Running powerfully.....

Last night I went out to St. Peters to run with a few new friends I became acquainted with through the website Meetup.com. The group run was actually sponsored by a local running store called Fleet Feet. Anyway, St. Peters is pretty much on the outer fringe of how far I like to travel for anything other than a special occasion since it is on the opposite side of the city from me and further west. It takes about 45 minutes in light traffic and with traffic you are looking at an hour or more easily sitting on the highway. However, I discovered a bike spinning class from 6-7 pm near the run store and then the run from 7-8 pm so I could get in a weekly mini duathlon workout which sounds promising. However, my bikes chose not to cooperate and the tires kept going flat as I was preparing to go so I had to skip the cycling this week but I did check it out first before the run to know what to expect if I decide to go next week. Only two cyclists showed up and neither of them were what I would call experienced cyclists so I am undecided on attending next week. I arrived at the run as everyone was just starting out so although I saw my friends who are slower than me, I took off with some of the fast guys to try and get a good workout in. In addition, with a 7 pm starting time it was completely dark outside and several of the runners had head lights on allowing them to see directly ahead of them. I latched on to the back of two runners who had lights (I didn't) and just hung on as the initial pace was pretty fast and two guys just took off at what looked like sub 6 minute per mile pace. They were gone from sight in short order. I was moving at a good clip and eventually I moved up past the two guys I had been pacing off of and found the back of a newer runner up ahead to pace off of and "steal" his headlight view though I stayed about 15 feet behind him for over a mile before he slowed down or I sped up and caught him. We chatted briefly and introduced ourselves. We were both moving at a pretty good clip probably around 8:15-8:30 pace per mile which is just off race pace for me. However, because of the quick pace we were gobbling up territory fast and running on sidewalks which were constantly either going up or down in elevation or curving around the road terrain which meant that I had to pay close attention to where my feet where being placed so I didn't fall and get hurt in the darkness etc. I haven't run on sidewalks like this at such a pace since college and I was instantly transported back to my runs in college with the cross country team where we would be flying along at a pace that was fast but under control though we had to be careful what was ahead of us due to our pace. I didn't give it much thought at the time but we were quite power runners and I have missed that feeling of floating along with another runner on training runs. Since I have been back running over the past 18 months or so I have only felt fast while doing speed work on the track or in races. This was the first road workout I have experienced in over ten years where I finished it thinking, "I am back baby!" My legs felt strong and powerful and were working, but at any point I could have picked up the pace if I needed to and it was all run at what coaches call threshold pace which is basically so fast that you are near race pace but your body is coping well and discarding the lactate that is being created in your body just as fast as it is created. In short a gloriously fast but controlled run. I didn't realize how much I missed running like this until I re-experienced the feeling last night. I will probably try the mini-duathlon next week but may drop back and hold off running so fast next time assuming I do the spinning class first.

Rain, Rain go Away.......

Normally I would not be posting but the weather has turned uncooperative in Honolulu with a constant downpour of rain this morning. I of course did not really bring any clothes for rainy weather (my jacket is water proof though) so my plan of walking through it on my way to pick up my race packet at the Expo died quickly since I gave the key to the apartment to the parents. I will wait for a ride from either Cara or the parents to get to the Expo.

This morning I just took a shower and watched an episode of the Office with Cara before she had to go to work. As she was leaving Cara fell down the stairs outside her apartment since they were slick with rain and she was only wearing flat bottomed sandals. Not smart since they have no traction but I guess people are so use to wearing them here that they forget about the downside to wearing flat shoes when the weather turns bad. She bruised her elbow and back and was generally shaken up and then called into work to take the day off but apparently they needed her to sign something so she had to go in. She's quite a trooper! Since then I have caught up on email and surfed the web. Good times.

Dad and I were suppose to go to Pearl Harbor to do the tourist thing but he called and said it was closed due to the rain. He is on his way over here to do something else but either traffic is bad or he got lost; maybe both! (Mom just called to say he did get lost!)

I may not write more before the trip is over since I will be pretty busy. I promise a full update on all my vacation activities when I get home though.

The Past is Prologue to the Future.....

I am a big fan of South Park and by extension Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Some years ago they made a movie called Team America World Police which I have read was partially inspired by the 1982 movie Megaforce. I was 9 years old when that movie came out, and I think Matt and Trey were approximately the same age or slightly older. Megaforce was heavily marketed to the kids of my generation and we all rushed out to see it once it hit theatres. Unfortunately it was not exactly a blockbuster and soon made a quick exit from the local cineplex. Nevertheless, I think it inspired many kids to dream of riding their own rocket propelled motorcycles to hero status. Sadly, it does not enjoy widespread appeal beyond a tiny subset of the population who were say, boys 8-12 years old in 1982. Yeah, you kind of had to be there to get it.

I have also heard that Matt and Trey like to watch the movie several times a month for inspiration working on South Park and one episode even references the movie explicitly. Early in the Bush Administration there was a movement to downsize troop levels per Rumsfeld and the theory behind the move was that technology would allow us to do the same job with fewer troops. I heard one reporter say it sounded like someone at the Pentagon had based the plan on watching Megaforce which I had to laugh at, but admittedly was a truly insightful comment. The plot line of the movie involves a small rapid reaction military force made up of members from numerous nations who use light and fast vehicles like motorcycles and jeeps outfitted with lasers and advanced rockets to outmaneuver and outflank slow and cumbersome tanks and standard military weapon systems of the time period and would be sent in where conventional forces doing the job might be impossible or imprudent for some political reason. Does that sound familiar?

Though they lacked the flying motorcycles in the movie, the special forces in Task Force Dagger that helped overthrow the Taliban in the mountains of Afghanistan could in some ways be the modern equivalent of the Megaforce idea of using a handful of highly trained troops with technology backing them up to achieve amazing tactical victories. In the Afghanistan case the military had a few elite spotters on the ground who were sending in targeted coordinates to planes circling above them and were able to defeat huge massed forces with local assistance from anti Taliban locals who performed essentially mop up operations after the bombs from fighter planes and the C-130 gunships did their work. However, once the war shifted from just defeating a military force to actually trying to mold the people of Afghanistan into a cohesive and fully functional government the handful of special forces were too few in number to effect profound change in winning the peace. As the war in Iraq and Afghanistan has continued and the need for additional troops became obvious I think the Pentagon plans to create a permanent smaller military force ala Megaforce all but died in the planning stages. However, Megaforce itself shall live on in infamy among the thirty somethings who walked out of megaplexes dreaming of flying motorcycles with rockets.

