On becoming an old man

As time passes, so do we.

I was recently reminded that I'm getting older. While we've taught our children to be polite, I can tell they're lying when they say I'm still young. I know they think I'm old. But I still appreciate the gesture of them being polite and trying to boost my confidence. And maybe get a free toy.

So where does all this talk of being an old man come from? I totally wrenched my back on Saturday. Even today, just a few days later, I find it difficult to talk about. I don't want to be an old man. I see my parents and how old they are. I see my grandparents and how old they were before they died. I see so much age around me and I refuse to accept that I'm getting old just as fast as they are. So when I reached over to pick up that remote and my back seized up, I thought I was going to die.

Okay, so I'm being dramatic, but it hurt. A lot. Like a 9 out of 10 on the pain scale. It hurt bad enough I laid down on the dirty basement floor in my nice clothes in an attempt to reduce the pain. It didn't go anywhere. I rolled around on the foam roller like a half-dead fish but it still hurt. So I somehow muscled my way back up the steps and laid down on the floor up there and had my wife stretch out my back. It didn't help.

It didn't help to see the look on her face either. She kept looking at me like I was going to die. Was the pain on my face that noticeable? It must of been because she kept asking me if I needed anything. What I needed was somebody to take the damn knife out of my back. What I needed was that thing from Back to the Future.

I eventually got some cream rubbed on it and went to bed. I tossed and turned all night. Barely made it into any sort of standing position to use the bathroom. Which seemed to happen every 3 hours. Yet another sign I'm getting old, right? But I made it to the next morning.

And then I promptly called had my dad drive me to the emergency room. I felt like a damn kid again. It brought back memories of him driving me to the doctor one day and I'm barfing out the door. Or the day the Bears were playing in the SuperBowl and he cut his wrist changing oil and needed stitches. For a few brief moments at least, I was a kid again.

That all changed when I rolled into the ER. It's not a place I go nor is it a place I like to go. People go to the hospital to die. I hate it. Not the people that work there or even the patients. It's just the principal of a place that's sole purpose is to heal those so ill they can't take care of themselves. I don't like that. And sitting there in pain on a gurney wearing socks, underwear, and a giant t-shirt split down the back didn't make things any better.

Hearing the Code Yellow over the PA didn't help either. I can only hope they're okay. But I would like to thank them for making me realize that my back pain wasn't that big of a deal. At least not compared to whatever they had going on. So as I sat there and tried to distract myself, I pretty much just worked up my blood pressure beyond where it needed to be.

A group of nurses finally came in and got more info from me. Did this happen, did that, does this hurt, etc. The PA came over and poked my back a bit, diagnosed me, then left. The nurse continued asking questions and had no idea what lichen planus was. So that was a nice distraction for a few minutes. And the last nurse, or scribe, asked a few more questions after that. I found it odd that she took notes on her glove. Guess it's easier to keep that handy than a tablet.

After shift change a male nurse came in for my medication. Got to take a Valium and got a shot in my ass. Although he said it was in my hip, I'm pretty sure it was closer to my ass. After staying alive for 15 minutes I was cleared for discharge.

While I'm not 100% better, I will say that I was reminded that it's okay to ask for help. As much as I hate it, it's O K. Even when it's a pain in the ass like my shot, if it takes care of things, then do it.

Fighting Fireman's 5k Race Report

Just a low key, local trail race that was ideal for me to just get out and de-stress. Best of all, I got the chance to help a local firefighter and his family.

The race had a pretty good turn-out with over 50 runners for the 5k and 1 mile kid's race. I showed up early and helped with the registration table. From there, it was ready, set, go and off we went down the trail. The front runners were speedy of course but the rest of us were out there to have fun in the woods. Once across the finish, I hung around for the award ceremony then headed home to spend the day running errands.

Photos:

Weather:
Temps were about 80F. Humidity was high. Sun was out. Breeze was light.

Fluids and Fuel:
No breakfast before the run, just some coffee. During the run I had a bottle of plain water. Recovery was two slices of toast and more coffee.

Aches and Pains:
Nothing really hurt.

Gear:
No special gear.

Splits:
I had them but then cleared them by accident. But I remember the rough numbers.
Mile 1 - 12ish minutes
Mile 2 - 13ish minutes
Mile 3 - 11ish minutes
Finish - 36:06

Let's talk basements, standing water, and mold

This is a novel, so skip to the end if you want to see what my question is. Otherwise, grab a coffee and delight in the fact that you got to enjoy your Labor Day weekend.


So our new-to-us-for-2-months house, aka Fort Max, experienced a flooded basement this weekend. We used an exterior faucet to do some cleaning and an hour or two later realized that said faucet had burst due to freezing. Seeing as it's September in Virginia, it had to have happened some time ago. Which means our home inspector didn't catch the busted pipe.

Lesson 1 - Home inspectors don't catch every single thing that's wrong with the house you want to buy.


As soon as we discovered the leak, we shut off the faucet, shut off the water in the house, and shut off the water to the house at the water meter.


Lesson 2 - Know where and how to shut your utilities off. Thankfully the house shut off was in the same wall as the leak and we could easily access it. Thankfully we also know where the water meter shut off was located as well as the special wrench to use (although a crescent wrench works fine too).


We immediately began tossing rags down and moving things that were still dry out of the way. Anything that was wet that could be dried off and saved, we did that too. And we started running the wet/dry shop vac to get as much water up as we could. It was laundry day so most of the dirty clothes caught some of the leaks. Not everything but it did help contain some of the flood.


Lesson 3 - Keep rags handy (ideally large towels) in case of a leak.
Lesson 4 - Store all your important stuff in your basement in plastic totes.
Lesson 5 - If you store items in cardboard boxes, wrap all the contents in a garbage bag.
Lesson 6 - Be prepared to lose anything that's on the floor.
Lesson 7 - Install a leak alarm of some sort.
Lesson 8 - Test all your utilities, like you faucets, right away when you buy a new house.


We were lucky to have two shop vacs on hand. My dad was on his way home so that added some extra help. William, age 7, could help a little but not a lot. Thankfully he could clean up the tools outside that we had been using to clean. Elizabeth, age 10, and my father were more help.


Lesson 9 - Have a clear chain of command when you encounter scenarios like this. The incident leader needs to delegate and communicate with all parties involved.


Once we got a break, we called the home warranty folks and they said a local plumber could come by. The next day. The same plumber we've dealt with before for a leaky toilet who was an ass. We tried to get a different plumber but no dice. The home insurance folks were more helpful and had a tech here in hours to help clean up. He sucked up some water, then set up fans and dehumidifiers. I'm glad I kept checking his work because one of the dehumidifiers had a drain line that fell out of  another drain line and would have just added water to the floor. We also had to run extension cords upstairs because the circuits kept popping from all the fans running.


Lesson 10 - Have fans and dehumidifiers on hand to help remediation start as soon as possible. These should already be a part of your standard issue basement supply list.
Lesson 11 - Check behind everyone's work, especially contractors, to make sure they're doing it right.


