Shout out!

Is it kosher to give shout outs on a blog? This one goes out to Troi, The Maniac and the Doctor for making this weekend's trip The BEST ROAD TRIP EVER!!!

Truck Crash

Okay. So I went on a buisness trip this past Wednesday to Texas to do some testing on some prototypes for work. The facility we did our testing at does all sorts of crash tests for the federal, state and local municipalities. While I was there they showed me a video of a test they did on a new type of security wall. Although it is only 4 feet tall, it's a pretty tough wall. As you watch this, keep in mind that the bed of the dump truck is completely filled with concrete. There is A LOT of weight being thrown at this wall at 65 mph. One better think twice about trying to bulldoze through this thing...

Dexter-Ann Arbor Half

Do you know how far 13.1 miles is? No really. Stop a minute. Picture yourself on an interstate in a car that is running on "E" and it's 13.1 miles to the next exit. Or, try to remember back to middle school when you had to run a mile for gym class. Now try to imagine doing that 13 times in a row. Or better yet. Try to imagine the length of 192 football fields. Needless to say, 13.1 miles is looong distance. So what was I thinking signing up for the Dexter-Ann Arbor Half (Half is short for Half Marathon. You've got to learn the lingo when your rollin' with the running crowd.). Personally, I think it takes forever to DRIVE 13.1 miles let alone RUN it!

So on February 19, I started my 16 week training which consisted of running 4 times a week, 3 shorter runs during the week and a long run on the weekend. Yeah, I did about half of that. I think of training schedules as more...suggestions than actual must dos. In all honesty though, three quarters of the way through my "training" I was getting a bit scared. The half marathon is a "rolling" marathon. Which means that at every 12 minute interval the race officials open back up the course to the normal Sunday traffic. So I would need to maintain at least a 12 minute per mile pace for the first 10 miles of the course or I would find myself running in the middle of the street as some kind of real life Frogger! Currently I was averaging about an 11:30 minute pace, which is cutting it kinda close.

But then I discovered a secret weapon. God Bless those people at Kellogg's. Two weeks before the 13.1 mile run, I had a 9 mile training run. The night before I had some Rice Crispy Treats. And when I say "had some" I mean "had the entire box". And when I say "entire box" I mean "entire family size value pack". Most other runners carb load on pasta the night before a long run, but not I. I feast on puffed rice coated in marshmallowy sugar sweetness! But the next day, I had an AWESOME run. I felt like I could have run forever. So I definitely knew what the game plan was the night before the Half.

So how does this story end? Well, it ends with me developing a sharp pain in my left foot that doesn't seem to want to go away. It ends with me finishing dead last in my age group (25 to 29). But I don't care. Because I shaved a FULL MINUTE off my per mile pace finishing in 2 hours 15 minutes and 47 seconds. Yeah Baby!