Anyway, I got a little behind in the laundry. And, we only have one set of sheets. And, they weren't dry. And well, we camped in.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Camp-in
You see, in the Gordon household, housework kinda takes a backseat to training, and business owning, and laziness. We used to have a housekeeper, but since I decided to go full-time with my business we had to cut that extravagance. I thought I would have time to keep up with the housework, but, well, um....
Anyway, I got a little behind in the laundry. And, we only have one set of sheets. And, they weren't dry. And well, we camped in.
Anyway, I got a little behind in the laundry. And, we only have one set of sheets. And, they weren't dry. And well, we camped in.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Reach the Beach 2008
I know, I suck at blogging. Maybe I'll try to give it a whirl of blogging every day, but I'm going to be out of town for several weekends coming up so I don't know how that will work. Anyway...on to the entry I have promised for a while.
RTB 2008
(I wrote this while at the race, so it will be a little off in terms of tense. Does that make sense? Whatev!)
I'm back for my 5th year of Reach the Beach and this year I've been training really hard and following all the workouts coach has been giving me. I'm pretty excited to see what kind of paces I'll hit. Although, I woke up this morning (Friday of the race) with a sore throat. I always get sick after this race, but this year it looks like I'll be sick during the race. And, of course, it's raining.
Coach wanted me to run a total of 20 miles between the two days so I started this morning with a 5 mile run--really slow. It was hard to keep my HR low because I would run up a hill then down a hill. Up a hill then down a hill. I kept mostly in zone 1, but I did have a couple segments in zone 2.
5 miles
50:00
avg 145
max 161
Things got started off properly--in the rain. At Cannon Mountain it was cold and raining. Mandy was our first runner and took on all the boys. Meantime in van 2, we headed to Quiznos to get some lunch and a convenience store to buy some sweat shirts. Boy, was it cold!
I ran my first leg around 10pm and it had stopped raining and was extremely humid. With every breath I took, it looked like it was foggy outside. It was hard to see anything with the fog and humidity and the roads I ran on were not all that great. I rolled my ankle at one point but kept on going. The first leg was also hilly, but coach's workouts must be working because the hills weren't that bad.
Leg 1
6.1 miles
49:11
avg 180
max 190
Well, last year we lost Dave. this year it was Nathan. Our night sleeping spot was the technical school. We arrived there around 1am and had until 3:30am to sleep. I headed off with Bridget; Dave and Bob stayed in the van; and Steve and Nathan headed in different directions. By 4am Dave was running his second leg and van 2 was off. Problem was, we didn't have Nathan and we didn't know where he was. We and van 1 started blanketing the grounds yelling his name and looking at every person in a sleeping bag. Finally we had to make the decision to move on to the next exchange and leave Nathan behind. Van 1 continued to look for him, but still couldn't find him. After Dave exchanged to Bridget, we went back to the technical school and Andy and Nancy had finally found Nathan. He had fallen asleep on a couch and he had his head underneath his sleeping bag. He never heard his alarm or the phone when we called and left SEVEN messages!
I too had taken a small nap at the technical school, but when I woke up my sore throat had turned into a huge head cold. I felt awful and did not want to run anymore. Luckily Bob had some Sudafed and I did feel a little better after taking it. My middle leg was 6.2 miles and it went very well. I paced well and passed 9 people in the process. Because of the Sudafed I decided not to wear my HRM because the heart rate would be too high anyway.
Leg 2
6.2 miles
50:02
By the time I reached my third and finally leg I was completely wiped out. I had only slept a 1/2 hour, my head was completely clogged and my chest was super tight. Although it was only 3 miles, the whole thing felt like a struggle. I ran for 10 minutes then took a 30 second walking break. At 20 minutes I did the same thing. At 24 minutes the officer at the intersection said my exchange was just around the corner. I could see the vans so I figured I must be getting close. I picked up the pace, but the exchange wasn't right around the corner. It was around the corner and then another 0.4 miles. In fact, the mileage wasn't 3 miles as anticipated, it was 3.4
Leg 3
3.4 miles
30:10
The team did really well finishing under 26 hours. When we looked at the result at the beach we were in 28th out of 360-ish teams. (The final results had us in 29th.) Personally, I was disappointed. I have been working with a coach for months and all I could prove was 8 min/miles? I know I can't help being sick and you have to take into account running at odd times, with poor nutrition and very little sleep, but I really thought I would do better.
