Sunny Florida

I'm back in sunny Florida visiting my Mom and the rest of the fam. I flew in early this morning and had lunch with my Mom at a new place here in town called bd's, which seems very trendy. They have a type of salad bar, where you get a bunch of veggies and a bunch of raw meat and some kind of sauce and you give it to the dudes and they throw it on the big hot thing and cook it up right in front of you. I've been to a similar place down at the end of Todville Road in Seabrook. Then I spent the afternoon at my gramma's house helping her bake her cookies and eating lots of the cookies she baked already. (I remember one year she made the cookies too early and had to remake them all by Christmas because we ate them all.)

I knew I wasn't going to have a lot of time for running today so I ran 10.1 miles last night before I left. It was the farthest I've run by myself in a long long time. I've become so dependent on the group for the long runs, and I had some difficulty around 7 miles. I thought, "i'm out of shape... i should quit... there's no point struggling through it because pretending to be in shape doesn't mean I'm actually in shape..." I can be very persuasive, but I planned ahead for those mental bugs and picked a route that has no shortcuts. (Sometimes I think my strength as a runner is planning things so I don't need to be strong - does that count?)

Anyway, I'm glad to have my trusty laptop and broadband access. Tomorrow's a big day. So much time and so little to do... wait... strike that... reverse it.

Listening to: Tomatito y Michel Camilo - Blue Bossa

Keith.

The Truth about Santa ! ! !

Caution : This isn't for little kids. It isn't for grown-ups either. It's that disturbing!

I was contemplating the old question about the logistics of one man making so many deliveries in just one night. The standard solution about using the time-zones just doesn't seem sufficient to deliver all those packages to all those little boys and girls in one night. And I got to thinking, maybe Santa outsources some of it. So I was a-researchin' in the old Wikipedia, and Wiki says that indeed, some countries like Belgium and the Netherlands get their packages from somebody named Sinterklaas, and other countries get their packages from somebody else. For example :

Afghanistan : Baba Chaghaloo

Brazil : Papai Noel

Hungary : Mikulás

Ireland : Daidí na Nollaig

Mexico : El Niñito Dios

Romania : Moş Crăciun

South Africa : Vader Kersfees

United Kingdom : Father Christmas

Now, I know some of those are probably just different names for the same dude, but they can't all be him, so I thought I figured it out that there is indeed some outsourcing going on. And I thought it was really cool that both Romania and South Africa get their presents from Star Wars characters. But I read this again and I thought, "Hold the Phone! El Niñito Dios! Mexico gets presents from El Niñito Dios?" And it turns out that it's true! Mexico, Colombia, the Czech Republic, they get presents directly from the baby Jesus!

And that's where things fell apart for me. Is it possible that Santa outsources extra packages to the Baby Jesus? No way! Santa is the outsource.

Anyway, you see what's happened. Baby Jesus neglects us and Christmas becomes more about the delivery guy than the birthday Boy. We can laugh at the naïve Melanesian cargo cults who worship the airplanes that dropped supplies during WWII, but are we any different? We're the most rediculous of them all. Why don't we forget Santa and put up figurines of the UPS man?

But it begs the larger question. Why don't we get personal deliveries like the Czechs? I thought we were His favorite.

---

Ran 4 miles this evening. Felt good.

Listening to: Björk - Aeroplane (One word, one word, on the phone makes me happy.)

Keith out.

Updizzin the Runnizzin

I was feeling recovered on Wednesday so I headed out for an easy 3 miler. Shortly after starting I learned that I wasn't really recovered afterall. Nothing hurt, but I definitely didn't have any energy.

By Saturday, I felt much better. I ran part of the club's 21 miler, about 9 miles total, and all was well.

Today, I was extra lazy.

Listening to: Pepe Habichuela - Habichuela En Rama

Keith.

Sunmart 50K

Sunmart 50K! Whoo hoo! I finished it in about 6 hours and 46 minutes. It was a lot slower than I expected, but I totally underestimated how much harder it would be off the roads. And from what I've heard it's not really that difficult as far as trail running goes.

On Friday night at the pasta party, I was hanging out, looking for somebody I know and couldn't find anybody, so I sat down with two guys and chatted about running and stuff. They told me where to run in California and in Michigan, and I told them where to run in Houston. I could tell that they were much more experienced than me and it seemed that they were probably pretty good athletes. Turns out, Jasper from California came in 12th in the 50 miler, and Jim from Michigan won the 50K! They didn't tell me they were that good. And I was talking to them and totally feeling like crap because these guys were really fit, and meanwhile I'm one of those guys you can't even tell is a runner without seeing him run.

Anyway, the race was difficult. Even as early as the 8 mile mark, it was difficult. Most of the aid stations are usually 2 to 3 miles apart, but for some reason it felt like forever. I was trying to calculate when I'd reach the next one, but since I was going a lot slower than usual, I couldn't do it. But those aid-stations are awesome - everything you can find at a Sunmart, you can find at the aid-station - my favorites were the fig newtons and the oreos and the gum drops and the little peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and the pretzels and the granola bars.

Towards the end I was happy anytime I managed to string together more than 5 minutes of running at a time. :) It was hard, and with the terrain, it was a danger anytime to step on uneven ground, since my legs and ankles were fatigued to the point that it was hard to stay in control. And a couple times I kicked the invisible tree root and went flying, never falling all the way, but flailing wildly, doing crazy crazy things to stay upright.

I appreciated the encouragement on the course. SLTM race director Robby Sabban assured me that I probably wasn't going to die. I think Bill said something similar - I hung out and talked to Bill for a minute or so because he's cool, but also because he's trained in emergency medicine. And it was good to share complaints with Holden out on the course. If I were him, I'd have mailed the chip back. :) There were also some peeps running the 50 miler encourageing me at the end, when they still had another loop to do. One guy said, "alright buddy, it's barbecue time!"

It was definitely the hardest race I've done. It only took 24 hours for me to want to do it again. Especially since I think I'm going to give the afghan to somebody for Christmas so I'll have to run it again if I want one for myself.

Here are some things I learned in my first ultramarathon:

The trails are difficult, much harder than I expected. Especially for a delicate city-boy like me.

Huntsville State Park is beautiful. I wish I could have meandered around more and enjoyed them, but if you don't focus on the roots, you're going to hit the ground.

I really am recovering faster than after a marathon, but during the race it was harder.

You can put a chicken breast and a hamburger on the same bun. (Not that it's much better than the sum of the parts, but it is a nice protein delivery vehicle.)

Listening to: Cat Stevens - Miles from Nowhere (Look up at that mountain, I have to climb.)

Keith out.

I know ! ! !

I'm like the worst blogger in the history of really bad bloggers!

I'm still running, but mostly just the important runs, without most of the junk miles in between that I love so much. In truth, I've been struggling a little - too much racing I think. I miss the days of the racing moratorium and the running streak, and the loads and loads of useless miles that made me fitter than ever.

Since the last post, I ran 3 good loops on Señor Bridgio last Thursday and a good 14 miler last Saturday. I'm going to Memorial Park tonight for 4-5 miles.

What else... Ah yes, I was running down on the Seabrook Trails on Sunday night, and I was running by that part by the gazebo and I was thinking about the little lake that is back off the trails. You know, the trails are nice, but sometimes they creep me out. Like those wierd cows that I see sometimes across Pine Gully - they just stare at me the whole time, and they're really skinny, you can see their whole skeleton - it's wierd. And the wild pigs occasionally freak me out too. One time, I was running by and there was a big black pig on the ridge looking at me, and all he did was snort a little and run away, but the size of him and how quickly he can move makes me uneasy. Anyways, I was running by the gazebo, by the turnoff to that creepy lake - oh yeah, there's a wierd creepy lake off the trails to the west, and I went there one time, and there's a small lake that was perfectly still, and the water was bright green, and there was a bunch of lilly pads. It was kind of beautiful, but still kind of creepy, and then there's like a little rusty old shack that's there too that creeps me out even more. Anyway, I was telling my friend about the creepy lake, and how it seems haunted and how there's a creepy old shack there and it's probably haunted too, and to be honest, I was trying to freak her out a little, but I ended up totally freaking myself out. I mentioned how it is perfectly still and how there are no animals anywhere around it. And on Sunday, I ran really late and it was dark by the time I was returning back and running by that stretch, and I couldn't see very much, and I was thinking about that haunted lake and the haunted shack, and I heard some noise from on the ridge, but it was dark and couldn't see into the trees at all, and then as loud and obvious as anything can be, I heard one of those pigs squeal at me, and I took off and ran like crazy.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway, the Sunmart 50K is this Saturday, and I'm a little worried. The fourteen miler last week was easy, but I'm still worried. That was the longest run since the San Antonio Marathon, and it seems the mental barriers have been rebuilt a little.

Maybe I shouldn't worry. Maybe it will be easy. Perhaps I'll run my first ultramarathon without effort and be relaxed and refreshed at the end, and ready for another loop. Hmmm... Perhaps.

Listening to: The Killers - Bones (But the message relayed is the same; Wait till tomorrow, you'll be fine.)

Keith out.

Why is there a hole in my brain?

I volunteered for an MRI study at Baylor College of Medicine, where they give you a couple bucks and a copy of the structural data for your brain. It was an interesting experience, I've never had an MRI before.

They said they didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but even I can see that there's a big hole in my brain! What's up with that?!?!

