Colorado Trip - Report 4 - glaciers and good times

A bit less total hiking yesterday, most of it near St. Mary's Glacier, near Idaho Springs. I climbed up most of the way to the top of the ice field (it's not really a glacier since it's stationery) off the rocks to the side, but did not go to the top since I really didn't want to twist an ankle going down two days before the big hike.

After a brief visit to the town of Alice, no restaurant there, I ate lunch in Idaho Springs. Then I decided to go to Central City for a bit. Since my rental company gave me a Suzuki SUV (which I normally would NEVER drive but it was my best option), I figured I'd try Virginia Canyon Road, County Road 279, Prospectors Highway, but the unofficial name is Oh My God Road. Well, it's called that for a reason. That used to be the only way to get from the two cities. I chickened out after the first two miles and turned around and went back down another road. It's even scarier going from Central City to Idaho Springs from what I gather.

The link above described the Central City casinos as decrepit. I respectfully disagree. Black Hawk, just down the road, is a lot more spiffy, with facy looking parking garage, newer brick buildings, but notice the new brick buildings. Central City is an old mining city with a lot of cool victorian houses and has a feel of an old town trying to revitalize itself. They even have an opera house. Black Hawk's too new for me.

I rarely gamble but decided to stop in Doc Holliday's Casino to play a couple slots for fun. I only lost $1 gambling in very low stakes slots, and even that was more of a goodwill gesture loss at a slot machine that I had no clue how to play since they found my apartment key that I dropped while reaching for my money. Great staff, they even offered me a drink even though I played slots for less than 5 minutes. I respectfully declined since I had to drive home.

I met up with some more friends at the British Bulldog Pub in Denver. Enjoyed a couple stout beers, some food, and we watched a soccer match, the Colorado Rapids beat FC Dallas 1-0 on a perfectly executed corner kick. Good times all around, I head down to Colorado Springs in about an hour for the grand finale of the trip. I DO NOT WANT to go back to VA right now.

Colorado Trip - Report 3 - DNS = Did Not Summit

Two hours into my hike I started asking myself did I really want to push forward 45-60 more minutes, when I was meeting friends later that afternoon? When I started asking myself that, I answered my own question. I turned around after 2 hours, still happy with the climb and with the very limited if any effects of being at 11,500 to 13,700 or so feet above sea level. Guanella Pass is as mind-numbingly beautiful as ever (more pictures), I got down to the parking lot before the weather got dicey, and the Burgers at My Brother's Bar are as great as ever. I took part in the new DC rage of taking pictures of burgers before eating them, and I will add that to the picture library.

Tomorrow's a light hike before meeting up with people in the city. Should be fun.

Colorado Trip - Report 2 - some old favorites

None of the people I was going to meet up with this week are free tonight so I'm going to pass out in a few minutes. Before that, I hiked two old favorite local to Denver mountains today. Mount Morrison is just above quite possibly the greatest place on earth, Red Rocks. The first link is the best description of the trail I can find online, although the barbed wire fence isn't there anymore. This was a tough one hour climb, with more scrambling on rocks than I am comfortable with. But oh well, it was easier for me physically than it was on Thanksgiving Day 2005 when I climbed it last. Yeah, running a lot in the Old Dominioven helps with conditioning.

The way down, let's say I continued my tradition of losing the path, and having to slide down half the mountain on my butt to avoid stumbling, or worse, kicking over rocks that will fall a lot. Fortunately this is the only trail where I was always lose the path. I snapped a few photos that will come soon to a Flickr site near you. Including one of me snapped by a young lady who moved to Colorado from New Jersey and never wants to go back. Heck, can I move back to Colorado?

The second hike of the day was a five minute drive south of Red Rocks at Mount Falcon Open Space Park. I went up and down the Castle Trail with a side trip to the Walker ruins, which was intended to be a Summer White House. Good, quick hike that took just over two hours if you take away the lunch time, 5.6 miles in all.

I must go pass out now at 8:30 after a short swim in the hotel pool if I want to get up early enough to attempt a 14er, Mount Bierstadt. If I don't get up early enough, there are oh about 150,000 other trails I can hike. As long as I keep with the plan to go higher in altitude with each day, and I'm back in town by 4 pm to meet up with friends. It all depends on when I wake up, I'm doing my best to go with the flow and not over-plan and force myself to adhere to an exact schedule like living in DC forces you to over half the time.

Colorado Trip - Report 1 - real back roads

SuperShuttle got me there just after 7:30 am, tons of time to spare, flight to Colorado Springs via DFW uneventful. As was getting the rental car. I start driving up into the mountains on US 24, since I decided to take the slow, scenic route to Denver, and I'm already tempted to get out the boots and start hiking. But I decided after 9 hours in/on terminals/plane/rental car lines I'm not going to do that. I did walk around a small town called Green Mountain Falls for a bit, but I did miss the Kermit the Frog Mountain on 24 west. Walked a short road and pedestrian only road to get a limited view of the falls themselves, but had neither time nor hiking shoes to start hiking up the mountain. So on to Woodland Park I went, where I found a City Market to get some bread to make sandwiches for this week's hikes, and some disposable cameras. I took several pictures of an awesome shot of Pikes Peak that I will share when I get back to VA and have them developed.

After leaving Woodland Park, I took Colorado Route 67 north to the tiny town of Deckers. And I mean tiny, a couple houses, one bar, and ice cream shop. Before I got there, I drove through a good part of the site of the Hayman Fire, which was so large and vicious it turned the sky in Aurora, CO, at least miles away, near black at 4 pm the first day it really spread. Six years later, you can still see how the reforestation process is just beginning.

At Deckers, I took a right towards Sedalia then stayed on the road towards US 285. South Platte River Road became North Platte River Road (unpaved) then South Platte River Road (unpaved). This was a real, real, unpaved, narrow back road that followed the South Platte River but went on forever. I passed about 20 camping spots and portable bathrooms. This would be a great road to go 4 wheeling and/or mountain biking on, driving, not so much. But it feels great to be out in Colorado again, and was awesome to be in the mountains, even if I don't start hiking until tomorrow. I even got a shot of the old South Platte Hotel where the north and south forks of the South Platte River meet. Read more about this wonderful river. The hotel was an old railroad hostel, and I have a picture where it's not flooded. When I get back to VA, right now I'm tired and need sleep.

Thinking of the Gulf Coast

We're all thinking of you as Gustav approaches. Stay safe and sound.

The Human Race in Arlington

A couple of people from the Fun Runs out of Pacers Running Stores in Alexandria showed up to run the same run as I did. There were 20-25 people total, Pacers did a fantastic job putting this together. Running through the small but numerous hills of Arlington was a challenge but I'm glad I did it. Not a great time should the race had been timed, but considering I walked a little of the course because of cramps, it's all good. Yup, the Custis bike/running trail is one small hill after another.

Trail run in Great Falls - good but tiring

I went on a trail run of about 75-80 minutes through Great Falls Park, as well as not only the Difficult Run Trail outside the park but a private horse trail that I didn't know was private until I reached the end. The "owner" really needs to put the Private sign on the Old Dominion Road side of the trail if he/she doesn't want people doing what I did (unintentionally of course). Hiked the mile or two back to my car since I was tired, happy with what I ran especially after yesterday's run.

All and all a good day. One of the reasons why I pay $59.99 a month for an all clubs (35 in the area) membership at Gold's Gym is, well I can use tons of them. There was one on my way to do some shopping, in South Arlington. So I decided to ride the bike for a bit to get the lactic acid out of my legs, and do some abdominal work. South Arlington Gold's, you have big TVs in the cardio area, big plus. You are lacking in abdominal equipment though. However, I was very pleased to find out I'm even lighter than I thought. I had drank a bunch of water after my run to re-hydrate, but weighed in at 25-28 pounds less than I was on January 1. The lightest I've weighed in at in a long time, maybe since college! Of course I probably added a pound or two after dinner at Don Pablo's but I could have done worse food wise and a slight weight gain happens after dinner.

Tonight it's pack for Colorado and watch a little college football. Every year I tell myself I'm going to jettison my cable television. Then football season starts.

I may be officially insane - almost 15 miles last night

I used some comp time to leave work early yesterday since I will be too busy to use it when I return from Colorado. Not that work isn't always busy but there's more going on than ever. I decided to go on a nice long run, probably longer than I had ever run before. With the half marathon coming up, I decided it was time to push myself. I decided to run from Belle Haven to Mount Vernon on the Mount Vernon Trail. That's right, close to 15 miles, it's about .3 miles or so, maybe a bit longer to the mile 7 marker. I went all the way up to mile zero and back. And up it is. No real steep hills, but the descriptions that describe the trail as flat aren't being totally accurate. Lots of small climbs involved. It took me longer to run the we'll say 14.5 miles than I thought it would, seeing as it wasn't hot but quite humid, and I wasn't in a hurry.

I finished the run between 14.5 and 15 miles, could have run a bit more to make it 15 but I said screw it, I've run enough and my legs got heavy 4 miles ago. Longest run of my life, so I was glad it was over. I know I can push myself more and more without being insane. Or did I say I was insane already? I'm going to go for a nice little trail run in Great Falls Park, on the VA side and use my pass, still not willing to deal with the crowds on the MD side. Parking shouldn't be an issue as I imaging a lot of people got out of town even with gas prices being so high. Sunday is the Nike Human Race 10K in Arlington, we'll that's a fun run and a chance to meet some new folks. I may have to pass on a Sunday night party since I have to leave for the Metro at 7 am to go to the airport Monday.

9:50 am - this time next week, at 7:50 am, I will be somewhere around Barr Camp, halfway up Pikes Peak, as part of the Pikes Peak Challenge. Life is good.

Well, Axl Rose, if it hadn't taken you over 10 years to get this out...........

Then maybe no one would have felt the need to try to pull the Napster of this late decade. Are we going to see this Chinese Democracy album or real democracy in China first? The jury's still out. BTW, if you think Metallica's last few albums have sucked, Listen to this, it definitely does not suck. This song is on tap for tomorrow night.