The fun didn't stop there! I went back to the hotel, showered and crawled right into bed. I gave Dave my remaining money, told him to get me some pizza, and I fell asleep. Dave went to the bar with the group. He woke me when he got back brining pizza, a lemonade, and some NyQuil. I ate, drank, and slept another 10 hours. In the morning we were heading home.
If only everything was that smooth. We flew from Manchester, New Hampshire to Newark, NJ. Our flight in Newark unloaded and then they told us there were mechanical problems. Our plan was taken away and they told us we would be taking the airplane coming in from Mexico City--in 4 hours! To pass the time, Dave and Andy tried to get the customer service reps to let us into the President's Club. Neither of them succeeded, but Andy was told our flight was delayed because of weather. This is not what we had been told and it would be significant.
After 4 hours an announcement came on saying our crew had too many hours and our flight was canceled. All of us rushed to the customer service desk. There were members of our group that had to get home that day and the only way they were getting home was by renting a car. There was one more flight out of Newark that evening and it was overbooked. There was one flight from LaGuardia but it too was overbooked. But, because Andy had already talked to them about weather versus mechanical problems we were able to get vouchers for a hotel and food.
So Andy, Jim, Nathan, Dave and I wound up in the Radisson Piskataway. While drinking our food vouchers (he he!!) we noticed some scantily-clad women walking through the lobby. Prostitutes? Adult-film stars? When men from the bar started following them, I got suspicious. Turns out, as we looked it up when we got home, it was WWE stars there for a benefit. Yeah, Piskataway!
The next day, Monday, we waited for the hotel shuttle to take us back to the airport. The shuttle came tearing through the parking lot and totally rammed a car. Funny part is, the car was parked next to a sign that said "Not responsible for damages." Ha!
At the airport our flight was delayed again for hours because our co-pilot never showed up. Needless to say, we've sent a little nasty gram to Continental Airlines. Finally we got home two hours later than expected only to come home to no electricity (we had a major wind storm that Sunday). After talking to our neighbors it seems we were going to be without power for a whole week (and many people in Columbus were). Thankfully my parents had power and they let us come over for dinner. And doubly thankfully, we woke up Tuesday morning to electricity.
The fun never ends in "this runner's world." :)
If you want to see all the pictures, head on over to my Facebook page and why don't you become my friend while you're at it?
RTB 2008
(I wrote this while at the race, so it will be a little off in terms of tense. Does that make sense? Whatev!)
I'm back for my 5th year of Reach the Beach and this year I've been training really hard and following all the workouts coach has been giving me. I'm pretty excited to see what kind of paces I'll hit. Although, I woke up this morning (Friday of the race) with a sore throat. I always get sick after this race, but this year it looks like I'll be sick during the race. And, of course, it's raining.
Coach wanted me to run a total of 20 miles between the two days so I started this morning with a 5 mile run--really slow. It was hard to keep my HR low because I would run up a hill then down a hill. Up a hill then down a hill. I kept mostly in zone 1, but I did have a couple segments in zone 2.
5 miles
50:00
avg 145
max 161
Things got started off properly--in the rain. At Cannon Mountain it was cold and raining. Mandy was our first runner and took on all the boys. Meantime in van 2, we headed to Quiznos to get some lunch and a convenience store to buy some sweat shirts. Boy, was it cold!
I ran my first leg around 10pm and it had stopped raining and was extremely humid. With every breath I took, it looked like it was foggy outside. It was hard to see anything with the fog and humidity and the roads I ran on were not all that great. I rolled my ankle at one point but kept on going. The first leg was also hilly, but coach's workouts must be working because the hills weren't that bad.
Leg 1
6.1 miles
49:11
avg 180
max 190
Well, last year we lost Dave. this year it was Nathan. Our night sleeping spot was the technical school. We arrived there around 1am and had until 3:30am to sleep. I headed off with Bridget; Dave and Bob stayed in the van; and Steve and Nathan headed in different directions. By 4am Dave was running his second leg and van 2 was off. Problem was, we didn't have Nathan and we didn't know where he was. We and van 1 started blanketing the grounds yelling his name and looking at every person in a sleeping bag. Finally we had to make the decision to move on to the next exchange and leave Nathan behind. Van 1 continued to look for him, but still couldn't find him. After Dave exchanged to Bridget, we went back to the technical school and Andy and Nancy had finally found Nathan. He had fallen asleep on a couch and he had his head underneath his sleeping bag. He never heard his alarm or the phone when we called and left SEVEN messages!
