Ah, to be a kid again. We bought the Ben 10 game for our 6 year old, we bought the Pinball Hall of Fame for Daddy, and we rented Madden Football '08 for...um, Daddy (blush). First, let's talk Madden Football. We decided to rent this one because of the mixed reviews on Amazon.com. Most of the bad reviews were graphics related but there were some other glitches that some people complained about while others claimed the glitches were "user error". So I tried it out last night, and let me just preface this by saying that the last football video game that I played was Tecmo Super Bowl for the Nintendo, back in the early 90's. So I'm sure for all of the people who have grown up through X-Box and Playstation, the graphics probably pale in comparison. But for me, the graphics are just fine and the game itself plays very much like real football. I'll be buying the Madden Football at some point. My only drawback is time constraints. To play a game of football means devoting 30-40 minutes of uninterrupted time to the game. I can't see that happening all that often for me.
As for the pinball game. One word: SWEET! Oh yeah, it is the Williams collection, 10 of the best pinball machines from the 70's, 80's, and 90's, including Space Shuttle, a game that I mastered in the common area of my dormitory at Penn State. I was excited to discover that after 20+ years it took me very little time to jump right back into peak playing form. And OMG, it feels exactly like you are really playing a pinball machine. Superb! Old geezers, rejoice! Pinball lives!
As a side note, I couldn't help but think about the irony in that while I was at Penn State mastering a Space Shuttle pinball machine, an old classmate was actually STUDYING and becoming an astronaut. But hey, I got to be a big man on (branch) campus for a couple of years. I bet Mr. Astronaut can't say that.
Anyway, do your research, learn when and where the Wii will be available and by all means, go buy one! You deserve it. And don't worry, your upper body will only be sore for a week or so.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
March Madness Update
This must have been the easiest year for brackets because without following college basketball at all this year, I still managed to pick 7 of the elite 8 and 3 of the final four. So far, I'm 23-9 in round 1, 11-5 for round 2, 7-1 for round 3, and 3-1 for round 4. My only blunder was in picking Georgetown to go to the final four. But since I hate Georgetown more than any other college basketball team, I'll happily take their loss. So I have UCLA beating North Carolina in the championship next week. We'll see how I do.
To Wii or Not to Wii
That was the question. So we decided to buy a Wii but deciding to buy one and actually finding one to buy were two very different things. My beautiful wife found a website that actually sent us "Wii Alerts" any time there was a Wii sighting anywhere within driving distance of our home. Many of the "alerts" proved to be false alarms. Finally, we received a tip that the Wii was going to be in this weeks Toys R Us ad in the Sunday paper. So at 7:30 this morning, my wife and son ventured out on a mission. By 10:30, it was mission accomplished, and I don't mean that in a Duh (short for W.) kind of way. I'll let my wife fill in the details on her blog. I've got some Wii to play.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Living in a Demockery
Let's talk primaries, shall we? What could be easier to fix than the primaries? It's simple, right? Every state votes on the same day, whoever gets the most votes wins. Done. We would have more candidates to choose from and a much more level playing field. And that, my friends, is exactly why it will never be done this way.
See, that would be letting the people decide and big money will never allow that. So instead, we have the illusion that the people are voting and deciding on candidates even though everyone knows that the reality is that the people are only getting to vote for the candidates who have survived the longest. And how does a candidate go about surviving the longest? By raising the most money so that they can afford to stay in the race. So we wind up choosing between a couple of candidates who are already bought and paid for many times over. At that point, big money doesn't really care which candidate wins because either way, big money is the real winner.
Ah, democracy, where public servants are elected by the people, for the people. It was good while it lasted, if it ever really existed at all.
See, that would be letting the people decide and big money will never allow that. So instead, we have the illusion that the people are voting and deciding on candidates even though everyone knows that the reality is that the people are only getting to vote for the candidates who have survived the longest. And how does a candidate go about surviving the longest? By raising the most money so that they can afford to stay in the race. So we wind up choosing between a couple of candidates who are already bought and paid for many times over. At that point, big money doesn't really care which candidate wins because either way, big money is the real winner.
