Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Days 81 and 82 of 123

Monday's Workout:
-8 miles easy

I did the first six miles outside. My legs were really tired and it was pretty warm to boot. I went inside Dixon, under a Big Ass Fan, to do the last two miles. The cooler air kept me upright for two more miles...barely. That was not a fun workout.

Tuesday's Workout:
-1 mile warmup
-3 x 2 mile at 7:40 pace
-3 x .5 mile at 9:40 pace, in between as recovery
-.5 mile cooldown

For a total of nine miles. I somehow did this workout on three different treadmills. I did my warmup and first segment on a treadmill by the basketball courts at Dixon. I jumped off, for what was literally less than 10 seconds, to get a drink from the fountain, and some girl jumped on while my back was turned! Well hell.

So I headed to a different treadmill in the main cardio room. I ran about a mile of my second 2 mile repeat and the treadmill was rocking and rolling so bad I could barely keep my balance! They must have had it on an uneven piece of floor or they had the feet at different heights. Whatever.

So I headed to my third treadmill! Got a winner finally and finished up my second repeat and ran the third. I actually had a guy get on the treadmill next to me and start running at a 6:40 pace. Balls. It was sort of inspiring though - felt like we were racing, even though he was running about a minute faster than me. You don't get a lot of really fast people on the treadmills at Dixon, so it's fun when you do.

Tough workout. Ready for my day off tomorrow.

Go buy the book:

Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Day 32 and 33 of 123

Hey, it's Wednesday - the official Hanson's rest day...woot!

So I'll catch up on the reports of the last two days of the schedule.

Monday was pretty basic, although my legs were still shot from the long run on Sunday - 6 miles easy. I ran from Dixon Rec on campus around town but ended back a little early, at about 4.5 miles. So I proceeded to do the remaining 1.5 miles on the strange .35 mile square track at Student Legacy Park.



Then Tuesday was speed work day. Here's the stats:

-1 mile warmup
-4 x .75m at 7:10 pace
-4 x .25m at 9:50 pace, recovery in between
-1 mile cool down

So right at 6.00 miles total. Six very tough miles at that.

Day off today, then more tempo work on Thursday. See you then.

Go buy the book:

Five Years...Ten Posts

It's hard to believe, but we're coming up on the five year anniversary of The Two R's.

I know, right? Five years of running, writing and writing about running.

And what better way to celebrate than to reprint some of my favorite posts of the last five years! It only makes sense to do my top five posts for the five year anniversary...that's why we're going to do a top ten! Since when have we worried about making sense? Besides, I can't narrow it down to five.

So, let's count down to October 20th - the 5th Anniversary of The Two R's!

First up: a little tale of woe from August 12th, 2009. A visit to Dixon Rec Center at OSU. One of my favorite places in the world, but also a place where I've had a lot of strangely interesting adventures. Ah Dixon...

AS COOL AS ICE...

You know, it's really not that easy to be cool when you're working out with a bunch of college kids that are in the best shape of their lives without even trying. There's usually more posing going on at Dixon than exercising, but I'm always in there, sweating, panting, gasping for air while everyone around me flexes and tries to find a date for Friday night. But hey, I still try to be cool...

So I'm at Dixon last night, just got changed into my running stuff in the locker room and I'm walking out to hit the treadmill. They've got a nice full-length mirror just before you leave the locker room so you can make sure you've got your pants on. As I go by, I notice I've got a Bounce sheet from the dryer hanging out the leg hole on the back of my right leg. Jeez, how embarrassing - glad I caught that one before I made it out.

So I go do a nice little five miler on the treadmill, sneer at the college kids putting in their mini workout/poses. That's right, you want to see a man working out? Right here. Check it out, Holmes. You gotta keep these kids in their place.

So I finish up and strut out to the lobby. The basketball team is hanging out - Hey guys, how's it going? Man, I'm feeling good. I'm showin' these kids what an old man can do.

