Final Stats of 2007

Since tomorrow starts a new year I wanted to go ahead and post my stats for 2007 and get them behind me so I can start fresh for 2008. 2007 was a great year for me, nothing super fast but considering this was my 1st full year of running I think it was ok. Up until my injury, I was slowly increasing my speed. I ran my first 5K ever September 30th, 2006 and had a time of 37:43. On September 15th, 2007, I set my 6th 5K PR for the year with a 27:38 time. Thats a little over 10 minutes in a years time. That along with running and completing my first full marathon were the running highlights of my year.

On the biking side I really didn't start till May this year when I bought my road bike. The highlight was completing my first Century ride, The Big Dam Bridge 100 on September 30th.

I really wanted to hit the 1000 mile mark running but with pretty much no running since November 18th, there was no chance. Here are my final stats for the year:

Total Run Miles - 789.5
Total Bike Miles - 836.5
Races:
10 - 5k's (6 new PR's set)
1 - 2 miler
1- 4 miler
3- 10k's
1- Half Marathon
1- Full Marathon
1- Duathlon
19 Total Races
+
1- Half Century Ride (50 miler)
1- Full Century Ride (100 miler)

As for 2008, first and foremost I want to get back to running uninjured. I still have hopes of a spring full marathon (Nashville) and a fall marathon. I would like to get my 5K time down below 25 minutes. I am planning on doing at least two Century rides and at least two Duathlons. I have other specific time goals but I won't go in to that much detail. Of course PR's at every race and distance!

Happy New Year to all and I hope all your running dreams come true in 2008.

Last Ride of the Year

Today was my last bike ride of the year and it was a good one. I met some of the Cruisers at Mt Carmel Baptist Church at the usual 1:30pm Sunday ride time. It was sunny but just a little chilly around 52 degrees. I wasn't sure if I had enough or too much as far as clothes on. On top I had a moisture wicking beanie under my helmet. I had a long sleeve under armour shirt on then an LG long sleeve biking pullover to keep me warm. I wore my tri-shorts with my cw-x tights on top of them. I figured this would be enough. Its a good thing I had at least this much because it was actually perfect. If it had been any colder I would have been pretty cold and uncomfortable.

We ended up getting just over 22 miles in at a leisurely pace. There was only 6 of us that showed up. One of the objectives of todays ride was to ride with Charlie W. who was about to hit the 10,000 mile mark on his bike for this year. Thats right, he has rode his bike or will have by tomorrow, 10,000 miles this year! I don't think there has been a day this year that he hasn't ridden. Even if the weather was too bad to ride outside he would get some miles inside on the trainer. 10,000 miles is a lot of miles on a bike. Some people don't get 10,000 miles a year in their car. And this is not his first time either. I think he did it last year too. I think its totally amazing. It looks like I will end up with about 836 miles for the year. Not much compared to Charlie. When I left the church Charlie said he needed 40 miles and he was going to ride another 20 today. I have no doubt he will achieve his goal. Guess its time to start thinking about some 2008 goals for me.

Car Shopping

Shopping for a new car is one of the things I hate worst than anything. Actually it's not so bad sometimes if your just going out and buying one but it sucks when you have a trade in. So, yesterday Annette got her other Christmas present, a brand new 2008 Honda CRV EX-L in Glacier Blue Metallic. I really needed to get rid of my 2004 Ford Truck because it was getting too many miles on it so we traded it in. I plan on driving Annette's 2004 F150 for a while then I'll probably trade it for a new one.

She was so undecided, at first she wanted a white one and they didn't have any. (That was last week) Then Friday she decided that she might like the blue. Then when she was running on the River Trail on Saturday she saw a Saturn VUE and really liked the looks of it. So I told her to swing by and look at the blue Honda on the way home and if she liked it we would get it. So she did and she liked it but also liked the green. That triggered the fun part for me. I had to get my truck cleaned out to trade it in.

This entailed removing my Sirius Satellite Radio, removing my Ham/Fire Department Mobile radio, removing my two way antenna, removing the wiring to the radios, removing the Satellite antenna, bike rack, and tool box along with all the other junk, paperwork etc in my truck. I got that done within an hour probably. Much easier to take out than install.

When Annette got home and I was finished we decided we had to look at the Saturn VUE. So we went by the Saturn of Little Rock dealership and took a test drive in a white one. The outside looked very good, and so did the inside but nothing really fit like the CRV did. We had previously test drove the CRV. Annette did do a test drive of the Saturn but found more negatives than positives. So it was on to Russell Honda to see Stan.

Stan is not your average car salesman. He is very nice, no pressure and tells it like it is. We have had friends and family buy several cars from him and it was always a good experience. After we got to the dealership Annette had to make her decision. Was it going to be the Glacier Blue or the Green? I think I did all the work for Stan as I had to pull each one out in the sun so she could look and decide. The blue ended up being the final decision. It has a grey leather interior, sunroof and all the buttons. Of course it had the required "heated seats". This is a female runners must have evidently.

The new Honda CRV

I ended up taking a small hit on my trade in but after the discounts on the CRV it really wasn't that bad. It seems like anytime I trade something in I feel like I have just been raped but there is not much you can do. High mileage gas guzzlers just are not big sellers on the used market these days. The good thing about a Honda is that trade in values are very very good and the overall cost of ownership over a period of 5 years is about $15,000 less than the competition. This is the first ever new foreign vehicle I have bought and so far it seems to be a very good decision. So now all I have to do is put all my stuff in Annette's old truck. Lots of work to do there.

The Gift of Running

I had a great Christmas, got to see a lot of family and spend some time with them. The best gift of all was the gift Annette received from her son Brett. He gave her the gift of running. He is 23 and has secretly been running a little and told his mom about it on Christmas day. To top it all off, we all went for a 2 mile walk/run after dinner. A mother, son, sister, aunt and husband all running together. Pretty cool! Well, we really didn't run much. It was more like a 1 minute run, 3 minute walk thing. But, the main point is that Brett got off the couch and is going to start running and he is going to the running clinic too. He has been a smoker so this should put an end to that hopefully. He was pretty excited to run with us all. It's really special when running creates a positive change in someone.

I also felt like I got a gift because I ran a little too and my leg didn't hurt. I didn't do much, but i was anxious to see how it felt compared to the last time I ran which was over a week ago. I may run a mile this weekend but I'm not going to do much till after I go back to the doctor. So, I did get to log 2 miles which is good. I really wanted to run more but I knew I shouldn't. It felt good though!

Also Christmas morning while Annette ran with a few of the Cruisers I did 45 minutes on the bike trainer. I used my new Garmin 305 and set up a screen so I could do heart rate training. I did time in zone 1, zone 2, zone 3 and zone 4. Never made it to zone 5. Zone 4 would pretty much be my lactate pace so I did a lot of my intervals in this zone. This really makes the workout go quick too as you never get bored. I really like my trainer. It's perfect for those cold rainy days. The bad thing is I am wearing my back tire out!

I did get some running gear for Christmas. Annette got me a Brooks Nightlife pullover and another nice pullover for biking when its cold. I got a couple pair of running shorts and t-shirts from some of the others too. So overall I had an awesome Christmas and I got to do two of my favorite things, run and bike. Best of all was the gift of running that Brett gave his mom.

The Real Santa Claus

Christmas Holiday Message

Remember those that can't be home with their loved ones. Happy holidays everyone!

Cold Sunday

This was one day I was almost glad I couldn't run. Annette got up about 6am to go run with the Cruisers and when I looked at the weather, it was like 30 degrees with a 14 mph wind and 20 degree wind chill. I really wanted to go bike with them but not that bad. They had a great run and about 13 runners showed up to run the hills at Greystone.

