My Race Plan for the 2011 Governor's Cup Road Race

On Saturday November 5th I will be running in the 2011 Governor's Cup Road Race Half Marathon in Columbia, SC.  It is sponsored by Lexington Medical Center, which is a large hospital in the ares.  According to the race's website (http://www.lexmed.com/calendar/special-events/governors-cup.aspx), the race was started in 1972 and some of the proceeds go toward obesity prevention.  It starts at 8am, and the course closes at 11 am.  The course "...has a mix of hills and flat stretches (but mostly up and down hills).  It is a challenging course because of where the hills are located along the route as well as the degree of elevation of the hills, particularly the famous Blossom Street hill just before the finish line." Oh, boy!

The expo takes place the day before the race.  Packet pickup is located at the expo, along with Joan Benoit Samuelson.  The winner of the the marathon gold medal in the 1984 Olympics (I will be seeking a picture).  Participants in the half marathon receive a long sleeve tech shirt, race cap and finishers will get a medal.  Alright, enough of the technical nonesense, on to the good stuff.


The Goal:
Since this is my first half, I know that my goal should be just to finish, however I need more or a goal just to finish.  I need something a little shorter so I can push myself a little harder, and have some time saved if needed just to finish.  My "A" goal is to finish the race in 2:45 which is a 12:35 per mile pace.  My "B" goal is to finish before the course closes, which is a 13:44 pace for 3 hours. On my 8 miler that I recently did I average a pace of 12:07, and I was not winded or tired afterwards.  So I have confidence that I will at least get my B goal.


Leading up to the Race:
My training has been less than spectacular these last weeks.  I've been averageing about 10 miles a week and my last long run was 8 miles about a month ago.  Needless to say, I was worried.  I attempted a 10 miler on Halloween Morning.  I started with a 2 minute run to a 1 minute walk plan.  I was doing great.  Good form, no big pain.  I had it.  Unfortunately at mile 8 I ran into some "issues."  I had to walk a very uncomfortable 1.5 miles to the nearest restroom.  I could have gone the full 10 if it wasn't for the speed bump.  Besides that, the run was aweseome and I feel comfortable that I'm going to finish the race.

Day Before the Race:
I will pick up my packet at the expo.  Therefore there will be one less thing for me to worry about on race day. I will eat a fairly large lunch of pasta and veggies and probably a small portion of pasta for dinner.  I do not want a large meal weighing on me.  Gatorade and water will be flowing, and maybe a soda to get some sugar in me.  No beer will cross my lips on that Friday.

Race Day:
I probably won't eat breakfast due to paranoia of GI issues for the race.  If I must, and since I am leaving early, I might eat a banana or bagel before heading out the door.

Since the race starts at 8am, I'll probably leave the house at about 6am, and get there around 6:30.  I know it is early, but approximately 1000 runners will be there and I want to find a good parking space and not deal with the traffic.  There is no designated parking for the race so it is find it where you can.  I'll probably park closer to the finish line, which is not too far from the start.  I'll bring water, 3 clif shots, my spibelt, iPod, Garmin and Gymboss interval timer.  The water will be left in the truck for the race, but everything else will go with me.  One clif shot will be taken 15 minutes prior to start and the rest will be in the spibelt and ready when needed.

When the race starts I will be doing a 2/1 run/walk ratio.  If I am feeling good at the half way mark I will bump it up to a 3/1, but if not feeling great, I will keep it at 2/1.  At the 10 mile mark I will make a change regardless.  Either bump up my run time, or shorten my walk time.  It all depends on how I feel and how much time I have left till course closure.

There six water stations on the course, stocked with water and Gatorade.  They are not marked on the course map, but I'm going to assume that they are every 2 miles or so.  I will drink water at the first station, Gatorade at the 4, water at 6 and so on.  Gels will be taken every hour after race starts with water.  This might also alter my gel plan.

That's about all I have as far as race day planning.  It doesn't sound like much but I think it will work me, and since this is my first, I really don't know what to plan for.  Plus, I have 4 more days till the race, and things may change.  I'm looking forward to this race because it is my first.  But mostly I am excited because I will learn how to race a half marathon and adjust for future races.

I will post later with a race report.

Thanks for reading, and if you have any suggestions please comment below and help a fat man out.

Disney World Trip Report... 2 months Later. Part 2

Hey all, here is the second part (and hopefully last part) of my trip report from Walt Disney World.  I've got WDW music playing in the background, and ready to get this thing knocked out.  Thanks Magical Mouse Radio. Just a review of the last part, if you're too lazy to scroll down and look at the last instalment, the wife, mother-law and 3 year old son went to WDW for a week at the end of August 2011.  So far I have covered Saturday the 20th to Wednesday the 24th.  That is were the bulk of our fun and excitement lay.  This section is going to cover one new park, a couple of new restaurants and a conclusion.  Again, If I get some of the names or terms of the attractions, restaurants or anything else wrong at WDW, I apologize.  If you get butt hurt over something like that, please continue on to another blog.

Thursday was our Hollywood Studios day, and the only day we did not go back to the hotel for a rest.  The day began at the Contemporary resort, with the family enjoying a fine meal at Chef Mickey's.  This was mainly a trip for the boy.  I am not a big breakfast fan and I loathe breakfast buffets.  But the food was not too horrible.  The characters were great, we saw the Big 5 within 30 minutes.  I was surprised it didn't take that long, because it was crowded and loud.  After the meal, we headed for the bus stop and caught one to Disney's Hollywood studios.  At the time of our trip (and it probably still is) the biggest attraction at HS is Toy Story Midway Mania.  We arrived at the park about 35 to 45 minutes after opening and we booked it to Toy Story to get fastpasses.  When we got there the fastpass return time was already at 7 pm.  We had a dilemma, if we get the fastpass, we could not get another one until 7, and I really wanted to ride the new Star Tours, and did not know how long the wait for that would be.  We sucked it up and got the fastpasses for Toy Story.  I don't remember the exact order of how we did it but we saw Muppet Vision 3D, rode Star Tours 2.0 with only a 20 minute wait, Lights, Motor, Action and the Disney Junior show.  Muppets was good, Star Tours 2.0 was Spect-freakin-tacular.  I don't remember too many details of the original, but the new one was clean up to date and not as jerky.  The 3D was awesome.  It rained during Lights, Motor, Action.  I still don't believe certain people don't like that show. The Disney Junior show was actually pretty entertaining.  Not the show itself, but the 4 and under crowd going nuts when the characters were on the stage.  We had lunch at Hollywood and Vine, which is another buffet and a character restaurant.  This one had the characters of Disney Junior.  Tyler loved the crap out of this one, and the food was excellent.  I guess all the good food put Tyler out a little after lunch.  This is the only place he would sleep in the stroller.  We hit the shops at that time and watched the parade, eh.  Finally it was time for Toy Story Mania.  Even with fastpass it was still a 20 minute wait, but better than the 2 hour standby.  The ride was fun, Tyler really enjoyed the arcade game atmosphere and interacting with the ride.  It was him and I in one car with mom and grandma behind us.  Mom and grandma won.  But I blame that on me helping Tyler too much and not focusing on the task at hand.  Fantasmic was the next on the list, but decided to forgo it because Tyler probably would not have liked it.  We went back to the Poly, ate at Captain Cooks and watched Wishes once again from the beach (never gets old).

