Gettin' reddy fo Hotfurd... ( or in English: Preparing for the Hartford Marathon.)

Alright ghettoeze aside... If you want more fun in the hood check out Cranky's post for the Chris Rock n' Roll Marathon apparently I was supposed to write a post for the Bronx busta cap half marathon..also known as the walk to 4 train on Fordham Rd. After dark.....man I hate it when school and training get in the way of important stuff.



Angry sent us all the warning that while traversing the South End we should be heavily armed. I'm thinking a grenade laden fuel belt should do the trick, but my other resort is a tee shirt clearly marked "Wearer carries less than $30 at all times." I will let more sculpted runners think of going Rambo style ( shirtless, ammo belts...) through this section... Although Speedy and I will most likely ask Cranky for his opinion on which automatics are lighter to pack, offer less recoil, and will overall have less negative impact on our splits.



Alright all that ludicrousness aside the weather in early October is a crap shoot. Last Year it was a cold start in "Hot"ford and the following weekend temps soared into the high 80'sF at the imfamous Chicago Marathon..so what will the weather be next Saturday...anywhere from 40-90F..meaning light long sleeves and disposable gloves ( 99 cent stretchy gloves) at the most....well at least for me because I a fury beast.



Nutrition: Debating on bring Gu with me...but there will be no snacking on Clif bars this year... don't feel like running port-o-let to port-o-let like last year's Country Music Marathon. Maybe take a note from Sir Angry and go with oatmeal....



What to wear: Since the Angry one has imposed a ban on triathlon speak ( ie fines for any mention of athletes, races, anything combining running with anyother sport.) does this also apply to clothing? If it does I only own 3 tech tees that are not tri related..one from the Nutmeg State Half Marathon...my Team Blazeman shirt..which is some what tri related but it's a charity...and the tight little New Balance tee I ran Nashville in. I'm thinking about wearing the Blazeman Tee because I marked I'm a charity runner...although the Nutmeg Tee will be in the tote just incase...because no one wants to see my hairy ass going shirtless....and I don't have that much cash to keep forking over $5, $10, $15 at a time to Angry, Cranky and Claire. Also hat? Visor? Sunglasses? Racebelt or pin it like a RUNNER!..these are confusing things when a potential Faux Pau could cost you green.

The i-pod playlist for my warm up: lot's of Disturbed and Ozzy....may be some Roll Call from little Jon....then again looking at the description of the South End...White boy from the burbs spitting gansta rap might not go over well.

There are alot of things I have to consider in the week leading up to this bitch...so until then I'm going to do a few warm up runs and try to come up with a way to express how I will be spending the later part of the afternoon watching one little race that could cost me $10 at the mention of its name.

Trying to become a "real" athlete
R.D.

I'm in.... or Bob-o has drank the Orange Kool-Aid

After some nervous moments... fear of double registering...not knowing if my payment went through when the server went down..I have checked and I am in the 2008 edition of the ING Hartford Marathon. That's right Bob-o will be joining the Cranky and the Speedy one on the start line October 11. If my calves hold up I'm confident of a PR I just have to make sure I don't break the 10 commandments of marathon running, do anything stupid,get shot....

Well that's the exciting news, I've done one 20+ mile run in the past 2 months and a bunch of runs between 10-15 miles so I'm confident I have the base...right now the hard part is resisting the urge to go out and do an 18 mile run just to prove I still have the fitness. The desire to overload on distance is high but the need is to chill out run some shorter runs this weekend and early next week and coast into Hartford. The last month may have sucked out loud for my run prep but the previous 4 months were solid pounding so by that "fuzzy" math success is assured..right?

Cranky and Claire have been sending perodic updates via email. Cranky's strategically mapping out the course, making mental notes, sending shady henchmen to scope out the course and give him detailed photo analysis....in essence he will have every inch right down to the dude begging for liquor money infront of the state capital commited to memory.

As for me I'm just going to let whatever happens happen granted I have already looked at the map and realize that I should try to finish in under 4 hours because traffic's going to be a bitch...

So recap...
Bob-o's in
Cranky's stratgizing
Claire's getting pissed off
Angry..contiuing to get jack and laugh at our scrawny asses...

Also since ING is running it does this mean if I win my age group I get a free Orange Savings account....

Wondering if this was the dumbest move he's ever made...
R.D.

My Destiny maybe calling but my calves are screaming No!

Well my calves still feel like Fucking rocks. I know crazy shit like what I pulled on Sat and Sun leads to injury but still I figure I have the base to complete a marathon, the problem is at what speed. On my best day I know Cranky is going to have at least 15-20 min. on me and I'll have about 15-20 min on Speedy Claire...on my worst day...Cranky will be half way to Jersey and Claire...well she might be getting ready to throw down with cocky pink yoga pant wearing soccer mom in the Massage line as my crippled ass is getting my coveted foil blanket...and rushed to medical...and on an in between day..I'll still be somewhere between Cranky and Claire...walking...errr..limping on my own power.

