2011 Mid-Apocalyptic 4-Horsemen 20K Solo Relay - Prologue

So, being bored one evening a few months back; perhaps suffering from a twinge of post-race letdown, I reached out to my Black Friday 20K Solo Relay co-conspirator and suggested a date for another “Run Like an Idiot” 20K. As luck would have it, the date we chose coincided with this year’s Midnight Madness, which was just a tad out of financial reach, slush-fund-wise, at $65 for 8.4 miles … no longer the value it was when we started in 2008.

Jenn’s boyfriend suggested something along the lines of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, because of the four legs.

1st Leg, 6AM = Famine: Breakfast time and we're hungry
2nd Leg, Noon = War: We're kicking ass and there is blood in the water
3rd Leg, 6PM = Pestilence: Sundown and the Summertime Evening bugs are coming out
Final Leg, Midnight = Death: No explanation needed

That made sense, but when I think of The Four Horsemen, I think only of Ric Flair, Arn Anderson and Ole Anderson, and Tully Blanchard, with James J. Dillon as their manager. I took the liberty of adding “Mid-“ to “Apocalyptic” for the event name since it was gonna go down between the “Judgment Day” that knucklehead had predicted and the Final Apocalypse on October 21st.

With the name settled upon rather quickly as “2011 Mid-Apocalyptic 4-Horsemen 20K Solo Relay,” it was time to begin recruiting. Between Kick, Slowtwitch, random Facebook and IRL friends, and fans of “Postcards From The Curb” I sent out about 100 invites, of which 9 responded with a firm “Yes”

Custom bibs were made up and distributed. With all of my Race Director duties completed and fulfilled, I settled down with a new find: Uinta Crooked Line Tilted Smile Imperial Pilsner



[I’ve dated so many girls who looked like her]

Tilted Smile breaks away from the crowd. Big in alcohol, yet approachable and versatile. Confidently balanced with Saaz hops and 100% Pilsen malt. Crisp and delightfully carbonated. Explore pairing with grilled meats and seafood.

Nine percent ABV is a bit much on a race night, but I ate well and figured that I pre-hydrated myself well enough to handle the whole 22 oz. bottle. It was a nice pale golden color with a couple of fingers worth of snowy white head. It had a light malty, citrusy, lemongrass flavor that would be PERFECT to clear the dust & sweat from a noggin after giving the lawn a good cutting … at the $9.99 price and being only available in bomber bottles [nicely cork-finished however], it’s ineligible for consideration as a LawnMower Beer Championship contender.

Then, of course, the Pre-Race Jitters started; then were quickly squelched by this lovely pint [or two] ... but hey, that's cool

On to the First Leg >>>

4 on the 4th-Independence Day Coffee Run

Facebook friend and “Postcards from the Curb” fan Thomas Constantine invited me to a little event he put together up in his town of Amsterdam, NY.

4 on the 4th-Independence Day Coffee Run
Time: Monday, July 4 · 8:00am - 10:00am
Location: Burger King, Rt 30, Amsterdam, NY

4-6-8 mile loops from Burger King
Slow pace
All welcome
Walkers and joggers
Holiday coffee after
Run with us or on ur own
Post ur freedom run here


I got up a little bit before 8 o’clock. I did my best to move out without waking D’Wife. D’Kid’s door was shut [to keep a marauding boy-cat out overnight] so she wasn’t awakened by my movements on this holiday morning. I did a little bit of Punk Yoga to warm up, and loosen the port-side hammy that’s always been a worry of mine [but not an actual PROBLEM, lately]

The sun was TRYING to break through the haze, but that was just warming the wet ground and streets to create MORE haze; haze that was just a couple of dew points away from becoming full-blown fog!!! Not much of breeze of any kind was to be found, and there was the slightest scent of pine smoke from the small forest fires that have been popping up this past week [all quickly dealt thing, thank God, suggesting that they’ve been controlled burns]