Ah, democracy, where public servants are elected by the people, for the people. It was good while it lasted, if it ever really existed at all.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
High Times
It's official. The runner's high is real. Um...I could have told you that. The NY Times ran an article today. Here are the highlights;
The runner’s-high hypothesis proposed that there were real biochemical effects of exercise on the brain. Chemicals were released that could change an athlete’s mood, and those chemicals were endorphins, the brain’s naturally occurring opiates. Running was not the only way to get the feeling; it could also occur with most intense or endurance exercise.
The problem with the hypothesis was that it was not feasible to do a spinal tap before and after someone exercised to look for a flood of endorphins in the brain. Researchers could detect endorphins in people’s blood after a run, but those endorphins were part of the body’s stress response and could not travel from the blood to the brain. They were not responsible for elevating one’s mood. So for more than 30 years, the runner’s high remained an unproved hypothesis.
But now medical technology has caught up with exercise lore. Researchers in Germany, using advances in neuroscience, report in the current issue of the journal Cerebral Cortex that the folk belief is true: Running does elicit a flood of endorphins in the brain. The endorphins are associated with mood changes, and the more endorphins a runner’s body pumps out, the greater the effect.
Leading endorphin researchers not associated with the study said they accepted its findings.
The runner’s-high hypothesis proposed that there were real biochemical effects of exercise on the brain. Chemicals were released that could change an athlete’s mood, and those chemicals were endorphins, the brain’s naturally occurring opiates. Running was not the only way to get the feeling; it could also occur with most intense or endurance exercise.
The problem with the hypothesis was that it was not feasible to do a spinal tap before and after someone exercised to look for a flood of endorphins in the brain. Researchers could detect endorphins in people’s blood after a run, but those endorphins were part of the body’s stress response and could not travel from the blood to the brain. They were not responsible for elevating one’s mood. So for more than 30 years, the runner’s high remained an unproved hypothesis.
But now medical technology has caught up with exercise lore. Researchers in Germany, using advances in neuroscience, report in the current issue of the journal Cerebral Cortex that the folk belief is true: Running does elicit a flood of endorphins in the brain. The endorphins are associated with mood changes, and the more endorphins a runner’s body pumps out, the greater the effect.
Leading endorphin researchers not associated with the study said they accepted its findings.
Damn Fascists!
There is a guy who has his own show on a well known cable propaganda channel and I just have to say this guy cracks me up. I don’t want to name names, but for those of you who are good at riddles, his name rhymes with Phil O’Lielly and some of the ignorance that comes out of his mouth only to be consumed and regurgitated by his followers is just astounding.
I just saw a clip where he is going off on mediamatters.org , calling them an awful, despicable…outfit, and calling them fascists. For those of you who don’t know about Media Matters, they are basically a website that tracks what people on TV and radio say and point out any erroneous information or information that was not mentioned but should have been (context, etc.). So what this guy on the propaganda channel actually dislikes about Media Matters is that they take HIS OWN WORDS and point out what an ignorant blowhard he is. All they do is report what HE SAYS. This apparently makes them fascists. Too funny. I think he trashes these websites so often because he thinks that by doing so he can possibly prevent his viewers from actually going to these sites and finding out for themselves just how off base many of his comments actually are. A little knowledge could be detrimental to his ratings.
Hey, those guys just printed the words I said. Not only that, but they’re using “facts” to show that I’m an idiot. Fascists!
I just saw a clip where he is going off on mediamatters.org , calling them an awful, despicable…outfit, and calling them fascists. For those of you who don’t know about Media Matters, they are basically a website that tracks what people on TV and radio say and point out any erroneous information or information that was not mentioned but should have been (context, etc.). So what this guy on the propaganda channel actually dislikes about Media Matters is that they take HIS OWN WORDS and point out what an ignorant blowhard he is. All they do is report what HE SAYS. This apparently makes them fascists. Too funny. I think he trashes these websites so often because he thinks that by doing so he can possibly prevent his viewers from actually going to these sites and finding out for themselves just how off base many of his comments actually are. A little knowledge could be detrimental to his ratings.