Friday and Saturday were pot luck days.  We had seen all of the parks and wanted to relax a little.  We spent most of our time at the resort, Downtown Disney and spent a few hours in the Magic Kingdom.  Downtown Disney is not my favorite "attraction," but it is nice to go to an area in Disney and not need a plan, just walk around and look.  We vistied the World of Disney several times, the Christmas store, and I visited the bar outside of Raglan Road several times.  That is where I discovered Arrogant Bastard Ale.  Thank you Irish speaking bartender for the recommendation.  Since our first trip turned into a Fantasy Land and Electro Magic Parade day, it was decided to head back int he mornings of Friday and Saturday and try to fit in some attractions.  Friday was Tommorow Land morning.  Space mountain, the Speedway and people mover were all hit.  But Tyler's favorite was the Teacups.  I know, it's in Fantasyland, but you can see it from Tomorrowland and we didn't ride it the first day.  Well this turned in to Tyler's favorite ride.  We rode it 3 more times and Tyler could have gone more.  Cindy and I could not.  After the teacups, we went back to the hotel for a little and then headed to Epcot for dinner at Le Cellier in the Canada pavillion.  Holy bat crap, that is probably one of the best steaks that I have ever tasted.  I got the strip and the wife got the fillet mignon.  Both were pretty freakin tasty.  Now I know why it cost 2 dining credits.  We finished dinner and did some shopping, and went back to the hotel.

On Saturday we headed back to the Magic Kingdom and hit Frontier and Adventure Lands.  Rode Pirates, Jungle Cruise (classic), Thunder Mountain and the train.  Had lunch and Pecos Bills with the massive fixins' bar, really good, and got my Dole Whip float from Aloha Isle.  That was good.  But if you don't already know, Frontier Land has the greatest restaurant in all of WDW property.  The turkey leg cart.  This thing contains the best smoked turkey leg in the history of mankind.  The 18 star chef at a Swan and Dolphin Restaurant couldn't get this right.  I have been to Disney World approximately 20 times in my life, and every time I get a Turkey leg from that cart in Frontier Land.  Yea It's that good.  After that morning we went back to the hotel and began to pack for the trip home.  It was a sad time, I really didn't want to go back.  But it was time, and I couldn't do anything about it.  Nothing spectacular happened Saturday night.  No fancy restaurant, no parks.  Just some sushi from Kona and some liquor and beer from the concierge lounge at the Poly.  

The trip home was uneventful.  We were all tired and kinda ready to get back into the grove of life.  

What I missed...

What I mean, is what I wanted to do, but was unable for some reason or another.  Soarin', Test Track, Splash Mountain, Indiana Jones, Grey Goose Slushy, more time in the World Showcase, Innoventions, Sunshine Seasons, Flights of Wonder, Finding Nemo show, the Scorpion from the Tequila bar in Mexico (I tried and tried).  And that should do it.  As you can tell, most of it is from Epcot.  That place is so darn big and has so much.  That might need to be a 2 dayer next time.

Conclusion

We stayed for close to 10 days, including the first day with no park passes.  And as you can see from my list above, did not have enough time to do everything.  That is one thing someone is going to have to face when taking a trip to WDW.  Don't get your hopes up.

Not everybody is going to agree, and not everyone is going to like each other every single minute of the trip. Enough said on that.

When you have a small child.  It is their vacation.  You do what they want and can do.  Thankfully Tyler's grandmother was with.  He could wait with her while Cindy and I went on an attraction.  That was rare, as in, we only did it a couple of times.  Again, it is their trip, your stuff is thrown in if it can fit.

Go in with a touring plan.  That was our big mistake.  Yea, we decided what parks and restaurants we were going to hit on which day.  But winged it while in the parks.  A lot of time was spent asking "now what" and wasting a lot of time.

Take breaks in the summer heat, and figure out a way to bring a cooler with water into the parks.  They will save you.

Tyler's favorite ride:  The Monorail.  I am so proud.

Thank you for reading my trip report.  Hopefully on the next trip I'll have a laptop and write about it as it is going on.  I really don't know what was going on with the template today, didn't seem to work.  So if something looks weird or messed up, it's blogger's fault.  Hope you enjoyed it and stayed somewhat entertained.  I might come back with a couple of posts dedicated to restaurants and planning for the next trip.  Again, thank you.

Disney World Trip Report... 2 months Later. Part 1

What is up folks.  I decided that it was time to write about my recent trip to Walt Disney world with my family. This trip took place on August 21st through the 27th 2011. I know, 2 months ago, but I have been slack.  I don't know how long these things are supposed to be, but I will try to make it as short as possible... no promises.  I also apologize if I get the name of certain attractions wrong, use the wrong terminology, or misspell the names of certain things. I am a MILD Disney Geek, not an expert.  Some of the pictures seen here are not the one's that I or my family took. So thanks to everyone for sharing their photographs for all to enjoy.

Not only did we deal with the typical August in Florida daily rain storms, we had to vacation during the typical Florida rain storm, with Hurricane Irene rain added in.