In locating clips to post to my blog I came across this quote which I thought did a brilliant job of summarizing the movie, "This is one of those rare movies that punched right through the bottom of bad, and came out at the top of awesome. " I could not put it any better. This movie is so cheesy bad that it became great for its unabashed flag waving cheese factor....and that is a hard task to accomplish. The mystery science theatre boys did a ten minute commentary on the flick which was kinda funny: If you have some time check it out:




My only complaint about the mystery science theatre clip is that it does not include enough of the action of the movie which is really what appealed to me in the first place. So, check out this clip starting from 1:24 into the thing to see what appealed to any neoconservative hawks who favored a smaller rapid reaction type of military similar to the Megaforce team:



I will leave you with this vintage Hunter quote which he delivered to the bad guy right before he flies off on his motorcycle after hopping up onto the guy's tank and knocking on the hatch, "The good guys always win, even in the 80's." As Charlie Munger might say, "I have nothing to add."

How do you like them apples?

I went to the library last night and renewed my card while checking out some new books. I am a huge fan of the local library and used to check out books all the time. When I was young I would always return the books before the due date since I was too poor to afford the fines, and I loved to read but couldn't pay for all the books that I wanted to absorb in my fertile mind. As I became older and started working I would get sidetracked with work and the days would fly by without my having finished all the various books I checked out. So, I responded with two divergent strategies; I started buying more books and have now amassed quite a library of my own, and alternatively, I started running up fines for those books I checked out. When I went to renew my card last night I had 27 dollars in fines on my card! Actually, about half of that was to pay to replace a book I "lost" which was over twenty years old about the standards of how to repair historic masonry according to the Department of the Interior standards to allow one to qualify for tax credits. I actually couldn't find it for over 2 months and they finally just charged me the cost to replace it via email but a week later I found it in my trunk. I actually was ok with paying the cost of the book to keep it since it was a hard to find item that I tried to purchase online by looking on Amazon and other websites to no avail. I had turned the rest of the books back in a few weeks late but the idea of paying over 20 dollars in fines seemed on some level absurd so I delayed checking anything out. Finally yesterday I faced the music and paid off my fine. Now I can check books out again but have decided to turn over a new leaf and try and avoid any further late fees or other fines. We will see how that goes.

The whole episode brought to mind a good flick Good Will Hunting in which Matt Damon's character makes reference to the fact that one could obtain the equivalent of an Ivy League education with just a library card and a $1.50 in fines. A good movie even if Matt does underestimate the fines in my case. I don't purport to assert that I am anywhere near as smart as Matt's character; but I do agree you can certainly improve yourself with little to no cost via a local library. Andrew Carnegie agreed and commissioned the building of hundreds of libraries throughout the country around the turn of the 20th century many of which are still in use today. Here is the scene where Matt references the powers of a library card and takes the arrogant Harvard Grad student to task:

Snowing and 29 degrees

I woke up to a light snow this morning (it is not sticking to the roads yet) which means that running outside will be cold. The wind is also averaging about 20 mph which means it feels much colder. There is a running store that holds a Monday evening run at 6 pm that I normally try to attend. There is a good size crowd of about 20-40 runners who show up on a regular basis though fewer came with the change in daylight savings time as the start time meant we were running in the dark. However, the run only began as a fixture on the scene last spring and we haven't been faced with these type of temperatures and weather before for a group run. So, I am kind of curious to see if they will still hold the run, and if so, how many crazy folks will show up????? Normally I would go run with the crazies but with my marathon coming up I don't want to get sick or injured by doing this run so the jury is still out on attending. I may just do a workout at 24 hour fitness that includes running and perhaps a class or two--that would be the smart thing to do.

Great River Road Run 10 Miler

Saturday marked my final race prior to the Hawaii marathon and it was an out and back course beginning in downtown Alton Illinois as pictured above and heading north along what locals call the Great River Road for five miles before turning around and heading back 5 miles to the finish. The Mississippi River is directly along side the course for the entire five mile stretch and it is usually fairly windy either going out or coming back. Today the wind was at our back on the outbound section but we had to fight a slight headwind on the return trip.

I last ran this race back in 2001 with a then girlfriend. Most road races from that long ago have long since subsided into a blur in my mind but this race stands out. First of all, the course was unusual in that it was (and is) totally flat which is hard to find in this part of the country. Second, I was running the race with my girlfriend at the time who, truth be told, was a much better distance runner than I was. She was a rather competitive sort of person and was continually dismayed when my times started dropping in shorter 5k's and 10k's we were running. Despite my improvements however, she would normally leave me sometime before the finish because, well, she was competitive and didn't want to lose. I understood completely and it did not really bother me that in the 10 plus races we did before the Alton 10 miler, she beat me in all of them. However, at Alton my fitness had improved to the point that I was able to stay with her for several miles until she took off ahead of me. Again, not unusual, but this time I was able to slowly but surely gain ground on her until I caught back up--it really helped that the terrain was all flat as I am good at holding my pace on the flats where she excelled at running on hills. I tried to run with her but she demanded that I continue on without her as we were probably only about a mile from the finish and she was having a hard time maintaining her pace---basically she tried to pick up the pace midway through the race to leave me behind and was paying a high price as her body was experiencing the adverse consequences of running too hard for too long. I reluctantly went ahead of her and finished maybe 30 seconds before she did. It was weird after that race because it seemed like she couldn't get over my having run a race faster than her, and I think she derived some psychic sense of personal fulfillment from being the faster runner in our duo that I unwittingly shattered for her. I really didn't care which one of us ran any particular race faster, but for her, the results really mattered which was eye opening for me. Since I was no longer part of an official team, I just viewed the races as fun runs to complete to challenge myself but never really considered them "races" where I was trying to beat anyone including her. She avoided running any other flat courses with me since she feared a repeat performance which I found hilarious. Good memories. I kind of miss her--or at least the idea of her despite her singular focus on beyond the "top dog" runner.

Back to the 2008 race: So, I ran a near perfect race almost a month ago which was a half marathon and I knew I would be hard pressed to beat my average pace per mile achieved then. I resolved to try and come as close as possible to my ten mile split in the half marathon which was approximately 121 minutes. I was on pace for the first 5 miles--actually about 20 seconds ahead of where I needed to be. Unfortunately at the turnaround the wind was now directly in our face and though it was mild, you could certainly feel it and it gave me a chill and slowed me down a bit. I didn't stop for water until mile 6 and then I walked while drinking the water and knew my hopes to equal my previous pace per mile were blown. Still, I was able to recover and improve my average pace per mile slightly over the last two miles. My finish time was approximately 121:45 which was just slightly over the predicted pace I expected of 121:00. If I had not stopped for water I would have been almost exactly on pace. It was a good effort and the weather was decent but not great--probably about 50-55 degrees with slight winds. I was able to get away with running in shorts too which was awesome considering I will be doing so again in Hawaii. There aren't too many late November days allowing for shorts here. I went back after the race and took a few pictures of the scenic grain silos near the start/finish area which you can see above. The picture with the barricades is the part of river road way we ran out on the left side. The barricades are there to keep cars off the roadway near the finish though they detoured them around the downtown part of Alton. Overall I was pleased with my effort in the race and the time I ran. However, I think my time in the half marathon may have been the pinnacle of my fitness, and I am thinking about how to tweak my marathon strategy to take into account having something less than another perfect race day. Stay tuned.

