Sometimes, you have to throw down an ultimatum. Sometimes, "ultimatum" = a great outcome. Take this morning, for instance.
I was 2:37:00 into what I was hoping was gonna be a 4:00:00 runwalk when I'd just dropped Vince and Jack off at their houses. They were heading to Shank's. (This is where, if my Verizon phone took photos worth anything at all, I would insert a photo of the world's most amazing blueberry muffins or chocolate cheese bread ... or make that THE WORLD'S MOST AMAZING BLUEBERRY MUFFINS OR CHOCOLATE CHEESE BREAD!)
Anyway, back to the run. Now I'm solo. Talk about a mega-serious dip in the Fun Factor. Enter the Annoying Voice. You know the one. "Dude. You've done way more than usual. You're the MAN! Stop now. What's the big?" Next, just a notch or two louder: "C'mon. 2:45:00 rules. Really. Who does that on a workday morning? Seriously. Five minutes to the truck. Call it now."
That's when it hit me. Blue Monkeys! Completely awesome pancakes filled with blueberries and bananas from Little Grill Collective, one of my favorite places on Earth.
Ultimatum time: "Look, here's the drill. If I get to 4:00:00, I hit the tall stack of Blue Monkeys. Any less, no go. Period. End of sentence."
Annoying Voice (wildly unhappy now): "Wait. No. Too much trouble driving across town for that. Plus, you have a crap-ton of work you need to get to today, all with deadlines. Now. Dude. Stop. Now!"
Just then, the biggest smile broke across my face. I had him. I really had him. And we both knew it.
Watch check says 3:32:00.
Annoying Voice (barely a whisper now): "3:32:00. You rock. Close it down now."
Me (really, really big face-breaking smile now): "Yo. Gotcha this time."
A bit later ... easing over to the Falcon ... 4:00:00.
Me (gathering my stuff and heading off to the shower): "Hey Voice ... suck it!"
January 20, 2011
January 17, 2011
On the Move
Today for lunch, I ate an entire large pepperoni pizza. All by myself. After a 2-hr. runwalk of 8 mins. run/2 mins. walk. That was on top of yesterday's 5-hr, 25-min. runwalk of 3 mins. run/2 mins. walk. I'm expecting to kick out another 2-hr. runwalk tomorrow, which is Tuesday. And Thurs. and Fri. And either Sat or Sun.
If I'm reading the calendar correctly, Umstead 100-Miler is 11 weeks in the future. And the Three Days at the Fair 72-hour is another five weeks from there. So the time to bumpity-bump-bump the training up a bit seems to be now. Combine this with a flurry of activity at work and the loooooooong days thanks to before-work runs and after-work travel/refereeing and we have the perfect environment to simulate a multi-day ultra. Now, if I could only find some people to scream obscenities at me around, say, 8 p.m. at Umstead or any of the nights at Three Days, well, I think I'd feel right at home.
Great start to the year. Counting today, I have 10 long runs for a total of 27:10. Staying consistent with the supplemental stuff too -- the low-key, in-my-living room yoga and Pilates, bodyweight leg exercises, and also the back-and-forth, sometimes-really-fast hoops referee running. It's all training, and it's all good.
I'm all over the map with goals for Umstead, the 72 and Old Dominion 100. Sometimes, I feel as if I want to rip it at all three. Other times, I feel content to just do whatever I can to get to the finish line of each. In the end, I expect the latter will win out. Seems to be my way this last decade or so. And that seems to be working pretty OK.
Streak is at ... lemme see ... 1,428 days. Year 4 is Feb. 17. Still having a LOT of fun with it. Still completely motivated by it. Yet to have a day when I just flat did not feel like going out. Not really sure how to explain it. Very thankful that there is no need to. :)
Eleven weeks to Umstead. 16 weeks to Three Days. A handful more after that until OD 100. Yippee skippy!
Do I have any clue at all what I am doing here? Nope. Am I having the time of my running life these days? Yes. Yes I am.
