RUNNING LONG #222

denver and beyond

2008-12-11T23:25:00.004-05:00

i've added pictures to our album from our most recent trip to colorado hope you enjoy

itinerary:

wed - land in denver
thurs - snow day in denver
fri - drive out to breckenridge
sat - brunch with an old friend and a quick stop in boulder
sun - fly back home

quickest summary ever - hope everyone is well

engagement photos

2008-11-18T16:47:00.011-05:00

i've been meaning to post these for a while now, but it keeps slipping off my to-do list. erin and i were in asheville on nov. 1 w/ our photographer to get our engagement photos taken. he's passed a long a few, but most will not be ready for another couple of weeks. please enjoy.

new york, new york

2008-09-17T22:50:00.002-04:00

last thursday erin and i flew into nyc for her cousin's wedding. the wedding, which was actually on friday night was at oheka castle on long island. it was a beautiful place, i'm just sorry i didn't take any pictures while we were there. unfortunately we were only there for a night, but we had a great time.

the following saturday my dad flew into nyc. for those of you who know my dad (really i think everyone reading this knows him and my family; why else would you be reading this) know that he is not really one to travel much which is why i was surprised he said yes when i asked if he would like to check out a game a yankees stadium before they close it at the end of the season. i was excited he was coming into town and really looking forward to our trip together. mr. brier came along with us to the game and thankfully he did as he made a great tour guide and great nyc driver.

we got to the stadium about an hour before the first pitch. we walked around the outside of the stadium briefly before finding the line for the bleachers entrance. i've never been to a stadium that had a separate entrace for the bleachers so the trip was already unique. yankee stadium has seen its share of history over the past 85 years and it was a great to expreience it for the first time with my dad. as much as i was looking forward to visiting yankee stadium i was even more so looking forward to seeing my dad there. he'd watched the yankees growing up, as most dad's had done, mainly because they were the only team on tv back then. he remembered watching a lot of games with players like mantel, marris, yogi and the likes as he was growing up. i was hoping the trip would be special for him to see the stadium of his boyhood heroes.

we had decent seats (second row back on the bleachers right above the visitor's bullpen) which allowed us a great view of the stadium. we were positioned in left field in a great spot for a homerun ball, but none came our way. the yankees didn't put up much of a fight as they lost 7-1, but i like to believe we still had a good time (saturday was probably one of the few times that i'll ever cheer for the yankees). my dad seemed excited after the game was over with. we actually stayed until the end, which i was surprised, but then again how often are you at yankeed stadium 9 games before they demolish it?

the rest of the trip went even faster than the game. i wanted to show my dad a little bit of nyc since i thought this would probably be the last time he visited (but you never know). we grabbed a couple of ny style pizza slices (the guy at the register tried to short change us), walked up to the empire state building and rode the eleveator to the 86th floor, came back down and took the subway to rockefeller center, walked by radio city and went inside st. patrick's cathedral (where they were actually having mass). we were on another train back out newark where we would catch our flights home. erin and i had a little bit more success thatn my dad (his flight was delayed for 3.5 hours) and didn't get home until after 2am. he was a trooper, but i'm not sure he'll be catching any flights in the near future.

the weekend with my dad definitely wasn't long enough, but i'm so glad he made the trip. since moving to charlotte i don't seem my parents as much as i would like so anytime i'm able to see them is a blessing. dad- i hope you know how much it meant to have you up there. i hope you enjoyed yourself while you were up there. i'll give you a few more year's before we head to fenway to catch a game.

pictures uploaded.

it's official

2008-09-04T11:25:00.003-04:00

Date: September 6, 2009

Where: Biltmore Estate - Asheville, NC

of course there will be more details to come, but we hope to see you all there.

....keeping green and staying clean.....

2008-08-20T14:23:00.002-04:00

i made my first attempt at biking into work today. i've always talked about doing it, but finally made the effort to do it today. it was pretty successful; not too much traffic to contend with. it was just over 50 minutes to make the 12.5 mile trip. it could be a bit faster if i'm able to catch the lights at some of the bigger intersections. i'm a bit curious to see how the ride home will go, but i don't anticipate it being any worse.

we've started a bike to work challenge at work, which also includes running to work for those who live a little bit closer. points are awarded on the following basis:

biking rt = 1 point
biking rt 2 days in a row = 2 points
biking rt 3 days in a row = 3 points and so on until you get to 5 points (you will continue to get 5 points until you miss a day)

running to work = 5 points
running to home = 5 points
running rt = 10 points

monthly winnerswill be rewarded with some kind of prize. it should be a bit of fun for the office now that summer events are over.

we're engaged

2008-08-05T18:34:00.005-04:00

on saturday, august 2 erin and i flew out to san francisco where i proposed to her at the old dutch windmill in golden gate park. here is our story...

a: 4:45am my alarm clock goes off and i pry myself out of bed. we were out the night before at dinner and a movie with erin's mom and our friends david and jess. we didn't get back until late, so that did nothing to help my early wakeup. i woke up early on the pretenses that i was going on a bike ride with one of my co-workers. erin had plans to go the lake that day so we had already planned on not seeing each other for much of the day. i was trying to get everything in order before i left which caused me to run late that morning. by the time i made it to the airport there was only an hour til my flight. after taking the shuttle to the airport and then standing in line to check my bag i made it to the counter with only 42 minutes before my flight was to leave. unfortunately when i tried to check in i was told i was unable to do so because i had to have luggage checked no later than 45 minutes until the flight. i was able to track down a ticket agent and explain my situation. he let me slide and i was on my way. crisis averted.

e: I woke up at 8:00am thinking I had an hour and half before my friends were suppose to meet me at our place to go to my parents lake house for the day. I had just taken a shower and was toweling off when I heard a knock on our door. I threw on my robe and went to look out the eye hole of the door to see who it was so early in the morning since I was not expecting anyone. I noticed it was my three girlfriends who were supposed to meet me at 9:30. I let them in and asked why they were early and said I thought we decided 9:30. They preceded to tell me that there was a change in plans and that I had 30 minutes to pack a bag. I argued with them for a few minutes to try and get something out of them but with no luck. They handed me a packing list and a clue from Adam that told me I was going on a trip and to listen to my friends. I don't pack well to begin with so 30 minutes was not a very long time when I had no clue where I was going. My friends ended up packing for me so I could get dress and we ended up leaving out half of the packing list Adam gave me as I was completely disheveled and nervous. My three friends, Summer, Meredith and Amanda who I worked with at Cottingham-Chalk dropped me off at the airport with two hours before my flight, the earliest I had been in a long time. I found out later I was suppose to have an hour and half to pack. At the airport they gave me the weather report that they had forgotten to give me when packing and I found out where I was going which was San Fransisco! I was completely surprised and could not believe I was flying to California. I said goodbye to my friends and was off to my flight. I was so confused and was not sure what to think at this point.

a: it was little over a five hour flight from charlotte to san francisco. i passed the time by watching a couple of movies and planning out what i was going to say to erin once i saw her. i was also going over in my head what still needed to be done when i landed. i would check my watch every so often and think to myself i wonder what erin is doing right now. i wish i could have been there to see the chaos that was ensuing. my flight was on time landing in san francisco just after 9:30am pacific time. i was able to take the bart train all the way into union square and then walk the five blocks to the hotel. we stayed at the warwick hotel in the theater district of san francisco. it was a smaller boutique hotel in a perfect location for sight seeing and walking around town. i was able to get an early check-in which was a huge time saver. after checking in and showering i took a cab down to the cliff house where erin and i were going to have dinner and then walked a few blocks down to the windmill where i saw for the first time (in person) where i was going to propose.

e: I landed in Phoenix after my first leg of the trip and was able to open another clue. In the clue Adam had said he was sorry for rushing me around but that I was halfway done and gave me some money if I got hungry which was very cute.