The wife, mother-in-law and I have been planning this trip for close to 18 months.  We would be staying in the Polynesian Resort and with the help of our travel agent, the concierge level.  We also were taking part in the Dining Plan. Our advance dining reservations (ADR) were booked, and I had been reading every book I could get my hands on and listening to every podcast about WDW.  We had been in the past, sans-child, but I didn't take planning a serious as I did for this trip.  I found out the best restaurants, what to get at the restaurants, the best places to watch parades and the best time to get in line for rides.  Now all we had to do was survive.  We didn't have a set touring plan, just knew what parks we were going to be in and what we wanted to see.

The car was packed the night before with enough snacks and "just in cases" to fill the entire rear of a Dodge Durango.  We left Chapin, SC at 5:30 am on Saturday August 20th.  I wanted to leave earlier, but I was out voted.  The kid was strapped in, his DVD player was on, everybody else was asleep and we were off.  Our big stop is always Brunswick, GA.  It is the "half-way" point.  That is usually breakfast at the Cracker Barrel and a quick stretch.  After that break we headed on and stopped only a couple of more time before we hit WDW.


We arrived at 3:30ish pm. Our first night was spent at the POP Century Resort, and we had no park tickets so we headed to Downtown Disney.  And in true Orlando in August fashion, it was raining.  We took in a couple shops and headed to Raglan Road.  I had made ADR's for the Irish Restaurant, but was not set on it if we didn't go.  We arrived and saw the menu.  I'm an adventurous eater, and everybody else was not.  We couldn't recognize most of the items, and decided to abandon Raglan Road.  We then settled on T-Rex cafe.  I didn't hate it, but for the expensive price, I would hope for better food.  I ordered the chicken and ribs platter, and tasted like it could have came from a fast food BBQ joint.  Not impressed.  After dinner we headed back to POP and turned in for the night.

Polynesian Lobby

We all slept pretty bad that night.  The first night at any new place is always hard for me to sleep, no matter if it a Disney Value resort or the Waldorf.  However, it was a new day and we had to check into the Polynesian.  We arrived, got our bags unloaded and checked in.  Our room was not ready, but they would text when it was.  Breakfast of pastries and cereal was enjoyed at the concierge lounge, and we took a ride on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.  The Magic Kingdom day was turned into Fantasy land Day.  We rode most of the rides, the favorite was Dumbo.  The boy enjoyed all the rides, except for Snow White.  He came out crying and a cast member at the gift shop gave him a sticker and all was well.  I think that was her job, give stickers to crying kids as they came out of Snow White.  I enjoyed Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh.  I saw Philharmagic for the first time.  I was a little weary because all the fastpasses we received came with a bonus fastpass to Philharmagic, and thought they were just trying to fill seats.  And of course, we had to ride It's a Small World.  I hate this ride, but it's a classic and Tyler enjoyed it.  Plus, how can you say no to a 5 minute stand by line. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Lunch was eaten at Pinocchio's Village Haus.  Not bad. Then I received the text that our room was ready for the Poly.  We headed back and took it easy until it was time for our 5:30 ADR at the Liberty Tree Tavern.  The kid enjoyed a nap, mom and grandma took a dip in the pool, and I enjoyed the free beer served in the concierge lounge.

It's a Small Wold

The Liberty Tree Tavern is awesome.  Dinner is served family style and the food is great.  A huge plate of turkey, pork and beef is brought out.  Along with bowls of mashed potatoes and green beans.  If you run out, just ask for more.  I ate a little too much and was not feeling well, but it was time to wait for the Electro Magic Parade.  The parade started at 9pm, and we were sitting on the bridge that separates Main Street from the castle at a little before 7.  I had ate too much for dinner, and was not feeling too hot.  The wait was long and boring, but I'm glad that we didn't decide to go walk around.  The parade took place, nothing too exciting, but Tyler really enjoyed it.  We got back to the Poly and watched the fireworks from the beach.  It was awesome because the music from the show was piped into the speaker system for the hotel.  

Monday was Epcot day.  This was also the day that I was attempting around the world.  Which is a drinking game to try to get a drink from every country in the World Showcase.  I'll write about that on a separate post.  The first thing we had to do was get fastpasses for Soarin'.  Which is the probably the most popular ride at Epcot, if not in WDW.  The plan, I would run to get the fastpasses and then catch up with everybody else.  The gates dropped and about 90% of the crowd headed to Soarin.  I headed to the fastpass, only to discover that it was broken.  The cast members were telling everybody that it was down and did not know when it would be up again.  I waited for about 10 minutes and they were still broken.  The stand bye line was already at an hour.  So I counted it as a loss and reunited with the family.  We took advantage of the crowds being at Soarin and took Tyler to the character stop.  It was great because Tyler could see the popular characters (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Pluto) in one spot, and not have to chase them around the parks. When then rode the Living Seas with Nemo.  My first time riding it, and probably my last.  I like the idea, but I was not feeling it.  Turtle Talk with Crush was next, and that was great.  I know it was for the children, but I found it very entertaining and funny.  After the talk, the world showcase opened up and we started from Mexico and started to work our way around clockwise.  We stopped in Mexico for a little, walked past Norway and straight to the American Pavilion for lunch.  It was ok, typical hot dog and hamburgers found throughout the resort.  It was time to head back for our afternoon naps, drinks and dip in the pool.

We returned to Epcot for our 6:00 ADR at the Coral Reef restaurant.  Now, I have heard people bash this place and say that the food was horrible.  I thought it was pretty darn tasty.  I had the Sea Bass and thought it was awesome.  The only complaint is the portion were a little small for the price.  But we had the dining plan, so no worries.  After dinner we headed to Canada and worked our way around the showcase counter-clockwise.  We didn't do too much touring in the showcase during the trip.  We stopped in some shops walked around each country, but we didn't ride anything or stay in one place too long.  The Illuminations light show started at 9pm.  By that time, Tyler was about to pass out and I was feeling good after around the world.  The show started and immediately Tyler was scared of the noise.  We headed out of there and was able to get out of the park before the show was over.  Therefore, no crowds and no pain trying to get out of there.  Got back to the room, watched the fireworks and turned in.