As for me, I got my workout in late this afternoon. I started with 20 minutes of abs and upper body. Then I moved down to the bike trainer, clipped in and took off. I did a bunch of lactate pace intervals which basically were high speed spinning for 3-5 minutes then a 2-3 minute cool down. This really makes a bike workout go quickly plus I was watching football and listening to the Ipod at the same time. I never used the big ring, I just concentrated on spinning different gears and my cadence. The best I could tell manually counting my cadence was around 130 most of the time when I was spinning. I don't know if thats good or bad. Let me tell you, this will get your heart rate up, even though your not pushing a big gear. Total workout ended up lasting a little over an hour and twenty three minutes.

This is what some hard bike training will give you:
Total calories burnt - 887
Average heart rate - 147
Maximum heart rate - 187

If I don't get to run soon I'll have to do some crazy long distance bike thing. Maybe I'll do a bike marathon on the trainer.

3 days till Christmas

Three days till Christmas and I still don't have all my Christmas shopping done.

Why can't women be easy to buy for like men?

I have gotten two workouts in so far this week. A 1.7 mile walk with a little running mixed in on Monday night. On Wednesday I did an hour on the bike trainer plus about 20 minutes of upper body and abs. I pushed it a little hard on the bike and my legs were a little sore so I didn't get anything in on Thursday, then Friday is always impossible. Today I was hopeful but all my best intentions didn't work out.

I'm sick of this crappy weather. I'm tired of having to workout inside. I had plans to ride the bike early Sunday morning with the runners but now I probably won't since we are having major winds at the moment and its about 40 degrees and dropping. 7am is calling for 12-15mph winds and about 38 degrees. Not the kind of weather thats fun to bike in, especially when your the only one. So I guess I'll be riding the trainer again tomorrow. Not getting to run sucks.

Could someone send us some spring like weather early for Christmas? I'll even mow grass again for some warm, dry weather.

Christmas comes early

Well sort of anyway. On Wednesday afternoon I got a call from one of my LT.'s on the FD and he told me that they just found out that we were awarded our FEMA Grant to purchase a new fire truck. Probably doesn't mean much to a common tax payer but getting a new fire truck is a big deal. The grant is for $210,000 and we have to come up with like 5% in matching funds. Fire Trucks are very expensive to say the least. In fact any piece of fire equipment is expensive. A good example is an Air pack or SCBA (self contained breathing apparatus) as we call it sometimes. Just one of these is upwards of $6000. Tuesday night we tested some new nozzles we are thinking about buying. One of those was a portable master stream device which sells for $2500 by itself. $210,000 will not even get us the top of the line model truck. A ladder truck runs upwards of $800,000. So if you ever question paying fire dues or the amount you pay on your property taxes each year, just remember what some of this stuff costs. If we don't have the proper equipment to do our jobs, chances are a house may burn down that could have been saved otherwise or one of our firefighters stands a good chance of getting hurt. Also, the equipment and training of the fire department affects your insurance rating which in turn saves you money.

Back to the truck, when firefighters get a new truck or at this point just know that we are getting one, it's like little boys opening Christmas presents and getting that big toy truck they always wanted. My phone was ringing off the wall on Wednesday as soon as the word came out. It was almost funny because everyone was so excited. So I guess what they say is true, the only difference between men and boys is the size of their toys. Even though we didn't have the truck yet, myself and several others were really excited. After driving a 32 year old truck for 12 years, a new truck is a major Christmas present for me.

The downside to purchasing a new fire truck is the fact that you can't just go out and buy one off the lot. They have to be built to your specs. There are thousands of different options on fire trucks. Tank size, pump size, engine size, cab, number of seats, type of doors, types of generators, top mount pump or side mount....the list goes on and on. So, now that we know we are getting the money, we have to sit down and spec a truck, then take bids from different manufactures. It's a long process and in the past has taken over a year to take delivery of a new truck. Luckily for us, we may be able to tag along with Little Rock on some new engines. They have already put in service several new Pierce Contenders and will be doing another order soon so we may spec a truck the same as theirs which will get us a quicker delivery time and a discounted price. So, next week we start the spec'ing or probably arguing over what everyone wants. All I know is that hopefully in about 6 months or less, I will be Captain on a brand new pretty red truck!

I have to thank FEMA and the Fire Grants for making the money available for this purchase. Also LT Feagan and LT Darr for writing the grant on the truck. We have been blessed so far in that everything we have asked for in a grant, we have gotten. This is tax dollars being used wisely to make everyone safer in the country.

Injury Verdict is in

This morning I went to Ortho Arkansas to see Dr. Nix. The nurse asked me some questions about where I was hurting and how I did it. After telling her my quick story she sent me over to X-ray for some quick photos of my lower leg. Didn't take them but a few minutes and I was back to the waiting room waiting to see the doctor.

The first thing he asked me was had I ever been injured running before and I told him not to the point of going to the doctor anyway. Then he said well, you have your first official running injury then. He put the X-ray up on the board and showed me where I had a stress fracture on the upper part of my lower leg. It didn't really look cracked to me but he showed me where the white outline was and he said that was where it was healing from the injury. I guess since I haven't really ran for 4 weeks had helped it heal which is good. The official name for my injury is a "proximal fibula stress fracture." He said these were pretty rare. Of course, I knew I had something weird or rare going on because I couldn't find anyone that had some of the symptoms I had, even on the internet. It seems most stress fractures are in the lower part of the leg and mostly on the tibia. The fibula is the small lower leg bone and the damage on mine is right close to the top almost at the knee. He said this is usually caused from too much pronation and sometimes too many miles. Well I knew I had some moderate pronation but I didn't think it was that bad.

This picture show the lower leg bones. Right below the head of the fibula is where mine is hurt

He asked a lot about my shoes, if they were worn, etc. Then he asked if I had any spring time events planned. I told him I was planning on Little Rock in March, probably the half and maybe the full in Nashville in April. He was really positive and said I should have no problem being ready for those events especially since I had already done a marathon. They put me in some special orthotics to help the healing and reduce any pronation and told me to come back in four weeks. He did say that I should try to not run facing traffic as this would put more pressure on the leg because of the curve of the road. I really had other questions to ask but he was gone and had the orthotics person in there before I could. The nurse told me the best thing to do would be not to run for about 3 weeks and then give it a try before I come back in. Biking or other non weight bearing cross training is ok. I also have to drink more milk for strong bones. I have been taking supplements but I guess they didn't help.

So, I guess its more time on the bike for me. Maybe I can find some other cross training that will work too. So far I haven't found much info on the internet on this type of stress fracture but what I have read seems to lead me to believe that its better than a tibia stress fracture. So, now if I can just find something to keep my cardio and endurance where I was I'll be ok. It could have been worse I suppose. I will still be able to run again in a few weeks.

Ortho tomorrow

Well tomorrow is the big day. I get to go see a Sports Medicine Doctor at Ortho Arkansas. Does that mean I'm an athlete or just dumb for getting hurt? The Doctors name is Richard Nix and he is supposed to be a runner so hopefully he will at least be able to tell me something. The not knowing and trying to figure out whats going on is the hard part. Between that, deadlines at work, and the crunch to get Christmas shopping done I'm not a happy camper. Oh yeah and then there is the cold dreary weather.

On a bright note I went on the Christmas Lights Run with the Cruisers tonight. I wasn't even going to go but Annette talked me in to it. She got Kylie to go with us so i knew I would have someone to walk with. That little girl took off at the beginning though and I ran slowly trying to keep up. Annette and Vicki was there the whole time too so it wasn't bad. I think we got about 1.7 miles in mostly walking. What little bit I did run was more of a limping, foot shuffling run.

