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The end of the week (and potentially a rant about mud and other muck)
Last time I wrote, I had just the one run in the books for last week (albeit a solid one). I ended up with a decent week.
Thu – 5 miles, 42:30 around my cousins' neighborhood, super buggy, kind of muggy
Fri – 9 miles, let's say 69 minutes on the greenway to Umstead and back, legs felt so good I had to really reign it in, even did five 30s strides in the last mile
Sat – am: 3 miles slow with a co-worker at the Great Human Race in Durham//pm: 13 miles, 1:48, up the greenway to Umstead, got caught in a thunderstorm
Sun – 15 miles, 2:02 at Umstead from Old Reedy Creek, same run as Wednesday but slower course loop (1:41ish), legs felt really freaking good, threw in a pick-up or two when I felt like it
Total for week — 60 miles, about 8 hours
The week before I ran Stone Cat, I ran 64 miles. Of course, back then 64 miles was not nearly as drastic a taper as it is now. And I just looked back through my log at the actual runs I did. I had a pretty crappy race at Stone Cat and I know there are a lot of factors that go into the success or failure on any given day but maybe I could learn something from the end game last year. For one thing I was running hard a lot. I remember thinking that I was supposed to taper off volume, not intensity. But I think I ratcheted UP the intensity instead, which may have been why I was so shot after only 25 miles in the race. Who knows. All I know is that this time, I barely feel like I ran at all last week.
I saw John again Friday night. I also took my brother who has been suffering from IT band issues. Saturday when I went running my legs felt as close to 100% as they've felt in a long time. Yesterday was even better. This week is all about not doing anything stupid, which should seem obvious but I know me well enough to know this is going to take a lot of mental focus. I will not be doing a whole lot of running, obviously. Just enough to keep my legs remembering what running is and so that I don't start on Saturday and need an hour or two to shake off the rust. Like I mentioned before, I'm not nearly as anxious or nervous about it, I'm also not as keyed up. I was actually chastised yesterday on the phone with my mom for not sounding more excited and enthusiastic about it all. I'm more excited for the people coming here, really. By the time Saturday morning rolls around, I know my legs will be fresh and ready and I will run as hard as I can for 100 miles and whatever that ends up being, fantastic.
Now a rant! Friday as I was running along the airport spur at Umstead, a woman on a mountain bike passed me, then turned around and asked, "have you ever done a Tough Mudder?" At first I didn't respond because it was so out of the blue but a quick look around revealed I was the only other human anywhere in sight. So I said no. But she wasn't done! She replied, matter of factly, "Don't worry, there's one up here in October." Then she rode off and that was the end of it. What. The. Fuck? Ummmm, thanks? Clearly, I was really concerned that I had missed my chance. I spent the next mile or so pondering whether maybe I look like the type of guy who would do a mud run. That seemed to be the theme of the weekend too. My cousin and his neighbor were doing one in Charlotte Saturday morning. And then an old friend I hadn't seen in a few years stopped on her way from NY to SC and hung out Saturday night. We went to Bella Mia, because it's my favorite restaurant down here and that's where I like to take all my visitors. It came up that I was running the 100 miler in a week. My friend is an OT and so she immediately asked how my joints are holding up, and telling me horror stories about the runners she's seen. It's a similar conversation I've had with people I haven't seen in a while or who I just met when they find out what I like to do. The whole HOW do you do that, what do you think about, do you listen to music, you're probably going to get injured. When we picked up my brother's friend, who is about to become a PT, the questions about the prospects of me eventually getting injured continued.
Relating back to mud runs, my friend also asked me if I had ever done a Tough Mudder. She went on to say that if running is not enough of a challenge anymore, "and it seems like it's getting to that point," I should try that. And it was there that I really grasped the disconnect. People seem to assume that I've gravitated to ultras and run so much because I want the biggest challenge. While it's certainly accurate to say I like to push my limits and challenge myself, I am by no means bored with running. I am a runner. I am not really much of an athlete (I recently went 0 for 5 in a students vs staff basketball game at my school). I am not a Navy SEAL and don't aspire to be. I no longer care how much I can bench press or how big my biceps are. While many people find the idea of running for nearly an entire day in the woods akin to torture, I actually LOOK FORWARD to the prospect. I am a runner. I like to RUN, not crawl under barbed wire or leap through fire or any of that stuff. I don't begrudge or judge anyone THEIR enjoyment of it, but to me it holds zero appeal. My friend mentioned that she had a friend who did something called the World's Toughest Mudder which was apparently some sort of 24 hour death march in NJ in the winter where people lost toes and were hospitalized and almost no one finished. If I wanted to suffer like that, I'd find a way to enter the Barkley Marathons (which one day I think I'd like to, actually). I think part of my problem is the commercialization of those sorts of races (Tough Mudders, Warrior Dash, Spartan Race, etc etc). They seem to be about cramming the maximum number of people into a space, with waves that go all day. And clusterfucks for parking. Money money money, kind of like how I feel about Rock n Roll races. I gravitate to ultras and trail races and low key local races like the BRRC puts on because the atmosphere jives with my temperament. And it's not contrived, the trails are what they are, and usually they're plenty tough on their own. So dear everyone, please stop asking about this. I don't care about mud runs. I did a mud run already. It was called the Umstead Trail marathon.
Of course the other question was my opinion on Vibrams and other barefoot running things. I really should just print copies of the Hanson's take on this I read a few years ago, it would save me some time. I've started just telling people I can't wear them because I have webbed toes, but I might start making up more elaborate lies (the webbed toes thing is true though). I don't mind talking about this subject as much as the previous one though, because I HAVE experience on both ends of the extreme and it's at least a relevant running related discussion. As I'm writing, I realize I was pretty grouchy and got progressively grouchier as the weekend wore on. By the time we got home from the bowling alley at like 2 am Sunday morning, I was ready for everyone to leave and give me some time to be alone and not have to wear clothes in the apartment and not have to go out til much later than I want to and not have to be conversational and all that. I was probably mostly just tired.
And that's probably enough for now. I'm gonna have a lot of time this week to think and that's always a little dangerous. Thursday night cannot come soon enough.
Til next time, RUN HAPPY everyone!
March 26, 2012 at 10:38 am Tips from the front of the pack 3 comments
Not really a recap (or, some words that talk about running-type things in a sorta-chronological manner)
It's been a little while. I didn't recap the last week or so because there wasn't much to recap; at least relative to the previous month or two. I suppose this is what should be referred to as a taper. Not that I've ever tapered for a 100 mile race. I don't think I did that good a job tapering for the 50 last year and that was my last 'A' race (and one of my shittier performances from the whole year) and I still don't really know what I'm doing. I know how to do work and grind week after week but when it comes to the end game, I'm pretty clueless. Luckily there are some (a lot) of people smarter than me and I've tried to glean some wisdom from them, but I've probably unintentionally ignored quite a bit of good advice in the process. In continuing the theme of putting more importance on enjoying myself (because running is one of the only things I can actually FIND enjoyment in lately) I went ahead and ran for 12 hours just three weeks before the Umstead. Was it too much? Probably. I wasn't exactly running hard, and I spent about an hour of that time span in the bathroom (at least it felt like about an hour). It wouldn't have been too bad (TOO bad) were it not for the twenty-some hours of driving that went along with it in the two and a half day span that included the 12 hours of running. Covering 84.5 miles was a good confidence boost that I'll be able to at least finish 100 miles but my legs felt like garbage last week.