Okay, I do study neurobiology myself, so I know there's supposed to be some fluid filled ventricles that run through the brain, so I guess it's normal to see. So, maybe there's supposed to be a hole there, but then what's up with the 'lack of hole' on the other side? There's either too much hole on one side, or not enough hole on the other side. Something ain't wright. And is it me or does it look like the right side is trying to take over some territory from the left side? And is my skull supposed to be so lumpy? The side view shows there's a big lump on the top of my head too.

And I think I can feel that there's something a little more 'holey' on the left side. Or maybe it feels a little less 'holey' on the right side. And sometimes I don't remember people's names and sometimes I can't remember some of the details about the things I learned in colege. Occasionelly I seem to have some trouble with abstraktergedanke. And one time I was watching something on televisiona nd during the comercial I started changing channels and I totlaly forgot what I was watching and I coundn't find it again. Now that I'm thinking of it, it was Smallville. Maybe I'm okay.

Listening to: Cat Stevens - Miles From Nowhere ('cause I'll drink to you, my baby)

Keith.

Jell-O Turkey - Jell-O Turkey - Jell-O Turkey

People seemed to like the Jello Turkey last year, so here you go. Enjoy.



I may post something soon. Times are rough with my running. I've got a bit of a pain in my quadricep ever since San Antonio. It's not too bad, but I've cut back on my running. I'm not sure I'll be able to get another 20+ miler in. I ran Saturday, an easy 6 miles, and it was okay. The best thing was that my buddy Robby Sabban, race director extraordinaire for the Seabrook Marathon, heard me complaining about not finding a hat to replace my NYCM hat, so he tracked one down for me that says "San Antonio Road Runners." Thanks Robby!

Incidentally, the Seabrook Marathon has added another half marathon on Saturday so you can have that option too. You can even run the half on Saturday and either another half or the full on Sunday and get a third medal, kind of like the Goofy Race at Disney. There's lots of cool stuff in the goodie bag, like a running hat, and trail running socks, and of course there's a shirt (a tech shirt) - all you need to bring is your shoes and a pair of shorts or something.

I suckered a couple of the people I work with into running the relay with me, and they've been training too. I still have to rope one more carcass into running or else I may have to run 2 legs.

Listening to: Beck - Nausea (I eat alone in the desert; With skulls for my pets)

Keith.

San Antonio Marathon - 4:29:06

Here we are at the start, from left to right, there's me, Holden, Phyllis, Tonia, and Rex, chilling out before the start, talking trash, guaranteeing crazy crazy things.

I did many things wrong the morning before the race, including not giving myself enough time to get to the start, not bringing enough money for parking ($10!), not having any suitable food before the race, not having any gels or anything to bring, and forgetting my watch. I got there only 20 minutes or so before the start, but it was enough time to find my buddy Holden, and my other buddies Phyllis, Rex, Tonia and Bart, and chit chat a bit.

I liked the San Antonio course. The first part is around about the downtown area that squiggles around for about 4 miles before heading South. Some people don't like it when there's a lot of turns, but I do, it keeps things interesting. The majority of the course is South of downtown and passes by the missions. The scenery is nice and a lot of it is much like the bayous of Houston.

I ran the splits of a veteran marathoner, with almost even pace for the two halves (2:14:25 for the 1st half and 2:14:42 for the 2nd half), and since I was telling people I wanted to run around 4:30, it seems as though I'm pretty freaking awesome. If you'd like to believe that then skip down to where it says "Overall, it was a great time".

The truth is, I wanted to run a 4:20, and I had two major problems slowing me down, one in each half of the race. In the first half, I had some issues with my stomach and had a lot of trouble finding my rhythm for the first 11 miles. Perhaps it was the Powerade and the candybar that I grabbed at a convenience store. I eventually got over it and felt better, and the splits from the race do show that I had a section in the middle where I was running about 30 seconds per mile faster than the beginning or the end.

In the second half, about mile 22 or 23, I ran out of gas and crashed. I'd muster up some gumption to run again, and about a quarter to a half mile later, I'd walk. When my heart rate slowed down again, I'd do it all over again. The problem, I think, was just plain-old lack of fitness. I hadn't run anything longer than the Houston Half Marathon since the last marathon, and I think I should have. Perhaps my problems could have been masked a little better if I had brought my own gels, but I was relying on those from the water stations, and they were not always available when I needed them.

Overall, it was a great time. I'd like to do this race again. And for the next race, I know what I can do better: prepare food and money for the morning before, bring my own gels and maybe water, and run some more long runs.

The Sunmart 50K is only 3 and a half weeks away already. It seems very short. I'd like to do another long run before then, maybe 20-22 miles, and it would have to be next week.

Above is the gang from the CLFC, chilling out by the finish line with their aches and their pains and their medals.

Listening to: The Killers - When You Were Young (Can we climb this mountain? I don't know; Higher now than ever before, I know we can make it if we take it slow.)

Rock on please.
Keith.

San Antonio Expo

It's impossible to not get excited in this environment. Race numbers, chips, tee-shirts, the smell of determination fills the air.

At the expo, I found some free copies of Inside Texas Running, and I picked one up, happy to see it was the issue with my race report from my little run with Dean. I wandered around a little and, low and behold, I stumbled on some free copies of Inside Texas Running, and I picked one up, or accidentally two. Later on, I grabbed another. I chatted a little with Roger Soler and told him I registered for the TMC, and mentioned my concerns about Dean's run qualifying for the TMC. The conversation was a little confusing, so I don't know if it's going to count or not. Dean told me they would send a finisher's certificate, but I'm not sure if it will certify what I need it to certify. I'm starting to believe that, by the end of the season, I'm going to have to run 6.

I was trying to find a hat that says San Antonio Marathon, but never found one. My hat from the NYCM isn't even blue anymore, it's in pretty bad shape.

The tee-shirt for the marathoners is beautiful, my favorite race shirt ever. It's dark green with a tan and brown depiction of the missions on the front and it says:

SAN ANTONIO MARATHON 2006
marathon of the americas

And on the back, nothing. No collage of tiny logos, it's very nice. Usually, I wind up wearing a race shirt when it's the last clean thing in my closet, but this one I like.

So far, San Antonio Rocks! I'll have to come back just to waste time and check out the restaurants and stuff. Downtown is very cool, and there's music audible at every block. Every so often, the crowds reveal a person, maybe a man or a woman, young or old, but they all share the same look of purpose, and, of course, the same little grey bag, with the same complement of coupons and raceday goodies.

Well, I've got about an hour and a half until spaghetti-o'clock with a small group from the CLFC.

Listening to: some guy in some bar - You May Be Right (I've been stranded in the combat zone, I walked through Bedford-Sty alone.)

Keith.

Dean v. Lance

This morning was the last group run, a little 8 miler, as we taper. It was the first time back with the group since my last marathon, and it occurred to me, some people that promised me hugs, didn't pay up (Brenda, Vicki, am I forgetting somebody?).

Anyway, next Sunday, I'll run marathon #2 out of 5 for the Texas Marathon Challenge in San Antonio!!!

Set your VCRs. Tomorrow (Sunday), NBC, 12:30-1:30 PM, NYCM highlight show. Lance Armstrong is trying to break 3 hours supposedly, although, if he's like me, maybe he has an easy public goal and a challenging private goal. Incidentally, my goal for San Antonio is to finish in ten and a half hours. My old buddy Dean Karnazes, finishing up his 50 marathons in 50 days. I would like to see how fast he can run it after all this. Can he beat Lance? (I think he can)

I wish I was there. I was there last year, injured. Perhaps someday, I'll make a triumphant return to NY, and I'll win it.

Listening to: Nirvana - Stay Away (?)

btw, Pay up!
Keith.

Above average run at the Houston Half.

When I woke up on Sunday morning, I had no clear goal for the race. I thought about running it easy. I even thought about running it in my Forrest Gump costume. My PR was 2 hours, 0 minutes, and 16.9 seconds from two years ago, and I did think that I could probably break it without too much difficulty.

So I thought I'd try to break 2 hours, and so it probably wouldn't be comfortable to run in costume. But then I thought, as long as I'm not going to run in costume, why don't I just Rock and Roll like nobody ever has before? Why don't I lace up my golden shoes with my golden laces and blow everybody's minds? Why don't I shock the world and run like a great and magestic golden firebird? Why not? Why don't I put on my shoes and fly? I'm fit like never before. And so, I was determined... This day, my feets would inspire the world. Who knows, I might even break the 50th percentile in my age group!

The first part of the race, I was trying to run on pace for 2 hours even. I had my GPS with me, so I knew the first few miles were right on pace. Before too long, I was seeing splits around 8:40, and I'm pretty bad at judging my pace, but I can usually tell if the level of effort is something I can stand for a given amount of time. It didn't seem too difficult, so I decided to stick with that level of effort. I didn't consciously pick up speed, but some of the later miles, around 8-9, I saw a couple splits around 8:00 and one at 7:44, and I thought there might be something wrong with my watch - but the distances were consistent with the mile markers.