Hey, those guys just printed the words I said. Not only that, but they’re using “facts” to show that I’m an idiot. Fascists!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Is it Real?
Yesterday, my six year old was watching PBS when suddenly he calls out, "Mommy, Daddy, on the grown up show that came on after PBS kids was over, they said there was a battle and 25 people got killed." Lovely. Next came the questions. Was it a real battle? Did the people really get killed? Why were they fighting? Were the guys who got killed the good guys?
He was more curious than upset but it really made me mad on many levels. First, why were they fighting? It's easy for a six year old. There are good guys and bad guys and the good guys defeat the bad guys. Right?
OK. I can't really finish this the way I was hoping. I'm about to go off on a rant about our fatuous "leader" and I'm getting myself all worked up. Maybe I'll come back to this later. 01.20.09
He was more curious than upset but it really made me mad on many levels. First, why were they fighting? It's easy for a six year old. There are good guys and bad guys and the good guys defeat the bad guys. Right?
OK. I can't really finish this the way I was hoping. I'm about to go off on a rant about our fatuous "leader" and I'm getting myself all worked up. Maybe I'll come back to this later. 01.20.09
Sunday, March 23, 2008
20 Miles for Emma
Last night, the phone rang at 12:15am. I assumed it was a wrong number but my wife answered the phone and I could tell right away it was not good news. It turns out, our 4 month old niece, who is in Children's Hospital, was not doing well and the call was actually to tell us that they weren't sure if she was going to make it. As you can imagine, this made for a long, emotional night, with phone calls coming every few hours with updates. By morning, it appears that she is doing better, though still not out of the woods yet.
So I had a 20 mile training run scheduled for this morning which I knew would be brutal even after a good night's sleep, let alone on hardly any sleep. Plus, I was still worried about the pain in my shin. Then I realized that no matter what I would go through during that run, it was nothing compared to what poor Emma is likely going through. So I decided to dedicate my run to Emma and try to send positive vibes and strength her way during each mile.
I have to say, it was one of the most emotional and spiritual runs I've ever had. As I completed each mile, I would say to myself, "one mile for Emma", "two miles for Emma", etc. As the miles accumulated, a mantra formed in my mind, which I repeated hundreds of times throughout the run, "may the power of this run give Emma strength". This eventually was shortened to "give Emma strength" over and over again. When I hit the tough last miles I started asking myself, "Can you run 25 more minutes for Emma?", "Yes, you can".
So I ran 20 miles for Emma. It was the least I could do. Hopefully, she somehow received my energy and love.
So I had a 20 mile training run scheduled for this morning which I knew would be brutal even after a good night's sleep, let alone on hardly any sleep. Plus, I was still worried about the pain in my shin. Then I realized that no matter what I would go through during that run, it was nothing compared to what poor Emma is likely going through. So I decided to dedicate my run to Emma and try to send positive vibes and strength her way during each mile.
I have to say, it was one of the most emotional and spiritual runs I've ever had. As I completed each mile, I would say to myself, "one mile for Emma", "two miles for Emma", etc. As the miles accumulated, a mantra formed in my mind, which I repeated hundreds of times throughout the run, "may the power of this run give Emma strength". This eventually was shortened to "give Emma strength" over and over again. When I hit the tough last miles I started asking myself, "Can you run 25 more minutes for Emma?", "Yes, you can".
So I ran 20 miles for Emma. It was the least I could do. Hopefully, she somehow received my energy and love.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Dream Team
Our Marathoner's Fantasy Baseball League held its draft last night. I'm the league commissioner this year, plus I'm the defending champ, so I was feeling some pressure to pull off a successful draft. I worried all week that I would land the first draft pick, even though the draft order is determined randomly by the league host (in our case CBSsportsline), I just didn't want anyone thinking anything wasn't kosher. So I was happy when I found out I'd be drafting 3rd.