Fortunately John worked me over last Friday and I all the aches and troubling pains subsided enough that I had two decent runs last weekend. First was 22 miles at Umstead included 2xTurkey Creek loop. The next was the Tobacco Road half, sort of. You won't find me in the results. But I just happened to also be running 13.1 miles starting and finishing at the USA Baseball complex and spending a couple miles on the ATT. I had a bib on too. Go figure. My legs were pretty shot from the longish Umstead run about 12 hours earlier, and I went out hard intending to crash and burn. I got my wish; I felt like crap from miles 8-12. For some reason the last mile went better again, weird. Still, running a 1:25 like that made for a good workout. 51 miles for the week, lots of extra free time.
This week has been junk too. I spent Monday on the recliner watching the entire first season of The Walking Dead and it was awesome. Tuesday managed to top it somehow (well not somehow, in this case awesome company, good beer, ticken chacos, and bar trivia top getting drunk at home watching great television and eating a burrito). Wednesday I got back to it, running an Umstead course loop, possibly the last time I do that in full before the race. I was a little pressed for time because I had to pick Scott up from the airport, operating on less than 3 hours sleep, and probably dehydrated. Still, the plan was to jog easy to the airport turnaround, run a full course loop hardish, and jog easy back to the car. Result? A single loop PR (1:27ish). Not sure how I ran faster than that for a full marathon though, except that I probably ran Manz miles here still.
This weekend, Scott's still in town and now there are only eight days til race day. Running will be limited, and I think it should be and I'll have enough distractions to ensure I don't do something dumb like run hills for four hours Sunday morning. I'm pretty excited about next weekend, but in a way that hasn't put a whole lot of stress on me unlike last November before Stone Cat. Back then, I had made it a very singular goal that would basically decide whether the entire year was a success or a failure (in my mind at least). Right now, I care, and of course I want to do well, but ultimately I'm just looking forward to seeing some really good friends and some really fast people who I've admired a while. It's March and I have a long year still ahead of me so whatever happens next Saturday, it won't swing the needle a whole lot in either direction. It's not apathy, it's perspective. Or something. At least I AM sure that I still have no idea what I'm doing, and I'm kinda starting to like it that way.
Til next time, RUN HAPPY everyone!
March 23, 2012 at 12:09 pm Tips from the front of the pack 3 comments
Weekly-ish recap
So it's the middle of a new week and at this point seems kinda pointless to write a weekly recap, except for the sake of regularity. I obviously already wrote waaaaaay too much about Saturday's race so I can gloss over that and I think I'll just throw in a bonus recap of how this week has gone so far (spoiler alert: pretty ok)
Mon – am: 4 miles, 37:15, Duke XC//pm: sleep from 5:30p – 6:15a Tuesday morning, A NEW PR!
Tue – am: nothing//pm: 29 miles, 4:06, BCG to Umstead w/2 x Turkey Creek loop and 7 x super steep hill on greenway on way back
Wed – am: 4 miles, 38 min, Duke XC, drizzle//pm: 21 miles, 3 hours, Duke XC, five 4+ mi loops w/extensions, water after each
Thu – am: 3 miles, 29:30 Duke XC//pm: 14 miles total incl. 5 x mile (5:55, 5:50, 5:48, 5:43, 5:38), 400 slow jog after each, 800 recovery after set then 4×200 (35, 36, 34, 34), 200 jog
Fri – am: 5 miles, 43 minutes, Duke XC//pm: random stationary recumbent biking and foam rolling
Sat - am: 34 miles total incl Umstead Marathon (3:00:36), 2.5 up, 5.5 after, slowish
Sun – am: 16 miles, 2:45, Umstead; first 6ish w/Alicia Parr (who was the Umstead women's champion!) on Loblolly trail, last 10 miles solo on Company Mill and bridle trails//pm: random splashing around in pool
Total for week — 130 miles again, about 17.5 hours
Mon – am: 3 miles, 29 minutes, Duke XC, legs feeling better//pm: 15 miles, 2:08, Duke XC, three 4+ mi loops and one 3 mile loop
Tue – am: 4 miles, 38 minutes, Duke XC, legs normal again//pm: 15 miles, 2:17, Umstead, did a course loop+ with Kara B who was thinking about pacing a friend at the 100 and wanted to experience the course first, legs felt great
Wed – am: 8 miles, 68 minutes, Duke XC, 2 loops, beautiful morning, legs feel fantastic
So far — 45 miles, 175 miles and about 24 hours of running since last recap.
Tonight I'm gonna get back to the gym and do my weekly squats which I've missed the past two weeks (sorry Katie!) and then go to the Fullsteam Run (which I've also missed for the past month or so) wherein I'll try to find some guys who are feeling spry (there always seems to be a couple people at the Fullsteam run who are looking to push the pace) and do another half-assed workout, something in the neighborhood of 25-26 minutes for 4 miles with a few before and after.
I'm really pleased that my legs feel completely recovered from Saturday's effort already. That's the cool thing about running "shorter" races (and I say that fully aware that most people don't consider a marathon short by any stretch) — the recovery is pretty short. I was trying to explain it to Kara last night, the different feeling after that sort of effort vs. the 44 miler I ran two weeks ago. The Sunday run after the marathon felt heavy, like I had done max effort squats the day before. The day or so after the longer efforts, it's not so much heavy as just tired, like I'd done a bajillion air squats instead. The key to recovering from either, I think, is sitting on my ass most of the rest of the day on Sunday watching sports and eating whatever. I finally talked to my parents about the race and we laughed because now when my mom hears I ran a marathon, she thinks, "So? You do that every week." Which is essentially true.
I've got a little more than three weeks to go before the 100 miler. This is my last higher volume week, after this I'll start to taper off. Kara was asking me some questions about training on our run last night and the main recurrent theme is that I really have almost no idea what I'm doing. I've never done anything like this before, I don't have a coach to bounce ideas off of (and can't exactly afford one), Jess just tells me I'm crazy now, I just go out and run, kind of a lot. There is the minimum of structure but really I'm just doing whatever. But more importantly than knowing what I'm doing… I'm having FUN doing it. A lot of fun. I can't remember the last time I looked forward to going out for a run almost every single day like I do now. A lot of that probably has to do with the weather, and the places I'm running, but still, it's a new feeling for me and the results are hard to argue with right now. If it ain't broke, right?
Til next time… RUN HAPPY everyone!
March 7, 2012 at 12:28 pm Tips from the front of the pack 5 comments
2012 Umstead Trail Marathon race report
Saturday morning I did something I haven't done in almost three years. I ran an official marathon, the Umstead Trail Marathon. Since doing the National Marathon back in March of 2009, I've run the marathon distance or more plenty of times, most of those times coming in the past year or so, but have not actually run in an actual marathon race. I actually hadn't planned on running THIS race either, but earlier this year the opportunity presented itself, as Bull City Running had some entries available. I figured that I would likely be doing a long run at Umstead anyway, so why not have some fun and make part of it a race.
