Making up for Lost Time with Pictures

You don't even have to say it; I know I screwed up by leaving you blogless the last 4 weeks. After such an incredible fake Runner's World interview, I can't blame you for wanting more & more of me...I mean my blog.

You're probably wondering where I've been during these 4 weeks of internet silence.

Let's catch you up (pictures included).

Actually, let's make sure I include the usual pitch for my charity first. If you haven't donated to my Marathon Training, please go to My Marathon Fundraising Page! And donate even the smallest amount of money. Every dollar counts (and $50 counts 50 times).


First, there was the epic showdown at the Kaiser Half Marathon on Feb 6th. Featuring 3 of the quirkiest runners to ever race in San Francisco--me, Neil, Mike Wier--the run didn't disappoint.

The true rivalry was between Mike & I. And for once, I'm really not exaggerating when I call it a rivalry. Mike beat me in last year's Kaiser 1/2 without even training, and then he decided to start talking trash the month before this year's race, even betting me $50 (donated to Playworks) that he'd beat me again.
Just like last year, Mike made the smart move of sprinting out of the gate, getting way ahead of Neil & I. This left me to wonder with every passing minute whether I'd ever catch him or not. It also constantly tempted me to go faster than I wanted to in the beginning.
Neil actually played the role of running partner pretty good in this race (even though I was secretly looking at him as another rival, someone who I couldn't stand losing to), and in the first mile, we decided as long as we catch Mike by mile 10, we'd be in great shape. He'd obviously be out of gas at that point.
To my surprise, we got Mike back in our line of sight around the 4-mile mark, and I had to tell Neil to slow down because I didn't want to pass him so early. It's much better to be the chaser than the chasee in this case. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Mike was running so god damn slow that we couldn't possibly stay behind him. I would have had to get down on my hands & knees and crawl to stay at his pace. We passed him before the 5-mile mark and never looked back.

So how did we all finish?
Well, I took home the championship belt with a personal best time (see picture below):

Neil had the least disappointing 2nd place finish of all time--finishing just 35 seconds behind me (but a critical 35 seconds that put him over the 2-hour mark). That would have been nice for his first 1/2 Marathon...still really impressive. An up-and-comer really.

And Mike...well maybe I should just show you the following picture:

Ok, that's not actually Mike. But just like the man in the picture, Mike did not finish the race. After seeing me disappear ahead of him after just 5 miles, he simply gave up. I expected more of a fight, quite frankly.
And this quitter actually had the audacity to mock my choice of training gear, specifically the water bottle utility belt I've been wearing. Oh, you want to see what I look like when I train? Here you go...feel free to laugh, but careful, I just may squirt water at you next time I see you:


And for the championship pose:

As for the biggest benefit of training for a marathon, check out the picture below: getting a feast like this cooked for you after a 13-mile run. Thanks to Pueto for the recovery meal during the Super Bowl...
All of the above only covers 1 day worth of negligence from this blog. What else have I been up to while ignoring my loyal readers (and my training program)?

There was a 3-day trip to Vegas for work (where I learned that 28 is not the age at which my abilities to drink a gallon of whiskey, stay up the entire night, and lose lots of money will start to fade).

Then there was a ski trip over President's Day weekend, and another ski trip this past weekend.

But for those of you who still haven't donated and are naturally worried about my ability to actually complete the Marathon, fear not--I completed a 17-mile run this past weekend (and still made it to Tahoe skiing the next day).

You non-runners just probably don't understand that this is how the Kenyans train for their races: stay up all night boozing, smoking cigars & gambling your life away, then spending most of your exercise time not running, but doing other activities that tire out your legs. That's a recipe for success.

Oh, and if you think Henry Thunderstorm isn't coming out with a 2nd part of the Runner's World interview, you're mistaken. He's just had trouble tracking me down over the last month. He'll be back though...