The jack-ass plumber came the next day and cut the supply line to the faucet and removed the faucet. He glued a shut-off valve to the supply line so we could still have water in the house. But he did a crappy job of everything. I'm no plumber but I at least know that when you cut a copper pipe, you need to de-burr the end. He didn't. You also need to clean the ends with sandpaper. He didn't. Instead it was a quick glue. Since the home warranty folks didn't want to pay for a pipe that had frozen, we said good bye to the plumber. We weren't going to pay him to do a shitty job. And as far as I'm concerned, he can join my blacklist.


Lesson 12 - Don't be afraid to tell a contractor no. It's easy to just say fix it but if they don't fix it right the first time, you'll be paying for it again later.


With the plumber gone and quick-fix in place, we're now waiting for the insurance adjuster to arrive, the clean-up people to come check on their work, and the HVAC service tech to ensure the equipment is still good. We already got the all-clear from the washer/dryer manufacturer to use the units. The "brains" of them are up high and they're built to be in an inch or two of water. But we still kept an eye on them just to stay safe.

Lesson 13 - After an incident like this, pay attention to any anomalies. This could be the pre-cursor to a new incident.

I know there will be more lessons in the future. But until the final outcome has been reached and everything has been repaired, who knows.

Volcanus Vomitus

Wow. Talk about a whirl-wind weekend. Saturday we had new carpet installed at the rental house. Sunday I got an hour-long run in. And then puked my guts out. And then shit my brains out. And then spent most of Monday in bed.

So, what went wrong? I have no idea. My son got sick on Friday, puked most of the night, and was better by Saturday. Saturday I supervised the carpet installation. Sunday I got up, ate breakfast, and went to run. We assumed the culprit behind my son being sick was a slightly different, yet still dairy free, butter. I had the same butter Sunday morning but didn't think much of it. After my run, which was after breakfast but more than an hour after eating it, I felt queasy so I laid down. I figured the heat had gotten to me and I needed to rest. Well, a few hours later and I still felt like shit.

Queue the volcano-like vomiting. I haven't puked that much since my mother-in-law accidentally tried to kill me with turkey sausage nearly a decade ago. As I puked my guts up, I prayed that the next time I got sick I'd just shit my brains out instead. While that did come later, the puking really wiped me out.

So after Puke Fest 2014 was done, I cleaned myself, and the toilet, and crawled back into bed. I dozed on and off the rest of Sunday and all day Monday. Sadly, my wife got sick about the time I was getting better. Thankfully she's on the mend now (Tuesday) and seems to be almost back to normal.

As for the run itself, well, I took off down a road that used to be part of my old stomping grounds. I meandered a bit into the new power line then headed back. I made another pit-stop at a local fishing hole before finally making it home. There was a short bike ride after that then recovery time. Saw a bike rider out on the road which was cool. And that was about it.


Photos:

The local fishing hole.

Weather:
Temps were about 80F. Humidity was moderate. Winds were light. Sky was partly cloudy.

Fluids and Fuel:
Breakfast was waffles, eggs, and yogurt? After at least an hour, I started the run with a bottle of ice water and a bottle of iced GenUCAN electrolyte mix. Recovery was half a bottle of GenUCAN followed by lots of barfing later.

Aches and Pains:
Right ankle was a little tight the first mile or so. After that things were fairly normal. Aside from the queasy stomach.

Gear:
No special gear. But I did remember my sun screen!

Heart Rate:
Stuck to the plan with my zones and timing. Pretty easy to keep the heart rate up in the later stages of the run, especially with a giant hill on the route.

Splits:
20 minutes - 20:07 (AVG HR 140)
40 minutes - 48:57 (AVG HR 162)
10 minutes - 5:45 (AVG HR 162)
Finish - 1:14:50
AVG HR - 156
MAX HR - 183
MIN HR - 92

Painting Fort Max

I've painted with my father, mother, step-father, wife, and kids. I've painted in school, for fun, and for work. I wish I was an expert, but I am not. I'm not very creative and I'm very much a perfectionist. Because of this, I quickly learned that I should not paint with anyone else in the house. They disturb me and interupt my workflow.

So when it came time to paint Fort Max, it became apparent that everybody just needed to leave the house so I could get some work done. There were several times I painted late into the night just because I was alone, I could crank Eminem, and I could throw paint on the walls.

And sometimes that's how I felt, like I was just making a giant mess. But it got done and I'm happy with how it looks. There's still a few spots that need touch-ups but overall, it's done. Now to share a few things I learned along the way.

My son picked blue for his accent wall. Having the kids pick a color (for ONE wall) and helping paint that wall kept them semi-entertained.

Supplies. You'll need a lot more than you think you'll need. One brush per color per day. Don't try to wash out your brush or stick it in the fridge or re-use it the next day. Just use a new one. Same with pretty much everything else you use like tray liners, rollers, and more. The basic stuff you'll need to buy quality versions of are your roller holder (that thing with a handle), a nice wooden handle that screws into your roller holder, a paint can opener (you'll need one for the gallon metal cans and one for the 5 gallon plastic buckets), a hammer for the metal cans and rubber mallet for the plastic buckets, a pour spout that fits into your gallon bucket and one that screws onto your 5 gallon bucket, a metal paint tray for your roller, and a small paint container for your cut-in work. Phew! Quite a list. But trust me, that's just the quality stuff you want to buy.

For the cheap, disposable stuff, you'll need tray liners, a box of rags/paper towels, paint brushes, blue painter's tape/frog tape, and rollers. And expect to buy more paint brushes than you ever thought possible. So far, we've gone through close to 30 or so but that's mostly do to the doors needing lots of coats of paint. Anyway, plan on spending more on the disposables.

My daughter's accent wall is pink.

And plan on paying an arm and a leg for paint. We got nearly $1,500 in paint and that's just for most of the house, not all of it. We have some left over but we'll likely use that at the rental or in the kitchen. Either way, it's a ton of paint. So try to catch it on sale or when there's a nice rebate.

As far as your process goes, I found I worked best when I started at the top left corner of a very busy wall. By busy, I mean a wall that had the largest number of obstacles requiring cut-in work. By cut-in work, I mean working with a paint brush to cut-in or trim the area I'm painting. So windows, doors, vents, and anything else you need to paint around with a paint brush. Once I picked a wall to start on, I'd use the brush on the corners (the inside corners) and brush out the heavy strokes on the wall I'm not painting. Then, moving left to right and top to bottom, I'd cut-in along the ceiling, around windows, etc. Except for a very long wall, I could trim one wall before using the roller.

The rest of the house is a plain brown, although it has a touch more red/pink than I expected.

When it came time to use the roller, be prepared to use two coats. It depends on the paint, the wall, and your technique. What worked best for me was to use the roller to get the right texture on the horizontal lines, like along the ceiling and the floor, tops of windows, and doors. Then I'd do the vertical lines like corners, windows, doors, etc. From there, I'd again work left to right and top to bottom. I'd throw some paint on fairly thick, get a good 5 to 8 feet (horizontally) of the wall covered, then go back. When I went back, I'd add more paint, but I'd treat it as my finish coat. I'd go floor to ceiling getting the right texture but when I'd get to the end of the section I was working, I'd kind of brush it out like I would with the paint brush. Hard to describe in words but you're basically taking the roller (or brush) off the surface you're paining but without coming to a full stop. Kind of like a plane taking off, it leaves the ground gently, it just doesn't stop then take off like a rocket.