So if I listen to my destiny...which kinda sounds like Claire whipsering in a little kid excited voice...I know weird huh...and sign up before online registation closes or do the infamous Cash and Dash on race day..I have to have a goal time in mind, I have to have a race stratgey, I have to keep my manly worth and PR streak alive..I have to set down a ri-goddamn-diculous time that neither Claire nor Angry will come close to matching in the land of the giant rodent...I need to throw down big...

I NEED TO GO SUB 3:40!!!!!!!

alright I'll be happy with a sub 3:50 run...I'll be estatic with a sub 3:45 ( which is easy since I don't have a century ride pre marathon.) 3:40 is a reachable goal anything below that is icing...if I qualify for Boston...I'm checking the Perri Sausages I've been eating for hormones and roids.....after I finish Boston of course.

Well that's it for me...

The running..ow..ow.ow..stupid..ow..calf..ow..man.
R.D.

My legs are not going to forgive me...

Well just because I might be racing in a marathon in the Central Connecticut Region along the I-91 corridor in about 2 weeks I decided that this weekend would be perfect to up the run mileage. Afterall the forecasts called for storms which meant no time logged on the bike for the third week in a row, so I might as well use the dreary conditions for what they are best for, logging ridiculous amounts of miles at an obsurd pace with my trusty New Balance 968's or are they 698's I forget but I know they're NB.



Saturday I got about 8.5 miles in I didn't log the time although it was just over 1:12. I had been suffering motivational breakdown, plus was regaining lost sleep from the semester. All in all it was a good run didn't feel thrashed, but I wasn't feeling my normal stomping shape either. I decided I was going to double up and follow with a 17 mile double loop the following day...just to build the lungs a tad bit.

Well my Sunday run began as my Saturday Run did after much procrastination. Then skies were blue it was hot and humid and I set up a make shift aid station, figuring I was going to refuel between loops. The first 6 miles went well but as I made my way up boundline road past the high school I noticed that the sky had suddenly turned and ominous gray, I figured I would extend the loop on to the back roads so that way I wouldn't be on main roads and potential road kill in the middle of a storm. Well long story short I ended up doing my extended loop in torrential down pour with no fluids. By the time I staggered home I was desperate for my Gatorade. I still managed to get about 13 miles in ( I'll double check via map my tri) in about 1:56. Not a world record but for running on empty not bad .

Tonight I have to make up some work, I might be able to get into the pool. Tuesday I might get a 10k loop of campus in or if I'm lucky an early morning 8 miler Wednesday, another pool session, and maybe a run and pool session on Thursday before locking myself in the library for the weekend, maybe enough time for a Saturday afternoon ride or a Sunday afternoon brick. I know not wise 2 weekends before the marathon, but I might not be doing it and I need to take advantage of warm weather while I can, afterall I will be racing in either March ( IM New Zealand) or April ( Collegiate Nationals ( school funded) and /or the Country Music Marathon.), and lets face it it's a good way to burn off the holiday fat.

Well that's all from me
R.D.

Edit #1: 9/30/ 2008 Well I cleared it with my boss..I've got October 11th off so now the debate is will it be the half or the whole enchillada. On a similar note it has been two days since the back to backers and my Calves ( Gastrocs) still feel like stone. I'm going to try to stretch at lunch and see if I can get a 10k in after class tonight.

State of the athlete address...

Well all in all things are more mixed up and confusing than the couple of times I tried reading Kant. My passions are pulling me one way, my reason another and my checkbook is a least letting me keep things well...in check. I have up a poll on whether or not I should enter the Hartford Marathon. Enter the Bob-o head games now:



Reasons ( Rational) Not to enter:



1. Your run training has sucked over the last month.



2. You have at least one $400 race entry coming up in a month.



3. Schoolwork...papers and research don't do themselves.



4. Work...I always seem to get put on that weekend for some odd reason.



5. Do I really want to miss watching the Kona webcast from my nice warm living room?


Reasons ( Passionate) To enter:



1. Avenge my DNF!!!!



2. Cranky and Speedy take Connecticut.



3. Home Marathon



4.Did I mention the DNF?



5. HEAT discount



6.That DNF is fueling a need to regain my manly worth by doing something crazy..and unlike Angry I have not been lifting enough to pull a VW Bus full of Buddhist monks with my hips....maybe next year.


So will I be doing Hartford..I wouldn't hold my breath on it but if I get the morning off from work anything can happen.


IM New Zealand: No comments, I'll make a formal announcement at a later date. ( ie end of October.)

