Crap! Crap! Craptastic!

Someone just found out he gets to run a marathon March 31.

In Kansas.

As a training run.

It'll be worth it.

I think.

At least I will have another medal to show off.

That's what it's all about.

Right?

Of course, it's Olathe.

Maybe they will have a decent medal.

I am not holding my breath.

Not because I think it will be a bad medal.

But because I would eventually pass out.

And that would be bad.

Six slow miles today - running.

Then a little tennis.

Until the hail started falling.

I have a headache.

Because I got hit in the head with hail.

I am not drinking soda in KS or MO in the month of March.

Or at least I am going to try not.

I didn't feel like running today

It was a long day at work. I didn't sleep well last night. I was tired. My legs were heavy.

But I had 6 miles on my schedule and Tuesdays are hill-days.

So there I was at Shawnee Mission Park deciding how far I was going to run and how long it was going to take. Neither outlook was promising.

But I had 6 miles on the schedule.

So I ran.

And starting out, it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. Granted, I dropped almost 100 feet in elevation that first mile.

And then something strange happened.

I started running uphill.

Between miles 2 and 3, I climbed almost 240 feet in elevation. And it was easier than I remembered.

Much easier.

I found my groove.

I added 0.8 miles to my route from last week for a total of 6.3 miles and still managed to knock my per mile pace from 11:10 to 10:42/mile.

Any psychologists out there?

Because I want to know why I have some of my best days on days I expect to be my crappiest.

6: The Sandlot

Note: Spring training has started. Opening day is 5 weeks away. I am convinced that there isn't any better place to spend a warm sunny April afternoon or June evening than at the ballpark, drinking a beer, eating a dog, and taking in a baseball game. Some people say the game moves too slow, but that is part of the experince. Talk to your friends. People watch. Slow down. Life goes by so fast, sometimes it's nice to stop and relax.

For me, it's Kauffman Stadium and the Royals. You can insert your favorite team and the experience is the same (except that your team may win a couple games).

So in honor of the start of baseball, I am going to recap the 6 best baseball movies. Ever. And no, no matter how much some of you argue, Fever Pitch won't make this list.

So today, its The Sandlot. It's hard to really slot this movie as it is more about life than baseball. It ranks right up there with Stand By Me and The Goonies in it's portrayal of friendship, responsibility, and just boys being boys.

Oh, those days of summer as a kid where I spent most of my time at the pool, playing baseball, football, dodgeball, riding bikes, etc, with friends. I was the perfect age. Old enough to know better but too young to care.

Such is life on The Sandlot

Who can forget The Beast, the fearsome dog that lurks behind the left field fence, "night baseball" on the only day of the year it is possibly (the 4th of July), getting banned from the pool in "Squints" pursuit of Wendy Peffercorn, campouts, losing a ball signed by "some lady named Baby Ruth", and just doing stuff kids do.

Is it a baseball movie? More or less.

But it's enough of a baseball movie to make the list.

You gotta love the exchanges like this...

[the Sandlot Kids and their arch-rivals come face-to-face]
Phillips: It's easy when you play with rejects and a fat kid, Rodriguez.
Benny: Shut your mouth, Phillips!
Ham Porter: What'd you say, crap face?
Phillips: You shouldn't be allowed to touch a baseball. Except for Rodriguez, you're all an insult to the game.
Ham Porter: Come on! We'll take you on, right here! Right now! Come on!
Sandlot Kids: Yeah!
Phillips: We play on a real diamond, Porter. You ain't good enough to lick the dirt off our cleats.
Ham Porter: Watch it, jerk!
Phillips: Shut up, idiot!
Ham Porter: Moron!
Phillips: Scab eater!
Ham Porter:Butt sniffer!
Phillips: Pus licker!
Ham Porter: Fart smeller!
Bertram: [sniffs] Ahh.
Philips: You eat dog crap for breakfast, geek!
Ham Porter: You mix your Wheaties with your mama's toe jam!
Sandlot Kids: Yeah!
Phillips: You bob for apples in the toilet! And you like it!
Ham Porter: You play ball like a giiirrrrrrrrl!
[entire group stands in shocked silence]
Phillips: What did you say?
Ham Porter: You heard me.
Phillips: Tomorrow. Noon, at our field. Be there, buffalo-butt breath.
Ham Porter: Count on it, pee-drinking crap-face!

Up next: You trying to say Jesus Christ can't hit a curve ball.