A few pro-tips. First, that light on the left will turn your room into a sauna and dry your paint faster than you want. Second, that coffee is essentially for late nights. Finally, that platform on the right is ideal for painting.

Once you finish a wall, you simply (ha!) repeat the process a million times until you're done. A small mini roller may help if you need it but I found a normal sized roller will fit above doors and windows and the mini roller only got used once or twice. Once the paint dries, go back with a nice light and see if you  missed a spot so you can touch up as needed.

When it comes to painting trim, especially windows, don't be afraid to lay down on the floor to get it all.

When it comes to clean up, this is where the disposable stuff comes in handy. Dump the extra paint back into the can/bucket, but don't scrape all the stuff that's dried back in there. Leave that scum right where it is. No sense contaminating that small fortune of pigment with crap. Using the tray liner as an awkward glove, grab the roller and muscle it off the holder. Then toss them and the brush into the trash. Now all you need to clean up is the roller holder and the pour spouts. Pretty easy.

2014 DRHT 50k Race Report - DNF

Yet another DNF. But this one was totally planned well in advance of race day. It still hurts though. I know I can do the distance. Even up to a few minutes before the race started, I was tempted to go the full length. But I knew in the back of my mind that that was not the plan and that even though I would finish, I was not prepared. I didn't want to risk doing anything too stupid and that's what I would have been doing. So I dropped at Mile 4 as planned and returned back to the Start for a full 8 miles of running. A quarter of the distance I could go but those damn cutoff times were looming over me the whole way and I knew I wouldn't make them.

I'll post my full race "report" below the dotted line but I wanted to go over something that happened on race day that made me proud, sad, and inspired all at once.

Have you ever had a complete stranger come up to you and know your name? Kind of freaky, right? Have they ever known more than just your name? You know, like your wife's name or kid's name or where you work or knew of some accomplishment that you made recently? Super-freaky, right? Well, that's happened to me a few times over the years. And yes, it freaks me out. Like when I ran the Oil Creek 100 last year, somebody knew me from my race report from the year before. I felt so honored that they knew me and appreciated my race report but it was like an out-of-body experience that they knew so much about me. Yes, I know, I don't exactly hide behind a curtain and feel comfortable sharing my life online, but you get the idea.

Anyway, I had several people that either knew about my planned DNF or that were concerned about my DNF on race day. It was crazy. I never knew that many people even knew who I was or would remember me after last year's race. I mean, these are people I see once, maybe twice a year. And to have them care about me enough to either ask why I planned to drop or to ask if I was okay made me feel great.

And a bit like an ass. I mean, some of these people I just don't care about enough to even think of until I see them at a race. Well, now that they've shown me this much kindness, I'm sure I'll be thinking about them for awhile.

Race Report:

A planned DNF, meeting the legend MikeWardian, and a day of volunteering. Wow. Where should I start?

Let's start with the planned DNF. Even though I was seriously considering attempting to run the whole thing right up until the start of the race, I realized (and my coach confirmed) that running the whole thing wasn't a good idea. Taking 2 weeks off to move and not quite being up to where I needed to be before that meant that I just wasn't at the training level I needed to be at to finish the race. Well, that's not entirely true. I knew I could finish the race, I just knew that my lack of training meant that I'd likely not make the cut-offs. So I started the race and turned around at the first aid station and ran back. It was a tough decision but it was one that I knew I needed to make. And at the end of the day, I was glad I made the right decision.

Meeting Mike Wardian was a great opportunity. I had sent a tweet ages ago when the race director did an interview on a show he helps produce but I never expected him to show up. He registered at the last minute and as soon as the news broke, I about crapped my pants. I mean, to see such a big name show up at such a small race is incredible. So as I directed cars into their parking spots, I got out of his and asked a question. I knew his voice right away from various podcasts and interviews but I didn't recognize his face. A beard, no backwards hat, and the pre-dawn light makes a great disguise. I caught up to him again as he was waiting in line for the porta-john and he offered to take a picture right there. Well, timing worked out a bit different and I managed a picture after he went. It must be weird to have people stalk you outside of a toilet waiting for a picture.

See? I told you I stalked him near the bathrooms.

When it came to volunteering, it felt nice to return something to the community. And better yet, to a race I really enjoy and have fallen in love with over the years. After all, this was my first 50k five years ago. So to be able to help out here and there felt nice. I did my best to take pictures of all the finishers and got to listen to some speedy people (and not so speedy) talk about their race. Wardian broke the course record then promptly turned around and ran a few more miles. The first female totally crushed the course record and came in 4th overall. Amazing to see these people run so fast. And just as amazing to see the slower folks tough it out over a long course on a hot day.

That's Joyce Ong in the pink. She's a fucking rockstar.

Video:

Weather:
Temps were about 65F at the start and got up to about 75F at the end. Sky was overcast. Light breeze. High humidity.

Fluids and Fuel:
Had a banana, yogurt, and coffee before the run. Drank a serving of GenUCAN during the run. Recovery was another GenUCAN serving.

Aches and Pains:
Nothing really hurt. Generally felt good.

Gear:
No special gear but I did wear my new JWalkingDesign kilt over my TStarRunning shorts. Got a few compliments on both.

Heart Rate:
Didn't wear my HRM but I'm sure I was in Zone 4 most of the time. After the first couple of miles I took more walking breaks but felt more at ease with the faster pace.

Splits:
Mile 1 - 11:23
Mile 2 - 12:50
Mile 3 - 13:04
Mile 4 - 13:02
Aid Station - 7:36
Mile 5 - 11:36
Mile 6 - 11:56
Mile 7 - 13:05 (includes pee break)
Mile 8 - 12:41
Finish - 1:47:48

More early days of Fort Max

Previously, I covered the stripping of the carpet, padding, and a million staples. Let's move on to the walls since that was the next big project. Once the carpet was out, we had to clean the walls off. That meant clearing any hooks off the wall, removing any hardware on the wall, and essentially gutting everything down to the drywall.

Sounds like small stuff but like the carpet, the project grew with every passing second. Take a closet for example. We had already removed the bi-fold doors to remove the carpet. But now it was time to remove the shelves. And the brackets. And that odd cable that ran from the attic to the basement. You get the idea. The only brackets we left up were the ones in the master closet (we ended up taking them down anyway later).

We're quickly learning that we hate bi-fold doors.

Other hardware we removed included the doors, the hinges, strike plates, outlet covers, and a few other things I've forgotten. You never realize all the little things that are there until you go to remove them and suddenly you're left holding the bag with a ton of stuff to keep track of. Fortunately we knew in advance that we wanted to replace the outlet and light switch covers so we just bagged those and donated them. But we also had window blinds, closet hardware, and more.

You get the idea. Lots of stuff to take off the wall. Once that was all done, we then had to clean the walls. Just some simple dish soap and hot water. We'd attack a room with a couple of mops and do the ceilings first, then the walls. We quickly learned that one room was shut off from the world but also appeared to have the most dirt on the walls. Haven't figured that on out yet but it almost looked like somebody smoked in just that room (even though it didn't smell like that).