Hawaii plans.....

First of all I wanted to throw a "shout out" to Ashley, Cara's friend from Hawaii by way of Texas originally and any of her friends/family that are checking this out. Welcome and thanks for reading the blog.

I am heading over to Hawaii this coming Saturday for approximately a week to enjoy a vacation and also run in the Honolulu marathon with my sister Cara. It should be fun and is something I have been training toward specifically for about 6 months. I ran in high school and also for two years in college so I have a decent background in running to be attempting what many consider a daunting distance--26.2 miles. With that being said, I took a number of years off getting fat and lazy until one day I ran in a local 5k (3.1 mile) race and my time was such an embarrassment it galvanized me back into running regularly. That happened about 18 months ago, but I am still over fifty pounds heavier than my competitive running weight (competitive runners are very skinny!!!). However, I carry the extra weight well and could be mistaken for a football player these days. That reminds me, sometime ago Cara was home and came across a pair of my old running tights from high school cleaning out her closet. She couldn't believe I could ever actually fit in them as I think she or mom had confiscated them at one point for Cara to wear for skating when she herself was in high school. I think I only wore them once or twice since tights were not "cool" for the boys to run in and I usually wore them underneath a heavier pair of loose running pants but they did fit. Running a lot of miles will make most people skinny provided they are burning more calories than they consume which definitely was me in high school.

While in Hawaii I also have tentative plans to cycle the Hawaii Ironman bike course of 112 miles on the Big Island from Kona to Hawi and back and would also like to check out Crossfit Oahu--though doing that might be problematic. I started doing crossfit workouts in St. Louis last year for about 6 weeks and they were some of the toughest athletic experiences I have endured outside of running. However, the local affiliate here was quite a distance away from my home and I opted to just workout instead at the local gym with the high gas prices at the time and the distance involved. The crossfit workouts really helped get me in better shape but they tend to make parts of your body sore that you didn't realize could actually be sore--maybe not the best idea in the week before a marathon. Yet, I am usually up for any type of crazy athletic endeavor so stay tuned on the crossfit Oahu front--they have a vacation special for $30 bucks which gives you 5 workouts and a T-Shirt, and I am usually a pushover for schwag like that. The local affiliate in St. Louis charges either 10 or 15 bucks for each workout so the offer is enticing. Ashley--if you are needing someplace to workout regularly where they will push you to accomplish more than you thought possible you should look up the Crossfit Oahu website. I tried to get Cara interested in it but I don't think she ever followed through.

I also need to spend some time this coming week figuring out what else I want to try and do while in Hawaii since before I know it I will be heading to the airport for the flight out. Till next time.

What is a watch these days??????

Back in the day when I was growing up a watch usually just told you what time it was. If you were a runner you could even get a watch that would allow you to time a race or record splits if you bothered to read the directions which I thought was the height of techno cool. I have been pondering the question of what a watch is and what it is suppose to do for me lately since I have become further entwined in training for triathlons. Among endurance sports athletes triathletes stand out for their daring to try innovative training techniques and their willingness to drop cash for all sorts of toys. In many ways I think I am very old school preferring the tried and true method over high tech expensive fixes I see many triathletes use to overcome all sorts of self inflicted deficiences. I of course have my own deficiences but usually don't try to fix them with cash--at least not yet.

A great example are those new triathletes who go out and buy the most expensive and usually lightest bike they can find and either upgrade the wheels to carbon fiber at the time of purchase or shortly thereafter. Why you ask? Well the magazines all say they will make a rider faster and they see the top triathletes riding with them and it becomes a wanderlust thing for them. OK---but we are not talking a whole lot of time relative to one's overall performance--maybe 2 or 3 minutes over the course of a 112 mile course for your average new triathlete with the greatest benefits going to those that can average over 20 mph which new triathletes usually can't do. Training smarter and with a greater sense of increasing one's cadence on the bike will easily lead to an increase well beyond that paltry sum of minutes these guys will recover for the 1000 to 2000 dollar purchase of new wheels.

So, I approach the subject of upgrading my watch with some trepidation and only would have considered it when I realized I was the only one consistently showing up to training runs without a heart rate monitor watch. It probably took me about 3 months to figure that out though since the model everyone uses (Garmin 305 forerunner) gets put on the handlebars of their bike when they are not running and I just assumed it was a standard bike speed/cadence monitor until I began seeing them wear it on runs too. In addition to being a heart rate monitor, the garmin 305 also has gps capability and most importantly for me, will give you your average and current pace per mile. You also have to wear a heart rate monitor strap across your chest too which I think will be weird.

I went with my usual group a few months back and it was quite a scene when we were ready to begin the run except everyone else was waiting to start until their watches locked onto a satellite. It was fairly comical and then became slightly annoying when I felt like the only real runner willing to go without waiting for the high tech doodad to work properly. They need to lock onto the satellite to get distance and to allow the watch to calculate pace during the run (or so I've been told). It took about 3 minutes since we were surrounded by tall buildings in the Central West End and they couldn't easily lock on.

When doing intervals at the track in high school our coach would sometimes have us check our heart rates and wouldn't let us start a new interval until the heart rate dropped below 180 beats per minute. Not infrequently I would check my heart rate with two fingers immediately after an interval and the beats per minute were over 200 (I think 220 bpm was my heart ready to explode from running hard and fast) but it always took at least 10 seconds to get that information once we stopped running. The Garmin watch will give it to us as we are running and also save it to be downloaded later to a computer. Computer geeks love the Garmins because you can download the information into charts and graphs and plot your run(s) and compare your heart rate and pace info with previous efforts on the same course etc. It sounds interesting but without actually using it before seems kind of superfluous. Also, the top coaches are guiding their athletes via heart rate monitor readings telling them to keep their heart rate between 150-160 bpm during a 6 mile run for example in some of the triathlon books I have read. One of the best triathletes in history, Mark Allen, credits heart rate training with helping him dramatically improve his racing and training management.