Fast forward to this week. After the 10 miler last Sunday and the ensuing drive back to NC, I started the week off exhausted, which is why I slept for 13 hours from Monday evening to Tuesday morning. I spent the week acting like I wasn't racing by doing back-to-back long runs Tuesday and Wednesday (29 at Umstead Tuesday, 21 on the Duke XC trail Wednesday) and followed that up with a track workout Thursday night. My "taper" consisted of running 5 easy miles Friday morning. The forecast for Saturday was somewhere between biblical rain and The End of the World. I woke up around 4am Saturday to the sounds of the promised rains. Rolling over, I briefly considered canceling my alarm for 6:45 and just sleeping in. But, I seem to have developed an affinity for suffering and misery so at a quarter to seven I was swinging my legs out of bed and going about the process of getting ready. This was actually the first race I'd be doing IN the Triangle area since moving here, and it was real nice not to have to either 1- travel hours the night before to someplace or 2- wake up REALLY early to drive an hour or so to the race site. This was basically in my backyard. Cereal, bathroom, dressed, supplies, bathroom, out the door around 8ish. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the rain seemed to have mostly abated and while still overcast and threatening looking, it seemed like a pretty nice morning for running.
I drove to my usual spot on Old Reedy Creek Rd, put on my Pure Grits, grabbed the handheld full of Perpetuem, and started to jog up to the start. It's about 2.5 miles from the car to Camp Lapihio where the race start/finish was (and also where the 100 will start/finish, conveniently enough). I got there around 8:45 and immediately saw John Stiner. It was nice seeing a familiar face and we chatted before I realized I needed to go into the lodge and check in. As I was waiting the few minutes before the start, John asked me what my race plan was. I hadn't really thought of anything specific, my two big goals were to not get injured (VERY big goal, especially with the early miles on wet, muddy singletrack and how much of a clutz I usually am) and to get a good long run in, everything else in my mind would be a bonus. I told John I was going to go pretty hard until I blew up and then suffer to the end. Most of my long runs at Umstead have been pretty comfortable and I feel relatively fine at the end, I wanted to suffer some today, because I'm sure I will at some point over the course of 100 miles.
I had to check in at the timing tent and then I ambled over to the right side of the starting line. As is often the case at races, it seemed to me like there were dozens of people who looked super fast and I figured if I ran about what I figured I would (3:15-3:20), I'd be happy with top 5-10 or so. Considering the week I'd had, I didn't expect to be particularly competitive, or have my legs be able to hold on for 3+ hours at a hard effort. I said hi to Alicia and Alisha and then lined up about a row behind the front. There was a countdown and then we were off.
The race
The start went up the road into camp, slightly uphill before turning onto the bridle trail for an abbreviated out and back on the airport overlook spur. Right away some guy in a yellow Fleet Feet singlet blasted out to the lead, well ahead of everyone else. Somehow I found myself in 2nd a few steps behind a group of guys. I could hear them chatting and I thought briefly that I should hang back. But then I remembered my goal — run hard — and just went with it. As we turned toward the bridle trail, one of the volunteers cheered out that she hopes we look as happy on the way back in (at the end of the race) as we do now. As we ran the airport spur out & back, it was hard to remember I was in a race. It was Saturday morning, I was running the bridle trail at Umstead, welcome to every. single. weekend. So I was saying hi and good morning to people as I passed them and instead of just saying hi back, or ignoring me which is much more typical, they were cheering and saying good job. It was a bit weird at first. At the turnaround right by mile one the leader already had a sizable lead and I was a few seconds alone in second. As I ran back up toward Company Mill, I began to pass the rest of the field. It's kinda neat being up in the front of a race on an out & back because everyone starts cheering. Often I feel pretty bad because usually I'm too tired or focused to saying anything back but it was early so I was able to cheer for everyone else too.
Another mile or so and I was turning onto the Company Mill trail, the first stretch of single track. I couldn't even see the leader anymore by the time I reached it. Instead of my usual caution and slow approach to running the hiking-only trails, especially the downhills, I let loose a little.The trail was a mess from the rain. It was very muddy and slippery in spots, especially the bridges (FORESHADOWING!) and I had to occasionally reign it in to avoid turning slips into outright spills. As I came off of Company Mill back on the bridle, the first aid station was there. I think this was the first time someone cheered for me by name. I didn't see who it was but that was a lot cooler than "Go 221!" or "Good job runner!" There was a considerable downhill to the bridge on Graylyn and I again just ran hard. Especially on the bridle trails, all downhills basically meant sprint. At the bottom the course turned back onto single track, this time the Sycamore trail. This is the only stretch of the race I haven't run on yet. It was basically the same as the rest of the single track I've run here, some roots, some rocks, rolling up and down, and it was very wet and muddy.
Coming off the trail and turning to go down a hill to the next aid station, I was about 5 miles into the race and at that point had no idea what time I was at (I wrapped my Garmin in seran wrap to keep it dry. I didn't really care about pace or whatever, I just wanted it to keep track of time, mostly for the running I'd do AFTER the race, and I left my regular Timex which CAN handle rain at school over the weekend). Because it wasn't really raining, I peeled off some of the wrap so I could see the face. I was apparently running right around 7:00s or just a bit slower apparently. I saw the leader motoring up the hill as I was coming down. At this point, I figured he already had about a 2-3 minute lead! I grabbed some water and took off up the hill. There was a line of runners coming into the aid station as I was leaving, probably only 20-30 seconds back. That was a bit depressing, to have been running relatively hard and everyone else was still right there. On the next stretch of the Sycamore trail, I was just hoping the shirtless guy who had been right behind me would hurry up and pass me already so I didn't have to wonder when it would happen. I hit 7 miles in about 49:30 and a few moments later, I came to a bridge with some steps. I apparently took the first step too fast because my foot slid forward and I slammed my left shin into the step above. There was loud expletives being yelled for a few seconds. I hobbled off the bridge, checked my shin, decided it probably wasn't broken, started jogging, stopped and checked it again, cursed at myself for being a careless dumbass, and then kept going.
By the time I was back on Graylyn I was saying to myself that I didn't want to see anymore goddamn single track (and fortunately for me, I wouldn't the rest of the race). I was now heading up the same hill I had run down a few miles earlier, my shin was a non-issue. This time at the aid station at the top, I grabbed a water and a honey stinger Ginsting gel. It tasted pretty good and I figured Honey Stinger products have been pretty good to my stomach. To that point I had just been sipping my Perpetuem every so often, and I had a package of honey stinger chews in my pocket for later. This portion of the race course, the Reedy Creek to Turkey Creek bridle trail, is the part of the park I am definitely most familiar with, having run it dozens of times over the past few weeks. The course ran down what is apparently called Corkscrew Hill, which makes sense as it winds around. Again, I was running hard down the hill. I was 9 miles in and I think the watch said something around 64 minutes, which seemed about right. I hit the bridge at the bottom and the long, gradual uphill began. Sort of like last weekend at Club Challenge, this hill didn't feel particularly bad. In running the 100 course so much, I've come to actually enjoy this section, the uphill is never THAT steep, so I can just grind and not slow down all that much. I got to the top which is apparently the Trenton Rd aid station and everyone was cheering and again calling me by name. I did what I had started doing at pretty much every aid station (and would do at pretty much every aid station til the end), stopped to grab a cup (or two) of water and an orange slice. Tasty. I turned and started running the gently rolling Turkey Hill section.