Annapolis 10 Miler - Completed and HIGHLY recommended

Before I talk about the race itself, I'll talk about what could have been. I was running later than I thought I would in terms of getting up to Annapolis, and to boot I thought I was ready to go but forgot my sunglasses. A five minute delay caused by me going back to get them could have saved me a lot of headaches as it turned out. I was delayed a bit on the Beltway by a nasty car wreck that required multiple ambulances and police cars. Had I not had that last delay I would have been right in that area where the wreck happened. Whew!

They had a running expo where I picked up my registration packet, picked up some running tights for cooler temps for 1/3 of what they normally cost. Also picked up a couple of Under Armour tops for cheap and a pair of Adidas running shoes for $30, continuing my mantra of if you get them for ridiculously cheap get them and save them for later. Hotel was okay but breakfast started at 7, race starts at 7:45. Damn. Had to drive out to Giant to get some bananas, gotta have the potassium.

Race morning, other than the traffic to Navy Marine Corps Stadium (which is smaller than I figured it would be but I think they took out seats in one of the end zones - the seats look like they're on top of the action though) everything went well. I decided to take it as more of an experimental race since a ten miler is a new distance for me, there were lots of hills, and I was trying out a new running belt that holds small water bottles.

Well, I lost about 3 minutes or so because I had to fix stuff with the belt and shorts (just like Rockville) but that was cool. The hills weren't ridiculously steep save for a small one after crossing the Navy Bridge into Severn, but there were a lot of them. Not to mention crossing the same bridge twice, followed by an uphill stretch at mile 9 that we didn't run down on the way there. The final rough count: 1 hour 37 minutes 10 seconds. Not a great pace for me by any means, but it was the longest race for me yet, and as I said earlier, it was an experiment just as much as it was a race. Keeping in mind the time I lost, the hills, and the fairly high humidity, and I was pleased with the day. My legs didn't start to feel heavy until mile 8 or so, good sign. I was able to run harder than I had been towards the finish line to finish strong, another good sign.

I definitely recommend this race to people. There are reasons why the 5,500 participant limit fills up in barely over a week, if that. It's a very professional operation with tons of water stops. And there were plenty of neighbors who squirted us with hoses (and the runoff water all seemed to go downslope somewhere for re-use!). I love the running jacket I got as a premium for finishing too! The city's also pleasant, reminded me of a smaller Old Town Alexandria with Boston-style, not straight, cobblestone streets. Tons of people there, no shortage of places to eat. A worthwhile weekend for sure.

Tough Hills Right Across From Belle Haven Country Club

Ticked off that you can't afford to, or have no desire to go become a member of Belle Haven Country Club? Have no fear, come run the hills across Fort Hunt Road with me! Come on, all six of them so you can suffer with me! Here is a map of the area, which is just east of Richmond Highway (Route 1). I cross Richmond Highway, which requires care, caution, and waiting for the walk light. You can park at the parking area off the GW Parkway and run up Belle Haven Road to Fort Run. In fact Belle Haven is one of the hills.

It's a Six Hill Course that I call the Suffering Six. You run up and down each one. Run them in any order, but considering I'm coming from the west, I usually go:

1. Woodmont - the small circle where it meets Hunting Cove and Vernon is the end of the hill, probably the longest of the six.

2. Hunting Cove - a steep but short one.

3. Edgehill - see #2.

4. Glen / Summit - run up one side of the Y shaped confluence of roads, turn on the straight road then run down the other side.

5. Belle Haven - probably the steepest, run it up to Radcliff where the hill ends.

6. Windsor - the grand finale, run to the intersection with Olmi Landrith Drive. Instead of running down Windsor, you can substitute continuing on Windsor, take a right on Tally Ho, then run up Foxcroft.

You've earned that beer and dinner after running these hills. Don't believe me? Run them with me. It won't be a fast run, but it will be a tough, demanding, hills workout that you'll be glad you did when you're done.

Latest Personal Running Tour: Shaw, Howard University, and Georgia Avenue

After zig zagging through the National Mall and Chinatown, I decided to run up 6th Street instead of past the Convention Center on 7th. I got to run through parts of the historic Shaw Neighborhood (great old school row houses), the east side of the U Street Corridor (lots of newly redone row houses), Howard University (attractive campus I must say and a great school), the Children's Medical Center Complex, and then up Georgia Avenue, where I went into the Petworth Metro Station and promptly fell asleep on the train back to the gym. Yay being over-tired!

Future races on the docket:

Annapolis Ten Miler
Army Ten Miler
Richmond Half Marathon

Pikes Peak Hike in 3 Weeks

Looking forward to my first visit to Annapolis and my second to Richmond. There are some other races I will be running in, I'll post about them as I sign up. I'm also thinking of making this pretty much a running blog with some forays into hiking. I've been running steadily since December of 2006 and am now hooked like I was on skiing in Colorado. Some days I feel like I'm getting better, some days I don't. But I'm down close to 20 pounds since January 1, and will run my ass off in the late calendar year to prevent the late year weight gain.

However, after the half marathon, I'm going to stop racing for 3-4 months and volunteer at some races instead. The running community has given a ton to me in my brief time in it, so I want to give something back.

Vacation's over, back in Alexandria

Vacation with friends and family was a wonderful experience. Friday night I met up with my two closet friends from high school. Awesome to get together with them at the 99 Restaurant in Lowell, MA. Cool to find out that they are into NY State, PA, and NJ now since the food's always good, the popcorn is always plentiful, and whenever I've had beer there (I did not on Friday) it's kicked butt. Just beware the Charlestown location has had some shady activities happen on the premises. :D (not by staff). The important thing was catching up with my buddies, both of them are new fathers. WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!

From Saturday through today I spent my time in Ossipee Lake, NH and Eliot, ME. I have three nephews, aged 14, 12, and 7. The youngest had his birthday party on Sunday in Maine. Good times all around, got to see all three of them kneeboard, water ski, and/or tube, questionable weather or not. I got my running in too, including at least a 9 mile run that included a run into the Ossipee Mountains. I found a road that would take me halfway up the mountain to a place I'd never been even if I had spent a lot of 15 plus summers at Ossipee Lake. Steep climb, check. 90 minutes plus run, check. Great view of a mountainside over a pond, all enclosed in fog, I wish I had a camera since I never get to places like that anymore. Check.

Cool times with family, who were thrilled to see me. Double check. The only drawback was I left my blue Asics hat in New Hampshire. Ah, I'll get it mailed to me. I got to go to the ice cream place we always went to too, one scoop there = three everywhere else. Great times. Now back to work.

First trip up hills of neighboorhood of youth in at least ten years

It's probably been closer to fifteen years since I went up to some of the hills up the street from where I grew up. These hills were on streets in Dracut, MA (see the roads just north of Thompson Lane and close to Whortle-Berry Hill. I'm a better runner and more fit than I was for most of my childhood so I was interested to find out if the hills I used to think were tough to pedal a bike up were still daunting. Nope, like speed bumps, most of the streets hadn't changed at all.

When I went into the State Forest I came up to a trail junction right after I got off one of the paved residential roads. I thought to myself, uum I know they've built houses since I left Dracut but this is awfully close for the trails to meet up. Oh crap, the old pond I used to get in trouble for skating on in the winter is right in front of me! I used to remember hiking in a short bit to get there. The trail and unpaved road I ran on in the forest was quite steep so I got my hills workout in.

Not looking forward to seeing the pond I described above should I go for another run tomorrow before heading up to Ossipee Lake, New Hampshire for a couple days with my family. It was a lot smaller than I remember and much, much dirtier. Nothing more than a tan-brown breeding ground for mosquitoes now. I remember the water and ground being a very dark color.

Looking forward to meeting up with my two closest friends from high school in a couple hours. It's been fun so far, now I'm just chilling out a bit.

Dear Brett Favre,

I wanted to take a moment in my busy schedule to welcome you to your new surroundings. Heck, I wanted to do this so much I am going on four hours of sleep instead of six when I have a 7 am flight to catch......because I really want to do this. See, you need to be welcomed into your new world a.k.a. as AFC East. This is a far different world than you are used to in near-tropical Mississippi of the Frozen Tundera of Lambeau Field. So I wanted to welcome you.

Out of the kindness of my heart, I will present you with a brief overview of the occupants of your new hood. That or I want to punish you and the media for creating a 40 day opera out of your garbage way to get out of Sconnie, I forget which. We'll start with Miami. Don Johnson is no longer the King Johnson, Dwayne is. Mercury Morris is still a cokehead who needs to get his ass whooped but he doesn't play defensive back so you don't need to worry about him. Jason Taylor's dancin' in Washington, so you will have pulled this I quit / not I don't quit crap three more times before the Dolphins are even back to mediocre.

Buffalo, a city on a nice big lake. Maybe a bit like your old friends Detroit. But you see Brett, we don't play nice in the northeast like they do in the midwest. You won't get greeted by Viking Mascots, Cheesheads, or other polite midwesterners. If you're fortunate, they'll stick to snowballs. 20 degrees and 40 miles per hour winds are not as pleasant when the home crowd doesn't worship you, so I thought i would let you know because you're in a good mood.

Your new home fans will call you Broadway Brett, Brett. Until you throw five intereceptions in a game. Then they will give you a more traditional New York / New Jersey salute, you know the one where you think they've lost four fingers. You like to improvise on the football field. But guess what Brett, your c-list actor doughboy coach does not. He is systematic. And he knows defense, I'll give him that. But offense isn't his thing, and he's the boss. And you're under a far less forgiving microscope know, but we've discussed that.

Finally the last team and neighboor in your new hood. New England Patriots. No team plays less nice than ours. I'm tired of writing this welcome letter, so let's get right to the point. September 14 and November 13, your sorry ass is ours. And no we're not helping you find the southern fried Wisconsin Cheese sticks. Welcome to hell.

Best weather day of the summer so I took a running tour of DC

Sometimes I like to take my own running tours of DC. Seeing as I need the exercise, the mileage to train for fall races, and there's lots of parts of DC I haven't been to yet, there you go. First Stop: Exorcist Steps. I start at the top of the steps, head east two blocks to 34th St, down the hill and past Georgetown Running Company, west on M Street past Dixie Liquors, then a sprint up the steps. That's a lap. I made that lap 12 TIMES today!!!! That's 3 more than I ever had done before. That fired me up to get 12 done. I probably could have had a couple more but I knew I was running a bit later on and didn't want my legs to turn into collapseable rubber.