So, while I have periodically dipped into the pool of heart rate training info, I have never gone all in so to speak. I looked up the cost of the Garmin a few months ago and the price was about $230 bucks which for a watch seemed crazy. They have come out with a newer, sleeker version though and the price of the 305 has dropped significantly. So, when Black Friday rolled around today I was able to order one from Amazon for only 150 bucks which seems like a great deal but is still far more than I have ever spent for a watch before. Also, the 305 is pretty bulky which kind of worries me but I just couldn't fork over the 280-300 bucks for the newer sleeker model. Oh yeah, the newer model (Garmin 405) does not attach to the bike and is not as good for the multisport transition etc. and the reviews on it have been mixed so I stuck with the tried and true which all my tri friends have.

I hope to receive the watch by the middle of next week and to give it some use in training runs before I head over to Hawaii for the marathon. Part of my motivation to buy it was to use it during the marathon to monitor my pace and heart rate. I am not sure whether it can plot the course too--maybe, but I expect there will be mile markers so I will know roughly how far there is to the finish at all times. However, knowing my average pace per mile while I am running will be a huge benefit to me as I can monitor if I am going out too fast or slowing down too much beyond my perceived feel for such matters. No matter how well I know myself the objective nature of the data will be there to see and record for posterity. Or so the theory goes anyway. I may try it on and hate how bulky it feels on my wrist. Part of my reluctance to buy one before now has been my fear that I will become overly reliant on the data but I have come to conclude that fear is probably overblown. I am pretty good at being able to turn off things that I rely on too much when necessary. So, a new toy is on its way here as we speak. Stay tuned for updates on the heart rate monitor watch....will it be a success or utter failure?

Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot

Well, this morning was the Kirkwood Annual Turkey Day Trot race offering either a 3 mile or 6 mile option. In a crazier week I probably would have run both (a friend of mine actually did both races this morning running the 3 mile with his brother), but I opted to just focus on the 6 mile race with my marathon rapidly approaching. I went out too fast early at about a 7 minute pace (it didn't feel that fast) and paid for it in the second half of the race. I reached the 2 mile in 14:10 and the 3 mile in 22:20. My overall time was 46:30 which translates into a 7:45 per mile pace but that means I slowed down over 2 minutes in the second 3 miles---definitely not what I am hoping to do in the marathon. However, that was my fastest average pace for that distance since college but still, I could have run faster if I had run even or negative splits. Not a big deal though since this was mostly an excuse to allow me to eat more turkey and dressing this afternoon. However, it does give me confidence going into the marathon knowing I can peel off 8:00 to 8:30 miles without working too hard.

I recently read an article online about a guy describing the 3 perfect runner's high moments of his career and they all happened to be within 1 week after a marathon. Well, normally I have taken off after running a marathon except for my most recent Frankenstein experience. Exactly one week post Frankenstein marathon I ran in the Clayton half and in retrospect I think I was on a runner's high during that race. The half marathon just felt so effortless for the first 10 miles and my pace of about 8 minute miles was much faster than I had run before or expected to run. After the Clayton race I speculated that the marathon may have helped my running economy by increasing my leg turnover etc. and that may have been a part of the explanation but I also think the body may have also released some endorphins that kick in a few days to a week later allowing for potential breakthroughs in athletic performance.

So, the next question, is will it happen again? The other runner I mentioned who pointed this out to me wrote that once he looked back and realized these runner high moments were post marathons he tried to replicate the circumstances but could never re-acquire the runner's high again post marathon which makes me think it may be partially or wholly psychological. Having completed a marathon recently may convince our subconscious that no matter how much the immediate pain of a fast but shorter race is, we can get through it since we just ran a longer marathon leading to breakthrough efforts in shorter raced etc. Time will tell I suppose. I know I have a race scheduled for a week after I return which is either a half marathon or a 4 mile run. I am signed up to do the 4 mile but if the weather is nice I may do the half marathon instead, though I think I would be hard pressed to run any faster than I did in Clayton since my training has mostly been in maintaining fitness for the past 2 months. But isn't that what makes life interesting: showing up, competing and seeing what happens. Enjoy your thanksgiving holiday.

Gas Prices....what happened to the monopoly?

Well, the cost of gas continues to plummet throughout the world as the local St. Louis price has dipped below $1.50 per gallon most everywhere with the lowest local price currently at $1:33 at the local Costco. The days of $4.00 per gallon gas seems a distant memory but it was only a few months ago. About a month ago gas prices were hovering above 2.00 a gallon and I boldly predicted that we would see the price drop to at least $1.20 before it bottoms out. Mom thought I was crazy but I saw the writing was on the wall with the global economic slowdown causing a mass drop in demand which in turn would drop the price substantially.

It is funny because while on a training run a few months ago there was some discussion about how OPEC "controlled" prices and exerted monopoly pricing power with a certain individual arguing there would be a permanent price of something like 3.50-4.00 per gallon range. I disagreed as the OPEC member countries are not the exclusive source of worldwide oil supply and in fact, I argued, the price of oil is based on global supply and demand and historically even OPEC countries have failed to live up to their promises to cut production to boost the price of oil. So, in my view the price of oil surged when huge numbers of consumers in the newly industrialized world came online with new purchasing power they exercised in purchasing cars where previously they walked, took bikes, public transportation etc and suddenly they were competing with Americans and others in the old industrialized world for roughly the same amount of oil supply. Why wouldn't the price shoot up dramatically? Now, those same consumers are cutting back on their purchases as the global credit crisis has forced massive slowdowns in economic activity world wide. Hence, we are seeing low gas prices since the number of purchasers has decreased substantially.

While this is good for consumers it is more problematic for world wide peace and stability. I remember reading some time ago about how the hard liners in Russia were able to come to power when the price of oil dropped from over $50 a barrel to $10 a barrel about 10 years ago. Why? Because oil is a major export source of income for Russia and suddenly the Russians were far less wealthy than before and they elected men like Putin who was able to ride a wave of popularity on the back of a huge oil price spike to over $100 a barrel. Indeed, it has been argued that Russia's meddling in Georgia was in reality a power play to prevent foreign control over pipelines for oil and gas to compete with Moscow's own planes to exert monopoly like control over Europe's energy needs. This power play was predicated on the idea that controlling Europe's access to expensive oil and gas reserves would ensure Russian economic independence and support further control by the Kremlin of key industries through either direct ownership or through cronies of those in power.

Unfortunately for the wealthy oligarchs in Russia who pursued this military adventure their wealth has taken a double hit: first a good chunk of foreign capital fled the Russian stock market causing an overall 70% decline in the overall price of Russian securities and the unrelated global economic slowdown as already discussed cut the value of the Russian oil holdings substantially. Recent news stories in the papers have focused on how Russia has been awarded the 2014 Winter Olympic Games and construction on the venues has basically come to a halt due to the losses faced by the Russians backing the Games in the value of their stock holdings. So, the Russians are hurting economically which bodes poorly for European stability as their leaders have historically looked abroad for some external force to blame for their sufferings. This could result in further military escapades which is one of the few areas left to them where they can exert some measure of superiority over their neighbors now that the value of their gas holdings is significantly diminished.

