Cool Croom Video

Hey, I know you saw the slide show a couple of weeks ago, but this is an actual cool video from the Visit Florida people. I love the video, but man, the dude that made it must have interviewed me for 10 minutes, I poured my mind out to him, and I ended up on the cutting room floor. What a gyp!

http://www.youtube.com/user/wahoohiker#p/a/f/0/4XFVvWymdNo

Shrek out the link man, Shrek it out! Sadly, you have to click on the link because one need subscribe to embed the video. Still, it's worth it :)

The Kettle is Heating Up!

As the weather heats up, so does our preparation for the Kettle Moraine 100.

Look out Cheese Heads, the Cigar City is invading in Early June!

The night run was a great tune-up for what is to come. I think we got two new recruits out of it as well. Traci Cole reeled off her 50 Miler with no problem and plenty of tea left in the Kettle! I think Traci is saying to herself, "Shoot, if these boloes can run a hunert miler, why can't I? Oh, wait, I can, I can, I will!" Hey Traci, I agree!

Jim Sullivan, well, he read about our night run, he saw the pix, he can't resist a party! Welcome to the Tea Party Gentleman Jim!

We should do very well out there. Lot's of sub-24's and a 100% finish rate, no doubt!

Running all Night

This weekend was our Croom Night Run.

It was a lot of fun. We had not one or two crazy folks out there, but count 'em:

Andy, Andy, Andrea, Jon, John, Becky, Tracy, Traci, Wendy, Justin, Frank, Steve, and Mo.

That is a baker's dozen (Unless you have my baker, then there would be 9, "screw him, he doesn't need two Andy's, and two Tracy's, take back one of those Jon's too! But, my guy is cheap!) 13 people to run from 8pm Saturday night till 8am Sunday morning.

I guess I have a lot of friends that don't have much of a life! "Say dear, would you like to go to the Theatre on Saturday night?" No way, I'm going to Croom to swat at bugs, drink luke warm Gatorade and try to bogart one of A2's PB & J's!

"Hey hon, that new place with the Pizza Shooters just opened, you want to try that Saturday night?" Nope, I'd rather run 50 miles in the dark with 12 other people!

"Sugar-babe, what do you say about checking out that all-you-can-eat breakfast place over on Main Street? It's only 2.95 from 6 - 9 on Sunday morning!" I told you, I am running through the night, with a lamp on head on barely marked trails, eating completely gross foods, while listening to stories that I've heard 100 times!

Yet, just try to find 3 other people with whom to play cards. You'll have to postpone at least twice. 13 people, no lives, it was another great night!

Running with the Ponies!

I love my boys Davo and Randy. However, running with them, well, it's probably good for me but..... they are SO much faster than I am. Last night they brought their lovely friend Pam with them, I hoped that would slow the group down, sadly that was a pipe dream (has anyone ever had a pipe dream? I guess maybe an Alaskan or Siberian Oil man, or perhaps a crack addict, but personally, I've never had a pipe dream) as the gang chatted as they glided, while I did a big bad wolf and huffed and puffed as I hung on.

The song is slow, the gang is fast, but I like them both!

Sum Summer

The sum of it all is that it's summer in Florida. It's very sad, but it's very true.

Yes Chase, we have bugs and yes they are already out.

How do I know it's summer? Well, there are the aforementioned bugs, there is the heat and humidity which has returned, and the most telling point..... my man Jon called me on Friday night and asked if I would go to Croom with him at...... gulp.... 3 am, and I said .... yes. He went on to ask if I thought anyone else would want to go, well, I don't know anyone as crazy as Jon and me, that would go to Croom at 3 am with only 6 hours notice, so I didn't call (it's not the real heat of summer ..... yet).

Well, the nice thing is we only have to put up with about 6 weeks of summer before the Kettle Moraine 100 Mile Trail Run (June 6), then we can all retire to our air conditioned houses and lounge at the pool!

The Longest Short Week!

Gee, feel bad for me! I only had 11 days off for Easter Break, so this week back, WAY TOO LONG! Heck, I only had Monday off this week!

Whoa is me, I must have the hardest job in the world, May 25th can't get here fast enough!

Waiting on the Sister

Well, one good race and now I'm no longer thinking of retirement, rather I am thinking about so many races that doing them all will surely put me in an early grave!

Obviously next up is the hand made copper kettle from Kettle Moraine. Then, in July I can either go to Oregon for the Ashland 50K (photo on left) and see Sister Alice or go and visit the Chaser in Denver and Slide down for the North Fork 50 Mile. They both sound so good.

Ali and I haven't been to Northern Cali/Oregon since 2005 (except for the brief Fire Interrupted Trip to Western States in 2008, Greg you still owe me about a grand!). I really want to take Ali back there to see Sister Alice and visit some of Mom's old stomping grounds, but we have to check on schedules.

So, one way or the other, I'll be running somewhere in July.

....... North Fork 50 Mi. 40 miles SW of Denver .....

Tricks of the Mind

I am a Howard Huge believer in tricking the mind when I "race." I convince myself that I have either a shorter or longer distance to go in a race. During marathons when there is 6 miles to go I'll tell myself, "only four to go," figuring I can run those four and just hang in for the additional two, which I may or may not run (of, course I run them, but I won't tell myself that!) In my last hundred at Umstead, I told myself that regardless of when I finished my 8 x 12.5 mile loops that I would run one more, because really, 8 is never enough! I really needed nine loops. Not only did I convince myself of these I found a convert on the trails. A dude from Georgia named Mark who was a first time 100-miler. He figured that since I'd done Western States I must know what I was talking about (yeah, but he didn't know that I was also DFL at states!) Well, as you know, whatever I told myself at Umstead worked very well, as I had my best finish in years. More important than the stellar time was the post injury confidence boost it gave me as I approach Kettle Moraine in June.

