50/50/50

Ok folks, this is the plan: To complete 50 marathons in 50 states by the age of 50. Did I mention that I will be turning 45 in a few months? Math was never my best subject, but I believe 50 races in 5 years = 10/year, or nearly 1/month. I ran my first marathon last January, the Chevron Houston Marathon. I was lucky enough to win a lottery spot to run again next January. Since it is the same race, it will still be 1/50, after that, hopefully if I stay injury-free I will be able to maintain my fitness and keep running. It also gives me an excuse to travel, and believe it or not, it is a fun way to experience a new city.
Recently I participated in the Harbor Half-Marathon relay, my first race in awhile, and my pace was slower than I would have liked, but not too bad for me. I ran 6.55 miles in 1h 14m.

Union Vote

Tomorrow morning voting begins as to whether or not the Registered Nurses at my hospital want to be represented by CNA-NNOC. I have tried to be open minded, but have not convinced of any reason to vote yes. I am actually quite happy with my job. The nurses are treated well and paid fairly, I believe. They make all kinds of promises...higher wages, better staffing, pension...It sounds like a gamble. If we got everything they promise, then maybe it would be worth the dues, but why would I want to pay forward for something I may or may not get. Also, there are a few things they promise that I do not want. I appreciate being paid on the basis of merit and experience, what incentive is there to do your best when you will get the same raise as everyone else anyway? Also, we do not need to hire more staff, I have been put on call twice in the past two weeks as it is. Regarding pensions, I thought the union pension funds were broke, that is why they are seeking more members to pay dues. Well, that is my opinion, and I would love to hear the opinions of others, please reply. I plan on voting NO, and even if the union is approved, I will not be joining up or paying dues, and that is my right since Texas is still a right-to-work state (last I heard).

Random Thoughts

I have found training in the afternoon before work to be a much more effective and reliable method of getting my workout in. Do I feel like crawling out of bed an hour and a half early? Not usually, but it sure is easier than trying to do it after working 12 hours. In fact, I kind of enjoy the thought that when I am done working, all I have to do is go home and crawl into bed. Today (well yesterday actually) got in a 45min/1600 yard swim. I was shooting for 60min/2400 yards. I always have an excuse, and todays was 2-fold. 1) I was getting tired ... 2) I was getting evil looks from a guy waiting for me to finish so he could use the lane...but I would have shared if he had asked. Anyway, tomorrow is 2 hours on the bike. Thinking of running a 5k this weekend, but only if I can do the distance in under 30minutes...we'll see.
I did see the funniest thing leaving the gym. Anyone ever seen (or own) a Nissan Cube? It must be the ugliest looking (and aptly named) care on the planet.

Beach Dash 10k

The race start was scheduled for 8am, I arrived at the beach about 7:30 to pick up my chip. It was about 45 degrees, which is a temperature I am comfortable with, but there was a wicked wind which made it feel a whole lot colder. I sat in my Jeep trying to stay warm until the last moment. The run itself wasn't bad. There has been a lot of rain lately so the sand was solid and easy to run on. The wind was at my back for the first half...so of course I was running into the wind for the 2nd half. Finished with a chip time of 1:04:46, missing my goal of under an hour, but it is still the fastest I have covered this distance, so I am not completely disappointed. Placed 6/8 in my age group and 60/75 overall. I am not registered for any more races at this point, but I am still am working on that 100-hour training challenge.

Wasting Time

Everyone does it. In fact, I might be doing it right now, wasting time that is. By far my biggest source of wasted time is Facebook. Now I have nothing against social networking sites, it is the games that are truly as waste of time. I now have three farms, two islands and a mafia family. Really?!? Yes, really. I think I may be in need of a self-intervention (nobody else seems to care). After a long night at work, a little mind numbing activity may be enjoyable, but there must be something else that I could do (read a book?). The funny thing is that somehow I feel as though I have actually accomplished something...I harvested my crops, built a school. No, not even close. I suppose I will not close my account, that would be far too drastic, but I will try to limit my Facebook time to after everything else I need to do is done. So what if my crops die.

100 Hour Challenge

My latest undertaking is the 100 Hour challenge. My local triathlon club has a challenge going to complete 100hours of tri training (30 hr. swim, 40 hr. bike, 30 hr. run) in 90 days from Feb. 1-May 1. That amounts to about 1.5 hours a day (with 1 day off per week). I am probably a little behind at this point, but it is doable (is that even a word?). After work I plan on a 1hr (3000 yard) swim + weights. Hope I can get a lane this time.
I also signed up for the 10k beach dash 2/27. Looking at last years results, I see that the age groups are fairly shallow, I may place in my age group by default. Although I do hope to finish in ? Hard to say, depends a lot on the condition of the sand, like to do it in under and hour.