Probably should have mentioned that before we washed the walls, we vacuumed the floors. No sense washing the walls only to spray dust and dirt all over them again. So the floors got a good vacuum which in turn gave us a great opportunity to find staples that we missed. We did pretty good and only found a few that were missed.

During this time we also had to deal with other distractions. Like chimney swifts in the fireplace, DirecTV installing a new dish and line to the house, getting new locks for the doors, and installing a new mailbox. I drafted the kids to help with the mailbox because it was a fairly small job and they were getting bored. I mean, it's a rough a life swimming half the day and playing the other half.

My helpers for the new mailbox.

Speaking of door locks, the old ones were a pain in the ass to remove. They were the old school Schlages and had these small covers over the allen screws/bolts that you needed to get to in order to remove the locks. Well, after using a hammer, prybar, drill, and lots of muscle, we were able to remove the old locks. Only to find that we needed to drill new holes so the new locks would fit. Which meant more drilling and more muscles.

Those damn metal covers in the top lock were a bitch to remove. Totally trashed the old lock beyond repair. We didn't install them in the new locks.

Recycled Bi-Fold Doors

A quick and fairly easy, not to mention cheap, project that was completed here at Fort Max was installing some shelves in the laundry room. We've been removing bi-fold doors like crazy in this house and knew we could re-use them elsewhere as shelves so we just filed them away in the garage for later use. Well, the time came to install them.

These particular doors came from William's closet but we also have doors from our bathroom, our closet, Elizabeth's closet, the living room closet, and as of last night, the utility room. So, plenty of spare material to work with. They aren't painted pretty but that wasn't a strict requirement before installation.

Supplies needed were fairly simple. The spare bi-fold doors (in this case, one side of the closet gave me two shelves). The screws from the hinges that came off the doors. Some new brackets to hold a rod. Scrap rod from our closet (we didn't have the right size so we needed to buy more). Scrap shelf brackets from some unknown shelf in the house we ripped out. Spare nails left by the previous owner.

Tools needed were a hammer, level, tape measure, and cordless drill. A helper was also needed for some of the awkward reaches.

I measured the master closet to see how the spacing was between the upper and lower shelf. I then added a couple of inches to them so that the bottom shelf in the laundry room isn't too close to the ground. Don't want clean clothes to sit on the floor. Anyway, once I measured my two starting points, I put a bracket in the wall. from there I leveled to the next one and installed that. Since only two of the three brackets per shelf were going to hold a rod, they were pretty easy to install and keep level. The third bracket was recycled and a bit different in design but it went in well enough.

Because I didn't want the shelf to fly off, I re-used the screws from the hinges to attach the shelf to the bracket. I repeated this process for the bars. No sense having them slide off.

And that was it. Presto, two shelves, two bars, and the only thing new was a couple of brackets.

The first days of Fort Max

We closed on Fort Max on July 2nd. We did our final walk through in the morning, signed our papers, then went back to claim it as ours. I carried my wife over the thresh hold and we promptly went to work making it our new home. Yvonne focused on cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen and I had to go back to work. So we didn't really get any "solid" work done until the 3rd.

Our primary areas of work were the three bedrooms, the hallway (which included two closets), and the living room. The bathrooms were functional and dated but we left them alone. The kitchen was up to date but was also left alone. The basement and outside were left alone. We focused on the main living areas so we could prep for painting and flooring.

A before picture.

So off with the carpet we went. The old carpet and padding were ripped out. The best way to remove it is to use a utility knife to cut it into manageable sections and just yank. A mask may be needed if you don't want to breath in the crap left behind but I didn't care about that, I just wanted to get rid of the 20 year-old crap. Once you remove all the carpet, remove all the padding. In our case, it was that greenish, mottled stuff. There were remnants of the egg carton stuff under it but not much.

Some more before pictures.

Then comes the tack strip. A hammer and prybar work great. But be careful. Those things will stab you faster than you think is possible. Have a trashcan ready (but no bag) so you can toss them right in. I learned that breaking them in half (carefully) made them not stand up too high out of the trash can and therefore less likely to cut me.

The previous owner's name on the carpet.

After the tack strip comes the really hard work. Staples. Tons of them. Thousands of them. Seriously. It took my right hand a week and a half before it was back to normal. After a day I could barely grab anything. Needle-nose pliers work best but the prybar and hammer worked in a pinch. It's slow and painful, but necessary.

And then comes the baseboard. Take. Your. Time. We lost a day or two because we went a little too fast and ended up popping holes in the drywall. That meant patching and mud and more mud and sanding and more mud. Not fun. Go slow, take it easy, and it'll work. The best technique I found was to use a drywall putty knife, a wider one that's pretty stiff, a hammer, and a thin prybar. I call them the cat's paw type of prybar but it's a small one with a thin end that can slip between the wall and the baseboard. If you don't have a putty knife to pry against, use a small, thin piece of wood or plywood. Something to distribute the pressure of prying the boards off.

Once that was done, we were down to bare wood on the floors. And quickly noticed a few that needed to be replaced. Expect this to happen at every level of home repair. I'm sure there's a rule of thumb out there for it but everything we've done so far has come with some hidden cost of either money or time that we didn't plan for. But the key should always be to take the time and money to do it right.

As for the flooring, we had diagonal slats on top of the floor joists then glued sawdust on top of that. The glued sawdust has a special name that I don't know. But it's not the typical plywood you would find in the stores today. In fact, the thickness was not normal either. The flooring guys had to buy two sheets and sandwich them together to get the same height as the original floor. Anyway, the pets that had lived her before had peed all over the floor and it was readily visible in every room. So in a couple of spots the sawdust layer had started to dry rot and from our normal foot traffic with no carpet to protect it, it got worse. So it got replaced. We were tempted to just re-floor everything but the floors weren't squeaky and the sawdust layer was solid.

After a second day of staple removal, we walked around like people with claws instead of hands. But it was tons better. We vacuumed, looked, and looked again. We still missed a few staples, but generally speaking we got 98% of them the first time through.

Stay tuned for more adventures at Fort Max.

Brass vs. Steel

When it comes to plumbing, or anything related to water, you want to stick with brass. Or at least avoid steel. In the continuing adventures of #FortMax, we had a toilet begin dripping water shortly after we moved in. Thankfully the leak wasn't a major one but it was certainly inconvenient to be down a working toilet right away.

The final diagnosis on the cause of the leak was a steel bolt was used to attach the toilet tank to the toilet bowl. It was clearly an after-market repair as all toilet kits come with brass bolts for that particular connection. The steel bolt rusted over time because it is in direct contact with the water inside the tank. That rust led to a leak.

My working theory is that at some point in time the steel bolt was put in during a tank repair. Because the house was not used frequently, the rust accumulated but didn't have any movement in the tank. Once we started using it, the water coming into the tank and going out caused the rust to move, thus causing the leak to appear.

Again, we're thankful that the leak wasn't a big one and didn't have any lasting impact on the bathroom floor (or basement ceiling). But it's yet again another thing to think about when doing your household repairs. Take the time (and the money) to do it right the first time. The cost difference between a brass and a steel bolt can't be that much. Maybe pennies. But even if it was a few dollars, imagine the amount of money you would need to spend on repairing your bathroom floor and cleaning up a flooded basement. All because you used a steel bolt in the toilet.