Second Stop: C&O towpath up to Fletchers Boathouse. Walked a bit up towards the boathouse, made some phone calls, ran the last mile and a half. Now, I promise I'm not a yuppie scumbag who screams into his cell phone at all times to let the world know where I am. I needed to contact my two closest friends from my hometown to get in touch with them for plans for this weekend. I'll be home in New England for the weekend, and both have children under one. So these were actually important calls. I walked on the less populated, dirt and rock, path, and was very quiet on the phone. No one uses the dirt there anyway since the asphalt path is just below it. Yeah that's an easy decision for bicyclists. And for runners without trail shoes for that matter. The boathouse had people renting canoes, buying ice cream, one two year old girl run after a car down the hill (kudos to her mom for grabbing her and making it clear she can't do that but not grabbing her forcefully and not screaming her head off), and me buying a Gatorade G2 since I was running out of water. I know now exactly where the Capital Crescent Trail ends so I can expand my running / occasionally biking exploits.

Third Stop: Rich parts of NW. Reservoir Road, Georgetown Hospital, Wisconsin Ave and S Street Safeway, and California Avenue were on the docket. Random thoughts: The German Embassy looks like an apartment complex from the 1970s but where the builders forgot to take down the support pillars. The French Embassy looks like a Metro or other train station. There were three dudes sitting outside the Myanmar Embassy for whatever reason, I wasn't about to ask. The Venezuelan Embassy is a humble brick colonial house. Yeah I had to go to the Safeway to get some more Gatorade to stay hydrated.

Fourth Stop: Dumbarton Park. A nice little oasis in an area that I will never live in, nor could I afford to. Tiny little trail run interrupted by a very big tree. Stepped over the tree and kept running.

Fifth Stop: Adams Morgan. I was going to get some chicken at El Rincon but decided against it at the last minute. Went by the Jumbo slice pizza place. Sorry, not paying $5.50. Saw some cute women in one of the cafes.

Sixth Stop: Columbia Heights Target. This was a good place to end the run / walk tour. Yellow Line stop to get back home. Check. My headphones busted on the run today so I needed new ones. Check. Finally headed home. All in all a great day topped off by a ribeye steak at home. Best weather day of the summer too. Rock on.

Old 97's at 9:30 Club

I went to 9:30 Club last night for the Old 97s. Other than my buddy got caught up at a job site and couldn't make it, it was a good show. Shit happens, I wish he could have made it though, was a good show. First opening bad, the Spring Standard, was decent. Rhett Miller produced their CD FWIW. The second band was okay too, I didn't catch their name but they were from El Paso.

I enjoyed the $3 happy hour Guinness at Duke's House on U and 12th at lot more than the $8 ones at the Club. Keep in mind that if I had known my buddy was gonna have issues getting there I probably wouldn't have drank beyond the $3 beer, that was my only regret. Old 97s didn't take the stage until 9:40 or so, too late for this old 34 year old who is in bed by 11 unless he has plans to be out. They put on a good show though. Very fast paced, not a lot of in between songs banter, sounded like seasoned pros.

I hadn't been to 9:30 in a while but now I have a better idea of what to expect when I go there next. The club didn't really get packed until 9 or so, between 8 and 9 no one really came through the doors. IF I so see Squeeze, I now know not to get there until 8:30 at the absolute earliest. Doors open at 7:30, I really don't need to see Spring Standard again (nothing against them but I can use that hour sleeping or doing other stuff). I stand wherever the crew does but try to stay away from the immediate front for many reasons.

Sargeant Stadanko, Sister Mary Elephant, and Dave are back - Far Out Man!

Cheech and Chong are reuniting for a tour. Just another thing for me to spend precious money on should they visit DC. Far Out Man! This would be worth going to though. I need to find an old vinyl record player so I can play Black Sabbath at 78 Speed! Maybe Dave will have one. Dave! Who? Dave's not here.

Trail run was a ton of fun, even if my hamstrings didn't cooperate

The run went for about 5 miles or so, maybe slightly more. Great trail, some small climbs and drops but nothing daunting, it's tough for me to describe the feeling out being out there other than it rocks. Mostly shaded trail, which in this morning's hazy, hot, humid sun was very much appreciated. The one and only drawback, I did stop and walk for a bit because my legs felt very heavy and tired, especially the hamstrings. It's usually the quads that feel heavy first but the hamstrings felt like 20 pound weights so I took it really easy at the end. I even stopped for a few minutes to take the view of the woods all in, seeing as I needed a couple minutes to rest and I don't get out on the trails much anymore.

All and all an excellent day. I did have the same issue as last weekend in Rockville with shorts falling down as I lose a couple pounds of water weight during the run, even with the Camelback for drinking water this happens on hazy/hot/humid days. That's a good reason to have shorts falling a bit though, the temporary and hopefully permanent weight drop I've experienced this year. If it means I can't wear these shorts running anymore, that's fine I can donate them somewhere.

Now it's time for rest, dinner, a little bit of further stretching (especially the hamstrings), and trying not to stress over the latest Red Sox garbage. The rest is needed because from last Sunday to today, here is my workout schedule:

Last Sun / Mon / Tue: Spinning class, with weights work on Sun and think Tue. 8 miles plus run on Thursday with a nasty hill, tough run on Friday, spin class and race last night, trail run today. BTW, I was happy with the first half of my race last night, not the second half as I really started to sag a bit. over time of about 55:05, which is fine in that heat and humidity. No challenging the 50 minute barrier until it's a lot cooler.

Losing my Smartrip Card, and Running Update

Okay, jackass who took my Metro card from the shuttle bus: you only got a free ride because I didn't get to the office in time to call and get my card cancelled. I admit to being careless in losing it on a five minute shuttle ride, so I'm not blameless. But stealing someone else's card from your own apartment complex, that's so teenage wannabe gangsta. I just wish I could see the look on your face when you tried using the card in the afternoon to find it cancelled! Sort of busted.

Running update: A coworker and I went for a post-work run. Coworker has 20 years in the USMC, so an easy jog it ain't. It's a struggle, but one I'm glad I went through when it was done. I think running at platoon pace or faster will help me become a better, stronger runner. I do know I should add more sprints to my training. That would definitely help me push through the end of races.

Tonight is a 10K race in Vienna to benefit Friends of the W&OD Trail. I had committed to this before Pacers' Twilight 5K was put together so I'm forgoing post-race beer and a quick Metro jaunt to and from the race for my original commitment. It's hot today but not really close to as humid as last Saturday, that's a plus. Humidity is supposed to increase later in the day as the race approaches, a minus. I thought I'd try to make a run at finishing under 50 minutes (my PR is 51:36) but that isn't realistic, so I'm going to make a best effort and see where it takes me.

Another wrinkle into the race is I went to a spinning class this morning. Spin plus race, haven't done that in that order since I started running somewhat seriously. I did spin after running a 5K once, but this is a new level of challenge. I'm up to it. Tomorrow I'm also up for a Trail Run here. I'm maybe even more excited for that than I am for tonight's race. I get to hang out and run on trails. YEAH!

6 WEEKS TO PIKES PEAK!

My soon-to-be trip to the Amazon.com "Mall" - What should I get?

Amazon.com is still doing very well for itself, I guess. I don't think I've been to that site more than a half dozen times in its existance. But I got a $40 gift certificate for my birthday so I will need to shop there soon. So help me out, what I should I get from Amazon? I'll really find out if is is really a "Mall" but without the foot traffic, parking lots, and yuppie mall rats that I can live without (I'm very proud to say that in four years of living in Denver, I only set foot in the yuppieish Cherry Creek Mall once, and that was only because I needed to get to a store for my cell phone provider and there was an event downtown that prevented me from going to that one).

What should I get at Amazon? The only thing I can say I really need is a new wallet. I needed a new coffee maker but I got that at an in-person store, I do not have the time to make an extra trip anywhere because a carafe busted in transit from a shipper. I have plenty of running shoes, don't know if they even sell clothes (I can always use new business causal pants), and definitely don't need anymore gadgets. Maybe I'll get the Led Zeppelin re-issued with new songs "The Song Remains The Same" double CD that I wanted to get at Circuit City. Back in the old days, that was my favorite double tape to play while driving through the New Hampshire mountains. Maybe I'll find the litte battery powered radio I've been looking for, Walgreens doesn't sell the $5 ones anymore. Or maybe I'll hold onto it until I actually need something. That sounds like a good deal to me.

Unless someone has a suggestion for me. Hey, Seattle's 90 miles from the Canadian Borders. Maybe they have an alcohol license and can ship me some Alexander Keith. Or am I getting away from efforts to drink even less than I do now, which ain't much, to save money?

Run went pretty well, considering the heat

Well, the race was delayed 10 minutes because of something called code black, i.e. it's quite dangerous to run with the humidity levels. So it started when the sun was completely down. The first mile was my best mile out of the almost five in this 8K. I tend to start out very quickly (for me) with the adrenaline and/or desire to get a bit ahead of the large pack of people. A lot of them will pass me but oh well. My first mile was 7:45, which for me is very good. This race had a couple small rolling hills, and we ran through the Montgomery College campus too. It was VERY humid so I slowed down a bit to make sure I wouldn't overheat.

All in all a good effort, 42:22, about 2 minutes behind my personal record, but very good considering the conditions. Yeah, even after 9 pm it was still like running in an oven with more moisture. But that's cool, and I kept my shorts up too! Well, I had to pull them up a bit twice to avoid a potential embarrassment. But that's a blessing in disguise because I need to tighten the same shorts that I would have had more issues fitting into them comfortably six months ago. I'm down 15-20 pounds since January 1, and hope to drop a couple more before my big hike in September, while doing some weight training as well.

For today, no running, taking the workout inside as it's miserably hot. 30 minutes on the stair climber, then a spin class. But beforehand, I need to get a new coffee maker. Mine's over two years old, and it seems to take 15-20 minutes just to brew coffee for me. So I'm going to Wal-Mart (which I VERY RARELY DO) to use a birthday card that was given to me in...........2006. I'll be so stressed out from fighting the crowds there that I'll work off the stress at the gym. he he

My first ever night road race

Well, it's tonight. I'm running in Rockville, should be a good time. The one drawback, Metro's doing track maintainence again so there are 36 minute delays until 7 pm. Yeah, I gotta take the 9A to Metro to Red Line at Gallery Place. I think the trains are supposed to run as normal after 7. Looking forward to another step in my racing "career".