My strategy was to go for big bats early and worry about pitching late. It was no secret that A-Rod would go first, then I thought David Wright would go 2nd and then I would have to make a decision, most likely Ryan Howard. The 2nd pick surprised me by taking Johan Santana so I jumped at the chance to get David Wright (3B, NYM). When the draft snaked back to me in the 2nd round I was surprised to see Ryan Braun (3B, MIL) still available. He's having some problems with his achilles and it must have been making people nervous. I was kicking myself for already having a 3B when this total stud was still available 18 picks into the draft. I seriously considered taking him as my DH but then finally settled on Vladimir Guerrero (OF, ANA) as my pick. To my utter surprise, Braun was still available 5 picks later when my turn came again. Ryan Braun in the 3rd round? Holy crap. Done. They left me with no choice. Braun didn't come up from the minors until the end of May last year and despite missing the first 40+ games, put up numbers to rival A-Rod when comparing the same number of games played. If he stays healthy he was the steal of the draft. Excuse me while I pause to pat myself on the back.
My luck continued as I snagged B.J. Upton (2B/OF, TB) in the 4th round. In the 5th round I came one pick away from getting Carl Crawford so I "settled" for Carlos Pena (1B, TB).
What? I'm boring you? So sorry. Here's what I'll do...I'll list my selections below and if you care, go ahead and check it out.
Starting Line-up:
C Ivan Rodriguez DET (rd 20)
1B Carlos Pena TB (rd 5)
2B B.J. Upton TB (rd 4)
3B David Wright NYM (rd 1)
SS Troy Tulowitzki COL (rd 7)
OF Vladimir Guerrero ANA (rd 2)
OF Nick Markakis BAL (rd 6)
OF Corey Hart MIL (rd 12)
DH Ryan Braun MIL (rd 3)
Bench:
2B Dustin Pedroia BOS (rd 15)
OF Jermaine Dye CHW (rd 16)
OF Jack Cust OAK (rd 18)
1B Kevin Youkilis BOS (rd 19)
SS Stephen Drew ARI (rd 21)
Starting Pitchers:
John Smoltz ATL (rd 9)
John Maine NYM (rd 11)
James Shields TB (rd 13)
Pedro Martinez NYM (rd 14)
Mark Buehrle CHW (rd 22)
Closers:
Joe Nathan MIN (rd 8)
Billy Wagner NYM (rd 10)
Matt Capps PIT (rd 17)
My strategy was to go for big bats early and worry about pitching late. It was no secret that A-Rod would go first, then I thought David Wright would go 2nd and then I would have to make a decision, most likely Ryan Howard. The 2nd pick surprised me by taking Johan Santana so I jumped at the chance to get David Wright (3B, NYM). When the draft snaked back to me in the 2nd round I was surprised to see Ryan Braun (3B, MIL) still available. He's having some problems with his achilles and it must have been making people nervous. I was kicking myself for already having a 3B when this total stud was still available 18 picks into the draft. I seriously considered taking him as my DH but then finally settled on Vladimir Guerrero (OF, ANA) as my pick. To my utter surprise, Braun was still available 5 picks later when my turn came again. Ryan Braun in the 3rd round? Holy crap. Done. They left me with no choice. Braun didn't come up from the minors until the end of May last year and despite missing the first 40+ games, put up numbers to rival A-Rod when comparing the same number of games played. If he stays healthy he was the steal of the draft. Excuse me while I pause to pat myself on the back.
My luck continued as I snagged B.J. Upton (2B/OF, TB) in the 4th round. In the 5th round I came one pick away from getting Carl Crawford so I "settled" for Carlos Pena (1B, TB).
What? I'm boring you? So sorry. Here's what I'll do...I'll list my selections below and if you care, go ahead and check it out.