a: i grabbed a bite to eat down by the water and then made my way back to a bus stop where i took the number 38 all the way back to the hotel. once back at the hotel i made a quick call to my friend dave who was picking up erin from the airport just to go over our plans for the rest of the day. after the call i went out in search of some flowers and found a stand near union square and picked up a bouquet to leave in the room upon erin's arrival. i also made a feudal attempt at picking up a jacket for erin (after landing in san francisco i received an email from erin's mom informing me that erin had left in such a hurry that she forgot to pack her shoes and a jacket. it turns out she did remember her shoes, but the jacket she still forgot. she made due without it though). once back at the hotel i wrote down the last remaining clues i had for her and took at quick 20 minute power nap.

e: My flight to San Francisco was a shorter flight then my last and I made some friends on the airplane that tried to get me to open up all the rest of the clues. My seat on the second flight put me next to a friendly women and her husband who I talked with the whole flight. She asked me what I was doing in San Fransisco and I told her about the clues and how I had no idea where I was going. She was so impressed with the story and fell in love with Adam right there. She told the flight attendant as well as her best friend that was in first class who later came back with a glass of wine for me. It was a fun flight and she asked me to open all the other clues because she wanted to know what was happening but I was a good girl and only opened the next clue that said I could once I had landed. I read it aloud to the women and the flight attendant which told me that Dave, Adam's friend from Atlanta, was going to be picking me up at baggage claim.

a: dave's phone call woke me up. he was calling to let me know he had just talked to erin. her flight got in early and was waiting for him at the airport. that gave me about 30 minutes to shower and get out of the hotel. after double checking the room to make sure i had not missed anything i grabbed the camera and the ring and headed out the door. i went up the street a few blocks to a cafe and had a drink and waited until dave had dropped erin off at the hotel. from the hotel dave drove up the street and picked me up and we were on our way to the proposal site. the windmill is about a 15 minute drive down geary st, so it wasn't long before we found ourselves down there wondering what to do for the next 2 hours. i asked dave to drive by the windmill so he could take a look at it and we circled the nearby streets a few times trying to find a spot for us to park and relax. we wound up at a thai restaurant right across the street from the ocean. it seemed odd to me, but all we really needed was a place to sit for a while. dave did a good job keeping my focus off the proposal mostly trying to talk me into moving out to california with him (he's still got me thinking about it). it's a paradise for anyone into the outdoors.

e: Once my flight landed I headed to the baggage claim area where Dave was going to be picking me up. My flight landed early only I did not realize that because I did not know when it was suppose to be arriving so I called Dave (Adam had given me his number in the clue) and he did not answer. I was told not to call Adam but to call my girls that dropped me off at the airport. I gave them a call as well, but the didn't answer either. I started to get nervous because I had been down for 15 minutes and was not sure what to do next because I had no idea where to go. Dave ended up calling me back shortly thereafter and I waited for him outside in the cool San Francisco weather. Dave picked me up and I tried to get some information out of him but he said he did not know anything, so instead I talked to him about San Fransisco and his girlfriend which I later found out was his fiance. It was nice to take my mind off of the craziness for a few minutes as I was getting more and more nervous as I got closer to the hotel. However, I really was hoping Adam was at the hotel as I just wanted to see him.

a: 6:45 rolled around and we made the short car ride over to the windmill. dave was with me to take a couple of pictures of the engagement, so i rehearsed with him where i would meet erin and then take her into the center of the garden to propose. when we got there there were a few people hanging out and playing with their children and yes, i was hoping they would leave, but that didn't happen. 7:00pm rolls around and erin has not made it to the windmill yet. i'm starting to wonder where they're at. dave gives me a call from just up the street and asks me if i want him to call the car company, which i do. after a few minutes dave comes back down the street and gives me the thumbs up, which i assume meant that everything was good to go. it's 7:15 and i'm starting to wonder where they could be and before i could really finish my thought erin, looking as beautiful, as ever comes walking out from behind a tree. i see her and my face instantly lights up as i'm so excited to see her and know that she's made it here safely.

e: I get to the hotel and walk up to the front desk and ask if there is a key for me. They give me a key to 201 and I walk up hoping Adam might be there. I walk in and see gorgeous flowers on the bed along with another clue that says Adam will be taking me to dinner and for me to wear something nice. The car was set to arrive at 6:45 to pick me up. The clue also read that the driver should know where to go and I will have to open another clue once I get into the car. I was surprised by all of this and immediately took a shower and got dressed. It was cold in San Francisco and in my rush I did not pack a jacket or sweater to go over my dress. I contemplated going outside to one of the stores to pick something up but later decided to forget about it. I was ready within 45 minutes and still had an hour left before the car was to pick me up. I just sat on the bed and did not turn on the TV as I was just feeling excited and nervous at the same time. I watched the clock hit 6:40 and headed down to the lobby to get into the car. Once I got in the car the driver was a little confused and asked me where Adam was. I told him I had no clue and that I thought he was suppose to take me to him as that is what my clue said. It turns out that he was a new driver and new to the area so he did not know where to go. Adam had left me a clue to take in the car, so I opened it and inside was a map of where to go and told me where he was and that I should hurry up and come and get him. I told the driver and we stopped and asked a police officer how to get to the windmill that I was suppose to find Adam at and it turned out to be a straight shot from the hotel. The driver was really nice and I told him about my trip so far and he seemed excited for us and told me he was having a baby and he was 56 years old but was very happy. We talked all the way to the windmill and he pulled to the side of the road and let me out of the car and was going to wait for us.

a: i met erin half-way up the path and gave her a great big hug. i took her hand and walked her over into the garden. i was asking her how her trip went and seeing how her day had progressed. when we came to a stop in the garden (the middle was no longer an option. a family or two had taken over that area) i tried to speak but i couldn't. tears started down my face and i couldn't get the words out. luckily i had written down what i wanted to say to erin on the plane and was able to read the letter i had written to her. once i managed to make it though that (with a few more tears) i dropped to one knee where i took out the ring and asked erin to marry me. by this time erin was crying a little to, but said yes through the tears. i placed the ring on her finger and gave her another big hug.

e: I walked out of the car and was not sure where to go but walked towards the windmill. As soon as I turned the corner I saw Adam standing there looking very handsome at the bottom of the windmill. Apparently there were other people around but I did not notice them once I saw Adam I was so happy to see him. I walked up to him and told him he was crazy for flying me out to San Francisco and he just gave me a huge hug. He took me by the hand and walked me out towards the garden. There were some kids that were running around so we walked over to the side of the garden where Adam took out a piece of paper and started to read it. He was saying the most beautiful things and was crying as he said them that I started to wipe away his tears as he read. When he looked up at me I began to cry as well as I could tell how much he loves me in his face and in his words. When he finished we both were teary and he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said "YES I will marry you" and went directly for a hug and didn't even look at the ring. He asked me if I was even going to look at the ring and I said "oh yeah" and saw such a beautiful ring that was just perfect. He put it on my finger and we just kissed and held each other for a few minutes. Adam's friend Dave was taking pictures of the whole thing and we stayed a took a few pictures before we left for dinner.

a: dave our paparazzi for the day was still snapping pictures and was able to capture the moment perfectly. we took a few more pictures of us around the gardens and at the windmill and then made our way to dinner. it was a quick trip up to the cliff house, only a 2 or 3 minute car ride. the car dropped us off for dinner and we made our way around to the back of the restaurant to take in the views of the pacific ocean. it was just about sunset when we were seated at our table near a window and we were able to watch a beautiful sunset over the ocean and enjoy a perfect dinner together. it was an incredible night and worked out just the way i had planned it. going into this weekend it was always on my mind that something could go wrong, any slight change in my plans or erin's would have thrown a wrench into the whole night, but it worked and it was perfect!

e: We got back in the car and the driver dropped us off at dinner at the Cliff House. We had an amazing table by the window so we could watch the sunset. It was the most perfect day in my life and I couldn't have asked for anything more. Adam planned everything out and I am so blessed to have him. All of my flights were early which never happens with me and it just goes on to show that with Adam my life is perfect and meant to be. I love him so much and will never forget this Amazing day!!!