Because this stretch is such a long out & back, on the left side of the trail I could see mile markers all the way up to mile 21. It helped break things up, first I'd come to the mile marker I was actually at, then some time later I'd see one in the opposite direction, always narrowing the gap. For the next 2ish miles from the aid station, down to the two paved bridges, I was just cruising. Around mile 11 I noticed I was right about 84 minutes which meant right on 7:00 pace. I knew that meant if I somehow held that, I'd run about 3:03, much better than I anticipated. I also figured I'd blow up at some point, probably on the next section. The next section is, on the Umstead 100 website, known as the sawtooth 79 because it's about 2-2.5 miles of fairly steep ups and downs. I was going to treat it just like the rest of the race so far, plod along up the hills as hard as I could and bomb the downhills harder while catching my breath. Somehow, today the hills didn't seem as bad as they normally do. I definitely slowed some on the ups but I think I made up for it on the downs. And while my legs were definitely a bit tired, they didn't seem to be getting worse and cardiovascularly I was completely fine. There was an aid station around mile 13 and it was here that people started telling me how far back I was. I wanted to tell them I didn't care at all, because I had no inclination on going any faster to try and catch someone so far ahead. Although I WAS surprised to learn I was only 4-5 minutes back, I figured the gap would have widened considerably more.
I hit the mile 13 marker right at 1:31. I was just about halfway but for some reason, mentally, I felt even closer to the finish then that. Back onto Graylyn and back down the hill toward the same aid station I was at about 9 miles ago. As I was turning to go down, the leader was heading back up Graylyn, so year, I figured about 4-5 minutes was accurate. I still didn't care. I stopped again to grab another honey stinger gel and some water and an orange and was off. Before I got back to Graylyn I saw the same line of guys in roughly the same order coming back down. Again I was a little demoralized that while I was slightly further ahead this time, it was only by about 80 seconds. I didn't take into account that I was feeling the same, if not better, than I had the last time I saw them. Actually, definitely better. In fact, as I turned back onto Turkey Creek trail, I was feeling better than I had at any point yet. And I was going slightly faster. The long back portion allowed me to see most of the field which was really cool. I was a little less vocal but tried to give some thumbs up and smile. It took me a little over 20 minutes to go from 13 to 16, which surprised me quite a bit. As I went hard down the last sharp downhill and came back to the narrow stretch, I realized I was almost back to the bridges and a lot further along than I realized. Cool.
It was a very gradual, mostly uphill stretch back to the Trenton Rd aid station. The whole time I was thinking mostly about the guys right behind me and figuring if they were running as well as they looked and I was running as slow as I felt, it was a matter of minutes before I got caught. I kept the hammer down and as I came back to the aid station, I could hear a trumpet playing Gonna Fly Now from Rocky. At mile 9ish of the Broad Street run I found the actual song exceedingly annoying. But I was feeling like crap and worried about not meeting my goal at that point. Here, I was in a great mood, I was feeling good, I felt very close to the finish even though I had another 7ish miles to go, and I noticed it was a young boy doing the playing. Kind of reminded me of a young Scott, so after grabbing another orange and a water I gave him a thumbs up and a wink as I departed. The next mile or so were downhill, and (SURPRISE SURPRISE) I was running hard. I kept waiting for the inevitable blow up and the longer I ran, the less likely said blow up seemed. I caught a quick split of about 6:30 on this downhill. I noticed I was at 2:18 at mile 20, so I had actually sped up in general somehow. I started to think that if I managed NOT to blow up, maybe I could hold off the rest (as I figured no one else would be going much faster than 6:40-6:50s at this point) and hang on to second place. I got back to the bridge that signified the start of Corkscrew Hill and there was a guy who mentioned I was about 8-9 minutes behind the leader now. This seemed far more likely to me and helped me relax; I WAS running for 2nd place, now I probably wouldn't even be reminded about the leader anymore.
As the hill leveled out toward the top I could see the aid station and someone was standing with an orange slice, as if they read my mind. I grabbed it and a quick water and was off on the Cedar Ridge out & back. This being a fairly brief out & back, I figured I would see the leader coming toward me any second. It was mostly downhill on the way out and I felt like I was absolutely flying. There were moments on some steeper spots where I was actually going, 'WHEEEEEEEE" out loud and throwing my arms up like I was on a roller coaster. I can't remember ever being that happy at either of the other two marathons I've done, especially not so late into it. But then I didn't see him right away. Where the hell was the leader?. I briefly worried I had gone the wrong way until I came to the mile 22 sign. But still no leader. And then, finally I saw him. And for the first time all race he did not look too strong, or like a running robot. He actually looked human, and unhappy. The biker who was escorting him looked up and let out an audible gasp off surprise when he saw me. That made me laugh as I ran by. Only maybe a minute later I came to the turnaround. Already? Cool. I went around the cone and began the climb back up, glancing at my watch. One minute went by, still no one coming toward me. Two minutes. Three minutes. Four minutes. What is going on? Where the hell is everyone? Finally about four and a half minutes after starting my way back I saw 3rd place. And he said something to the effect that the leader was just up ahead and looking bad and to go get him. That was NOT what I wanted to hear really. I could just picture it in my head, catching up to this guy and then having him start feeling better and making me actually race all the way to the finish and still losing. Not exactly what I wanted to do today. I had spent almost three hours accepting the fact that I was going to run pretty well and finish in 2nd, so this was throwing me off. A few guys later, I see Ronnie Weed coming at me telling me the same thing and that I'm gonna catch him on Cemetary Hill. I realize that no one else knew that I wasn't TRYING to catch this guy and I was not about to try to go harder now because I was closer. I was in the middle of re-lowering expectations in my mind when I came to the powerline cut again and sure enough, there was the leader in the yellow singlet, walking next to the bike and not looking to hot. Balls. I guess I AM going to catch him. As I went by him, I asked if he was ok and patted him on the back. I didn't know what to do, I've definitely felt like crap in a race before (see: Triple Lakes 40 miler last year) and if someone had caught me late in that race (like I was expecting), I'd probably want something similar. I hope I didn't come off as condescending.
Anyway, now I had this surreal moment where everything hit me. With about three miles to go, I had just blown right passed the machine who had been leading the race and now I was in first and the closest person behind either of us was at least eight or so minutes back. It was very likely I'd win. WHAT?! SERIOUSLY?! SHUT UP! KEEP RUNNING! That's something like what happened in rapid succession in my head at that moment. I think some people at the aid station were a little surprrised when they saw me, now with a fancy-pants bike escort coming out of Cedar Ridge first. I didn't take anything at the aid station but I did thank them (at least I hope I did, in my head I did) and kept rolling. I've run the stretch from the Graylyn trail junction to Camp Lapihio dozens of times, this is part of my long run loop, there was not much more left to go at all. I kept the throttle down, this was the only stretch of the race, from here to the finish, that I was absolutely all out on. I also realized that I would very probably come close but not quite break 3 hours. I was ok with that. The guy on the bike asked me if I wanted anything, water, gel, etc. I said no thanks. People on the trail I passed were cheering, which now just felt cool. I wondered how surprised John would be to see me coming through first. I hit Cemetary Hill (which until last week I didn't realize had a name) and made myself treat it like the end off a long run, which meant push hard. I actually caught up to the biker before the top, at which point he mentioned no one had done that before. I think he was just being nice. At the top I knew the rest was mostly downhill. The turnoff finally came into view, I made the right and headed for the finish stretch. As I went back onto the camp road I remembered what the volunteer had said at the beginning of the race and I made it a point to smile and thank the volunteers here. I wasn't feeling as good as I had at the beginning, I was feeling BETTER. As I barreled down the final downhill stretch, I could see mile 26 and a volunteer was talking into a walkie talkie, probably mentioning my imminent arrival. The road rounded and the finish came into view and I could hear people clapping and cheering and all I can remember is feeling really pleased and smiling. I crossed the line first in 3:00:36 and got my pint glass (seriously, I love getting beer-related race things) and my bat plaque that said "1st Place Male". Baller.