I hope Obama is up to the task of dealing with a Russia that is now flirting with despotism since their legislature recently passed a law which would allow Putin to return to the presidency despite his recent departure due to term limits. So, Russia is one of the few areas where I think we should be directing the majority of our attention on the foreign policy front, and I don't see much evidence either the Bush or Obama team are taking the issue seriously enough.

Helping the Parents......

So tonight was the night I spent 3 plus hours helping the parents navigate the internet for their planned trip to Hawaii to ostensibly see Cara and I run the marathon. Good times let me tell you. Dad did not seem to understand that the internet moves at.... well....a pace faster than a glacier and was mystified that options that were available more than half an hour ago would no longer be available now after he kept going back to change/tinker with various flight options. I tried to explain that people book flights and then they are no longer available for him but he refused to believe it. When I asked him what he thought the reason was that such options were no longer available he could offer no other theory about why the options disappeared and the prices changed. Welcome to the internet where things move fast and if you're not careful, you will miss out on all the good stuff. So the flight, car and hotel are now booked for the parents. Thank god that is now over.

The last thing dad said to me, so, this thing you are going to do, are you going to be able to do it?" Subtle dad, very subtle and not a little demeaning (why yes, I often make plans to travel halfway across the planet to embarrass myself) but I took it with the usual chagrin that I shrug off but habitually drives mom off the deep end when directed her way. Oh dad, you mean the marathon race? Why yes, in fact I ran one last month that was quite hilly and more difficult than the relatively flat Honolulu marathon course . So, yes I can "do it" with aplomb.

That being said, I have actually been slacking off somewhat for the past week or so. I haven't run much except for a hilly 7 miler on Saturday. I had intended to go back to the gym after my lifting class tonight to run but was waylayed into the whole internet project etc. Still, my overall fitness level is high and finishing should not be a problem unless I just fly the first 13.1 miles (possible if I am feeling great and the course is as flat I have read) and fall apart in the second half. Never underestimate the rigors of the marathon for she can make a fool out of anyone that does not respect her. FYI I know a guy who can probably run I would guess between 2:40 to 3:00 hours for an open marathon who just completed a full ironman on Sunday (which is a 2.4 mile swim followed by 112 miles on th bike and then a full marathon). He thought it likely he would be able to run something around 3:20-3:40--slow for him and thought at his slowest he could run around 4 hours. His finishing time for the ironman marathon leg was 4:13 and he averaged 9:40 a mile. Now I have not spoken to him yet but I imagine it was a humbling experience for him as well it should be. I don't think I have ever seen him run slower than about a 9 minute mile and his PR for the mile is 4:10. So, respect the distance or you will get your butt handed to you on race day.

My overall goal is just to finish the Honolulu marathon and my time goal is to try and finish under 4 hours but depending on how the first half of the race goes, I may readjust that goal. Some people set time goals that are mentally written in stone for them which only heightens their anxiety level and negatively impacts their performance if they start falling off their pace. I am pretty good at adjusting on the fly during a race if things are going well or really bad. It is an acquired skill for sure but is party due to one's attitude and having set realistice expectations to begin with.

Slackerdom, Netflix and college football

Well, I am officially a slacker today as I skipped running in the race and also the cyclocross bike race too. I just didn't want to get all my stuff together to wear and then have to drive all the way out to Dorsett when I was just out there last night. It is about a 45 minute trip with moderate traffic. The cyclocross races are actually kind of cool to watch and I may try my hand at them at some point in the future. I think I should try them when I don't have a major race coming up in a few weeks and there is no pressure. There is a huge platform you have to carry your bike up with about 8-10 steps up and then ride off the top of and the potential for injury looks high for those without any experience. Basically I just don't want to get injured with the honolulu marathon coming up in three weeks. The weather did improve today and it was probably mid 50's temperature wise during the afternoon when the sun was out, so, in that sense I am sorry I missed the race. I could have done the running race though but kind of felt like running more than 3 hard miles. As of this moment though I haven't done anything today to work out so I am officially a Sunday slacker.

In a related development, while I was out at the cyclocross race last night I met up with a woman who was selling a bike travel case and now have myself my very own piece of equipment to tow my bike anywhere in the world either on an airline or through UPS etc. Truly exciting huh? I started looking for them once I had booked my Ironman competition for next October in Florida and finally found one on Craiglist yesterday. The guy selling it called me and said his wife was going to be at the race so I met her there and bought it.

I checked out the New York Times website and read an interesting article about the Netflix service offer to pay 1 million dollars to anyone who can improve their movie recommendation service by at least 10%. Here is a link to the story: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/magazine/23Netflix-t.html?scp=2&sq=netflix&st=cse

I remember when they announced this competition and thought it was a cool idea and cheap way for the company to outsource a key component of their R&D for little to no upfront cost with some free publicity. Basically a win-win for everyone and an astute move by the management. Then, I heard nothing about it for probably a year until I was perusing the New York Times today. I was a previous customer of Netflix but dropped it about 4-5 months ago after a month in which I just got too busy with my tivo shows to watch more than 2-3 discs over a 3-4 week period. I realized I could have bought the discs for the price of the monthly subscription so decided to drop it. However, I am still a big fan of the company and continue to think the best thing they had going for them was the software program that would take your viewing habits and movie ratings and then suggest other stuff to rent and this competition was about trying to improve that process. I was amazed at how Netflix could come up with movies I had never heard of to recommend that I ended up liking. Although it was not always successful, it probably approached 70% or so accuracy based on my likes/dislikes, though it may have helped that I reviewed and rated an inordinate amount of movies for them. Anyway, the article was quite lengthy but really fascinating for a movie aficionado like myself as it seems like a handful of movies are so polarizing that they will skew the results of the competition tremendously with people evidencing either a love or hate relationship to particular movies that is quite difficult to predict. This I found fascinating since one of the major movie stumbling blocks is Napolean Dynamite which if the programmers could figure out how to accurately predict, would itself lead them 15% of the way toward the prize. Apparently the programs these guys are developing find it difficult to predict who will love and who will hate this movie which is apparently the two most common reactions to Napolean. Really? Napolean Dynamite not something with a political slant like Rendition or Lions for Lambs? Here is a list of some other movie that the programmers have found difficult to predict: “I Heart Huckabees,” “Lost in Translation,” “Fahrenheit 9/11,” “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou,” “Kill Bill: Volume 1” and “Sideways.” I haven't seen the Huckabees movie or Fahrenheit 9/11 but I doubt I would like either. The Life aquatic and Sideways were ok but not something I would watch again unless I was seriously bored. I enjoyed Kill Bill and Napolean Dynamite but the list seems odd to me and had me wondering what else was on the list of the 25 most polarizing movies on Netflix as referenced in the story. Any thoughts? I will try and ponder this and may come up with my own list before I go looking to track down the actual results from Netflix.

