Amazing Discovery made after 58 years!

Perhaps I should not admit to this, but for years I have suffered from “crooked bows”, yes, crooked bows are real and can lead to major embarrassment in social situations! I want to get the word out so that others suffering from this malady may read this, find condolence in knowing they are not alone, and may benefit from my advise on how I have finally conquered it!

Yes, it’s true after 58 long years of suffering from crooked bows I have finally resolved the knotty problem, made adjustments to my life styles, and tied a knot around the problem.

Background: For years my shoelaces have had bows that are perpendicular to normal persons shoelaces. Sad but true, with one bow laying across the laces and the other pointing the way up my leg, under my pants cuff, and in general running amok! While I never outwardly let people know how distraught this made me, inside I would cringe whenever I would notice people eying my shoes. It did not matter the brand of shoe, the type of lace, if I double knotted, or did an extra “safety twist”, the bows pointed to the North and South as surely as the best Boy Scout compass! For awhile I was saved when the popularity of Velcro replacing laces was in vogue. However as most fashion statements, it waned and with it went my self esteem again. Now only my sandals have Velcro, but they too are wearing out after years of faithful service.

The Life Style Change: As you can see from the earlier posts I have begun getting a little exercise, and part of that includes some walking and running. To do this properly I purchased some “real” running shoes. (Neutral – Cushioned as far as shoe type descriptions go. Asics Gel Nimbus 9 and 10 as for exact models.) To make sure I used the shoes to the best of their ability, which far exceeds mine, I used the internet to research some various method of lacing shoes.

The Breakthrough: As I was reviewing the different methods of lacing I tried a couple ways that looked like they were something I thought might add, or subtract actually, time from my running pace. As I was experimenting one time I tied the bow just slightly different than I ever had before, suddenly before my eyes the bows laid down, pointing perfectly due East and West as if they had been doing that for the last 42 years! I was astounded, flabbergasted one might say! How could this be, such a simple change, with such a dramatic effect. To me it measures right up there with Bells first telephone transmission, Marconi’s first wireless transmission, and maybe even Goodyear’s discovery of vulcanization!

How did I achieve this remarkable breakthrough. How has it affected my life by allowing me to mingle in social situations, be accepted by my exercise peers, brought me fortune and fame beyond my wildest dreams? Please visit the Kazology store and order a copy of “How to bilk millions achieve your Dreams”. Only a small annual recurring fee, plus appropriate charges for shipping and handling and you too can become as confident as me in nearly all social situations! If you want to run sub 3 marathons you must Act now! UnLimited copies available at this time. Offer only valid in the continental US, in states which have no Better Business Bureau, or have names beginning with the letter Z.

Caution highly detail photo may be upsetting to some people.  Fame, fortune and sub 3 marathons are within reach with these bows!

The Future: Will I ever revert back to the old bow tying method, will I have a lapse in memory and forget how I achieved this remarkable event so that it remains a mystery to me, as much as why all the Cliff Dwelling Indian’s disappeared? Only time will tell.

I feel so good in having this monkey off my back after so many years, that I felt I must get the word out to other sufferers to let them know there is a cure!

Until the final shoe is properly laced,

George

New Toy for Tracking Running Stats – Part 2

A really cool new toy! Part Two
Where upon having purchased a new Garmin 305 I put it to use.

During the initial run I bruised my wrist really bad (hard plastic back, flat, and relatively heavy for a “watch”) so I bought some wrist sweat bands and now wear one with the watch strapped tightly on over it. So far I am really enjoying it. Not having a stop watch hanging from a dog leash around my neck is quite nice. I used to have to let it hang under the shirt to keep it from swinging all over, then try to drag it out to stop it without strangling myself, and getting it stopped without adding minutes (it seemed like) to the end of a run. Plus I can now actually see the information while I am running, including elapsed time, heart rate, pace and distance (or other information depending on how you configure it.Continue reading

Mackinaw Bridge 5 Mile Run

Saturday May 24th, at a bright and early 5 am was the Mackinaw bridge 5 mile race.

Mackinaw Bridge Run 2008

Bright and early and 38 degrees out made for a quick race – because I just wanted to get back into a warm bed
and sleep! See some photos of me trying to get to the end and back to bed!

Some stats for the race:

  • a) Start time: 5:38 am
  • b) Start temperature 38 degrees Farenheit
  • c) a 5 mile run
  • d) finished 248 out of 345 male entrants (72% finished ahead of me)
  • e) finished 31 out of 40 in my age group (77.5% finished ahead of me)
  • f) finished 370 out of 611 total finishers. (finished in the top 60% overall)
  • g) had a 9:38 pace (48:12 total time)
  • h) had a great time, and chalked up another new PR for a 5 mile! Hey, five races, five new personal records, what’s so hard about this? ?????? ??????

Some general observations. Based on the numbers above you can tell this is a
community of older people… and apparently fairly fit. The participation in the
older age groups is very high compared to Ann Arbor races. Realizing I am
certainly not the faster runner, I still fared much worse, especially in my age
group, than in prior races! With almost 78% of the men in my division finishing
ahead of me, this may be the lowest finishing place yet! Compare this to the overall
finish where I finished in the top 60% and you can see the difference.

The race was fun, a great workout for the legs and lungs! That long grade to
the crest really made the thighs work.

This was followed by three days of sight seeing in the area where we had a
great time.

Note that within hours of finishing this 5 mile race we were on Mackinaw
Island where we rented bikes and rode around the island, and into the interior
to see some others sites, such as Sugar Loaf mountain hill rock pile, we did not get to see on the carriage ride. So we
figured we rode at least 14 miles, then we also walked for hours around town, up to and through fort, and to various ice cream shops, etc.