John found me and we talked for a little bit. People were asking me how I felt. The honest answer, pretty good. I just ran a 9 minute PR on a fairly hilly course and won the race and I didn't hurt myself, so yeah, I'm feeling pretty damn good. We waited around for the next runner to come in. The guy in the yellow singlet must have rallied as he came in about ten minutes later for second. Apparently he had started cramping, ugh, been there, sucks. I grabbed some food and then headed out for a few more miles. I decided not to run quite as much as previously planned, the effort made up for the lower volume in my mind. And I wanted to get back and eat a free Moe's burrito and have John work on me a little bit and see everyone else finish. I'm happy I got to see Alicia turn for home as first female (WOOT! REPEAT CHAMPION!),making it a very good day for the Bull City Track Club. I know I had to run the race myself, but without people like John (who keeps my legs from falling off), or Kim and Jason and the folks at Bull City Running (who run the greatest running store in the world, by far), or the countless volunteers who were always so friendly and helpful, I doubt I would've run nearly as well. It was so cool hanging out after the race, seeing everyone else come in, talking with a bunch of other runners, like Alicia and Alisha, Josh, and Shannon (who is also running the Umstead 100) and is practically my neighbor. They wanted to know about my plans for running the 100 (which I still have only the bare minimum of an idea about, aside from 'I'm going to run it and hopefully finish before April 1st'). After everyone had finished, I helped John pack up his car and walked the 2.5 miles back to mine. I stopped to sit on the bench that overlooks Lake Crabtree for a few minutes, just relaxing and taking in what turned out to be a nice afternoon. I decided that it had totally been worth it getting out of bed this morning.
This post is long enough, as usual, so I'll add a separate for some of the really cool pictures I found from the race. Also this will give me a chance to check facebook and give proper credit where it's due.
Til next time, RUN HAPPY everyone!
March 5, 2012 at 4:19 pm Tips from the front of the pack 8 comments
Temporary scars, February stars
I've never been a fan of February really. I don't particularly like winter and by the time February rolls around most years, the lack of sunlight and cold and all that have usually been compounded enough to make me pretty miserable. February has also not been a particularly good month for training. Just by it's nature it's set up to be a down month, as most years you only get four full weeks and nothing extra. I had decent January this year, just a bit over 300 miles, an ok performance at the 100k in the middle of the month, sort of a return to consistency. But in general, it was a little disappointing to me to start the year off like I did. With a 100 mile race and some other big goals on the horizon, I felt a little behind where I thought I needed to be. I knew February needed to be better but I had NO idea what I was in store for.
By any of the metrics I've been using to keep track of my training since I actually started considering myself a runner a few years ago, February was by far the best month I've ever had. For starters, there's the numbers (which make me double check at first glance, but my legs remember every. single. step.): 546 miles (~18.8 miles/day or slightly less than 132/week), probably over 76 hours. I also ran that 10 mile race that I'm quite pleased with. I've never done anything quite like that. And the awesome thing is that my legs feel pretty good, not destroyed or any more tired than what I would consider normal. I have random aches and pains that go and come but all seem to have identifiable causes and solutions. The massages have been a huge help obviously, but I'm also eating better (read: not good, I'm still a fatty, but better) and sleeping more. I'm also running A LOT on softer surfaces which I think is a big contributor to my (knock on wood) consistency and health. I feel like February went a long way toward setting me up for success in the coming months of this year and beyond, but it is just one month, just a start.
All that time spent running can certainly drag on me, and it has from time to time. I've managed to get together with some runners here and there to do some runs or part of some runs together but the vast majority of those 546 miles were run by myself. I was talking to my mom last night about how things are going here. It struck me as I was telling her about my awesome Sunday how a day like that can put the rest of the days in a different light. Most days are not like last Sunday, not even close. Most days are get up early, drag my ass out of bed, run, work all day, run pretty much immediately after work, often until well past dark, come home and eat something, maybe veg for an hour or so, go to sleep. Limited to no human contact outside of work. Limited to no time for anything other than running and the essentials outside of work. Like I said, it can drag. I have the luxury of living like this right now because I don't have a family, or anyone really who I am obligated to give my time to, and so I don't. I realize I'm not going to be in this situation forever, and I'm not going to be 26 and in good health forever, so as I was explaining to my mom (who worries considerably about my happiness and all that nonsense parents have to kvetch about), no I'm not what I'd consider "happy" most days, but I think what I'm doing will pay off later. Running good races, being somewhat competitive, testing my limits, exceeding expectations, those are things that will make me happy. A day like Sunday, that's enough to keep me going, enough to put my head back down and keep trucking along step after step after step. Most of the time I'm just uncomfortable and awkward in social situations anyway, so my time is clearly better spent alone running through the woods. Sometimes it depresses me that running by myself for a few hours a day feels more normal than talking with people, even other runners, out at a bar or whatnot but it does.
The main thing I wanted to put down in this month's recap is that I had a good month. I finished it in better shape than I started. And I finished it with my desire to keep working the way I've been working still burning. Thirty-one days from now I'll be running my first 100 mile race. I've got a couple other things, races and even (hopefully) non-running related things, to look forward to before the end of the month. Maybe when I write my March recap, I can say that I'm in better shape than I was right now AND I'm even a little happier. If you're gonna dream, dream big, right?
Til next time… RUN HAPPY everyone!
March 1, 2012 at 4:37 pm Tips from the front of the pack 6 comments
Club Challenge 2012 race report
Sunday I ran what is known as the Club Challenge, a 10 mile race on the roads in Howard County. It's hosted by the Howard County Striders and is for all of the Maryland (and nearby) running clubs to get together and see who's the best. Because of the club aspect, it's free for members of the various clubs and pretty much every good runner in the area comes out, making it an unusually competitive race, especially for the end of February. I ran it last year, only a few weeks after returning to running from an extended layoff to deal with a myriad of injuries and pseudo-injuries. I ended up running a 1:02:30 which really surprised me because I didn't think I was in very good shape at all and I wasn't particularly running all out during the race. It was a good way to start what was a sort of up and down spring of racing that culminated with a 59:07 10 mile PR at Broad Street in May.
