Gunsmoke

Lately I've been watching Gunsmoke each evening.  I know many wouldn't think of watching this.  First it's in Black and White.  Second, it's a western.  Well, you're right, it's B & W, but it's more than just a western.  In fact it's more of life drama's than about the old west.  For instance, tonight's episode, "Call me Dodie" is about a 17 year old lady who is the oldest child in an orphanage.  She is a mother figure to the rest of the children.  They look up to her because she makes the best of the cruel situation they're in.  But she escapes to Dodge City and people do their best to take advantage of her. She has the innocence of a child, but she can take care of herself.  Again, she has the ability to make the best of whatever situation she finds herself. There were no gun fights, Matt didn't have to shoot anyone or beat anyone up.  Miss Kitty wasn't kidnaped or have to break up a potential fight in the "Long Branch."  Don't get me wrong, this sometimes happens.  But the longevity of the series can be attributed to how deep the episodes were.  Other night time series have lasted longer, but Gunsmoke has more episodes.  It was filmed during a time when they didn't repeat as much. 
Many of the story lines probably give a false sense of "old west justice and sense of fair play."  But that's ok with me, I'm not really looking for a dead on realistic portrayal of the way it was.  One example is when Matt knew a man had set up another man to be killed.  He did this because he had fallen in love and promised the woman he wouldn't kill again.  So he set the man up so that Matt would have to kill him.  In the end his love interest also died.  While Matt knew the man had caused both their deaths, he let the man go because he knew his conscience would bother him for the rest of his life.
Gunsmoke, it's more than just a western.  Thank you James Arness.

Comrades Marathon

On Monday, May 23 I boarded a Delta Jet to begin my journey to Durban, South Africa.  My journey took me from Oklahoma City to Atlanta where I boarded a 777 for the 15 hour non-stop flight to Johannesburg.  From Johannesburg I boarded a South African Airways plane for the 1:15 flight to Durban. 
The long flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg included three full meals, none of which were good, and all the individual entertainment I wanted.  I went back and forth from watching movies or TV series to napping.  They served plenty of water, and every few hours I walked around the plane. The short flight to Durban also included a meal which surprised me.  You would be lucky to get peanuts on a flight that short in the U S.
I arrived in Durban at 11:00 P.M, there is a 7 hour time difference, which meant I had been travelling for 27 hours including layovers in Atlanta and Johannesburg.  I took a cab to my hotel and had no problems checking in.
The hotel was decent, I would compare it to a Holiday Inn, but was on a bad side street.  However, you only had to go about 1/4 block and you were on one of the main downtown streets, with access to anything you could want or need.
Since I arrived on Tuesday night, and the Expo didn't open until Thursday I spent Wednesday sight seeing.  Durban is not a big tourist town, but it is on the Indian ocean.  So there is a lot of activity along the beach, which was about a 5 minute run from the hotel.
Thursday I went to the expo, for those who know, it was about twice the size of the OKC Memorial Marathon Expo.  There wasn't a lot of activity the first day, and since I was an International Runner I had separate areas to pick up my bib and check my timing chip.  Everything went smoothly, and I bought a couple of logo items.  It turned out it was good I checked in the first day, I went to the expo Friday afternoon, and the lines were out the door.  It turns out someone had damaged the Internet connection, and they were having to do everything by hand.
Friday the International runners got a tour of the course by luxury bus.  We made several stops along the way including a stop at the Ethembeni school.   This school is right on the course, and the children lined the sides during the race with hands outstretched for a "high five."
From their website:
"Established in 1984, Ethembeni School serves 300 physically disabled and visually impaired children from all over Kwazulu-Natal, Kingdom of the Zulu (South Africa), educating them to reach their highest potential and to become independent and responsible citizens of the community.

The name Ethembeni means “Place of Hope” and the motto Phila Ufunde – Live and Learn. At Ethembeni 300 beautiful children live, learn, and give us joy and hope."  The group in the picture below sang and danced for us.  Many donations were left during this visit.  It was inspiring to see them on Sunday during the race.