While at the race last night I was talking to a friend from the triathlon club and she mentioned the OU Texas Tech game and my thoughts immediately ran to Cara's friend Ashley and wondering if she was watching the game with Cara. I find Ashley's blog the best source of info on what my sister is up to on a regular basis and she and her husband both went to Texas Tech and are rapid fans of the Red Raiders having mentioned the team on occasion on her blog. Since both my sisters and I went to Mizzou I suppose you could say we were Mizzou fans if pressed, but I don't think any of us are "rabid" fans and I wonder if any of us actually went to a football game during college. I know I didn't and I think Emily mentioned a similar experience. Cara I don't recall specifically but she may have attended a game while at Florida State but Mizzou I don't know--maybe one or two. Still, it is nice to see our alma mater among the top 10 teams in the nation last season and again this year and I suspect if the football team was this good while we were in Columbia we all would have attended at least some of the games. Unfortunately the Red Raiders had a bad night and OU wound of winning pretty handily though it sounds like Cara, Ashley and their friends had a fun evening anyway per Ashley's latest blog post with a visit to the Cheesecake factory before the end of the game.

Pere Marquette training run

I just returned from a training run with a group from the triathlon club. I took it relatively easy on a 7 plus mile hilly course at Pere Marquette Park in Grafton Illinois. I ran this same course last month for the first time and went out way too fast trying to keep up with runners who were faster than me for the first two miles or so and then died when the course kept ascending. This time I knew what to expect and decided to run my own pace which usually works out better for me anyway. I actually kept pace pretty well with another runner from the group named Ty. He is actually running in the Honolulu marathon next month too so I am curious to see how our times compare since I have run a few shorter races with him and our times are always pretty close. It wouldn't surprise me to see either of us catch the other one in the last mile and have our own dual in the sun to the finish.

Someone said the Pere Marquette trails encompasses about 3,000 vertical feet of rise which sounds daunting but I had hoped to get up early and run it once before the group arrived for a total of 14 miles. Alas, I turned off the alarm and got up late so I had to settle for one loop of 7 plus miles. Still, that is 7 more miles than most people ran today.

After the run the group headed over to Fast Eddies in Alton Illinois for super cheap food and drinks. The club was paying for the meal so I had a couple of brats and some shrimp. Free food is always nice and the conversations were good too. Everyone in the group is wishing they were going to Hawaii to run the marathon, and while I look forward to the trip I am still bummed I will be missing the 64/40 highway races on December 14th. There is a road race for runners that morning on the newly rebuilt highway section on a portion of the highway as well as a bike time trial on the Sunday before the highway reopens to traffic Monday. Still, the project is not finished and I am hopeful another similar race will be scheduled when the second half of the project is nearing completion.

There is a cyclocross race this evening at Creve Couer park and I have tentative plans to go watch. I secretly harbor thoughts of racing but the weather is quite cold---I think I saw a 27 degrees flashing on a bank sign on the way out to the run this morning so the idea of biking in this weather is not compelling--it is colder biking since you are traveling at a faster pace plus it is right by the lake which enhances the wind chill. Plus, Jason (club president) mentioned that the weather was suppose to turn warm and reach the 60's by tomorrow when a second cyclocross race is scheduled so I will probably wait and run the race tomorrow morning before riding in the bike race. Or not. I haven't decided whether it is ok to race with my mountain bike. Stay tuned.

The Greatest Movie Entrance Ever......

So recently I read that Hollywood is planning to remake a cherished movie from my childhood: The Last Dragon. It is perhaps the greatest popcorn/action flick I saw as a child though there are several strong candidates that come to mind. So, of course Hollywood is planning on "reimagining" the flick. Anyway, Samuel L. Jackson is going to be playing one of the central characters known as "Sho'Nuff" in the remake. I don't think the original can be improved upon though I am curious to see how the writers and director will try. I really wonder if the powers that be that run studios nowadays are young enough to remember the originals and hope to revisit their youth through remaking the stuff they saw and loved as kids.

It was very much a movie of its time and place with a woman who in the flick was trying to mimic Cyndi Lauper with outrageous outfits and the Brooklyn accent as well as an aspiring music career. Modern audiences (anyone under 25 probably has no idea who Cyndi Lauper even is) won't know what to make of it though perhaps they will cast someone as a Lindsey Lohan wannabe that can relate to the current generation.
Here is a link to a youtube video featuring the infamous ShoNuff character that Samuel Jackson is hoping to reprise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--N1Q8D6dqE
If I ever have to go to a Hollyween party again I think I will go as ShoNuff although going as Bruce Leroy might be easier to pull off from a costume point of view.

Training Goals

Well, many triathletes are now in what they call their off season and in fact I attended a seminar on Monday evening at the local REI on off season training for triathletes. I understand the need to take a break from an athletic endeavor and I will not be competing in any triathlons for at least a few months but I think the concept of "off season" is a bit overblown. Too many people take it as an excuse to stop working out and sit in front of the TV and gain weight. Some people stop working out completely for a month or more. No thanks, I will continue training for running races and may even dabble in some mountain biking or cyclocross races etc.
In terms of my own goals, I have already signed up for a half Ironman (HIM) race in mid July in Wisconsin as well as a full ironman race in Florida in late October. What that basically means is that I have about 7 months to get my swimming ability up to the point that I can swim freestyle for 1.2 miles and then a few months later double that distance to 2.4 miles. Normal triathlon people in my club are too kind to say anything but I am sure they think I am crazy. If they didn't before, if they saw me swim they certainly would call my goals crazy. I have really been slacking on the swim portion of my triathlon having not done anything in the pool since my last race in mid September. However, yesterday I resolved to start a new swim training plan since I will never make my HIM and full ironman goals unless I get in gear: everytime I am at the gym I go in the pool no matter what. Now, I may not make it very far or fast but I will be swimming. So yesterday I swam 200 meters and again this morning I swam 250 meters while at the gym. These are really miniscule distances but everyone starts somewhere and for me this is where the journey begins.
Realistically I should be looking for a swim coach or group program to help me with my lack of swimming ability but I have resisted the urge so far since I want to get back to where I was after completing a few lessons at the local YMCA. I will try and keep the blog updated on a more regular basis from now on.

