My Adidas

Just bought my first pair of Adidas running shoes since starting my 'comeback' at the end of 2004, a lightweight trainer called the Adizero Tempo. I had worn the Adidas Marathon 80 racing flats back in high school because my idol at the time, Craig Virgin, wore them. They were damn good flats too. These days I'm not tied to a single brand because a) I'm too old to hero worship and b) I'm not fast enough to get free shoes on a regular basis from any shoe company. The Adizero Tempo has a nice ride. When I bought them at Second Sole last week I liked them better than the newest versions of the Nike Zoom Elite and Mizuno Elixir, which were too soft for my tastes. The previous versions of the Elite and Elixir were right on and I loved them and even raved about them here. Why do shoe companies keep changing things? Right now, I wear the Tempos for my regular workouts and the Nike Zoom Jasari+ for my faster workouts. It feels good wearing lightweight trainers all week. As I've become faster, heavier more cushioned shoes have become more uncomfortable to me. Guess I have a need for speed!

Read more...

Pain Don't Hurt!

It's the last weekend of March but sub-freezing temperatures greeted us at the Canal Park Home Run Trot 5K race in Akron. In addition to the brutal cold -- the winds were REAL rough out there -- the general consensus was that the course was a little long. It appears that the finish line was further back than last year. My teammate, Ron Dorfeld, had it at 3.17 miles on his Garmin and said that the 3 mile mark was accurate, but that the finish was long. Anyway, to get to the point, I was 6th overall in 17:48 and the second master behind Ron who ran 17:16. Based on my 3 mile split I probably should have been around 17:15, which makes sense based on my 5 mile time 2 weeks ago. In any case, I'm really happy with the race and if nothing else it was a good threshold gut buster as my pained expression gives evidence too. This great photo was taken today by Dan Dudek, who emailed me via the Team Good River site.

Read more...

Elephant Stone Records Blowout Sale

Just a quick announcement to say that Elephant Stone Records is having a Spring blowout sale. All CDs are just $5 (including postage). This 'cheaper than crack' offering will only last until June 1.

Read more...

Team Good River R.I.P.

Tim Budic decided to shut down Team Good River effective April, so I just wanted to send out a quick thank you to him for letting this masters dude be on the team over the last 6 months. It's been a great experience and a lot of fun, especially competing at the Club Nationals Cross Country Championships in December and enjoying some post-race brews with the guys afterwards. With so much running talent in NE Ohio, hopefully another similar team will pop up. Thanks for all your hard work Tim! I'll be sporting the TGR colors until I get on another team and look forward to busting out a nice 5K this weekend in Akron.

Read more...

Beer Drinking Award Winner!


Giving props to Newcastle Bown Ale while receiving my 2nd place Master award at the St. Malachi 5 Mile Race.

Read more...

Beer of the Moment: Kentucky Breakfast Stout

(By Stephen Magee) OK if you can run as fast as you can to a store that carries great beer and buy this beer! Better yet ask your neighbor for his hummer, mortgage your house (it will hit your wallet hard at $20-24.00 a four pak) and drive to the store and buy as much as you can. If you are a fan of beer you will know this one, it has been rated and called by some the best beer in America, the best stout in the world, and some other very flattering names. I think it may be the best stout I have ever had. Last night I had several friends over with refined beer palates and they were Wowed by this one. This is the Founder's "Kentucky Breakfast" a stout that is aged for two years in Bourbon barrels. You will get a strong undertone of bourbon in each sip. Who thinks of ideas like this? It is very dark in color almost black, and very smooth with many complex flavors to enjoy while you sip this beverage. ABV 10%, IBU 25, Founders recommends that you warm to at least 42 and serve in a brandy snifter style glass. Heck it is even great tasting from a pint glass. If you buy one beer this year make it this beer. I give it my highest marks. Just stop reading this and go get some. It will be gone soon.

Read more...

St. Malachi 5 Mile - Masters PR 28:40

Had a great race this morning at the St. Malachi 5 mile run. I was 12th overall out of about 1,000 runners and the 2nd master behind my Team Good River teammate Ron Dorfeld who clocked a 27:54. My time was 28:40, which was a 13 second masters PR. Really happy with my race as this was a tough ass hilly course. Last year I ran 29:36 here and this year's course was even tougher as they reversed part of it, having us climb up a really tough gradual hill between miles two and three instead of having us run down it. Anyway, this really bodes well for 2008. I think sub 28 is definitely in the cards. My splits were solid and even: 5:43, 5:43, 5:49, 5:47, 5:38. On a funny note, the headband I was wearing flew off of me near the 2 mile mark. I didn't even notice it was missing until after the race but a couple of my teammates saw it fly off of me!

Read more...

Hungry Like The Spear Tooth

Just got back from seeing 10,000 BC. Not the best movie of all time by any means, but much better than the critics have been giving it credit for. This Sabre Tooth Tiger, or as it was referred to in the movie as a "Spear Tooth," got me thinking. Man used to have to kill to survive, but now we just sit around in cubicles, getting the life blood sucked out of us as we push paper around and dick around on the computer. Many of us, luckily not me (my wife rocks!), also get further emasculated as we get dragged around to the mall on weekends, buying stuff for our homes to somehow justify putting up with all the work crap during the week. The novel (and movie) "Fight Club" had it right. Men need to learn how to be men again, not in this faggy drum circle kind of way where we get in touch with our feelings, but by pushing ourselves to the limit. Chuck Palahniuk is right -- men have no business knowing what a duvet is! No, not all of us can kick the shit out of each other like in Fight Club, but we can do some sort of sport whether it's pumping iron, cycling, or in my case, competitive long distance running. I never feel more alive than when I'm redlining in a race and my legs and lungs are giving out on me but I keep pushing myself to the limit. Somehow it makes my life more tolerable when I come to the office with dead legs from my workout, numb enough not to give a shit about what gets thrown on me when I get to my desk.

Read more...

Great Spira Article on Letsrun.com

There's a really great in-depth interview with Spira Footwear's head honcho Andy Krafsfur on the premiere long distance running website, Letsrun.com. The article can be found here. One of the interesting things pointed out was how the Houston Marathon tried to make Spira disappear... literally! The photo on your right is of the winner, David Cheruiyot. As you can see he is wearing a Spira singlet and a pair of the most excellent Stinger racing flats, which I have raved about in the past. The photo on the left, which is on the Hoston Marathon website is the exact same photo, but Spira has been removed from Cheruiyot's singlet and the photo has been cropped so you cannot see the shoes. Anyway, please read the interview. Really great stuff.

Read more...

Kenyan Cross Country Championships 2008

It doesn't get much more competitive than this!

Read more...

The Hellacopters - Carry Me Home

These Swedes know how to rock!

Read more...

  © Designed by Mousetrap Marketing from Ourblogtemplates.com

Back to TOP