If my calculations are correct...
Over the course of the last two years and four months, I've changed
considerably both mentally and physically. I lost 108lbs and then put on
6 while marathon training. This 6lbs was purely lean mass (muscle, bone
density) and I'm now at about 6% body fat.
Running is known to increase bone density, and the various forms of
exercise I use in my training increased my muscle mass as well
throughout this transformation. I've been curious to know just how much
fat I lost.
If my calculations are correct, throughout this process I lost 123.96
pounds of fat and gained 21.96 pounds of bone and muscle resulting in my
current net loss of 102lbs.
Why is this filed under the Running section? Because running was what
enabled this transformation to happen.
[/running]
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Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta..
After I finished my run tonight, still in my soaked running gear, I
walked directly to local grocery store for chocolate syrup and had the
following conversation with the woman at the check out counter.
her: Over ice cream or chocolate milk.
me: Chocolate milk.
her: Nothing hits the spot like a cold glass of chocolate milk.
me: Especially after a long run.
her: How far did you run tonight?
me: Half marathon. My third in three days.
her: God bless you. God bless you.
Then, as I walked away she said, "Nice legs."
"Thanks. I've worked hard for those."
[/running]
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If all goes according to plan...
This time tomorrow, my car should be on its way to Texas.
[/dmc]
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2010 New Jersey Marathon
I was registered for today's NJ Marathon in Long Branch. I lost a few
weeks in training due to some IT-band issues, and earlier this week was
stricken with a bout of bronchitis.
I got down there today, and 30 minutes before the race start I did a
quick quarter mile and decided I wasn't over the bronchitis enough to
run a marathon today. It was difficult for me to be there as the race
started, watching my chance at reaching my goals disappear. As the
morning went on and clouds disappeared and the temperature rose, my
thoughts changed.
Not running today was probably the best and hardest decision I've made
in a while. Often the right choices in life are not the easiest to
choose, no matter the circumstances.
[/running]
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Powergrabs
Yay Socialism!
That was sarcasm. Socialism is bad news. It leads to the government
controlling every aspect of your lives. Take for example this
story or a bit closer to home, this story.
[/politics]
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2010 NYC Half Marathon
Yesterday was my best half marathon yet. As I stood in the corral
waiting for the race to start, the chill in the air was a welcome change
from the heat and humidity of last year's race. The decision to move the
race from August to March was a good one. The course is definitely a fun
one. It starts with an 8 mile loop around Central Park before exiting
onto 7th Avenue. From there, the route goes to 42nd street, through
Times Square, and out to the West Side Highway where the course finishes
near Battery Park.
I started out with the goal of beating my time from last year. As long
as I did better than 1:51:49, I'd be happy. I was hoping I'd finish
within a minute or two of the half marathon PR I set back in January,
but I wasn't counting on it.
As I ran I looked at the split times, and roughly gauged how I was
doing, trying to stay on target for something close to 1:37 finish, but
primarily making sure I was doing better than last year's 1:51. At mile
8, just before exiting Central Park to head to Times Square, the clock
time was about 59 minutes. I realized that the winner of the race was
about to finish, if he hadn't already, and I hadn't even made it out of
the park.
This year's splits were much better than last year's.
| split | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|
| 5K | 0:23:42 | 0:23:22 |
| 10K | 0:47:32 | 0:46:09 |
| 15K | 1:14:45 | 1:07:59 |
| 20K | 1:46:09 | 1:29:28 |
| final | 1:51:49 | 1:33:26 |
This is the first time I've run negative splits. What really amazes me
is that not only was the second half faster, but every 5K split was
faster than the previous. There was an excitement exiting the park.
There was an amazing rush turning the corner onto 42nd street. The
crowds were great, cheering every runner as we passed by.I remember
around the mile 11 marker realizing I had a chance to PR, estimating my
time at about 1:36, and picking up the pace a bit. I started passing
people left and right. One runner saw me and yelled, "Go, man! Go!"
Out of about 15 to 16 thousand people that signed up, 11,493 finished. I
finished in 895th place; far, far, behind the winner who took home
$20,000.
Universal Sports had a live telecast of the event. I set the DVR to
record it before I left, but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet. It
likely focused primarily on the professionals who ran, including the
Marathon world record holder, Haile Gebrselassie.
This was a great race on a great day.
[/running]
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Not a Paper Cup
I recently ordered the Not a Paper Cup from ThinkGeek. It looks like a
paper coffee cup but is made of ceramic. The lid is silicone instead #6
plastic. It should be awesome. It's not.
Advertised as 12 ounces, it actually only holds 8 ounces. Right there,
it's at most 66% as awesome as it should be. As one friend put it, "That
is significantly less awesome."
Now that I've used it I'll say that it's about 0% awesome and 90% suck
with 10% fail.
The silicone lid tastes, well, like silicone. It adds this horrible
flavor to every sip. I like my coffee to have a strong coffee flavor,
not a strong coffee plus silicone flavor. Maybe that's just me...