I head back into the locker room to shower up and glance in the mirror on my way through. I'm heading the opposite direction now, so the mirror is on the other side of me. Hey look! I've got a Bounce sheet stuck hanging out of my shorts on that side too! Ya know, if you just glance at it quickly, it sort of looks like toilet paper sticking out of my shorts. Nice.

Yep, I'm cool all right. Maybe I'll just start working out at home.

Save this treadmill for me!

Just minding my own business, going for a little run on the treadmill...or so I thought.

So I head over to Dixon Tuesday night after work. Needed to do some speedwork: a mile warmup, four 1-mile segments at Half race pace, six 200m segments at 10k pace moving to 5k pace, and a mile cool down. I have a hard time keeping pace for that many segments out on the roads. Plus the hay fever thing. So...Yo Treadmill!

Since finals were last week at OSU, the crowds are pretty light. Which I lurv. So I walk into the main cardio room and there are only about two people on the treadmills. Cool.

I step up to my favorite machine and hop on.

The first mile is always tough. The 45 year old body just doesn't warm up as fast as it used to. I feel like Phoebe from Friends only not as cute and I can't play guitar.


But I get through it and start the faster stuff. Begin a mile repeat at just under 8:00.

I'm only about a quarter-mile in when a girl...young woman...college-age female student...(give me a break, I'm old), hops on the treadmill next to me.

Quick glance. Cute enough. Almost fall off the treadmill. Act cool. All good.

I don't really try to make much eye contact when I'm on the treadmills at Dixon. Mainly because they have big stickers on them that say "Keep workout to 30 minutes." Which is a joke. Sometimes I'm on there for 60 minutes, hardly ever longer than 90 minutes, but it has happened. So I don't even look around. Ignore the plebeians giving you and your treadmill longing looks and soon they'll wander over to the stationary bikes. That's always been my theory.

So cute or not, I don't really look at her, cause I'm busy using the hell out of this treadmill for the next hour and a half, so everyone else can just beat it.

But she's only on there for about five minutes before she's waving her hand in front of my face. What the hell?

"WHAT?" I scream.

She winces and everyone else in the room turns to stare at me. Whoops. Still have the iPod going full volume in my ears. I take off the headphones.

"What?" I say, turned down to about six.

"Can you watch my stuff for me while I run to the bathroom?" she says.

"You've got to be freaking kidding me?" I say in my own head where I always say lots of cool stuff.

"What? Really?" I say out loud in the real world where I never say anything at all to cute college age young female type people.

"Yeah," she says. "I'll just be a second."

And she takes off.

I mean, who does that? I don't want to watch her stuff. I'm trying to do speedwork here. This isn't easy for an old man!

Oh, whatever! So I glance over there. She left her stinking iPhone or iPod Touch or freaking huge old school iPod with a big old screen right there on the treadmill. Who does that? Is she afraid she'll get cooties on it in the bathroom? So now I'm responsible for her damn iPhone?



I'll show her cooties. I'm going to lick the damn thing.

So I tell myself to forget about her stinking iPhone and concentrate on my speedwork. I look down at the screen on my treadmill and see that I'm at 1.18 miles. Sweet humpin' Moses. I've run almost a quarter mile past my mark. I'm totally off my game here.

I belatedly slow my treadmill down for my recovery between mile repeat one and two to almost a walk. I glance around and notice that every treadmill is taken now except for the one beside me. The one I'm watching. The one I'm saving. For the girl I don't know. And her iPhone.

Un.

Believable.

So I'm just about read to crank up the treadmill for the second mile repeat. About a 7:50 pace for this one. The treadmill has a touchy button - you've really got to lean on it for about 30 seconds to get it to start going faster. I'm leaning on the damn button with everything I've got when an Asian guy in bright red nylon Adidas sweat pants and a huge fleece hoody gets up on the girl's treadmill.

First, it's about 80 degrees in Dixon during the summer. There's no way this guy is going to actually run dressed like that. Second, about 90% of the students at OSU during the summer are International Students because, well, who can afford to fly around the world every couple months? And third, dammit!