Starting Line-up:
C Ivan Rodriguez DET (rd 20)
1B Carlos Pena TB (rd 5)
2B B.J. Upton TB (rd 4)
3B David Wright NYM (rd 1)
SS Troy Tulowitzki COL (rd 7)
OF Vladimir Guerrero ANA (rd 2)
OF Nick Markakis BAL (rd 6)
OF Corey Hart MIL (rd 12)
DH Ryan Braun MIL (rd 3)
Bench:
2B Dustin Pedroia BOS (rd 15)
OF Jermaine Dye CHW (rd 16)
OF Jack Cust OAK (rd 18)
1B Kevin Youkilis BOS (rd 19)
SS Stephen Drew ARI (rd 21)
Starting Pitchers:
John Smoltz ATL (rd 9)
John Maine NYM (rd 11)
James Shields TB (rd 13)
Pedro Martinez NYM (rd 14)
Mark Buehrle CHW (rd 22)
Closers:
Joe Nathan MIN (rd 8)
Billy Wagner NYM (rd 10)
Matt Capps PIT (rd 17)
The Surge is Working
I know there are a lot of you out there who think that the battle between Kent State and UNLV in college basketball has been a horrible, needless, senseless waste of lives, money and resources. Some of you may say that Kent went into that game with no game plan and no strategy for exiting victorious. Some may say that Kent lacks leadership, vision, common sense. But to all of you naysayers who say that Kent should cut and run, retreat, give up the battle, surrender, I say this...The surge is working! Sure, Kent only scored 10 points in a disastrous first half but if you look at what has happened recently, there is good news out there. You can bet that the mainstream media isn't going to report it but Kent actually outscored and outplayed UNLV in the second half of that game. So you see...The surge is working! We must stay the course. Otherwise, we allow the evil axis of Las Vegas, Nevada to gain a stronghold in the NCAA basketball tournament. A stronghold that could grow and move dangerously into the second or third round. If allowed to continue moving forward from there, UNLV would be only a few games away from taking over as the National Champions of the World!!!
So I say to you, Kent must never give up, UNLV must be stopped at any cost. Stay the course! The surge is working! It must work...our very tournament depends on it. Kent must emerge victorious.
So I say to you, Kent must never give up, UNLV must be stopped at any cost. Stay the course! The surge is working! It must work...our very tournament depends on it. Kent must emerge victorious.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Lucky # 8325
Bib numbers for Boston have been announced and I will be wearing # 8325. The way I understand it, this means I will be lining up in the first wave (10:00am start), 8th corral (so don't expect to see me on TV). They seed you based upon your qualifying time so that means there were over 8300 runners with faster qualifying times than me. Very humbling, not that I have any illusions about being a fast runner but wow, when it comes to Boston qualifiers, I'm pretty gosh darn average. But that's exactly what makes the Boston Marathon so great, it is the only marathon in the country (other than the Olympic Trials) where you have to qualify to race. As a result, it brings out all the fast runners. It is the Super Bowl of marathoning. It is a priviledge just to toe the line. Running a respectable race will be gravy.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Bracket Time
For the record, I haven't watched a single college basketball game in its entirety the entire season and I've only watched pieces of maybe a half dozen games. That being said, here is my final four: North Carolina, Georgetown, Memphis, UCLA. UCLA defeating NC for the title.
Now let's wait and see how I stack up against the "experts."
And Kent State will be changing their name to the Toucans for their game against UNLV. Why? Because they will be opening up "two cans" of whoop-ass for that game. (ba-dum-dum).
Now let's wait and see how I stack up against the "experts."
And Kent State will be changing their name to the Toucans for their game against UNLV. Why? Because they will be opening up "two cans" of whoop-ass for that game. (ba-dum-dum).
Monday, March 17, 2008
Beatle dung
OK, so Paul McCartney's divorce is final. There's really no news here. Except I just happened to read the following; The judge calculated Mill's annual income needs at about $1.2 million and included a sum of $5 million for her to buy a property in London.