Now into “training” for the second part of the “Serious Series” 10K (6.2 mile)
trail run June 14th.!

Until the Mackinaw Bridge comes falling down,

Dart Frog Dash 5K at the Toledo Zoo

Tomorrow isThe other day was the next race, down in Toledo Ohio. The “The Dart Frog Dash” so named (I think) in honor of the new exhibit at the Toledo Zoo – which is the site of the 5K race.” at the Toledo Zoo.

Hopefully I will be able to “jump” right on this and get the results posted.

Dart Frog Dash

The race went well, and I finished within my goal time. But did I set a new PR? That remains to be seen!

Some stats for the race:

  • a) a quick “jump” at the start got me going
  • b) things got really “hopping” at the 2 mile point
  • c) a 5K (3.1 miles)
  • d) finished 206 out of 344 male entrants (60% finished ahead of me)
  • e) finished 11 out of 20 in my age group (55% finished ahead of me)
  • f) finished 326 out of 737 total finishers. (finished in the top 44% overall)
  • g) had a 9:08 pace (28:18 total time)
  • h) had a great time, and chalked up another new PR for a 5K! Hey, four races, four new personal records, what’s so hard about this?

Until the the last person feels “froggy”,

Road Ends 5 Miler

Every year the local Running Fit stores hold what is called “The Road Ends 5 Mile Trail Race” also billed as “No Wimps Allowed!” race in Pinckney Michigan. This is the short version of the Trail Marathon and half marathon held the following day at the same location.


Just to prove I was really registered for the race... although I could have grabbed this out of the recycle barrel after the race.

Added a nice new T-Shirt to the small, but growing, collection.
The official Road Ends participant T-Shirt art work.

    Some stats for the race:
    a) 5 Miles, not a 5K
    b) finished 276 out of 355
    c) finished fifth out of five in my age group…. later adjusted to sixth out of six.
    d) won my first “award” for the fifth place, but later seems I should not have after results were adjusted…. oh well.
    e) took a great tumble skinning up a knee and (can this be done?) spraining a foot, not an ankle.
    f) learned to make sure I remove glasses before I take off on a run! (The bifocals make seeing your feet difficult without looking down, thus losing the ability to see where you are going.)
    g) had a 11:09 pace (55:44 total time)
    h) had a great time in spite of e above, and since it was the first 5 mile I have run another new PR! Hey, three races, three new personal records, what’s so hard about this?

The course is at the State Park in Pinckney Michigan. The area is relatively hilly, and the course takes great advantage of that. There are a couple gentle hills to sort of warm up on, and then a couple monster “never ending grades” that will make the thighs burn, and these come after the 3 mile marker, so you are I am already running on shaky legs! Yeah, I walked part of them, I am sure this contributed to the slower overall pace since I have been keeping it to around 10 minutes on flatter courses. This shows a need to get more hill work in, maybe need to find a stadium with steps to run up… or maybe even enter the annual climb at the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center.

    Full Climb 70 Floors – 1035 Steps
    Half Climb 40 Floors – 585 Steps
    Yeah, right . . . . Oh, I would have, but already missed it for this year, darn. (It was Sunday, February 24, 2008)

I also cannot figure out how the course can gain over 1,000 feet in total altitude, but never descends more that 50 feet total through the course. . . or at least it seems that way.

Update May 1, 2008: I was kidding about the elevation above, but I just got the weekly email from the sponsors “Running Fit” and they had this to say about the race:

“As usual, the weather was spectacular and everyone set a P.R.! (Seriously, we just checked out the vertical climb in each loop of the half marathon and it was over 7,000 ft! For those of you who ran the 5, a very serious 5, it had over 3,000 ft of climb!”.

Now this to me seems like a serious amount of climbing to me! No wonder the legs grew weary!

I did have the old Peugeot 10 speed out awhile back. The tires still held air, and I did a couple miles around the neighbourhood to see if I could still stay upright. Seemed to provide pretty good thigh exercise also, maybe need to get out on it more often. . . or maybe even squats (?) to build them up.

Well, nursing the foot now, resting it a couple of days, then have to get back on the path. Need to keep on track since I have the Toledo Zoo and Mackinaw Bridge races coming up in just a couple of weeks.

Until the final bruise heals,

Martian Marathon – 10K in the books.

This morning I did the Martian Marathon – 10K race portion. I had a good time for sure. Having never gone 6.2 miles before except once in training, did not know for sure how it would work out. I did not finish first… come on only been three months since I could even go 3 miles at a time…. but I was pleased with my stats.

  • There were 617 total finishers (do not know how many entrants)
  • I ended up 426th out of that 617
  • In my age group there were 43 runners
  • I ended up 30th out of that 43.
  • The official time was 1:03:01
  • That makes the pace 10:09, not burning up the pavement, but better than the 5K pace (10:30)  just a month ago, and twice the distance!
  • Then of all the runners, 69% finished ahead of me, while in the Shamrocks & Shenanigans 5K a full 77% finished ahead of me.

Click on the picture to see a larger image.

The numbers here confuse me a little, they are just slightly different than the spreadsheet data on the Gault Race Management web site. But the spreadsheet looks to be more correct to me.

If I hang in there it will be interesting to see what happens at the same races next year.

Will get I now have some photos posted, but finally got the main system is down for an upgrade right now  running enough to get this done.

Until the Martians make face to face contact,