"HEY, SOMEBODY'S USING THAT!" I scream.

He looks at me like it was only a matter of time until some American freaked out on him. He's searching me with his eyes. Probably looking for a handgun. I mean, America, right?

I take my headphones off and say in a normal voice, "I think someone's on there." Which is clearly a lie. "She'll be right back." Which I hope to God is true.

"Are you almost done?" he says.

"No. I just got on," I lie. "I got 30 minutes left."

He frowns at me and walks over to the stationary bikes. That's right, buddy. Just keep on walking. Nothing to see here.

I try to get back into a rhythm, but I've only got into the mile for about two minutes when another guy walks up to the treadmill and points at it. Looks at me. Points at himself. Then at the treadmill again.

I hate people.

Yeah, I get it buddy. You want to get on the treadmill. Tough luck for you. He's some older schlub like me. Probably on staff. No faculty person is dumb enough to be on campus this time of year - they're all on vacation.

"Someone's using it," I say. No other explanation. I've just about had enough of the whole "saving seats" deal here. I mean, it's not easy for me to run under 8:00 pace on a treadmill in the first place. It's all I can do to not shoot off the back. I don't need to hold a freaking conversation with every person that walks in!

"Where is she?" he says.

"Bathroom," I shrug.

He shakes his head at me like he's picturing a bus running me under the tires.

"You almost done?" he says.

"Just got on," I say. "30 minutes."

I haven't talked this much to the general public at large in months. I'm going to have to take a sick day tomorrow.

The guy sneers at me and walks away. Like I care, buddy. I'm getting all riled up like it's my fiancee that I'm saving the treadmill for. I try to focus my anger in the correct direction.

I'm going to wait 60 more seconds, then I'm taking her iPhone and stepping on the damn thing.

How long does it take to go to the bathroom anyway? Does she have some kind of issue? It's been like 10 minutes, I swear. Maybe 15.

People on the stationary bikes that are trolling the treadmills keep turning around and staring at me. I pretend I'm watching the NCAA baseball world series game on the TV on the wall. Good Lord, I could absolutely not care less about anything in the entire world than Florida State and UCLA playing baseball.

The Seminole pitcher has a damn fine moustache however.

The girl comes strolling back down the hall outside the cardio room. She's talking to another girl. She's actually standing outside in the hall now, chatting. I look down at my treadmill screen and see I've gone past a mile. Again.

I'm this close to losing it. If she ever wraps up her conversation and comes back in here, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind. Her parents clearly did not do their jobs on the responsibility advising side. I'm going to step up to the plate.

She finally giggles her way back to the treadmill and steps on. She checks her phone for a minute before she even starts the treadmill back up.

That's it. Bull. Horns.

She turns toward me. "Thanks so much. I really appreciate your help." She smiles. She is pretty cute.

"Sure," I say. "No problem."

I'm never working out at Dixon again.

Ever.

Boston Marathon 2012 Heat Test

I realize the rest of the country has been suffering from a heat wave for weeks now, but this weekend was truly the first time this year that Corvallis has had hot weather.

Unfortunately, I needed to do a long run today. After last week's Corvallis Half Marathon, I had taken five days off to rest my legs and my ouchy oblique muscle. But I couldn't stall any longer, so I did a short six-miler in the heat yesterday and had a 20-miler scheduled for today.

As soon as I woke up this morning, I knew I had to get cracking - at 7:00am, the sun was already blazing into our bedroom window. I jumped into my shoes, had a quick Clif Bar and got going just after 8:00 to try to beat the heat, but...

As an aside, while understanding that the Boston Marathon folks had it tough last week in the heat, I must admit I sort of felt, "just suck it up and run already." This is called "foreshadowing."

So I took off and felt pretty good for the first seven or eight miles. It was still fairly cool and the sun wasn't high enough in the sky to worry about - still lots of shade. Still, I had gone through my water bottle and had to fill it up again at Dixon on the OSU Campus during mile eleven.