The double walled construction of the cup, in theory would add an
insulating layer to keep the coffee warm longer than a regular paper
cup. This was not the case and in a test yesterday, I found that the
standard paper cup kept the coffee warm for about an hour and a half
longer than the Not a Paper Cup.
In summary:
- Holds 8 ounces instead of 12 (as advertised).
- Silicone lid adds odd and horrible taste to coffee.
- Doesn't keep the coffee hot as long as regular paper cups.
Don't buy one. If some one gifts it to you, well then that person must
hate you or not understand coffee.
[/musings]
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Coogan's 5K - Update
Officially I ran my best 5K to date. I finished in 19:41 averaging 6:20
per mile.
It was a rather hilly course, starting at 173rd and running up to the
Cloisters. After circling the museum, the same route was taken back to
173rd.
On Saturday I said I was going to PR. I was told that was a bit a of a
lofty goal given how hilly the course was. Sunday morning I woke up with
a bit of discomfort after gorging on sushi the night before and thought
I might not do well.
As I stood in the corral, those feelings changed. I knew I was going to
PR. And I did.
[/running]
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Coogan's 5K
Unofficially I just PR'd at 19:44.
[/running]
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1267567528
6790 test.
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[/mobile]
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Run for Haiti
Yesterday I posted on the mobile section that I had finished the race
coming in number 256 of 8704. The statistics have been updated and I
need to post a correction. I finished number 266 of 9421 at a time of
27:17.
This was of course about a minute slower than the Grid Iron classic
where I PR'd, but I finished in the top 2.8% this time.
Yesterday's race raised over $400,000 for the relief effort in Haiti,
with over 10,000 people registering and making donations.
Yesterday's race was also the first time I had run in a week. Last
Saturday (February 13) I ran 31.73 miles. With the upcoming race
schedule and training for the New Jersey and Pocono Marathons in May, I
figured it would be best to actually rest.
It felt good to run again. I missed it.
[/running]
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1266681322
256/8704. Not a PR time, but not a bad showing.
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[/mobile]
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1265591788
Game's over! The Who just won!
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[/mobile]
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A couple of things....
First, am I the only one who gets freaked out when seeing a Toyota in my
rear-view mirror?
Second, google calculator has failed me. I keep trying to do conversions
using Joules and it keeps giving me search results for physics forums
with no calculator results. WTF google? WTF?
[/musings]
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On sunday I ran...
27.22 miles because I felt like it.
I woke up Sunday morning, ran some errands, and then met a friend for a
run. While I was waiting for him, I ran a one mile warm-up. Then he and
I set out and ran a half marathon.
I felt pretty good afterward, so a little while later I set out to do
another 10K. That 10K turned into an 8.4 mile hill work out.
I realized I was only about four miles shy of a marathon at that point
and I still felt really good. After a short break I went out one more
time. Four and a half miles later, I was back home and had logged the
most miles in a single day that I had ever done, breaking my previous
record by a mile.
It felt absolutely amazing.
Can every body feel like I do?
Can't you can't you trip like I do?
[/running]
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It's gotta be the shoes
Yesterday I picked up the pair of shoes in which I will run the New York
City Marathon.
[/running]
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1264352606
1:37:50. New half marathon PR.
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[/mobile]
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Avatar
Here's my review of the movie.
There's something about the giraffes if you believe we're apples and
oranges. I was disappointed by the ketchup, but the mustard was
surprisingly good.
[/musings]
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1263048598
Qualifier #1 done.
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[/mobile]
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I Hate People
http://www.wpix.com/news/wpix-dog-beaten-in-elevator,0,193301.story
I saw that on the news last night and it made me sick. There is no
reason for this. This is just senseless abuse.
It'd be nice to see him in prison getting kicked around his cell by
another inmate, but that likely won't happen. Under the current laws, he
can only be charged with a misdemeanor.
Haven't there been studies indicating a correlation between abusing
animals and becoming a serial killer?
[/musings]
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MTA
Why is the MTA's budget each year referred to as a "doomsday" budget?
They vote on it every year, and every year it's approved, and every year
they get subsidised by the tax payers and toll payers. So why is it a
"doomsday" budget? They're not going out of business, although it sure
seems their worker's union would like to see that happen given their
demands.
[/politics]
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Don't they have better things to do?
It has come to my attention that Congress, in their infinite wisdom, has
decided to write legislation against television commercial
advertisements having a louder perceived volume than the actual
programming.
While I do sometimes find this annoying, do we really need an act of
congress to outlaw this? Shouldn't our representatives be doing
something better with their time, like repealing hundreds of laws that
hinder the free market economy and trample the Constitutionally
guaranteed rights of the citizens?
Of course not, that would threaten their power.
[/politics]
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Who... What are you?
I was running earlier tonight and around mile 7 I was going up a steep,
winding, dark hill. Near the top a couple was walking their dog. They
saw the flashing
lights on my shoes and wrists and, when I got close to them, the
woman said, "We were trying to figure out what you were."
"I'm a runner."
[/running]
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1260056285
Hibachi in Ballston. People in VA are still afraid of snow.
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[/mobile]
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:)
It's amazing how a simple email containing only a smiley emoticon can
brighten one's day.
[/musings]
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