we spent sunday sightseeing and made our to many of san francisco's landmarks. we traveled down to fisherman's wharf by cable car and then walked over to ghiradelli square where erin sampled the ice cream and i had an old fashioned root beer float. after desert we made the walk up to lombard square to see the "most crooked" street and grabbed a few photos. after that we made the trek to nearest bus stop to go over to the golden gate bridge where we stayed for a bit. from there it was back into town where we toured the union square area and headed into china town. my night's end we were beat and had a casual dinner at a grill down the street from the hotel.

monday we were on the plane again, this time together. we had a 9am flight to las vegas and from there back to charlotte. upon our return to charlotte i had another surprise waiting for erin. i managed to get our parents and friends in the area to have a surprise party to celebrate the engagement. when erin opened the door she was greeted by our families and closest friends which made it the perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

...catching up

2008-06-19T22:33:00.002-04:00

i've added some pictures from the blue planet 24 hour run

i ended up getting selected in the lottery for the nyc marathon for this year, sadly erin did not make it in. we're hoping that she'll be able to get in via a charity, but we'll wait and see. if nothing works out for this year i can always roll my number over to next year...

here's a quick run down about the 24 hour run (admittedly it is late and i'm tired so they're probably isn't going to be much detail. what you need to know is that i would do it again in a heartbeat)...the event was actually very cool. after looking back on everything it was such a great event to be a part of; from the runs well into the night, the rain, never being able to get warm, fried bagels for breakfast and finally the sun it was all well worth it.

erin and i drove up on friday night to black mountain from charlotte (about a 2.5 hour drive) and met the rest of the team at camp. by the time we arrived at the camp that night darkness had settled in upon the campsite so we were stuck setting up our tent by the little bit of light we had from a flashlight.

we woke early, earlier than i would have liked knowing that we were going to have to run for the next 24 hours. the race crew was busy setting up and were placing stakes and markers into the ground right by our campsite. it turned out that our tent was only about a foot off of the actual course which ended up being pretty nice.

kt led us off, followed by george, then me, dave kanave, rodney then erin. i wish i could say we kept this up for the entire period we were running, but there were times when we were just too beat to continue or had to skip a turn due to injury. there is alot that goes into running continuously for 24 hours (bid kudos to those runners who completed the 6, 12 and 24 hour solo runs!!); alot that i wish i had known before we started. it is really hard to fully describe the event in detail, one it is boring because we were just running and two, everything after 2am seemed pretty surreal with the lack of sleep the team got. i was pretty happy with my performance. i was able to run 25 miles until my knee started to give my trouble. i ended up skipping my 4am shift and opted for the 6am and was able to catch a great sunrise. i finished the event with a total of 30 miles, which was my goal even if i had to walk my sixth lap. i was very proud of erin. she did great! an amazing 20 miles she covered and she was our last runner on the course which was extremely tough because by then i think the last thing anyone one of us wanted to do was go out and run.

what i learned:
team cook - single most important thing to remember for an event like this
naps - something we didn't do, but should have
more warm clothes - we could never get warm especially once the rain came in
soup and pasta - delicious
fried bagels - a little oil, a bagel and a pan and your set
a warm shower is always welcome
keep your tent dry - it is bound to get dewy during the night, but do everything you can to keep your stuff from getting wet (plastic tubs)

course description:
the first part of the course was extremely difficult. we started in an open field and after running about 75 yards or so we took a hard right and headed up what could only be described as "a mountain". it was tough, about a 1.5 mile climb up, but then the course settled down. the long climb was followed by and equally long downhill. after about three miles or so we found ourselves running around the lake on some rolling hills and then back through the campsite to finish off our 5 mile loop.

push america team mileage: 26 loops = 130 miles (all on foot) in 22:45:25; good enough for the 5th spot in our division

(pre) Blue Planet 24-hour Run

2008-05-02T16:47:00.004-04:00

we're headed up to black mountain here shortly. there are about 7 of us that are going up (6 runners and a cook). it seems like it is going to be a great weekend. hope to have some nice pictures and and good stories to share after this. have a great weekend everyone!

"adam lentz you are an ironman"

2008-04-17T22:15:00.009-04:00

pictures are up....plus a few additional ones that i've been promising

from the race website..."Temperatures in the mid-90s and enervating winds on the outbound leg of the three-loop bike course conspired to plant this season's opening event firmly into the record books as having the third highest dropout rate in Ironman history. Nearly 18% of the field failed to make it to the finish line."

i'm not sure if you have ever tried to wake up at 3am just so you can eat, but it is a lot harder thank you might think. i quickly grew tired of my breakfast routine the week leading up to the race (1 bagel, peanut butter and 1 banana), but i managed to eat the breakfast again race morning and found my way back to bed for another half hours worth of sleep. when my alarm went off again i wasn't too eager to get out of bed so i watched the weather channel for another 10 minutes. i finally got out of bed around 4:15am and dressed to head to tempe beach park (race site). erin, my parents and i were out the door soon after that and we made the short drive into town. upon our arrival it was still dark and we made our way to the park. it was athletes only up to a certain point so i had to leave everyone behind while i set-up my bike with the necessary items (water bottles, spare tubes, co2 cartridges, power gels, cliffblocks, and a multi tool). unlike most people at the race i left myself with a lot to setup on my bike the morning of. i figured the distraction of tasks race morning would preoccupy my mind instead of thinking about what was to come. once i knew my bike was ready and my tires had enough air i headed over to where i had dropped off my gear bags the day before. i added some endurolytes and bio-freeze into each transition bag as a precaution because i knew it was going to be hot out there and dropped my special needs bags at the designated points. i didn't pack much into the special needs bags because i wasn't too sure i would even need them. one of the many nice things about a race this size is that they do provide you with enough aid stations to get you through the race.

the age groupers started at 7am with the pros beginning the swim around 6:45. at about 6:30 i put on my sunscreen and bodyglide and waited nervously with erin and my parents until it was time to head over to the lake. i was one of the last to leave the transition area as most people had already made their way to the lake before i turned and headed that way. after a couple of pictures, hugs and good wishes i made the walk past all the bikes, out of the transition area and out towards the lake. with lake temperatures in the mid to high 60s no one was too eager to jump in the water to wait for the start. i delayed jumping into the water as much as possible. i looked around and saw about 2000 other people who were about to embark on this same journey and thought ahead to the days events. it was hard to imagine that i was about to compete in an ironman event. it still seems surreal to me now days later and even knowing that i finished, i still can't believe it.

the water wasn't as bad as i remember. (thursday morning i had a practice swim and was taken a back by how cold the water felt. the visibility was about as much as one could expect...practically none. i couldn't see past my elbow that morning.) i wound up doing the breast and side strokes over to the start area. not wanting to be up front i found a nice position in front of one of the columns on the bridges. i was guaranteed not to have anyone behind me trying to swim over me. at that moment i decided to try and take the moment in. there were thousands of people in attendance for the start of the race. they lined the bridges and both sides of the lake. it was really an amazing sight! the cannon went off just after 7am and i waited a few seconds before i began the swimming hoping to let a large enough gap get in front of me so i wouldn't have to stop if other swimmers got in my way. luckily there isn't much to say about the swim. the toughest part was dealing with the sun which had just risen over the horizon and was right in our eyes as we swam to the turnaround point. after clearing my goggles, sighting became a lot easier. for the majority of the swim i stuck to the outside of the rest of the group. i wasn't going to kill myself in the swim nor did i want broken goggles, a lost contact or a black eye so i was content to stay near the outside and swim at my own pace. i had originally told my erin and my parents that i would finish the swim around 2 hours, but i though i would swim a little bit faster. as i climbed the stairs out of the water i was shocked to see 1:26 on the clock. i knew i was under 2 hours, but i thought i would be closer to 1:40 or so. i was so quick out of the water that erin and my parents were still having coffee when i came out of the water and missed me the first go around. after a little trot to get out of everyone else's way i was stopped by two guys who told me to lie down and they pulled my wetsuit right off me...what a time saver. after the great swim i had i headed over to t1 where i picked up my first bag and went into the tent.