So many lessons learned, not enough time to teach them

In what I hope will be a continuing series on the lessons I've learned in home ownership and maintenance, I'll attempt to dispense with what knowledge I have. For those looking forward to these posts (or hoping to avoid them), simply look for the tag #FortMax. That's what we have dubbed our new house and the name seems to have stuck.

Which leads me to how we came about naming our new home. Once upon a time, I was a kid in the 1980s growing up with my father. We lived in a quaint little neighborhood with a pool, a couple of dead-end streets, and plenty of families that were always nice to you. Our new house is two doors down from that house I grew up in. I knew the previous (and original) owner when I was a kid. His first name was Barry. One of our favorite TV shows is The Goldbergs, a show about a kid growing up with this family in the 1980s. His older brother is named Barry. So with the 80s, the Barrys, and the shared childhood experiences, I asked Adam Goldberg to name our new house.

He came up with Fortress Maximus. I'll admit, I wasn't too impressed. But over time, I shortened it to Fort Max, started using the nickname, and it stuck. Stuck so much, my kids and my wife are using it. Not all the time but enough to know that's the nickname that'll stick.

So there you have it, the birth of a new house for us. Stay tuned for future installments of what I've learned from Fort Max.

Track Work

This workout sucked. A lot. But I managed it.

Plan was 20 to 24 by 200m with 100m recovery. So I aimed for 20 reps of 200m in Zone 4 with 100m walking recovery. And I think I stuck to it for the most part. I pushed hard on the last few then somehow cranked out a few more reps. I didn't pass out but I did come close to some acid reflux. I stepped it down a hair and avoided it. Outside of that, the run was fairly uneventful. After all, it was a track. Haven't spent that much time on a track since high school. Sheesh. Boring as all get out.

Photo:

I used a Sharpie because I can't count so well.

Weather:
Temps were about 80F. Humidity was moderate. Wind was light. Sun was out in full. Every lap I'd get a bit of a breeze.

Fluids and Fuel:
Breakfast was three waffles and coffee. During the run I had a bottle of GenUCAN electrolytes and a bottle of plain water. Recovery was some burger wraps, fries, and iced latte.

Aches and Pains:
Managed 10 reps before my legs felt like ass. After that I just did my best to hang on. With about a mile left, I just down-shifted and took it easy. Outside of that, everything felt fine.

Gear:
No special gear except for my Sharpie. I'm lousy at keeping track of laps so I wrote on my arm.

Heart Rate:
Haven't looked at the stats yet but I'm sure I kept it in Zone 4 or higher on the 200m sections and was lucky if I got down to Zone 2 on the 100m recovery walk.

Splits:
Warm-up (800 meters) - 5:35 (AVG HR 134)
Rep 1 - 1:03 (AVG HR 161)
Recovery 1 - 1:06 (AVG HR 147)
Rep 2 - 1:01 (AVG HR 154)
Recovery 2 - 1:06 (AVG HR 150)
Rep 3 - 1:01 (AVG HR 156)
Recovery 3 - 1:07 (AVG HR 152)
Rep 4 - 00:59 (AVG HR 158)
Recovery 4 - 1:09 (AVG HR 153)
Rep 5 - 1:04 (AVG HR 157)
Recovery 5 - 1:07 (AVG HR 153)
Rep 6 - 1:02 (AVG HR 160)
Recovery 6 - 1:06 (AVG HR 157)
Rep 7 - 1:00 (AVG HR 163)
Recovery 7 - 1:08 (AVG HR 158)
Rep 8 - 1:04 (AVG HR 160)
Recovery 8 - 1:10 (AVG HR 158)
Rep 9 - 1:03 (AVG HR 164)
Recovery 9 - 1:09 (AVG HR 157)
Rep 10 - 1:05 (AVG HR 163)
Recovery 10 - 1:07 (AVG HR 160)
Rep 11 - 1:04 (AVG HR 161)
Recovery 11 - 1:07 (AVG HR 161)
Rep 12 - 1:06 (AVG HR 162)
Recovery 12 - 1:05 (AVG HR 164)
Rep 13 - 1:05 (AVG HR 164)
Recovery 13 - 1:10 (AVG HR 161)
Rep 14 - 1:04 (AVG HR 165)
Recovery 14 - 1:09 (AVG HR 167)
Rep 15 - 1:04 (AVG HR 167)
Recovery 15 - 1:08 (AVG HR 168)
Rep 16 - 1:07 (AVG HR 166)
Recovery 16 - 1:07 (AVG HR 168)
Rep 17 - 1:04 (AVG HR 169)
Recovery 17 - 1:05 (AVG HR 169)
Rep 18 - 1:02 (AVG HR 170)
Recovery 18 - 1:09 (AVG HR 174)
Rep 19 - 1:02 (AVG HR 171)
Recovery 19 - 1:08 (AVG HR 177)
Rep 20 - 00:58 (AVG HR 178)
Recovery 20 - 1:11 (AVG HR 174)
Rep 21 - 1:13 (AVG HR 167)
Recovery 21 - 1:12 (AVG HR 166)
Rep 22 - 1:17 (AVG HR 167)
Recovery 22 - 1:13 (AVG HR 166)
Rep 23 - 1:14 (AVG HR 167)
Cool Down (500 meters) - 4:48 (AVG HR 143)
Finish - 1:00:28
AVG HR - 159
MAX HR - 191
MIN HR - 87

Cuts Like A Knife

Today's run was very much needed but very painful too. I needed it, wanted it, and got it done. My alarm went off and I ignored it, choosing to get another hour or so of sleep. Once I finally rolled out of bed, I downed about half a serving of GenUCAN and got my gear ready. Within half an hour I got out the door only to find that it was a bit rainy out. Not full on rain but more of a light mist. I'd end up getting lucky in missing almost all the rain. I had a few drops here and there but nothing too terrible. Although the down side to that was the humidity was insane.

Along the way, I felt pretty good at the start. I had a decent pace, cadence felt good, and overall everything was nominal. I saw some underwear, some more underwear, and a guy walking his dog (and I'm certain it wasn't his underwear). I also saw some signs for the moving sale that's at our new house where the seller is moving out.

And of course I ran to the new house, aka Fort Max, and ran around the neighborhood. That was the route I decided on yesterday and that was what I stuck to. It was kind of nice to go from old to new and back again. It'll be nice to be back to my old hood.

The way back was much rougher. The heat wasn't much worse and the humidity was the same but I was lacking a lot of energy. I'm not sure if it was fueling or electrolytes, or just lack of training. My guess is lack of training. So even though I can go out and do 10 or 15 miles at a time, I do have a price to pay in the later miles. Thankfully I didn't need to pay too much until the last few miles.

Photo:

Moving Sale!

Weather:
Temps were about 70F to 75F. Humidity was high. Sky was overcast. No wind.