Tuesday was water park day and more Epcot.  First off, I hate water parks.  But this is what the rest of the family wanted to do, and I went with no protest.  The water park of choice was Blizzard Beach.  I rode the team boat thing with the family and went down the dark tube water slide.  The rest of the time was spent at the children's area as Tyler played.  I grabbed me a margarita and sat as Tyler went down the slide over and over again.  I enjoyed watching him having fun. We must have been in that area for about 2 hours.  When it was time to leave, Tyler was not ready.  We got back to the room at about noon, and planning to head back to Epcot about 4ish then head to dinner in Mexico.  It was hot, we were tired and it started to rain.  So we stayed at the hotel until it was close to time to eat.

Dinner for the night was La San Angel Inn in the Mexico pavilion of the world showcase. I forgot what I had ordered, but I do remember that it was good. I was little disappointed that the food did look and taste like the food at my local Mexican joint, but it was good none the less.  After dinner we headed back to the hotel and called an end to the day.

Wednesday was Animal Kingdom day.  This is the only park that had morning extra magic hours that we took part in.  In fact, this is the only park took advantage of any extra magic hours.  We wanted to hit this early so we could ride the Kilimanjaro Safari first while the animals were waking up and moving.  When the rope dropped we headed to the safari and stood in line.  The ride was great, one of my top 5 attractions in the world.  Most of the animals were out and our "guide" was not too great.  After the safari I headed to get fastpass to Everest for the wife and I, while the family went toward Dino land.  My mother in law and I rode Dinosaur while Cindy and Tyler hung out in Hester and Chester's of Chester's and Hester's play area.  After Dinosaur we headed to Everest and the wife and I rode it.  It was fun, and of course, the Yeti was still broken.  When the ride was over, I ran and got fastpasses for the safari, and we saw the Festival of the Lion King.  That was awesome.  I'm not a huge fan of shows, save the comedic or street actors, but this was great.  You can't argue with a show that combines Cirque Du Soliel acrobatics and Lion King Music (The greatest Disney movie ever).  When that was over it was time to ride the safari again.  And by the time the temperature was pretty high and Tyler was starting to feel the heat.  We rod the ride, but Tyler was not into it.  He looked like death and about puked a couple of times.  After the ride we booked it to a family center so Tyler could cool down.  The child center was a glorified changing area, but the A/C was on full blast, and they had Cinderella playing on a TV in a playroom. We chilled out little (literally) and headed back out.  I think we all needed that break.  We ate lunch at Flame Tree BBQ.  That was awesome, large portions and a decent price for a quick service restaurant.  After dinner we headed back to the hotel.  We had no ADR for dinner, so we ate at Captain Cooks at the Poly and stayed at the resort.

This concludes Part 1 of the trip report. I apologize for the length and thank you for sticking with it.  The next part will not be as full with details (hopefully).  The rest of trip was more returning parks to hit stuff we missed.  I will also try to include what I learned and missed, but depending on how long the next post is, it might be in a separate post.

The Many Adventures of Run Fatboy Run

It has been 2 months since my last post, not counting my recent rant and rave.  So instead of making a super long post about what has happened, I'm going to do a hopefully short synopsis of the past 2 months and then elaborate later.  The events will not be in order.

On October 7th 2011, my wife and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary.  It has been fun and a struggle at some times.  But what relationships isn't.  Since we got married, we have moved into a great home and raised a great son.  I hope we have many more years together.  That's about all I will say on that, I don't like to make big deals about this sort of thing in public or in public domains.

At the end of August, the wife, son and mother-in-law spent a week at the Walt Disney World resort.  It was fun, hot and rained everyday.  But we had a blast and can't wait to go back, which will hopefully be for Marathon weekend 2012.  I am going to work on a trip report and go into more details about where we stayed, ate and general information about the trip.

My running has been very inconsistent since the beginning of September.  One week I would run 15 to 20 miles, and the next week I would barely break 5, if I ran at all.  As you saw from my rant and rave about my running on the last post, I had to make a change.  I am about a month away from my first half marathon, and I know that I am not where I need to be.  With that, I have changed my running plan.  I did not abandon my beloved Galloway Run-Walk method, but I did adjust it.  I Incorporated the Hal Higdon training plan into the Galloway method.  That is, I am running the prescribed mileage needed by Higdon, but still using my run-walk method and doing the Galloway prescribed long run distances.  I don't know if it is going to help that much, but I do feel a whole lot better getting in the extra mileage.

I nearly gained all of my weight back that I had lost while on weight watchers.  Thanks to eating and drinking to my heart and stomach content at Disney, and not hitting the diet when I got back; I gained almost all of the 20 pounds back that I had lost.  I am now back on weight watchers with a vengeance.  I have lost about 10 pounds since going back on, and I don't plan to stop until I hit my goal of 200 pounds.

My 3 year old son had his tonsils removed recently.  I know it is young, but it needed to get done.  He has had bouts of tonsillitis ever since he was born.  Sometimes as bad as 2 times a month, which he had to miss school and mom and dad had to miss work to take care of him.  He was taken to Palmetto Health Hospital's Children's Hospital in Columbia, SC for the procedure.  The entire staff was excellent, professional and made sure the time spent there was as comfortable as possible.  For Tyler and mom and dad.  He was taken back at about 7:30 am and we could not go with him.  He was put under at 7:50am and the surgery was done by 8:15 am.  Cindy and I went into the recovery room with him for about 2 hours.  He was eating, drinking and jumping around the room.  We were discharged and sent home.  When this post is published, I will  be a stay at home dad for about a week. It has been a struggle, the anaesthesia wore off and he is in pain.  Giving him medication is a struggle and getting him to eat and drink is damn near impossible.  However, today he went off of his prescription as in on over the counter meds.  He is now eating and drinking consistently.  My training and diet will suffer a little while staying home until he gets better.  It is a small sacrifice to ensure that he is healthy and ready to get back to the real world.

Now the fun part... The BEERS!!!

This time of year is my favorite in beer world.  It is when Sam Adams releases its Octoberfest beer.  It is my favorite non Boston Lager Sam Adams, and possibly my favorite non Boston Lager beer. It has the feel of a light beer, but the taste of a full bodied goodness.  I have tried other Octoberfest beers, and the none of them compare to Sam Adams'.  I am just sad that it is only out for 2 months out of the year.