the tent is a pretty frenzied area. most people keep to themselves and stay out of everyone's way so it wasn't too bad. i took a seat and dumped my gear bad out onto the grass. the guy next to me stood up and started exclaiming how happy he was to be "lubing up" before the race (very strange to say the least). i kept focused on getting my bike shoes, helmet and everything else ready and hoped he would leave soon. i was out of the tent and a relatively good time i thought and waited for a second before i was covered in sunscreen. the bike course started in the actual expo area of the event which is different than most triathlons and provided the spectators a chance to see athletes before leaving on the 3-loop bike course.

heading out on the course i could already feel a little breeze and knew that it would probably be another windy day on the course. (ironman arizona is known for its heat and tough winds) after making the six turns or so to head out of tempe we turned onto the beeline hwy where we were hit immediately with a head wind. on the first lap the wind didn't seem so bad and i managed to stay in aero position the entire way out to the turnaround. i'm not sure how fast i was going or what my times were while i was out there, but i felt like i was crawling going out of town, that all changed heading back into town. i wish i had switched my computer over to my tri bike from my road bike so i could see my speeds, but i felt like i was going 30 or 35mph. i couldn't contain myself coming back into town, with a tailwind and some nice downhills to rest my legs, i did my best to pass as many people as i could. i wish however, the 2nd and 3rd laps were equally as nice, but they weren't, not event close. the temperatures continued to rise and the winds grew a bit stronger. (i later heard we faced winds of about 22mph, not much fun when you're riding your bike straight into it) i managed to make it through the second lap okay. i got a little bit of a scare coming in on the second lap as i made a turn my right quad cramped up a little bit, but i was able to stretch it out after the turn. i took to the third lap a little easier...almost an average of 2mph slower than my first lap. i knew i had the marathon coming up and i didn't want to put myself in any danger of not being able to run it at all. i was able to make some stops when i needed to take in some endurolytes and apply biofreeze to my quads and calves and kept myself from cramping for the remainder of the bike. the winds died down somewhat on my third loop, which was a nice change of pace. for the majority of my time coming back into town on my third loop i tried to stand and pedal as little as possible. my legs were tired and butt hurt bad (my trisuit provided little padding on my seat). i'm not sure if i thought about anything other than my butt hurting on that last loop. as i cruised into town i was glad i wouldn't have to sit on my bike for a very long time.

i rode back into the park completing the 112 mile ride in a little over 7 hours, 12 minutes slower than i had wanted to go, but pleased nonetheless. the bike wranglers were there to catch my bike as i dismounted and made my way into t2. luckily for me weird guy from t1 was nowhere in sight. i entered the change tent and noticed right away that the mood was entirely different than it was a mere 7 hours ago. people were hurting and hurting badly. salt was on most people's faces (including mine i'm sure. i would later declare myself the saltiest guy in arizona), many were laying down red in the face asking for some medical help. The conditions were tough, it was hot and because of the wind i'm sure a lot of people were on the course longer than they thought they would be. i learned my lessons many races ago about proper nutrition and what supplements to take and felt fortunate that i was happy to be starting the run. with a quick spread of sunblock i exited t2 and was off on the run course.

the run course was also 3 loops and not terribly difficult. i didn't manage to get into a rhythm until i was past the 1st mile marker and continued on my way with a mixture of a shuffle and walk. i originally tried to run for 5 minutes, walk 1 minute, run 5 and so on, but i gave up on that and just decided to go based on how i felt at the time. i hit my first lucky break of the day when i arrived a the first aid station (not to be confused with the first-aid station). it was the only time on course i saw this, a snowcone! it was amazing. i couldn't have asked for anything better at that time. it was still bright and hot on the course at this point and it didn't show any signs of getting cooler anytime soon, so a snowcone at that point was just what i needed. shuffling and walking my way through the first loop was okay. there was a ton of support on the course and everyone was clapping and shouting words of encouragement ("go number 222" or "you can do it adam" got me through a lot of the tough times).

as i mentioned before the course was very spectator friendly. i was able to see erin and my parents 3 times each lap, so that was great to have. i was always looking for their encouragement as i would run by and it made those sections of the race much easier to bear. the run wasn't pretty. i was able to make it only with the help of the biofreeze i had stashed in my jersey, otherwise i probably would have been another casualty that day. the sunset after i was about halfway through the run, what a relief that was. the sun finally went down and the weather began to cool off. it didn't make the run that much easier, but at least it was a little more bearable. i managed to make my way through most of the third loop of the run before i felt strong enough to run whole miles at a time. it was was so great to finally see the 20 mile marker and then the 21, 22, 23 and so on. my legs felt like dead weight but i still manage to shuffle along the run path and hit the mill ave. bridge where there was still a lot of crowd support. i made the left turn towards the finish and up a hill of all things. i made my last left of the race onto rio salado pkwy and headed towards the finish line.

coming into the finish line i thought i would be much more emotional than i was. i think it was just too tired and just wanted to stop moving for a bit. i high-fived people as i came down the finishers stretch. i peaked behind me to make sure no one was behind me and finally had the chance to relax. i am an ironman i said to myself as i crossed the finish line. i was greeted with a medal, water-bottle and medical. i told them i was okay and they must have agreed because they let me go on down the chute. i had finally done it! i complete and ironman, something i've wanted to do since as long as i can remember. it was a great feeling to accomplish a goal that i had set out for myself so many year's ago.

it's been four days since my ironman and i'm already itching to go for a run. i think i'll try and get a run in tomorrow afternoon and think about the next big event....maybe another ironman or an ultra-marathon. i want to thank my parents and erin for their support and belief that i could finish this race. they were a big help in the days leading up to the event and taking care of some of the little stuff to make sure the day was a complete success. thank you to everyone who sent me emails, texts and phone calls. your support means a great deal to me and i could not have done it without everyone supporting me through the event no matter how far away you were.

ironman stats:

(2.4 mile) swim: 1:26:33 - #1541
t1: 7:18
(112 mile) bike: 7:12:07 - #1392
t2: 6:03
(26.2 mile) run: 5:46:02 - #1167
(140.6 mile) total: 14:38:03 - #1167 overall

as luck would have it...

2008-04-12T00:00:00.002-04:00

i considered myself very fortunate...

tonight was the race welcome dinner for ironman arizona. after the dinner, a few speeches and a couple of videos we headed back to the parking lot. on our way back through tempe beach park we heard a loud bang and turned to notice that a load of gatorade had fallen off the back end of a truck. some people rushed over to move the gatorade out of the street as traffic was approaching. after it had been cleared we wandered over and heard that the guy didn't want to pick them back up so away we walked carrying nine large gatorade endurance bottles. i hope this is a sign of a great race...

on another note i along with 640 other people were recognized as "ironman virgins"...what fun!

ten days out

2008-04-03T00:23:00.004-04:00

i'm not sure that when i signed up for im arizona i actually believed that i would be doing it one day. the race always seemed so far away. months and months would go by, but it always seemed as though time were on my side.

i gave my bike to the transporter yesterday and my gear bag is packed up and ready for drop-off tomorrow. the time is getting nearer....

#240160

2008-03-11T18:25:00.002-04:00

i hope this is my lucky number this year. erin and i are both signed up for the nyc marathon lottery. keep your fingers crossed.

no race this weekend

2008-03-03T10:22:00.004-05:00

a few weeks ago i intended to do a duathlon at the nearby whitewater center this past weekend, but instead went home for a short stay and a couple nice bike rides at stone mountain. it was good to be home even if it was for only 27 hours. it's always nice to come home and have some r&r and see the folks.

my new whip!!

