training - 4 weeks (or so) left!

This past week was tough for training. I spent quite a bit of time recovering. It's interesting to see your body recover from illness. You feel fine after being sick, and engaging in normal every-day activities isn't a problem, but you can tell when running your energy reserves have been sapped.

I wanted to do 15 or 16 today since I missed last week. However the trail in Umstead State Park (Black Creek Greenway) is brutal with hills. Plus I ran hard and well.

I turned around when my GPS thingy said 6.5. It said 12.82 (miles) when done in 1:57.

21 miles next week. I need it if I'm going to finish 26.2.

No training today - sick :-(

I got sick starting Friday afternoon and had the other kind of runs much of the night. I had a fever for part of the day today. No training run today.

I was supposed to run 18 today and 13 this Saturday. Looks like I'll run 18 this Saturday.

The good news is I have so much Gatorade in the house that I don't have a problem with liquid or electrolytes.

training update

Because my GPS went out for a mile when I was running I really don't know how far I ran. I figure about 12 and 2/3 miles or so as I didn't run the full 13. I ran for an hour and 55 minutes. The two people behind me - one of the coaches and another guy - finished in 2 hours and 2 minutes, and I was probably 4 minutes ahead of them.

I felt really good and keep shaving time. I guess I know the secret now - the night before, go out with wife and her co-workers, have some wings, fries, and get Taco Bell on the way home.

This Saturday is 18 miles. We'll see how that goes.

fundraising - almost there

To those of you that have donated, thank you.

To those of you that haven't, shame on you. It's time to man up and donate. I am over 3/4 of the way to my commitment. Please send your envelopes along with a donation today. I do appreciate it.

Thank you notes and other stuff are coming after the marathon (so I can let you know how I did!).

On a related note, does anyone know of a facility with a kitchen someone would be willing to donate for an evening? This would be for a fundraiser. Thanks.

training update

This past Saturday was 16 miles around RTP. I finished 13.1 in under 2 hours, and all 16 in 2:28:14. I don't know what pace that is. I just know that the last 3 miles were slower than the first 13. I shaved 6 minutes off my time from the week before. I'm very happy.

Afterwards I went to sell a bunch of donuts outside Wal-Mart as part of fundraising. I don't know what my haul is just yet. I'm close to the fundraising goal which is all I know at this point. I was standing for about 6 hours. After running 16 miles. I'm supposed to run 6 miles today. I tried this morning and gave up after 2 1/3. My legs were not happy. I did walk the dog before so that counts for something.

This week is 13 miles.

When did rock 'jump the shark'?

For those that need a primer, here explains Jump the Shark.

I was listening to the radio the other day and heard the song White Unicorn by Wolfmother. I happen to like this song. My wife doesn't care for it. Everytime she hears anything by Wolfmother, she starts singing a random Led Zeppelin song. Wolfmother comes in the radio in the car, my wife starts, "Hey hey mama said the way you move..." Great.

I see the comparison. High tenor, heavy arena-rock power guitars. I totally get it. But it got me thinking. This is the kind of thing that would get played on a rock station 30 years ago. Now, it's an alternative song. Why, I don't know. If there really were rock stations these days this is what they would play I would think.

Which got me thinking. When did rock jump the shark? Specifically, what was the last rock album? When Nevermind came out in 1991, rock radio stations starting playing alternative bands. The Smashing Pumpkins and the Red Hot Chili Peppers were the new mainstays of rock stations at the time. This shortly after Motley Crue and Bon Jovi and bands like that were the big deal.

Let me state this another way. Think about what classic rock stations play now. The latest stuff they will play is Orange Crush by REM and maybe something from Achtung Baby by U2. The XM radio station Top Tracks doesn't play much newer than that. Maybe some late Mellencamp (is that really rock? Eeeewww.). But think about it. Do class rock stations (classic ones in particular) play anything later than 1990? When does 90s era rock become 'classic'? It's treated as another form of music altogether.

So I began to come up with a list of albums that marked the end of rock as we knew it. The short list includes Shake Your Money Maker by The Black Crowes (some rock stations play Hard to Handle) and Use Your Illusion I and II by Guns 'n' Roses. However, even though it came out before Use Your Illusion (by a month or so), I would argue the last rock album was The Black Album by Metallica. After that, Nevermind came out, Ten came out, and the rock era was over.

Think about it. Everything after Metallica's Black Album was either crap (Jackyl anyone?) or alternative (or was labeled as alternative even if it wasn't). Hair bands were dead. And we all had to watch the video for Evenflow (Pearl Jam) on MTV way too many times.

Help me out here. I know I've lost my mind, but what do you think?

Good news

As it turns out, I don't have to deal with outsourcing after all. My manager convinced the company to get a local hire instead of dealing with the offshore people. SWEET!

training update - 16 miles

I ran 16 miles yesterday. It was a "15 mile" training day, but the loop was 5.2 miles. Well, more like 5.3 according to GPS. So I ran an extra 0.1. 2 hours 34 minutes. Considering the potty break that's not bad. I think that's a 9 minute 37 second pace. That was a good training pace as I wasn't overly tired at the end. I mean, my legs were very angry but I wasn't walking at the end of the training run. I was able to run up "Glaxo hill," albeit slowly, a 3rd time (training was done in Research Triangle Park, and there is a grade going up to the entrance of GSK).

16 miles again next week.