It was around this time that I was finishing up my second loop, and I had a prime viewing location to see Sean Wade cross the finish line in front. I'm happy to say that I didn't get lapped - I was about 2 seconds away from it, but it didn't happen. I saw him again around mile 11 marker as he was warming down, and congratulated him, he told me "Keep it up. Two to go." He was accurate, there was about 2 miles to go, and the time was 1:34 - 16 minutes away from a 1:50 half marathon. That was something I hadn't really considered as a possibility before the race. I thought I might be able to handle a 1:55 if I had a good day. I reallocated a small amount of sugar to my brain to crunch the numbers, and I saw that if I had a couple more 7:40's I could break 1:50. So I beared down, did my EQ impression, and I ran the last two in 7:41 and 7:35. I crossed the finish line at 1:49:35.7 with a 10+ minute PR, and I was probably the most surprised person in the city.

It's a very good race, and doing multiple loops isn't bad like I thought it would be. It's kind of nice to get to see everybody multiple times. And I like the fact that it's the inaugural half marathon, I always wanted to get in on the ground floor of a race and run it every year.

It was a good day. And did you see my friends Linda and Brenda from the CLFC? They were the two fabulous babes in bikini's cheering everybody on, I looked forward to seeing them every lap.

It was good to see everybody again. It seems like it's been a long time. Jen, Holden, Jessica, June, Jon, Edwin, Vic, Steve, Joe, Bill - you guys ROCK! And I saw Lisa out there briefly, but I was running and didn't realize it was her until too late, and Erin cheering me on each lap as well - thanks E. Where was Barbara? and JD & J? I guess I missed them, I assume they still ROCK!, but I can't be sure since I didn't see them directly.

Listening to: Sponge - Molly (Sixteen candles down the drain.)

Good night.
Keith.

Discounts and Medals...

Okay, I'm in. I signed up for the Houston Half yesterday evening. I have to say the thing that affected my decision the most was the discount I was promised by Vic, and the medal I was promised by Barbara.

It should be good. Since I ran out of gas on Thursday morning, I've been gradually feeling better, and I'm starting to feel the itch to run again. I'm not clear on what my goal is. I think I might be in shape for a PR, but the real goal is San Antonio in just two weeks. But then again, two weeks should be long enough for me to recover, should I decide to run it strongly.

I'm also considering running in costume.

Listening to: Ben Folds Five - Philosophy (And you were laughing at my helmet hat; Laughing at my torch; Go ahead and laugh all you want; I got my philosophy)

Keith out.

Wanna see me do the bee dance?

Okay, since I can't run anymore, I can blog about something else that I think is really cool, and once in a while somebody says they like to read about the science on my blog.

I attended another interesting seminar yesterday, this time it was about honeybees, and the way they communicate and the way the make decisions. I don't know how much you know about this, but honeybees can communicate the location of a food source to other bees by doing a little dance. They wiggle around and walk in one direction, and the length of their dance is proportional to the distance of the food source, and the angle they move in is equal to the direction of the food with respect to the sun. There's a little video of it on youtube, it's adorable : Link. So, in this way they can communicate the direction and the distance of the food they found to all the other bees.

They also do the same dance when they're moving to a new home, and they find a good site for their hive, and they want to tell everybody about it. It's pretty interesting because they all move together, and their decision making process is very efficient, as they always choose the best option. (They have very well defined preferences for their homesite - they prefer large volume cavities, with small entrances, that are high off the ground) The guy presented their strategies in the context that we could learn a thing or two when we have to make our own decisions as a group. How often does a group of people choose the best option?

They have scout bees that go out, and find sites, and return and tell everybody where they are. Initially there are lots of different sites, and some bees are doing their little dances for a variety of them, but dancing for the best sites persists and eventually everybody is dancing for the same site.

Some key points to their decision making process:

There are a lot of options initially, everything is considered.

No bee ever dances for a site without visiting it herself. So, there's no conformity for conformity's sake.

They take their time to decide. They have to take their time, only the scout bees are prepared for long distance flight. Everybody else is semi-dormant and just hanging out, and they can't just jump up and fly off the moment one bee comes back and is fired up and in love with some particular site.

The scouts report their opinion of a site a few times, but then they stop. Good ideas persist by the action of other bees, who have visited the site themselves and agree that it's good.

They wait for a fairly high quorum before they begin preparing for flight. By the end, 80-100% of the scouts are in agreement as to which way to go.

I think it's interesting anyways. There's nobody making the final decision, they decide together, and they make the right choice. There's also some interesting things about how they know when it's time to finally pick up an go too.

Anyway, I still don't know what I'll do about the race on Sunday. One downside to running as much as I have in the past few days is that I don't ever want to run ever again.

Listening to: Nothing

Keith out.

I can't do it.

I skipped the bridge run and decided to run 7 flat miles around my home later in the morning. I made it 3.4 miles before I quit and walked home in the rain. It was a good idea, but I can't do it. Maybe someday, when I'm physically and mentally stronger.

Listening to: John Mayer - Bigger Than My Body (Yes I'm grounded; Got my wings clipped; I'm surrounded by all this pavement.)

K.

coasting...

This big bump in mileage is an interesting experiment, you should try it.

I'm tired all the time, and I'm hungrier than I've ever been. I'm not sure if that part is psychological but they're making fun of me at work for having lunch and then having lunch #2 later on. I'm hungry, but somewhat nauseated too.

You know when your 75% through your long run, and your tired, but still running fast. And sometimes you even feel like you're coasting, and even picking up speed. That's what the last 3 runs have felt like the whole time. It seems like this training is probably very good for me, so long as I don't get hurt. I think it would be good for me to build mileage up to this point where I can do it for more than one week. It's something for me to think about for next year.

I ran 4.4 this morning, and 5 this evening. This day is the easy day and I was hoping it would be a little easier. I was curious as to my pace, so I took along Señor Limpio for my distance and splits. Tonights' five miler gave me splits of : 10:16 - 9:27 - 9:37 - 9:24 - 8:58.

It's very gratifying. I feel tired, but I can keep running, and it doesn't get much worse, and I seem to pick up speed.

Well, I'm zoning out and staring into space, so I think I should go to bed. The Kemah bridge is waiting for me in the morning. :|

Listening to: Nirvana - Stay Away (Give an inch, take a smile; Scratch an itch, scratch a style)

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssleeeep!
Keith.

If p->q, then q->p.

Elite guys run at least 70 mpw, so if I run 70, then I'm elite, right?

If you just joined us, I got the wild hare to run as many miles as I can this week, as the last week for intense training for the San Antonio Marathon, and somehow I settled on 70 miles for the week. I've had a couple weeks of recovery since my last marathon, so I'm feeling anxious, and I'm trying to desperately cram in a bunch of training in the last week before my taper.

After two days, I'm still on track, with 20 miles so far, but this is going to be very difficult. I'm already tired, and this morning, for some reason was even worse. I struggled through 4 miles around my house. This evening, I scheduled myself for 9 miles at Memorial, so I was concentrating all day on resting, hydrating, and fueling. I had a big salad for lunch, and I had some rice for lunch #2, and I had a few plums and some cake from my buddy Heather's birthday. I guess I did a good job preparing myself, because the 9 miles wasn't as hard as I had expected. Lap 2 was difficult, but somehow lap 3 was okay. Maybe it's because I saw Vic early in lap 3, and Vic Rocks! I'm pretty tired now though. I have a very early wakeup call tomorrow, so it should be interesting to see how I feel in the morning. My guess is not so energetic.

I'm considering running the half on Sunday. Barbara and Vic both mentioned it, and I'm not too good with peer pressure. I think if I had some friends that were into drugs in high school, I'd probably be a smack-addict right now. And everybody's running it.

But it's 40$. Is there a medal? The website doesn't mention one. And I wanted to run with my buddy Tonia, who can't make the group run on Saturday, and has to run on Sunday.

Listening to: System of a Down - Chop Suey (Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup (You wanted to); Why'd you leave the keys upon the table (You wanted to);)

Keith tired. Keith go sleepy now.

When will I crash and burn?

It's been a while since I've done any silly attention-seeking stunts, hasn't it?

I ran again this evening, as well as this morning, and I had an idea. Sometimes they stick, and this one took hold, so let's rock on! I have three weeks until San Antonio, so this is basically the last week I can really tire myself out, and the weather is so nice! Let's see how many miles I can run in one week. I had 3 or 4 weeks in the low 50's over the summer, and I'll have to check my log, but I think my record is something like 52 miles. I like to bite off more than I can chew, so I'm going to shoot for 70+, here's the plan:

	AM	PM
Monday	4 miles	2.9 miles
Tuesday	4 miles	9 miles
Wednesday	4 miles	5 miles
Thursday	7 miles (bridge)	4 miles
Friday	4 miles	3 miles
Saturday	16 miles
Sunday	10 miles
Total	72.9 miles

I know I might benefit more from longer runs once a day, but this is only about the numbers. This is about machismo, and I've got something to prove dammit!

Feel free to guess how many miles I will end up with after Sunday. Will my body hold up? (my cuboid is fine, but ever since the marathon, there is something funny going on with one of my right toes) Will I tire out and quit? Will I oversleep and miss some morning runs, or will I become too busy and miss some evening runs? Will I lose interest in this silliness and try to be more reasonable?

Listening to: Ben Folds Five - Zak and Sara (Sara told the friendly salesmen that, "you'll all die in your cars" and "why's it gotta be dark?" and "you're all working in a submarine.")

Keith.

Bread and Butter.

It's been a long time since one of my routine 4 mile runs through the hood. Everything has been some kind of a special run, or a race, or in another city. It's nice to be home.