Afterwards everyone was invited over to Vicki's for snacks and fellowship. Had some great food and some great company with the other runners. We took Kylie home and she told her mom that she "did 1.7 miles". I failed to mention that I carried Kylie on my shoulders for probably 3/4's of a mile. Made for a good short workout anyway.

Saturday Morning Urban Renewal Workout

It's that time of year and this morning before I could even get my second cup of coffee the pager went off for a structure fire. About 4 minutes later my Asst. Chief arrived on scene to find an abandoned house trailer fully involved and already pretty much on the ground. I responded driving Tanker 2 out of my station with one of my probie's. It was about an 8 mile drive for us from Station 3 and Station 1's crew was already on scene and working fire attack. Station 2 was right behind them. When we arrived my crew was tasked to assist with overhaul and final extinguishing of the fire. First being getting the metal roof off of the still burning wood floor. This took about 3 of us with pike poles to push and roll the roof so we could get to the fire

The wadded up metal is whats left of the roof of the trailer

After we had the roof out of the way we had fire under the floor so we had to pull, chop and hammer our way through the floor so we could get to the fire. This made for a pretty good upper body workout. The ax and pike pole gave me a pretty good workout with all the chopping and pulling.

You can see the fire coming up from the floor

Another view of the smoldering floor

Luckily this was just an old junk trailer behind another one so nothing was really lost. I'm sure the owner's only disappointment was that we arrived too soon and left some of the floor.

Marcus putting the wet stuff on the red stuff

We spent at least a good hour and a half putting out the hot spots. Really the only reason being we didn't want to get called out there again. It's always best to spend a little extra time making sure its out. It took approximately 3000 gallons of water to extinguish this fire.

Most of the fire was put out at this point

After the fire I had to do inventory at my station and equipment checks. Then I went to The Daily Grind for coffee and a late breakfast. After I got home I did 45 minutes on the bike trainer which gave me about an 11.5 mile ride. A quick shower and then we were off to the Fire Department Christmas dinner. But before we could leave the house we had a mutual aid call with Gravel Ridge for a house on fire. Station 1 had a crew on E65 so they took the call allowing us to run by Kroger's for some last minute goodies for the Christmas Party. It's always good to get to hang out with the guys and this is sometimes the only time all the wives are there too. Luckily E65 did the assist getting the fire out quickly and getting back just in time to start the dinner. As we drove home afterwards I told Annette this may be one of those nights. Its in the mid 30's now with 25 mile per hour winds and dropping. Has the recipe for another disaster somewhere. Hopefully not, I'd really rather sleep tonight than fight fire.

Attempting to run again

Well tonight was the night. I took my brand new Garmin 305 out of the box, programed it and got ready to head over to the track for about 45 minutes of run/walk. Since the temperature was in the lower 40's it gave me a chance to try out my CW-X running tights also. My goal was to run the straights and walk the curves then see how the leg felt.

I started out with a brisk walk around the track. My marathon partner Jane was there running with Sara. It was nice seeing some people I knew at the track. After a nice warm up I started to run in the first straight. Well, it wasn't good. When my right foot would hit the track I could feel pain. I could still run, but not well. It felt about like it did during the marathon other than when I walked, I could walk pretty fast with no pain at all. I walked probably one whole lap before I ran again. Same thing, same pain. Hard to describe really, but it seemed to be more on the upper back of my calf. So whatever it is, its still not healed up.

It's pretty discouraging to not get to run when you can pretty much feel yourself sprinting around the track. The good thing is I still got some miles in. Even though it was more walk than run, I ended up with a whopping 2.6 miles in 45:25. Thats an incredible 17:04 pace. Probably the slowest 45 minutes I have ever logged but if it helps the leg I'd gladly do more.

I'm seriously considering getting an Ortho appointment but I have heard so many stories of mis diagnosis I just don't know. If I had a good diagnosis at least I would know what to treat and how. As it is now I'm at a loss what it really is. I would have thought that after almost 4 weeks of no running at all, the healing of whatever would have been much further along. As it is now, the only healing I have is that I can walk good again and fairly fast. Maybe I'm just getting impatient and need to give it more time.

Wednesday Training

First off I'm tired of the cold and the rain. Is it summer yet?? The weather is calling for possible snow or freezing rain Saturday. Yuck. I like snow but I HATE the cold.

Today I made room reservations in Nashville for the Country Music Marathon on April 26th. Annette and I both are planning to run the full along with several of the Cruisers. I signed up for a free online training program they have and yesterday was the first official training day they had listed. Well, zero for me yesterday.

Tonight's workout called for cross training so thats what I did. I jumped on my bike and rode the trainer for a solid hour. I really like the bike trainer. It's not as boring as most have said. I get my ipod going and watch TV at the same time. I had a pretty good workout and my heart rate monitor said I burnt 618 calories. My average was about 75% of my maximum heart rate and I was sweating! I normally do a 5 minute warm up in a small gear, then move up to the big ring and start working hard for 3-5 minutes at a time, then dropping down a couple gears to recover. I'll alternate this several times along with working each leg seperatly and moving to different positions on my bars. Thats the nice thing about using your own bike and not a trainer, I actually can get used to my triathlon bars a little more. Varying the hand position also works different muscles in the legs so I'll time different positions. On a long bike ride you have to move around on the bars and the more positions you have the better.

After the trainer I did some abs, push ups and some stretching. I may attempt a run tomorrow night. I was tempted to do a brick tonight but I didn't want to push it. My leg doesn't hurt and I only feel it with certain ranges of motion. After almost four weeks of not running, I have about come to the conclusion that I need to run now to get things back to normal. Irregardless, if I do it will be very easy and very short. The ticker has started so its time to get back to training!

Running technique improvement - comparing elite to average

I am not selling this product but the video has some cool running form comparisons. If the cranks were not so expensive I'd probably buy one.

Leg

Well about the time I thought I was about to get all healed up, now my leg is hurt in a new place. Last night I responded to an EMS call with the FD. We had a 15 year old male with a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head. In the process of helping get the patient on the backboard, I had to squat down almost to the ground and I could feel some pain in the back of my leg, just above the joint itself. Hamstring maybe? I'm not sure. I just know I didn't bend that way long and got on my knees instead. It probably didn't help that I was trotting to the ambulance to get needed supplies. It's just weird because now my calf feels fine. It's probably one of those tendons that is not quite all healed up yet. I really don't think it's that bad, just need a few more days.

I'm so ready to start running again. Thank goodness I have the bike I can ride inside or outside. And today I received my new Garmin 305 from UPS that I ordered from Walmart.com. I'm not even going to take it out of the box until I start back running.

Cruiser Christmas Party

We had our Cabot Cruiser running club Christmas party tonight and it was awesome. There was so many people there and too many to mention. Next year we may have to find a facility as the club has just about outgrown the homes. It was potluck and there was tons of food along with great fellowship. It's always good to get to just sit around and talk to your running buddies.

While I couldn't walk right after the marathon I needed something to do so during Thanksgiving week I made a video with music for the club members. It has photos of several of our races and training runs in it and is about 13 minutes long. I wanted to post the video itself here but I haven't been able to yet so here is the link for now. Take a look and enjoy.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8571472159578027976

Indoor Bike Trainer

I broke down today and bought me an indoor bike trainer so I could get in some good workouts when I couldn't ride outside. We have an old exercise bike but that is nothing like riding your own bike. With this I can even clip in, shift gears and change positions on the bars. About the only thing I can't do with it is balancing. Rollers would be the way to go for that but those just seem too risky inside. Maybe out in the middle of the garage or something. I did get a 30 minute hard workout in this afternoon while watching one of the bike races in Europe I had recorded on the DVR. I didn't want to do too much till I saw how my leg would feel but so far so good. The trainer will allow me to ride at night, rain, sleet or snow so I hope that I won't get too bored with it. Another thing I can do is make different adjustments on the bike and test them on the trainer. It beats an exercise bike for sure.


