run, run, run

New York, NY 6:30 pm

Flew in to NYC today and felt like moving my legs a bit, so I ran up to Central Park. Really warm out there. Was I just complaining about the cold the other day?

New York, NY 6:00 am

Ran up to Central park and around the lake. Great morning in the 60s. Ran past the Today Show on the way back. Didn't see Al Roker.

New York, NY 7:30pm

Arranged to meet up with Matt at 6th and 34th. I meant 5th and 34th. So we wasted a little time waiting for each other on opposite ends of the Empire State Building. But once we got started it was a great run. We took 34th to the Hudson River and then around the  bottom of Manhattan Island and up the East River and back to Times Square. Perfect weather and a really good time. I needed that. This week at work sucks.

New York, NY 9:00 pm

Worked late, met some co-workers for Mexican food then went for a run. I thought that was going to be an ugly combination, but it was really nice. The weather was perfect and Central Park was very peaceful at night.

Boise, ID 6:30 am

My Garmin battery was dead this morning, but I've run this route so many times I know how far it was. One last seven-miler and a few shorter runs this week, then the marathon on Saturday. Ready or not ...

Boise ID

Boise, ID

Famous Potato Marathon

Worst race ever.

I didn't really feel prepared for this one. I had only put in two 20-milers in April and my diet's been pretty lousy lately too. But I signed up for the race anyway figuring that my time wouldn't be the best, but it would be a good challenge.

That was a good plan until on Thursday night things took a turn for the worse. I came down with what I can only imagine was a mild case of food poisoning. I spent most of Friday on the can feeling generally lousy. I drank as much water and Gatorade as I could, but it seemed to be just going straight through me. So, genius that I am, I decided to give the race a shot anyway.

Saturday morning I was not feeling swell, but better than Friday (at least that's what I told myself). My plan was to try to keep at about an 8:30 pace for as long as I could and then hang on the last few miles and see if I couldn't put in a decent time. That didn't work out so well.

By the time I was about 3 miles into it I knew that 8:30 - 8:40 was all I could muster. I tried to keep that pace through the first half, but slowed down into the nines after about 10 miles and by the time I reached the half-way point my cumulative pace was just under 9:00. My gut was kind of rumbling the whole way, but not enough to warrant a pit-stop.

The next few miles I got slower and slower. I kept running, but just barely. Senior citizens were passing me right and left. At about 16 miles I saw Tony on his way back. "How's it going, Tony?" "Sucks" "Me too" Then, Tony being Tony he told me I was doing great. He lied.

At mile 18 I saw Neil on his way back. He was walking. He claims I talked him into running this race. I might have lost a friend today.

By the time I got off the green belt just before the turn-around I was spent. My wife was waiting there and told me that I didn't look so good. I slowed to a walk and she walked with me the 100 yards or so to the turn-around. At that point my body started freaking out on me. I actually started crying. Not sure why -- that was weird. A guy sitting on a lawn chair in front of his house said "You can do it. Only seven miles left."

At the turn-around aid station I drank two cups of water and started walking back toward the greenbelt. I started feeling really awful and the next thing I knew I was on my knees puking water on someone's lawn. Mr. Only Seven Miles Left came over and said "Dude, sometimes you just have to call it a day. You've still got seven miles left to run. And that's a hell of a long way."

That was the last straw. I walked to the van, ripped off my number, laid down on the floor and told my wife to drive me home.

On the way home more strange things were happening. My body was kind of twitching in some funny places. Then when I got home I started shivering. I laid down on the floor with a blanket over me until the shaking stopped. Then I went upstairs, took a hot shower and got into bed. And the shivering started again. I just couldn't get warm, even though it was not cool in the house at all.

After resting for a little while, we got back in the car and drove to the park and I made my walk of shame to pick up my bag and turn in my timing chip.

So now I'm still a seven-time marathon finisher and a one time DNF puker. Marathons and food-poisoning don't mix. Lesson learned.

New York, NY 6:30 am

Rainy weather and I was tired, but went out and ran anyway. I thought we should do some sightseeing, so we ran over to First and then up to the UN building. None of the flags were out yet. That was disappointing.

New York, NY 6:30 am

Matt texted me at 2am saying he was still up and wasn't going to run this morning. Luckily I didn't get the text until I woke up. So I ran alone down 23rd to the East River then down to Houston St. and across to the Hudson River and back up. A good run. Kept the pace comfortable, but I felt good.

New York, NY 6:00 am

Ran down 7th to SoHo. Wanted to see the building I would be working at week after next.  It was a good run, but I was feeling kind of bad by the end of it. Gut rumbles.

New York, NY 6:30 pm

I didn't run on Friday because the noisy people next door kept me up all night. And I didn't run on Saturday because I was stuck overnight in Salt Lake and the airline kept my bag with my running shoes in it.

I don't like skipping days, but I love running on three days rest. I feel like I can run forever. We decided to do some exploring. Hit a dead-end on the East River, so we went back up first to 59th and then across to 5th. Running back down Fifth was fun. Weaving around and dodging people, cars and hot dog stands. Didn't run too far because we are planning on going out again in the morning.

New York, NY 6:00 am

A nice run around Central Park. Weather was a little humid, but since it was snowing at the Salt Lake airport yesterday, I won't complain.

New York, NY 6:00 am

A great run this morning. Went up Broadway to 112th so I could take a photo of the Seinfeld restaurant for my wife. Then crossed over and ran back through Central Park. Weather was perfect and I got to see some neighborhoods that I hadn't been in before. It was kind of the television tour of NY. We ran past the Letterman show, the Seinfeld place and the Today Show.

New York, NY 6:00 am

I didn't run on Thursday because I had been working until 11:30pm on Wednesday night and was wiped out. So Wednesday night I worked until 1:30am but couldn't skip two days in a row before the weekend, so I ran anyway.

It was Matt's last run in NY, so we took a loop around all of Central Park. A perfect day for a run and just what I needed to get started on what is to be a very long day today. Now I have to figure out the subway.

Boise, ID 7:30 am

It's been a rough weekend trying to juggle work and home responsibilities, so it was nice to get out and run a few miles this morning. It was a really nice morning for a run. I tried to push the pace a little bit, but was feeling a little sluggish.

This time of year is great for running except for the cotton blowing in the air. Have to watch that it doesn't fly into my mouth or nose. Also, the birds are nesting and buzz me when they think I'm gettin too close to their trees. I hate that.