Without a real plan of where to go when I left the house, I selected a route for this comp that only CROSSED Atco Ave., not run down it, because I wasn't sure exactly when the Boro's parade would be, and I'd hate to cruise through the festivities, especially without anything Patriotic on. In fact, I was wearing shoes from a Japanese company, whose name is an acronym of the Latin phrase anima sana in corpore sano, which translates to "Healthy Soul in a Healthy Body.” My running shorts were from a company who originally made boots for the Germans in WWII, and eventually bought their way into Olympic prominence with shady back-room cash deals as the era of amateurism came to an end. Even my Old Navy [or as we say at home “Old Shanyblay”] singlet with “Honolulu” across it COULD BE a reference to a sovereign Pacific kingdom that’s been illegally occupied [allegedly] for a hundred years or so.

I made the first mile mark in 8:15; quite quick for me, even more so considering D'Wife & I rode very nearly 20 miles on Saturday. I was fortunate that traffic was sparse and I was able to jump the light without losing much time crossing The Pike. Believe it or not, I was still debating on which path I would take this morning; I have a LOT of options and many decision points along the way. I guess all these little variables keep my runs from being boring, as I can change them up on the fly. Since this WAS semi-official, and kind of on the clock, I picked a familiar course that I’ve measured as being 4 miles exactly … well not TOO far over anyway; maybe a tenth or two???

I crossed a very empty Atco Avenue. It occurred to me at this point that in my WHOLE life, I’d marched in a Fourth of July Parade maybe twice, three time tops. This was would have been when I was in the Boy Scouts, in Haddonfield. I DO remember decorating my bike with red/white/and blue streams in Connecticut, but we just rode them around the neighborhood for the day. I didn’t even join my Little League team [Bliss Market] as I remember. I can certainly recall walking down King’s Highway to music and clapping while in the Scouts, however vaguely … I’m sure I enjoyed the applause.

Mile Two was uneventful: saw a couple of cyclists who agreed the morning was disgusting, but congratulated themselves and me on or determination / dedication by saying "Hey, we're out here, right?" I enjoyed the cool shade of The Green Room, where trees that were toppled by the tornado almost a year ago still lean, broken and splintered, without the landowner’s apparent care to what will become of them. I’m sure the woodland creatures who have made new homes beneath the exposed roots and hanging boughs aren’t complaining. There were a couple kids fishing in the pond, wearing baggy shorts, over-sized skate shoes and flat-brimmed trucker hats cocked just slightly off-center.

Sixteen and a half, AT the Half. I guess I missed that “Slow pace” part in the invitation???

Turning around, I ground up the rise back to the little light at Jackson Road. D’Wife always comments when we’re on our bike rides and have to wait here, “How many Tattoo Shops does Atco need?” … I don’t really think it’s reflection on the town as much as it is a reflection of the folks who pass THROUGH our town. Jackson Road is the only way to or from Atco Raceway. Sometimes, maybe, someone just decides “I need a little more ink; I have a spot that needs filling” I could be wrong

Crossing the NJ Transit tracks again, I passed a couple of families loading up their vans for the day. Proudly sporting their Phillies gear, wondered what they had planned for the day as Phillies-Marlins wasn’t until 6PM. I guess it’s never too early to tail gate??? Perhaps they were on their way down the Shore, perhaps [God willing] to torment some Mets fans while away for the day.

I reached the Assumption School track at the end of Mile Three. Half a dozen walkers were there, doing the SMART thing on this muggfest: Going round and round and taking it easy while getting at least some miles in. One of them [an aging guidette or perhaps a cougar-in-training, I couldn’t tell through my fogged and sweat-glazed specs] had to do things her own way and be the ONLY person doing her laps clockwise]

I must've picked up some time on the drop from our Church to Domino's, [admiring the crop of grapes growing on the chainlink fence adjacent to the Police Station] because I sure didn't FEEL like I strung FOUR 8:something-teens together. That last half mile is always such a drag too. Running on the traffic-facing side, it always seems desolate; there’s always so much gravel, cars-trash and roadkill to step around, and not the slightest bit of shade on the approach home, not matter WHAT time of day. Then there are the JYDs who always come out to say “Good FUCKING Morning!!! ASSHOLE!!!” Yeah, it’s a pretty soul-sucking way to end even the best run.