Then, the second half of the run...

As you can see by my pace times, it got hot. There was no shade anywhere. All the uphill sections were in the second half. And I ran out of water completely around mile 17. I was starting to feel a little queasy right around then - probably not a surprise since I was out of water. I was close to home though, so I figured I'd just keep struggling toward home. Stopped at a stop light during mile 18, I was feeling really light-headed. Oh boy...

As you can see by my pace, I had started walking, a lot, by then, but I was still feeling terrible. I limped home, grabbed three glasses of ice water and sat on the floor of the living room for about 20 minutes. I felt awful. Then I went to take a shower and had to sit on the side of the tub for a minute to clear my head. It was almost an hour later before I started to feel almost back to normal. Oof.

Which is all a long way to say, "Yeah, it's hard to run in the heat, and I have a lot of respect for all those people that made it through the heat in Boston last week. Congratulations on a great run."

Fall: When the Races Fly South...

Well, we're really getting into the new season now. Every week, there are fewer and fewer races on the schedule. Still enough to choose from, but pretty soon, pickings will be slim. But hey, it's the off-season. Time to get into the off-season training mode. Hit the pool. Reacquaint yourself with the treadmill. Find one of those new stationary bikes at Dixon that has a cable TV built right into the bike (but no rack for holding a book or magazine - there's just something wrong with that scenario).

Embrace the leaves, wind and rain. While you can...Winter will be here sooner than you think.

Let's race!

RACES FOR WEEK OF OCTOBER 17th TO OCTOBER 23rd

October 21st and 22nd / Fall Sprint Triathlon / Boise, ID (Swim on Friday, Bike and Run on Saturday...Really!)

October 22nd / Columbia River Power Marathon, Half Marathon and 8k / Umatilla, OR

October 22nd / Uberthon PIR Invitational Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Portland, OR

October 22nd / Stumptown Cross Series 8k and 6k / Portland, OR

October 22nd / Regatta Run 5k / Tualatin, OR

October 22nd / Lake Padden Classic Trail Half Marathon / Bellingham, WA

October 22nd / Black Cat 5m / Tacoma, WA

October 22nd / Howl and Scream Scram 10k and 5k / Richland, WA

October 22nd / Beaver Classic Cross Country 8k and 6k / Corvallis, OR

October 23rd / Race for the Cure 5k / Eugene, OR

October 23rd / Dawg Dash 10k and 5k / Seattle, WA

October 23rd / Ft. Steilacoom Trail 50k, Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Lakewood, WA

October 23rd / Sellwood 5k / Portland, OR

October 23rd / Run Like Hell Portland Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Portland, OR

October 23rd / Columbia Gorge Marathon and Half Marathon / Hood River, OR


Thanks to Alderroots for the photo.

Fall Festival 10k Race Review!

So we roll into the first official Fall run, the appropriately named Fall Festival 10k and 5k, and what's there to greet us? Yeah, wind and rain. It's Fall, baby!

Of course, the first problem with early fall runs is what to wear. You can check the skies heading out the door, but that doesn't mean you'll get that weather during the actual race. And indeed, during the 10k, we had sun, overcast, rain, wind, then finally overcast again.

I played it somewhat conservatively and just wore a light, long-sleeve tech tee and my sunglasses. Good enough!

I believe this is the first time I've run the Fall Festival 10k since I've been in Corvallis and right away I realized that the start times were not well-designed. The 5k runners go first, at 9:10, then the 10k runners go five minutes later, at 9:15. Hmmmm...five minutes is not enough of a gap to get slow runners, and walkers, out of the way. I'm not sure why they don't make it 10 or 15 minutes in between the two starts to at least get the bulk of the 5k runners out of the way, but...oh well.

So off we went at 9:15 and immediately crossed the never-ending 9th street construction. Hey, nothing like a little gravel and dirt road to start off - man, they've been working on that street for months! Let's go!