Weekend Warrior Part II

This is a picture of the transition area and in the foreground is the road where the bike route began after climbing up the short hill from T1 and in the background is the art sculpture where the run began (it is probably too far away to make out very well).

This is me pre race but post warm up eager to begin the 4 mile run.

To continue with the race post, my first 4 mile run split was 33:15 while after the bike my second 4 mile run split was 37:23 so I slowed down 4 minutes 8 seconds on the second run. While that was slower than I wanted, I think I ran the first 4 miles a little too hard which sapped some of my energy. I think the bike leg was great in the sense that I tried to maintain a good pace without ever going into oxygen debt or really feeling any burning in the legs due to trying to turn over the cranks too fast in a high gear. In other words, I think I succeeded pretty well in moving fairly fast with using as little effort as possible. Thus, I was able to start the second run leg with legs that were not dead. Doing so is an acquired skill that can be honed and developed with endurance workouts but many of the competitors I observed on the second run leg miscalculated and blew up on that run where I was able to pass them. If I run this race next year I would like to have the second run leg no more than two minutes slower than the first. Still overall I was pleased with the effort.

At the finish area there was water, gatorade and soda available. In addition, the race provided pizzas from a local pizza joint that I sampled once I recovered and consumed a water and gatorade. The awards were located inside the college field house and the participants were encouraged to pick up their own awards without any formal presentation. Thus, a very low key format was in evidence yet again. I finished first among two competitors in the clydesdale division and received a trophy. In checking my time relative to the open competitors I finished in 2oth place overall in the long division and 4th in my age group excluding the race winner. My average bike mph was 18.7 which I think is good for not specifically practicing racing at a fast pace on relatively flat terrain w/o a time trial bike etc. Still, the top riders averaged just over 24 mph so there is definitely room for improvement.

Weekend Warrior speaketh.....

Saturday morning way too early: Well, the two alarm clocks I set both went off as scheduled at 5:10 a.m. as well as 5:19 a.m. and I roused myself to a state approaching wakefulness despite the early hour. I had set out my race shorts the night before along with the transition bag and assorted stuff necessary to complete my run/bike/run switches. After getting some water bottles ready to go and loading the bike, I was on the road by 5:30 a.m. for the 2 plus hour trip to the race site. Good times listening to some old cd's from my youth on the way out there including some classic Def Leppard I haven't heard in years. I arrived to the site of the race at a small local college where the race had been moved from the original site. I reported for packet pick up only to discover the race director had not actually received my entry. Not a good way to start off my on site preparation mentally since I feared having to turn around and go home without racing. Can anyone say wasted trip? I should note that as a veteran racer I have observed many people completely lose all perspective and start arguing/yelling with the staff at such moments all to my horror because I always thought doing so was stupid since you are hoping these people will assist you in your quest to enter their race and yelling at me has seldom induced me to help someone. The race director was cool about it though. He asked if I happened to have entered within the past 12 hours online; "No" I replied. I mailed my entry about 2 months prior. Well, said director never received any mailed entries; only ones via Active.com. Umm....interesting. So, since I recall sending this entry off with several others and marking it "paid" in my race calendar I was mystified. However, I was not about to argue with the guy so I said it must have gotten lost in the mail. Thinking about it later I wonder if it was received at the location of the original race course and not forwarded to the race director at the new site. I asked if there was any way I could still enter. Sure, he replied, we just need a check for the race fee and with that he gave me an ankle strap with my timing chip attached and said let him know if I check with the bank and the original check has been cashed. Excellent news since with the scribble of a few lines on a blank check I am now officially in the race.

Also more good news: I am #63 which means the field is on the small side. Other news that alters the race plan include the fact that the course location move has resulted in the race being shortened from a 5/40/5 to a 4/40/4. Thus, we are running 1 mile less on each run leg and the run course is basically around the grounds of the college but almost entirely on grass. Excellent from my perspective since I always prefer to go shorter. The OCD racers must have stayed home today since I did not see anyone visibly upset by the alteration in the distances though I did not stick around waiting for that to happen since I had a transition area to set up. The run course is 2 miles long which means we will be making 2 laps of the course before mounting the bike. Also, this was one of those races that did not give out shirts but rather, a race pullover jacket (quite rare). I had the option of either size (S) or (M) which almost made me laugh since I figured there's no way that sucker will be fitting but it actually made it over my broad shoulders and not inconsequential gut. Wonders sometimes do occur.

I walked my bike over to the transition area and set up my bike, helmut, gloves, glasses, shoes and towel. I did about a 1 mile warm up and met a fellow St. Louis Tri Club Member named Peter who lives in Belleville. He was wearing our club shorts and I also talked with a guy named Terry who saw my race top and asked about our swim workouts since he lived in Manchester. I tried to talk him into joining the club and we ended up comparing notes on our mutually horrible swim experiences with triathlon. I have some glimmer of hope that he may join the group since he was intrigued by the notion of finding someone at the swim sessions at Crestview who might actually have experience teaching someone or giving pointers since he said he needed help. I can emphathize.

There was a race meeting for the competitors about 10 minutes before the race basically explaining how many loops we were doing (2 on the run and 2 on the bike) and the fact that the roads were open to traffic. The race was extremely low key. We started by a giant outdoor art sculpture and the fast guys immediately took off. I started off at a pretty quick clip but slowed down after the first 1/2 mile to a comfortable pace in probably 30th place or so. There was only one minor hill on the course that lasted for about 10 seconds so I was relatively happy running this course. After the first lap a number of competitors stopped at the transition area and mounted the bike since some competitors were doing the short course 2/20/2 race. My race position did not really change at all on the second lap. My first two miles were run in about 16:10 (8:05 mile pace) while I finished the second lap in 33:15 so I slowed about 32 seconds per mile on the second lap mostly because I wanted to be crisp and not too winded on the bike. I think there were about 15 guys ahead of me doing the long course at the end of the first run leg.

I went into transition and completed the transition in 1 minute 15 seconds. I took my time to catch my breath as I was putting on my cycling shoes. We had to walk/run our bikes out of transition to the road and mount there. Most of the cyclists were rocking out on full tri bikes with discs and aero helmets. Not yours truly with my old school road bike. I did not have a chance to preview the cycling course before the race but I would be making two laps of the course so I figured I would push hard all the way on the first loop which was an out and back course and use the knowledge of the route learned on the first loop to plan a smart second loop. The first few miles were not ideal since we were rolling on hard impact crushed rock (averaging 17-19 mph) but then we turned onto a concrete main artery road that was thinly traveled at that hour. There was a hill about 1 mile from the turn onto the concrete road but it was not very long or steep so I was able to ride up it averaging about 14-15 mph. Once I crested the hill I pushed hard on the downside and switched into the big chain ring and started rolling 23-25 mph for a minute or two. After about 3 miles we turned left onto a second main artery road and traveled for about 6 miles until we turned around. Again I was able to hold a pace between 18-19 mph most of the way.