Got $1.56 million? Wanna buy a small city?

White's City, New Mexico was basically put up for sale recently. If you had $1.56 million and wanted a small city at the exit to Carlsbad Caverns, you would have had the winning bid and hence would own your own city. Now if I had $156 million and the small city was near Taos, I'd bid.

Thunderstorms always get in the way of stuff

In my attempts to get ready for two 10 mile runs (Annapolis on August 24) and Army Ten Miler (October 5) then a half marathon (Richmond on November 15), I figured I'd go for a nice long run. And I did for quite a bit, mostly down Eisenhower Avenue, Pickett Street, and Taney Avenue, before it got too hot and I got too tired (gee Jeff could it be those beers you drank at the soccer game last night). So I walked a lot but that's cool too. Wanted to crash by the pool but by the time I got home, the sky got really dark with a ring of brighter sky around it. Nope I know it's only a short walk to the pool but I ain't gonna go outside in a thunderstorm. After two very close calls, one in Deer Creek Canyon Park, Colorado, on my 31st brithday, and a second in 2006 on Mount Washington, I go nowhere outside where there's even a half percent change of me getting hit by lightning.

So no pool, decent run, a lot of walking around Alexandria City, some exercise, a dinner at Baja Fresh, I feel okay. Now if it would only drop rain like it's threatened to for the last hour. If you're gonna keep me inside, at least warrant it. It could be a dry thunderstorm, which is one of the few things I didn't like about living in Colorado, so it could be worse.

For a more pleasant topic, I found another beer that I can drink without any side effects the next morning other than just being tired. Negra Modelo is the new addition to the all too short list, which includes:

Guinness
Flying Dog Scottish Porter
Negra Modelo

I'm all about the darker beers. If anyone actually sees this, recommend some beers that won't give me hangovers.

Brett Favre situation: not a good one all around

If you follow NFL Football and have not just crawled out from under a ten million pound rock, you know that Brett Favre wants to return to the NFL but not with the Green Bay Packers, who IMHO rightly refused his request to be released. Rumor has it that he wants to go play for the Minnesota Vikings. Yeah, Green Bay's really going to do that. If Green Bay lets him go anywhere, it will be somewhere in the AFC who the Pack won't play this season, as John Fricke and Lincoln Kennedy alluded to on Fox Sports Radio yesterday.

This is obviously a bad situation for the Packers and for Favre. His legacy is almost unparalled in today's modern sports world, you don't think that will take a Lake Michigan sized hit in a lot of people's minds if this goes on for too long? Especially if he somehow worms his way to the hated Vikings or still disliked Buccaneers? The current word is that the Packers would welcome him back as a backup to Aaron Rodgers. That will rip the team apart before the season even began.

Who else would this be not ideal for? Even if he did end up with the Vikings, I'm not convinced it would be good for them. Would Favre be an immediate improvement at the quarterback position on a team many think can make a Super Bowl run? Yes. But, as great as he has been throughout his career, he takes a lot of unnecessary risks that lead to bad interceptions. This was especially true in past years when he receiver pool was not deep. Minnesota has Bernard Berrian to stretch a defense but not a ton of talent otherwise.

Their offensive game plan needs to be: Run. Adrian Peterson. Left. Side. Run backup. Left side. Run third string RB. Left Side. Bringing in Favre would make it too tempting to throw the ball 40 plus times a game when the strengths of your team are ball control, run behind McKinnie and Hutch and defense, which will be one of the best units in the league. If I'm a Vikings fan, if you could even get over your bitter rival coming to play for you, would you not be concerned about too radical a departure from the ideal game plan for you team?

Brett, please stay retired. This isn't good for any party involved.

World Cup Getting The Boot From South Africa?

2010's World Cup is scheduled to be in South Africa. Whether or not it's actually there in 2010 has been up for debate for a while. Official word came down that FIFA President Sepp Blatter has had talks with three countries' Football Associations / Federations / yadda yadda about serving as alternate sites should something prevent South Africa from serving as host. Count me in the unsurprised camp on this one. There's been talk of security concerns since pretty much the day they were awarded the World Cup. All I hear and read is those concerns are still prevalent. A lesser concern is one of the main stadiums won't be ready for next year's Confederations Cup, a tournament of basically regional champions and the host country that is supposed to be the infrastructure tune-up for the real deal the next year. This isn't a huge deal given all the hyper, the sky is falling thoughts about Greece not having their facilities ready on time (they did when all was said and done). A significant concern is reports of a large TB outbreak that is happening at the moment. I feel for those affected by it, but if that doesn't get under control soon, it's time to give real thought to pulling the tournament in the name of preventing a potential catastrophe along the lines of thousands catching this and going back to all corners of the globe and spreading it, in many case unknowingly.

Now, let's play a guessing game. Which three countries did Mr. Blatter talk to? My educated guesses are England, Spain, and the US. Think nations with lots of facilities (i.e. stadiums) for a competition of this magnitude. Think infrastructure. FWIW, I did not put France or Germany under consideration since they hosted it so recently and didn't think they'd get an emergency tourney as a result (why did they get it again?).

JON FREAKING LESTER! AGAIN!

7-0 complete game shutout against the Yankees, in NY. Gotta love it! After walking the first two batters of the game, he dominates afterwards. No more walks, eight strikeouts, most importantly, no runs. What a great start to the big weekend series vs the hated Yanks. Thank goodness we don't get players like Johan Santana!

Happy July 4, everyone! Enjoy, drink up if you choose to, stay safe! Me, after my 8K, I get to take my car to NTB to make sure my brakes still work, then it's just baseball watching, chilling by the pool, and grillin. I'm not going to get caught in the madness, to each their own. Besides, I saw fireworks after last Friday's O's-Nationals game in DC.

Fuel 7 Hour Energy Shot - one cup of coffee

Okay, the seven hour stuff has enough caffeine that you would find in one cup of coffee. This stuff didn't make me a complete nervous fup. No more of the six hour, two cups of coffee crap. I'm going to give away the second one that I have, or have it in place of coffee in the morning. But 5-Hour Energy is still the best.

Other running notes, I am going to sign up for a half marathon tonight. Wish me luck, as of right now I have never run more than 10-11 miles in one day in my life.

Let the 5-Hour Energy Copycat Games Begin!

A week ago or so I described by addition to 5-Hour Energy bottles. Well, to make a long story short, I went to CVS during my lunch break to get an Odwalla Bar, and what do I see right next to 5-Hour Energy on the checkout counter? Copycat quick energy drinks!

Of course I had to buy a two pack of each out of curiosity. One tells of 6 Hours of Energy, the other 7. I haven't tried the latter yet, and since the bottles are at work, I don't remember the name. What I do remember is: Stay away from Extreme Energy 6-Hour Shot. One bottle allegedly has the caffeine of two cups of coffee as opposed to one for 5-Hour Energy. Way. Too. Much. Stay away, I needed to say it twice. All this drink did was make me an over-agitated, nervous, light-headed, and then flat out depressed wreck. Of course an issue with my car battery and car alarm contributed to the mayhem, but I was feeling like crap at work. All in all a day I'd rather forget. At least tomorrow's my birthday. I hope work and all is better, at least I know I'm running at night.

New grill review: well, it got rain delayed

Since my apartment complex took out the charcoal pits and grill racks, I had to go to Target to get myself a grill. Thermos brand, $15 bucks, only took my not very mechanical butt 25 minutes to put together. Got my instant charcoal, my chicken, the BBQ sauce to put on said chicken, I'm set to grill a few days worth of lunches and tonight's dinner. Right? Wrong.

I'm sure the grill will work very well when my grillin' session doesn't get rain delayed like it did tonight. To make a long story short, the storm that I thought was going to the east of my complex started arriving earlier than I thought. The wind the a bigger problem at first, to tell you the truth. But I've had too many close calls with lightning to take any chances whatsoever. I packed up the food, dumped the water I brought on the coals, and brought everything inside.

In short, the good, I have a grill that I already enjoy using. The bad, I got rain delayed and 45 minutes after I have everything in, it is just now raining. sorry, I don't like thunderstorms that don't drop any rain, this goes back to my Colorado days where this was too common of an occurence in an area that needs all the water it can get. The I'll learn, even with instant briquets, I can't just toss a bunch of them in this smaller grill, light a match, and have chicken finished in 7 minutes like I could with a flame-broiled ribeye steak on a big grill pit. Gotta wait a bit until the coals get gray and hot before really gettin' grillin'.

All in all, I can't wait to grill again next weekend.

Soccer played in the middle of a lakeside village, where's the marina with the ice cream freezer?

I flipped over to the USA-Barbados World Cup Qualifer (Yes, Spain-Italy in Euro 2008 gets top billing in my household, that's what happens when you have a major tournament quarterfinal vs a scrimmage that had an 8-0 goal advantage coming in) and what do I see?

A field that quite frankly looks like it may not even be 60 yards wide. Hell, this field makes Spartan Stadium look like a Nebraska plain. They've got some green seats put up in random spots, a couple of big video screens, and some houses that look like they are only 100 yards or probably a lot less from the grounds. No one is sitting in the seats on the TV side of the field. There's a boat stand or horse stable building behind one of the corners. Reminds me of a little lakeside village somewhere in the northeast where people go to their small summer homes. Where's the marina with the ice cream freezer?

Not quite the Braves returning to Boston

This weekend the Washington Nationals are playing a home series against the Texas Rangers, who were the Washington Senators until 1972. I saw the normal blurb about a weekend series in Express but no other acknowlegement that this series even exists from any other media source. Definitely not the 15,550 stories of the old Boston Braves returning to Boston in 1997 as the Atlanta Braves for inter-league play. Or the 3,300 old Braves fans that were in the park. That series was really nostalgic actually. I should know. I was at all three games. My next visit to Nationals Park? Next Week vs the Angels and the Orioles.