This year, I'm living five or so hours south of Baltimore and until early in January figured I'd be missing Club Challenge. And then I went ahead and re-upped my membership in the BRRC JUST so I could register for Club Challenge and have an excuse to visit and see a bunch of people who I miss. The timing wasn't ideal, in that I had a work retreat that went Friday overnight into Saturday morning so I would be driving up on Saturday afternoon, running the race Sunday morning, then driving home. In my mind, it would be worth it. Going into the race, I didn't really know what to expect from myself. This year has obviously started much better than last year, but for the past few months my focus has shifted from shorter distances to ultramarathons. My goal races are the upcoming 100 miler and some 12 and 24 hour races later in the year. I've done a handful of runs that could be considered workouts, and those were mostly half-assed or lacking any sort of focus. I knew I was in pretty good shape but had no idea how my legs would respond if I tried to run about an hour or so quicker than normal. Last Tuesday's 9 mile sorta-quick run on the super flat ATT made me think I should be happy if I could run the same pace for 10 at Club Challenge because I remembered the course being pretty hilly last year.
Enough backstory. I got to Baltimore early Saturday evening. Johnny and I jogged a little 4 miler around his neighborhood in crazy cold wind and went to get some dinner. I got to sleep around 11 and the couch cushions on the floor were surprisingly comfortable to sleep on. I woke up a little after 6, feeling better than expected, small bowl of cheerios, and I was ready to go. We got to the community college where the race started and finished a little after 7. Bib picked up, caught up with some BRRC people I hadn't seen in a while, went to the bathroom, and then headed back out to the car to finish getting ready. Went with a t-shirt because while it was a little chilly, there wasn't much wind and the sun was kinda warm. Johnny and I jogged a little 15 minute warm-up and headed to the start just in time. Having no delusions of winning the race, or even coming anywhere close (seriously, some REALLY fast people run this!) I lined up a row or two off the front just as the starter was saying, "Runners set, GO!" And we were all off.
The race
My goal for the race was primarily to run fairly hard but under control and even. It would be a bonus if I could beat the time I ran last year, despite having A LOT more volume on my legs this time and not even close to fresh. With that I allowed the mad rush of people to dart off the line and I settled in to what felt like a good rhythm. I knew the first 5ish miles are mostly downhill with a few ups and the second half of the race is much more uphill, so it's easy to go out hard and pay for it later. After the first minute or so I settled in a few meters behind a group of about six or seven guys in Falls Road Running singlets. Falls Road sponsors Team That's What She Said, which comprises basically every good runner in the city. I heard someone mention they were aiming to run right around an hour and I figured if it felt good, I'd just hang here for the time being. I also saw Serge Arbona a few seconds up ahead. Serge is one of my ultrarunning heroes, having already accomplished some mind-boggling things (like holding the world record for distance run in 24 hours on a treadmill). He's also running Umstead next month which is part of why I decided to sign up for that. I think it's such a cool aspect of the sport that you can run right there with the best of the best (albeit not for very long but still!).
It's well-known that the mile markers along the course are kind of off so I was happy to have my Garmin to get at least an idea of what I was running. It appeared that I was running right around 5:55s for the first few miles which was cool because I felt like I was expending less effort than on Tuesday's run. Of course, there were some nice downhills where it felt basically like cheating. Around mile 3 we crossed over this bridge and began a loop of some neighborhood. I went by one or two guys here and at this point I had a literal wall of five Falls Road guys in front of me, and Serge and another BRRC runner tucked into that group. We went by a few people but that group essentially stayed together for another mile or two.
We hit what is close enough to the halfway mark so I'll go with it in about 29:30. Right after the sign, the course turns left and begins climbing a decent hill. To that point, there had been a few rises but nothing terribly substantial. I had noticed that on the ups I didn't need to really push much harder to maintain, and I seemed to be stronger than the people around me. When we hit this rise, Serge kind of took off ahead. I was feeling really good, definitely not like I was racing yet, and figured if I pushed here I wouldn't have far to go even if I got tired. So I did. And I ended up going by everyone in that little group, catching and going pass Serge too. By the top of the hill I had caught up to two other runners and one of the Falls Road guys had caught back up to me. We turned and wound around some more neighborhood streets, me, the Falls Road guy, and a Howard County Striders runner. Back over the bridge and into some other development right around mile 7. The uphills had slowed me some, but I was still right around pace to finish in about an hour. It was around this point that I entertained the thought that it would be realistic to do just that, break an hour. Last year, the hour 10 mile seemed like this giant goal that would be real tough to achieve on the flat, fast Broad Street course. And here I was running well within myself and thinking that if I just maintained, I'd do it again.
A little before mile 8, the course turned onto a larger road that ran by a school. I remember passing some fading runners here last year. No longer tucked in neighborhoods to protect us, there was a headwind for most of this stretch that kinda sucked. It was at this point it stopped feeling like a tempo run and felt more like a race effort. My legs were also starting to feel the cumulative fatigue of 120-130 mile weeks. 2ish miles to go, mentally I knew I could dig in and gut it out. The Falls Road guy was a few seconds ahead and I just locked my eyes on him and tried not to lose ground. The course turned back onto some side streets, there was a downhill that I let loose on and then another short climb. A few more turns and with about a mile to go (probably less), I recognized the street I was on as leading back to the college. I made the final turn onto the street the race had started on, which meant there was about half a mile to go. I thought about going all out to try to catch the Falls Road guy but was a little worried how the hamstring would react so I just tried to accelerate gradually to the end. Two quick turns in the parking lot and it was a short downhill to the finish line. When I turned and could see the clock I was a little surprised to see it reading 59:22, :23, :24,… I sprinted that last bit and crossed in 59:29.
That's a 3 minute course PR and only 22 seconds slower than I ran Broad Street last year. I was also 37th overall (last year I was 57th) and the first finisher for the BRRC. This was about as big a confidence booster as that Saturday 44 miler was. I ran almost the same time for 10 miles on a much harder course, feeling relatively comfortable for a large portion of the race, despite not having focused on running fast or short races at all. Progress! Falls Road ended up crushing skulls and winning everything (individual male and female, team co-ed, male, and female). I was able to see Johnny finish up in a big new PR, crushing his under-70 goal (66:14)! Success and great days all around!
Til next time, RUN HAPPY everyone
February 28, 2012 at 10:34 am Tips from the front of the pack 3 comments
Weekly Recap 2/20 – 26 (and some more navel gazing)
Another pretty good week here. This is something I will not get tired of saying. Let's jump right in and then I'll prattle on about running- related stuff and also semi- to barely-relevant crap that will probably cause most readers' eyes to glaze over long before they're done.