Actually seeing the course was a bit intimidating to me.  All along I'd heard about the hills, but to see them, and to see they were one right after the other for most of the race was just disheartening.  Oh well, I'm here now.
While this race is called a marathon, it's actually an ultramarathon.  The official distance was 86.96km or 54 miles. The race is run between Durban and Pietermaritzburg (Up Year) and reverses direction each year.  This was an "up" year.
Race morning:  The reason I chose the hotel I stayed in was it was less than two blocks from the start.  Sunday morning, I got up, dressed and went down to a breakfast the hotel was providing.  The race started at 5:30 and it was cool but not cold.  I didn't wear anything extra and was a bit chilly at the start.  I was in my coral with about 20 minutes to go.  Chariots of Fire, the Cock Crows and then the gun.  We're off.  Over 16,000 started this race, but they say that it takes no more than 7 minutes for everyone to cross the start, I was across in less than 3 but we were moving slowly for a few blocks.  The time to start is important since, even though this is a chip timed race, you have 12 hours to finish from the gun.  After a bit I settled into a nice pace.  I have the usual 3 goals for this race, dream goal, under 10 hours, realistic goal, under 11 hours, fall back goal, finish before the 12 hour cutoff.  We reach the first of the five major hills, Cowes hill.  I run non-stop up this hill.  It takes a lot out of me but I'm still feeling good.  Next up. Field's hill, I also run all the way up this one.  More fatigue and now I know I won't be running all the way up another hill.  Along the way there are plenty of water/aide stops.  They have the water and Energade (similar to Gatorade) in "sachets."  These are plastic bags that you have to bite the end off and then squirt into your mouth or on your body.  These must make for a trash mess, but they do keep them cold until they give them out.  I ran/walked up the Botha's hill and finally walked the last two, Inchanga and Polly Shortts.  I knew I would finish but both my time goals were out the window.  I didn't have any energy to run very long so I was running maybe a minute and walking one or two.  As I got into Pietermaritzburg I did begin to run continuously again.  And when I entered the Cricket Stadium that was the finish I began to run and pass a lot of people.  I finished in 11:11.  Not as well as I wished, but just happy to finish and get my medal.
If I run this again, and I might next year for the "back to back" medal, I would insert a walk/run strategy for all the hills.  I think running the first two took more out of me than I would have lost with some walking from the beginning. 
I truly enjoyed the entire experience, and have left out a lot of details because this is very long already.  I recommend doing this race if you can.

2011 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon

Sunday, May 1st, 2011 I ran the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon.  This marathon is called "A Run to Remember."  And the race director makes it clear that this is not a race about running, but about remembering the 168 people who died in the Oklahoma City bombing of the Murrah building.
It was raining Sunday morning and because of the threat of lightening, the start was delayed for 30 minutes until 7 a.m.  It was cold and rainy at the start.  I was dressed ok for the cold, but I knew if it kept raining I'd be soaked and cold.  We start and I was back a bit so I had to fight my way through a lot of slower runners, and of course the required "walking 3 or 4 abreast" crowd.  I was running this marathon 13 days after running Boston.  I was doing it more as a training run for Comrades, but still felt that I could beat my Boston time. 
It did rain almost the whole time, and I was pretty much ok most of the time.  I hit the half at about 1:51 and was feeling fairly good.  I've only run the OKCMM once before, and it was not pretty.  In that run I hit the wall at mile 17 and finished just under 4:30.  As I approached Lake Hefner I started worrying that this would happen again.  But the first time was a hot day and this was good running weather.  As we ran the trails at the lake I could feel the wall coming, but I was still running well.  The picture above was taken on the lake trails around mile 16.  The lady in the picture is running her first marathon, and I happened to catch her just as a friend was taking her picture.  She had taken the early start, and with the delay got an extra 30 minutes.  She did finish by the way.
I passed mile 17 still feeling good, but also knowing I was going to slow down now.  For a brief time the sun came out, and many in the crowd were saying no more rain from here to the finish.  I thought they knew what they were talking about, I was wrong.  The sun went away and it started raining more and getting colder.  As I headed down Classen Blvd., my feet were numb from the cold and rain.  I didn't really feel bad, but my feet felt funny with each step.  I did walk, twice I think, but then I started to get my second wind.  While I wasn't running as fast as before, I was running.  I ran in from there and finished in 3:53.11.  Four minutes better than Boston, but still a 9 plus positive split.  Oh well, just a training run, right?
When I finished I started uncontrollable shivering.  Our running club had a tent, and I spent a few minutes there but decided I needed to get to my car, get home and get warm.
Since OKC my training has been going well and I'm gaining more confidence that I'll be able to finish Comrades.  Flight booked, hotel booked, guess I'm going.

115th Boston Marathon

This was my third time to run the Boston Marathon.  One of my running goals for the year was to PR at Boston.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I've been injured, and had stopped training to hopefully recover enough to run Boston and the Comrades Ultra Marathon in May.  I didn't stop running, I just stopped running fast.  My rehab seemed to be going well, and I even started hoping that I'd be able to run Boston fast. 
A large group of my running club members were going, and we had a lot of things planned together.  Most of us arrived either the Saturday before the Marathon (Monday, April 18) or before.  We went out to dinner Saturday, Monday after the Marathon, and Tuesday.  I enjoyed all of our outings together.