2008-02-09T13:36:00.005-05:00

for christmas i bought myself a new bike frame to replace my old giant ocr3 with a '07 cervelo p2c. i finally put the components on the bike last week and picked it up last saturday. it's sweet. it's fast.

curiosity killed the dog....well, almost

2008-02-04T16:53:00.001-05:00

apple lovers beware.....

friday night erin and i headed up the street to grab some take out from a little noodle shop uptown. we decided to leave maddison, erin's dog, out. we were gone for maybe 20 minutes...upon our return i noticed something black on the carpet in the bedroom and i think oh, great another accident. this time it turned out to be a little more than an accident. maddison had managed to pull my phone off the coffee table and manage to chew here way through the rubber protective case and then crack the glass in the lower right hand corner. i was pretty livid, but i can't blame the dog entirely. the good news is that the phone still works and it was just some cosmetic damage, but dang if i didn't want to get rid of the dog right then and there.

according to the buzz articles and blogs apple will most likely be coming out with the iphone v.2 sometime in the spring so i'll wait until then to replace it. i'll be sure to get insurance on the phone next time.

big mac, large fries and a vanilla milkshake

2008-01-23T09:46:00.000-05:00

unfortunately i have no pictures to add to this one yet...

it was the first weekend in january last year, while i was waiting in the check-in line at the disney world half-marathon, that i decided i wanted to do goofy. the goofy challenge is a chance for runners to participate in the half-marathon race on saturday and then the marathon on sunday. not only would i get the satisfaction of running nearly 40 miles in 2 days, but i would also receive 3 shirts and 3 medals. i was hooked, and disappointed that i had not heard about this early, otherwise i might have given it a shot last year.

race weekend was the second weekend in january. work was having conferences in both philadelphia and st. louis...i'm glad i had other plans. erin (running her 2nd half-marathon) and i flew down on thursday afternoon. we did the race last year and stayed off the disney complex. this year we were staying with friends on disney property which made life much easier. not only did we not have to deal with our baggage, but we also were able to take advantage of disney's bus service which took you to any disney property you wanted to go to. we arrived to the hotel a little before 5 and had our bags by six. we made our way to downtown disney for some dinner and walked around a bit looking for something to do. we actually ended up going to disney quest (a 5-story interactive arcade) by accident really. we were outside trying to figure out what this place was when a girl a little younger than erin and i came up to us and asked us if we wanted to go inside. we weren't quite sure we told her, but then she informed us that she was a cast member(works at the park) and had a free pass for 3 people, so we tagged along. we ended up staying there for about two hours bouncing around from game to game. the last attraction we tried was an interactive roller-coaster. we were able to choose every detail down to the the background of the coaster, we chose space. the real kicker was that we then were able to go into a simulator and "test-ride" our coaster. it was a blast, but i think it made me more than a little nauseous . luckily that was the last ride and we headed back for the night.

firday, i woke up with some nervous energy so i went for a run (funny that i would go for a run after not running more than a handful of times in the last month leading up to this weekend. you can see why i was a little nervous coming into it). i was only gone for 30 minutes, but the humidity in orlando was already rising at 8 in the morning and i was more than a little wet upone returning to the hotel. after the run we had breakfast down by the pool and made our way to the expo. the expo wasn't much different than in year's past, but still one of the best organized expos i've been too. we didn't stay too long, as i didn't want to be on my feet too much. after the expo we went back to the hotel so erin could take a nap. i watched a movie, the greatest game ever played, it's about a golf match in mass. in the 20s, a david v. goliath story. it's a pretty good movie if you ever come across it. that night we ate with erin's parents at a italian restaurant in downtown disney and made our way back to the hotel around 10. tommorow was going to come quick.

saturday the group woke up at 3:30am so we could be on the bus by 4 that would take us to the start line. breakfast that morning consisted of water, a banana, a half of a bagel, and some endurolytes (good for electrolyte replacement). while waiting to go through the baggage check area we were entertained by "sarge" from toy story. if you can't picture sarge he was one of the green plastic army men. he would walk up and down the rows of people trying to keep us awake and energized. we waited until about 5 (the race wasn't going to start for another hour) before was passed through the baggage check and make our way through the maze of people waiting in line for the bathrooms. what they don't tell you is there is about a .5 walk to the start line, which is not common in many races, but we had to go somewhere so they could stick 35,000 people in a place where we wouldn't block too much traffic. the gun went off at six, but we didn't cross the start line for another 35 minutes. somehow i had managed to find myself in the last corral and wave. erin was kind enough to start with me, even though she was in a higher corral and wave. the first miles were tough, only because we were going so slow and trying to dodge the slower runners and walkers. (my one suggestion for next year would be to add a separate start, preferably after the runners, for the folks that are going to be walking.) after 3 miles of a 12 minute pace the race began to think up enough for us to start picking up the pace. unfortunately there isn't much for me to report on this race. it was a little tougher than i thought it should have been, but i stayed hydrated ate a banana and tried to keep erin positive. this year's race proved a little more difficult for both and erin and i as we really didn't put in the miles that we should have. we hit the 10 mile mark 9 minutes ahead of her last year's pace, but fatigue quickly set in and she couldn't keep her pace. we ended up crossing the line in 2:26, which was still 3 minutes faster than she ran last year. i was very proud of her for sticking with it and finishing the race strong. even with a the lack of miles for this year's race she was still able to get a new PR! we had a good run together and the weather was perfect. all week we were hearing reports of rain all weekend, but it held off and didn't rain until much later in the day. after the race we at perkins and i had a nice stack of strawberry pancakes. very delicious and more importantly some food that my body was craving. back at the hotel i saw the georgia tech v. miami basketball game was on and promptly fell asleep listening to the game. i got up around 5 or so and we headed back down to downtown disney to walk out the kinks and any soreness, which wasn't much. it was back to the hotel for another spaghetti dinner and dose of endurolytes.

sunday was anything but fun to wake up to. it was another 3:30 am wakeup and i was a little more nervous about this run. prior to this race my longest run of any substance was a 16 mile run and that had been at least 5 weeks earlier. i had prepped all of my gear the night before so i was ready to go, and slept in for an extra 15 minutes. i got my self on the bust and sat in the back of the bus and dozed off. the ride wasn't long, but i had a little bit more energy after my snooze. i ended up meeting a friend out in front of the baggage drop-off area and we prepped for the day's race that was ahead of us (he was also doing the goofy). taking what i had learned the day before i wasn't too eager to get to the start line and wait an hour to start, so i took my time. i was really in no rush as i managed to draw the last corral again...12.5 minutes after gun went off i was across the start line. there was a noticeable difference between the amount of runners, about 20,000 people. the congestion a the beginning of the race was no where near what it was the day before and i was able to settle into a comfortable pace. before the race my strategy was this: fluids at every aid station (water and powerade), 3 endurolyte capsules every hour, bio freeze (for cramping) beginning at mile 13 and conserve energy. everything her is pretty self explanatory, except maybe on how i thought i should conserve energy. how did i conserve energy in a 26 mile run? well, i started with a very conservative pace (around 12 minute miles) and i decided it was wasn't going to benefit me to bounce all around the race course dodging people. instead of trying to force a hole to pass through, i decided to slow up to the pace of the person i ran up on and just wait for my opening. my goal here was to be finish the marathon running. my previous three i was unable to run the entire distance due to cramping in my legs (18-20 miles into the run). the conservative pace definitely worked to my advantage. the hydration was going according to plan and by the half way point i was feeling good. good enough in fact that i decided i could probably go a little faster so i increased my pace. the miles were falling pretty quickly, but then i hit a stretch between miles 15 and 18 where everything just seemed to slow down. my pace stayed the same, but the scenery was boring and it was hard to think about anything but running. at 20 miles to go there was a band playing and the first and only turn-around on the course. we could see all those thousands of people who were ahead of us and i think that encouraged me to pick up my pace again. i can't remember where i was at the 20 mile mark, and neither can the website, since the timing chips only captured our first 5k and finishing time. the "race" was on. i was determined to finish in under 5 hours (granted i've finished two other marathons before under 5 hours, but none after running 13 miles the day before). my pace quickened and i began passing tons of people which was exhilarating so close to the finish. i began passing those people who i could tell were cramping up and i thought to myself i've been there before i know exactly what you're going through. but this time it was different for me. i felt fresh the best i've ever felt during a marathon. there was no sign of cramping in sight. i wasn't going to have to walk the last 6 to 8 miles to cross the finish line. it was a joy that i've only very rarely experienced in running and it was great. i had run my perfect race. i did what i set out to do and felt great doing it. it was an amazing feeling after having gone through so many races before where i was unable to perform at my best. i passed the gospel choir with less than .1 to go made my way to the finish. i found erin and her mom in the sea of people at the finish line and stopped for a pictured and a quick peck. i crossed in 4:57. i had negative split the marathon and actually ran the second half of the marathon faster than saturday's run with erin. glad that i was finally done and hungry for the macdonald's meal i had promised myself i made my way through the support area and received my marathon medal (definitely the best one yet). i grabbed as many muffins and waters as i could carry, collected the goofy medal and my gear and made my way outside the tent area.