Running Through Sand

Finally the rain has stopped and the sun is shining. Went for a 6mile run down to the beach, about 3 miles of pavement and 3 miles of sand. The sand was still a little wet from all the rain we have had, which made it a bit easier. I love running on the beach, no need for an iPod, just the sound of the waves and the birds, besides, I want to be able to hear when a truck is coming up behind me. For anyone that doesn't live here, Texas beaches are considered public highways, and sometimes the drivers just don't look where they are going. I just wish I could get over my fear of dogs. I am ok if I can see that there is a person with the dog, but running past a dog just seems like I am asking it to chase me. Anyway, I am trying to get in shape for the beach leg of the Beach to Bay relay marathon in May. There is also a 5k/10k Beach Dash on the 27th. I would have signed up already if they had online registration. Has anybody seen my checkbook? How much is a stamp these days anyway?

Houston Marathon

Well, I did it, it wasn't always pretty, but it really, really was a lot of fun! We set out on the 4-hr drive to Houston the day before, arriving around 2pm and checking in to the Hilton directly across the street from the convention center and start line. We walked over to the convention center an picked up my packet without a problem, and checked out the expo (and the crowd of people). Back at the room I was such a nervous wreck M had to leave for a while, I was probably driving him crazy. It actually took me 20 minutes or more to get my number pinned on my shirt so it wasn't crooked. Anyway, after some yoga and meditation I was a bit calmer. Went downstairs to the restaurant for the pasta dinner, relaxed by the pool for awhile. Talking to other runners, whom I told this was my first marathon, seemed to give me a strange look that I did not understand then, but now I do...I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
I actually slept fairly well, woke up at 4:30, headed over to the start line by 6am. It was chilly before the sun came up, and if I do it again I will cover up with a garbage bag or throwaway sweats that I can discard when I warm up. I believe they collected discarded warm-ups for a local homeless shelter. Absolutely the best part was the people. There was so much energy from the other runners, spectators and volunteers that I do not believe I could have done it without them. As the gun went off I sprinted across the starting line waving my arms in the air like a mad women, then had the sense to slow it down, realizing I could never keep that pace for 26.2 miles. It was like a cattle drive, running across the first bridge, but it was fun trying to run through the massive crowd. I actually started out better than expected, staying slightly ahead of my pace for the first 10 miles, I did not even walk at all, except for a few steps at the water stations, for the first 10k. As I said, the spectators and volunteers were awesome. Some of them handed out orange slices, candies, tissues...But watch out, discarded banana peels on a marathon course can be hazardous. With water stations every 1.5 miles, and giant flags marking every mile, there was almost always something within my line of sight to run towards. And at every mile, there was a clock and someone yelling out pace times as you went past. I think my legs started aching around mile 16, but it was not so bad, I new I was more than halfway home.
Mile 19 marked the beginning of the end, as I entered Memorial Park. As I approached the 20-mile mark I thought "Wall? what wall? I was doing fine." That all changed about 1/4 mile later. My legs were cramping so badly I was forced to shuffle the next 4 miles, and walking actually hurt more than running. Somebody offered me a cup of beer around mile 22, which I took but then threw away, I was having enough trouble at that point, and there would be plenty of beer when I was done. At mile 24 I found my angel, somebody handing out ice cubes. I grabbed one and rubbed it allover my legs until it was gone...and suddenly...no more pain...I was able to run (well, jog) the rest of the way. I saw M around mile 25, I guess he started walking the course backwards wondering where I was.
My goal was 4:50, I finished in 5:30:04, but I finished. I will definitely do this again next year, and I strongly recommend Houston as a first marathon for anyone who feels up to the challenge. Very well organized, and really a lot of fun.

3 days and counting

Only three days to go until the Houston marathon. Not as ready as I want to be, but I think I will at least be able to finish in under 5 hours. I have never passed the 20-mile mark in training. Maybe not knowing what to expect is a good thing; I have made it through a lot in this life by being naive (oblivious) to the dangers around me. Not really the best plan, but right now it is all I have. It has been 10 years since my first (and last) marathon attempt. The 2000 Green Bay marathon was really an unplanned failure. Being thin and being in shape are not the same thing. I signed up for the GB marathon the day before the event with absolutely no training whatsoever, and bought a brand new pair of shoes (which I wore without socks). The event was not a complete waste, I did have some fun. We ran through Lambeau Field; out the tunnel, from endzone to endzone, and back out the other tunnel. I even smoked four cigarettes along the way. At 4 hours I reached the halfway point and called a cab, I just was not having fun anymore. As soon as i stopped moving my entire body cramped up, and I had blisters on my blisters. I am in a lot better shape these days, I haven't had a blister on my feet in years, and I have completed three half-marathons without much distress. I have my playlist set up for my i-Pod, ready to go. I am working my third and final night of the week tonight, the plan is to go straight to bed after I get home and sleep for a few hours. Then up and running for about 90 minutes easy with pick-ups. maybe a hot tub and massage. I plan on running at the gym just to avoid undue stress on my joints at this point. My left foot and right knee have been bothering me just a little bit. After that I will go over my list of gear I need to bring, and begin packing. We plan to leave for Houston about 10am Saturday (it is a 4-hour drive from Corpus Christi). I have until 6pm to pick up my packet, and I would like to check out the expo while I am there. Well, that's all for now, I really should get back to work).