I'm glad I passed on that 5th beer

That is what I was thinking about 14 miles into my 16 mile run Saturday morning. I cut myself off at 4 during happy hour Friday night (beer water beer water beer beer water water water). We were haveing a blast and they were planning the rest of the night as I left at 8:00. I am sort of happy I had to run Saturday morning because I can only imagine what would have gone down had I stayed out.

Really, the run went well considering the cold rain left conditions less than desirable and, after a 2-mile warm-up, I ran miles 3 - 8 with Doug at a sub-10 minute mile clip and the next three I was still around a 10 min/mile pace.

But those last 3. They weren't fun at all. I stood around at the last waterstop too long and the muscles started to tighten up. It was more mental fatigue than physical. I finished those last three at an 11 min/mile pace and, while bored, I wasn't hurting all that much.

Several good things came from the run on Saturday. First, I did not hurt at all on Saturday. No ankle pain. No knee pain. Second, my calves didn't cramp. This is the first time since forever that the calves made 16 miles cramp free. Finally, I had some great splits in the run. I am sure if Doug hadn't bailed at the 8 mile point, those splits would have continued, but that's how it goes.

Today, in preparation for the back-to-back marathons, I jumped on the treadmill (yes, I said treadmill, but more because I didn't feel like dealing with the wind and I wasn't running that far) for a quick 45 minute run at a 10:30 pace. I covered 4.3 miles. I wanted to get in 6, but lets be honest. There was no way I was going to spend an hour on a treadmill.

And while at the gym, I ran into Josh. We got Chipotle after the workout.

I probably should have put in that last 1.7 miles.

"Dr. Druker and you didn't call me!"

I drove to Lawrence, KS today to hear a scientific talk. Usually, I manage to get through about 10 slides before I start dozing off. Today's talk was titled "Imatinib as a Paradigm of Targeted Cancer Therapy" presented by Dr. Brian Druker. I was anticipating a lot of slides on gene translocation, protein binding, DNA sequences etc..

Yes, those slides were there.

But I got much more out of it.

Around 5:30 tonight, I got the following text message: "Dr. Druker and you didn't call me! That man is my hero. I would have been there in a heartbeat."

This message was from a friend, TNT running buddy and leukemia survivor, and by then, I knew exactly what she was talking about.

You see, Imatinib is the common name for the anti-leukemia drug Gleevec and Dr Druker is the person that saw that this drug made it to the market.

I was both fascinated and entertained by his words. He went into the history of CML. He touched briefly on the mechanisms of the drug (inhibition of tyrosine kinase, because I know you are dying to know).

But he then went on to talk about the issues of getting this drug to the market. It was actually shelved for three years at Novartis because they were concerned about three things. First, history has shown that kinase inhibitors never work. Second, they were sure it would be toxic. But third, because of the relatively small number of people in the country suffering from CML, they felt they would never make enough off of it to justify development.

Fortunately, Dr. Druker convinced them, in 1998, to let him run a limited clinical trial with this compound. The rest, as they say, is history. There was 98% success rate with Gleevec - meaning 98% of the patients in the early stages of CML treated with this drug survived. Results don't get much better.

But most of all, I realized today, more than ever, how the money we raise through Team in Training for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society are finding cures for these cancers. I really wish my friends with the LLS could have been there to hear his talk. I left the talk feeling quite comfortable knowing we are supporting people like Dr Druker.

And as for Novartis, none of their three concerns came to fruition. The drug worked, it wasn't toxic and worldwide sales of Gleevec are something like $2 billion annually. Not bad for a drug that was almost shelved 12 years ago.

Another day, another run

Today it was just a three mile run. I probably should have cross-trained, but I left the bike at home and there was no way I was spending today indoors.

And what a good three miles it was.

I ran the flatlands and wanted to push the pace a little. I was thinking 10:00, 9:45, 9:30 for the three miles would be a good target to shoot for, especially considering I haven't pushed the pace since last year.

Actual splits were 9:55, 9:41 and 8:58.


And in other news, Generalísimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

Sun + shorts + t-shirt + hills = 5.5 miles of fun

Wow, what a difference a couple days make. I have complained about treadmills and eliptical machines and weather and so on for the past month and a half. Sadly, I was gradually accepting the fact that I was never going to be able to run outside again. I was evolving into a gym rat. It was a horrific thought.

But no more!

Today, I went out to Shawnee Mission Park and tackled the hills. Hills make you strong. Hills build character. Hills are fun.

I finished the run at an 11:10/mile pace, not too bad for my first hill training of the season. But I wasn't out to run fast.

I was out to run.

I was outside. Period.