I don't think Annette will let me keep it in the living room though!

December 7th

So I wonder how many people out there know what significant event happened on December 7th? Probably not as many as there should be and if you don't, shame on you. Most of us know where we were and what we were doing on September 11th, 2001 and will never forget that. I know I won't. My dad is 90 years old and he can vividly tell me exactly where he was and what he was doing on December 7th, 1941. Ok, if you don't know, this was the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. This was a life changing event for our forefathers as 9/11 has been for a lot of us.

So today, take a minute and remember those that fought and those that gave their lives so that we could be a free country. Support our troops and most of all Never Forget!!!!

More on Ham Radio

I received this in an email today and thought it was fitting to add as part of my previous post.

Oregon emergency officials say ham radio operators the unsung heroes

12/4/2007, 5:39 p.m. PST By SARAH SKIDMORE The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — When parts of Oregon were overwhelmed by wind and water during the recent storm, vital communication often was lacking, with trees down and across phone lines and cell coverage limited.

Even the state police had difficulty in reaching some of their own troops.

But ham radio worked.

In fact, amateur radio operators were heralded by state emergency officials as heroes. Ham radio is more than just a hobby to some. It can set up networks for government and emergency officials to communicate when other communication services fail.

"One of the problems in this is always communication," Gov. Ted Kulongoski said after a visit Tuesday to Vernonia and a fly-over there and other affected areas. "I'm going to tell you who the heroes were from the very beginning of this...the ham radio operators. These people just came in and actually provided a tremendous communication link to us."

A network of at least 60 volunteer amateur radio operators working along the coast and inland helped from keep crucial systems such as 911 calls, American Red Cross and hospital services connected. They relayed information about patient care and relayed lists of supplies needed in areas cut off by water.

In addition to getting an FCC license to operate, certain groups of operators are cleared by the federal government to work as emergency responders.

"You are amateur in name only," said Steve Sanders, a spokesman for District One of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, which helped in several key counties hit by the storm.

The Oregon Office of Emergency Management said the radio operators were tireless in their efforts to keep the systems connected.

It was ham radio that kept New York City agencies in touch with each other after their command center was destroyed on 9-11, according to the National Association for Amateur Radio. When hurricanes like Katrina hit, amateur radio helped provide life-and-death communication services when everything else failed.

Amateur radio works on a set of radio frequencies known as "amateur bands" just above the AM broadcast band all the way up to high microwave frequencies. Operators use their own equipment to communicate with other operators, using different equipment and frequencies than emergency responders.

So when some services won't work, they can relay messages.

Sometimes it takes creativity and a lot of leg work, such as setting up a new link on the top of a mountain when no other options are available.

The only major limitation, Sanders said, is the number of volunteers.

"This was just the poster child storm for what we do," Sander said.

Something different

Since I really didn't have any running or firefighting excitement to report I thought I'd share something a little different. Below is a photo of my Amateur Radio Station or Ham Radio as some call it. For those that know nothing about Ham Radio, it has been used for probably over 100 years for communications throughout the world. During disasters, Ham Radio is sometimes the only means of communications. During Hurricane Katrina Ham Radio operators passed emergency traffic 24/7 while normal land line and cell phone service was out of commission. Hams were also embedded with emergency workers to help provide communications. This was just one of many disasters where Ham Radio was used. From wild fires in California to Tornadoes in the south, Ham Radio operators are there to assist in communications. This is all done as volunteers, with some often traveling and staying weeks in a disaster area using their own funds.

My Ham Shack - 2meter/440 radio, HF all band/all mode radio, power supplies, power amp, antenna tuner, computer

There are many bands, frequencies and modes that are used. A lot depends on the atmospheric conditions and also the type of license the operator has. You have to take a test and pass to becoome an operator. It's not like CB radio and a lot of it is very technical knowledge that must be learned. Operating rules are very strict. For more info on what Ham Radio is all about you can follow this link: http://www.arrl.org/ .

As far as my station, I run a 24/7 Voice over Internet Station through a system called "Echolink". Echolink allows licensed hams to communicate all over the world through computer links. Basically how it works is that the computer and internet are connected to a radio. The internet acts as an antenna allowing an operator to talk into a link through a radio or by computer. It's pretty cool what you can do with it. I once talked to a guy that was driving through the bush in South Africa while I was using a hand held radio. We were both connected to computer nodes in our areas that connected each other together. I have been able to communicate all over the world with this while walking around my house.

During non-emergency times, operators prepare and practice a lot for disasters by running local Nets, contests and just experimenting with different equipment, antennas, modes, etc. We build a lot of our own antennas and equipment. Also during severe weather, ham radio operators man the National Weather Service stations and do storm spotting while driving around. Ham Radio operators along with fire and police departments are the first line of defense when it comes to major storms.

With the advent of cell phones, Ham Radio has seen a decline in the number of operators but cell phone service is not reliable in times of disaster. Two-way radio is the ONLY reliable means of communications during these times. Recent changes in license requirements has allowed more people to get into ham radio so it is coming back some. A lot of it is really old school technology but it also is on the leading edge of digital communications throughout the world.

There is really too much to write about this in one post but I just thought I'd pass on a little of the info on the subject as something different.

Back to the Track

It was back to the track tonight with the Tuesday Night Flyers. We normally run in Magness Creek but tonight we were at the High School track. I didn't actually run any but I did walk 1.2 miles. That was the furthest I have walked since the marathon a little over 2 weeks ago. It may even be the most combined walking I have done since then. It was nice being out with the group again even though I wasn't running the work out with them. Coach Dennis assured me that I was being very smart and doing the right thing by not running too soon. He explained how my muscles will come back stronger than before by letting them rest more. I have been concerned about losing my level of fitness but he told me that after the first week running I'd be back at full speed and maybe then some.

The walking felt pretty good and I did try to walk at a pretty fast pace. It was so hard not to run though. I could sense the speed of the track just walking on it. I just kept telling myself that I was doing speed walk training for my next marathon. The down side to walking is you don't stay as warm. And it felt pretty cold out tonight. The best part was getting to talk to all my running buds. I will probably go back to the track on some week nights and get some more walking in or when the time is right, run a few laps. Soon. Soon we will run again.

Thoughts of 2008

I guess I should be looking back at accomplishments for 2007 but all I can think of is whats coming up in 2008. The 2007 racing season is basically over. I won't be running any more races this year. I would like to be able to run a few miles before the first of the year and hopefully I will be able to. The leg feels pretty good, not 100% but at least 80% right now.

So today I worked up a running/biking calendar for 2008. The Grand Prix season kicks off on January 27th with the One Hour Track Run at Russellville. Thats pretty much it for January. February comes in with the Valentines 5k on the 9th and then the River Trail 15K on the 16th. Last year the River Trail 15K was one of my training runs for the Little Rock 1/2. Not sure yet if I am doing the half or the full. It all depends on the injury and if I can con some other runners into doing the full. It's just so much easier training with a group or at least one or two people doing the same event. I really want that Little Rock medal. It is the biggest marathon medal in the world they say. And it is big!

