Halloween Trick or Trot-Race Recap

So first off, imagine my surprise when I worked to get the TRR crew for this race and found out the “tricks” are not hookers.  That is embarrassing (sorry for the TRR solicitation lady, but you WERE dressed in your slutty nurse outfit).

Best Costumes: Richard Simmons, Rubic’s Cube, Marge and Homer Simpson, Slutty nurse, slutty butcher, slutty teacher, slutty nun, slutty cat (awesome band name “Slutty Cat”), slutty vet, and slutty funeral home director.

I am always amazed at the “firsts” that come up in running; I remember the first race I ran (Run-Shunga, Council Grove).  I was shocked at the people running the course twice, or running prior to the race.  That seemed crazy, well Saturday I was hoping for more miles to gear up for a race in November, so I ran 2 miles to the start of the race. I guess I am now in the “crazy” group.

Also “first” Chris Yates, Jenn’s fiancée’ ran with the race with us.  I am guessing Chris is very fast, pretty sure he never left second gear.  Interest note, Chris is a former Navy Seal, he has killed 13 men just this year! (kidding)



Chris, Jenn, Jaime, Russ

Oh yeah, we also took “Dirty” and “Smelly” or Max and Paco as you may know them. I wasn’t sure about taking them, as the race said no dogs, but I figured a 5K with 300 entries, costumes, and hookers would be okay with two dogs.  They were good, Paco ran with me and Max ran with Jaime.

Max and Paco

The weather was nice, and fine course, it actually is along a route Scott and I run regularly when training. Brad Fanning, Jenn Siehndel, Russ Thomas and Jaime Thomas also ran.  Proud to say the following PR’s:

• Jaime
• Russ
• Jenn

We are looking forward to a few more races before it gets too cold.  As always come out and join us, we would love to have you run with us, cheer us on, or throw stuff at us!

The Essential Step to Success in ANY area: Setting Goals

I've always set goals. Whether I realized I was "setting" them or not, I've always had something to stride toward. In my developmental years, they always seemed to have something to do with school. Finish high school to get to college, finish college to get to grad school, finish grad school to get a job. But there's a trend here:  the goals were easy to define, mostly because someone else set them for me. Don't misunderstand, I'm glad someone helped me succeed in school by setting goals for me. But goal setting itself was a skill I had to learn.

The basics

What is a Goal?

Goals are the accomplishment you're aiming toward. Goals are characterized by:

• S = Specificity
• M = Measurability
• A = Attainability
• R = Realistic yet Challenging
• T = Time Constraints

Reflecting back, during the times in life when I did not have a specific goal... I felt like I was aimless. I wasn't wrong. I needed to sit down and articulate what I was planning on doing with my days.

This year, Russ and I set goals related to our health. I'm happy to say that we've had to re-do them going on 3 times... because we keep surprising ourselves, by ACHIEVING them! Had we not sat down and written them out, we would never have realized the accomplishment. Therefore,


The Benefits of Setting Goals

• You can see where you're going, where you've been, and how long it took you to get there
• Great for your mojo! It feels good to accomplish something. 
• Keeps you on track
• Gives you a "raison d'etre" (reason for being)
• Bragging rights!

I won't ignore the downside: What if you don't hit your goal? Won't this damage your ego? Well, yes and no... yes, if you let it. But if you choose to let it teach you something about yourself, including causing you to adjust it to something slightly more realistic, or makes you even more determined, then it is a win.


My Challenge to You

• Set a goal
• Write it down
• Post it somewhere you see it everyday
• Tell someone else about it
• Have them help by keeping you accountable (be willing to take the kick in the pants from them)
• Take systematic measurements toward it (map your progress)

Do it now, and you'll be 2+ months in by New Years!

Race Day Recap- KC Half Marathon



4:50 am- Awake with Paco busting my chops to let him outside, alarm is set for 5:30, decide to get up.

Pre Race

4:58 am- Nervous, what to eat, where is my packet, long sleeves/short sleeves…kinda feels like I have had 4 cups of coffee and no breakfast.

5:50 am- Brad and Scott come over, we are in pre game mode, sharing stories, sack tapping each other, chewing tobacco and drinking coffee, pretty sweet.

6:00 am- Heading down to Crown Center, where to park, how is traffic…way too many questions for a silly little 13 mile run

6:03 am- First Fanning/Lee Verbal Joust

6:04 am- Parked, geared up in our sweet ass TRR shirts, IPods, 1000 TRR stickers to hand out/put on homeless people

6:09 am- Second Fanning/Lee Verbal Joust

6:30 am- "Someone” starts putting TRR stickers on light poles and porta potties

6:45 am- In line for bathroom

7:02 am- Still in line for bathroom

7:11 am- In bathroom (Ed Note: these runners have the bathroom looking and smelling like a Somalia Pirate Ship)

7:14 am- Third Fanning/Lee Verbal Joust

7:15 am- Fanning to make last minute bathroom stop, we are now in chute trying to get to the 2:25 pace group, no way we are making it up there, Fanning is caught in another bathroom line and we lose him before race starts.

7:25 am- Star Spangled Banner…just about kick off…but I gotta pee

7:32 am- Running!! Decide I can make it to bathroom break at mile 2.