My newest addiction: 5 Hour Energy

Okay I kicked a soda habit about 8 years ago. Food prices are forcing me to give up my Gatorade addiction. I'm still addicted to coffee but I don't drink as much of it as I used to. My new addiction is 5-Hour Energy. I'm reasonably active so I need a kick from time to time. The popular canned energy drinks: Not for me, too much sugar and sodium. Not to mention that they mess up my stomach. So if I need the kick and/or extra caffiene, 5-Hour Energy is my addiction on choice. I feel a bit stronger after drinking one, it helped me complete the 9-10 miles I ran in spurts tonight. I'm prone to addictions, so I might as well be addicted to something that doesn't do a number on my stomach via carbonation and sugar. There you have it, even if it doesn't help me save money. $3.99 at 7-11, $2 at my work.

All Great Cities Must Have...

Someone, I forget exactly who but I am too lazy to look up, even on Google, said every great city has a river that runs through it. Well, maybe that dude was right. I've only lived in three cities (or Metropolitan areas if you look at it that way): Boston, Denver, and Washington, DC. All three have rivers running through them, the Charles, North/South Platte, and Potomac, respectively.

But there has to be more to cities than a river, right? I'm going to start a list of things that I think enhance the quality of cities. Just because.

Things that cities need to have:

- A River: I already talked about that, but walking or running along a river is a must do.

- Cool architecture: Boston has all the historical buildings and Victorian houses, Denver has better architecture than you think, DC iffy but Baltimore has tons of cool looking row houses. I really like Old Town Alexandria, The Fan in Richmond (next time I'm there I have to hang out near the James River) and the old part of Charleston, SC too.

- Cool statues: DC really shines here with all the monuments. I don't think I need to say anything more. Okay, I do. The Red Auerbach statue outside the Navy Memorial is priceless.

- Cool bars: I mean places where I can hang out, have a beer or two without paying ridiculous, near aged wine prices, can actually hear what people are saying, and don't have to wear $200 jackets and pants to fit in. Davis Square, Somerville and Porter Square, Cambridge are good for this, as is Lower Broadway, most of LoDo in Denver (although I avoided the clubs and the idiots that stagger out of them at closing time), and various pockets of Denver. Old Town Alexandria has it here, I can't really comment on Adams Morgan since I never make it up there, Capitol Hill has some decent places. Baltimore has tons of them in the Inner Harbor and a sufficient amount in Mount Vernon. Not to mention Fells Point. Smaller cities often offer great stuff too, and killer microbrews to boot. Case in point: Burlington, Vermont. I swear if I ever move back to New England it will be there.

- Running/biking paths: I like to run and stay fit so these are a must. Even people who think they're training for the Tour de France on the Mount Vernon trail are usually safer than some sidewalks here in DC. I can't say enough good things about running in Alexandria. Denver had more paths than I could ever go to. Boston has some, but the Minuteman trail gets way too crowded.

- A fun sports team to watch: Always a great way to stay occupied if the weather is crap or if you need something to do. I don't need to pimp Boston's teams any more than they're already pimped. As much as I can't stand the Broncos, they have an emotional grip on the rocky Mountain Region, and the Nuggets were fun to watch while I lived there. And the Avalanche will always be a great franchise, Vive Ray Bourque and Joe Sakic! Here in DC it's all about the Caps. And not just Ovechkin either. They're the team to watch in DC. While I don't have a dog in the hunt, DC United usually provides good entertainment value for the dollar at RFK Stadium. I like Nationals Park but they still have a ways to go.

- Coffee places: I like Dunks as much as the next New England born and bred person, but I like the local, independent places as much or more. Help me out here since where I work is usually near Starbucks and Caribou (which is actually pretty good).

- Restaurants: I stay close to Old Town since they're not as pricey as a lot of places in DC. There's something for everyone in the area though. I may start reviewing Fairfax County Restaurants again if food prices slow down a bit.

- Street Carts: Carlos at 16th and K in DC cooks up burritos that are restaurant quality. Best vendor ever is either him or the old sausage carts outside Fenway Park. Baltimore has good stuff near Camden Yards on game days too.

Throw some more stuff out there. What else makes a city cool?

Why I pimp Baltimore from time to time - Mount Vernon neighboorhood

Okay, I needed a place to stay for my race on Sunday since I was not about to leave DC at 5 am to drive up to Baltimore. Way too stressful, way too big of a risk of a wreck-induced traffic jam. Yeah they happen at 5:30 am on a weekend too. And would happen to me if anyone.

Enough of stress, time to talk about good stuff. I pimp Baltimore from time to time because I really enjoy visiting there. I pimp places and things I like. We'll start with the place I stayed at last Saturday evening. Abacrombie was recommended to me. Small, quaint, but very enjoyable room at a B@B right in the Cultural Center in Baltimore. AC Worked, it was peaceful, and fit right into the Cultural Center / Mount Vernon area of Baltimore.

After a hiccup with a Light Rail train being delayed because a door wouldn't close, and another hiccup caused by my misreading of a map and walking the wrong way towards the packet pickup area as a result, I returned to Baltimore with some time to wander around Mount Vernon a bit. Charles Street has a lot of things to offer, restaurants, bars, coffee places, an outdoor concert just north of Penn Station last week, and The first Washington Monument.

I really enjoyed my dinner at Aloha Tokyo, great salmon, noodles, and eel, not to mention the complementary sushi which I received extra from the staff as an opening night gift. Friendly staff always helps. It's right across from a new housing thing at 1219 Charles for Baltimore peeps. Bar opens Saturday. After dinner I explored the neighborhood areas a bit. Definitely no shortage of bars to go, the outdoor concert that I referred to, and some cool row houses. Definitely a neighborhood feel for sure, you really don't get that in most of DC. Penn Station is a ten minute walk , fifteen at the most, from the Cultural Center light rail stop. Hey look, Maryland Transportation Authority upgraded their web site!

I walked east down North Avenue a bit, stopping at the rite Aid across from "http://www.greenmountcemetery.com/">Green Mount Cemetery. While I saw a lot of boarded up houses, many with roofs alos busted, around North Avenue, I also saw a ton of potential in not only the area but the city. There's a lot to like about Baltimore, and with some capital, a lot of these boarded up houses can turn into quality housing quickly. Public transportation is not far from North Avenue at all. They say, Live Baltimore: Get in on it. Truth be told, if I could get a guarantee that my current employer will keep me around for 5-6 years (I'm a 10-15 minute walk from Union Station), I'd give moving there a real shot when my lease runs out in March. Mount Vernon has just about everything I'd want. If anyone goes to North Avenue, please let me know how Tyrone's is, it's a fried chicken place next to KFC. I couldn't eat there since I already ate dinner and wasn't about to toss fried chicken down 12 hours before a race.

How do you have a quart of water, a 20 oz SoBe Herbal Life Water, and a 12 oz Tava and STILL BE DEHYDRATED?

Easy. Run a 7 mile race very hazy, very hot, and very humid weather. This morning I ran the Survivor Harbor 7 in Baltimore. This race is to support the Active Survivors Network. I was more than honored to make even a small contribution by participating in this race. I admit that I am not a Survivor of any severe illness, disease, or injury, so I face nowhere near the challenges of living an active life that a lot of people do. Other than occasional kidney pain for 36 hours or so, every 8-10 months or so, I have no known concerns. I feel I have quite a bit of appreciation of others face challenges that I may not.

However, that does not mean that this race was not difficult for me. The toughest one for me by far in my brief racing career. I started this year, have run a couple of 8K and 10K races, 7 miles: from a distance standpoint, not a big increase. However, none of those races were run with heat indicies near and probably over 100 degrees. Yeah, it felt like it was 100 degrees or more at 8:15 am this morning. I'll browse the web for recaps but it was as hot as it's ever been when I've tried to run further than to the bus stop. That's why today's race was extremely difficult. Before the weekend, my goal was to finish this race in under one hour. After running a 5K yesterday in similar conditions, my new goal was to participate in the cause and jog the seven miles as slowly as I need to in order to finish.

Running through Fort McHenry was a real treat, when you're there you feel like a real part of American History. I had ridden my bike through there in the past, never ran. But by about mile two, when I was still running at a good clip considering the crowds and narrow, I realized that there was no trying to get doen in under an hour. But that's okay. By mile five, to be truthful, all I wanted was some ice water and to be finished, but I was not going to stop if I could still run, thinking of those who face greater struggles beyond jogging seven miles on a hot day.

I did get through the finish line at 1:07:37 clock time, maybe 1:06:00 or so Net Time, since I was quite a bit towards the back of about 1,500 runners at the start. It was tough but worthwhile. I probably looked like I was about to collapse at the end, which would be an accurate description of how I felt. A quart of water, a 20 oz SoBe Herbal Life Water, and a 12 oz Tava (similar to Enviga - sparkling water drink) but still a bit dehydrated when I got back to my B@B to check out. Won't stop me from going to the pool later to swim a bit though now that I'm back in DC. All in all a great weekend. Set a personal best in a 5K by 9 seconds on Saturday, ran for a great cause today, really enjoyed the Mount Vernon district of Baltimore (more on that later), and my cable came back from a brief crash just in time for the second half of Germany-Poland in Euro 2008. It's all good.

Okay, who is the biggest villain in sports right now?

I've been thinking of posting a poll on this for a while. I got sidetracked by the insanity at Fenway Park so I'm throwing this up quickly. Here are the choices, with a brief case for, then against:

Barry Bonds:

For - Come on, flaxseed oil? Give us a freaking break! Your head's ten times the size it was at the start of your career, and you're been a totally pompous asshole from the get go.

Against - he's not playing right now.

Kyle Busch:

For - many say he is an over-aggressive driver who doesn't give a crap what anyone thinks, he'll cause any crash he wants whenever he feels like it. he eggs on the crowd during introductions, basically telling booers to bring it. And he wins all the damn time. I'm a casual NASCAR observer, but even I know that he spun Dale Jr. into the wall at the end of a race a month ago and you just don't do that.

Against - to NASCAR detractors it's just a bunch of left turns so some people can't consider him for this poll. I, however, can, and he would get my vote if someone else wasn't on the list. Read on.

