Tuesday, December 30, 2008

HEAD IN THE CLOUDS


Hi Gang. Last post of 2008. Got a pretty good week of training in in preparation for my 50k race in the Buckeye Trail Winter
50k. Ran on Saturday morning with TriEric and his wife Aimee. Also met one of their friends, who at age 65 is my hero. This
man has a spark and can go all day.. He's like a lithium battery. All three are doing the Half Marathon in the competition.
Eric left us shortly after we began and ran his own kinda workout and I was able to keep up with the other two. However that
morning was day #1 of ending the holiday meal marathon. I felt some of the extra weight, thats for sure. We ran on a 60 degree
morning and got to hop on a couple of trails with good inclines and descents, yet it was good and mucky. Loved it!!!!! All
told, I ran 1 hour and 40 minutes beginning at Station Road in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park System. We even hopped into
some puddles for the heck of it!!!! I hope we never grow up.
The Bride got me a Garmin 305 and its been a hoot just checking out the features of it. Tuesday AM I used it for the first time
in doing a 3.5 mile run in the North Chagrin Reservation.. I love the bridle trails and with recent warm weather followed by
very cold morning, there were lots of Horse hoofs to navigate!!!! Look out for twisted ankles!!!!
I entered the workout stuff in the Garmin Training Center on my laptop. It was out and back with the final part of the out going
up a 9 percent grade!!! Fun stuff. Had no trouble locating satellite connection too. The Satellite tracking my movements is
fascinating to me. In one way you might think of Big Brother but I look at it that technology cares about little old me and
that this technology is going to help me better myself in training and racing.

Of course above yours truly but not as high as the Satellites are the clouds. The Bride took this great shot of the clouds
when we were flying back from Thanksgiving in Florida. Its a serene view. Natures Bleach White Cotton Candy. Whats going on
under those clouds. How are the lives of the people?? When those people look up and see those clouds, are they in the midst of
a tough day?? What limits do they set for themselves?? Do they see a never ending chance to explore whats out there?? Or do
they look at the Clouds and conclude that its dreary?? That the sun is gone and that today sucks? Just wondering.

If you follow the NFL you might know the Browns fired their General Manager and Head Coach so that has kept us busy. Spent
Monday doing a bunch of Live Shots from the Browns Headquarters. I said, in many ways the Coach, Romeo Crennel was walking
coachings Green Mile the last 6 weeks as everyone expected him to get fired. You hear the saying about "Good things happening
to good people"? Not in this case. Romeo is a very classy man..honorable and all that. However its all about results baby!!!
Finally. I hope all of you have a safe New Year Celebration and that your 2009 is a Blast!!!

17 comments:

Unknown said...

Best wishes on your 50K.

I love the clouds photo too. :-)

Donald said...

Yeah .. the writing was on the wall for Romeo many weeks ago.

have a great New Year, JT. That 50K is coming soon!

Kelly said...

That is a nice picture. And 50K is a LOT. I can't even calculate how many miles that is (probably 49K too many).

And I'm curious... Is your station laying off a lot of people? Maybe since your station is larger, you aren't having the same problems we are... We've lost 3 ppl just this week!

Kelly said...

15 wow! That shows what a big station you are at... 15 people would be almost our entire crew!

Kevin said...

Go you on the 50K.

I love my 305. It is especially great with the bike kit for tracking my workouts on the trainer

Missy said...

Happy New Year and good luck on the 50K!

Shannon said...

Happy New Year, I got my Garmin at Christmas. The 405 Forerunner.

Wes said...

Very cool! Check out SportsTrack too to play with your Garmin. It didn't do splits when I was playing with it, but the map is much better.

Happy New Year!

Brian said...

I've had my 305 for over a year. It's a great tool. However, do not rely on it for your pacing even for a road course marathon. I also use mine on my bike. So that it doesn't move around too much I use some pipe insulation. Looks tacky but it works.

TRI TO BE FUNNY said...

Here's to a great race and a spectacular 2009! Look forward to following along!

Rainmaker said...

Sweet on the 305! Now go get yourself Sports Tracks (it's a free download, just google it), soooo much better than Garmin Training Center. A gazillion times better.

Happy New Year!

Marci said...

Good luck on the 50k!

The shot fo the clouds is absolutely beautiful!

Happy New Year!

Mnowac said...

Happy new year! I love my Garmin so much, glad you got one. It's such a fun training toy.

Jeff said...

Happy New Year and good luck on your 50k.

No surprise on Crenel, but Savage was a surprise. His draft record is Baltimore was stellar. Maybe it was really Ozzie! Oh well, good man, he'll be working somewhere soon.

Steve Stenzel said...

You and I differ GREATLY on the idea of "fun" (regarding your 9 % grade remark...)

Good luck with the 50K!!

Happy New Year!!

The Lazy Triathlete said...

Good luck on the 50K. I know you will rock. Can a man pushing 40 actually use the word rock in the context I just used it? Questions that have no answers.

rocketpants said...

Enjoy the Garmin...i *finally* am learning how to use it. It is quite a powerful tool. Lots of ways to make it analyze data for you.