Fluids and Fuel:
Had about one scoop of chocolate GenUCAN before the run. During the run I had plain water, a bottle of GenUCAN electrolyte drink mix mixed with plain GenUCAN fuel. I also had plain water in my hydration pack. At about one hour and the second hour, I had an applesauce. Recovery was a Capri Sun because I was feeling a little woozy when I got home. I know it wasn't the best choice but it helped getting the extra sugar. I followed that with some nasty fries and a burger. And a coffee. Really needed the coffee more than anything.

Aches and Pains:
Felt pretty solid for the first part of the run. Second half had a abdominal cramp appear for some reason. It wasn't like a side stitch from running too fast (ha!) it was more like a cramp or strain. Anyway, it was there the whole way back and didn't fade or come and go like a side stitch. Also had some minor pain in my right foot on a few of my toes. Nothing major but noticeable. And I had some minor pain in my right knee. Again, nothing major, just some pain on the outside of it.

Gear:
No special gear but I did forget to pack my knife. So when I ran past a box cutter that somebody lost on the side of the road, I picked it up and carried it. Figured it was better than nothing.

Heart Rate:
I did pretty good staying in the zone for at least the first part. When I creeped into a higher zone, I felt decent keeping it steady at 160 the first half. The second half was rough and I struggled to keep things below 170. Seems like every time I got up and running again, I needed to slow down.

Splits:
Finish - 3:14:04
AVG HR - 155
MAX HR - 186
MIN HR - 91
RHR - Forgot to measure
Weight - 224.2 (after the run)

Heart Rate Heat Stroke

Talk about a shock to the system. It's freaking hot and humid out there. I know, I know, I bitch about it every summer but woof. And every time I think about moving to someplace nice and cool in the summer, I realize that those same places get a shit-ton of snow in the winter and I don't like snow either. So I guess I'm just stuck and have to deal.

So today I dealt. And dealt myself a losing hand. Well, mostly a losing hand. I at least got a few miles in and even though I didn't meet my planned mileage, I'm happy the bed didn't win this morning. It almost did and even managed to suck me in for a good 30 minutes more than it should have. But I resisted the urge to stay there and crawled out of bed, made some lunches, and left for my run.

Even though I could have pressed on and stayed out there longer to get more miles in, I knew my time was limited and the heat/humidity really sucked the life out of me. So I cut things shortish and got what I could get. Better than nothing. Even though the thought of sleeping sounds so much better.


Photo:

My favorite sign.

Vine:
https://vine.co/v/MTqKFjTK9Od

Weather:
Temps were 80F to 85F. Humidity was high. Sun was out. Light breeze.

Fluids and Fuel:
Nothing before the run. Just cold water during the run. Recovery was an iced latte and a breakfast burrito.

Aches and Pains:
Nothing really hurt during the run but my legs felt like rubber about 3 miles in. Had to dial the pace way back since I could feel my body temp rising.

Gear:
No special gear.

Heart Rate:
It took all of 3 minutes to reach Zone 3. With a mile left, It took 5 minutes of walking just to get back to Zone 1 and even that was difficult. But I tried to stay in Zone 2 as much as I could.

Splits:
Outbound - 24:44 (AVG HR 144)
Inbound - 26:12 (AVG HR 154)
Finish - 50:56
AVG HR - 149
MAX HR - 176
MIN HR - 88
RHR - Forgot to measure
Weight - 222.4 (before breakfast and after the run)

Preview Run

Ahhh. It feels so good to get out and run again. At least until the horse flies come at you, then screw it, it's time to get the hell out of dodge!

Today's run was a bit of a preview for tomorrow's short fun run on the trail. Wanted to make sure the parking lot was clear and the course had no downed trees. Since everything looked good, I stretched it out to check on my cameras and then headed back to the car.

Along the way I spotted one deer and a million horseflies. And a few mosquitoes. Thankfully on ticks or snakes. Horse flies were brutal in several sections but I managed to take a few of them out with my sticky tape on my hat. Didn't feel like I killed that many but when I checked, I had 22 on there by the end (plus one that somehow ended up in my shirt - didn't find that little fucker until I got home).

Mood was much better today and felt all around pretty good with work, life, and the pending move. Guess that talk last night helped.

Vine:
https://vine.co/v/Mj91ZbH0PJb

Weather:
Temps were about 75F. Humidity was high. Sun was out. Wind was light.

Fluids and Fuel:
Had a tiny bit of coffee before the run. Had scoop and a half of GenUCAN before I started. Ran with a bottle of water (drank about half) and a bottle of Hammer Fizz (finished it). Recovery was a donut and the rest of my coffee. But don't worry, I had a nice, healthy salad for lunch.

Aches and Pains:
Nothing really. Other than those damn horseflies.

Gear:
No new gear. Was happy I remembered the deer fly paper and the bug spray. May need to consider something for my neck so they don't eat me alive back there too.

Heart Rate:
Tried to keep things easy in Zone 2 and managed pretty well until I turned around when I started to get into Zone 3. Since I felt okay, I just stuck with it and didn't change my pace much.

Splits:
Mile 1 - 12:43 (AVG HR 138)
Mile 2 - 16:35 (AVG HR 148) (includes closing and locking an open gate)
Mile 3 - 19:09 (AVG HR 155) (includes camera work and a pee break)
Mile 4 - 12:32 (AVG HR 160)
Mile 5 - 13:11 (AVG HR 156)
Mile 6 - 12:59 (AVG HR 156)
Finish - 1:27:12
AVG HR - 152
MAX HR - 178
MIN HR - 94
RHR - 60

2014 Run For The Achievable Dream 8k, Kid's Fun Run, and Half Marathon Race Reports

Wow. This has been quite the four day weekend. We've signed papers for the new house, done a home inspection, gone to three races, shopped, and I can't tell you how much else. I do know that I've run too much this weekend, eaten too much this weekend, slept too little this weekend, and stressed too much this weekend.

The calm before the 8k race.

So, to start from the beginning, as best as I can remember at least, we have our trip to Williamsburg on Friday. I placed some more cameras on the trail, got my stuff packed, and fed the kids lunch when they got out of school early. We headed to Williamsburg, did a little shopping at the outlets, went through the expo, ate dinner, and checked into the hotel. The kids swam for a bit and then it was bedtime.

Met a teammate for the first time. He has good taste in clothes.

We were up early Saturday morning since the 8k race started at 0700. We dropped William off with my dad who was a few doors down in the hotel and then Elizabeth, Yvonne, and I headed to the Start line. Traffic was decent and I'm glad we got there early. With the new start area by the Visitor's Center, we ended up parking in the overflow lot. Which meant a short hike to the start line. Once parked, we headed over to just chill out until we could run.

The kid's shirt says "he not heavy, he's my brother." They were part of Team Hoyt.

We stuck to our plan which was to have Elizabeth and I run together while Yvonne ran her own race behind us. Last year I let Elizabeth run off ahead of me with a mile left so this year I increased it to two miles. We eased into the run and even though she wanted to run out fast, I reeled her in and kept her on pace. We did pretty good through the first mile and then she started to need a few more breaks. Our pace was a little slower overall but we kept moving. We talked about all sorts of stuff and while I'm sure she can turn into an all-star runner, I'm glad I'm not like some of the other parents I saw later in the day dragging (sometimes literally) their kids through a race.

