In the tenth grade, my Coach Al Pingel, taught us that the day to get your best rest was not necessarily the day before a race, but the day before the day before. Now that doesn’t mean that going sleepless the night before is good, but one can get by with a little restlessness and such without overly suffering in the race. If that, then, is the first test of… Read More »PreRace Napa: Part #1. Run to Overcome
I would be remiss if I didn’t share my Napa Valley Marathon excitement about another celebrity attendee: Bill Rodgers. Boston Billy is one of the greatest American marathoners of all time and a distance running ICON. Few people anywhere can match Bill Rodgers’ magnetic personality as well as the ferocity with which he used to race. While I’ve never met Joan Benoit Samuelson (see http://runspittle.blogspot.com/2011/02/still-waiting-for-joannie-but-only-9.html ) I have met Bill… Read More »Bill Rodgers and Pre Race Napa
Did I just say that? A great time for taxes??? Oddly yes, I did. In the few days left prior to departing for the Napa Valley Marathon, I have been meticulously working on my tax worksheet for my accountant. It’s good to have something to do. Yesterday I ran six miles. Even though it was a pretty crappy run and extremely windy, I had to fight the urge to go… Read More »A Great Time For Taxes
With a week to go until the Napa Valley Marathon, I did a bit of a final equipment check today, wearing everything I’m going to wear. All systems were go in that arena. The plan today was to run eleven miles, consisting of one easy, four paced, one easy, four paced, one down. Everything went off without a single problem. The first mile was 10:10, the next four around 9:30… Read More »One Week To Go!
It was around 26 and a half years ago that Joan Benoit (now Benoit Samuelson) won the first Women’s Olympic Marathon. I’m proud to say I was there: and there, and there, and over there, and several other places too. Finally, for the first time ever, I am hoping to meet Joannie at the Napa Valley Marathon next weekend. She’ll be at the Expo. We took the road trip to… Read More »Waiting for Joannie a Ninth Time…
As the months and weeks of anticipation become days, I am officially tapering for the Napa Valley Marathon… but not really. As many of you know, the best way to hit your physiological peak for a racing event is to “taper” or “peak” just prior to its occurrence. A myriad of factors go into a proper peak and it is very much an individualized art form as opposed to an… Read More »Taper Madness? Probably Not.
Today was the last long run prior to the Napa Valley Marathon (which is in two weeks). Forecasts of heavy winds altered my route from the Cherry Creek Trail to the South Platte Trail (where I have a nice 16 mile Light Rail run mapped out). It sort of worked! The first few miles were a little slow and also very easy. I wanted to keep my heart rate under… Read More »Last Long Run (for a few weeks anyway)
Frank Shorter Some time ago, it was Pre Week and as Pre was kind of a hero, I spent a little time recalling some others, namely Jim Ryun, Al Ruffner, assorted college studs and Jack Bachelor. http://runspittle.blogspot.com/2011/01/heroes-havent-always-been-cowboys.html I couldn’t possibly remember heroes without recalling a biggie in my running life: Frank Shorter. I have four Shorter memories (and a few longer ones – pun intended …). First memory is sitting… Read More »Pre Week Part 2: Another Running Hero
As per the usual, a ring of the doorbell – I answer – no one is there. A package, however, sits ever so nicely below the welcome mat, sticking out just enough to be seen. In it is my brand new Garmin Forerunner 405. They (Garmin) replaced my faulty watch and did the whole thing in less than a week. In a retail world where customer service and consumer focus… Read More »A quick update: Garmin Rules!
Subtitle: “Watson come quickly! Oh yeah, you can’t!!!” Today is the final round for Watson vs. the human guys (Ken Jennings and Brad Mutter) on Jeopardy. The IBM computer is soundly whipping both humans at the left brain, data regurgitation that is the Jeopardy game. As a human, I find the whole thing completely and utterly disgusting. Talk about a stacked competition…. Anyway, long story short, I decided to strike… Read More »Man vs. Computer: Round 2