Her annual NEEDS are $1.2 million??? No one's annual NEEDS are $1.2 million. No one's. They were married for what, 4 years? Sorry, but you leave with what you brung, sister. And this whole, "Beatrice (Paul's daughter) only gets $70,000 a year..." Indeed, most adults should be so lucky. Heather, go dance with the stars if you need some cash assistance. You've milked this "I never even heard of the Beatles before I met Paul" con for all it was worth.
Her annual NEEDS are $1.2 million??? No one's annual NEEDS are $1.2 million. No one's. They were married for what, 4 years? Sorry, but you leave with what you brung, sister. And this whole, "Beatrice (Paul's daughter) only gets $70,000 a year..." Indeed, most adults should be so lucky. Heather, go dance with the stars if you need some cash assistance. You've milked this "I never even heard of the Beatles before I met Paul" con for all it was worth.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Stop the March Madness!
This is a letter to the editor that I wrote a couple of weeks ago. Just thought I'd include it since the timing is right. Go Kent State! Go Pitt!
Editor: March Madness is here again and before you know it everyone will be filling out brackets and calling in sick on Thursday and Friday.
I can't help but wonder why we have to go through all of these basketball games just to crown a national champion. Wouldn't it be easier if we had a computer ranking system and polls we could put together, come up with the top two teams and then let those two teams play one game to determine the champion?
Why do we insist on making 65 teams battle it out on the court and actually force them to win their way to a title? Teams shouldn't have to prove they are the best, they should just be ranked by a combination of perceived talent and popularity. While we're at it, we could change the date of the title game and give each team six or seven weeks to prepare for the game. Now that would be excitement!
(Sorry, I can't seem to find my "sarcasm" emoticon.)
Editor replies: I love this plan! Sheer genius! But it screams for a name. How about Basketball Championship Simplified? We'll call it BCS for short.
Editor: March Madness is here again and before you know it everyone will be filling out brackets and calling in sick on Thursday and Friday.
I can't help but wonder why we have to go through all of these basketball games just to crown a national champion. Wouldn't it be easier if we had a computer ranking system and polls we could put together, come up with the top two teams and then let those two teams play one game to determine the champion?
Why do we insist on making 65 teams battle it out on the court and actually force them to win their way to a title? Teams shouldn't have to prove they are the best, they should just be ranked by a combination of perceived talent and popularity. While we're at it, we could change the date of the title game and give each team six or seven weeks to prepare for the game. Now that would be excitement!
(Sorry, I can't seem to find my "sarcasm" emoticon.)
Editor replies: I love this plan! Sheer genius! But it screams for a name. How about Basketball Championship Simplified? We'll call it BCS for short.
The marathon, 20 miles of hope followed by 6.2 miles of Truth.
The title of this post is credited to Gordo Byrn. Truer words may never have been spoken.
OK. I've been nursing a case of shin splints for the past 2+ weeks so I really wasn't sure what to expect from today's long run. The training schedule called for 17 miles with 14 at goal marathon pace (GMP). I wasn't sure how my shin would react to fast running so I started this morning deciding to totally play it by feel. If the shin hurt, then I would abandon the GMP run and just run a slower paced 20 miler (or as many miles as the shin would allow). I ran 2 warm up miles and then hit the accelerator. I decided to run at a cautious 7:40 pace (which would translate to a 3:20:00 marathon). It was difficult from the beginning but it was more about trying to get my wind than about any shin pain. I started repeating my mantra, "embrace the pace" and after a couple of miles I had settled into a comfortable 7:30-7:40 range pace.
I was pushing right along through mile 9 of the 14 at GMP when all of a sudden fatigue reared its ugly head. I faded to around 7:44 pace while I mentally battled it out inside my head. On the one hand, 9 miles at GMP is pretty good considering how much I've had to back off of my training recently to deal with the shin splints. On the other hand, my pace hadn't fallen "that" bad, so I decided to keep pushing and see if I could still end the run on pace overall. I told myself that this was perfect practice for when I'm tired at the end of a race. A perfect opportunity to push myself through the miles even though my brain was telling me to slow down. I fought through the final 4 miles averaging 7:47-7:50 pace, even resorting to a trick I learned where I count each step, 1 through 30, over and over again, for the last 2.5 miles. The counting actually makes me concentrate on running instead of thinking about how tired I am, how bad I feel, etc. It works.
