Boxes, Boards, and Bricks

On nearly all of my runs I wonder if it's ever going to get easier for me. I guess, after four years (and into my forties), the answer is no! In the past week, though, I've had the fortune of talking to a couple people who really know what they are doing, and it shows in their results.

Angie is only a couple years younger than me, yet the best runner I have ever personally met. I saw her at my race last week, and I hadn't seen her in a while, so I congratulated her on her success. Sometime in the last year while reviewing race results, I noticed she completed a marathon in a sub-three hour time. Incredible! If I remember right, she averaged a 6:30 mile, or something close to that. I can't imagine running that fast, for even a couple miles, let alone 26. We chatted a little, and she offered up some advice. Plyometrics. She said I should do "boxes", and anything to increase my strength and foot speed. I had to look up what "boxes" meant, and it sounds like something I could benefit from (if you don't know it means, I'll let you plug it in the google!).

The second person, Tim, I met on a bike ride a while back. He's a master swimmer, and is very accomplished in long distances (i.e., placing second in Swim Around Key West). We had an interesting bike ride, chatting about swimming technique and Terry Laughlin's Total Immersion philosophies. At the end of the bike ride I flatted, but had an appointment with Tim for a swim lesson. And a lesson it was! I got plenty of laughs at his imitation of my "doggie paddle" (no, that was my real stroke!), and my total "waste of energy". Ha. He had four very specific items for me to work on: arm extension, kick, keeping my head down, and the pattern my arms move in. He gave me specific drills, but thought I should spend 30% of every workout with a kick board. Between perfecting technique (and that's never done), and kicking, he felt I could really increase my speed.

My own conclusion after my last race is that I really have slipped on the brick workouts, and I need to get back to running after I ride. The problem is, I've been riding with people during the week, and afterward... well, afterward, a beer and dinner sound much more appealing than a run! But my last two rides I've stuck with running afterward, and crud... it's hard.

During every run I inevitably think about what I started this post with... does it ever get easier? I always follow that thought with the quote "If it was easy, everyone would do it." Yesterday I rode 30 some odd miles, and followed it with a couple mile run. I came in and decided to watch "A League of Their Own" with Ray... and I laughed when Jimmy (Tom Hanks) used the quote in the movie. Only his character made it even better (and maybe this is a well known part, or the origination, of the quote, but I had never heard it). "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great."

Race Report

I celebrated four years of racing (minus last year) by doing the same race as my first, Show Me State Games. This is a fun little non-USAT race. A 900 yard swim in a murky "used to be lagoon", a 21 mile bike on a somewhat challenging, hilly course that takes you by Missouri's largest and most beautiful oak tree (hence the name "Big Tree Loop"), and an easy 5k run on the MKT trail.

Unlike four years ago, I actually slept fine this week. I remember well my first race; I tossed and turned every night for more than a week before the race! I slept fine until last night, and then I turned on some Jim Croce (an all time favorite, only second to Jimmy Buffett), and stayed up till 2 a.m. or so getting ready. I live by the rule that the night before the race doesn't really matter... it's the week prior that sleep really counts.

I also ate well, but followed the mantra that for a sprint race you really don't need to do anything special or different nutritionally. Just hydrate and eat well (i.e., healthy), and all will be good. On the other hand, this was a special event for me, so I used it as an excuse to load up on Linguine with Clam Sauce from Bambino's downtown Columbia the night before. Good stuff!

This morning I was up at 5:30, had my usual cup of coffee and a bowl of Lucky Charms (more good stuff!), and a banana, and was off to the race. As usual I was nervous, but I was definitely in "just do it" mode. Just do it... one foot in front of the other, keep doing what needs to be done. As I used the bathroom one last time, I had the thought I always have before a race, "Why the hell do I put myself through this?"

As I took off on the swim, I felt relief. No more worrying about when I'd race again. I'm now on auto-pilot; I'm doing it. The swim was mostly uneventful, except the 200 lb. dude that wouldn't let me pass him (surely unintentional), but then when I got around him at the buoy, he swam on top of me three times. OMG, *that* takes it out of you! Then my other deal was zig-zagging... evidence that I've only been training in a pool.

Out of lake and to the bike, my transition had to be about a minute, pretty fast. First thing out of the park there's an unavoidable bump, then a nice hill. Up the hill I notice my aerodrink velcro is gone (broken loose from the bump), and my bottle is about to drop to the road. Before the race I made the brain surgeon move of saving weight, and took my back-up bottle off, so my aerodrink was my only hydration. If there's one thing I've learned in my few years of racing, hydration on the bike is key to a successful run. So I make it up the hill, then slow as I try to figure out how to save my drink. At that point the first person passes me, a girl. Geesh, I can take a younger-than-me guy in an aerohelmet passing me (the only other person to pass me), but not a chic. Ok, so I'm a little competitive.