We quickly moved onto the OSU campus and then across and onto the Campus Way bike path that goes out to the covered bridge. It was about there that the wind really picked up. And the rain. It was ugly for about two minutes and I was struggling against the wind. I thought for a second that my PR try could be in trouble if it didn't let up.

But then, as it's wont to do in the Pac NW in the Fall, the rain went away, we turned around at 53rd to get the wind at our backs and I stopped complaining!

The third mile split was the only one that worried me - my only split over 8:00 on the day - but I hit the mile 4 marker back under my pace, so I relaxed a bit as we came back onto campus. A nice downhill section on 30th all the way down to Reser Stadium and then around and back up the hill in front of Dixon. Crested that little hill and then I knew we were flat or downhill for about the last half mile.

Right about then, some Five Fingers-wearing guy asked me three times over a quarter mile how much farther we had to go - he must have seen the awesome Garmin 110 on my wrist - after the third time, I almost told him to go buy a stinking Garmin for himself, but hey, it's all good. I just don't have a lot of oxygen left for talking when I'm trying to set a PR here!

I knew about there that I was going to have a PR, it was just a matter of how much I could beat it by. I was shooting to beat 50:41 and I brought it in at 48:57, so I'm very pleased with that. Slowly but surely, I'm getting some speed back. Maybe I can go after that old 5k PR next year after all.

But I didn't have nearly as much speed as the first female finisher, one Helen Rarick from Beaverton, who ran an absolutely smoking 35:43, for a 5:45 pace! That was good for fourth overall! Wow, nice run, Helen. Check all the results here.

Here's a view of the Fall Festival Run shirt. Hey, it's not art by the famous Fall Festival poster artist Jen Lommers, but it's not bad.


So that's two PR's in two weeks. Do I have another PR in me for 2011? You bet your sweet bippy! Because in a couple weeks, I have the McDonald Forest 15k, and I far as I know, I've never run a 15k in my life. PR, baby!

See you next week at the Beavers Building Haiti 5k.

Slow Motion Brick Workout

Under the heading of "Don't Worry About How You Do It, Just Do It," I've realized that I'm actually putting in full triathlon brick workouts about every other day...I'm just doing it very slowly.

So, on days when it's not pouring rain, which is horribly rare so far this year, I've been trying to bike to work. Let's call that part one of the Brick Workout. Sort of short, only about 3 miles, but we'll tack on another later.

Then, during my lunch hour, I hit the pool at Dixon. I usually put in 1600 yards. Olympic Tri Distance? Close enough.

After work, back to Dixon and on the treadmill. Especially if the pollen count is scary high, which it often is during the summer. Usually do something between 5-6 miles.

Finally, bike back home, which is another three miles.

So, the full day, spread out, Brick Workout adds up like this:

Swim: 1600 Yards
Bike: 6.0 Miles
Run: 5.0 Miles

That's a decent sprint tri right there!

And taking a couple of hours between each leg of the workout to actually, you know, work, means my old, decrepit body actually can survive doing it day after day.

Every workout's a good workout!

Beaver Freezer Discriminates Against Hot Athletes!

Well, no, obviously not me!

But I don't get to see any of the hot athletes in their swim wear! Well, not the ones I want to see anyway...

OK, let me explain. No, there's too much. Let me sum up...

The Beaver Freezer Triathlon is too big to put all the athletes in the same pool for the swim leg. So they use two different pools that are about 100 yards apart on the OSU campus: Dixon and Langton. And here's the crazy part: they put all the women in the Dixon pool and all the men in the Langton pool! What?!? I don't want to swim with a bunch of guys. Guys are boring. Guys are hairy. Guys are disgusting. Girls, on the other hand, are not boring. What's wrong with mixing it by swim times?

I'm not happy about this.

Not happy at all.

I DEMAND EQUAL RIGHTS FOR TRIATHLETES!

(so I don't have to look at a bunch of guys in Speedos)
[photos included as evidence for both genders - do I need to say more?]