If I'm reading the calendar correctly, Umstead 100-Miler is 11 weeks in the future. And the Three Days at the Fair 72-hour is another five weeks from there. So the time to bumpity-bump-bump the training up a bit seems to be now. Combine this with a flurry of activity at work and the loooooooong days thanks to before-work runs and after-work travel/refereeing and we have the perfect environment to simulate a multi-day ultra. Now, if I could only find some people to scream obscenities at me around, say, 8 p.m. at Umstead or any of the nights at Three Days, well, I think I'd feel right at home.
Great start to the year. Counting today, I have 10 long runs for a total of 27:10. Staying consistent with the supplemental stuff too -- the low-key, in-my-living room yoga and Pilates, bodyweight leg exercises, and also the back-and-forth, sometimes-really-fast hoops referee running. It's all training, and it's all good.
I'm all over the map with goals for Umstead, the 72 and Old Dominion 100. Sometimes, I feel as if I want to rip it at all three. Other times, I feel content to just do whatever I can to get to the finish line of each. In the end, I expect the latter will win out. Seems to be my way this last decade or so. And that seems to be working pretty OK.
Streak is at ... lemme see ... 1,428 days. Year 4 is Feb. 17. Still having a LOT of fun with it. Still completely motivated by it. Yet to have a day when I just flat did not feel like going out. Not really sure how to explain it. Very thankful that there is no need to. :)
Eleven weeks to Umstead. 16 weeks to Three Days. A handful more after that until OD 100. Yippee skippy!
Do I have any clue at all what I am doing here? Nope. Am I having the time of my running life these days? Yes. Yes I am.
January 10, 2011
What a SWEET gift for 2011!!!
Found the following in my inbox today ...
We are happy to announce that NJ Trail Series will be offering a 72 Hour option at 3 Days at the Fair in 2011. This is in addition to the current offering of 48 and 24 hour races. The link to the website is www.njtrailseries.com/fair. The start date for the 72 Hour is Thursday May 12, 2011. The race location is Augusta, NJ at the NJ State Fairgrounds.
The race is held on a flat certified loop of .85 miles (approx 1.4km). There is a full kitchen on the loop to provide hot and cold food 24 hours a day. Bathrooms and showers are also right on the loop to allow the runners their best chance to achieve their maximum result. Plenty of space to set up tents or other items alongside the course as well.
--
Thank you,
Jennifer and Rick McNulty
----------------------
(No WONDER I found the extra mo' to kick out a 2-hour runwalk before work on this Monday when I typically do 25 minutes. Somehow, I must have KNOWN that Rick and Jennifer were gonna give this idea the official nod!)
OK, so now it's official. There will be LOTS of extra fun to be had along the way to the NJ SEVENTY-TWO HOUR. I'm gonna do a 72-hour run. A 72. Me.
Oh. my. word. times. infinity. With a big, fat smile mixed in there.
We are happy to announce that NJ Trail Series will be offering a 72 Hour option at 3 Days at the Fair in 2011. This is in addition to the current offering of 48 and 24 hour races. The link to the website is www.njtrailseries.com/fair. The start date for the 72 Hour is Thursday May 12, 2011. The race location is Augusta, NJ at the NJ State Fairgrounds.
The race is held on a flat certified loop of .85 miles (approx 1.4km). There is a full kitchen on the loop to provide hot and cold food 24 hours a day. Bathrooms and showers are also right on the loop to allow the runners their best chance to achieve their maximum result. Plenty of space to set up tents or other items alongside the course as well.
--
Thank you,
Jennifer and Rick McNulty
----------------------
(No WONDER I found the extra mo' to kick out a 2-hour runwalk before work on this Monday when I typically do 25 minutes. Somehow, I must have KNOWN that Rick and Jennifer were gonna give this idea the official nod!)
OK, so now it's official. There will be LOTS of extra fun to be had along the way to the NJ SEVENTY-TWO HOUR. I'm gonna do a 72-hour run. A 72. Me.
Oh. my. word. times. infinity. With a big, fat smile mixed in there.
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