Cuauhtémoc Blanco:

For - One of the most polarizing people in the soccer world. Here's a sample of evidence:

One
Two
Three

Don't forget that he wasn't allowed to enter the United States for a while because of a charge that he beat his wife, and there was probably something else on his rap sheet too. I know fans of nearly every Major League Soccer team, and while each has their rivals, everyone save for Chicago Fire fans share one thing: hatred of him.

Against - Soccer isn't quite in the American Mainstream yet, but does that matter? People who are in the know usually hate him with the fury of 1,000 suns. He was close to getting my vote.

Alex Rodriguez:

For - He's a prima donna bitch. Plain and Simple. Going to Texas wasn't about the money, he didn't think he slapped Bronson Arroyo's glove like a 6 year old who wants her Barbie doll back in 2004, he decided to announce that he was opting out of his contract just as the Red Sox were wrapping up a World Series title. The biggest phony of them all, he's the pick for me. On principle.

Against - Has he ever come through when he's really needed?

Scott Boras:

For - he was the one who leaked the opt out of contract garbage.

Against - he did eventually let Varitek and Dice-K sign their contracts.

Bill Belichick:

It pains me to put him on this list, but in order to have a shred of objectivity I have to. The taping of signals thing, I'm over it, it cost the Pats a key first round pick, caused the organization some embarrassment, let's move on. Besides, even after the tape from the Jets game got confiscated, the Pats did pretty well last season.

Kobe Bryant:

For - selfish, the rape charge that was dropped. Dubious as it was, those things usually surface for a reason. A me guy for sure. Even if we'll never know the truth, he put himself in the position to be accused of it.

Against - to his credit he has let his play on the court do the talking for him, has stayed out of trouble, and let's face it, he's probably the best player in the world today.

Sean Avery:

For - an annoying little puke who borderline cheap shots opposing players at will, felt the need to wave a stick in Marty Brodeur's face to try and screen him, allegedly made a callous remark about Jason Blake's battle with cancer in pregame warmups (never proven, as with Kobe officially it's innocent until proven guilty but again these things surface for a reason). Just an obnoxious little punk.

Against - he is effective, and does back up his talk with solid contributions for his team. Occasionally he'll drop his gloves and fight his own battles too.

Terrell Owens:

For - where to I begin. Dancing on the Star in Dallas after scoring a touchdown. The Sharpie incident. The entire saga of him doing curls in his driveway when he was pissed off at the Eagles about his contract. The whole I want to be traded to Baltimore but I don't to go there so trade me to Philly ordeal.

Against - T.O. bashing is so a few years ago. And when he does play, be plays balls to the wall hard. No loafing from him. Coming back from the broken leg in two plus months to have a solid game in the Super Bowl. Yeah, he's good.

Someone else.

Fire away.

The heat is here. Finally. But I'm thrilled about it. Not.

The 90 degree plus heat that's supposed to be here from Friday through at least Monday came a day early. Or at least it felt like it. I was miserable when walking back to my work building after lunch. Don't think I'll be walking outside every day at lunch much longer. Just too hot and humid. It wasn't quite as hot when I went for an 8 miles or so run (1/2 with my group) but I could really feel the humidity. Must. Keep. Water. Bottles. Full. Food's getting too expensive for me to buy a lot of Gatorade.

I get home, chug some water, work my abs a bit, turned on my mlb.com radio subscription , then found out all hell has broken loose at Fenway Park. In the last 24 hours, here is what has gone down.

1. Last night, bottom of 6th: Coco Crisp tries to steal second base, Tampa Bay Rays Shortstop Jason Bartlett drops his knee in front of the base to block it and jams Coco's thumb. Not only is that a no no in the baseball code, it's a good way to get your knee really damaged, dipshit.

2. Eighth inning, Coco tries to steal again, slides hard and knocks over second baseman Akinori Iwamura. Rays pissed off, manager climbs up the dugout steps and yells at Coco, who yells back at the Rays.

3. Tonight, 1st inning, Dustin Pedroia gets hurt. I didn't see it (unlike last night) so I don't know if it was intentional but given last night and Pedroia's knack for pissing off opponents, you wonder.

4. 2nd inning, Jon Lester throws behind Tampa's Aybar. Bottom of inning, James Shields plunks Coco Crisp on the first pitch. Coco charges, not so nice little brawl, Tampa's Johnny Gomes jumps into a pile and punches Coco, all three players ejected. Not really what either team needed but good on Coco for taking a bunch for the team. MLB.com had the fight tape up pretty quickly.

5. 4th inning, Jacoby Ellsbury makes a diving catch but jams his wrist in the process. Coco, appeal your suspension.

6. End of fourth inning, Youk and Manny need to be separated in the dugout. Reports so far are no one seems to know what was going on.

7. 7th inning, Jon Lester throws high and tight to Cliff Floyd. After he strikes out, Floyd startes at Lester all the way into the dugout. Lester wisely ignored him according the the Sox radio broadcast team.

In the Nationals game, a middle reliever for the Cardinals hit a three run homerun in his first major league at bat. Some guy name Mark Worrell, I wonder if he's related to Todd and Tim.

And oh yeah, the Celtics are playing their first NBA finals game in 21 years right now.

Nasty Storms Today

Stay safe all. That was some scary ass shit today. Took a late lunch so here I am sitting outside at 3 pm to get some air. The sky is a bit yellow to the east of me (near Capitol Hill) side, dark on the west side, albeit of the you've got 15 minutes to duck variety. Nope. I was under a roof, but I had about 90 seconds before I saw sideways blowing rain, rain that got pushed through the building ramps like it was on a whirlpool, lightning to top it off. Yeah, no soccer game at RFK Stadium for me.


Cirucumstance influences my rating. I was driving on BW Parkway when the storms ran through the metro area on Saturday. From what I saw, I give Saturday's the worst, i.e. nastiest grade. Heavier rain then, believe it or not. But I can only rank the parts of the storms that I saw. I understand a tornado touched down near Fredericksburg, VA and also in Huntingtown, MD. I have never seen a tornado, and hope I never see one.

I lucked out today, a report from the National Weather Service mentioned that a trained spotter saw a tornado touch down in Huntington, Fairfax County. That's exactly where I live. Shit. Luckily, I walked home from the Metro Station and didn't see more than one branch down. Whew. I saw quite a few while walking from work to the Metro.

Stay safe everyone, thoughts go out to those who sustained property damage today.

On a lighter note, send me some ideas on what I can write about.

Highs near 90 on Sat and Sun

Means 70s at 8 am most likely, maybe I should rethink going for a personal record in Saturday's Race. Sunday is up in Baltimore for the Survivor Harbor 7 mile race. Anticipate heat but fun.

Interesting Torrential Downpour Tonight

I decided to get some more mileage in running wise so I ran the 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 miles to Pacers for the Tuesday fun run. No rain, but threatening clouds that looked like they were coming our way but I couldn't tell for sure. I get to the store at 6:55, run starts around 7:05, and the skies opened up and then some. Running in the rain is a blast actually, unless there are leaves on the ground, then it becomes outright dangerous. But the trouble with the rain is it all too often comes with lightning. Luckily that stayed away until the run was over.

5.4 miles, heaviest rain at the beginning and end of the run. Close to ten miles overall. I thank my friend Pat for giving me a ride home as waiting for the bus with lightning being around is not fun. Or safe. And there really isn't a place to wait inside for the bus stop, the only place you can see it come is from the Cosi which I think closes at 8.

I'm a hurting dude, but a good kind of hurting. No problem sleeping tonight whatsoever. The extra mileage is giving me confidence that I can handle 10 milers and a half marathon later in the year. And allowing me to meet some great people. And allow me to lose 15 pounds since the beginning of the year and maybe a few more to come. And improve my overall Outlook.

Get Well Soon, Big Papi.

Manny. 500. History. I. Was. There.

Red Sox - Orioles at Camden Yards, the one weekend series of the year, of course I was going to see two games. Saturday I leave for my hotel around 1:45 pm. While I was running near the George Washington Parkway earlier on, I was warned about a nasty thunderstorm that was near Leesburg. I said, crap I got about two hours to get home (still 30-40 minutes away at least), shower, change, eat lunch, and get on the road. I made it, but only got as far as Pennsylvania Avenue before the skies opened up. And holey moely did it pour. Heavy rains, nasty lightning, almost stop and go conditions to just south of Fort Meade. I would have pulled over on two occasions had there been a place to pull over. Finally get to my hotel to find out they may not have a room for me for over an hour. Luckily, they had one.

Off to the game, met some cool Sox fans who came down from Connecticut for the games this weekend. Hung out with some other fans at the Wharf Rat on Pratt Street. Made it into the game just as it started. Going into the game, Manny Ramirez was sitting on 499 home runs. Only 23 other players in the history of Major League Baseball had even hit 500 home runs in Major League Baseball. So as soon as Manny strode to the plate, all the Sox fans in attendance rose to cheer, camera bulbs went off with each pitch. The game went back and forth for several innings.

The the seventh the Sox took the lead for good at 4-3. Baltimore brought in Chad Bradford, a right handed pitcher who throws submarine style, almost underhand. Would this be the moment we were there for? Submarine pitchers tend to dominate or get shelled. Pitch number one.......

BOOM!!!!! Deep right center field, no doubt about it, 500!!!! The crowd went nuts, truly a moment that sent chills up my spine. An unbelieveable moment that I will never forget. And I saw it in person. As soon as I figure out how to scan my ticket stub, I'll post it here. Wow. Things got a little dicey in the bottom of the ninth, but Papelbon got a lineout double play, 6-3 win.

Jumped on to a light rail train with 1000 others, got some late night Wendy's (which I only have in emergencies), and made it to my hotel in just enough time to flip channels and see Kimbo Slice fight in a Mixed Martial Arts fight. Of course, CBS is putting Gus Johnson on the broadcast to liven it a bit. Quality entertainment while I was chugging water to lessen the hangover that was coming.

Sunday's game was fun too, 9-4 cruise to a win. Bartolo Colon won his third straight game since being called up, (sign him for another year, Theo!) showing a bit more velocity than I expected this early into his comeback. Bullpen was solid, especially Craig Hansen, whose eighth inning was dynamite. 8 pitches, 2 Ks, 1-2-3, 7 of 8 for strikes. As nasty as I've seen him throw in his career. Drive home was uneventful, which was good since my plates had expired the day before and I had nothing to use to put on the new ones.