after heading to the hotel and showering up we drove to mcdonalds where i got my big mac meal that i had long been waiting for. the rest of the day it rained off and on and pretty much ruined our chances of heading to any of the parks. it still managed to be a great day and finished it off with a nice steak and potato meal from outback.

i learned a lot from this race about myself and about how "i" need to race and prepare for these events. ironman arizona is looming just down the road and i gained a little more confidence in completing arizona after such a fine race in orlando.

goofy is done!!

2008-01-15T23:26:00.000-05:00

this past saturday and sunday i completed the goofy challenge down in Orlando. I ran 13.1 on saturday and then followed up that with 26.2 on sunday. my legs were a little sore, but for the most part i'm feeling pretty good. i'll post a race report soon. three months until im arizona.

something bad to something good

2007-11-07T10:22:00.000-05:00

lake havasu, az is home to spring break heaven but to us at push america they are a tight knit community that accepts our journey of hope team with open arms year after year. during our stay a film maker followed the team around and created a documentary to be shared with the entire community. lake havasu invited me out to speak at the event, but i was unable to attend. instead i sent a speech that was to be read before the "red carpet" premier of the documentary.

here is an excerpt from my speech.

When I came through Lake Havasu in the summer of 2002 I never could have imagined the profound effect that it would have on my life. I was a crew member for the 2002 Journey of Hope South team and we had just finished another hot day in the desert. If I can remember correctly it wasn’t until we reached New Mexico that we came to be known as “Team Natural Disaster”. I think we were fortunate that day to have a tailwind with us for the majority of the day and were able to arrive early enough to use the pool at the Aquatic Center and get some much needed rest. That night we had a great dinner and an incredible friendship visit with ADES-DDD consisting of a dance and a KOB.

The day in Lake Havasu still sticks in my mind because of the great friendship visit we had. I remember sitting down to dinner with a fellow team member, Brian, and Mabel from ADES-DDD. Mabel was amazing and I still remember her from time to time even five years later. Though we could not verbally communicate with her we had so much fun dancing with everyone and laughing. It is hard to put it into words, but because I could see her having fun with a smile on her face, I too was having a great time. The Journey of Hope was my first real look into what it is like to interact with people with disabilities on a daily basis. So, needless to say I didn’t have much prior experience nor did I feel completely comfortable at friendship visits. I can honestly say though Mabel is the reason it changed for me. That night with all the singing, dancing and laughing I just let go and lived in the moment. By doing so I opened myself up to a new experience and I have never looked back. Because of that one night the rest of my summer was amazing. I continue to look back on that night as a life changing moment.

Now here I am five years later and still involved with Push America. I’ve been with Push America since October of 2006 and do not regret it for one second. This has been a totally unexpected ride that I’ve been on since I’ve gotten here. I’ve met and talked to some many wonderful people throughout the country who share the same passions that we do at the Push America offices. Everyone is so kind and gives so much of themselves that it is sometimes hard for us to express our extreme gratitude to everyone that helps us along the way. As an undergraduate I never saw myself working for Push America, but I am so glad to say that I now find myself here.

a week after i had sent my letter i found out that mabel passed away in her sleep. i also found out that mabel had that same effect on a lot of the people she met. my speech was read that night at the movie premier, but it was also read to those who loved her and again at her memorial service. in closing is a paragraph from an email i received from mabel's sister:

Although this wonderful woman, had limitations, she had a way of blessing and inspiring those who were fortunate enough to share her space. Nurses from the hospital volunteered to care for her at the group home, just to be in her presence. Her bedroom is full of angels that have been given to her from those who have cared for her. Mabel brought joy to all she met and loved life. Some of her favorite things were swimming, cooking classes, eating pizza, drinking root beer and zooming around in her electric wheel chair.

She will be missed by many, I appreciate you taking a few minutes to learn about a remarkable woman who touched more lives than she could ever imagine.

re-energized

2007-10-25T12:01:00.000-04:00

i ran in the rain tonight. it was nothing big, an easy 4 miles, but being our there in the cool weather with the rain coming down was fantastic. lately i've been struggling with my training as the days get shorter and my training hours get longer. but after last night's run i feel good and i feel strong.

i'm looking forward to the goofy challenge coming and going so i can put less emphasis on my running and a little more on the bike. i'm looking at a very windy bike course come the ironman in april and from what i've heard that is what is going to make the race or break it.

running with old friends

2007-09-18T10:40:00.000-04:00

my friend dave from atlanta is town this week and last night he made the drive into charlotte so we could hit the road for a nice 10 mile run. he was good to see dave and talk about running once again. he's the guy that introduced me to the continuous running streak his is now at 261 days! we had an awesome run last night especially since the "cool" front as come through. it was fantastic to get out there and run and i was surprised with my efforts as i was coming off a 9 miler the day before.

erin and i leave for the greek isles on thursday. one thing i'm not looking forward to is running on the ship, but the weather and sights look awesome.

hope everyone is well.

greek isles

2007-09-03T16:51:00.000-04:00

i will be headed on a cruise with erin and her family to the greek isles at the end of the month. check back for stories and pictures.

save the date

2007-07-31T19:42:00.000-04:00

what: ironman arizona

where: tempe, arizona - u.s.a

when: april 13, 2008

who: me and anyone else who wants to go.

it is sure to be a memorable day!

www.ironmanarizona.com

24 hours of booty

2007-07-31T19:08:00.000-04:00

24 hours of booty was this past weekend. erin and i met the cycling and rain head on. the rain started at about 9pm on friday night. i had been cycling with erin and basil (a friend from work) from about 7:30 until about 8:45 until we broke for dinner. during dinner we were treated to an awesome lighting show which was preceded by a lot of rain. by the time the rain stop there was a good 3 or 4 inches of standing water on the ground.

during the storm the rain cover that was over our tent flew up and our tent filled with rain. erin and i both lost our phones, but that was about the extent of it. everything we had was drenched but we were able to head back to the condo after the rain ceased. after a 2 hour delay of getting back on the bike we made it back over to queens university for the rest of 24 hob.

erin and i both rode through the night only stopping again at 6:45 for breakfast. after another short break erin headed back to the tent for a nap and then basil and i rode together. we ended up taking a few more breaks during the day, but continued to pile on the mileage.

erin ended with about 51 miles, which is a great accomplishment considering the bike she was riding. i was really proud of her in the fact that she wouldn't stop until she reached her goal. i ended up with about 126 miles. a little shy of my goal. i had 120 miles in the books by 2pm and went out to get my last 30, but my knee was hurting too bad to continue so i just made sure i got 125 and was done.

we took off around 4 and were in bed by 5 that evening. we didn't wake until 7 the next morning.

i can't wait until next year. awesome event.

a weekend in charleston

2007-07-26T22:43:00.000-04:00

last weekend erin and i had tickets to go see a band play down in charleston, sc, o.a.r. this was a band that i had first heard on the journey of hope about 5 years ago. i've enjoyed them a lot and have really enjoyed some of their concerts that i've been able to attend. when erin and i were first dating i introduced o.a.r to her and she's liked listening to them ever since. we've wanted to try and go to a concert of theirs for a while now, but never pulled the trigger. well, earlier this year i got us both tickets to the concert at daniel island so we decided to make a long weekend out of it.