March has the Little Rock Marathon on the 2nd and then the Chase Race 2 miler on the 8th. The Cabot Spring Fling 5K is on the 29th. April will be somewhat challenging. On the 5th there is the Capitol City Classic 10K and then the next day is the Hogeye 1/2 Marathon in Fayetteville. Then the big question in our running group is which full marathon to run. Several have run Little Rock before so they are not as interested as I am. Nashville has the Country Music Marathon on the 26th of April and Oklahoma City is the 27th. So for now these two are a toss up. I'm sure a decision will be made soon. I have plenty of time to train for either of these and I could do the full in Little Rock and then one of these since they are way over a month apart. Of course that all depends on so many factors. I can't even run right now and I'm planning almost back to back marathons. Oh well, its fun to dream anyway! I'll talk about other upcoming races later.

Saturdays best intentions

I started Saturday with a plan to go get in some bike miles around noon once it had warmed up a little. About 11:30am I get a call from the alarm company saying that we had an alarm going off at our West Little Rock shop. 99% of the time these are either malfunctions or false alarms so the lady told me she would dispatch the police to check it out anyway just in case. About 15 minutes later the phone rings again. I was in my office and the phone was in the kitchen so I knew it was the alarm company so I almost sprinted to get the phone. Bad move. I could feel it in my right leg. I didn't hurt it, but it just told me that I'm not ready to run yet.

So I get the phone and the lady tells me that evidently someone failed to lock the door properly and that the police wanted me there to check the building. So, I had to drive 35-40 minutes to West Little Rock to meet the police. Luckily no one had been in the building and nothing was missing. Needless to say, I wasn't a happy camper.

To make matters worse, people were just driving crazy. I almost had three people run into me and I was driving the big red 4x4 truck. What the heck was people thinking when they can't see me and try to cut in my lane?? By the time I got some lunch and got back home, loading the bike and heading back over to the River Trail was the last thing I wanted to do. I did manage to clean the leaves out of the pool a little then I aired the tires up on my comfort bike and rode it around the block just to see what it felt like. Well, it wouldn't be a good day for biking anyway, the wind was blowing about 20 miles an hour it felt like so I called it quits. The exercise bike upstairs is starting to look better and better. (yuck)

I am so ready to start running again but who knows when that will be. I was hoping I might get a short run in next week but thats looking doubtful. The Grand Prix season kicks off on January 27th so that will be my training goal for now so I still have some time.

Tagged By Susan

I was tagged a while back by Susan so now I have to come up with 5 random facts about me so here goes.

1. I am very focused - sometimes to the point of obsession. If there is a goal or task at hand I'm going to get it done, whatever it takes.

2. I can drive most anything - about the only thing I haven't driven is an airplane. When I was 14 my Dad let me drive his 18 wheeler truck. Boats, cars, trucks, motorcycles, heavy equipment no problem. Fire Trucks are my specialty now being qualified on 10+ trucks in our department.

3. I love electronics - computers, gadgets, and especially 2 way radios. I am a Ham Radio operator and with also being a firefighter I have at least eight various 2 way radios capable of talking anywhere in the world. If you need communications I can get it done!

4. I certified many years ago as a Radiological Monitor with the Fire Dpt. What the heck is that?? Well, I learned how to use a Geiger Counter in case there was a radiation spill. Not that I would ever do it anyway, if that happens its time to RUN! Just one of the weird classes I have had.

5. I can fix almost anything. If its broke, I can fix it. It might not be fast but it will get done if there is anyway I can do it.

I am going to tag Annette, Cheryl, Kim, and Kirsten to reveal 5 of their random facts.

CPR

Tuesday night is my "busy" night most weeks. I not only do the running clinic, but it is also our regular training night for my fire department. Since this week I couldn't run I opted to get to FD training on time. After sitting in on a quick Fire Fighters Association meeting, we were given two options for training for the night. 1) Go to station two and give the rookies some pump training on the engines or 2) stay and take a CPR class. Since my CPR card had just recently expired and I really didn't feel like crawling around on the engines and playing in the water I elected to stay and do the CPR class.

I can't even count the number of times I have been CPR certified over the years. It seems like every couple years they change the standards and this year was no different. We were doing the American Heart Association Health Care Provider course and one of our MEMS medics was giving the class. It was pretty much old school to me, after almost 15 years in the fire service, I already knew what to do, though CPR is not something that is done everyday, I have done it on real people though. Most of the people in the class haven't even did a manikin yet. It was still good to brush up on it.

One major change, now its pretty much thirty compressions and two breaths weather its one person or two person CPR. The thing now is that studies have found that compressions help circulate the oxygen that is left in the lungs so this is the most important part. I can remember when it was 5/1 and 15/2 so 30/2 is easier. They also changed hand placement. Now it is directly between the nipples. Bottom line is this, ANY CPR is better than no CPR. If you ever have to do it your not going to get in trouble for not counting right or having your hand a millimeter out of place. Also, it is against most health care providers policies to do mouth to mouth so unless its a close relative you are taking a big chance on getting something you can't get rid of. The class is pretty boring stuff and it's one of those things you never want to have to use, but everyone should know it.

Oh yeah, I also got my training certificate's for School Inspections and Basic Arson Detection last night. I took these classes back in August and October. Arson Investigation is really cool stuff to study. It's CSI for fire. I have attended many classes on Arson and they are always interesting and informative. Since we are a volunteer department we do not conduct full blown arson investigations. We try to determine a cause and if there is sufficient evidence to warrant an investigation we turn it over to the State Fire Marshall. They get paid to be in court and we don't. Heck, we don't get paid period! So support your local professional volunteers, we need it.

Sports Massage

Well today I got my first ever sports massage. Annette had been for her first the week before the marathon. She loved it and pretty much all the local runners here told me that I had to go see "Christy" after the marathon. With the shape that my legs were in for the first few days I figured that nothing short of an MRI, casts and lots of pain pills would help. Luckily things did get better through the end of last week and Annette scheduled me an appointment for today. All I can say is WOW. It was AWESOME. I did not realize that muscles had so many knots in them. I could feel the knots rolling out as she massaged my legs. She said I was still a little tense but I think that was because I wasn't sure how hard she would be massaging my sore spots. We discussed these up front and I told her where all my aches and pains were. She massaged all of them pretty hard at times but none of it was painful. Afterwards she basically said that my legs were trashed. They are very tight and the tendons in my calves are all stressed. She recommended taking it easy for a while to let things heal up with icing and finger massages to help too. No heat. Even though she is not a doctor, I felt much better after hearing what she was telling me. So, I have pretty much ordered myself to two weeks of rest and no running. Not sure if I can make it that long but I'm not going to run any until my leg feels normal again. Then I'll start back slow and easy. I'll probably go back for another massage in a couple weeks. I really didn't want to leave today, it was that good, very relaxing and it did help a lot. Massage will now be a regular part of training and racing for me.

Sunday Workout

I got in my first real workout since the marathon. No, I did not run. I was able to make it to my upstairs workout room and did about 45 minutes of upper body and abs then I tackled the exercise bike just to see if the leg would do it. Yes, I could pedal with no pain at all. Only time I would feel anything was when I would twist my lower leg a little. I rode the bike for 20 minutes easy. I could do plank on the floor which surprised me but I only held it for just a few seconds. I can do side leg lifts which work the IT band with no pain. So I'm thinking it's not an IT band issue at least. It has to be a calf muscle strain or tear. If it's not 100% better tomorrow I will be making an appointment with a Sports Medicine Doctor to find out for sure.

