I had a good time and I didn't break down in pain. The post race buffet was excellent and I got a little finishers medal. Not the ATM bling bling that I was expecting, but it's still a very nice memento.

That's it. This was a really long posting. Sorry about that. I had a lot to tell. I'm on another break right now. Letting the ol' knee recover, following the prescribed stretches and whatnot. So hopefully I'll be back out on the road next week. Later Guys.

- Gotta Run