Boston

Kristen and her friend Wendy both got into the Boston Marathon for 2011! Apparently this year was the fastest the event ever sold out: 8 hours! Amazing. So Wendy's boyfriend Paul and I will be rooting them on at the race, beers in hand! Can't wait!

Long Beach Marathon Report

Another year has gone by and Kristen and I ran the Long Beach Marathon again, well Kristen did, I ran the half this time. Kristen absolutely CRUSHED her time from last year (which was her first marathon) by 8 MINUTES! Last year she ran a 3:33 and yesterday, even after falling, she blasted through the finish line at 3:25 flat. Amazing. Especially since around mile 10 she got tripped up and fell to her knees and hands. She got cut up a little, but everything seemed fine until she hit the hill at Cal State Long Beach. That's when she realized that she pulled a muscle in her upper quad. Apparently that didn't stop her from running really fast.

I, on the other hand, did not PR. In fact, I thought I was going to run really slow since I haven't really had the time (or maybe desire) to train properly to PR. But as anybody who has run knows that the energy of a race helps you when you need it most. I was less than 5 minutes slower than my last half which really surprised me. I thought I'd run a 2:15 or even a 2:20, but I came in just over 2:09. Not good, but still much better than I thought. So I'm going to reward myself to day with an iPhone 4! As a side note, I will never again eat one of those damn chewy Shot Blok things during a race. Training runs maybe, but never during a race. I had a few in my pocket and at 1 hour I pulled a couple out and started chewing just as I was coming into a water station. I damn near choked to death trying to get those things down and I was trying not to look like a tool while doing it. It sucked the energy out of my run for a few minutes as I really slowed down to get that crap out of my throat and teeth. Bad, bad idea.

Anyway, Kristen is now feverishly trying to register for Boston, but the site is mobbed with entrants. Cross your fingers.

Hot Hot Heat

Kristen and I ran yesterday (8 and 4 respectively), but of course I forgot to bring my camera. We went out again this morning on some pretty sore legs and pounded the pavement once more. After our run yesterday we went on a pretty strenuous 5 mile hike on West Maui and combine that with a little bit of time difference and today was tough. The humidity doesn't help either. Nonetheless, we stuck to our guns. But no hiking today. We both agreed that our bodies need a bit of rest (I know, we're on vacation and we still knock ourselves out). Anyway, we're gonna hit the beach and then head over to Paia which is kind of a little hippie town and hang out and have dinner. Tonight, live music!

Maui!

Kristen and I are in Maui for 8 days for vacation (oh the horror!). After half a year of construction on the house and her studying for her 10th and final architecture exam it is well earned if I do say so myself! Anyway, we drove around today and plotted out our runs for the week. I am going to take my still and video cameras with me on the runs and post them all week. Stay tuned!

Long Beach Half

What a difference a year makes. And a home addition. I'm running the LB half marathon this year (did the full last year), but Kristen is doing the full again. Just as well. She ran an 18 miler the other day and said it wasn't tough at all. In fact, the other people running with her were shocked that she didn't drink a ton of fluids or eat gels while running. She's a mutant I guess. Me, on the other hand, I'm shit. The desire and ambition just aren't there for me these days. Oh, I still go out and trudge out the miles, but not nearly as much as I should. One thing that's great about training this summer is that we've had an unusually cool one so it's made those morning runs a lot easier. I just fall to pieces in the heat so it's been a lot better lately. We'll see if we get an Indian summer this fall though. Anyway, all our funds were going to the construction of our addition so we've only been drinking your basic Trader Joe's, Sprouts/Henry's cheap wine. Hey, it's good enough to get you through the rough patches. Soon though, we need to hit wine country and try to scare up some deals. More on that later...

Mike Floyd...The Wall

As in: We've almost hit it. The house is almost done. The deck is kicking my ass but turning out great. But I hurt man. Deep down pain you know. I haven't been to the gym in two months. I ran a total of 0 miles last week. Too much to do on the house (we're trying to finish quickly to get our final inspection so we can then get an appraisal for a refi...it's a long story), and work is keeping me really busy. I was down in San Diego last week for Comic-Con (Crazy!) so I wasn't able to do any running. So yesterday was the first day I was able to get up early and actually crank out a measly 3 miles. I swear it's almost like starting all over again. Almost. I can handle the mileage, but my speed and breathing have gone into the crapper. Doesn't matter. I was just glad to pound the pavement.

We are getting our final inspection on the house on Monday. If all goes well (which it should) then there is just a little painting here and there inside and we have to move some furniture around. Give the house an overall cleaning inside and out and spiff up the yard and BOOM. Done. I figure I'll be back to a normal life soon. Fingers crossed. In the meantime RUN ON!

Construction

Haven't been running as much as I'd like to these days. We're adding on to our house so it's total chaos over here and we're doing some of the work ourselves so that's been kicking my ass. I'm sore all over so it makes the idea of going out for a run not as inviting. And since we're spending all our money on the house we haven't had a chance to go out and taste as much wine as we'd like. However, we did manage to break away last Saturday and go to our local tasting room. They served up a series of Malbecs from Argentina. Two brands: Lo Tengo and Kaiken. Both were fantastic so if you happen to see any on the shelves at your local store, give them a try. In the meantime. RUN ON!