I'm looking forward to getting back in the rhythm, although I guess it's almost time for my next marathon, so that should shake things up again. I miss the streak. That was the most enjoyable time for me. My soul thrives on consistency. I'm enjoying some nice fresh fruit and listening to some Ben Folds. He's coming to Houston next week to play with the Houston Symphony, and I'm going to the show, so that should be cool.

Listening to: Ben Folds - Give Judy my Notice (Tears fall, but that don't mean nothing at all. Cause I said it first, yeah that's why it hurts you.)

I'll rock on if you rock on.
Keith.

Poor poor Five-Dog!

Motivation comes and goes quickly these days. I ran 6 miles this morning, and I'm hoping my base is strong enough to withstand a little downtime at this moment. Atlanta was tiring, and a few days off have been disruptive as always. I'm tired, and I think I'll take a nap right now.

Well, my poor dog, The Five-Dog!, finally passed away shortly after I got back from Atlanta. His fever had returned, even while taking two different kinds of powerful antibiotics. It seems the infection was too much. I've tried to keep myself busy and spend some time with some very good friends.

He was a runner too, but like most, he never reached his full potential. When I adopted him from the track, they gave me his racing history, and his 5/16 mile PR was 31.52 seconds (1:40 m/m : 35.7mph)! It also shows his last place finish in his last race. Apparently he got tangled up in the first turn, fell, and broke one of his back legs. The comments for the race still show that he "trailed in." The injury ended his running career, and he got to retire early and spend 23+ hours per day on my couch.

He always had a limp from that injury, but at times, it seems he would forget about it, and run around like a crazy animal, jumping and spinning around, more than 360° in mid-air. And when I rented a room in a house near the medical center, he could get excited about something, and bound up and down the stairs repeatedly, three strides to the top, and two to the bottom, and repeat. I'd grab him to try to calm him down and he'd be so wired, I couldn't contain him and he'd continue his rampage.

He scared me another time, when I found a pool of blood on the floor. I looked all over him, and couldn't find any cuts of any kind, and I couldn't find any cuts on myself either. I concluded that he ate something and was bleeding internally, and probably only had a few moments to live. But it was very confusing, because he was so happy, and excited. Later on I found his injury, in the one place I didn't look, which was at the very tip of his tail. Apparently he wagged his tail and beat it against the wall enough to open it up. Then, I looked around and saw the blood on the walls where streams of blood had flown off his wagging tail and left streaks on almost every wall in my apartment.

My old lady friends and everyone else around here always ask about him, so I'm not really looking forward to those conversations over the next few days. He was always happy to see them, and he would have been happy to see you too.

Listening to: Michael Nyman - Unnamed

Keith.

Pressing on...

Last week I posted a question as to whether I should kick the caffiene and junkfood and negativity and live the life as I should, or if I should stay on the edge, where there's always the risk of quitting running and getting world-record fat.

It's funny that the opinions expressed only slightly favored living the good life. :)

My friend Jenny, that I've been training with 'virtually' for a couple of years through coolrunning.com said that I seemed like a different runner, ever since the marathon. She noted, that just how I write about running seems like it's just an undeniable fact of life now, that will always be there, and I think she's right. My attitude has changed since the marathon. It's much harder for me to deny that I am in good shape. I know I'm not that fast, but I was running strong at mile 25, and it takes a lot of work to get there. Not everybody can do it. I'm never comfortable patting myself on the butt, but it's true. What happens next isn't even a question.

I know a proud and strong Keith isn't good for my hitcount. You never know though, maybe next week, I'll have a bad run, and my attitude will come crashing down. Maybe at that point, I'll melt up some ice cream and peanut butter and Velveeta and mainline it right in my arm! Aaaaiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeee! Velveeeeeeeeeta!!!!

Listening to: Robert Plant - Innuendo (Till the mountains crumble into the plain; Oh yes we'll keep on tryin'; Tread that fine line; Oh we'll keep on tryin' yeah.)

Keith.

More running in the city.

7.3 miles yesterday, 5.4 miles today. I think I'm not quite recovered from the race. I've been starting to feel sore and achey after just a few miles. I'll keep it short tomorrow, and see if it helps. It's nice to get to know the whole city by running through it.

It was raining this morning, as I was heading out. I hesitated, and thought about spending some time on the hotel treadmills instead, but just then, the doorman told me to have a nice run in the rain, so I said, "okay thanks," and had to go. I ran from midtown to downtown and back. I mapped it here. Yesterday, I ran around Georgia Tech and Piedmont Park, and ran in some crazy circles and stuff because I only vaguely knew where I was going.

Geekfest is nice. Despite having accomplished nothing in this field, I've gotten to know a lot of people, and now there all scattered around, some in Minnesota, and Connecticut, and Austin, and Seattle, and Germany, and wherever. Everybody makes the trip back for the big Neuroscience meeting, and it's nice to catch up. I've seen almost everybody, with some notable exceptions, like my buddy Shigeo, who is stuck in Japan.

Tomorrow's the last day. It's a pretty exhausting thing. I'll be glad to get back home.

Listening to: Horatio Sans - Season's Greetings (I wish it was Christmas today.)

Keith.

Geeks Rule!

Geekfest 2006 goes to the home of the Braves! The Geek-Factor has never been higher anywhere on the east coast, and I'm proud to say, with me here, it's just a little bit higher.

I'm reporting to you live from the ATL, here for the annual meeting for the Society for Neuroscience. Geeks from all over the globe have traveled here, over 25,000 of them already, and we'll be here for most of the week, reporting all our findings about various kinds of geekery. I'm staying at the OMNI Hotel, which is just a hundred feet from the convention center. It's very nice here, as long as you don't go outside. Outside, you're gonna die.

There are several sources of stress that should be relieved after this week. This meeting is not really a vacation, and I'm supposed to present my data tomorrow too. I wasn't nervous about it, but I started getting nervous today. I've been telling myself that nobody that knows my project better than me, I'll let you know tomorrow if that's true.

I did get back to running this morning. 3 miles and I felt like a hundred dollars. My muscles didn't feel sore at the beginning but started to rather quickly. But it was a good run. Atlanta's not all that bad, I was just being an ass, earlier. There are a lot of nice hills here, and it was cold, like forty-something.

Listening to: Rick Ross - Hustlin' (I know Pablo........Norieaga, the real norieaga, he owe me a hundred favors.)

Keith.

Off to the A-T-L

Still no running for me yet. And I'm beginning to get a little itchy to get back into it. I planned to go this morning, but I strained my back on Thursday changing a flat tire, and I have to baby it a little. And I've got about a bajillion things to do today, since I'm leaving for Atlanta for a convention this afternoon.

So, I'll be out of town most of next week, but I should still have internet access, and of course I'll have access to my running shoes and the outside. I'm looking forward to running in Atlanta.

Anyway, I still have to pack, and kennel up my double-b, and I have to go to the store to get some food for him to have at the kennel.

Listening to: Limp Bizkit - Counterfeit (?)

My vices: sugar, caffeine, and sarcasm

Thanks for all your kind words, everybody. You guys rock!

Just to address a couple of comments:

Steve: I didn't talk to him a whole lot, just some encouragement from him at mile 21, and some chit-chat at the book signing. Seems like a nice enough guy. Firm handshake, looks you in the eye and everything. He was a little shorter than I thought though, maybe 5'7" or so.

Vic: You owe me a real hug.


Through last night, I felt fine, much better than expected, but getting out of bed this morning was surprising. Everything is sore, and there's a minor problem with one of my toes. It's swollen and hurts to bend it. I think it's probably nothing. The good news is there's no problems with the bone we do not speak of.

I'll think about running tomorrow night. Maybe an easy lap around Memorial.

I feel like I've overcome a barrier by just getting myself to the start line uninjured and still motivated. I have about four weeks before San Antonio. I have to admit, I'm more excited about running well at the Sunmart 50K in December.

There are so many improvements I can make. Perhaps, it's time I kicked things up a notch. I only pretend like I'm an athlete for a few hours a day, maybe I can pretend I'm an athlete most of the day, or maybe even all of the day. What would happen if I started eating like an athlete? Or if I started doing more than just base-building? What would happen if I started weight training, like I've been saying I'm going to do one of these days?

I guess the dieting is the main thing. I could stand to lose 10 pounds or 15 pounds, and I'm sure the ultra-convenient food I eat is not the ideal fuel for a finely tuned athlete like myself. I have a book called "Eating for Endurance," by Phil Maffetone. I've had it for months and haven't even opened it. Maybe I should open it.

I'll only do it if it would make for good blogging though. Would you folks like to hear about that? Or do you like to hear about me struggling with my snack-cracker addiction? Do you really want to see a Keith that's strong and empowered, fueled by fruits and whole grains and unrefined love? Something tells me that a Keith that is flawed and tormented and fueled by sugar and caffeine and sarcasm is more compelling.

Listening to: Wierd Al - Dare to be Stupid (Put down the chainsaw and listen to me.)

Keith.

The Endurance 50 - Texas

Hey bloggers. I finished! I'm exhausted. Dean ran it in 4:12:20, and I was about 5 minutes back, finishing in 4:17:12 (9:49 m/m). You can read his report here.

