Sunscreen, Sunscreen, Sunscreen Part 2

I am an idiot.

0 to 1600 m

I ran 1 mile in... drum roll... 5:11:46!

I was on a 1/4 mile track and tried to gauge my splits. My laps were something like: 1:13, 2:33, 3:48, 5:11:46. It was painful to be going as fast as it felt I could while not picking up speed. There was a little bit of wind out and the air was really dry. After the run, as I was sucking in a lot of air, my throat felt like I had swallowed sawdust. It would be fun to train like crazy for speed and hit the track again.

Congratulations to Darren for his 5:15 guess. Your prize is in the mail. I better not find that on eBay anytime soon.

WARNING!!! In an attempt to be fast, I tried to look fast. I am wearing running shorts in the photos below. Shield your eyes.

3 brothers

A story about 2 brothers, with 1 mission, who also have another brother.

ENJOY!

Memory Reminder

As a build up to tonight's single mile running event, JBear, a jock from high school, helped clear up my misremembering.

In high school the basketball team had to run a single mile in under 6 minutes. The guy I remember, Fabian, was the fastest. He ran his in 4:40 or 4:45. That is lightning. Nobody was close to his time.

What I Do Best

Tonight I did again what I do best, I signed up for another race. You can train all you want, but experience is essential. June 14, Ironman 70.3 Kansas. Dorothy, here I come.

If you know her last name, without looking it up, you are a real Oz fan.

The Expensive Knee

One thing about being in good shape is that you are more aware of your body's tuning. This is both a good and bad thing. While it doesn't hurt or cause any discomfort, there is a weird thing happening with my expensive knee (the one that had surgery).

The odd happening is on the outside and feels like a popping inside on the outside of the knee. It isn't an audible pop, it just feels like something flexing out of place. For now, it is just something that is different than what is happening on my right knee.

I'm just hoping I won't have to use duct tape to be upright in July.

26.2 to 1

It has come up more than once. How fast can I run a single mile? I know I have done it before, though I can't remember a single time. I only remember that in high school it was crazy fast to break 6 minutes, or was that 5 minutes? I think only one guy could do it, probably 5 minutes.

I am a trained machine. Only, I'm a machine with 1, maybe 2 gears. I'm just fuel efficient - think Prius, not Scaglietti.

Post a comment with how fast you think I can run this famed single mile. The winner will be the person with the closest time and will receive an autographed old shoe lace of mine. In one week, I'll hit the track for 4 loops. I am not going to speed train for do anything outside of my normal workouts.

The whole 'how fast can you run a single mile' just makes me very aware of what my limits are. Leroy Hoard, former Minnesota Vikings running back, said it best:

"If you need one yard, I'll get you three. If you need five yards, I'll get you three."

The Swim Back

I have thought a lot about David Goggins recently. Thus, taking time away from day dreaming of toughness that revolves primarily around Rocky Balboa, Ivan Drago and Mike Tyson.

Goggins website has in large print, "I am nobody special." But, let's be clear, the man is a trained killer, literally. He also does endurance events. That part we have in common. I wonder what about me is different from him. I see runners all the time jogging around and they are training, everyone has their own reasons to run.

I think my favorite thing to think about with all this in mind is from the movie Gattaca. The whole movie is about genes and being born superior, with more coded gifts or potential than others. These two brothers, Vincent and Anton, (Anton with the superior set of genes) have a regular competition by seeing who can swim out into the ocean farthest. Basically, Anton always beats Vincent as Vincent tires and heads back to the shore. The toughest part is when Vincent knows he can win.

Anton Freeman: Vincent! How are you doing this Vincent? How have you done any of this? We have to go back.
Vincent: It's too late for that. We're closer to the other side.
Anton Freeman: What other side? You wanna drown us both?
Vincent: You wanna know how I did it? This is how I did it Anton. I never saved anything for the swim back.

Renewed Vigor

In what has felt like dominos falling in place, I have a charity for the Janus Charity Challenge... Samaritan's Purse.

One of my favorite quotes about fundraising is from David Goggins in this article.

“People respond to pain,” he told The Union-Tribune. “If I go out and wash cars for $10, who gives a (darn). People want to see you throw up, cry and go through tremendous suffering."

Goggins runs for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. I love running for a cause, I think it helps keep the pain in check. And, there is something about people giving money as a response to your efforts in a race that makes you think, wait a minute, not only am I really about to do this, I have to finish this.

If you would like to donate or know of anyone who would help email out a link: http://januscharitychallenge.kintera.org/LP09/PFILES

Sock It To Me

I am fully aware that it looks like I raided Captain America's sock drawer. But, NEVER underestimate the power of great socks.