Walking is much better, Saturday I could actually put my pants on without holding on to anything. This will be the first week since I started running in August '06 that I won't log any running miles at all. Kinda sucks because last year I was able to get a couple miles in even when I had IT Band problems but thats ok, I just ran a marathon and I have no regrets at all. I would do it again tomorrow even with the same outcome.

Rehabbing an injury is just another part of training so I'm not going to bitch and whine about being injured. If your going to be an athlete thats just part of the game. Now I have a new training plan to work on and that is to get back to where I can run again.

Injury update

Today my walking strides are a little longer and it doesn't feel like my leg is going to come out from under me so I guess it's a little better but not much. I tried to get a Dr's appointment today but guess what? They are all closed! I guess no one better get sick or injured during a holiday week. Today was the first day I have been out of the house since coming home from work on Wednesday night so that was nice. I even got to use our whirlpool tub which seemed to help loosen the calf up some. I'm really not that concerned with running at this point, I just want to walk half way normal again. Being stuck in the house has allowed me some time to organize some of our race photos so I guess it's not all bad. Tomorrow I have to figure out a way to at least do an upper body workout or something.

A bunch of the Cruiser's are running the Great Duck Race tomorrow in Stuttgart. It's a small 10K race that Annette ran last year. It's a flat and fast course and most of them are just running it as a training run for the Memphis 1/2 Marathon on December 1st. Wish I could be there! Good luck guys!!

Post Marathon Wednesday

I guess its time to declare an official injury. Ever since the marathon my right leg has been giving me problems. It started during the marathon and I ran with it. At times I could barely walk but I could run once I got started. It hasn't changed much since Monday. I can walk, but only very very slowly. If I put weight on it its ok at times, and then sometimes if I twist it a little I have a pretty bad pain. Sometimes it just feels like its in the top outside of my right calf. Other times it feels like it radiates all the way up to my hip. The calf itself is still very tight. At times I can put all my weight on the leg and it feels fine, other times if I'm walking it just hits like a brick and I almost fall from the pain. It feels a lot like my IT band felt last year when it was hurt but I don't think the IT goes down below the knee. So, I'm thinking it has to be either a calf strain or calf tear. Maybe even a tendon. Worst scenario would be a stress fracture I suppose. I really don't have a clue and it is very frustrating not really knowing. I can't seem to find anyone or any info on a similar injury yet. With the holiday it's pretty much futile to try to see a doctor. I do have an appointment Monday for a massage if I can walk then. So here I am 3 days after running 26.2 miles, not even able to walk to the bathroom. What I really hate the worst is the fact that all the nay sayers to running can say, I told you so.

By the way, I really did have a good marathon and would do it again tomorrow even if I knew I would be hurt. It was that awesome.

Tulsa Route 66 Race Report

Ok race fans, here is my attempt at a race report. Actually I could write a lot more but hopefully this sums most of it up and I apologize in advance if it's too long.

Tulsa Route 66 Marathon – 11/18/07

Pre-race:
Annette, Kelly and I all drove down together early on Friday morning. After getting checked in to our rooms, we tied to find a place to eat. We were staying at a Hampton Inn in Sand Springs. We drove around for a while and couldn’t find anything but fast food. We wanted something good! We found a Western Sizlin and stopped there but about that time a whole football team arrived so we just left. We didn’t want to wait in line. From there we just went on down to the Expo.

Let me tell you, the roads around Tulsa are some of the worst I have seen when under construction. The exit to our hotel was blocked off and the exit to the Expo was blocked off with construction. No detour signs or anything. The downtown area looks like a war zone with road construction everywhere. Somehow I lucked out and found the Convention Center.

The Expo itself was ok. Not real big but there were several running stores there with some good deals. We got our race packets, bought a few things and headed back to the hotel to wait on the others that were coming in that evening. After some of the others arrived we all wanted food very badly. Since there was nothing good really close by, we opted for the Western Sizlin we had been at earlier. It was still a good meal.

On Saturday morning we met with Brenda, Vickie, Paulette, Kim, and Kelly to do a short run in remembrance of Ryan Shay who died during the Olympic Marathon Trials in New York. I only ran 2 miles, Annette, Kim, Brenda and Kelly did 3 miles. Vic and Paulette just did a walk. It was sunny and very warm, even though it was 45 degrees.

Saturday Morning Run - Kelly, Kim, Paulette, Annette, Vicki, Kim

Later that morning we went to the expo again so the others could get their race packets. Several other Cruisers were driving up Saturday morning and they were going to meet us there. We did the whole expo thing again, but we were getting hungry again. We decided to eat a snack there and wait on the others then go eat. Well, things took longer so we decided to find the race course and drive it. Somehow I found it. I guess I was lucky again. We didn’t drive it all but got a general idea of most of it. We didn’t however anticipate the hills that we would run in the race. That was probably a good thing though. After that we headed back to the hotel to wait on the others. The plan was to go to dinner early so our food would have time to settle.

We ended up going to Spaghetti Warehouse in the downtown area. Somehow I got picked to be the lead vehicle and by some stroke of luck I drove right to the place. I think there was a total of 15 of us there for dinner. It was awesome! Carb loading Saturday Night

After getting back to the hotel everyone went to their rooms to get everything ready for the race. We were all getting very anxious and excited at this point. I actually slept really well that night which was a big surprise.

Race Day:
We were all up early Sunday morning to hit the continental breakfast before leaving at 6:45am. Everyone arrived at the race site together around 7:15am. I think there were 15 in our group with 3 carloads of people. The weather was perfect, about 45 degrees at start time. I think it was cooler than that actually. As the race went on it probably got into the upper 60’s to low 70's and there was a little fog along the river early.

The group - Front row: Rock, Annette, Bob, Lisa, Jane(blue), Cindy(green), Andrea, Susan, Brenda
Back row: Rick, Me, Kim, Kelly, Vicki, Paulette

Lining up at the start

The race has begun!

After the start, we went 300 yards and then had an uphill to a bridge that crossed the Ark. River. By mile one I was ready to dump my throw away shirt. Jane and I ran together for probably 23+ miles which really helped me conquer this beast. There were several cool bands playing during the first 3 miles and then one every now and then afterwards which added some fun. We had our pace down, our nutrition down and were just behind the 4:45 pace group for about 4-5 miles. We tried to slow it down a little with our pie in the sky goal being anything under 5.

At about mile 7 I started having issues with my right leg just below my knee on the outside. Still not sure what it is. But I felt it all week thinking it was just pre-marathon pains. We were doing the run/walk program and took our quick walk breaks pretty religiously every mile. We were probably 1-1:30 ahead of pace at this point then at mile 8 I had to stop for just a few and try to stretch my leg so we lost some time here. It didn't help any that there was probably only 8 miles or so that wasn't concrete in the whole race! By mile 9 I was thinking there is no way I can do 26.2 with this leg acting up. For a split second I thought of DNF then I thought no way. I’ll finish if I have to walk or drag my leg in. It was very hard to get moving after the water stops. I probably looked like a lame horse or something but I was determined to finish. The 5:00 pace group passed us around 8 or so and I knew we couldn't hang with them. That was kind of a downer. At that point it was just about finishing. Once I got running I was ok which was weird. Walking hurt worse, running was not bad. A few times we even ran extra hard to make up time. I think we took a bathroom break around 10 which always loses time but we kept moving forward. After 13.1 I took 3 Motrin to help the leg and a mile or so later it actually felt better but it was too late to make up the time.

It was pretty humid, and we did sweat a lot. Lucky for us we packed our own stuff because the water stops seemed too far apart and I only saw a couple that had gels. They were spaced about 2-2.5 miles apart but we ran past a lot of them.