Here are my splits:

1 : 10:11	11 : 9:10	21 : 10:13
2 : 9:11	12 : 9:16	22 : 9:27
3 : 9:25	13 : 9:09	23 : 9:54
4 : 9:43	14 : 9:21	24 : 10:14
5 : 9:54	15 : 9:20	25 : 10:55
6 : 9:14	16 : 9:15	26 : 9:47
7 : 9:25	17 : 8:54	26.98 : 8:53
8 : 9:03	18 : 9:13
9 : 8:53	19 : 9:45
10 : 9:26	20 : 9:49

It rained very hard at the beginning, and less hard later on. But I'll take cold rain over hot sun any day of the week.

The distance on my GPS came out longer than expected, and it had lost signal a bunch of times, but I do think the course was a bit long too, and I made a wrong turn around mile 23 that cost me a couple minutes. Another thing that cost me a couple minutes was the dead legs and no energy after mile 22. It was pretty rough at that point. The last couple of miles were incredibly exciting, knowing that I was going to be able to run the whole way in, and run a decent time, like I thought I could. Did you think I could?

Dean was all over the place, pacing very inconsistently. I'll bet it hurts him to go so slow. For the first five miles, he was out of sight way behind me, and then somehow, with no notice, he passed me. And then later he was way way behind again, and then, at mile 15, boop - there he is, and just as quickly, beep - he was out of sight behind me. I started struggling around mile 21 and he passed me for the last time. He asked how I was doing, and I said "I might make it." He was very reassuring, and encouraging. It was at this time, when someone else asked him what his heartrate was at that moment, and he looked at his watch and said "110." 110!

So, I didn't get on the bus, but as it turns out I don't think there even was a sag-bus, sucking up runners that dropped off pace, like I expected. There were even several runners finishing well over 5 hours. But knowing the course was a problem at the end, and it was unclear which way to go, when everyone was spread out. It's basically my first marathon, not counting the time I hobbled through the NYCM - 66 minutes slower than today. When people ask what my marathon time is, I usually say, "well, I've only done one, and I was injured." Not anymore. I'm proud of my 4:17.

I got a bunch of stuff in the goodie bag, including:

An Endurance 50 tee-shirt

A Timex running hat

A NorthFace visor

A pair of running socks

A water bottle with Dean on it.

Another water bottle that says Endurance 50, and one of those stretchy things that make it easy to carry.

A Luke's Locker ID tag

A sample of Optimum Power cereal

A Cytomax Gel

A package of Cytomax Drink Mix

A coupon for some free insoles

I think I get one month of coaching, but there's nothing in the package about it. We got some emails about it.

A copy of his book "Ultra Marathon Man," which I got signed.

A picture frame for our group photo, which is also signed.

Dean told me that they send a finisher's certificate, which would be valid for the TMC, but I'm not sure how they know I finished or not. I got him to write something about the TMC inside the book, so at least I can scan it and send it to Roger Soler, so he knows that Dean vouches for me for running the whole way. And I vouch for him, Dean ran the whole way too.

Listening to: Ben Folds Five - Narcolepsy (I know you don't know what I mean... yet.

Whoo hoo!
Keith.

Hug me!

Well, me and the pooch are heading up to Big-D this afternoon.

It should be interesting. I felt great on Saturday, when it was a little cooler, and I had tons of energy. I really feel the improvement that comes with the taper, on the other hand, I'm still struggling with a bit of a chest cold, so who knows how things will turn out.

There were many people at the club who were excited for me, and I even got several hugs, which was very nice. I think I give off a vibe that says to keep your distance, like I might not enjoy a hug, but I totally do! You can hug me! If it occurs to you to hug me, Hug Away! I won't freak out.

Anyway, they say you shouldn't change your routine at all, so I've got my snack crackers, and I'll head out to Jack-in-the-Box in a sec.

Listening to: Debbie Reynolds - Would you? (He holds her in his arms. Would you? Would you?)

Keith.

Let's not blur the lines...

I had been thinking of what to do if I can't keep pace with old Dean and the gang. I even considered bringing a route map in case I had to finish on my own. But, perhaps, having that option might guarantee that I don't make it. Surely I'll feel tired at 14 and think it wise to pace myself based on my self.

So, that idea sucks. Let's not blur the line between success and failure. Moral victories are for losers.

I already know I can slog through a marathon in half a day. I knew this race would be challenging for me, that's why I signed up. I thought I'd have to run a 4:30, which I'm pretty sure I can do. And it turns out, they might run a 4:20, or even 4:10, so if it comes to that, I guess I'll just have to run a 4:10.

Confidence is highly erratic these days. For some reason it's back up today. I ran 4 miles this morning, back on the roads around my home. Just me, my lungs, my sweat, and my two feets.

There have been a lot of ups and downs for me during the course of training for this race, some of which I write about and some of which I wrote and never published. And some published only in hidden messages and carefully chosen music clips.

It's as simple as this: if I get on the bus, know that I've failed. If I finish in time, know that my heart's on fire.

Listening to: Tenacious D - Explosivo (We've come to blow your nose.)

Keith.

One week until raceday.

Hi America, How are you? You look good.

There's less than seven days until my race. It doesn't look like it's going to be freakishly cool that day, like I was hoping. On the other hand, Dean and the gang ran a 4:28 yesterday, which should be more manageable than the 3:5-'s he's run a few times recently. When I was running 6 miles per day, it didn't really catch up to me until about three weeks in. So, maybe my 6 miles is equivalent to his 26 miles. Maybe he is human? No?

I'm taking a day off today. I seem to have caught a little something that started as a minor sore throat and now seems to be a minor chest cold. The good thing about a chest cold is that I can entertain myself endlessly with my Barry White impression.

I think I'll put a poll on the blog so you can all vote as to which mile I crash and burn and have to get on the bus.

Listening to: Myself - Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe (Girl, I don't know, I don't know why; Can't get enough of your love babe.)

Keith.

Run a mile for those who have no passion.

11.5 miles this morning went very smoothly, no major malfunctions. A nice confidence booster that I was in need of. 3 miles yesterday, did I blog that already?

I went to see the Kaminari Taiko performance last night at Miller Outdoor Theater. You should go, it was great. There's one more performance tonight (Saturday), it's free. The performance also includes pieces by a group called Ordered Steps, who are a stepping group from this area, and they are great too.

I think the Taiko players and the steppers have some kinship with runners because they work so hard, practicing, choreographing, and perfecting their show, and they don't make any money. I'll bet their hobby ends up costing them money. I wonder if their friends understand why they put so much time into it, or if they see the beauty of their vision. Do they practice everyday? Are their free moments hijacked by thoughts of costumes and choreography and rhythms that build up to 10 drummers in perfect synchrony? They must also train their body, ordinary people would have been exhausted half way through the first song.

Are your free moments hijacked by training plans and exotic races in far away places? In the back of your mind, do you think you might just have a date with a certain hill (you know the one)?

It occurred to me that most people don't do anything like that. It's kind of sad.

So, beat those drums extra hard, play your guitar a while longer, run an extra mile for those poor saps that have no crazy dreams.

Listening to: Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint - The Sharpest Thorn (I wore my finest suit of clothes; The sharpest thorn defending the rose)

Keith.

One day...

Already broke my streak by not running yesterday. HA! Okay, new day, new streak, new Keith, this time for real. This is the last, last time I miss a day, I promise. HA!

3 miles this morning. 11 miles with the club tomorrow, as the last semi-long run.

Vic - I haven't read that article. I let my Runner's World subscription run out last year. I should pick up a copy.

What should I ask Dean if I chat with him? Maybe I should do a special edition of "5 miles with keithrselassie" and come up with some stuff to ask. That would be cool, but I don't think I'll do that. I'm not about to ask him if I can interview him for my blog, that's so cheesy. And there's so much written about him, and so much that he writes in his own blog, what more is there to know anyway?

Listening to: Elvis Costello - Red Shoes (Since you've got me punctured this has been my sentence.)

Keith.

All the good titles are taken.

So many things to discuss.

Work. For some reason, it's 10:15 PM, and I still feel like I should be working. And there's other stuff I need to be doing too, blogging is probably the last thing I should be doing, but I realize I have a responsibility to my peeps.

Dog. My baby boy is recovering pretty well. He's eating and his temp is fine. He's still drinking a lot for some reason, and peed in the house the other day! He doesn't do that, so I'm guessing some medication is throwing off his hydration instinct.

Jet Li's Fearless. Excellent movie. And a very nice retelling of the monomyth that I like to bore you about.

Running. Monday (3 miles), and Wednesday (5 miles). No more off days for me. I remember why I hate rest days, no more rest days for me. I found myself debating whether or not to take another rest day that I don't really need. And this morning, I was all Frankensteiny for like two miles before I found my rhythm. With too much rest, I forget that I'm a runner, and I have no trouble at all with a little 5 mile tour of the hood. One of these days, I might take a rest day, and then two, and then never run again. Flexibility in my training plan doesn't work, we'll just call that experiment a failure, and move on. Back to streaking for Keith.

Dean. Breaking 4 hours now!

Laptop battery is at 2% and the plugin doohickey is at work. Must publish or else!

Listening to: Björk - Hunter (I thought I could organize freedom)

Keith.

Last long run...

Two weeks ago, I had a great 20 miler, where I even felt well enough to pick up the pace for the last four miles or so.

Today, I had a great 10 miler, and 10 miles of slogging. What will I feel like on marathon day?