So I felt pretty good about sticking with the run and toughing it out and then when I got home and did the math, it turns out I averaged exactly a 7:39 pace for the GMP portion of the run. That's what I'm talking about. It's slow compared to my 7:20 pace half marathon that I ran last month, but I'll take it. Checking my training log, I ran the same run at 7:28 pace last fall while training for my BQ (Boston Qualifier) in the Columbus Marathon. So I'm not on pace for a PR (personal record) at Boston, but as long as my shin holds up I should be able to run a respectable race. As for today, the shin held up just fine.
Here are my GMP splits from this morning; 7:40, 7:42, 7:25, 7:36, 7:27, 7:35, 7:33, 7:31, 7:36, 7:44, 7:50, 7:47, 7:50, 7:47. Total time: 1:47:12, average pace 7:39.
I feel this is one of the most important training runs of the entire 18 week schedule. When you nail it, you go into race day full of confidence. I wouldn't say that I nailed it but I'm a lot happier now than I was this time yesterday. Five weeks until Boston. Two hard weeks of training and then a three week taper. If I can hit a solid 20 miler each of the next two weekends, I'll be good to go.
OK. I've been nursing a case of shin splints for the past 2+ weeks so I really wasn't sure what to expect from today's long run. The training schedule called for 17 miles with 14 at goal marathon pace (GMP). I wasn't sure how my shin would react to fast running so I started this morning deciding to totally play it by feel. If the shin hurt, then I would abandon the GMP run and just run a slower paced 20 miler (or as many miles as the shin would allow). I ran 2 warm up miles and then hit the accelerator. I decided to run at a cautious 7:40 pace (which would translate to a 3:20:00 marathon). It was difficult from the beginning but it was more about trying to get my wind than about any shin pain. I started repeating my mantra, "embrace the pace" and after a couple of miles I had settled into a comfortable 7:30-7:40 range pace.
I was pushing right along through mile 9 of the 14 at GMP when all of a sudden fatigue reared its ugly head. I faded to around 7:44 pace while I mentally battled it out inside my head. On the one hand, 9 miles at GMP is pretty good considering how much I've had to back off of my training recently to deal with the shin splints. On the other hand, my pace hadn't fallen "that" bad, so I decided to keep pushing and see if I could still end the run on pace overall. I told myself that this was perfect practice for when I'm tired at the end of a race. A perfect opportunity to push myself through the miles even though my brain was telling me to slow down. I fought through the final 4 miles averaging 7:47-7:50 pace, even resorting to a trick I learned where I count each step, 1 through 30, over and over again, for the last 2.5 miles. The counting actually makes me concentrate on running instead of thinking about how tired I am, how bad I feel, etc. It works.
So I felt pretty good about sticking with the run and toughing it out and then when I got home and did the math, it turns out I averaged exactly a 7:39 pace for the GMP portion of the run. That's what I'm talking about. It's slow compared to my 7:20 pace half marathon that I ran last month, but I'll take it. Checking my training log, I ran the same run at 7:28 pace last fall while training for my BQ (Boston Qualifier) in the Columbus Marathon. So I'm not on pace for a PR (personal record) at Boston, but as long as my shin holds up I should be able to run a respectable race. As for today, the shin held up just fine.
Here are my GMP splits from this morning; 7:40, 7:42, 7:25, 7:36, 7:27, 7:35, 7:33, 7:31, 7:36, 7:44, 7:50, 7:47, 7:50, 7:47. Total time: 1:47:12, average pace 7:39.
I feel this is one of the most important training runs of the entire 18 week schedule. When you nail it, you go into race day full of confidence. I wouldn't say that I nailed it but I'm a lot happier now than I was this time yesterday. Five weeks until Boston. Two hard weeks of training and then a three week taper. If I can hit a solid 20 miler each of the next two weekends, I'll be good to go.
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