we were originally going to go with another "couple-friend" of ours but they ended up not being able to go for whatever reason, so it wasn't until the wednesday before the friday concert that we found a place to stay. we ended up spending the weekend at a nice bed & breakfast called 27 State St. it was very nice, there are actually only three rooms in the whole place. we stayed in the wuderman's study, which was actually the original kitchen of the home. we were left alone the entire time we were there until we left. it was great! it was like having an actual home in charleston! from the time we checked in to the time we checked out we only saw other person there and that was because she was in charge of breakfast. we ended up staying only about 2 blocks from the market and another 3 from the water so it was an ideal spot. other than the constant water fountain running outside of our door at night i had no complaints. the picture in the corner is the view from the street looking into the courtyard. the window in the rear is the window of the bedroom.

on friday night we were able to check out the o.a.r concert at the daniel island tennis center. it was great show, minus the storm. the opening band, agustana opened and right after they were done the sky opened up and it rained for about an hour. after another thirty minutes of the crew trying to dry off the stage the band came out and played a great set. it was well worth the wait. the show ended around 11 and after we made our way back home we headed straight to the bookstore so i could pick up by copy of the last harry potter book.

saturday we were able to enjoy an nice breakfast from the porch of the b&b. after breakfast we dressed and headed out on a walking tour of charleston and made our way over to the battery where we listened in on some of the tours that were going on via horse and carriage. we walked down to king st. where i was lucky enough to watch erin shop, but she made it up to me by treating me to a nice lunch at a bbq joint they had there. the food was great, though erin didn't care for it, i was in heaven. after some sustenance in the belly we hit some more shops and then took the long way back home. that night we ate at a nice little restaurant right on the water. the food was okay. i'm not sure i would head back, but i'm glad we tried it out. the picture to the right is our view of charleston from the balcony at the b&b.

sunday came way too soon. after checking out we headed to isle of palms for an afternoon at the beach. after dinner at the beach we packed the car back up and headed to charlotte.

we had a great time and will be back in charleston in less than a month for another concert with some friends this time.

say "no" to new york

2007-06-12T17:31:00.000-04:00

i received my email today from the nyc marathon folks informing me i was not selected to particpate this year.... in the mean time i'll probably sign up for the outerbanks marathon to fill the void. i guess there is always next year.

happy taxpayer

2007-06-07T09:10:00.000-04:00

last night as i was running some errands and happened to have my radio tuned to WBT. **rant** i'm not too happy with WBT right now because they recently took neal boortz off the air in favor of a local program hosted by Terra "citizen" Servatius. i'm sure all boortz listeners were growing tired of him discussing his books over and over and over, but i would still much rather listen to him seeing as he is one of the few ties i have to atlanta while in charlotte **end rant**. as i was saying. i'm driving along listening to the radio the topic for the night's show was on the charlotte mecklenburg county commission and their budget. apparently the count commission was so strapped for money this year that they had to go and raise taxes again, which really isn't a big deal as long as they are spending their money on something worthwhile which we all know the government has an extremely hard time doing. what caught my ear was that a guy who calls himself aerobocop went to the county commission and asked for $160,000 in order to help run his tv program and website all designed to help kids lose weight. luckily for all of us tax payers he was turned down...but that didn't stop them from giving him $50,000!! that's absolutely ridiculous. i can't possibly imagine what $50,000 could fund....spandex, a smoke machine or more awkward looks on the kids faces as they watch some 40 year old guy march around in a weird spandex outfit? well, i'm glad to know that ever so strapped for cash county commission who had to raise our taxes to fund all of our important county programs was able to find $50,000 for this guy. thanks in most part to parks helms. you are representing us well. if only there was more time to talk about all the other inappropriate spending by the county commission including the funding of a latino group that was given several hundred thousand dollars to look into companies that are not paying illegal workers enough money???? it makes no sense.

if you're interested in our friend aerobocop feel free to visit www.aerobocop.com

nyc marathon

2007-06-04T11:18:00.000-04:00

i signed up for the nyc marathon in november. the organizers run a lottery system for entry. i should find out sometime in the middle of this month. i'll keep you posted.

white lake half im

2007-05-06T21:53:00.000-04:00

a half ironman consists of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride and a 13.1 mile run. saturday may 5th i completed my first ever half ironman triathlon.

in january of this year myself and a co-worker spent the better part of a day preparing to sign up for the white lake half ironman. i say we spent a better part of day because the website was bombarded by some much internet traffic it took forever for pages to load and when they did they would shut down, luckily though, we successfully signed up for the race.

the friday before the race we had a board meeting at work (fortunately for me i didn't have anything to do for the meeting because it was hard for me to concentrate on anything other than the race). kyle, the guy from work, and i made it through lunch and headed out shortly after that. the drive to white lake was long and boring. i was familiar with most of the drive because it was the same route we've taken to the beach for many years. we almost didn't make it for packet pickup on friday night, but we made it with about 15 minutes to spare.

it was dusk by the time we finally arrived to the race site. the air coming in off the lake was pretty chilly and kyle and i quickly made our way around the site going over to the lake to test the water and then circling back to go over the transition area. after the two of us surveyed where we'd be stationed the following day we took our gear back to the car and made our may over to the hotel.

that night we stayed with some friends of kyle's from his swim class. we watched a little television that night and readied our equipment for the next morning. we made our gatorade bottles, checked our bikes, and mentally prepared ourselves for the next day.

the next morning we awoke at 5:00. we dressed and gathered our gear and drove to the race site. once arriving kyle and i threw our bags down in the transition area and picked up our timing chips and then made our way over to get our body marking done. my number was 623 (i can only remember that now because it is sunburned into my skin). upon returning to the transition area i unpacked my bag and laid out my gear as i would need it for the rest of the day. time was passing quickly. it was already 7:00 and may wave was scheduled to start around 7:25. i put on my wetsuit and kyle and i headed down to the lake for the start. wave after wave went as kyle and i waited nervously for the start of the race. now might be the time to tell you about my training or lack thereof. i had it in my mind that i would train really well for this event, that i would get up every morning and train, then train at lunch and come home and train some more, but that never happened. i wasn't even able to do that for a little bit, instead my training was nil. i trained twice in the pool and went for a total of 3 rides outside. i did do some spin classes at the ymca pretty regularly, but that couldn't nearly recreate cycling outdoors.

back to the race.

we were in the 5th wave (yellow caps). we were in with all males aged 29 & under and then all master's clydesdales (males over 200lbs aged 45 & over i think.). it was 5 minutes between each wave. i nervously checked my watch about every 10 seconds waiting for us to start. finally 20 seconds then 10, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and the gun went off. i started in the back not wanting to get kicked, punched or pulled by some of the more aggressive swimmers. i took my time with the swim and was amazed by the ease of it all. i wasn't swimming hard, but i was swimming and keeping pace with most in my wave. finally i rounded the last buoy and headed for home. i made it to the pier with about 5 other folks and we climbed the ladder and ran down the pier to the transition area. i was a little light-headed coming out of the water, but for the most part felt pretty good for someone who didn't do too much training. i made my way through the maze of bikes that were much more expensive than mine. i sat down and shucked off my wetsuit as quick as i could but it really wasn't that fast. it took a couple of extra pulls down at the leg to get the wetsuit off completely. after taking a couple of sips of water and throwing on my helmet i was off to for the bike leg.

before the start of the race i was most nervous about the bike, just because i know i didn't put in much training for it. i started slowly averaging about 17/18mph. it wasn't until i hit mile 20 that i finally felt comfortable and was able to pick up my pace a bit. i finally started to pass some folks instead of getting passed and slowly made my way up to a pace of about 21/22mph. the bike portion was pretty boring but the roads were nice and flat and we didn't encounter too much wind while we were out there. my goal to finish the bike portion was to finish in under 3 hours which i was able to do. i can't remember my exact time but i was well under 3 hours and gave myself a little bit of a cushion to finish the entire race in under 6 hours.