There are things about running outside that you don't get in the gym. You don't get the fresh air. You don't get the scenery, the wildlife. You don't get to say "hi" to the old married couple, the mother pushing the stroller or the 20-something running with her chocolate lab. Nope. In the gym, you get a couple dozen other drones staring aimlessly at a tv or tuned mindlessly into their i-pods. There is nothing fun about the gym.

But winter is over.

And I am outside again.

Woo hoo!!!

Finally, someone listens

As a Team in Training mentor, I am supposed to offer advice and assistance to a group of aspiring yong (and old) marathoners. Of course, I often wonder if my advice is in one ear, out the other.

But I now know the truth.

Like E.F. Hutton, when I talk, people listen.

I was sitting at Starbucks with most of my mentor group after the 10 mile run Saturday and one of them turns to me and says "Hey Kevin, I took your advice about Friday nights. Instead of staying out until midnight or so drinking with my friends before our Saturday morning runs, I get my drinking in at happy hour so I get to bed at a reasonable time - just like you told us to do."

Koach Karl heard that and rolled his eyes. Perfect.

10 miles. Up hill. In the snow.

And I'm not talking figuratively. That is what we ran this morning. Oh, and let's not forget the 20 mph wind in our face.

It was cold. But it builds character.

But the best part is that, this week, it is supposed to be above 32 every day.

The sun will be out.

The snow will melt.

My trails will clear off.

I will once again get to run outside.

Bike outside.

I will get a started on my summer tan.

I will sleep better.

Laugh more.

Not be so grouchy.

It's Spring Fever. It doesn't get much better!

Get Ready! It's coming!

The 12 days of St Patrick's Day starts in just 18 days!

WooHoo!

Have you started shopping yet?

Don't wait until the last minute!

It's the single best 12-to-15-day-long holiday of the year.

Green Beer.

Parades.

College Basketball.

Good Friends.

Good Times.

I can't wait!

It's a conspiracy

"Lord! It's a miracle! Man up and vanished like a fart in the wind. Nothin' left but some damn rocks on the window sill and that cupcake on the wall. Let's ask her. Maybe she knows. What say there, fuzzy-britches. Feel like talkin'? Oh, guess not. Why should she be any different? This is a conspiracy. That's what this is. It's one big damn conspiracy. And everyone's in on it. Including her!" - Wadren Norton

Because Courtney banned me from bitching about the weather anymore, I will focus my frustration on this situation at work. Beacusethis morning, I felt a lot like Warden Norton from Shawshank Redemption.

You see, they have been out of hot chocolate at work for over a week now. And that's fine. I would mix in a cup of hot chocolate here and there in the morning to mix up my normal routine of hot tea in the morning. I don't drink coffee. I don't lke it. Others do and that's fine. But it's just not for me.

And with the ample supply of tea (and normally hot chocolate) I am never without a hot beverage on the typical cold, February morning.

Until today.

I get into work at 6:10 and head to the cafe, and guess what, no tea bags.

Crap.

I check for hot chocolate.

Nope. Still out.

So, because I needed a caffeine fix, I broke down and pulled $.60 out of my pocket and head to the soda machine for a Dr. Pepper. I put the money in the machine, push the button.

Nothing.

No Dr Pepper.

It's a conspiracy.

Against me.

And I don't think that's very nice.

More snow please!

note the sarcasm.

It's just rain!

OK, I ran to Sam's after a quick workout at the gym to pick up 2 oz plastic Jell-o shot containers for our findraiser-pub crawl Saturday night, a rotisserie chicken for dinner, a pineapple, a canteloupe and some salsa.

Well, they didn't have any chicken which irritated me, but I got the 2000 shot containiners (no, we are not having 2000 Jell-o shots, but it is so much cheaper getting them in bulk), the fruit and salsa.

But this isn't about my shopping expreince. It is about that annoying lady that blocked the exit for 5 minutes while I was trying to leave.

Really, I don't know what takes so long. The exit routine hasn't changed at Sam's for years. You head towards the door and some overpaid associate looks at your receipt and pretends to make sure that everything in your cart is on your receipt before marking your receipt with a highlighter. It takes all of 2 seconds and you are on your way.

Unless you are the anoying Johnson County lady in front of me tonight.

As I approched the door, the overpaid associate had already drawn the highlighter streak on her receipt giving the annoying Johnson County lady permission to leave. But she didn't. She continued to fiddle with her purse, trying to stuff some "stuff" into it and then, after filing it full of "stuff" started digging for something - probably her keys. Why she didn't get the keys out before she stuffed "stuff" was in there defies logic.