Mon – am: 6 miles, 45:15, Black Creek greenway to Umstead & back//pm: 22 miles, 3:06, Umstead, bridle trail with 2x Turkey Creek loop (meaning, HILLS)
Tue – am: 4 miles, 37:30, Duke XC loop//pm: 16 miles, 1:53, ATT (soft side), 3 easy, 9 miles moderate (sorta maybe M pace? 56:49; splits: 6:28, 6:27, 6:27, 6:24, 6:12, 12:40 2 mile, 6:07, 6:04), 4 easy
Wed – am: 5 miles, 45 min, Duke XC loop//pm: 8 miles, 56 min, Duke east campus loop//evening: massage from John Stiner, ouch, and yay
Thu – am: off//pm: 18 miles, 2:24, Duke XC loops, first ~7 with Alicia Parr, last 11ish solo and a little slower
Fri – am: 7 miles, 57 min, BCG to Umstead & back//pm: 15 miles, 2:04, random roads along Lake Gaston near Littleton, NC
Sat – am: 5 miles, 47 min, more random roads on Lake Gaston//pm: 4 miles, 37 min around Parkville with Johnny
Sun – am: 20 miles total incl Club Challenge 10 miler (59:30), 1.5 jog warm-up, 8.5 miles (75 min) after with Johnny
Total for week – 130 miles, ~17.5 hours
Relative to last week, about an hour or so less running, which makes sense as there are eight less miles. Not a big deal. The volume is still within a range that I want it in. And I got in two sorta quality runs (Tuesday's whatever sort of quicker run and then yesterday's race). I'll talk more in depth about Club Challenge in a separate post. For the week's recap purposes it suffices to say that the first half of the race felt considerably easier than Tuesday's effort, the next three miles felt like a tempo workout, and the last two felt hard. To have that be how I cap off the fourth consecutive pretty high mileage week was a nice confidence booster. I commented to Johnny toward the end of our post-race run that my legs actually felt like they could/wanted to keep going for another hour or two. I'm finally starting to feel like I've shaken off the general laziness and rust that lingered like a bad infection for 2+ months after Stone Cat.
This coming week, the goal is to get the volume a little higher and do a longer long run. Last week's longest was 22 and that was on Monday, but in general I think it was a good way to recharge from the 44 miler. I'm running the Umstead trail marathon on Saturday which utilizes a lot of the same ground as the 100 mile course. My plan is to run about 30ish Saturday including the race, hard but not all out, and then come back Sunday and do my standard two course loop 30 mile long run. Monday – Friday is going to be just volume, maybe another half-assed workout Tuesday or Wednesday. Getting down to crunch time, less than five weeks to Umstead.
Now for some semi-related ramblings! It was really awesome to see so many people I like a whole lot this weekend. I got to stay with Johnny and Sara Saturday night. Johnny quickly became one of my best friends when I moved to the Baltimore area a few years ago and the two of them recently got engaged. They are two of the best and awesomest people I've ever known and getting a chance to see them, and run some with Johnny, was a big factor in me deciding to inconvenience myself by driving 5 hours north Saturday afternoon and then turning right around and heading back to NC Sunday afternoon. I also got to meet Stella, their rambunctious, playful kitten, who cuddled with me a bit while I was sleeping on the floor Saturday night (I felt a little like I was cheating on Puck, my own kitty). At the race I got to see basically anyone who runs in Baltimore. It was particularly nice catching up with Dan for a bit after the race, and David too. I also finally got the sweet plaque and a tech material BRRC polo for winning last year's Grand Prix series for my age group. I also got to see Henry Peck, Christian, and Serge. Coincidentally, I spent the first 5 miles of the race running in a group of mostly Falls Road guys and Serge. I ended up finishing about 40 seconds ahead of him, which was kind of surreal, as he's been one my running idols for a few years now. I'm sure at Umstead it will be just as cool to try not to get lapped by him!
Now for some less-running-specific ramblings that are probably interesting primarily just to me, but because this is my blog and I have too much rattling around in my head, I need somewhere to get these thoughts out…Under basically any other circumstance, the race (and the seeing awesome people that went along with it) would have easily been the highlight of my week, and basically my month too as I haven't had a lot of social and/or fun time in February. However, it was not. Instead, the highlight of the week (month) was the part of the long drive home from Baltimore to Cary. Specifically the part where I spent three hours in Fredericksburg, VA. This IS somewhat running-related because the drive home certainly affected the way this new week is starting. I had planned to leave shortly after getting back to Johnny's and getting showered. I didn't leave on time. I almost never leave anywhere on time. This resulted in me getting to Fredericksburg at 6pm instead of more like lunch time. But ultimately, I think that was serendipitous. I got to have a delicious semi-spicy burger with a chile habanero rub and applewood bacon and PINEAPPLE at Capital Ale House. I also got to taste Dogfish Head's Bitches Brew (but just a sip, a 10oz cost $13.50 and I had to drive home still). I also spent three hours utterly wrapped up in the company I was keeping, having a great damn time, actually happy and relaxed for a change, and reminded of how good life had started to feel back last June.
Unfortunately, I had to get back on the road and finish driving. I had popped a 200mg caffeine pill and chugged some Coke to ensure that I wouldn't fall asleep and slam into something and once back at the apartment, I was definitely still feeling those effects. All of that meant I ended up finally settling down some time after 3am and only getting about 3 hours of sleep. I was surprised how ok I felt on my 4 mile morning jog today but all I can think about right now is going home and taking a nap. The past few weeks, Monday has gotten the week off to a good start with some fairly high mileage. That probably won't be the case today. So this week will be different but no worse. Yesterday managed to provide cause for a bit more optimism and positivity than usual for me; both with running and life in general. Pretty great end to another good week.
Til next time, RUN HAPPY everyone!
February 27, 2012 at 3:40 pm Tips from the front of the pack 2 comments


text:
Colorado Publishes Review Of Marijuana Health Research
Colorado released a sweeping report Monday about marijuana and health — everything from pot's effect on drivers, asthma, cancer rates and birth defects.
Colorado Lawmaker, Drug Investigators Consider Hash Oil Problem
One Colorado legislator said the state needs to clarify whether residents can manufacture hash oil in home laboratories, something the state's attorney general said is illegal.
Pot Regulations High On Minds Of Colorado Legislature
As the 2015 session of the Colorado Legislature dawns on Wednesday, politicians will once again hone in on marijuana regulations.
Holiday Mailing Rush Reminder: Shipping Pot Still Illegal
Amid the busiest mailing season of the year, the U.S. Postal Service is warning customers that shipping pot — even within Colorado's borders — is still illegal.
Marijuana Research Projects Getting State Funding
Colorado was poised Wednesday to award more than $8 million for medical marijuana research, a step toward addressing complaints that little is known about pot's medical potential.
Colorado Marks 2 Years Of Legal Marijuana
Colorado marked its second anniversary Wednesday of allowing recreational marijuana for adults over 21.
Lawyers For Accused Pot Money Launderers: Separate Trials A Possibility
Lawyers for four men accused of laundering Colombian money through a marijuana dispensary argued in federal court in Denver on Monday that they may want separate trials.
Police: Both Drivers In Double Fatal Crash Were High
Toxicology tests show the driver responsible for a double fatal crash in Longmont in September was high on pot.
Green Friday Successful For Denver Pot Shop
Marijuana green meant greenbacks for one pot shop on Black Friday. Or, as they were dubbing it, Green Friday.
Chef Putting Her Stamp On Marijuana Labeling Effort
Chef Hope Frahm is baking up a batch of cookies. What's unclear, at first glance, is that they're marijuana cookies. The cooking isn't the problem. It's the marking.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Hey everyone. I'm planning on bottling up my cider today and wanted to check quick on types of bottles. I have some standard 12 oz beer bottles I plan to use, but I also have .5L glass cider bottles that the juice came in. They have twist on caps. Everything will be cleaned and sterilized and I plan on adding no priming sugar when I bottle.
