Route 66

Boston training in full swing...hit up Route 66 with the boys this Sunday for twenty...

If running huge rollers at 6000 feet with a group of FAST guys won't get you race ready...nothing will.

Lance: The Confession

Hilarious.  Lance Armstrong Confession: The Musical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZa0a6rWsiU

Mainers rock.

The Cadillac Mountain summit in Maine is 700 miles from the Capitol steps in Washington DC.  Would you run point to point?  In two weeks?  Gary Allen, founder and director of the Mount Desert Island Marathon and distance running extraordinaire, raised 13K for the American Cancer Society and did just that.  Amazing feat with a positive impact.  Love this sport.

http://www.pressherald.com/news/even-700-mile-runner-thinks-this-was-nuts_2013-01-23.html?searchterm=gary+allen

All is well in Arizona.

Check out this article on fellow Dukes Track Club member Kris Houghton and his thirteen month old daughter Alma.

http://www.abqjournal.com/sports/2013/01/22/father-daughter-stroll-to-a-record.html

The pair now hold the world record for the fastest half marathon run with a baby jogger.  Note that there are rules...the baby jogger has to be commercially available and mass produced, available to the general public.  The road tires pumped to 100psi are sold separately 

Go Dukes!  Alma does not look impressed.

All in all, EXCELLENT weekend with friends and fellow runners.  PRs, world records, first time racers, and star sightings (Desi Davila)...but in the end, great company and tons of fun.  More to come on the actual "race" later!

The Most Magical Place On Earth!

"Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, and dreams are forever." -Walt Disney

A wonderful weekend with my family. I was able to run the second half of the Disney Marathon with my dad and sister. Stew finished his fourth, and most challenging, marathon in 5 hours and 19 minutes, after injury and illness got in the way of his last couple months of training. But he did it! SO PROUD! I love this sport and where it brings us.

The winged foot

The Dukes Track Club door prize is ready to be passed on! Black toe and all...

Saucony love.

Newly in love with Saucony's blog....

http://blog.saucony.com/sauc-talk/saucony-blog/

On an evening run, a centipede stopped to stretch under a tree where a skunk was resting. The skunk asked the centipede, “Dude, with all those legs, how do you know which one to move next?” The centipede froze in his tracks. He started thinking. He didn’t know which leg to move so he couldn’t move any.  He cried to the skunk, “Help! I’m stuck!” The skunk sniffed, “You’re stuck because you’re thinking too much. Focus on something else, and you’ll run again.” Just then, the centipede looked out to the horizon and saw the moon rising. “How beautiful!” he thought as he continued running through the cool evening grass.

White Sands

Epic day running in White Sands National Monument, near Las Cruces, New Mexico.  The largest gypsum dunefield in the world, White Sands spans 275 miles.  This photo shows a mixture of sand and snow.  Yes, you can sled here!

Visit the National Parks Service webpage on White Sands: http://www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm

Think small.

What goals do we have for the year?  Hmm...  Check out this post by Mario Fraioli of Competitor magazine for his take on resolutions and goals.  Think small for big changes.

http://running.competitor.com/2013/01/staff-blog/staff-blog-think-small_64116

So far I'm planning on stretching.  Getting a pet (suggestions welcome).  Sleeping.  Less than six cups of coffee (per day).  The list goes on...

20.13

Started the new year yesterday with 20.13 miles for 2013 (glad to have my friend Stephanie for company!). So much has changed in twelve months...very excited to see what the next twelve will bring!

Tradition.

Luck and money, black-eyed peas and collars greens.  They're the same thing.  Since my memories began, my father has always made these from the Joy of Cooking (with his own modifications...most notably, double the bacon).  The house normally is open to everyone, where they come and get their luck and money for the rest of the year.  The peas, since they swell when cooked, symbolize prosperity; the greens symbolize money; the pork represents positive motion, because pigs root forward when foraging.  Have to love tradition!