Red Dirt Harriers

Well, the 9th annual OKC marathon has come and gone and I'm left with frustration in it's wake. I knew the day was going to present some obstacles with the humidity and winds and so I did what I could to prevent against those problems but it didn't seem to matter. The first half pace felt really doable, but I sort of felt myself getting a little warm, despite dumping water over my head at every water stop. I could sense a certain amount of futility in the morning's endeavor. Jordan looked good, particularly heading back into the wind along Lake Hefner, which was the last good look I got of him. I want to check out this asthma issue that seems to plague my marathon races, but as with any bad race I mainly let my mood sour my racing vigor. I wonder what would have happened if I would have actually stopped, stretched, and thrown up the excess fluids that seemed to be going nowhere in my stomach. I was kind of afraid that I might stiffen but I don't think my legs ever r...

I can't help but look towards the weather conditions on Sunday and it seems dicey. But as the title suggests, I think it will bother everyone and hopefully I can work with Jordan and whoever else shows up (pacers are welcome). Next in the list of scenarios that this title alludes to would be the taste of low-ball alcohol. Now I've shared my sentiment that there can exist some differences in taste for the cost i.e. the Pigs Eye superiority to Keystone or Natty Light options. Yet when one of my patrons come in here and bitches that we aren't carrying her Tvarscki (we do sometimes, but regularly have McCormick's) and that she's "going to have to start going somewhere else" prior to a string of expletives to convey her frustration, I really am not compelled to care. I mean nobody is drinking that stuff by itself for love of flavor, they're masking it with juice. We all know this, don't act like you're a connoisseur if all you're after is the ef...

Alright now, with yesterday marking Patriot's Day, the Boston Marathon of course went down and as usual it was an inspiring feat of humanity. I was amazed to see Ryan Hall streak off the line like he was setting off for a 5k and immediately put the elite contingent on edge. I thought it was unnecessary but I don't really think it significantly affected his race and he may have even weeded out some competitors by starting them off with some discomfort. Ryan Hall ran very tough, but Merga is a beast and there is no shame being around a minute behind him. THe women's race was uninspired but Kara Goucher still was impressive and it bodes well for her future that she has continued to perform consistently well in long races, it just comes down to the day. I just don't believe that she could outsprint the other two flat out so what are her options, especially into a headwind. She may have lucked out but the odds were stacked against her whether she lead for 5 miles or .5 and I...

Somehow a Boricua tradition was begun when some presumably inebriated farmer tied his cow up to a tree next to the ocean. As cows are wanton to do, it met its demise when it fell into a water spout. He proceeded to scream at the ocean, "dame la vaca!," demanding the sea return him his prized Bessy. Now I don't know why this tale has been immortalized but I can say that today is indeed $3 burger night at McNellie's and at Kats (?) recommendation we are staging at that most pleasant of locales for a pint and some vaca. The proud and spiritual Boricuan people must know something so I'm going to assume that this is a good move for all involved. If only I had some more of that choice lychee infused Puerto Rican rum that my friend Rose sent me to go alongside this noble burger... On a related note, I here that the US embargo on Cuba may soon be lifted and that it may be feasible to make a visit to this place. While I'm aware that wasn't impossible to do before a...

In lieu of more enthralling news, I'll opt for the training recap. I've still been fighting off the allergy blues or whatever, so I've been a little under impressed with my training. I went long yesterday and threw in several marathon intensity miles but I wasn't really running the splits I had hoped for, anyway I practiced taking fluids and only had one really bad bear trap like side ache. I think I was needing more fluids anyway as a result of the amount of sinus drainage and the like so I'll of course hope for more inspiring conditions down the road. I did get another beer in the fermenter, a Dortmunder style Lager. This would be in the pilsner classification, but the yeast that I used was a standard top-fermenting ale yeast so my plan is to lager half the beer in a mini-fridge at 50 degrees and then rest the other half at room temp 70-75 degrees. I will look in to this technique more, but right now I'm calling it an alter-Maibock. It is seasonally appropriat...

Jordan and I headed to the mondo oval at Norman High for yesterday's pm workout. It was a nice day, if a bit warm, and so while I wasn't sure what my body was going to be able to manage, it was hard not to get in the running spirit with lots of kids out running around. I was looking for a couple tempo paced segments, maybe like 2 times a 4 mile or something, but upon chatting with Jordan, I opted for something a little shorter, but that was easier to wrap my mind around: 3x 3200 with a steady 800 between. I went 10:29, 10:21, and 10:20 with the rest being covered around 3:15-3:30. I think I may have run an extra lap on the 2nd repeat because I just extrapolated my total time for 7 miles and it indicates as much. The effort was moderately tough, but Jordan mentioned that it was kind of nice to have to keep an eye out for various roves of kids wandering through lane 1 and there were a few close calls, but it kept us from getting too serious and we had to keep our wits about us to...

Well my allergies have continued to slight my attempts to train. In fact last night, instead of a training run, I walked over to Petco and Target to get some Pak Choy for my sisters new lizard, Pancake. It was a really nice evening so I hardly even noticed having to walk over the Robinson bridge, enhaling diesel and noxious fumes from the roadway project and through the rutted, sidewalk-free route up to the supposed aesthetically accomodating outdoor shopping plaza, aka strip mall. I am hoping to avoid digging myself into a hole, so will probably just do a short tempo run with a long warm up and cool down this afternoon while Jordan does some shape-cutting. We're at least going to benefit from being in the same arena as one another, regardless of what stimulus each workout brings. I'm not too concerned about not being able to run an intense quarter workout, but at the very least, I need to have the strength to get out the door for a couple hours. I'm still not sure about t...

As it stands, we are 3weeks out from the marathon and things are going alright. This week I pulled through a funk early on and then felt pretty good throughout the remainder. The weather has been a challenge but mentally and physically but it's probably best this way as we will no doubt encounter some less than perfect race day conditions. On Friday and Saturday, I basically shaped my training around coffee drinking sessions, which was everything I hoped it would be. Finally, Sunday marked the inaugural Redbud Classic bandit workout. On this years installment, Jordan was part of the show to see how a truly well-managed Oklahoma race is conducted. Other than 30 mph sustained wind and 40mph gusts, weather was great and we managed to tack on 2 miles just before the race in 11:0X then ran the 10k in ~32:45 with something like 16:45/16 splits. It was a session that left us feeling pretty good, not all out, and ready for whatever this week holds. This is really going to be the last 14 da...

On this fare morn, just after 6:30am CST, Jokin and I set out from our respective abodes for a 2+ hour sojourn. I had stashed a couple bottles of carefully measured and primed elixir last night and Jordan brought the GU so we were not without electolytes or calories for what ended up being a decent run. First we logged a couple miles around campus with a pit stop at the union, then it was on to greener pastures, cedar lane to 48th with a quick tour of one of the neighborhoods before bringing it home on Lindsay with some quicker miles and a few laps on the track. There were definitely some positives on this run: good company, proper fluid intake, and plenty of practice for OKC(start time, wind, and cheering spectators i.e. cows). As I sit idle at work, I can say that my stomach is not particularly upset thanks to better hydration, and although I will no doubt be looking for a nap in a few hours, I think it was well worth the effort of getting up well before the sunrise.