Somewhere around 14 we went through the town of Jenks. It was really cool as it had little shops along the road and they were all playing Christmas music. It was deserted though except for the runners so it was some what surreal.

Jenk's looked like a ghost town.

By mile 15 I had actually figured out how to start running again after walking. If I bent my knees and squatted down with my hips a little it was easier to start and much faster. Usually it’s a struggle for me when I get more miles down. Today it was a struggle from 7 on. Having someone to run with made all the difference in the world and without Jane I would have struggled much more. I think we helped each other a lot, if nothing else we always knew when it was gel time and when it was electrolyte time. We did a gel every hour and electrolytes every 30 minutes or so. Every mile we got a drink from our bottles. I’d have to say nutritionally we did it right. We never hit the wall.

It seemed like from 14 on the miles were longer than a mile but we knew they were not. Around mile 18 there was a band playing some head banger music and they were singing something like “you’re not going to make it”. It was weird….we needed some good rock and roll and did not want to hear that crap! I think at 19 we had some Belly Dancers on the corner. They were just standing there so I told them to start dancing, we needed some motivation!

I thought I was seeing things, belly dancers on the course

Mile 20 was a nice sight to see, I told Jane that it would be like walking on the moon after this, going places where we have never been, but then the race director tricked us. We turned into a nice little area with bars lining the streets and there was a big Star Bucks. The first one we saw in Tulsa in fact! At the end of that street we made a left and then it was all HILLS! These were not little hills either. The race director told us on Friday that it was only gently rolling hills. Wrong!! These were close to Greystone hills. The bad thing was it was like this up until half a mile from the finish. There was not very many nice down hills either. Needless to say, not very many people were running up these. I ran up a couple which felt good on my calves but after 21 miles, I really didn’t want to get a muscle cramp at the end and with the bad leg I was pushing the edge anyway. We plodded on, and I think at about mile 23 Jane went on ahead of me a little ways. I tried to get her to earlier but she wouldn’t.

This is usually the start of "The Wall" but it was the home stretch for us

There was a couple decent short down hills around 25 that I took advantage of. At one point I thought I might finish under 5:25 then I’d see another hill so I had to re-adjust. Then it was 5:30, and then it was 5:35 which I did beat. All the hills at the end were just WRONG!!

Kim, Kelly and Annette running me in to the finish

Just before 26 after I turned the corner I saw Annette and some of the girls running towards me. That was a sight for sore eyes! They ran me in till just before the finish chute where I did a short sprint to finish it off. The rest of the group was all there cheering me also as I rounded the corner. It was awesome!! Final chip time, 5:32:45.

Me running to the finish line

I actually still had some gas in the tank at the end but the leg just didn’t work good, mainly walking. Walking afterwards was probably harder than running those hills. I moved very slowly, but it’s just the calf or whatever is wrong. My hips were really starting to hurt on those hills too. Afterwards I got my medal which is AWESOME and my finisher’s shirt which is a long sleeve tech shirt. I did get one piece of Pizza but all the food was gone.

Tech shirt and medal

The super cool "My First Marathon" medal. You can't buy this, you have to earn it!

The best part of this whole experience was the support of all the Cruisers. Just knowing that they were all waiting at the finish helped to keep me motivated. I was not going to DNF and let them down! Annette finished her 1/2 Marathon in 2:18:15 and set a new PR. Jane's final marathon time was 5:30:07 and was her first marathon.

Annette finishing her 1/2 Marathon

Will I do another?? Heck Yeah! Even though there were many times I was thinking why in the world were we doing this, it was still a lot of fun. One other thing about this race was the marathoners that were running with us at times were so nice. We carried on conversations with so many people and they really liked our Cruiser singlets. We met and ran with one guy that ran a marathon in Mountain Home on Saturday and then Tulsa Sunday. He said he has run 79 marathons so far since 1999. He doesn’t run them for speed, but for the accomplishment.

I can say this was one heck of an accomplishment and yes, it was hard. I could have had a much better time if it hadn’t been for the injury but like everyone says, you just never know what the day will bring till it happens. I was lucky to finish.

Post race - I can barely walk this morning. My hurt leg does not want to cooperate at all. Sleeping was hard last night, I think everything from my hips down was hurting. But this is what the marathon is about. Conquering and overcoming whatever it throws at you. Guess it’s on to recovery now.

Here were my mat time splits:

10K – 1:09:57 – 11:17 pace
15K – 1:52:22 – 12:05 pace
Half split (13.1m) – 2:35:52 – 11:54 pace
27K – 3:27:06 – 12:25 pace
33K – 4:17:28 – 12:34 pace
Final - 26.2 miles – 5:32:45 – 12:45 pace
Avg. Heart rate – 162
4142 Calories

Special thanks first to my wife Annette for being there for me and taking part in almost all of my training runs and taking care of me post race. Jane, for being a great running partner and putting up with me for 23+ miles along with several training runs. Vickie, for her experience, advice and inspiration throughout my journey. Brenda for always having the right training routes along with inspiration, advice and caring. Coach Dennis for his encouraging words that always kept me thinking “I can do this.” And of course, all of the Cabot Cruisers which are too many to name. Their support, experience, wisdom and inspiration always kept me thinking that there is no way I can fail.

I kicked it on Route 66!

Quick report. The Tulsa Route 66 Marathon is over. I did it,I got the medal and the shirt! 5:32:45 final time. Race report to follow soon!

11 hours and counting

I can't believe I will be running 26.2 miles in less than 11 hours now. Everyone keeps asking how I'm feeling, if I'm nervous, etc. Well, I am feeling great. I'm worried about my right leg/calf as I have had a weird twinge there for the past couple days but I ran 2 miles this morning and it felt fine. One of the girls told me that it was normal to feel stuff like that before a marathon. I have probably hydrated more in the past two days than I ever have. I have 4 packs of gels, some sport beans and some peanut butter crackers in my running belt. To top that off I will start off with a bottle of Accelerade and plenty of Hammer Endurolyte tablets to keep my electrolytes in check.
I have my chip on the shoe and everything is laid out. Still wondering if I put the race number in the right place and if I have the right shirt. It will be fine. If todays weather is any indication on tomorrow, it will be a warm run. Time to get to bed. I'll report more tomorrow after the race if I feel like it.

Getting gear laid out

The Journey Begins

We leave for Tulsa today and it's probably a good thing. If someone at work had to ask another dumb question or do something stupid I think I would croak. So lucky for them, I took today off!

Everyone asks if am I excited. I really don't know that excited is the word. It's more like exworried. I'm probably more worried about what might or will go wrong than the excitement itself. I'm sure that will change as soon as I get to Tulsa with all the other runners. The taper really hasn't felt like a rest to me. Just an extra day or two off from running is all. I packed some last night. I have one bag that is full of nothing but running gear. It's so full I don't know if I can carry it! I think I have everything in there except for an ice bath.

Off to pack some more and get the drive over with. Pre-race and post race reports to follow. The journey begins!

The Marathon

This was written by Dean Karnazes and some may have read it before. I thought it was fitting to post here just a few days before my marathon.

THE MARATHON

The Marathon is not about running, it is about salvation. We spend so much of our lives doubting ourselves, thinking we’re not good enough, not strong enough, not made of the right stuff. The Marathon is an opportunity for redemption. “Opportunity,” because the outcome is uncertain. “Opportunity,” because it is up to you, and only you, to make it happen.

There is no luck involved in finishing a marathon, the ingredients required to tackle this formidable challenge are straightforward: commitment, sacrifice, grit, and raw determination. Plain and simple.