While at Disney I tried 4 beers that I have never had. Arrogant Bastard Ale, Kona Longboard, Kona Fire Rock and Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA.  The Arrogant Bastard Ale was tasty and smooth, almost like a pale ale and is strong.  I suggest taking this one slow cause it will sneak up on you, especially if it is the first beer of a night of drinking.  The Kona Longboard is Kona's Lager.  It tasted like a Budweiser but not as heavy.  The Firerock is Kona's IPA, it tasted like most IPA's but not as sweet. I liked the Kona brand, but it seemed very generic. I tried Dog Fish Head for the first time at Disney since that brand is not available anywhere near where I live.  I had high hopes since it had been on TV and I have heard nothing but good about it.  I tried it, liked it but was not blown away.  I guess all the hype ruined it for me, but I will buy it if it is finally sold in my town.  The last new beer I have tried is Long Hammer IPA by Red Hook.  It was on sale at Bi-Lo, and since I like trying new beers, and it was cheap, I figured why the hell not?  It is sweet, smooth and bold.  Almost as good as a Sierra Nevada, but not quite.  I won't wait till it goes on sale again to buy it.





Thank you all for reading and patience.  I apologize if this is too long.  Enjoy my blog and Cheers!

Sick of it all

When I first started doing this thing, I promised that this would be about me, my training, my weight loss, and that I would not use this for a rant and rave.  But I must now break that rule and rant and rave about myself.

I was on weight watchers fro approximately 3 months and lost close to 20 lbs.  I have been off of it for a month and gained all but 2 pounds back.  I am mad at myself and sick that I did not have the will power to continue this path of weight loss.  I was doing so well, and decided one day to quit doing it.

I was training for a half marathon.  Granted my mileage was not high by any means, but I was consistently running 3 to 4 times a weeks at 3- 5 miles at a time.  I have been back from vacation for approximately 1 month, and have ran less than 5 times.  I was also doing well, and then just not have it in me to keep going.

Am I blaming my vacation for ruining what I had going on, no.  I am blaming myself for not having the will power to keep going when I got back home.  I knew that once I returned from this vacation that I would weigh a little more, because I was eating and drinking what I wanted.  I also knew that my running would suffer because I didn't strap on my Kinvaras once.  My half marathon time goal has changed from 2:45 to finish before the cut off time and hopefully don't die on the course.

I woke up this morning and decided to get back on track.  I could tell myself and leave it that, but decided to write about it for accountability.  I am back on the weight watchers and I am going to hit the road hard.  I have a new running plan and I plan on sticking to it as best as I can.  I have also started a push up and sit up routine. 

I did not write this so you can feel sorry for me, please don't.  I f**ked up and now I have to fix it.

The Kinvara Chronicles

What it is folks?  It's that time again, time for another edition of Run Fatboy Run.  A blog post that is favored by my wife, and that's really it by now.  Anyways, here is what is going on in the life of me for now.

Weight watchers watch:  I lost 4. something pounds this week.  I was actually pretty surprised about it.  I think the 10 miler last Friday and the 4 miler I did before weigh in helped.  Is that cheating? I say no, it's a little "help."

So, I have fallen into the minimalist running fad.  I'm usually pretty strong about staying away from fads and hip stuff, but the minimalist movement is too strong for me.  I blame this on the book Born To Run, by Christoper McDougal.  If you know it, bear with me.  But it's a story about a journalist who travels to Mexico and meets with an white guy who is trying to preserve and help the tribes of the Copper Canyons.  These Tarahumara are super athletes and ultra runners respectfully who have been running in sandals or barefoot their whole life.  Without going too much into the story, there are sections in the book about basically how bad shoes are to you and blah blah blah.  Now I don't agree with the argument that shoes are necessarily bad, but I do want to explore the minimalist type of running shoes and see if it could benefit me in some ways.

That being said, I was looking at purchasing a pair of Saucony Kinvaras.  I have a few friends who use them, and some of the podcasters I listen to like them and haven't heard any bad things about them.  I have put purchasing the shoes on the back burner because, I am still skeptical and I didn't have $90 sitting around.  Plus it was hard to justify replacing my old shoes that have less than 200 miles on them.  Well finally, I got some overtime at work and I began to look around for a pair.  The only ones I could find at the moment were a pair for $100 at Fleet Feet, Columbia SC.  The only color that was available for my size 13 boats was the vizi-pro orange.  I could not bring myself to purchase the orange shoes.  I am not a fan of neon anything and I couldn't wear something that was all orange (Clemson-Carolina thing, some might understand). 

My search continued and I found another pair of orange Kinvaras at Dick's Sporting goods.  They were $10 off and a $30 difference from fleet feet.  I tried them on, and ran on them.  My 3 year old son, who was with me, thought I was playing while I was running.  He said "Chase me daddy," and we he was off.  There I was with shoes that I have not paid for, running down the aisle toward the front door.  My son thought it was fun, the very large employee at the front door did not think it was quite as fun.  Fortunately I caught my child, returned to the shoe area, boxed the shoes up and made the purchase.  I know I said I wouldnt' wear orange, but I'm cheap and can't pass a deal up like that.

When I got home I showed Cindy my new shoes.  She was none too happy when I showed her the orange shoes.  I though her being a Clemson fan, she would like the bright orange Las Vegas Neon Sign style shoes.  No, she was unhappy that I bought something that I wasn't happy with 2 days prior.  Oh well, I got my some Kinvaras and I was happy. 

Later that night, just for smiles and giggles, I went to runningwarehouse.com to check out their prices.  They had no Kinvaras but they did have some Kinvara 2's.  The price on the screen said $90.00, add to cart to see price.  I added a pair of grey, black and orange Kinvara 2's to the cart.  To my surprise, not only were they cheaper than my out of date Kinvaras, but they were way cheaper, I'm talking $30 cheaper.  So I did what every logical man would do, I bought the shoes from running warehouse and returned the orange things to the store. 


I am now awaiting my shoes to arrive in the mail.  I will write about them at a later date.

Well hope all is going well with you all.  Keep on running, enjoy that beer and have fun.

And Now for the Random Blog Post...