At Mile 3 I gave her some last minute advice and let her truck off. I was able to keep her in sight but she gapped me pretty good. Around Mile 4 I slowly started to reel her in as I picked up the pace a little bit. In the end she still beat me but only by 9 seconds. I gave it all I could at the end and so did she. According to the race results, she placed second in her age group (10 and under).

Weather:
Temps were about 60F at the start but warmed to about 70F by the finish. Sun was out in full and there was a light breeze. No humidity.

Fluids and Fuel:
Nothing before the run. During the run I had just plain water. No recovery.

Aches and Pains:
Nothing really hurt.

Gear:
No special gear.

Heart Rate:
The first few miles were pretty easy to stay near my Zone 2 goal but as she picked up the pace and I tried to keep up with her I kinda tossed that zone under the bus.

Splits:
Mile 1 - 11:36 (AVG HR - 147)
Mile 2 - 12:30 (AVG HR - 151)
Mile 3 - 13:13 (AVG HR - 154)
Mile 4 - 11:08 (AVG HR - 172)
Mile 5 - 10:07 (AVG HR - 181)

Finish - 58:29 (3 minutes slower than my PR)

Shortly after her race finished, I ended up running and walking with William for his fun run. I had plenty of time to cool down and drink a little water before we headed out on the track. We ran out of the stadium, ran a goofy loop around the parking lot, then ran back onto the track for the Finish. The route was pretty well marked but I'm not too sure younger kids would really know where to go. Especially if they were unsupervised.

All the stats above are all the same except the time below.

Splits:
Finish - 15:45 (AVG HR - 127 )

Total for both events:
1:14:21
AVG HR - 153
MAX HR - 200
MIN HR - 94

After both races were over, we went back to the hotel to eat our free breakfast. And like the Heck family, we do our best to eat our fill of free food. Even though it wasn't really free. So after I overate, I showered (as did everyone else), then we headed back out on the town for some shopping.
 
This marked the darkest timeline of our trip as we discovered the local toy store was closed. I felt a little part of my childhood die as I walked into the store and suddenly realized it was full of shit instead of the toys I expected. I was so pissed off. I was probably more upset than the kids. It truly was a staple of Merchant's Square.

So after that sad news, we headed to Retro's for lunch. Thankfully I discovered this little burger joint a few blocks away and it's worth it. We went back to the hotel, chilled out, slept, watched TV, and then went out for dinner.

Then we went for a little pirate mini-golf.

Before I knew it, I was getting up at 0430 for my half marathon. My alarm was set for 0500 but sure enough, I woke up entirely too early. So I got some coffee in an attempt to jump start my bowels. After I showered and lubed up, I started my walk to the Start. That's right, I walked the 2.5 miles to the start line. Who does that? This guy. It may sound crazy, but that walk was less stressful, even with a gurgly belly, than trying to wrangle two kids, a wife, and a father so you can make it to the Start on time.

Once at the start line I finally got my bowels to cooperate and I was left with that pleasant empty feeling. I drank my GenUCAN and chilled. Suddenly, through the crowd, as if drawn by magnets, I see a teammate. I had met one the day before and was surprised to see a second. The three of us chatted for a few minutes before the start then we went our merry way.

The course this year changed. Again. And while it was much cooler, the scenery was less than desirable at times. The little piss-ant loops through parking lots suck. The paved trail through the trees was awesome and will be even awesomer when it's 20 degrees hotter and the sun is out. The slog down the road with nobody on it was depressing. The hills on the paved trail were hard but not quite as hard as last year's hills.

Best of all, the weather. It was a cool 60F or so at the start and that made a huge difference in how everybody did. This race has been a scorcher in years past and I'm glad it was so nice this year. Anyway, aside from the new course and some pros and cons, the race went well. I had no major issues until the finish when I thought my heart was going to explode. That'd teach me to sprint at the finish.

After I got my beer and dumped it into my bottle, I posed with this guy.

Weather:
Temps were 60F at the start and maybe 75F to 80F at the finish. Sky was clear with light winds.No humidity.

Fluids and Fuel:
Coffee and GenUCAN before the race. During the race I had a bottle of plain water, a bottle of GenUCAN mixed with their new electrolyte stuff, and another bottle of GenUCAN electrolytes. I also had two applesauces, one about an hour in and the second around 45 minutes later. Recovery was way too much food.

Aches and Pains:
Felt like a blister on my left toe but nothing was there. Outside of that, I felt fine until the finish when I sprinted a little too hard, temporarily lost feeling in my legs, and had to take a breather after the finish.

Gear:
No special gear.

Heart Rate:
Did much better just chilling out and staying pretty close to my Zone 2 goal. I'm afraid to look at my end results though. Pretty sure I maxed out my heart rate.

Splits:
Mile 1 - 11:56 (AVG HR 139)
Mile 2 - 12:19 (AVG HR 144)
Mile 3 - 13:12 (includes a bathroom break) (AVG HR 148)
Mile 4 - 11:36 (AVG HR 152)
Mile 5 - 12:42 (AVG HR 153)
Mile 6 - 11:19 (AVG HR 157)
Mile 7 - 12:01 (AVG HR 161)
Mile 8 - 11:48 (AVG HR 160)
Mile 9 - 12:52 (AVG HR 166)
Mile 10 - 12:09 (AVG HR 164)
Mile 11 - 12:27 (AVG HR 167)
Mile 12 - 12:28 (AVG HR 167)
Mile 13 - 12:34 (AVG HR 172)
Mile 0.1 - 00:30 (AVG HR 200)
Finish - 2:39:56
AVG HR - 158
MAX HR - 207
MIN HR -117

After my race, and after over-eating, we went back out on the town, did more shopping and walking around, and before you knew it, we were back at Retro's for lunch. Then it was off for more mini-golf, this time the old west one, and then back to eating dinner.

Here's William checking out a little stream.

 

This pretty much sums up how I've been feeling this week

Blockhead Run

Today's run was much shorter than I wanted (due to time constraints) and hurt much more than expected (due to I don't know what). I ran down the trail in one direction, turned around, then ran in the other direction, then headed back to my car.

Photos:

Vine:
https://t.co/kqlVQoPSGq

Weather:
Temps were about 55F to 60F. Winds were light. Sun was out with a few clouds. Humidity was low.

Fluids and Fuel:
Before the run I had some coffee. During the run I tested GenUCAN's new hydration mix. It tasted like watered down Gatorade but not quite as strong or tangy. Recovery was chocolate ZICO and coffee with two breakfast sandwiches.

Aches and Pains:
Quads and hamstrings were much tighter than expected. Not sure what the issue was but I pushed fluids and took things slow. I felt better after my shower. Left ankle also had some sharper pains so I slowed down a few times and tried to roll it out a bit.

Gear:
No new gear other than the GenUCAN test.

Heart Rate:
Didn't wear it so I didn't measure it.