So you set about in your training to prepare your body for the rigors of running 26.2 miles. You train like crazy, dedicating yourself wholeheartedly to the challenge ahead, pouring everything you’ve got into it. But you know the Marathon will ask for more. In the dark recesses of you mind, a gloomy voice is saying, you can’t. You do your best to ignore this self-doubt, but the voice doesn’t go away.

The Marathon shakes you to the core. It deconstructs your very essence, stripping away all your protective barriers and exposing your inner soul. At a time when you are most vulnerable, the Marathon shows no pity. The Marathon tells you it will hurt you, that it will leave you demoralized and defeated in a lifeless heap on the roadside. The Marathon tells you that it can’t be done, not by you. “Ha!” it torments you, “In your dreams.”

You fight back, however, and stand courageously at that starting line, nervously awaiting the gun to go off. When it does, you put your head down and charge off into the abyss with the knowledge that you either paid your dues, or skimped along the way. There is no lying to yourself, the Marathon sees right through excuses, shortcuts and self-transgressions.

All goes well for the first half. But slowly, step by step, the pain mounts, while the intensity of the endeavor amplifies. You remain steadfast, knowing that you did not skimp, that you did not take shortcuts along the way, that every footstep was earned through months of diligent preparation. Still, with each wearing thrust forward, that little nagging inclination of self-doubt progressively advances toward the surface of your awareness.

Then, at mile twenty, the voice looms louder than ever. It hurts so bad you want to stop. You must stop. But you don’t stop. This time, you ignore the voice, you tune out the naysayers who tell you you’re not good enough, and you listen only to the passion in your heart. This burning desire tells you to keep moving forward. To continue putting one foot boldly in front of the other, and don’t stop. Courage comes in many forms, today you will have the courage to keep trying, to not give up, no matter how dire things become. And dire they do become. At the 26 mile mark, you can barley see the course any longer, your vision is faltering as you teeter on the edge of consciousness.

And then, suddenly before you, looms the finish line. Tears stream down your face as you cover those final few steps. Now you are finally able to answer back to that nagging, pervasive voice with a resounding: Oh yes I can!

You burst across that finish line and are liberated from the prison of self-doubt and limitations that have forever held you captive. You have learned more about yourself in the past 26.2 miles than you have known in a previous lifetime, now you are freed from the chains that bind. Even if you can’t move for a week, you have never been so free.

As you are being carried away from the finish line, wrapped in a flimsy mylar blanket, barely able to raise your head, you are at peace. That daunting adversary that, as a runner, has haunted you for an entire lifetime is now your liberator, you fondest ally. You have done what few will ever do—you have done what you thought you could never do—and it is the most glorious, unforgettable awakening ever. You are, a Marathoner, and you will wear this distinction not on the lapel of your clothing, but in your heart, for the rest of your life.

3 days and counting

Thats right. Just a little over three days till the big event. I am feeling pretty good, not much different than I have before any other long run weekend. Only thing, this time I'll be going longer than ever before! Mentally I can make it. Physically I can make it if my legs will hold up. I am still worried about the calf cramping but I have a plan for that. My achilles may or may not hold up but I'm thinking I can limp a 12:00 minute pace if I have to. I wish I was running in new shoes but I just couldn't make the transition in time so my old shoes will have to do. Socks are good, shorts are good. I have various tested options in shirts depending on race day temps. I'm taking almost every piece of running gear I have just in case. It's a good thing I bought a new Nike bag to carry it all in. I have my stock of gels ready. Need to pick up some Accelerade to take tomorrow. I have a pace figured out, I am still debating in my head on my run/walk strategy.

Friday night and Saturday should be fun. There will be a big group of Cruisers showing up. I'm sure Saturday night we will carb load at some Italian place. There are only 4 that are running the full. The others are running the half. The half this year will start one hour after the full. Which is good for our group, at least they won't have to wait as long for me to finish that way.

I wanted to run tonight but instead we did Colton's. Guess my protein loading is over for today. I'll sneak a short run in tomorrow evening and then I am done till Saturday. I did get 4.3 miles in last night at the running clinic. Coach Dennis told me just to run an easy 3-4 and do some strides so thats what I did, or tried to do. The warm up run to our normal running area was a little over .6. Then I did 3 strides. That gave me one mile at 11:48 pace. Then I started what was suppose to be a slow jog around the block. Second mile I was thinking probably an easy 10:25 or so but it was actually a 9:28. Way too fast. But it didn't feel fast. I managed to slow it down by throwing some walks in on the next mile coming in at an 11:24. 3 strides and I was done and running back to the school slowly. Finished with an average of 11:12 which was about what I needed.

Ok, enough rambling. I need to go pack.

The Secret to Life

Today is my Dad's birthday. He is 90 today. Yes, 90 years old and he is still healthy and active. I called him this morning to wish him a happy birthday and during our conversation I told him that he has completed something above and beyond what is normal. I asked him what the secret to getting to 90 was and he really didn't have the answer. His only two things were having a good wife and coffee. He was married to my mom for 67 years before she died in March this year. Drinking coffee has always been something he does too. He doesn't eat a special diet, nor had he lived a perfectly clean life. He was raised on a tobacco farm in South Carolina and started smoking at a very young age. He chained smoked until he was probably 65, then quit cold turkey. Back in the 50's and 60's he managed a plant that manufactured asbestos insulation. Well, we all know how bad asbestos is. Most all the people that worked at that plant has died except for my brother and my dad. In the 60's he was also quite the drinker, but again quit cold turkey during that time. In the mid 60's to late 70's my dad drove a truck, owned his own and was on the road a lot. We all know how bad road food is. Maybe being honest and treating people right has something to do with it too. I tried to offer up the idea that it was just in the genes, but he has outlived all his brothers and most of his sisters that were younger than him.

So maybe the answer is a good woman and good coffee. If thats the case I have both! If I make it to 90 I hope to be as active as my dad. At least running makes me feel like I have a better shot at getting there.

I took this Sunday when we celebrated with family
Happy Birthday!

Fire Truck History

Since I have been sitting here trying to write about several different things tonight and then changed my mind, I decided I'd do a little fire truck history. One of the firefighters at my station is in ICU in Russellville due to a motorcycle accident and he loves this old truck so I wanted to do a little show and tell. Get well soon Reginald!

The truck in the photos is a 1975 Mack Firetruck. I am the Captain on this engine and the primary driver most of the time. We purchased the truck in 1995 after one of our firefighters was killed in an apparatus accident. Dania Stivers was the 1st female firefighter killed in the line of duty in the State of Arkansas. Thats another story for another day.

The first photos are from an add in Firehouse Magazine in 1985. The engine was originally Engine 1 in Portage, Michigan. They bought it new in 1975. Ran it as their first due engine and in 1985 sent it to Pierce Manufacturing to be refurbished (rebuilt). It continued to serve the people of Portage until almost another 10 years later when in late 1994 it was sold to Deep South Trucks in Mississippi. You can see in the top picture the way it looked new(1975), and the bottom part was when it had its first refurb in 1985.


Deep South Trucks did another refurb on it in 1995 and thats when we purchased it. Another 12 years later it still looks like this below. Not bad for a 32 year old truck!


If this engine could only talk, it could tell 20 years worth of stories from Portage, Mi and so far a little over 12 here in Arkansas. It has put out many fires and pumped thousands of gallons of water. I can say one thing for sure, they sure don't build trucks like these anymore. I feel honored to have been one of the select few that has driven and loved this truck. We have applied for a FEMA Grant to purchase a new truck to replace this one. If we get it the old Mack will become a reserve pumper and will most likely never get driven much. A new truck will be nice but it will be tough to beat this old truck.