It's Saturday, 7/30/2011.  Nothing super exciting has happened since the last post, but I am trying to get in the habit of doing more of these things more often, regardless of what might or might not have happened.

I have been on day shift for the past two weeks.  The temperature has been a average of about 186 deg F, with a heat index of about 399.  Yeah, that bad.  It is just so hard to get out of that air conditioned car, with 40 pounds of gear into that blazing sun and standing on the asphalt for up to an hour or more at a time, for a 12 hours shift.  Then once you get home and take off all of the gear, the smell that emanates from the body is nauseating.  It smells like an orangutan had ran a marathon,showered in it's on sweat, and then dried off with a moldy towel.  Yea, that bad.  I'm just excited that the night shift starts soon, and all I have to deal with is the humidity.  Plus one more night shift and two more days on day shift, then it's onto vacation.

Speaking of vacations, we are heading to the happiest place on the planet for a week.  Walt Disney World (enter your woo here_____).  I am so looking forward to this, not because it's Disney world, but we haven't been on a vacation in 4 years, and this will be my three year old's first trip there.  That being sad, I don't know what's worse.  Worrying about spending money on the trip, or all the money needed before the trip.  We just got Tyler a DVD player for the car, stocked up on diapers and snacks for the 8 hour ride, and we have to give the car a tune-up.  Sheesh, this is hard.

One of the highlights of my week was my 10 mile run on Friday.  I didn't know if I was ready for this one.  I had just gotten over a knee injury and stomach issues, plus I had only run 2 miles in about a week and a half, but it had to get done.  This was on of those runs that if something was going to go wrong, today would have been today.  First off, I was planning on getting to Lake Murray dam around 5:30 am.  I didn't wake up till 5.  And because my pre-run rituals my take a while to take place, I didn't get out to the dam till 7.   The temp was not bad, maybe 78 with high humidity and a nice breeze. 

Usually I do the 3.4 mile loop and stop by truck for water and such after each lap.  Well on that day I decided that I didn't want to get bored by doing lap after lap for 10 miles, I decided to run straight for 5 miles, and then head back.  Again the start of my run was not bad at all, temperature wise.  I left my water, and gels in the truck and took off at a slow 2/1 ratio.  I ran the dam and kept going.  Now, that track on the dam is nice a super flat, the hills on either side of the dam are horrible.  I forgot how hard they were and kept trucking for about 3 more miles.  Decided that I was thirsty and failing, and started to head back.  I past about 3 gas stations on the way back, but of course, I didn't bring cash or card with me.

The sun started to rise, but the temp was still not bad.  However, the combination of the hills (and my lack of hill of training) the beaming sun, humidity started to take it's toll.  My nice 10:30 pace with a 2/1 ratio changed to an 11:00 pace with a 1:30/1 ratio.  By the time I hit the dam again, I was wasted.  I ran back to the truck, looked at my Garmin and realized that I still had about 2.5 miles to go.  This just killed my spirits.  I took another gel, drink some water and took off at a 1/1 ratio with about a 12:00 pace or slower.  I just had to get it done.  I finally finished, came home, got some water and an after run Boston Lager.  I deserved it dammit.

I was planning on doing a 5k on Saturday as well.  It was for a good cause; the Richland County Sheriff's Department K-9 unit.  I was looking forward to it, because I was actually planning on "racing" this one, and not just enjoying the scenery.  I really wanted to have a sub 30 minute 5k.  However, no one I knew was going to be there, I had just run 10 miles the day prior, and it's about 45 minutes to an hour away from my house.  Plus I wanted to sleep in.  Oh well, there will be other races.


The weight watcher watch:  I gained .4 pounds, not bad.  I had a few too many beers and excersised a few too little times.  It didn't break my heart, but the weight wathcers app on my phone stated, "It looks like you gained a little."  What an ass!

Week in Review, IPA's and the "Currently" Thing

This past week, week and a half, has been a little hectic.  Did some construction, ran a little bit and went to a friend's house for a get together.  Which turned into, everybody watch their kid so they don't get hurt party, but it was still fun.

I started to have some pain in my left knee last week.  It didn't hurt after a run, but getting out of a car.  It's not excruciating, but I do notice it.  If I walk on level ground it's OK, but if i climb a hill or go up some stairs, it hurts.  All that aside, I took a couple of days off.  Then on Saturday I headed to the Lake Murray Dam walking path at about 5:30 am for the 9 miler.  The temperature was about 70 degrees, slightly humid, but had a nice breeze coming off of the lake.  The walk path is about a 3.4 mile out and back, flat, so it wouldn't bother my knee, and wasn't crowded at all.  However, I think the women walking were a little on edge when they saw a fat tattooed man running toward them.  One of those ladies even shined her LED light in my eyes as I was running by...that wasn't nice.

I did my run in about 1 hour and 50 minutes.  After each lap, I would stop off at my truck, rehydrate and get some gel.  This was nice because I didn't have to carry anything on the run itself.  The ratio for the first 2 laps was 2/1.  I was feeling good for the last lap and cranked it to a 2:30/1 ratio.  I know what you're thinking... but I knew what I was doing.  It was a great run because I ran the 9 miles 4 minutes slower than my 8 miler two weeks prior.

That same Saturday, was the Saturday that the wife and I were going to put up her closet organizer ( you can take a look at the details on her blog, http://ostranderfam.blogspot.com/)  In short, when we took the old system down it left a lot of large holes.  So a one day putting up a closet organizer task, turned into a 2 day spackle, paint, paint some more the put up the closet organizer.  The most time consuming aspect was putting the anchor on the wall that would hold the system.  After that it was just busy work to put all the pieces together.  It took a while, but it looks nice and now I'm awaiting my closet organizer and two day construction time.

The weight watchers watch: I lost 4 lbs, even after a weekend party of great non weight watcher friendly food and about 10 beers. I think the long run helped a little.

My favorite beer right now is the Sam Adams Latitude 48 IPA.  This is the first IPA that I have partaken in, and I love it.  It's probably my favorite beer right now.  This being said, I decided to do a little taste test and try some other IPA's.  I went to the local Food Lion, and built my six pack with, Magic Hat #9 (I know it says "almost pale ale" but who's counting), Sweet Water IPA, New Belgium Ranger, and 2 Sam Adams Lat IPA. 