coming off the bike my legs were a little wobbly so i took a few extra seconds to stretch out a bit. towards the end of the ride i felt my hips beginning to tighten up and knew i would probably need some biofreeze for later in the run so i made sure to grab about 4 packets to take with me. after a gu and some gatorade i was off for the last 13 miles of the race.

the run course was not fun. it was flat but poorly planned. the course actually consisted of a 3 mile course out and back that we had to run twice. the loops i didn't mind. i have several runs where i do a few loops. what made this course so bad is that everyone had to run on the same side of the road, whether i was going out 3 or coming back towards the turnaround i had to battle runners coming at me. it definitely got worse once we made it our to a road that wasn't closed to traffic and we had to run on the shoulder or in the grass. if i had been feeling better during the run i probably wouldn't have minded as much.

i ended up catching kyle within the first mile of the run. he was having some knee pain so i stopped to walk with him for a minute and gave him some biofreeze to spread on his knees, he later told me that it did the trick and cut down on the pain quite a bit. i was on my own again and was doing fine. i was averaging somewhere in the neighborhood of an 8:45 mile time, but then i hit the half-way point and things went downhill. my quads began to cramp up so i had to pullover to the side and use some of the biofreeze on my legs. from then on it was a battle of to see how long i could run before cramping up again. i think i made it maybe another half mile or mile before i cramped again and it became a long slow run/walk to the finish. i was a little disappointed in the fact that the worst leg of the race was going to come from the run. i never anticipated the run being the hardest part of the race, but my body was not used to the prolonged amounts of exercise. it had been a little over a month since i completed my last marathon and i thought i would be in fine shape, i was, but just not fine triathlon shape.

i was disappointed as i watched my time hit the 6 hour mark and i was still on the road. with maybe 3/4 of a mile to go. i tried to walk fast and run more to get as close as i could to the 6 hour mark and struggled to the finish. with the support of other participants and spectators i was able to run the last 400m or so of the run and finished in about 6 hours and 7 minutes. i was pleased. i had just finished my first half-ironman with little training and didn't feel too terrible as a result. i think i was most satisfied by knowing that if i did train appropriately for the race i would be able to do quite well here next time.

after the race kyle and i headed back to the motel, showered and made our way over to this burger place where we had our share of burgers and fries for a job well done. we didn't stick around much longer. we made our way over to the results area again to check our times and see where we placed in our age groups and then got back in the car and drove back to charlotte. all in all it was a good event. one in which i wish i could do next year, but it is just too close to the start of our summer events here at work. i may look to do another one next year, so if anyone out there has a good race to recommend i am all ears.

the streak

2007-04-20T19:43:00.000-04:00

after little consideration i've decided to try to run everyday. The United States Running Streak Association, Inc. defines the running streak as "running at least one continuous mile within each calendar day under one's own body power (withoutthe utilization of any type of health or mechanical aid other than prosthetic devices). Running under one's own power can occur on either the roads, a track, over hill and dale, oron a treadmill. Running cannot occur through the use of canes, crutches or banisters, orreliance on pools or aquatic decices to create artificial buoyancy."

i know of only one person who is doing this right now, well, make it 2; i have somehow managed to talk erin into at least attempting to do this (her streak now stands at 1 mine at 3) my friend dave from careersports, whom also makes a great training partner, is how i heard about this little club....he's now at 109 days in a row.

just to give you a little perspective the holder of the longest streak is mark holder of lancaster, ca how has now run for an amazing 14,101 days = 38 years 221 days! another item to note is that the USRSA will not even recognize your streak on their website until you've reach 1 year. i've told a few people about this already and they ask, what keeps you from lying and telling them you've already been running for a year - unbeleivable....i would only be doing myself a disservice...happy running.

worst dry cleaners?

2007-04-20T09:49:00.000-04:00

there is a little dry cleaners in the shopping center next to our office called lisa's alterations. although cheap they have managed to lose on of my shirts which they then tried to give me two different shirts in place of it, one of which wasn't even the same size or color. i put on my only black button-up shirt to find that one of my buttons is completely missing from the sleeve and the other, the single button a littl further down the sleeve, has been so misfigured that it can't even stay in the designated hole.

don't go to lisa's alterations. poor customer service. more to follow once i get this figured out.

thursday night happenings

2007-04-20T08:58:00.000-04:00

last night erin and i fought through the rain and met with another couple for dinner at the dilworth bar & grille. to my surprise thrusday nights are sushi nights! i started dinner off with a round of edamame. it hit the spot as erin and i were both starving and for once waiting on someone else to arrive, seeing as we always tend to arrive a little after expected. after almost polishing off the entire bowl of edamame before our friends arrived we went ahead and order some chips and queso. this was also very good. for dinner i had some of their california rolls which i though were very good as well as some tomato and basil on a bed of rice (extremely good!) i had thoughts of ordering some more of these but were running a little behind schedule for the night's real festivities which was an amos lee concert.

amos played just down the road at a place called amos's southend. it's a neat venue since they renovated the place almost a year ago. they've taken away much of the upstairs which has added a lot more room on the bottom level. it's a nice neighborhood venue so we were able to get some nice spots towards the front maybe 3 or 4 rows back. the opening band, hot lava something or other, went on around 9:00. the played a few songs, none which i thought were that great and it didn't help that they lead singer looked like the singer from creed, which is all i could really think about.

amos went on stage around 10 accompained by his band of three guys; keyboarder, drummer and basist. the band, well, not the entire band kept me laughing to myself almost the entire night and kept trying to steal my focus away from amos' singing and guitar playing. the drummer which looked like a longshoreman right off a fishing boat was great. he was older probably close to sixty or maybe his weathered face just gave me that impression. a few times i would think to myself that he would be a great fit for a captin d's commerical or something like that. i could even picture him as the "killer" in those series of movies "i know what you did last summer" always stalking around with a nit cap and pea/raincoat. i swear that i kept calling him the longshoreman so much during the concert that he gave me the stare down during a drum solo. next on the list of oddities was the keyboardist. a local guy from charlotte. i'm not actually sure how much this guy plays with amos or if it was just a one time deal here in charlotte, but he had the funniest mannerisms all night. he probably played his instrument with more emotion than i have ever seen anyone else do. my friend that was with us described his facial expressions as if the keyboard was in water and everytime he hit a key he would ge electricuted. he had some classic expressions on stage, at least we knew he was enjoying himself. the rest of the concert was great. he has two almbus out right now. i have the first and have only heard about two or three tracks off his latest album. i enjoyed almost every song i've listened to of his, but did not expect his concert to be as good as it was. sometimes you'll listen to a cd and be like "that guy/girl has an amazing voice" but then when you actually hear them live it's a little disappointing because the voice just isn't the same.

i told erin after the concert that i thought his voice actually sounded better live then it did on his albums. so to anyone who is reading this i would recommend going to see him in concert or at least picking up his album or listening to a few tracks. you can find him at amoslee.com or on myspace. after the concert was over i cashed out on my $3 bar tab and we hit the road.

thanks also to the guys who finally moved in front of us so little erin could see. she only stands at about 5', so i appreciate them sliding out of the way. this was of course after i talked loudly to our friends about her not being able to see, tapping them on the shoulder to slide down and glaring at them whenever they would turn around. i wish i had some pictures and some video to share of the concert to pass on, but unfortunately i forgot to bring my camera along.

funny

2007-04-18T17:17:00.000-04:00

i was shown this clip yesterday by a friend of mine @ work. it's pretty funny. it reminds me a little bit of the girl who kicks monster's a$$ (and if you don't know what i'm talking about i'll link to that one too).

The Landlord

kicking monster a$$

first post!

2007-04-11T23:08:00.000-04:00

after reading some blogs from some friends and family of mine especially on myspace.com i thought it might be fun to add some of my own comments, thoughts, ideas and pictures. i admit i'm pretty new to all of this and it may take a little bit for me to get comfortable with all this. i would like to use this as forum to express my thoughts, keep folks updated on what i'm doing and show pictures of recent travels and events. i encourage folks to respond to anything i post. happy blogging.