Anyway, I have a true McGyver moment... I use the black rubber band that's meant to hold my filter on the top of the bottle, wrap it around my straw and manage to wrap it around my aerobars like a pony tail, and wellah, it's secure! Now for the chic that passed me, my second McGyver moment. I can't let the enemy win. I take her full throttle, about a minute away. It's amazing what goes through your head when you're racing! In that moment, I truly was McGyver! :)

I had an amazing bike; I almost felt like I was cheating. I know every nuance of that course; I bike it at minimum once a week, and most often twice (although from my house it's 25 miles). I know every hill, up and down, and what's on the other side, and that's really an advantage. My average speed was 19.5 mph, which is good for that course and for me.

My run sucked, to put it bluntly. My transition was good (no one to stop me from riding right into the transition area, which is really unusual). I opted against putting on socks for a 5k, and that paid off. But my legs and cardio were shot. The course was shy of 5k (so I was told), and I logged 23 minutes and some seconds, which made me believe what I told. I finished thinking I could not have run any longer or any faster; I was spent.

In the end I got second place in my AG, off of first by one minute and some (the results haven't been posted). My natural inclination is think about what I could have done differently, and where I could have gained that minute. But truth be told, I really did my best and that was it. I'm unsure about doing a long course in two weeks, but I haven't ruled it out. Kind of like having a baby, tomorrow I'll have forgotten all the pain, and I'll be thinking "just do it".

Finding Amos

I wrote a blog about dogs not too long ago, not having any idea that I would soon find out, again, the pain at losing the best companion a single (or otherwise) person can have. I rode home from the lake Tuesday night, without Amos. He had run away Saturday night when the neighbor at my parent's lake house started lighting off fireworks (not the little kind, but the big professional kind). Every year they put on a spectacular show, and with my family around and the festive atmosphere, I didn't think to put Amos inside. With the first thunderous crack, he was gone.

Over the next few days, I was a basket case... I'm sure my family thought I was nuts (and actually, I was). I love my dog. No one would believe what I went through to find him.

He ran away Saturday night at 9:30 or so, and immediately after, I was looking for him. I was up until 2:30 a.m. scouring the lake roads in the pitch black, yelling his name. I went to bed, and watched the windows gradually get lighter as the sun came up. I was out yelling and walking again at 5:30. I came in around 9:00 a.m. to get some food and sleep, and Kenzie was out searching. Over the next few days, literally from sun up to sun down, I hiked the local power line and four wheeling trails, and drove every road (paved and rock) too many times to count, my head stuck out the window, yelling. I was on a mission, and unable to think about much else.

After three nights I became desperate, and was losing hope that Amos would ever be found. No one understood the way I did what those woods are like. They are dense! And rocky. Deep ravines... hundreds of acres of forest with nothing in sight but more of the same. I pulled more ticks off myself than I care to think about. I saw armadillo's, a pack of foxes, vultures, turtles, frogs... and another lost\stray dog (that none of the shelters within a 50 mile radius had room for).

I made a nuisance of myself to all the neighbors, talking to anyone who would listen, and stopping anyone I came across on all the different points. Kenzie and I posted and handed out fliers, and I talked to people from all walks of life. One thing is certain... people love their dogs. Everyone was sympathetic. I ran into some people more than once, a couple even out looking for Amos! It got to the point where I was asking people if I'd already talked to them.

Well into Monday, I happened on a neighbor and explained my situation. He said his dog ran away one year when the fireworks started, and he wound up over on Sunset Shores (another point). I figured if one dog did it, then another might, so I decided to drive to that area again (I had already been there a few times). As I was driving near the area we had discussed, some four wheelers came out of the woods. I hesitated, then decided to flag them down. I held up my flyer and asked, "Any chance you've seen this dog?" They guy looked and motioned up the deserted road, "I just saw that dog up there on the side of the trail. I thought it was an odd place to see a dog." He quickly offered to take me up where he had seen Amos, and I followed. The road turned into a steep rocky trail, and he stopped about a third of a mile up and pointed, "He was just sitting right there." I said, "Like ten minutes ago?" And he replied, "No, like five... just before I saw you. Hold on." And with that, he took off up the trail, and into the woods (where the trail ended). I jogged behind, looking around and calling for Amos. I heard the guy yell to his kids, "Tell her he's right here!" I broke into a full sprint up into the woods, and as I reached the guy, he turned to me and said, "He just ran! He took off further into the woods... he's fast." OMG! I ran in the direction he pointed, dodging trees, logs, thorn bushes, etc., yelling for Amos. It was so thick; spider webs galore, and it was rocky. Memories of Crocodile Hunter searching for rattle snakes entered my mind; I was sure I'd step on a snake. I stayed in there a good 20 minutes, yelling and coaxing, to no avail. The guy waited for me at the edge of the woods, thankfully. In the midst of it, it entered my mind I could easily get lost. I wound up hiking the area another couple hours, carefully noting my tracks, but I never spotted Amos. Finally giving up, I cursed. I checked Google GPS when I got back to the house, and just got more discouraged. Where Amos had ran further into the woods, it was so dense... miles of absolutely nothing but forest.