Cross Training is My Friend

Made it to around seven 'o clock last night and still hadn't done my long run, so I decided to visit Dixon and do a long, indoor Tri Workout instead. So, 600 yards of swimming, 16 miles of biking, and 6 miles of running later, I had in my long workout of the week.

Good decision on my part. I'm smart. Just take my word for it - I wouldn't lie to you.

Today my legs feel WAY better than they usually do after my long Saturday run. A nice change-up. If you've got an old, tired body like me, I would suggest a cross-training workout anytime to give your aching muscles a rest.

Let's race! (Two! Yes, TWO adventure/obstacle course 5k races on the schedule this week!)

RACES FOR WEEK OF FEBRUARY 28th TO MARCH 6th

March 5th / Pineapple Classic 5k / Portland, OR

March 5th / S & M Challenge 5k / Castle Rock, WA

March 5th / Mountain Marathon and Half Marathon / Olympia, WA

March 5th / Snake River Canyon Half Marathon / Pullman, WA

March 5th / Honeywagon Half Marathon and 4 mile runs / Everson, WA

March 5th / Champoeg Park 30k and 10k / Champoeg Park, OR

March 5th / Methow Valley Winter Triathlon / Winthrop, WA

March 5th / Centennial 37 mile trail run / Stateline, ID

March 6th / Lord Hill 50k, 20 mile, 10 mile and 5 mile trail runs / Snohomish, WA

March 6th / Rowland Rd. Run 10k and 5k / Carlton, OR

March 6th / Lincoln City Half Marathon and 10k / Lincoln City, OR

Beaver Freezer Sold Out!

Well, I don't know if it was as fast as last year, but it was definitely within three hours.

Hope you got in.

See you at Dixon!

Beaver Freezer Tri Registration - Last Warning!

I've done my part. If you don't get in now, you're not even trying.

Head over here at exactly 8:00 am on Feb 1st.

Then I'll see you in the pool at Dixon.

Haile Gebselassie Runs 4:00 Pace on Treadmill

Hey, look at Haile!

He's hitting 4:00 pace on a treadmill. I know, it's like I'm looking into a mirror, right?

I don't think the treadmills at Dixon can even go at a 4:00 pace. They'd probably start kicking out smoke like Wile E. Coyote's Rocket Running Shoes at about 6:00 per mile.

Ah well, that's what I would look like.

Stinkin' cheap Dixon treadmills...

Schmooove Your Butt Off the Center Line!

So is there anything more evil than the pool lane hog?

Yeah, I know you can see me. I'm right here. Standing at the end of the lane. Staring at you.

Staring at you swimming down the middle of the lane. Trying to do your flip turns as fast as you can so you can pretend you don't see me standing here.

For the love of cheese! Is it that bad to share a lane?!? I'm not asking you to circle-swim...there are only two of us! Just freaking move over and stay on your side of the lane! I mean, in two years of swimming at Dixon, I've had to circle-swim maybe twice, so it's not like anyone here is sick and tired of fighting for lane space.

Next time...cannonball...right on your head.

Power-Up Triathlon...SUNDAY!

No joke.

Right after I post about the first triathlon of the year over here, OSU gives me a race-schedule wedgie in the form of the Power-Up Challenge Indoor Triathlon.

Urk!

That hurts. And what's more...you've got to sign up by tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. That's Thursday for those of you without calendars. So head on over to Dixon and sign up for this baby. Hey, I know you're not ready for a Tri, but who is? Look at it as a nice little 60 minute brick workout.

It's dry...ok, it's dry...IT'S DRY!

A truly great invention to appear in the last decade or so is the swimsuit dryer. I know, creative name, right? But you know what I'm talking about - the little square machine. You lift the lid and throw your suit in the basket, it shakes and rattles and rolls and ten seconds or so later, your suit is relatively dry. All good, right?

You'd think. But you'd be wrong.

I actually go swimming tonight. I've got a long run tomorrow, so I figure I'll take a nice, easy swim and rest my legs for the run tomorrow. I finish, go shower up, and head to the "spinner." Only one guy in front of me. No problem, he's already spinning his suit, I'll be up in seconds.