It's 16 days away, so I don't really have time to make significant improvements, but I have plenty of time to screw things up. It's getting more intimidating too. Dean said he wanted to run 4:30 to 5:00, but he's been running most days around 4:15. That's kind of a big difference. I think on a good day, I can run 4:20 to 4:30, but that's assuming that everything goes right. If I have a day like today, it's going to be ugly.

Stupid as I am, I've told everybody I know about this. :) Whatever happens, I'll blog it. Whether I run like the wind, or crash and burn, I'll blog it. Either way, it should be interesting reading.

Listening to: Get Set Go - I Hate Everyone (I bet you think I'm kidding; But I promise you its true; I hate most everybody; But most of all I hate; Oh, I hate you.)

Keith.

Update

+ Two more loops at Memorial. Wearing my watch, trying to learn the pace.
- Dean's already running, and faster than he said he would.
- This race could be horribly embarrasing.
+ Saw Sam at the park, Hi Sam.
- Dog sick again.
- Not good.

My poor dog has occupied much of my energy for the last few days. He had been doing well since we went to the vet a couple weeks ago, but on Tuesday, he came down with another rediculously high fever, so it was back to the vet again. They did more blood tests which showed no problems with organ function, so it was unclear where the infection was. This vet thought it was possible there was a tumor, so we also did several x-rays of his abdomen, and they showed nothing obvious.

He's got some different antibiotics now, which are strong enough for blue whales, if in fact, he is infected by blue whales. It's difficult to say if he's improving. He's not interested in eating, and he's very very interested in drinking. He's drank so much, his stomach is distended. I'll talk to the vet in the morning, and see if it's a side effect of the medicine or something.

I've gotten pretty good at getting him to take his pills, I can do it on the first try. Or maybe, he's just realized that the whole ordeal will not end until those pills are in his stomach.

Listening to: Tenacious D - Jesus Ranch (I fell in love with a baked potato. That's when I started the dance, yeah. In France.)

Keith.

1 lap at Memorial last night, and 2 more today

There's a nice running trail here in Houston called Memorial Park, I don't know if you know it. I don't get up there very often, but found myself there yesterday, when I had some extra time, and tonight when I figured out that the cold front would be making it's way through this evening. Yesterday's lap was a little rough, and I think I wasn't quite recovered from Saturday's long run. My legs were rubbery, and I smelled like ammonia afterwards, which I've heard is what happens when you're too low on carbohydrates, and you start to cleave the amino group off your amino acids and start breaking them down as fuel. That's what I heard anyways, I think it makes sense.

Today was good. Nice and cool.

Maybe I'll start going there once a week, since it's getting cooler, I can go after work. I always find myself going faster than usual, so maybe I can just go there and call it a tempo run. Maybe it's time I moved on from the easy running base-building phase. What do you think?

Listening to: Cranberries - Zombie (But you see, it's not me, it's not my family.)

Keith.

I can be your hero, baby!

16 rough miles this morning. It got hot again, apparently.

From the AP:

Dean Karnazes starts his 50 marathons in 50 consecutive days tomorrow (Sunday) in St. Louis. 24 days from now, he'll be in Dallas running the White Rock course with some very inspirational and well-known Texas runners like Keith Kelleher and others.

One more week before my taper.
One more 20 miler to go.
One more challenge remains.

Readers of this blog are well versed in the monomythic hero's journey, so you know that the hero is challenged three times. I believe my first was overtraining. In June, at 6 miles per day, it was too much, and I was burning out, and had to cut back. The second was a recurrence of the pain in the bone we do not speak of. New shoes and some rest days seem to have kept that from becoming unbearable like it had last year right before the NYCM.

It's a bit of a miracle that I'm healthy and focused at this point in the training plan. Perhaps I have had some supernatural aid at some point, which is another common element in the monomyth.

But there's one challenge remaining. What will it be?

Listening to: Enrique Iglesias - Be Yourself (If you can't, can't be yourself what are you living for? You're gonna find someday you gotta run away. You gotta run, run, run away.)

Keith.

EAT BETTER! OR, YOU'RE GOING TO DIE ! ! !

Yesterday, I went to a seminar titled "The Evolution of Leukemia." It's an intriguing title, but as I imagined, it's really only metaphorically related to evolution. It's based on the idea that a mutation that transforms a cell into a cancerous cell, makes it the fittest cell in the enviroment, enabling it to survive the best, divide the fastest, so the analogy to "survival of the fittest" is not unreasonable.

But it was interesting to me, because the dude emphasized a kind of change in how we think about ways to get cancer, and I think it has some implications for how I should be living my life. Peeps that read my blog know that I run a lot, and I'm in good shape, but if you read closely, you might see that I don't always take care of myself in other ways, like with the types of foods I eat, and I must admit, I have a bit of a self-destructive side.

It's easy when some doctor tells you, you have to take care of yourself better, and you'll have to eat better, because you're a bearclaw away from certain death. But, I'm thinking it would be nice to change these things without the journey to rock bottom and back.

I had a point. I've gotten sidetracked talking about my own problems. Anyway, the paradigm change I was referring to earlier is about how to think about the causes of cancer, and by extension how to avoid cancer.

So, typically, you get cancer by sustaining some damage to your DNA in one of your cells. Most of the time the damage is repaired correctly, and even when it's repaired incorrectly, most of the time the error does nothing. Only when the error changes how the cell replicates, and that error actually improves the rate of cell division can you get something cancerous, and the rate that that happens is very low. (low for sure, but non-zero - there are no zeros in biology)

But with this mindset, the typical method of avoiding cancer is to avoid anything that can damage your DNA. (i.e. ultraviolet light from the sun, carcinogens like cigarette smoke, or asbestos, anything mutagenic, etc. etc. etc.) And, of course, it's good to keep avoiding those things, but maybe we can do more. The data presented emphasize the importance for healthy competition with cancerous cells, the idea being that a vibrant and healthy population of cells is not likely to be overrun by a cancerous cell line because there are very few improvements that can be made to it. Only when the population of cells is crippled by a genetic defect, or by old age, or by malnutrition, is it possible for beneficial adaptations to occur. (beneficial in this case meaning faster growing and potentially cancerous)

Even if I moved into one of those plastic bubbles, mutations, and DNA damage is not totally avoidable, and errors can happen during DNA replication too, which is even harder to fix, so there is always some probability of a cell transforming into a cancerous cell. But, in addition to avoiding the causes of cancer, by not smoking and such, there seems to be more that can be done to promote healthy competition with transformed cells, to inhibit those cancers that will inevitably occur.

I usually have the mindset that if such and such hasn't been shown to cause cancer, then there's no reason to avoid it. Where is the data that Jack-in-the-Box is mutagenic? The bacon ultimate cheeseburger probably doesn't affect DNA repair or replication, but I'll bet it does affect the efficiency and viability of cells in some way, I can tell the next day that something's not right. :)

It helps me to have some rationale to do something, especially to do something I'm not really looking forward to. I'm pretty good at avoiding the really bad things, but not so good an seeking out the good things, even though I do feel better when I'm eating properly. Maybe feeling healthy and vibrant is all the reward you need, but I need my life to be threatened to eat right. :)

There's another long post under the surface about trying to significantly change my life before the scary "wake-up call," but I'm not articulate enough to write it.

Listening to: Macy Gray - I Try (I try to say goodbye and I choke. Try to walk away and I stumble.)

Rock on.
Keith.

The old ladies love me.

Well, yesterday (Sunday) was a nice lazy recovery day. I did get out and "run" a bit. Maybe a mile or a mile and a half total, but I really just wanted to get outside. I was down on the Seabrook Trails, and I mostly just ran a bit and walked and looked at all the crabs, and explored some of the primitive trails. Incidentally, I mapped out a nicely runnable little extension on the primitive trails near Hester Garden Park, which is where the new butterfly garden is. I'll have to lead my training partners through there next time, it's nice.

And yesterday evening, I spent some time with my old lady friends. There's a couple old ladies in my complex who love me, and always stop by everytime they need some furniture moved or some pictures hung. Yesterday, I guess they went to Ikea or somewhere, because they had a couple of gliding chairs that required some assembly, and they know just who to ask for assistance.

It's funny, you go to assemble a chair, and when you're there you actually find out that there is a chair to assemble, and a picture to hang, and the teevee reception needs to be adjusted, etc... And yesterday, the secondary project took 50 times longer than the primary project! Once I was there, old lady #2 asked me to assemble an entire bed frame with drawers and everything, the kind that starts out as just a bunch of boards and a mess of screws!

But I love old ladies as much or more than old ladies love me, so I did it. And we argued about how much they pay me, and I kept saying "you don't have to pay me" and they kept insisting. Old lady #1 is actually under the impression that she already owes me like $50 for something or other that I did in the past. I can't remember doing anything worth $50.

It occurred to me that it would be wildly funny to just say, "you don't have to pay me, you can just buy me dinner someday." And I could go to dinner with a really old lady. And at dinner, she'd wonder what was going on because I'd keep telling her she looks nice, and keep apologizing for being nervous, and then I could drop some hints that at some point she's going to have to meet my parents.

Listening to: Faith No More - RV (Besides listening to my belly gurgle. Ain't much else to do. Yeah, I sweat a lot. My pants fall down everytime I bend over. And my feet itch.)

Keith.

A slap and a kiss.

Hey bloggers. How are you? You look good.