Over the next 24 hours I kept driving to that area, walking and hiking trails, yelling. I saw a girl on a four wheeler entering the woods a mile or so from where Amos was spotted, and I honked my horn to get her attention. I had already talked to her twice; the second time my mom was with me. The girl was striking, to say the least. Porcelain white skin, 16 years old or so, a knitted beret on her head, long white hair with bangs, thick black lined eyes, and wearing tights and ballet flats. Hardly fitting of the summer lake atmosphere I am accustomed to. She was beautiful, but I couldn't help but think of Twighlight! After seeing her the second time, my mom had said, "Oh my gosh, did you see her skin. So white, and not a blemish on it!" This time as I called her back, I explained that someone had spotted Amos in the woods, and he was out there somewhere where she was heading. She said there were a lot of teenagers in the area. She had seen three four-wheelers loaded with people head into the woods hours earlier and they were still out there... "But they are not good people". I said, "What do you mean? They wouldn't hurt a dog, would they?" She scrunched up her nose, and raised an eyebrow, "Ummm... I don't know. I can't really say for sure." WTF?! I said, "What are you talking about? Are they into some sort or cult or ritualistic activity?" She said, "It's just weird. If you go out there, there are these wide open spaces, and there are all kinds of circle burn marks, and around those are beer cans and..." I didn't hear what she said next. I was totally freaked that I had been hiking in those woods by myself, and I realized I was totally out of my element.

I asked the girl if she had any influence on the other teenagers "to do the right thing". I told her I would give her or anyone $250 if they found Amos and returned him to me. She said she could call some of the kids she knew were part of the group, and that the money might make a difference. We exchanged phone numbers, I gave her a flyer and $20 to keep looking, and she continued into the woods. It was a surreal experience, and I no longer felt safe. Dusk was upon us, and it was time for me to head home to Columbia.

I drove home feeling exhausted, but with a bit of hope that I had at least left someone looking. I had shared my experiences with my family before I left, and the consensus was that the kids were maybe into drugs of some sort (meth or pot, both said to be a known presence down there). I posted more flyers on my out of the lake area, and didn't get home until 11:30. I didn't sleep at all; I was just so tired and distraught. I called in sick on Wednesday morning, telling my boss the truth, but at the same time I was catching a cold and losing my voice. I was getting Raymond ready for school at 8:00 a.m., when my sister, Teresa, called. My mom and her had gotten a call that a stray dog had been spotted down the lake road, but it turned out not to be Amos (but that other dog I had found a couple days earlier!). On the way back, they decided to drive to the area where Amos had been spotted... and there he was! Teresa said he was walking down the road, head down and tail between his legs, and my mom said, "Oh my gosh, there's Amos!" To which Teresa replied, "Holy fuck!" My mom gently called out to him, and he raised his tail and ran to her... and eagerly jumped in the car. Of all things, in that vast area, my mom and sister found him!

Five hours later, Amos was back home in Columbia. Four nights in the woods, he was dirty, covered in ticks, obviously skinnier, had a split bottom lip, and a toe nail that had been broken and bleeding. Kenzie and I spent about an hour on him in the bathtub, scrubbing him with flea and tick shampoo, and pulling ticks and burrs. That night, as I got myself in bed, I let him snuggle in next to me. I thanked God and apologized for all my cursing. Amos rolled on his back, let out a big sigh... and was sleeping like a baby.

It's Friday night now, and my kids are gone... Ray with his dad, and Kenzie off to soccer camp. As I write this, Amos is at my feet, chewing a bone. As is more and more usual these days, I find myself in an empty house... ever so thankful to have my dog to keep me company!

Yes, I am going to...

blog again! I have lots of sordid information to share, and I can't wait! Ha ha, like meeting strangers on long bike rides, flat tires, drinking too much beer... and that's just one story! :) I haven't had any time lately to write... I miss it. Long story short, I'm racing this year. I'm slower, probably won't be on the podium, but have two races picked out, maybe a third. Wish me luck; I'm actually nervous about it!

More later! J