Nope. Still spinning.

And spinning.

And spinning.

No joke. You know how you have to hold down the lid to make it work? This guy was practically taking a nap laying on the thing!

About two minutes later, his suit was probably on fire from the friction, he finally stops the spinner and pulls out his suit.

Thank the lord.

And then he shoves another suit from his other hand into the machine and starts all over again.

Oh for the love of Pete!

Nothing like a nice relaxing swim...

Ahhhh! Old guy on the loose!

Treadmills were all full up at Dixon last night. This girl (woman? college...age...student?), this girl stood in front of the treadmills and stared at me like she was going to step on my face and take my treadmill. Like what's the old man doing on our treadmill?! I seriously thought she was going to hurt me for a minute there. Luckily, the guy running beside me with the b.o. and cologne cocktail got off and the rumble was averted. Double bonus.

Let's run.

RACES FOR WEEK OF FEBRUARY 1st TO FEBRUARY 7th

February 6th / Friendship Run 5k / Olympia, WA

February 6th / Frosty Four Miler / Yakima, WA

February 7th / Zena Road Runs 15k, 6 mile, 3 mile / Salem, OR

February 7th / Truffle Shuffle 4 miler / Eugene, OR

February 7th / Geoduck Gallop Half Marathon and 10k / Olympia, WA

The Pain Shower!

No, it's not the sequel to The Hurt Locker...it's literally a shower of...pain.

See, it's like this: after a nice long run on the treadmills at Dixon (hey, it's raining - I'm not going to run outside!), I head down to the men's showers. "Men's", so the women don't scream and/or hurt me, and "showers" so I don't smell as bad as the rest of the people on the bus home...if that's even possible. So, stay with me here, heading into the showers, turn left, then from the three showers on the right, choose the one in the middle.

Yep, that's the Pain Shower.

The water comes out of that thing like it's the elephant showerhead from Seinfeld. It's not the sharp little pinpricks, it's like hundreds of wet little fists of fury! It hurts your head when you duck under the pounding stream of water. And don't even think about letting that high pressure water smack against your...tenders. I can tell you from experience that holding that...area, and screaming like a little girl, doesn't exactly make friends in the locker room. So you sort of have to hold one hand up in the spray to deflect the deadly stream, while trying to get the backspray to rinse off your shampoo. It's tough.

So why, you ask, does the R's actually use that shower. Well, first and foremost, as a guy, I have to follow the Rule of the Public Showers:

You may use any shower, as long as:
a) you never choose a shower right next to someone else if there are any other open showers that have a space between users, and
b) stare at the tile...even if you're really wondering why the guy next to you would actually have a snake tattoo on...look at the tile!

So sometimes you just get stuck with the Pain Shower.

Be safe out there.


Thanks to the Chase Corporate Challenge for the Firetruck Shower photo.

1500 and counting!

Yes, that's miles, not meters.

Did a little 4 miler yesterday on the treadmill at Dixon and it pushed me over 1500 miles on the Nike+. Yowza!

That's a lot of running. Yet, I'm going to predict right here and now, the next 1500 miles will come faster than the last.

I'm back!...like maybe 73% back!

OK, I'm back from the sickness, but I'm not 100%. Not even close.

I headed to Dixon for a quick run after work today because even though my cold is lingering, and I felt pretty meh, I hadn't run since Saturday and I've got to get two or three or four runs in this week just to get some rhythm back before I head to the Sacramento Cowtown Half-Marathon next Sunday.

So I went to Dixon. It's getting crowded even though classes don't start until Monday (the dreaded "free" week at Dixon...ugh).

Did I feel good? No.

Did I run good? No.

Will I be tearing up the course in Sacramento?

Dude! Quit hounding me with all these questions. I'm still sniffling over here!

I hate colds...


Oh! The photos. Yeah, those are all from Google Images when you type in "Scott Running"...strangely enough, none are of me, you know...running.