It's all good. In person I've seen a 3 Home Run Game by John Valentin, Yaz Day in 1983, Scott Hatteberg hitting a grand slam and into a triple play in the same games, John Valentin go 5 for 5, all three games of the Atlanta Braves' first visit to Fenway since leaving Boston, a walk off home run by Spike Owen of all people, the game where Orel Hershiser's 63 scoreless innings streak started in Montreal.....but this was the best in person memory by far. I still can't believe I got to go and see number 500. I want to see 600 now.

Do other states do this?

Okay, when it came time to renew my car registration after two years, I decided to pay an extra $10 for a theme plate. I chose Mountain to Sea since well, I dunno, maybe I wanted something that shows the entire state that I live in. There are mountains and an ocean. Or did I not want a plain plate anymore, especially since the 400th anniversary celebration was last year? That was probably it. But I was surprised to get my plates last week to find out I have a different license plate number. Shoot. I finally memorized the one I had so I don't have to go back outside when I get asked to fill out my plate number at hotels or wherever. Now I have another number to memorize. And my registration says something about submitting a title. Yeah, that thing I just got last week, a year after I paid off the car loan.

Old School Town Halls, Harpers Ferry, and Trail Conservation

The last few weeks have been crazy busy, and the weekends even busier. Three Saturday's ago my friend Stevan celebrated a birthday at McCathran Hall in Washington Grove, MD. This was a great day with some bluegrass music, some good Honey Brown beer, and the hall is the old town hall that is still used more than 100 years later! The town website describes itself as a town within a forest. Which it really is. Remember the small, sometimes but usually not paved, roads at summer campgrounds! This was Washington Grove. The coolest thing after seeing friends and celebrating the day was this house that had a tree going straight through the front porch. No a thunderstorm didn't knock the tree through the roof. The porch was built literally around the tree, and the tree pops through the roof.

After that was a birthday dinner for a friend from the Pacers Fun Run group - these are becoming common and fun. Old Town is always a good place to go. We ended up at Union Street Public House because Chadwick's was too crowded. Always a good time, and I could even go to the gym the next day! That's quite an accomplishment after a night on the town at my age. he he

Harpers Ferry was on the docket for the Memorial Day weekend. The MARC Train was a half hour late in leaving, the walk to the hostel was interesting since the C&O Towpath beat up the wheels on my travel case, but everything else was okay. Lots of hiking led to a sore ankle for a day or two afterwards, but that happens when you hike 35 miles or so over two days after not hiking for months. The view from Weverton Cliffs, MD was a bit of a disappointment, and the ice cream shop ran out of waffle cones on Sunday. But calling those things negatives is really grasping at straws. A fun weekend all around, and the Amtrak ride was suprisingly comfortable on the way back.

I also joined the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. I believe in doing whatever I can to clean up the environment for current and future enjoyment and health, and being a member is the least I can do. I used to be a member of the Appalachian Mountain Club back in Boston so I sort of feel like I'm back in that groove. It's a good feeling.

More on this past week and weekend when I get the time to write it up right, likely tomorrow night.

JON FREAKING LESTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Promising young pitching prospect to cancer survivor to starter in the World Series clinching game to we ain't trading him and others for Johan Santana to a no hitter! Freaking amazing, huh? Wow! I put the game on mlb.com radio as the eighth inning began and I learned about the no no in progress. I talked to nobody, turned off my cell phone, and didn't want to be around anyone since I didn't want to jinx it. Yeah, I know I have no control over something that happens 500 miles away but I'm superstitious.

Needless to say, Jon Lester's whole career has been a story that's out of this world, and this is another amazing story within the story. Beyond awesome! What else can I say other than right now, May 19, 2008, it is Jon Lester's World, we are just guests in it. Red Sox 7, Royals 0, NO HITTER, BABY!!!

4 out of the last 6 in the AL have been thrown by Red Sox pitchers (D Lowe, Bucholtz, Hideo Nomo). Who would have thunk it?

I survived the most recent apocalypse

Yeah, on May 12, I wore a ski cap on the way to work in Washington, DC. That's what a 40 degree morning with off and on torrential downpours will do to you. But I survived, flooding could have been worse, and it will keep drying out over the next couple days.

Trail Running Still Rules!

Today I went trail running for the first time since I moved here from Colorado. I had taken it up as a side hobby in my last year out there, but haven't found any trails to run on here. Well, I found some but forgot my trail running shoes, I wasn't going to wear road running shoes on an off-road trail because I need the stronger grip that trail runners offer. The group that I run with via Pacers Running Stores decided to do a trail run today, with hopes that it could be incorporated into the routine on a monthly basis. Today? Big success!

Eight of us went down to Prince William Forest Park, near the Marine Corps Musuem in Quantico. Click on View Map, and we ran from parking Spot H north on High Meadows Trail, right on Taylor Farm Road, right on South Valley Trail along the creek (we saw a creaky old wooden bridge that I my 200 lb butt wouldn't get on and the remants of an old camp swimming pool, complete with ladder steps!), right on Mawavi road, then along the road to get back to the cars. This run was awesome! Small hills which required some climbing, a couple of nice decents, and not a ridiculous amount of leaves and broken branches to dodge. There were some thorn bushes that we needed to move out of the way, but it was all good.

Since you always have to look towards the ground when trail running so you won't trip up on a tree root or loose rock, you are not going to get the same minutes/mile times that you will on road courses. But who cares! Trail running is about getting further away from it all, breaking the occasional monotony of road running, really getting outside beyond the city, and experiencing a different running challenge. Today was one of the best runs I have experienced since I took it up seriously in 12/06. I rediscovered how much fun it is to run on a true trail. I'm not even going to lament how gas prices will likely prevent me from going out to a trail run more than once a month (I live at least 15 miles from any parks with long enough trails to make it worthwhile), I'm just going to revel in a great, great run. I can't wait for the one next month.

But if he was stoned, he must have done it. Whatever.

Okay, since I really have no life, I was reducing to just browsing sports web pages to see if there was anything of not I missed about anything. Mike D'Antoni the Knicks new head coach? Not news. As long as stephon marbury is still on the team, I can laugh at them at will. Now if David Lee gets traded to Phoenix as compensation, that would be news as that would supposedly cause Knick fans to blow a couple million gaskets. Jonathan Papelbon blowing two games in the ninth inning? Concerning news, but even the best miss them once in a while, besides he had help from Julio Lugo on Wednesday. Cautions early in the NASCAR race at Darlington? Not news, I guess that happens about 25 times a race there. Tomas Holmstrom taking a diving penalty? Definitely not news. O.J. Simpson confessed to the murder while baked off his skull?..............

Remember O.J. Simpson? If I did it? Well, fourteen years after he allegedly killed his wife and her friend, if he did it, a former manager of something O.J. did, or something like that, claims in a book that O.J. confessed that not if, he did do it, after he was acquitted. Oh wonderful, if the media is like I think they are, if I turn on the radio next week, I'll hear about this. If this book actually hits shelves, we get to hear about it again. Whatever. Great, this useless piece of trash will be back in the public eye.

Do I think O.J. killed them? Yeah. Would I have voted to convict him if I was on the jury? No. That prosecution team made Rusty Hardin seem like Einstein. If I had anything better to do, I'd get ready for my trail run tomorrow.

What I really want to know is, was O.J. in the White Van when he lit up and where did he hide what he couldn't smoke. That way someone else can waste their own time waging their tiny part on the stupid war on drugs.

Nationals Park: Most Excellent!

Today my friend Bill and I went to Nationals Park in Washington, DC to see the Nationals host the Pittsburgh Pirates. Neither one of us had been to the new park yet, so the curiosity factor was definitely there. The park was built in just 22 months, a lot less than a stadium of over 40,000 seats would take. I was impressed with the stadium right from the get-go. When you get off the Metro at Navy Yard Station you exit only a couple hundred feet from the outfield facade. You can see a good amount of the field before you even go through the gates. Very well done so far!

During their first three years in DC, the Nationals, due to uncertainty as to who the ownership group would be, an incomplete TV contract in years one and two, and let's face it, having to play in RFK Stadium, were really not operating as a full-fledged Major League Baseball Franchise. Not to mention that they were league-run in the end of their days in Montreal, so the minor league farm system needed tons of re-building. Souvenirs and Apparel? Hard to find unless you went to City Sports or any other sporting good stores. Not anymore! Just as soon as you walk through the outfield gates, there's a big team store with lots of overpriced stuff. :) But it's a revenue stream that they didn't necessarily have before. Yup, I bought a red hat with the alternate DC logo on it. Ownership stable, full TV and Radio deal (great TV team, solid radio team), and they're moving stuff from teams stores faster than they can re-stock. Great for business.

The park itself is very nice, doesn't have the old brick warehouse feel of a Camden Yards or Coors Field, but it does capture quite a bit of DC flavor. On the lower concourses, there are all sorts of wall exhibits describing the city's pro baseball history. Clean, well presented, wide concourse, family bathrooms (huge if you have young children), beer stands that are separate from the normal concessions (should you choose to get one, you're facing the field while you're ordering your beer), and concession stands from local businesses: Noah's Pretzel's, Hard Times Cafe, and Ben's Chili Bowl are in the house! I had heard horror stories about how long some of the lines have been this season but they seemed to get that straightened out. I missed less of the game than I thought I would when I was in line. I don't usually buy food at sporting events, preferring to eat beforehand but time did not allow for it today. But, for a ball park the concessions are good enough.

The game itself: we were in Section 305 (view seating chart and pricing here), a "second deck" seat. Sightlines were great (huge), the sun was basically past us and beating down on the outside walls behind us with the 1:30 start (big, little sunburn risk), and the home team won 5-2. Perfect afternoon to chill out at the ballpark after running a fundraiser race for ARC of Northern Virginia, which I somehow managed to run in 40:24 clock time, 40:15 cross start line to cross finish line time. Being a die hard Red Sox fan, I even experienced a Wily Mo Pena sighting! He smoked a pinch hit RBI double in the bottom of the eighth. Right after I told Bill that he'd either walk, strike out and look real bad, or crush a home run into the tenth row, he crushes a line drive on an 1-0 pitch off the left field wall, which was reached in about 1.3 seconds. Big Papi wasn't kidding when he said Pena hits the ball harder than anyone he had ever seen. Washington improved to 14-18 today. Playing much better recently, they've won seven of their last nine as they continue to build from what was a less than ideal situation.