7:40 am- Put a TRR sticker on a homeless man, hand one to second guy, he must have thought it was money then saw it was a sticker, he cussed at me and threw his tin foil hat at us.

7:55 am- Stop at Mile 2 to pee, there is Fanning, he bailed at starting line due to long line and we caught him at mile two.  Someone put TRR stickers on the porta potty. Talked to some girls…told them I was married.

Hills!!

8:11 am- Hill Time- up to Liberty Memorial, this is mile 3 and we still feel pretty good about ourselves, take a pretty good pace up the hill. Then we loop in front of Liberty Memorial, head down Main (I believe) to Westport.

8:30 am- Another hill, shitty one, I am thinking we were near a hospital but not sure, either way this was another drag we still didn’t walk.  Fanning and Lee fight again, I have now lost count.

8:50 am- See first crack head hooker, about 30^th and Main, gave her TRR sticker. Starting to yell out loud “THUNDER ROAD RACING: FEEL THE POWER”

9:00 am- Through Westport, we lose Fanning, feeling pretty good at mile 9, making up some time, decent  crowd of people in Plaza…then

9:10 am- Hit a wall, knee hurts, foot hurts, pride hurts.  I am cussing now at every person who hands me water…they say “Great Job” I say “cuss words”…not my best moment, keep in mind with this log I have skipped like 4 other “gradual inclines”…wiped out.

9:12 am- Scott is now cheerleading to keep me on pace (Ed Note: Scott was awesome to stay with me, he could have ran a much faster race)…when who do we see??  SUZY HAY!!!! Just the pick up we need…I think we are between mile 9 and 10.

9:15 am- Still cussing at volunteers…they say “Great Job, only 3 more miles to go”…I say “You calling me fat? I hate you and hate running”

9:30 am- We hit mile 10…decide we can run 3 miles that is an easy weekday training run, 30 more minutes…or 8-10 more songs.

9:35 am- Katy Perry comes on my IPod…start singing “Hot and Cold” some girls started coming over to me, had to tell them I was married.

9:46 am- More hills….ugggh, we have just rounded 18^th and Vine, home stretch

9:55 am-Last 500 yards, thought there might be some cool reflective moment, all the hard work, to think years ago I would be running 13 miles…but not really, just focused on finishing.  See friends and family (very cool) and listen to Kelly Clarkson.

10:00 am- Get a medal, girl giving out the medals tried to kiss me; I have to tell her I am married.

10:05 am- Take some awesome team pics with Gant’s, Welsh’s, Cameron’s, Mike Casey, Suzy Hay, Jaime & Jen…finally starting to enjoy this crazy deal.

10:10 am- 10 pm- Drink 9 beers, eat a cheeseburger, watch Neb lose, go to a chili cook off hosted by Scott Lee.

One of the best days of my life.

Morning of...

The boys, Brad, Scott & Russ, just left our house for downtown KC for their 1/2 marathon.  Clearly they were revved up... I'm not a morning person (it's 6am), so I really just heard bits and piece of what they were chattering about - the usus: football, something funny Matthew Gant said, Brad's radio show.  Funny was the 5 minute discussion dedicated the position of "the number" on the shirt... don't get it crooked, front not back, small safety pins not big, oh! it's crooked...  good times!

Pics to come. Stay tuned! Looking forward to the race!

It's the Eye of the Tiger, It's the Thrill of the Fight...

So I am going to focus a bit on my blog this week leading up to the big race on 10/16.  I wanna talk music today.  I love music…a lot. Probably because I am an awesome singer (could probably do professionally), I also play air drums and air guitar like my life depends on it.  It’s pretty sweet.

But I found out since I started running about 3 months ago that songs I love don’t play all that well on a run.  Take “The Boxer” a song that was written for Don Burns, I can sing it like a mother.  DO NOT try to run to this song…it will make you want to jump off a bridge or walk into traffic, save this for 3am when you want to scare off girls at a house party.  Another good example, country music, I love country music (except Kenny Chesney, I hope he catches on fire) but don’t run to country music.  It never carries a good beat, feels like I am a homeless person running from invisible voices.

So without more rambling here are some songs that are getting a lot of play on my IPod…feel free to share songs that may be useful in my travels…

Eye of the Tiger/Survivor- duh

My Hero/Foo Fighters- I play a lot of FF because of their awesomeness, but this also reminds me of Varsity Blues, which reminds me of Matthew Gant, which reminds me of getting drunk and rowdy which is much cooler than running.

Since U Been Gone/Kelly Clarkson- A wildcard, but great beat and I love to sing out loud this to piss off Scott Lee while running.  

Supernatural Superserious/REM- Sounds silly but the first song I played on my intro to running at the 5K in CG, plus I sing it well.

Any Song/Motley Crue- As my wife said run to music you would hear at a WWF event or tractor pull, this awesome hair band fits that category well.

 Lose Yourself/Eminem- Reminds me of the mean streets I grew up on in CG

Kings and Queens/30 Seconds to Mars- New to my playlist but a big ole powerful anthem that makes you feel like you are running somewhere cool, not just in a neighborhood peeping in windows at 5 am.

It’s My Life/Bon Jovi- Another song I sing well.

Hanging Around/Counting Crows- See My Hero but insert Joshua Chachi Gant

Black Jesus/Everlast- I fist pump to this when I am running.

Feel free to add anything I should be singing/listening to…