After drinking the other beers, I discovered that the IPA has a grapefruity taste to it.  I didn't notice it in the Sam, but now I do and the other beers brought that out.  The first I tried was the Sweet Water.  This had a strong grapefruit taste to it, and was very sweet.  The Ranger had the same taste, not as sweet but leaning more toward the hoppiness that I like.  Magic Hat, again had the grapefruit taste, but was more subdued.  All in all I didn't hate any of them.  I probably won't by the Sweet Water again, but I won't turn it down if someone offered me one.  My favorite is still the Sam.

And now the grand finale, the "currently" thing.  The wife did it on her blog (see the link above) and encouraged me to do one.  So away we go...

Currently

Current Book: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, by  Chris McDougall.  Great book.  I love the section of the tribes and Caballo Blanco, but I think the sections on natural running and scientific stuff could have been saved for another book.  I am also listening to Once a Runner, by John L. Parker Jr.  My first audio book.  It's on the iPod, and is used for the long runs.

Current Song: "My Hero," by the Foo Fighters.  I'm going through a 90's and early 2000's phase right now.

Current Drink: Sam Adams Latitude 48 IPA

Current Wish: Saucony Kinvaras or some Vibram Five Fingers.  The Vibrams are not for running, just lounging.

Current Triumph: 9 mile long run completed.

Current Guilty Pleasure: Jimmy Dean turkey sausage biscuits.

Current Favorite Blog: Rocky Mountain Dirt Running, by Nick Clark.  http://irunmountains.blogspot.com/.  I stumbled across this one.  He had just completed the Western States 100 and Hardrock 100.  I'm a sucker for ultramarthoners.

Current Goal:  To leave for Disney at 4am like planned on August 20th.

Current Indulgence:  Sam Adams Latitude 48 IPA

Current Bane of My Existence: Tyler playing with the computer mouse and keyboard while I try to type this...hghjyhhjjnjhgjhjrhuyujyujjng44343h3rtfggbgvbegvb3g3g... see what I mean.

Current Excitement:  Vacation is less than 30....

Current Mood: horny

Current Favorite Pic:  Oldie but goodie.

Here you try it.  What is "currently" going on with you??

How Ya Been?

So it's been about a month and a half since I lasted posted anything.  Frankly, I haven't had a race to report on.  However, I have been listening to a lot of podcasts, reading a lot of blogs and I got inspired just to post something.

Since my last post:

1. I started my half-marathon training.  If you have been following me (thanks Cindy), you know that I  have been using the Jeff Galloway run-walk-run method for my previous races and training.  I am going to continue to use it for my first half-marathon. Before committing to the Galloway training for the half, I have been using it just to build my base.  No speed, pace or interval training.  Now that I have started it I will be utilizing those kind of training methods.  This is in preparation for The Myrtle Beach Mini-Marathon on October 23rd or The Governor's Cup Half-Marathon in Columbia, SC on November 5th.

2. I have discovered Body Glide.  Oh, that wonderful, magic paste.  Put it on those special places, in between the toes, on the heel above the shoe and go for hours.  Or until you pass out, whatever comes first.

3.  I finally bought myself a Garmin Forerunner 305. Thanks to some extra hours at work and a Disney Visa, I was able to get that watch.  So far I love it, no complaints.  Yes, it is like wearing a laptop on your arm, but it works great.  Now I don't have to rely on the overpriced Nike+ pedometer (even though I still take it for a backup), and the inaccurate as all give out Android apps. 

4.  I have joined Weight Watchers.  I finally broke down an joined.  I have lost about 15 pounds just by running and exercising, but have plateaued for about a month.  Which I blame on still eating like I usually do.  The wife has been on it for about 6 months now and has lost over 30 pounds.  She is helping me understand it and being a big supporter.

5.  And finally, on a non-running or fitness note.  The University of South Carolina (The Real USC) Baseball Team won their 2nd National Championship in a row.  WOOOOOO!!!!!.  It was probably the most dramatic series in sports that I have ever witnessed.  Many tears and beers were shared when the World Series was over.

2011 Jail Break 5k

Hey folks!  I ran a 5k, and since it's been a while since I wrote one of these blog deals, I decided to write about it.  On a side note, why do they call it writing something, even if you're typing it?  Something to think about.  Now on with the show.

The race in question is the 2011 Jail Break 5k put on by the Lexington County Sheriff's Department in Lexington, SC on 5/28/2011.  I believe it was the 5th annual.  I wasn't planning on doing this one because I had to work, but by the grace of something holy, I was able to take a half day. The race started at 8:30am, with registration and festivities starting at 6:30 am.  I arrived at about 7:15, got my number and t-shirt.  No swag bag; kinda disappointed in that.  I was number 1311, which is translated into 311 out of 480 people. I was also registered in the Clydesdale division, which is any male over 200 pounds and any female over 160 pounds.  AKA:  The fat ass division, and I loved it.

 As I was leaving the registration table I saw a couple of African-American gentlemen heading to the table.  I didn't think anything of it until the lady asked their names.  They spoke with an accent straight from Africa.  "Great" I thought, "The Kenyans are here.  Now I have no chance." headed back to my car and dropped my shirt off, pinned my number on, grabbed the Ipod and interval timer and changed from my crocs into my Mizunos. 

By the time I returned to the staging area and fairly decent crowd had started to congregate and the DJ had showed up.  With a computer and crappy speakers he cranked out the sounds of classic rock and the COPs theme song (several times).  I didn't know anybody there and I wasn't planning on meeting anybody.  I did a few acceleration gliders to loosen up and waited for the announcement.

The announcement was made to move to the starting line.  Of course they had to make it right when I had to pee.  I did my business and headed toward the starting line.  When I exited the facilities everybody was at the starting line.  I took my place in the rear of the pack with the strollers and old folk.  I set my interval timer to a 4/1 ratio (that's 4 minute run with 1 minute walk), got the Ipod ready and waited for the start.  The DJ with with the crappy sound system was going to start the race off.  I could not hear a single word that guy was saying and just waited for everybody to start moving.  I heard someone yell, and everybody started to move.  I started the Ipod with the classic "Blackened" by Metallica and started the timer.  I was off, and got passed by several strollers.