Many of us took the bus together to Hopkinton, the start of the marathon.  It was very chilly there, but the day was supposed to be very good for running.  Cool, and a light tailwind.  We started, and I was running with one of my running club friends.  Our pace is usually very similar, but lately she has been running faster than I have.  While we talked about our goals for Boston, we really didn't get specific.  She was running well, but faster than I thought I could hold, so after a couple of miles, I backed off the pace a bit.  I was holding around an 8:30 pace, and passed through the half in 1:51.51.  But I knew I wasn't going to be able to hold that, so I started slowing down even more.  By the Newton hills I knew I was going to walk some.  So every aid station I would grab both water and Gatorade and walk until I finished them.  While I wanted to run well, I at least needed to finish under 4 hours to get a decent seeding at Comrades.  By mile 21 I knew if I could just hold 10 minute miles I could get my sub four.  I finished in 3:57.05.  Not a bad time for me, but a positive split of 15 minutes.  Very poor pacing.  I'm not disappointed with the time, just my pacing. 
I will be running the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon this coming Sunday, May 1st, just 13 days after Boston.  This is more of a training run getting me ready for the 57 miles at Comrades, but with good weather and light winds I plan to try and beat the Boston time.
I haven't qualified for Boston 2012 and don't know if I will be able too.  But if I do, I'll probably continue to run there.

Fear

There are several reasons I haven't posted in awhile.  Been busy, very busy.  But the main reason is I'm injured.  Not can't run injured, but can't run the way I want to injured.  I have runner's knee.  I've actually had it for some time, but up until now, it didn't interfere with my running.  Yeah, that's sounds odd.  Runner's Knee that doesn't affect my running.  Well it didn't.  I could run as fast and hard as I wanted, and it wouldn't bother me until after the run.  But now, I can't run hard.  I've stopped all of my speed work that I was doing in preparation for Boston, and Comrades.  The fear part came in when I started speculating that this would be the end of running for me.  One pharmacist told me it was probably Arthritis and that the only thing I could do is mask the pain.  That's what I get for guessing and using the Internet instead of just going to someone who specializes in this type of injury.  I am doing something about it now, and I think I've made progress.  I'm seeing a Doctor about it, and he identified some problems right off the bat.  Anyway, I'm now fairly confident that I can do my runs, but also fairly sure that PR's are not going to happen.
I have run two races in the past month.  A 25K which I ran in just over two hours, and a half marathon that I ran in just under 1:50.  Neither of which is close to my best, but I was just happy to finish them.
Two weeks from today is the Boston Marathon.  And thirteen days after that I'm running the Oklahoma City Marathon.  My plan right now is to run OKC easy as a training run for the Comardes (Ultra) Marathon which is one month after OKC.  AARP was offering free entries for people over the age of 50 so I took them up on it. 
Well, for now I'm going to close and try to keep updated a little more often.

Mi Viaje a Peru - My Trip to Peru

I am currently in Cusco Peru with my brother, on the left in the picture above.  We left the U S A on Saturday, January 29, and arrived in Lima Peru the 30th.  We transferred to a domestic airline and arrived in Cusco that afternoon.  I plan to update this one posting as events transpire.  I have been sightseeing so much and getting in so late every evening, I haven't had time to update the blog.  My excursions will slow down, and I will try to catch up in the next few days.
Our first tour was to the Sacred Valley.   We took a bus from Cusco and stopped numerous places.  One was an animal rescue area when they were nursing pumas and condors.  Below is a picture of my brother next to one of the condors.

Next it was on to other parts of the Sacred Valley.  We travelled to Urubamba and Ollantaytambo.  Ollantaytambo is located at the foot of some Incan ruins.  At this point we were around 8,000 feet and had to climb up quite a few steps.  Each climb took a lot out of you, but we rested at various "terraces" that were cut into the land.  These were made for several reasons.  To resist erosion and to take advantage of the various "micro climates."  While the weather was never extreme, one minute we would be warm and within minutes it would be very cool.  Other times it would rain for 20 to 30 minute.  All of this was very interesting, but completely wore me out.  Because of the altitude, I don't plan to run in Cusco, but am definately getting in some major hill work.  Next up, Machu Picchu.

We had to be up at 4:00 a.m for the trip to Machu Picchu.  We were picked up by the tour van, taken to the PERURAIL Station to catch a bus to another city to take the train.  You could take the train straight from Cusco, but due to mudslides you had to go to another station.  We arrived by train to Aguas Calientes and had to take another bus up the mountain.  These were full size tour buses going up the mountain on a single lane dirt road, and it was raining.  When we met a bus coming down the mountain, one of us had to pull over.