Today's about Nationals Park. A great experience all around, even the Metro crush 30 minutes after the game wasn't bad. The only improvements I can think of are to lower the pricing on the outfield seats a bit (the lower LF area has a fantastic view of the field though). And let Teddy win a Presidents Race! I can't wait to go back on May 21 vs the Phillies!

I symapthize with 99.999 percent of the homeless

Because heck I've probably been closer to being homeless than I care to admit. I am very sympathetic to those without a home to go to. There are a lot of people who lost jobs, their health failed, and/or were battered, et al. I empathize with them, but someone today is why I said 99.999 and not 100. I went into Au Bon Pain near the Archives / Navy Memorial / Penn Quarter Metro station in DC on my way to work. I went in there to get a coffee and a bagel, ended up with an adventure.

A presumably homeless man was wandering around and practically accosted people who were going into Au Bon Pain. I'm in line trying to get a coffee, and right in the middle of ordering, I notice they guy was within a foot of me asking me for money in an "I'm gonna mug you when get get outside" manner. Now, I'm just trying to get a coffee and I need to guard my wallet in anticipation of him trying to take it from me as I'm putting my change into it. Fortunately, the manager saw this, and walked right over towards him and in a cool, stern but not obviously threatening manner, and told "You can't do that in here, leave." After babbling at her for a minute or two, the guy finally left. When I was about to leave, I walked over and thanked her for doing that, she apologized to me for putting up with it, a very cool gesture.

Whenever I go for coffee or food before work from now on, it's to that Au Bon Pain. A potentially scary situation to great customer service to me a being a frequent customer in the future.

Souvlaki in Vienna!

I know The Tragically Hip wrote a song called "Springtime in Vienna" which was cool. But Skorpios in Vienna is much cooler, even if it doesn't come with a State Orchestra or an opera. I know, when I left my appointment with an excellent chiropractor I needed something to eat for dinner. My friend Lisa who works at the chiropractor office recommended Skorpios. It's in a strip mall on the Eastbound side of Virginia State Route 123, near a 7-11. But that only goes to show you never know where you're going to find some great eats.

Fast, but not too fast that the quality suffers due to a rush cooking job, service, and a very good size souvlaki plate. For $8.95! The pork was very well done and tasty, the cheese was just right, as was the rice. I can't say enough good things about the place. Humble from the outside, but I'd rather sit at a just a couple simple tables, a small tv, and one stack for trays with great food than somewhere fancy but with mediocre food anytime. If you're ever in Vienna and want an excellent meal, go here. Thank me later.

So I return to blogging about restaurants in Fairfax County. No opera, no orchestra, no classical music composers. But I had a good chiropractor visit and a fantastic dinner.

I stand corrected about participant numbers

I looked at previous years, and maybe the reported number of finishers is nearly accurate - for some reason I thought there were 20,000 people registered for the race today.

Tomorrow after I get some sleep I may blog about how much I like the new NFL Draft time format.

3 5K races in just over 60 hours - I'm still not on the DL

Earlier this year, I decided to run 3 5K races within just over 60 hours: One on Thursday night, one yesterday morning, and one today. Crazy, yes. But I accomplished many things, on personal, athletic, but especially charitable levels.

Thursday night was the Run for Julia, a charity run for a foundation created in memory of Julia Campbell, who was tragically killed in the Philippines while working in the Peace Corps. For me, this was strictly for charity. While I did not know her, I was touched when I learned about what she was doing with the Peace Corps, and very saddened to hear about her death. I wanted to at least be able to contribute to the foundation via a registration fee, and was able to do so via the run. We all can do a little more to help others, I hope the small amount of $$$$ I was able to give helps build the foundation. My time in this race is quite frankly irrelevant, even if I mention it later in the context of the next race.

Saturday I ran a race called the Spring 5K at Hains Point in DC. I didn't realize how big East Potomac Park actually was. I thought I was going to be late because I drove a couple miles after getting off the highway, I thought it would be about 1000 feet. The run itself, I surprised myself again. I thought I was sucking wind even more than in my first 5K back in March, but ended up running a personal best: estimated time from start line to crossing the sensor at the finish was 24:44, my second sub 8 minute a mile race. Thursday was the first as I clocked in at 24:58. What was great about Saturday was I thought I was sucking wind even more over the last mile than I thought I did in my first race.

This morning I ran in the George Washington Parkway Classic 5K, the only race that I know of that has permission to run down the parkway from the Mount Vernon Estate (great place for an afternoon visit, BTW) into Old Town Alexandria. I knew this would be my slowest run of the weekend for various reasons. I was tired from the last week or so, there's more uphill running on this course than in many I've raced, and my best times in my limited 5K and 10K career have happened in smaller races, not ones with thousands of people like this one. My good old, $10 watch bought at Burlington Coat Factory While Looking For Something else, race time starts when I cross the start line, state of the wannabe art timing system gave me a time of 26:15, which put me 154th out of 877 5K participants. Except for one thing, as of 8:45 pm I did not officially run the race since I am not on the printed, tabulated from the timing chip, results. I may find out otherwise tomorrow as I'm sure more than 877 people out of over 20,000 ran the 5K with me.

Note: The official results have under 3000 people running the 10K, so now I know neither list is complete.

I'll rest........on Wednesday or Friday. Not injured, not on any DL, just tired.

Personal Bests:
5K Time: 24:44
8K Time: 45:06
10K Time: 51:36 (approximate)

Do You Know The Way To San Jose? Lord Stanley's Cup Needs To Know

Possibly my favorite sporting event, make that is my favorite event when I don't havea dog in the hunt, starts Wednesday night. The NHL Playoffs. Nothing in North America's professional sports is as rugged, as nasty, and as grueling as the chase for the Stanley Cup. 16 teams in, one will get the 16 wins they need to drink from Lord Stanley's Cup in June. Who will it be? Well, the title of this post offered a clue.

Eastern Conference predictions (seed in brackets):

[1] Montreal over [8] Boston 4-1: I may be kind to the Bruins' chances given their 16 points to 1 loss in the season series.

[2] Pittsburgh over [7] Ottawa 4-1: Tempted to pick a sweep should Bryan Murray not be lying up his ass when he says Fisher and Alfredsson will be out for weeks, but the youthful Pens will drop one early.

[3] Washington over [6] Philadelphia 4-2: Maybe the toughest opening round series for me to pick. Both teams come in on a bit of a roll, Washington's been playing desperation playoff hockey for months now, and Huet has some post-season experience, Biron has none. I'll take the Caps and the best player in a struggle.

[4] New Jersey over [5] New York Rangers 4-2: Maybe wishful thinking given that the Devils beat them for the first time all season today. But give me New Jersey's team system and Marty Broudeur over the jury's still out on the Rangers defense now that it's postseason time.

Second round: [4] NJ over [1] Montreal 4-2, [2] Pittsburgh over [3] Washington 4-3 (Crosby shines just enough more than the Caps to win in the marquee series)

Third round: [2] Pittsburgh over [4] NJ 4-2, Brodeur can only perform so many miracles vs the more talented Penguins.


Western Conference predictions (seed in brackets):

[1] Detroit over [8] Nashville 4-2: Not convinced Detroit is well suited for the playoff grind, but they'll be able to knock off the surprising Preds.

[2] San Jose over [7] Calgary 4-1: One of these years the Sharks will actually do what everyone thinks they can do and make a very deep playoff run. It starts with an easier than expected win over the Flames.

[6] Colorado over [3] Minnesota 4-3: Wild are tougher than they have been in the past, but the Avalanche pulls off an upset in a payback for 2003.

[4] Anaheim over [5] Dallas 4-3: A repeat is too much to ask for, but the Ducks will outlast Dallas in the longest, most drawn out, first round series.

Second round: [1] Detroit over [6] Colorado 4-1 (Not good enough on defense and in goal to pull off two upsets), [2] San Jose over [4] Anaheim 4-2

Third round: [2] San Jose over [1] Detroit 4-2, Sharks are balanced, tougher, and I'll take Nabokov over Hasek or Osgood in goal this late in the playoff grind.

Stanley Cup Champion:

SAN JOSE SHARKS over PITTSBURGH PENGUINS 4 games to 2. Sharks finally live up to their promise, Crosby, Malkin, et al give it their all but are at least one year away from winning it all.

Playoff MVP: Evgeni Nabokov as the Sharks play so balanced so there's no obvious, clear cut pick from their forwards.

My first 10K, Richmond, and I missed live soccer

Yesterday the day finally arrived, my first ever 10K race. I ran Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K in Richmond, and finished a lot better than I expected. A great, relatively flat course that went up and down historic Monument Avenue. I was very impressed with the whole organization of the race, the setup, how they started 32,000 participants in waves, you name it. Music selections were great too: at the start of the race I heard a cover of Iron Maiden's "Running Free". As I ran, bands played many songs; "Wild Flower" by The Cult and my favorite Tom Petty song "Mary Jane's Last Dance". Good times, and I finished the race with faster mile splits than I started, as I expected because of the crowds at the start.

I enjoyed my brief stay in Richmond, from my post-race beer at Capital Ale House to seeing the Virginai State Capital, to my room at the Crowne Plaza, and to the hill I walked up twice on Main Street. Nice little downtown area, the "Fan" is a great little area filled with what seems like great shops and restaurants, and plenty of hills if you want to get in a running workout. I'm going back in November for the half marathon or likely 8K. And perhaps sooner.

I didn't have a proverbial dog in the hunt in last night's game, but I went to see DC United dismantle Toronto FC, who no offense to the Canadian Fans, is not very good. Not really a competitive game, heck DC scored in minute two, aided by some disorganized defending. But I realized that I hadn't seen a live game since July and missed it. If last night is any indication, Santino Quaranta has actually decided to be a professional player. I didn't expect that. I'm going to another game Wednesday, DC United vs Pachuca of Mexico.

Another 10K next Sunday. Running is my new skiing.