Sorry for dropping off the earth this week. I've been preoccupied with other things, mainly my pride and joy, my baby boy, the one and only Five-Dog! had become very sick, and almost died. Rest assured he has been recovering very well and he is better every day. Nobody really knows exactly what was wrong with him, but the theory is that some infection took hold very quickly and his body never had time to catch up. He wasn't eating, and later he stopped doing everything, and would just stand in one place and make a funny noise. When I got him to the vet, his fever was over 105 and the vet was even afraid he would go into shock and check out. But they got him rehydrated through an IV and pumped him up with some antibiotics and he responded very well.

He's slowly been regaining his strength and he has been making up for all the meals he missed when he was sick. I'm finally feeling comfortable that he's going to be okay.

Another troubling event for the week happened when I was home on Tuesday, waiting on a phone call from the vet, and I was urinating (sorry, but that's what I was doing), and I noticed that my heart was pounding extra forcefully, and then I woke up on the bathroom floor. So that was interesting.

I'm actually not too worried about a little fainting spell, since I think it was just a result of napping, and then rising very quickly to run to the bathroom, but I must have fell in a rather awkward way and I strained many things in both ankles and my left knee. Even now, 4 days later, my ankles hurt a lot if I move them too far to the left.

And while I was on the bathroom floor, contemplating my place in the universe, I recieved the phone call that I had been waiting for. And, from the timeline given to me by the vet, it was clear that at the exact moment that my baby boy was finally breaking his fever and beginning his recovery, I was beginning my own. That may be a surprise to you, but not to me. You see, Five-Dog! and I share a psychic connection, much like Elliot and E.T. Each event in our lives, both positive and negative, affects the other party on a metapsychophysical level.

---

So, I'm a little beat up, but running well in spite of it.

I ran 7 miles Thursday morning, including three laps on our little bridge. I had a few sharp pains from my incident on Tuesday.

And this morning, I had a great long run, 20 miles! If I run easily on flat ground, my ankles and knee feel fine. There were some difficult miles, mainly between 12 and 14, where my quads were burning for no good reason, and I started to dread the downward spiral of pain and fatigue, but it passed, and I had several enjoyable miles after that point. Perhaps the Five-Dog! was having a bad dream at that moment or something, and then maybe he woke up and found some leftover dog treat that he forgot to eat.

And this long run has done a lot for my confidence. The pace was good enough for a 4:31 marathon, which should let me keep up with old Dean-O for my race in October. Dean says he's gonna run between 4:30 to 5:00 for his little tour de US, which the pace charts say I can do, but there's no real evidence for it, so it's still pretty intimidating for me. Hopefully, I won't have to kick him in the knee or anything to slow him down.

The rest of the week has been a fairly comical sequence of nice surprises and kicks to the teeth.

Listening to: Elvis Costello - River in Reverse (Wake me up; Wake me up; Wake me up with a slap or a kiss.)

Anyway, post too long already.
Keith out.

Here are some wierdos, Let's Fight!

Daytime teevee really sucks! I should go to work. Maury is doing a special on big fat babies - 5 yrs old - 212 lbs. They just keep bringing out more and more big fat babies! It's like there's no end, just one big fat baby after another, with their parents that like to scream things like "You don't know me!" "I don't overfeed him!" "You don't have kids! You don't know what it's like!" And I think Maury requires the babies be dressed in a half-shirt. Maury upsets me. Montel too. At least Springer didn't try to make himself out to be a saint. Jerry was all, "this is my show, here are some wierdos, let's fight!"

Anyway, I ran another loop on the trails this morning, and after 30 miles on those trails this weekend, I'm still not tired of them. I like it down there. I actually felt cold this morning, with a fairly strong wind coming off the bay, and I kept complaining to my training partner, Tonia, that I couldn't wait for summer. We ran easy and even stopped and hung out at Pine-Gully Park for a little while to watch the sunrise, it was beautiful. Speaking of Tonia, she rocks! She brought me some beans and rice and chocolate cake and cornbread, which officially makes her the greatest running partner on earth. :)

Another episode of Maury just came on, paternity test results revealed on air.

Listening to: Page & Plant - Nobody's Fault But Mine (Got a monkey on my back. Got a monkey on my back back back. Gonna change my ways tonight. Nobody's fault but mine )

Keith Keith Keith.

18 miles for a nice long run

A few degrees makes a big difference. Yesterday's run was great, for 18 miles, I felt like my old self again. Well, not my old old self with all the doritos and excuses, but my new old self with the 'run all day' attitude.

I ran three loops down on the Seabrook trails, starting at 4:30 AM, we needed flashlights to see our way. The mental bugs were biting early on, and I was calculating what the minimum distance would be for it to still be a good run. But I felt a lot better and the last 12 miles or so seemed to float by like marshmallows in a stream of semi-cured Jello on a crisp Colorado morn.

I slept late this morning, and ran another loop on the trails this morning at about 10:00, and I still felt good. That makes about 40 miles for the week, which is pretty good for having two off days.

I hope everybody is having a good long weekend.

Listening to: Ben Folds - Boxing (My intentions become, not to lose what I've won.)

Take care of yourselves, and each other.
Keith.

5.8 miles - What is there to think about for all these miles?

2 laps at Memorial this evening. Nice evening. The cooler weather allows me to sleep late and be lazy. Lazy lazy lazy.

With so many miles, there's a lot of time to think. Here's something I read recently, that I find to be somewhat inspirational. It's from that Joseph Campbell book I talked about a while back, from a chapter titled Refusal of the Call.

Often in actual life, and not infrequently in the myths and popular tales, we encounter the dull case of the call unanswered; for it is always possible to turn the ear to other interests. Refusal of the summons converts the adventure into its negative. Walled in boredom, hard work, or "culture," the subject loses the power of significant affirmative action and becomes a victim to be saved. His flowering world becomes a wasteland of dry stones and his life feels meaningless--even though, like King Minos, he may through titanic effort succeed in building an empire of renown. Whatever house he builds, it will be a house of death: a labyrinth of cyclopean walls to hide from him his Minotaur. All he can do is create new problems for himself and await the gradual approach of his disintegration.

There's that. That's been on my mind recently. Also, some lyrics from a song I was stuck on for a couple days that goes a little something like this:

There's never gonna be a moment of truth for you
While the world is watching
Ohh, all you need is the thing you've forgotten
And that's to learn to live with what you are

Although, I've decided to interpret that song a little differently than it was intended. I'm not quite ready to live with what I am, but I'll try to be satisfied with you with all your flaws. :)

Listening to: Ben Folds - Learn to Live With What You Are

I'm so introspective today! What gives?
Keith.

Sometimes I behave strangely ...

... just for the sake of behaving strangely. Somebody's gotta do it.

No run today.

Listening to: The Strokes - Trying Your Luck (I hope it's you who set this trap)

More running...

I think I ran yesterday, 5 miles. I don't quite remember, I think I ran my usual route, and it was hot. Yes, I'm sure of it, I ran. The alternative is unthinkable. I must have run. It's Tuesday right? Yes, I must have run Monday, of course I must have, I run everyday. Just because I don't remember it doesn't mean it didn't happen. If I didn't run, I'd remember it.

I ran 5.4 miles this evening with some peeps from my club that run on Tuesday nights. It was a nice route through some very upscale neighborhoods and a private country club golf course. It was quite complicated though, I think if I gmapped it, it would look something like a funnel cake.

Blog blog blog blog blog. What to blog, what to blog. Hmmm.

Listening to: Ben Folds - Learn to Live With What You Are (All you need is the thing you've forgotten.)

Keith tired.

2 day streak!

I ran a 10 miler yesterday and 5 more today.

You might be wondering "What's up with my foot?" It's been feeling okay. Yesterday's run was a shortened version of what I should have been running, and I had 3 days off this week, so I guess it's helping. I think it stems from the RTW5K a couple weeks ago. I can run lots of miles, but when I try to run fast, I get beat up pretty bad. I talked to some dude from Koala about it yesterday after the group run, and he said to stretch it and ice it and elevate it, which is what my friend Tonia has been saying for weeks. I'm not quite sure how to stretch that part of my foot, those bones don't move that much. It's like stretching my skull, how do I do that?

Today, I ran 5 miles down on the Seabrook trails, and I ran into Coach Rick of the CLFC, who was just setting out on his 3rd loop. We ran together for about a mile and apparently at one time, he had his own running streak going, which was about 3 years long!

We'll see if I get another streak going. It does seem to me that it's not as conducive to this phase of marathon training, when I'm doing some very long runs. It served me well to keep me focused for the base-building phase. More importantly it allows me to sidestep some weaknesses of mine. On that issue, I'm considering posting my theories about exactly what is wrong with my brain. Would anyone like to read that one? I could post my theory on what's wrong with my brain, and maybe I could get some of my friends to give their own theories. That would be fun.

Listening to: Faith No More - Zombie Eaters (I'm helpless; I'm flawless; I'm a machine)

Keith out!

Quick Update.

Thanks everybody for your encouragement and your sympathy. I didn't cry like I thought I would. I like streaking, it keeps me focused, which I find difficult at times if the goal is months and months away.

I was back in action this morning for two laps on the bridge. My foot doesn't hurt that bad, but there's obviously something wierd going on in there.

Tomorrow (Friday) may be another missed day. My car's broke, and I'll probably be peddling my butt to work and back (12 miles each way, which seems like a lot for me) so I don't know if I'll get a run in too.