I got it done in a damn satisfactory 32:50. And no ... not ONE, single, sprinkler was on!!!

Open Letter to my Morning Run

Dear Dawn;

Starting tomorrow, we won’t be running together for a while. My schedule’s gonna take a bit of a shift for the Summer and although I’ll still be getting up at the same time as always, the unfortunate truth is that I won’t have enough time in the morning for even a short meet-up with you.

It turns out that if I’m going to do any training at all, I’ll have to return to my after-work roots; firing up the Sunset Gun and hitting the track for a couple dozen laps [instead of trucking all over the Gayborhood and UPenn]. You know how I’ve always missed those jogs under the sky-blue pink skies around 6 or 7 o’clock back in the evening when I lived in Philly … well now I get to do them all over again, and share them with D’Kid this time around. How awesome will that be??? Sure, I’ll just be running in circles, while she does her Summer Reading on the bleachers, but she’s a great coach and trainer; she ALWAYS makes sure I’m properly fueled and hydrated and has been known to miscount my laps accidently on purpose to ensure a good session.

I wish there was another solution. Getting up even earlier than I already do on workdays was out of the question; 9PM is NOT a reasonable bedtime for a Husband or Dad, just to get a few miles in at like 4:30AM. I DO have my priorities.

Granted, things were not the easiest when we first started hanging out back in the Winter of 2000. Maybe that had something to do with The Big Quit, I dunno??? But after returning to running, the past few years have been great and the whole family appreciates the Endorphin Therapy we’ve been cultivating.

This is NOT a permanent change; only until September, when D’Kid goes back to school. In the meantime, I’ll try to get some Sunrise-ish miles in on the weekends [not promising, though. We’ve got some bike training to do , as well]. Who knows … without the “I gotta stop and get home” derailments that can mess up a good groove, I have the flexibility to go longer or faster training after work than I could before. When we reconvene, I might even be a better runner for it???

To be totally cliché … See you in September

R

National Running Day 2011

On National Running Day, it bears repeating ... Please consider those who are less fortunate, less mobile ... for those of us who run, walk or ride for Causes such as MS, MDA, ACS, and so on, we see "but for the Grace of God, go I"

Take a moment to offer a prayer to those who really WANTED to Run today ... maybe later today, or tomorrow, or on the weekend; do One More Mile, for one of them

Runnerversary 2011

As is Customary on my Runnerversary, I have scrubbed the Databases and Running Logs. I have reconciled the results to my OWN satisfaction and am NOW Closing the Book on the 2010-2011 Running Year [June 1, 2010 - May 31, 2011]

Mileage-wise, it was a disappointing year [only 500-something miles run] but factoring about 6 weeks of injury lay-off from the Big POING!!! I guess I did Okay.

The obvious highlight to the year was [without a doubt] the Inaugural Black Friday 20K Solo Relay. Not ONLY did I finally COMPLETE La Tortuga's 4x5x6, but I got some of my new online friends to join in the fun.

My only other bib-wearing event was Broad Street. I didn't do as well as I planned originally, but then again ... let's be honest ... I didn't exactly train my best for it either. I did barely 60% of the mileage I had sketched out in February, and only ONE run longer than 6 miles in the whole training cycle. As Theia put it [quite facetiously, I might add]: "Always a good idea to race on raw ability alone. :)"

We WON’T make that mistake again!!!

I got an email today from a friend of mine addressing my “attitude” towards training and competition and such:

Pete
Just wanted to drop you a line and let you know you're my running hero. You've got about the best relationship with the sport of anyone I know.

Pete’s an accomplished marathoner, and he’s calling ME his hero??? Pretty high praise for this Landlocked Old Surfer Dude.

Well, Pete … I’m planning to continue on kinda the same way as always, so enjoy