When we go to Machu Picchu, we had to do some climbing.  Once we were into the actual Inca rooms and other structures, it was magical to me.  Our guide explained that this was not really a city, but a holy place, a place to come and teach and meditate.  And that when the Spanish came to conquer the Inca, that they hid this place.  It was not discovered until 1911 and had remained unseen for 500 years.  I won't go into all that I learned, but it had very special effect on me, such that I left our guide to be alone there for awhile.  I realize it was a combination of what Machu Picchu is and what I wanted it to be, but that was enough for me.

On to Lima.

We got to the airport for our trip to Lima in plenty of time.  I was really ready to leave, I loved Cusco and all the history around it, but I had been suffering from a minor dose of altitude sickness.  For me it was just a mild headache most of the time.  But my brother got very sick for about 24 hours.  He's not a runner, but he works out and is in very good shape.  We got to our gate, and as we boarded, they stopped us.  I thought what is this?  But they upgraded us to first class.  We were on TACA airlines, but they knew we were advanced members of American and United, so that's the only reason we could figure for the upgrade.  The plane was full also, so maybe they did it to make more room in coach.  I've already questioned this good luck more than I should have.  Needless to say  we enjoyed our trip to Lima.

We arrived in Lima and took a cab to our hotel, ALLPA.  More about Lima tomorrow.

This is a view from just above a shopping mall.  The hill in the background is really a peninsula and the ocean is behind it also.
Lima is a city of about 9 million people so it is somewhat typical of large cities.  Dirty, fast, and problems with traffic.  We are staying in Miraflores (see the flowers) which is a district of Lima.  It is very modern and progressive.  It is considered a prime spot to live and as I've seen while running, it has plenty of parks and tourist spots, restaurants, shopping centers, and other entertainment.  I have seen more people exercising here than any where else I've been during this trip.  Yesterday we ventured to the Lima downtown area.  It took about 15 minutes to get there, and cost 15 Soles (a little over 5.00).  Like most Latin American countries, and I'm sure in other parts of the world, you negotiate the price before you get in the cab.
Downtown was very historic.  Lots of churches, goverment buildings, and of course restaurants and shopping areas.  And by shopping, I mean both regular shops and natives hawking their (mostly) hand made wares.  I'm a bit sick of being hustled every where I go, but I have to give it to them, most are hustling and not begging.  We've eaten both at Peruvian restaurants, and restaurants that cater to tourists.  I had my share of experimenting in Cusco.  So now I've mostly gone with foods that I'm familar with, but even at that, it's always a bit different.



Past and Future Goals

A Very Happy New Year to you all.  I was in church when the New Year came, so I guess that's a good start.
I am fascinated with time.  I love time machine stories and movies, and I love to speculate about time.  The fact that time and light speed are directly related is considered the greatest equation to this day. But most of time is arbitrary.  One second, minute, hour, day, week, month, and finally, for this post, year.  Happy New Year.  But only one second separates one year from the next.  And if we lived in the country, without any media and paying no attention to our watch, we would not know the difference.
Ok, what does that have to do with past and future goals?  Nothing.  It's just that if we didn't have all these artificial milestones, we'd never know time existed.

My goals for 2010 were:
1. Qualify for Boston at Boston (3:45:59 or faster)
2. Run 100 miles again.
3. Run a sub 20 minute 5k.
4. P R in the Marathon.

Goals 1 and 4 were accomplished at the same time at the Boston Marathon.
Goal 2 was accomplished by finishing the Mother Road 100.
Goal 3 was not accomplished, nor did I train to do so.  With my training for the Marathon and then the 100 miler, I never spent time trying to improve my 5k times.

I will carry the sub 20 goal over again, but I will call it a secondary goal.  One thing that wasn't a stated goal, but that I had in my mind for the future was also accomplished in 2010, and that was to win a race outright and not just my age group.  I did that at the 12 hour run at 24 the Hard Way.

My race calendar is already pretty full for 2011.  I'm entered in the Boston Marathon again.  I've agreed to crew and pace a runner at the Leadville 100 miler, and the picture above represents my major goal race of 2011, the Comrades Marathon (Distance: 89km – 56 miles) in South Africa.  Comrades is the oldest, largest, and most famous Ultra Marathon in the world.  The races reverses direction each year, and 2011 is an "up year."  Meaning I will be running from right to left on the profile map.

My goals for 2011 are as follows:

1. Finish the Boston Marathon in under 3:40
2. Finish the Comrades Marathon in under 11 hours (Race has a 12 hour cut-off)
3. Help my friend to finish the Leadville 100
Soft Goal of running a sub 20 5k.