Splits:
Finish - 23:05
RHR - 57

2014 Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon - Race Report

Not my best performance but considering I'm coming off a 50 mile run and I'm still woefully behind in my training cycle, I'll take it. I was wide awake at 0400 for some reason. I finally got up at 0430 with my alarm, showered, and made a pit-stop at Sheetz for a small coffee. I made it to town in plenty of time to find a great parking spot and made it to the bathroom in Wal-Mart with enough time to only see 3 or 4 people in front of me. With one poop done, I headed back to my car to get my gear in order. I drank my first GenUCAN serving early and headed to the bathroom in Wal-Mart again. Only to find a long line at the front and a long one at the back. After waiting a few minutes, I headed over to Wegmans at a slow run. I wasn't that desperate for a bathroom but it was cold and I figured it would warm me up. Once in Wegmans, I headed upstairs and had a much shorter line that moved much faster. With a second poop done, I was on my way to the Start area. Big lesson of the day is don't eat avocados the day before a race.

On the way to the Start area some ladies somehow knew that my PRS Fit jersey was related to my Coach Jeff. Small world. I lingered a bit near the way way back and ran into another local runner. After a quick hello, I took a leak, and lingered some more. Some jets flew over twice and we eventually slowly moved to the Start line.

The race itself was fairly uneventful. I peed one more time, had enough fluids and fuel, and generally tried to have a good time. After the finish, I ran back to my car, ran back to the Finish, then ran back to my car again. After all, I needed to meet my training plan for the day.


Photos:
I was in the mood for a beer before the race. The was pretty insane at the end though so I skipped it.

This young lady was doing pretty good in the half. And she wasn't the first kid out there.

And this is me at the end. All done.

Weather:
Temps were 50F at the start and rose to about 60F by the finish. Sun was out in full. Winds were light until the end when it picked up a bit. Humidity was low.

Fluids and Fuel:
Before the run I had a small coffee and a serving of GenUCAN. During the run I had a bottle of plain water, a bottle of Hammer Fizz, a second serving of GenUCAN, and another bottle of Hammer Fizz. I also had two applesauce packs along the way. Recovery was a frozen mocha followed by a lunch of a burger and fries.

Aches and Pains:
Right calf, lower right glute, and both ankles were tweaky on and off during the run. Outside of that, things felt okay. Feet hurt more than normal but that was due to the bad shoe choice. Oh, almost forgot. Had some chafing in the center of my chest that didn't feel bad until I put on some body spray. Ouch.

Gear:
No special gear. Just ran with the basics.

Heart Rate:
Did pretty well hitting my surges every 20 minutes but totally blew the Zone 2 about halfway through the run. And the last few miles were way up there thanks to Hospital Hill.

Splits:
Mile 1 - 11:50 (AVG HR 147)
Mile 2 - 12:42 (AVG HR 151)
Mile 3 - 12:15 (AVG HR 153)
Mile 4, 5, and 6 = 34:41 (AVG HR 160) (AVG pace - 11:33)
Mile 7 - 12:22 (AVG HR 160)
Mile 8 - 12:07 (AVG HR 155)
Mile 9 - 13:02 (AVG HR 156)
Mile 10 - 11:54 (AVG HR 165)
Mile 11 - 13:16 (AVG HR 173)
Mile 12 - 12:12 (AVG HR 175)
Mile 13 - 11:34 (AVG HR 177)
Finish - 2:38:50
AVG HR - 159
MIN HR - 103
MAX HR - 201
Weight - 222.2 (after race but before recovery)

My warm-up and cool-down added about 3.5 miles to the beginning and end of my run. Plus I tacked on a few extra minutes. I was very happy to feel.... normal after the race. Normal enough to just run slow back to the car while everyone else was limping.

Inchworm Hell

Felt pretty good until the last mile or two then things started to fade a bit. Most likely suspects are the heat, humidity, and lack of proper fueling. But I knew about them all going into the run so it wasn't really that much of a surprise.

Generally though, I felt good. No real issues other than a few lingering aches and pains. Had to dodge a million inchworm (aka canker worm) webs but it just made me pay attention all that much more during the run. Saw a dead snake, giant millipede, and a turkey in the distance. Other than that, no wildlife.

Weather:
Temps were 70F to 80F. Humidity was high. Sun was out. No wind.

Fluids and Fuel:
Before the run I had some coffee. During the run I had a bottle of Hammer Fizz and half a bottle of plain water. I also had an applesauce pouch. Recovery was going to be a rather un-healthy breakfast sandwich but it tasted really gross so I only had a few bites. Instead I just had my iced latte and had lunch a few hours later.

Aches and Pains:
Right ankle didn't hurt until the run was done. Had some pain at the top of my right hamstring and bottom of my right glute. Neither was too painful but certainly noticeable. Shoulder was a little stiff from yesterday's workout.

Gear:
Got a chance to wear my new waist belt. I have dubbed it INCHWORM because of all the damn webs I had to dodge during the run. It's large enough to easily fit my phone which is great and I can also easily stash my knife there too.

Heart Rate:
Started to see some cardiac creep after the halfway point. But with the heat, I'm not surprised. Outside of that, I did my best to stay as close to Zone 2 as I could.

Splits:
Mile 1 - 13:40 (AVG HR 131)
Mile 2 - 12:41 (AVG HR 141)
Mile 3 - 16:42 (AVG HR 139)
Mile 4 - 17:21 (AVG HR 143)
Mile 5 - 16:08 (AVG HR 142)
Mile 6 - 15:04 (AVG HR 148)
Mile 7 - 18:25 (AVG HR 139) (includes pee break)
Finish - 1:50:03
AVG HR - 141
MAX HR - 167
MIN HR - 90
RHR - 59
Weight - 222.4 (after the run but before lunch)

Big Garden Update

Had a great Mother's Day in the garden. Managed to squeak out some free-time and drag the kids outside for some play-time in the dirt. Although only one stuck around long enough to actually be of any help, it was nice to get them both outside for a bit.

The bad news is that shortly after planting the first round of carrots, onions, and lettuce (with marigolds too), we got lots of rain. Like, way too much rain. Like, the garden flooded a bit. The good news is that at least the lettuce and marigolds seem to have survived. The little triangle flower bed I made by the back steps looks totally trashed, but I'm hopeful something will crop up out of that. If not, well, at least I can plant something there later. Anyway, the lettuce is looking quite nice and perky so far.

As for the rest of the garden, I raked off the leaves from the spinach plot and planted corn. I'm pretty sure the spinach won't grow but at least I had room for the corn. And the mulch went great on top of the walkways between the plots.

With corn in the ground, we also planted pumpkins, zucchini, and more marigolds. I snuck a few extra carrots in but doubt they'll do anything. I also transplanted my tomatoes and peppers. I felt really bad weeding out the weaker plants but it also made me feel a bit like a "professional" gardener. Ha! Anyway, I cut them into singles, then dropped them into the ground. I also took the time to put a cage up now instead of later when it's too late. For the most part, I followed the directions in spacing, but since I had some extra plants that looked too good to waste, I over-planted one section just to see what came up. I figure I can always thin them out later.

Finally, we planted some sunflowers. The package says they'll only be three feet tall but I'd be happy if they just grew. The kids tried to pick a spot in the middle of the yard but I talked them out of that. Since "good drainage" wasn't going to happen in the back yard, we ended up putting the seeds down by the front sidewalk. The ants hated us but at least it will get some solid sun.