July 27, 2010

Ho Hum. Happy birthday to me. Truly, there ought to be a provision to somehow erase the day of ones birth for those who do not embrace the idea of being classified a little older, AARP, senior citizen, middle age, whatever. I said last year that 50 was it and now I am going backwards. I am 49 now. When I am zero years old, I should be dead.

But hey, I am actually in a good mood. I had a great Saturday! I ran with Chuck, my middle son. Way back in the year 2002, I had just started running and Chuck (then 20 years old) ran a couple of times with me and almost on a dare, he ran the Turkey Trot at Mohawk Park. He stayed with me while I plodded along, but at the 4K mark, he smelled the finish line. He finished in 23:31, and I plodded along and finished in 25:16. We were both thrilled with our results, but because he had not really got his running legs built up, he had a lot of aches and pains and decided running sucked. Now, 8 years later, he has gotten into P90X and has went from a 135 lb zero body fat skinny dude to a 145 lb zero body fat body builder. He would deny the body builder description, but he has some pretty good guns to show.He ran 3 miles at a 10:30 pace and I think he would have gone a bit faster, but I preached the importance of taking the long runs and particularly his first few runs slow. He did not have the achy legs thing going on, and I suppose that anyone doing P90X could do anything. His plans are to run another 5K in 3 weeks--the Riverside 5000, which is pancake flat and if things go like he thinks, he'll shave a little off his PR. Me, I would be thrilled to run 25:something. We shall see.

After he went on his way, I ran on with my RW friends and ended up with 10 miles. Upon returning home, Dana and I left out for a bike ride. It was hot--it is Oklahoma in July. But we rode and were under 5 minutes per mile for the first 12-13 miles.We ate lunch at Elwoods on the River--club sammy and Gatorade--FUEL! On the ride home, we had a strong headwind, which felt good, but made more work pedaling. The new asphalt laid on the westside river trail was like a convection oven and it was like riding over a furnace. We stopped several times on the way back to rehydrate and regroup. If there was ever a good time to throw a chain, it would definitely NOT be on a steep uphill in the 98 degree heat in the SUN!! But that's where Dana threw her chain. Made for a grumpy finish, but still a good bike ride.

I took a short nap, ate fish tacos at Tin Star, and then at 7:00, it was time for Round III. Kathy, Roman, Caroline, Charlotte and I were running all night (or til whenever) as part of our Lean Horse 100 training. Bobby joined us for 10 miles, and Cassy joined us mid way through and got in 10-12 herself. I questioned the wisdom of the fish tacos right before a long humid night run--would they stay down?It was an urban run. We ran through neighborhoods, from RunnersWorld to Charlotte's Mom's house, then to one of several Quik Trips. The major-HUB/aid station was Casa Sandra. Sandra has all the very best aid station goodies plus a lot of things even better!The watermelon hit the spot--sweet and cold! Peanut brittle sounded good, and I meant to get some the third time through but forgot. I did have a Popsicle each time through. Awesome. We decided to just run 3-4 mile loops and come back through again and again. Thanks you Sandra. We owe you bigtime.

We saw this poster somewhere around 45th and Harvard.Sad that Lucy is lost. Roman wondered is she could read lips?

Can anyone guess where we were?

Roman cools himself down at the fountains at TU. Seconds after this, I plowed him right through the fountain.Seconds after that, Roman returned the favor. I had already soaked down, and enjoyed a second helping. My feet were already wet with sweat and I ended up with my feet in pretty good shape for the punishment I dealt out.

From there, we ran west on 15th Street, stopped at Charlotte's place near Cherry Street, and went as far as Quik Trip at 15th and Denver.Most everyone ate here, but I did not. My fish tacos I had for dinner stayed down and were nourishment enough. I ended up with 21 miles on the night run, and slept like a rock after showering.

One more long run--probably a 30/20 back to back, or maybe a 40 mile all nighter. Then, I can taper.