Listening to: Plant & Page - Gallows Pole (I brought a little silver. I brought a little gold. I brought a little everything, to keep you from the gallows pole.)

Keith.

No running today. My 183 day streak is over.

I'm a little worn out, and my foot is worrying me greatly. It's the same problem that happened before the NYCM last year, and it totally ruined my day. So, no running today, and probably not tomorrow either. I'll pick back up again on my bridge on Thursday morning, and maybe I'll start a new streak. Furthurmore, I might only run 10 miles this weekend, and rejoin the scheduled mileage next weekend with 16.

I could still go run a couple miles, or even just one mile, without doing any damage, and that would satisfy the criteria for the streaking committee, but the streak was never really the point. The streak is the means to the end, not the end itself, at least that's what monkey told me (sometimes that monkey isn't too bad, another time, I asked him if I should have a burger or have a salad, and he told me to watch the damn road, which made sense at the time because I was trying to blog and drive at the same time).

And yesterday was day 183, which made it just over 6 months long.

But I don't feel like I deserve the streak anymore. Sure I've been running everyday, but the last couple of weeks, I have only followed the letter of the law, and violated the spirit behind it. I started this because the consistency of the schedule is good for me. Getting up early, running while the sun rises, fresh fruit and yogurt, some Limp Bizkit playing in the background... that was how I'd start my day. But now, I sleep in, and I struggle through my run well after the sun is up, and I have no time for relaxing, and contemplating the larger issues, like "what is my purpose in life?" "what will I do today that will get me closer to my goals?" and "who in hollywood is gay?" (colin farell) "who is a racist drunk?" (mel gibson)

Time to refocus.

Listening to: Infectious Grooves - I'm Gonna Be My King

Ketih.
Oh, that's just wonderful. I can't even spell my own name now.

Write in zombies.

Write something for yourself.

Listening to: The Police - Don't Stand So Close to Me (Strong words in the staff room; The accusations fly)

Upcoming HRB meeting

It recently occurred to me that we have a club meeting coming up next week! I don't know if there are plans already, but I'd like to renew my suggestion to take a spin around Rice, and then hit Two Rows in the Village. Burgers, fish tacos, microbrewed beer, and of course Steaks! ;) I guess there's a lot to talk about with the Kid's run, and the road trip coming up.

Anyway, that's my vote.

Listening to: Flyleaf - I'm So Sick (So you'll shut up; And stay sleeping; With my screaming in your itching ears)

itching ears?
Keith.

Joe Rocks!

Joe ran a 10+ minute PR in his half marathon this morning. Rock on Joe!

Listening to: Gnarles Barkley - Crazy (Come on now who do you, who do you, who do you, who do you think you are, ha ha ha, bless your soul; you really think you're in control)

Go find a new hero.

My friend and I ran 10 of our 18 miler and hung out at a coffeeshop for the rest of the time.

Right now, this is just one factor contributing to my overall bad mood. Every song on my playlist seems to be only two steps removed from some disappointment in my life.

Listening to: Elvis Costello - The Other Side of Summer (Despite the contradiction and confusion; Felt tragic without reason; Theres malice and theres magic in every season)

Don't comment. Just F-off.
Keith.








- added later

Okay, maybe not everything in the world sucks. Today at the coffeeshop, we got to spend some time with one of our club's prime sources of inspiriation, Marcie, 82 year olds and still gets herself and her coffee to the marathon finish several times a year.

She told us a story about when she was in the hospital, and one of the nurses, who herself was already 50+ years old, remembered being taught in 6th grade by Marcie when she was a girl. Marcie asked her, "when you were in my class, did you ever think that there'd be a time in the future when you'd see my boobs?"

I think I'll be okay in a couple days. I had only 2 hours of sleep yesterday, although I did have fun on Friday, with some nice Chinese food, and kicking some peoples' asses in mini-golf.

Sorry about the F-off thing.
Keith.

Kemah Bridge

6 miles from 3 laps on the old bridge.

I just updated my other running log, the one I got from davidhays.net, and I've already got 322 miles on my new shoes. This is getting expensive.

Can't think of any clever crap this morning. I think my air conditioner is dying. The temp in here is 82 and climbing.

Listening to: Johnny Cash - I Walk the Line (For you I know I'd even try to turn the tides.)

Keith out.

Who will cover?

I've got 10 dollars that says Broadway Joe breaks 2:00:00 in his half this weekend.

Listening to: Neil Young - Long May You Run (Rollin' down that empty ocean road; Gettin' to the surf on time.)

My neighborhood

I run around my home a lot, and I see a lot of familiar faces around this place, and very few of them are running. There is one other runner, an old guy, who wears a whole brightly colored workout outfit. I see him on days when I don't get up very early, and have to run in the sun. He's practically the only one in Pasadena, except when you run around the parks at Crenshaw Park, or at Strawberry Park, there are lots of runners there.

One person I see a lot is another old guy that walks with some kind of a walker/wheelchair thing, and he goes up to the corner store, and walks all the way back to his complex with just a couple of beers. I guess he gets tired, and stops and sits in the chair thing, and sometimes drinks his beer then. One time, another guy was trying to help him, and was pushing him along in his chair, going backwards, and they hit a small crack in the sidewalk and the guy spilled over backwards. I stopped my car, and got out to help, and as we were lifting him up, he was yelling, "chair now! chair now!" and nobody that was helping him had any idea what "chair now" meant. This guy walks back and forth to the store, at least 3 times a day, and only seems to get two tallboys at a time. By the time he gets home, it's almost time to go back to the store.

There is another guy, a young guy, that's probably about 20 or 25. He sometimes runs around here, but I hesitate to call him a runner. I don't think he trains for anything, and actually, I think he has some other issues. He always runs a bit, and stops and turns around, and runs again, and stops and looks at every car that drives by. The first time I saw him, I saw a group of other youngsters playing, and I thought he was being chased or something. Now I see him frequently, with the same paranoid look, but nobody else is playing in his game. I even see him at crazy hours, running at 3 or 4 in the morning, or in the middle of the day, always running like he's being chased.

Then, there's a red haired guy, who I think is homeless. Several times, I've run towards him, as he was talking to himself, and when he'd see me, he'd say, "Oh, you caught me talking to myself." And sometimes he says something about how he doesn't usually do that.

One time, there was a guy with a leg in a cast, who was just sitting outside in a wheelchair by the side of the road, with a whole case of beer, and several empty cans strewn about. I was walking my dog at the time, and we stopped and chatted a bit, and he seemed friendly enough, and we shook hands. I got the feeling he wanted to shake my hand just to see if I was too good to shake his hand. The red haired homeless guy does that too. At the end of our walk, I saw this guy out of his wheelchair sitting on the ground, just looking around. I had no idea what he was doing, until he spun around and got on his knees and peed in the bushes.

These are the people I don't really know. Lots of people in my complex know me through my dog. Everybody loves him, and always ask how he's doing, if he's not with me. He's fine, by the way.

Anyway, who's in your neighborhood?

Listening to: The Rolling Stones - I Am Waiting (Well, it happens all the time; It's censored from our minds )

5 miles yesterday, 5 today.

Keith out.

17 miler and a 5K PR

As you've probably heard already, I ran a 5K PR yesterday at Run the Woodlands #159. I ran it in 23:09, which is 38 seconds better than my PR at the Astros run in May. So, doing a few quick calculations, I've determined that the world record will be mine on February 12, 2010, and just because I'm a hopeless romantic, I might just do it on Valentines Day, and I'll dedicate my race to all the chicks that broke my heart, and I can tell them all to "stick it!" But these calculations also mean, unfortunately, I won't be elite in time for Beijing, but there will be a good buffer before London, so if I have a setback, like getting the flu or getting real fat or something, I'll still be okay for London.

It was good to see many of my HRB friends yesterday, you rock!

I was a little worried going into the race, because I've been feeling a little slow, and because I guaranteed a PR on the messageboard, and that's kind of a stupid thing to do in August in Texas. But I pulled it off, so I'm pleased. It's pretty clear that I've never been in better shape than right now. I did partake in one ice cream sandwich yesterday, so I reset the ice cream counter. But then, I figured I might as well have a second one, because if I have to reset it, I should reset the hell out of it! So I had two.

The only problem, and it could be a big problem, is that I could feel some familiar pain in the bone we do not speak of, starting at about the 1.5 mile mark yesterday. So, I'm a pretty worried about that, as I know it has the ability to trash my crazy marathon plans. This morning, it was okay, for the whole 17 miles, and it seems to hurt most when I'm walking around barefoot. Perhaps my running shoes support me too well, and allow my feets to become weak. Perhaps I should do something to strengthen my feets so my feets don't fail me at an inopportune time.

Joe carried me through some of the difficult miles late in the run today. Thanks Joe!

On a different topic, this morning, right before I started out on the trails, one shooting star reminded me that yesterday was the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, and I kicked myself for forgetting all about it. Unfortunately, it was mostly washed out by the 73.3% full moon, and I didn't conclusively see any more. I think there were several more, but if they're too dim and too fast its difficult to say for sure.

Lastly, for no reason, here is a video of a monkey and a dog.

Listening to: Beck - High Five (High 5! More dead than alive! Rocking the plastic like a man from the Catskills!)

Rocking the plastic like a man from the Catskills.
Keith.