So anyway, she finally finds whatever it is that she was looking for and proceeds forward. I then move my cart in position so the overpaid associate can pretend to assess my purchase.

Two seconds later I push my cart forward.

And run right into annoying Johnson County lady who was once again stopped in front of me

Evidently, she decided she needed her umbrella, which was under her purse.

I politely apologized for running into her and then muttered under my breath about how it really wasn't raining that hard and she wasn't going to melt because it wasn't raining that hard and she was wearing a coat and how I was getting annoyed by her being in my way.

But finally, she got the umbrella up and headed out into the parking lot.

Within 10 feet of the door, the wind inverted her umbrella renedering it useless.

I laughted all the way home.

Is that so wrong?

14, 16, who's counting

I wanted to run 16 miles Saturday morning. I intended to run 16 miles Saturday morning. I woke up at 4:15 am and met a couple other running mates at 5:30 am so I could run 16 miles Saturday morning.

Well, I only ran 14.

But I have an excuse. And I also learned a lesson in the process.

With a slight case of tendonitis in my right knee, I slipped on a knee band which helps keep the kneecap from sliding around as much. It helped. My right knee feels great.

But what I didn't count on was that this strap may have slightly inhibited blood flow to the muscles in my right lower leg (aka - calf). So it cramped (big surprise here) about 11 miles into the run. I am sure this was caused by the band b/c my left calf was fine. Lesson learned - don't wear the band so tight.

Oh well. In the end, I stopped at 14, not because I didn't have 16 in me, but because those last 2 miles would have irritated me.

I tacked on 4 more outside miles today. And I am hoping the snow stays away tomorrow so I can continue running outside - my trails have finally melted! But I doubt I will be that lucky!

I hate that I was right

Last September, I made a prediction. My gut instinct was right.

Today, I ran three miles today. It was the first time I ventured on the trails since Phoenix. It was a staggered run-walk because I thought, just maybe, the ice on the trails would have melted with the warm weather the other day.

But I was wrong.

The shaded portions of the trails still had ice on them from the ice storm 4 weeks ago so I had to walk them. It killed my momentum.

Even worse is that Josh and I are meeting at 5:30 am on Saturday morning to knock out a quick 16 and we are going to get stuck running on the sidewalks and streets b/c the stupid ice isn't going anywhere between now and then.

I don't mind running in the cold. I have the clothes to stay warm. And I love the looks I get as I pass people running in shorts in 20-degree weather.

I just hate it that I can't run my favorite routes because of the iced-over trails.

The good, the better, and go figure

Some times, you just have those days...

The good is that they just opened a 24-hour fitness on 135th and Mur-len, 2 miles from work. This means I can once again workout over lunch. This served two purposes. One, I get to work out when the gym isn't crowded and two, if I work out over lunch, I won't have time to go out to lunch so I HAVE to bring my lunch to work or go hungry. And we all know I'm not willing to go hungry.

The bettter is that today was best day we have had in KC since before I went to Phoenix. It was sunny and in the low 50s. From the time I got back from lunch with Courtney (which also falls under "the better"), all I could think about was that I was going to run my 4 1/2 - 5 miles outside at Shawnee Mission Park. Driving over, I had the sun roof open and was soaking up the sun.

And now for the go figure. I get to the park and begin the process of changing into my running clothes in my car (I have gotten really good at this over the years). I proceed to put my running shirt on backwards (I didn't notice this until after I got gas later in the evening) and then, I get my running shoes out of the gym bag.

Not only did I have two right shoes in my bag, they were two different brands (one mizuno and one adidas). Now, I have from time to time grabbed two differently aged mizunos because these are the only shoe I have run in for the past 18 months and I have at least 4 pairs of the same shoe floating around the house. That is something I could understand.

But nope, not today. This morning, I grabbed two totally different brands of shoes.

All I could do is shake my head and laugh.

It was just one of those days.

A tale of two treadmills

OK, it is well known that I don't like running on treadmills. No. I hate treadmills. There is nothing fun about running on treadmills. Running in place sucks.

But last Thursday, I didn't have much of a choice but to run on a treadmill b/c I didn't get out of work early enough to run outside. So, after a quick 1000 meter swim, I jumped on a treadmill for a quick 3 mile run.

Well, I wanted to run three miles.

The treadmill had a different opinion.

It died 15 seconds into the run.

So I switch treadmills. The new one didn't last much longer. I think it died after about a minute.

Instead of going for the treadmill trifecta, I called it a day.

And have been running outside since.

Why can't it warm up enough to, at least, clear the trails???