Arizona...as long as I can get to a computer when entries open..it's going to happen...even if it's a show up on Friday...race on Sunday...skip town on Monday deal...I feel comfortable doing this for races were airfare is cheaper than the entry fee, and I don't have to worry about what fruits or vegetables I bring with me. But if ( and a big if because I'm not know for my prowess in the heat.) I qualify for Kona then it allows for me to either by-pass going to the Southern Hemisphere ( unless I want to and have it financially) in 2010 or throwing myself into a race where the climb categories are going into "TDF" range.

Rest of the 09 season....only 2 sacred cows Patriot and the Griskus Sprint...everything or anything else is subject to change, financial situation, acts of God, planetary alignment...dogs and cats ...living together as one...etc..

I got an 8.5 miler in today and felt pretty good, although the long nights and early mornings via school work are taking a toll .Well that's it from my whiny ass.

Sticking the coffee in his veins

R.D.

Soy EL PRESIDENTE!

or for those of you who no habla espanol..

I AM THE PRESIDENT....

of CenTri..or the CCSU tri club. With Bjoern in Austria, I have siezed power and massive responsibility. Which now means I have to hand in all sorts of paper work set up a meeting time and place....prospective athlete questionaires...practice sessions, what to spend the budget on....nationals..are we sending a team this year to shit talk Yale.....in essence I have the authority to try to implement some positive changes into the club structure.

1. monthly meetings, last year we had a couple of info sessions and a few seminars, but after and between these sessions club interest sort of died...with monthly meetings we can address what's working and what's not, keep tabs on members, organize and reorganize practice routines...

2. get on campus workout group leaders or *gasp* hire/train a team coach...that way we have set work out routines and solid group training.

3. encourage racing...we won't get recognition or growth if we aren't competing. Also at least one race a season where a majority of members are racing ( hammerfest, or madison might be good they're usually in September and would make for a good mixer after the summer season plus they would show what a race entails to new members.

4. USAT membership.

5. Fundraising ,sponsorship, begging ( what ever we can get, we'll take cash, discounts, free equipment, free food, whatever we can get.)Hell I''ll race in NZ again if it'll get us some good press.

Bjoern did a hell of a job as President now it needs to go to the next level if the club is going to last longer then our tenure at CCSU.

The commander in lycra
RD

DNF Not the way I would have liked to finshed the season.

" A $2 part can end your race." Derek Bell on mechanical failure in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona Auto race

Well Today was Nutmegman my last tri for the 2008 season sadly it seems all the negative energy from the economy, my grandmother's passing, family and fiscal situation all decided to clog themselevs in my front deraileur. But before I get to that, there was a high note on the day I was second out of the water, and the volunteers were excellent but it seems from the second I hit T-1 things weren't going right. First I had a problem un zipping my wetsuit and getting out on to the bike. I was in second then dropped to third about 3 miles into the ride. then as we hit one steep little burner, my front derailleur just wouldn't kick from the big ring to the small ring, when I finally summited the thing the gear finally shifted over. Maybe I overloaded so I decided I would short shift, just to make sure I had enough time to kick it over. ( also I haven't really ridden in 2 weeks so I had no idea what was going on with the blasted thing.) I ended up stopping after pedaling but experiencing more than normal resistance on a flat section, there was no frame rub, the brakes weren't locked so maybe it was my head playing tricks on me. I was in 5th at this point. We hit the turn around and after losing some spots on the descent I short shifted only to hear the sound on my chain hitting the frame as I was beginning to climb. I stopped muttered a few explatives,almost thought of tossing the bike over the guardrail Normann Stadler style. Then walked the bike to a flat area, fixed the chain and started again, by this time I was in god knows where place. I figure that my problems were over, tried to calm myself, saying "Bobby Cowboy the Fuck up and finish this thing!" I caught back up to one of my team mates from HEAT Gary G. but he soon ditched me on the crazy fast part of the course. I managed to retake some of the spots I lost but as I started up another climb, I tried to short shift, the chain didn't kick, I unclipped because other wise I would have face planted, I walked the bike up the hill to the aid station and politely asked where the mechnaic was, the voulunteers told me my safest bet was to ride to transition as the SAG car was still a long way back. I rode to the start point of the second loop, my bike now finally in the small ring, I informed the State Trooper that I was heading back to transition and I rode the way back. I got there and found out the mechanic was gone I thought about just ponying up in the small ring but took off my timing chip and dropped out, instead, I needed all my gears on this course and also maybe dropping out from a $20 mechanical problem was saving me from a 40+mph bike wreck and time in the ICU. It just sucks that my season had to end on such a low note. On a high note Gary and at least 3 of my fellow HEATsters topped 10ed.

As for now I don't know what awaits me other than school and work, maybe I'll just take a few months off and focus on those aspects of my life for a while, maybe I'll enter the Hartford Marathon, or re-sign up for Masters, all I know for certain is the stomper has a date with Al later this week.

Bumed out big time
R.D.

I now have a reason to put this race on the schedule next year...it owes me a big one.