I too had taken a small nap at the technical school, but when I woke up my sore throat had turned into a huge head cold. I felt awful and did not want to run anymore. Luckily Bob had some Sudafed and I did feel a little better after taking it. My middle leg was 6.2 miles and it went very well. I paced well and passed 9 people in the process. Because of the Sudafed I decided not to wear my HRM because the heart rate would be too high anyway.
Leg 2
6.2 miles
50:02
By the time I reached my third and finally leg I was completely wiped out. I had only slept a 1/2 hour, my head was completely clogged and my chest was super tight. Although it was only 3 miles, the whole thing felt like a struggle. I ran for 10 minutes then took a 30 second walking break. At 20 minutes I did the same thing. At 24 minutes the officer at the intersection said my exchange was just around the corner. I could see the vans so I figured I must be getting close. I picked up the pace, but the exchange wasn't right around the corner. It was around the corner and then another 0.4 miles. In fact, the mileage wasn't 3 miles as anticipated, it was 3.4
Leg 3
3.4 miles
30:10
The team did really well finishing under 26 hours. When we looked at the result at the beach we were in 28th out of 360-ish teams. (The final results had us in 29th.) Personally, I was disappointed. I have been working with a coach for months and all I could prove was 8 min/miles? I know I can't help being sick and you have to take into account running at odd times, with poor nutrition and very little sleep, but I really thought I would do better.
The fun didn't stop there! I went back to the hotel, showered and crawled right into bed. I gave Dave my remaining money, told him to get me some pizza, and I fell asleep. Dave went to the bar with the group. He woke me when he got back brining pizza, a lemonade, and some NyQuil. I ate, drank, and slept another 10 hours. In the morning we were heading home.
If only everything was that smooth. We flew from Manchester, New Hampshire to Newark, NJ. Our flight in Newark unloaded and then they told us there were mechanical problems. Our plan was taken away and they told us we would be taking the airplane coming in from Mexico City--in 4 hours! To pass the time, Dave and Andy tried to get the customer service reps to let us into the President's Club. Neither of them succeeded, but Andy was told our flight was delayed because of weather. This is not what we had been told and it would be significant.
After 4 hours an announcement came on saying our crew had too many hours and our flight was canceled. All of us rushed to the customer service desk. There were members of our group that had to get home that day and the only way they were getting home was by renting a car. There was one more flight out of Newark that evening and it was overbooked. There was one flight from LaGuardia but it too was overbooked. But, because Andy had already talked to them about weather versus mechanical problems we were able to get vouchers for a hotel and food.
So Andy, Jim, Nathan, Dave and I wound up in the Radisson Piskataway. While drinking our food vouchers (he he!!) we noticed some scantily-clad women walking through the lobby. Prostitutes? Adult-film stars? When men from the bar started following them, I got suspicious. Turns out, as we looked it up when we got home, it was WWE stars there for a benefit. Yeah, Piskataway!
The next day, Monday, we waited for the hotel shuttle to take us back to the airport. The shuttle came tearing through the parking lot and totally rammed a car. Funny part is, the car was parked next to a sign that said "Not responsible for damages." Ha!
At the airport our flight was delayed again for hours because our co-pilot never showed up. Needless to say, we've sent a little nasty gram to Continental Airlines. Finally we got home two hours later than expected only to come home to no electricity (we had a major wind storm that Sunday). After talking to our neighbors it seems we were going to be without power for a whole week (and many people in Columbus were). Thankfully my parents had power and they let us come over for dinner. And doubly thankfully, we woke up Tuesday morning to electricity.
The fun never ends in "this runner's world." :)
If you want to see all the pictures, head on over to my Facebook page and why don't you become my friend while you're at it?
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Fan-tat-stic!
Okay, so I should have posted this two weeks ago. As promised after Boston (nearly 6 months ago), I finally got my tattoo to celebrate. It looks much better as the picture appears because it's very hard to take a picture with your left hand. :)
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Thursday Thoughts
Columbus had a major wind storm over the weekend and it knocked out power to most of the city. Our power was out starting Sunday but we got it back on Tuesday. We were one of the lucky ones. There are still lots and lots of people without power and Columbus city schools are out for the fourth day in a row.
So, what would you do to be entertained with no power for days and days?
So, what would you do to be entertained with no power for days and days?