As I crossed the start line I heard this god awful "roaring" sound.  What the hell was that.  Was it the second coming of Christ, a zombie apocalypse... No, it was the Lexington County Sheriff's helicopter, flying low and scaring the turds out of people. 

After my first 4 minutes, came the walk portion.  People, as nice as they are and not knowing my plan, began to cheer me on and say stuff like, "keep pushing," and "you can't walk now."  I just nodded, waved and took off after my minute walk time.  The course was not bad, it just had a lot of slight incline hills.  What I mean by a slight incline hill, is that it is not steep enough to kill you, but steep enough to burn your legs.  As soon as the burn was over for one hill, I was going up another hill. 

At about the half way mark a guy in a yellow Navy shirt passed me.  Now, I was passed by a lot of people and since I'm not a racer I did not care.  Navy shirt guy got about 40 yards in front of me and began to walk.  Why does this guy stick out from the rest?  I'll tell you.  As I got close to this guy, he turned around, saw me and began to run.  My 4 minutes of running was up, I started to walk, he looked at me and he began to walk.  I passed him when I ran, and he passed me when I walked.  This went on for the entire last half of the race.  I was not trying to beat this guy, but he sure as hell wanted to beat me.  He began to take more walk breaks and kept on trucking and passing him with some distance. 

I turned a corner and saw the finish line.  This guy was out in front, and I was in my walk portion.  He began to run.  I decided to run, then sprint.  This is where the Galloway run-walk method comes into play.  Since I was taking frequent walk breaks, I was conserving energy and recovering from my runs.  I was able to spring the last .10 of the race without pain, or being winded.  I passed Navy guy and left him way behind.  I finished with a time of 34:29 and a pace of 11:17 and PR'ed.  Only by a little less than 30 seconds, but a PR is a PR.

Unfortunately I was unable to stay for awards and festivities.  As soon as I was done I grabbed me a bottle of water, walked around for a bit, got in my car and left.  I had to go to work.

I like to think that I help motivate a person today.  I'm pretty sure that the Navy guy was thinking to himself, "I got to beat that fat guy."  He was so determined to be beat by me that he pushed hard to the end.  Your welcome Navy guy.

The Fallen Heroes 5K

Hey All.  This is my second blog post and my first "race" report.  I put race in quotations because I was doing all but racing today.

The race is the Fallen Heroes Memorial 5k put on by the University of South Carolina Naval ROTC that benefits the Wounded Warrior Project; a great organization by the way. 

The race started at 8am; therefore I wanted to be there by 7am.  I got the wife and kid up at 5:30 so they could wake their "no sense of urgency butts" up and get going.  Like a good runner, I had all of my essentials packed and my outfit laid out and ready to go.  I wore some Under Armour shorts that I love, and a "GASP," cotton Marine shirt.  Not the most comfortable thing to run in, but it fit with the military theme of the run.

We left the house at 630 with little setbacks or distractions.  Tyler was tired and cranky and was whining the whole way to Columbia.  Did our check in thing, and got our swag.  They gave Cindy and me our numbers; they didn't tell us which number was whose, they just handed me both of them and our swag bag.  The d-tag we used was the one that was tied into the shoe by the laces.  I did not know how to properly attach this thing, so I stared blankly at it for about a minute trying to figure out the best approach to this thing.

Once the tag was attached (right or wrong, still don't know) Cindy and I met up with the group of runners that we had signed up with the run.  The group consists of mostly people I work with and their spouses.  About 15 in all (got a discount on registration fee if we signed up in a 10 or more person group).  There was the guy who had completed his first marathon earlier in the year, me who just got into running, the Judge who ran the Boston Marathon the week prior, three strollers and the rest of the folks were running their first race ever or in a long time.

At about 5 minutes till the start the organizers moved us to the starting line.  There were about 200 people all together, which is not bad for a 2nd year event.  I had my Ipod set to the workout run play list, the phone with the I map my run app up and running and my Gymboss interval timer set to 3/1 ratio.  The gun went off.  Actually, I don't know what they used to start the race, I had Blackened by Metallica blasting in my ear and I couldn't hear a darn thing. So, I just started running when everybody else did.

The first thing encountered was a hill.  Maybe .10 miles long, not steep, but steady.  We then made a right and another .10 mile long, not steady hill lay ahead.  About that time my 3 minutes were up and was time to start walking.  Several of my group passed me, as well as 3 firefighters in full bunker gear.  I had found my motivation, don't get beat by the firefighters.  I began to lose some gas a little after the turn around.  I slowed my pace down for the next 2 intervals and then picked it back up.  The rest of the race was uneventful to say the least.  I just ran the out and back.  NO injuries, no pain just running. 

At about the 2 mile mark I saw my boss about 100 yards in front of me, and the firefighters about 150 yards in front of me.  My motivation had changed, beat my boss.  I noticed that he was walking as well and I was still in my 3 minutes.  I walked for my 1 minute and he began to run.  I had him in my sights but was unable to close.  The second hill from the start was approaching and I picked up my pace and tried to catch up, but to no avail.  He made the left down the second hill and toward the finish line.  I thought, I will sprint down the second hill and beat him.  I guess he had the same idea, because I rounded the corner and readied for the sprint, and he was gone.  Dammit, I thought I was going to beat him.  It didn't bother me, because I was there to have fun, not to win, but I still sprinted.

I finally crossed the finish line at 35:07, 194 out of 270.  Not fast, I know, but I had shaved 2:53 minutes off of my time from my previous 5k and dropped my pace by almost a minute a mile.  I believe I did better because I went into the race with laid out plan and I stuck to it.  The improvement that I made showed me that I am getting better as a runner.  I had beat a couple of people from the group and the women with their strollers.

Cindy and I stayed around for the awards ceremony.  Some people from the group won some age group prizes and the boss won a month free to a gym from the raffle.  After that we headed back to the house, showered up and I went to Hardee's and grabbed me one of the turkey burgers; pretty tasty actually

All in all, I had a great time.  I improved, the course was fun and I got to do it with a group of friends.  I am ready for the next challenge, whether it's another 5k or something greater.