I have unfinished business at Kettle. I ran that race in 2007, and my memory had me blazing the first 100K and then falling victim to a stomach illness due to spoiled food for the last 38 miles. My memory told me that at no point at Umstead did I run as fast as I had in those first 62 effortless miles at Kettle. Well, only one problem, the facts say otherwise. So, not only do we trick the mind, sometimes it tricks us!

I checked the stat sheet, (available on-line for your viewing pleasure, just click on the kettle and follow the links), from the 2007 Kettle race, and I did have an excellent first 100K there. I finished 62.2 miles in 13 hours and 15 minutes. Not bad, and certainly on my way to sub 24 when the wheels feel off. I ran-walked, almost entirely walked, the last 38 in 12 hours flat for a 25:15 finish. A marathon shorter distance in only one hour less. Of course in my memory, I had me at 12 hours for the 1st 100K and 13:15 for the last 38.

So, my fantastic memory proved inaccurate for the 2007 Kettle race. And I remembered being so fast back then. I also remember being pretty slow at Umstead this year. I told anyone that would listen, that I ran slowly, but that I just never stopped moving. Well, true, I only sat down except to take care a few (4) bathroom issues. But I just knew I had been faster at Kettle. Then the splits came from Umstead the other day. Let's see....

Mile 62.5, a tad farther than Kettle's 62.2....... hmm, gulp, 12:28, er 37 or so minutes faster than my 100 K at Kettle. I guess I wasn't as fast as I thought I was back then, I guess I'm still a little faster than I thought now. That is troubling news. Why troubling? Er, well, ah, yeah, it means, I may the capability to go even faster at Kettle this year. Of course, so much depends on the weather, and the Umstead weather was perfect, but there is no reason to believe that if I stay away from expired GU and if I lose this 13 pounds that I've been hanging on to like it was my job in a bad economy I can't go under 21 hours once more. Shoot, I may even try to!

Oh, why did I have to let the facts get in the way of my comfortable little life? As they say, the Mind is a Terrible Thing!

Trailing the Pack

Saturday was a great and fun run for me! I felt ever so much better than I did on Friday's trudge around Croom.

David House, Lisa, Dan the Man, and I started early, at 5:20 AM. Problem was, I had planned on starting at 5 AM, so my plan to meet the Professor and Lindsay was thwarted by our late start. I thought I'd take a short cut back to the parking lot to meet them by 6:30, but I got a bit greedy with the amount I wished to chop off of the 8 mile 50K loop. My short cut ended up being about 3 miles longer than the regular loop would have been. Hence, not only did I miss the Prof and his better 1/2, but I missed the 3 with whom I'd been running as well leaving me solo for the rest of the morning.

I used my solo status to explore some areas at Croom with which I was not familiar. It was a blast. I ran some, I walked some, I was slow, I was fast, I was half-fast.

Running is fun again. Yippee!

TLS!

I didn't think Umstead took that much out of me. I ran on Sunday with the Beckster as we tore down all the course markings, and that wasn't so bad. I guess all the stopping to rip ribbons off of trees and pick up GU wrappers was what the Doctor ordered.

Then Davo, Becky and I ran on Wed. night. Our 5 miler was pretty quick and we followed it with a couple of Happy Hour brews at the World of Brew. It was an easy night. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezey!

But today, I met Dave and Becky up at Croom for a slow 15 mile run, and my legs wanted nothing to do with it. I was a victim of TLS (Tired Leg Syndrome!) I mean it was no kinda fun.

.Those legs are like the little bicycle that fell over TWO, er I mean TOO TIRED!

.

I really hope I got it all out of my system today, because I'm meeting a slew of folks for 30 tomorrow morning.

Croom Fools Run

Once again the Fool's Run has come and gone. But here's a little slide show from #1 Volunteer, Charles to show you what you missed, or remind you what you should have seen (Joe!):

It sure was a lot of fun, and so darn much work. First, my partner in the race, Jim, he's about the best that there is. We make a good team, I drink the beer, he takes care of the details! Works out well.

Second, my gawd, the volunteers, wow! June, Becky, T-Bone, Mike P, Chris, Charles, Jen, Claire, Adam, Wendy, Ladies at the start finish, E, Heidi, Dave, Dan, Little Lisa, Woody, Jim B, Christjen, Allissa or Alyssa or Alissa, Patrick, Frank Sr. you guys, and the dozen I forgot, I want you to know that you are the reason the race comes off! I know I abuse my aid station workers, and I'm going to rotate you better I swear, but man, the absolute best! Next year it's beer, burgers, pizza and WHATEVER else you want out there, that's right WHATEVER else you want!!!

Andy from Gainesville won the 50 mile overall. He's rapid, 6:21 on a hot day. Stephanie Miller finished in 1st and 3rd in the women's 50-mile.

Patrick who is just fast these days won the 50-K masters in 3:57 or so. Don't know who won the other races, but I bet it's up on the http://www.tamparaces.com/ website thanks to the timing by Mike. Mike may be a pain in the neck, but he's a hard worker and not an entirely unintelligent man.

Just so you know, the Fool's Run won't be on Easter weekend next year, as Easter isn't until April 24th, that's just too late. Umstead has already claimed April 2 for next year. We can go the same weekend, or a week earlier or later. I'd probably lean toward a week later, April 9, as I don't want to interfere with the Guana River, but I'll check with our buddy Bill Dunn and see for sure when he's going. So, choices are: March 26 (possible Guana River), April 2 (Umstead), and April 9.

In conclusion, it's a LOT harder directing a 50-Mile race than it is running even a 100-mile race, but since I met Jim the pay is a lot better! Thanks for supporting us, and please shoot me any suggestions you have for next year.

AndyMan
ps. I was only kidding about Mike