Monday, September 15, 2008
Quick Update
There is soooo much to tell about our Reach the Beach adventure this weekend, but unfortunately we came home to no power and it looks like it will stay that way for a few days. So, I'm not going to have access to my computer or my pictures until that power is back on.
I know, the suspense is killing me too!!!
I know, the suspense is killing me too!!!
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Dang you Andrea!
Yeah, I might have a hard exterior, but there's a soft candy center inside.
Dang you, Andrea! You made me cry!
[Read this!]
Dang you, Andrea! You made me cry!
[Read this!]
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
August Totals
Running really got bumped up in August. And it wasn't easy running at that. Lots of intervals and fartleks and hill workouts. This could shape up to be a very good running season.
Swim = 11,050 yards
Bike = 1 hr 35 mins
Run = 114.6 miles
Swim = 11,050 yards
Bike = 1 hr 35 mins
Run = 114.6 miles
Monday, September 01, 2008
Prerequisites and Midterms
There comes a mid-point in marathon training where things gets stale: tired of running, sore and hurting all over, wondering why you are doing this at all. This is when it should be a requirement to go see a big race.
This weekend we did:
That's right. We went to watch Ironman Louisville. We went for several reasons: (1) Dave wanted to see an Ironman before he did one, (2) we wanted to get psyched for our training and (3) we wanted to see Bree Wee because we think she's awesome.
We got lucky and found a great parking garage right at the transition area and they charged us less than was even posted on the sign. We walked as fast as we could, but we missed the pro start, but we did get to see the start for the mortals. It was a rolling start. The athletes came down a walkway, stood in line, crossed the mat, and then jumped into the swim.
The swim went upstream, around an island, then downstream to the transition area. The transition area was full of volunteers and bikes. It was all very organized. The city of Louisville did a great job.
The bike went out along the rolling countryside of Louisville and went through the town of LaGrange. From downtown Louisville there were shuttle buses that would take spectators up to LaGrange. LaGrange had set up a village of vendors and food and they had bleachers along the bike route. This is where we got to meet the Wee family. They were so gracious and friendly. Throughout the day they would say hi to us and let us know how Bree was doing. Which....was awesome. Off the bike she was winning! Here's a few pictures of Bree and her family.
We came back to Louisville after seeing Bree close in on the lead on her second lap. The nice thing about following a pro is that you got to be one of the first spectators at any area. Here's the Run Out of the transition and the finish line areas without anyone there yet.
But my favorite part of Ironman yesterday was the spectators. They dressed in fantastic shirts and had the best signs.
Dave and I had a great time. He, of course, got more nervous about doing the Ironman and I was so excited it took all of my power not to go downtown this morning and not sign up for myself. I didn't, in case you were wondering. Let me watch Dave and then I'll make up my mind. :) And, I feel like my training has been rejuvenated.
This weekend we did:
That's right. We went to watch Ironman Louisville. We went for several reasons: (1) Dave wanted to see an Ironman before he did one, (2) we wanted to get psyched for our training and (3) we wanted to see Bree Wee because we think she's awesome.
We got lucky and found a great parking garage right at the transition area and they charged us less than was even posted on the sign. We walked as fast as we could, but we missed the pro start, but we did get to see the start for the mortals. It was a rolling start. The athletes came down a walkway, stood in line, crossed the mat, and then jumped into the swim.
The swim went upstream, around an island, then downstream to the transition area. The transition area was full of volunteers and bikes. It was all very organized. The city of Louisville did a great job.
The bike went out along the rolling countryside of Louisville and went through the town of LaGrange. From downtown Louisville there were shuttle buses that would take spectators up to LaGrange. LaGrange had set up a village of vendors and food and they had bleachers along the bike route. This is where we got to meet the Wee family. They were so gracious and friendly. Throughout the day they would say hi to us and let us know how Bree was doing. Which....was awesome. Off the bike she was winning! Here's a few pictures of Bree and her family.
We came back to Louisville after seeing Bree close in on the lead on her second lap. The nice thing about following a pro is that you got to be one of the first spectators at any area. Here's the Run Out of the transition and the finish line areas without anyone there yet.
But my favorite part of Ironman yesterday was the spectators. They dressed in fantastic shirts and had the best signs.
Dave and I had a great time. He, of course, got more nervous about doing the Ironman and I was so excited it took all of my power not to go downtown this morning and not sign up for myself. I didn't, in case you were wondering. Let me watch Dave and then I'll make up my mind. :) And, I feel like my training has been rejuvenated.
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