20in24

I have been remiss in not posting a 20in24 race report. Since I will be sittings on a plane for the next six hours, here goes.

The experience was great except for the driving rain that started around 10 pm and last straight through to around 6 am. I of course had to run the midnight shift during a torrential downpour. I was soaked straight through before I even left the start line.

Other than that, it was a friggen blast. Seriously. I would do it again in a heart beat.

The highlights:
* We had a good team. Everyone stuck around between laps
* The environment was awesome. There was a great vibe happening in the tent city
* Well stocked rest stations, lots of food.
* I got about 5 free tech shirts
* The weather up until the point where it started to rain. It was a beautiful day, a bit warm, and windy as the rain started to pickup

The bad shit:
* The rain. I dont mind the rain - to a point. When it's driving in sheets, and you're out on the course for an hour and a half, it gets old. Quick
* Sleeping in my truck from 1:30 am to 6:30 am. My tent was leaking. Everyone's tent was leaking. Thank god I have an SUV
* My running was horrible

First lap, I felt like shit. My hip hurt. My back hurt. I had to walk a few spots
Second lap, I can remember. the back pain was gone though.
Third lap. WET. And my stomach was KILLING me. Not sure where that came from.
Fourth lap. SLOW. And my stomach was still bothering me.

The fourth lap was painful. I was tired. My feet hurt. My hip hurt. But the weather had cleared up and it was a very nice morning and there were tons of people out on Kelly Drive. I saw alot of familiar faces out there - Linda and Lauren, the crew from the Fishtown Beer Runners manning their "Beer Stop Aid Station."

I havent run since. That was about two weeks ago. I needed a break. Then I got sick. So, I am hoping to jump back into it this  week. I am on my way out to Vegas and the weather is going to be beautiful, so I'll try to squeeze in a few runs between hangovers.

And since I am going to Vegas, I will not be able to run The Blues Cruise 50k this Sunday. And to be honest, I am not heart broken. The weather is predicted to be on the high side, and I havent done jack shit in two weeks. I think this race would be 8 hours in the pain cave for me.

I am on an airplane, about 30,000 ft off the ground. US Airways wants to bend me over for Wifi access. I wonder if the stewardess is going to pass out vaseline before they jam it up my keister.

I dont know what's worse: The PA system on airplanes or the PA system on the older Septa Trains. The pilot just made some sort of announcement I couldnt hear a word of it. For all I know, he could have just told me that were trying course and flying to Fiji and I would be none the worse for wiser.

I Got Chased by a Racoon

Seriously. I was sitting in the backyard and I got chased by a raccoon. Little bastard snuck into the yard and I chased him around the front of the house, until he stood on his hind legs and stared at me with those little beady coon eyes. Then he turned around and started after me. I ran like a sissy.

Amen

I am on a mission. A mission from God. Well, not quite. It's not that I don't believe in "God" or some derivation there of, it's just that I don't think God is all that interested in the fact that I need to a) lose 25lbs by the Spring and/ turn some of this copious amount of body weight into muscle. I think he/ she has bigger fish to fry. Like the government shutdown. Or figuring out that whole chicken or the egg thing.

"I'm on a mission from God"

I have a plan together, comprised of some weight training and some other cardio activities. I've decided to lay off of some other stuff that I kicked around, like Yoga. As much as I would like to give that a try, I need to really focus in on this goal, and I have found that the key to success is to become really good at 1-2 things, not mediocre at 4-5 things. The law of diminishing returns. I am also giving running a bit of a break, just to mix it up, and to give my hamstring/ piriformis some downtime. I hopped into a spinning class for the first time in months earlier in the week. One of my running compadres teaches a crossfit/bootcamp type class weeknights and that might be something to try out. I am not a big fan of classes where I can't tie-in some sort of complimentary benefit. At least with spinning, it gets me prepped for Spring Mountain biking. I tend to spend most of the spring on the mountain bike. Not sure why, it's just always been that way.