On the first lap 3-4 riders past me the first few miles and after that my position held until right before the turn around when I passed a few cyclists who were also riding something other than a tri bike. At the conclusion of the first bike leg at the college I swapped out a water bottle for a second one provided by the volunteer staff and also picked up a gatorade twist top bottle that I carried for the next mile while I drank it. Good stuff but I lost a few seconds coming to a complete stop to pick it up. My time for the first 20 mile loop was an hour and 3 minutes. I was trying to maintain a thirty minute per 10 mile pace which I held on the first 10 miles before the turn around but the wind was at my back on the way out but in my face coming back to the college so I naturally slowed down a little. As I was a few miles out from the second lap I began to pass the top racers beginning their second lap ahead of me. I tried to count them and came to around 20 or 21 riders. Not bad I thought. Well, I tried to maintain a good pace going back out now that I knew the course and my legs felt pretty good. I rode another 30 minute split for the first 10 miles and on the way back was able to close the gap on three riders that I think had passed me on the first loop.

When I dismounted the bike they were still about 20-30 seconds ahead of me but looking at them it was apparent that I would be able to catch them on the run so I was pleased. The second transition was pretty quick since I was determined to get in and get out as fast as possible. Total time for T2 was 45 seconds which was basically racking the bike, switching into running shoes and ditching the helmet and gloves. My legs were feeling a little sore but still turning over fairly well. I was able to catch four runners within the first mile all of whom looked like they were hurting. I saw three of the four start walking as I was approaching them. I stopped for water near the first mile and took in some water and dumped the rest over my head. I think stopping really interfered with maintaining a good pace but I felt like I needed the water. I stopped a second time in mile two for water as well. At the conclusion of the first loop I was running at about 19 minutes or 9:30 minute per mile pace.

I started the second loop determined not to stop for water and hoped this would lead to a faster time. Not stopping for water was a good idea since I was able to pass another runner at the water table and tried to hold my pace to the finish. I finally began noticing the heat which was increasing and I could feelt my arms and shoulders getting baked but I was near the finish so I had no worries. The finish came up and I came across the line in 3 hours 20 minutes and change. Not stopping for water dropped my second loop time by a minute for the 2 mile course to a 9 minute per mile pace.

Overall thoughts on the race: I was happy to be allowed into the race given the circumstances and also pleased the race was shortened afterward. Also, the previous duathlons I competed in all had bike legs of between 20 to 24 miles so it was great to go roughly twice that distance in a race knowing that I recently signed up for a half ironman this coming summer which would include a 56 mile bike leg. Now I know I can race the bike at a good clip for long distances and can complete the half ironman assuming I survive the swim. I will post more after starting a new entry; stay tuned.

The first step is always the hardest.....

Friday October 10th 2008:

I have been contemplating starting this blog for a few weeks but now I have finally taken the plunge and begun the journey. The primary delay was the notion of picking a name for the blog which was a major roadblock until today. I wanted something to connote my uniqueness without divulging anything too personal to start out with since being so public with my thoughts is a new experience. I was in my car driving onto the highway when the name quickly formed in my mind. So, how did I do? I must admit I do enjoy reading some individual's blogs including my sister's and thought this would be a cool way to share events in my life along with some random thoughts on various topics. However, I need to learn the art of posting pics and get in the habit of actually taking them to document my life on a regular basis since that is often a highlight of the blogs I typically peruse. So, no pics for the first post but I will try to incorporate them in the future.

I was in line at the local McDonald's this evening preparing to enjoy a truly wonderful McRib value meal with my standard obligatory reading material when the cashier asked what I was reading. Every once in a while I get this question which I am always happy to entertain. I replied it was a book about Warren Buffett. She stared at me blankly and I said, "Do you know who he is?" "No" came her reply. I offered up the fact that he was the wealthiest individual in the country and a younger gentleman in line behind me asked if he was receiving part of the proceeds from the sale of the book. While not 100% certain, I replied that I did not think so since I recall Alice Schroeder indicating that while he fully cooperated with the book and encouraged her, there was no compensation to Buffett himself despite something like a 5 million dollar advance given the expected sales. I then asked him if he followed Buffett and he replied "somewhat". The two of us then began discussing the Oracle of Omaha for a few minutes and he revealed he was going back to school for his MBA and managed his own investment portfolio through Scottrade. It was one of those rare moments when two strangers find a common interest and could go on for quite some time if not for the tedious task that brought them together in the first place. Alas, my food was ready and my new friend was receiving his order to go. I wished him luck in the pursuit of his MBA and proceeded to sit down to my McRib and stories of Warren collecting an ever increasing web of friends who in turn recruited investors for him that all parlayed a small grub stake into some of the most incredible fortunes of the latter half of the twentieth century. It is truly a remarkable story which has been told elsewhere of course, but Schroeder's book has some new tidbits and a sprinkling of Warren's perspective of events I have read about from outside observer's viewpoints previously. I exhorted my young friend to read as much as possible about Buffett to increase his knowledge of the investing world. I think he will be very successful in life and investing as well. He radiated a quiet sense of confidence I immediately related to and wish I had more of an opportunity to speak with him but the moment passed without my thinking of a way to extend it.

I will be attending a duathlon tomorrow morning in Illinois which should be interesting, assuming I don't oversleep. The race is composed of a 5 mile run, then a 40 mile bike followed by a second 5 mile run. Those are the long course distances. The short course is half the above listed distances. I expect to be able to run the first 5 mile in around 40 minutes give or take depending on how flat the course is. The bike should take somewhere between 2:00 to 2:30 hours while the final run should be around 45 minutes or less. So, I am looking at around 3:30 hours of racing at a minimum which is the longest race other than a marathon I have ever competed in. It should be interesting to see how I do since the run and the bike are my relative strengths within the triumverate known as triathlon. In addition, this race has a seperate category for clydesdale athletes which is the term for those male athletes who weigh over 200 lbs. I support the idea of creating a seperate category for the heavier athletes because it is clearly more challenging to be carrying around significantly more weight than your typical elite runner/cyclist. However, I must actually weigh in tomorrow according to the race website which is a first for me. Most races either don't have a category for heavier athletes or they simply take their word for it(their weight). I look forward to the process since it reminds me of high school wrestling and athletes doing whatever is necessary to make weight. Unfortunately, I am not that close to the line yet but perhaps by next year I will be under the 200 lb limit and competing in my age group as a moderately skinny guy. Stay tuned for a race review coming soon.