flying pig

I so want to run this race:

it band

I'm still having some issues with my IT band. It didn't hurt at all when I was running yesterday. But throughout the day afterward it began hurting.

I did some hunting around on the Internets and I found some stretches and exercises for it. By days end it was feeling fine.

Then...

I sit in my zero-gravity chair for about 20 minutes and it starts hurting again.

I had noticed this before, that the pain would increase after sitting in the chair. But this time the causal relationship seems most obvious.

I'm completely perplexed. How could the so-called "Perfect Chair" be aggravating my knee?

I tried doing a search with iliotibial and zero-gravity chair but got nothing. And a couple of weeks ago I mentioned it to my sports med guy, and he didn't have a clue.

Weird.

I'd hate to give up the chair, because it's perfect for my back.

Oh what a strange thing the human body is.

juno

Allie and I went to see Juno last night. Delightful little film. I haven't seen any of the other films that are up for best picture, but I hope this one wins, because it was heartwarming and uplifting.

If you Indiana folks haven't seen it yet, I think you'd like it.

In other news, work has been up and down. We're working on some things that could really make a difference, but it's up in the air as to weather they'll happen. The first is the budget. The city's finances are completely jacked up, but if we take some strong measures this year, we could begin to turn that around. The problem is that the City Manager has pitted a majority of the City Council against the Mayor and is pushing for a really shitty budget to be adopted, one that would make the city more financially screwed up. From what I understand, he's doing this because he's somewhat delusional about finances, but also because he simply wants to beat the Mayor.

The other thing we're working on getting passed is an ordinance that dramatically reduce the number of metal plates on the city's streets. For those of you who don't live here, Kansas City has an ungodly number of big, bulky metal plates on the streets, to cover utility cuts. They're an inch or so thick, and when you drive over them they jolt your car. They drive people positively nuts. Well, one of the Mayor's campaign promises was to get rid of them. And now that we're pushing to make it happen, we're getting push back from the city water department, which is responsible for a lot of them.

If we can manage to win these two fights, it'll go a long way toward a successful first term, as both issues strike at the very core of what the Mayor ran for. But politics could do them in, and keep Kansas City perpetually screwy.

i did it!

Well, I finished my first marathon since college in 5h:4m:34s. Kind of slow, but I was just aiming to finish this time around. (Actually, I developed a goal midway through this race to beat my 13 year old self; when I was a wee punk I ran a marathon with zero training and finished in 5:10.)

The weather was perfect, sunny and 40s at the start, high 60s at the end. It was great having Allie and the folks out. They were able to drive around and cheer me on at four different spots, including the end. It was a real boost to have them out there cheering for me.

One of the places where they stopped was by mile 20. They said I looked really good compared to the others who were plodding through. I had a smile on my face and everyone else looked like they were going to die.

At that point, I decided to abandon the 3-minute run/one-minute walk plan, and run from water stop to water stop, which were about a mile apart. It went pretty good, until the last mile, that was close to pure hell. It had this itty-bitty hill right before the end that was agonizing. But they also had three hard rock bands playing along that stretch, so it helped. Plus I knew I was almost there, so I just pushed through the pain.

That said, the race was mostly pain free. I felt none of the injuries that were dogging me just a few weeks ago. Just a big old blood blister on one of my toes on my right foot. Today my IT band is a little tender, but my quads feel great, no pain in my calves or hips. In fact, I woke up feeling like I could run three miles.

So... I'm thinking I'm going to go ahead and do the Flying Pig in May. How can I resist a race called the flying pig?! Plus, I gotta break five hours now.

Oh, almost forgot... after the race we got in the hot tub and who was there but the winner! She was drinking champagne and being all happy. Pretty exciting!

away we go!

We're off this morning for Austin. Tomorrow from seven until about noon I'll be running the streets of that city with thousands of other people. Please send me your positive thoughts, especially between the hours of 10 and 12, as that'll likely be when I'll be struggling the most.

It appears as though the weather is going to be good. It's raining in Austin today, but it's supposed to clear up overnight. It'll be sunny, with low 40s at the start and low 60s by the end. That's about perfect for a race like this.

My folks will be meeting us there, and they're renting a car, so they'll be able to cruise around with Allie and catch me at various points to cheer me on. I'm kind of grateful for that. I think it's really going to help.

All in all, I feel pretty good about it. I took a 13 mile run last week that was pretty much pain free. But then my quads felt tight during a 3 miler midweek. So that spooked me a bit. But I think once I get going in the morning, among the crowd, with all the excitement of a new city, and all the bands, I'll be able to cruise along for quite a few miles before pain creeps in.

Stay tunes for the race report...

goofy

Here's another silly thing:

patches

Here is something ridiculous for your viewing pleasure.

austin marathon course

Here are videos of the course I'll be running in Austin week from Sunday. These really show how dang long it is.





I'm going to complete this damn thing, even if it kills me. I haven't been able to train very well since early December. I didn't even run this last weekend, because I caught a cold. Not exactly the way I planned. But such is life.