Do you think those twist-cap .5L bottles will work? I think they will as I can seal them air tight and with no priming sugar there is no danger of bottle bombs.
- the newb
I've never bottled twist off bottles because I was scared away from it early on, but most people here say it is fine and you can get an air tight seal as long as you use a benchcapper.
I go back to BIG jugs with still cider. It's quick and ez...just use them when you are ready to have a party so they get used up once you open them.
Excellent. Thanks for the responses!
I use plastic PET bottles for short term storage, not over 2 months. I just can't bring myself to trust them for longer.
For longer term storage for Meads and Ciders I use glass, heck those one gallon glass jugs work great. Why take any chances.


text:
According to this thread from 2010, an "EnforceFKConstraints" connection string property was supposed to be implemented into future releases of SQLite. Does anyone know if the developers have gotten around to doing that?
If not, is there another way I can enable foreign key support without doing "PRAGMA foreign_keys = ON" on each connection? I need this to make sure that deletes always cascade.


text:
7 01 2011
The Berghaus Smoulder Hoody has been awarded Best Outdoor Product for 2010 by My Outdoors.
The Smoulder Hoody is a favourite amongst our staff and was an essential piece of kit for Leo Houlding during the Asgard Project.
Shop Men's Smoulder Hoody
12 02 2015
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4 02 2015
Our Scafell Hydrodown™ Jacket and the Explorer Trek Plus Walking Boots have featured in Coast magazine's 'Test the Best' section.
3 02 2015
Following last year's success, Berghaus have been recognised once again with an ISPO award, this time for the Baffin Island jacket.
23 01 2015
Our product of the week, the Men's Ben Arthur Jacket, is now in the end of season sale!


text:
Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.
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Saturday - April 18, 2009
From: Argenta, IL
Region: Midwest
Topic: Non-Natives, Compost and Mulch, Transplants, Vines
Title: Transplanting honeysuckle bush in Illinois
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:Want to transplant 3 honeysuckle shrubs 10 to 12' tall this month, although not the best time. Please advise.
We found one plant, Diervilla lonicera (northern bush honeysuckle), that is native to Illinois, but is described as a mound-shaped deciduous shrub to three feet tall. We found two others, Lonicera morrowii and Lonicera mackii that are taller, but are considered invasive. Hope you have unusually tall native bushes and not the non-native invasives.
It really doesn't matter, what you are transplanting are woody plants. This is not such a bad time to transplant in Illinois, because it's still pretty cool there. It's getting a little late for transplanting in Texas, but you should still be fine.
First, prepare the hole you are going to transplant into. Do not dig up the shrub until you have completed the preparation of the hole; you don't want the roots to dry out. We recommend choosing a good spot and digging a hole bigger than you think you will need. Mix some compost or other organic material with the native dirt. This will help to make nutrients available to the roots and keep them from standing in water, as the amended dirt will have better drainage. As these bushes are pretty big, we would recommend you trim them down quite a bit in order to handle them. They should still be semi-dormant there, and it will certainly help you when you move them.
This About.com:Landscape article on Transplanting Trees and Shrubs gives good instructions for deciding on rootball size, cutting through roots that are beyond what you can manage, and transportation to the prepared hole. Because the shrub is probably not much out of dormancy, it should be able to withstand this without too much damage. Once you have returned the amended soil to the hole and your shrub is either supporting itself or staked upright, stick a hose in the soil and let water drip in slowly until water stands on the surface. If there is regular rainfall, you shouldn't have to repeat this more than twice a week or so.
If the shrub begins to show signs of stress, like wilting or loss of leaves, you may need to trim off about 1/4 to 1/3 more of the foliage to compensate for the root loss below the ground. This is transplant shock and is not uncommon when a woody plant is being transplanted. Keep up with the deep watering, meanwhile making sure that the roots are not standing in water, that the hole is draining well. Don't fertilize-any plant in the process of transplanting is stressed, and you should never fertilize a plant in stress.
Pictures of non-native Lonicera maakii
Pictures of non-native Lonicera marrowii
More Transplants Questions
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October 26, 2008 - I have a pair of Tecoma stans planted too near the house. They're in shade most of the day. The branches that can reach a little sun are blooming nicely. Would they survive being transplanted fart...
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Pest on leaves of native Texas persimmon in Laredo, TX
February 20, 2009 - I have a transplanted a Texas persimmon tree from the wild. It has some globes in the leaves. It seems like some pest injected something from underside of leaves. Any suggestion? What is happening t...
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Transplanting sparkleberry trees in Southport NC
July 07, 2009 - I am interested in transplanting some sparkleberry trees to my yard. It is on the Cape Fear River and it would have full sun for a large part of the day. When would be a good time to transplant the ...
view the full question and answer
Transplant shock in my Nuttall Oak tree in Moore, OK.
July 23, 2009 - I had a Nutall oak tree planted; it is 5 inches in diameter and about 24 feet tall. It was planted in March of this year, leafed out ok; now since June 20th I have had a large quantity of the leaves t...
view the full question and answer
Transplanting Cornus sericea by sprouts in Maryland
November 21, 2008 - I would like to transplant suckers of a red-twig dogwood (Cornus sericea). When is the best time to do it (before or during dormancy)? How big of a root system does each sucker need to survive? Where ...
view the full question and answer
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Antibody Titer For Hepatitis B Clinics
Here's a taste of what TheBody.com has to offer on this topic:
Get the Facts
Hepatitis: Overview...diseases. They are spread by contact with fecal matter, either directly or from water that has sewage in it, or through food that was handled by someone with contaminated hands. Hep A and Hep E do not cause chronic illness. Hepatitis B is the most common hepatitis virus. It can be transmitted from mother to infant, through sexual contact, or through contact with infected blood. Globally, about 10% of people with HIV also are infected with...
Ask the Experts
hep c transmission (Guide to Hepatitis C for People Living With HIV)Dear Dr. Bob:How exactly is Hep C transmitted?Best regards,Just Wondering
Response from Robert J. Frascino, M.D.
The Robert James Frascino AIDS Foundation...and G) in the order they were discovered. Before hepatitis C was discovered in 1989, the virus was referred to as "non-A non-B hepatitis."Hepatitis A and BAfter an HCV diagnosis, it's important to find out whether you are protected against... Read more »
Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Antibody TestsDr. Dieterich:While I understand that there are other tests capable of detecting hepatitis b and c more quickly after a potential exposure than the antibody tests, can you tell me what the window period is for the antibody tests to detect hepatitis...
Response from Douglas T. Dieterich, M.D.
New York University, School of MedicineThe window period is usually around 6 months reliably. However most people show antibodies at 3 months but some may take as long as 12 months although that would be a rarity. DTD Read more »
Hepatitis B and Hepatitis A immunization boostersAfter how many years could boosters be needed for Hep B and Hep Aimmunization?
Response from Rick Sowadsky, M.P.H.
Nevada State Health Division AIDS Program...Thank you for your question. In regard to the Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B vaccines, at this time, booster shots are not usually necessary. After completing the initial vaccination series, in the vast Read more »
#8137: Hepatitis B Virus DNA UltraQuantRecently I got a result of 150 in a test of "Hepatitis B Virus DNA UltraQuant"This result determine that I have hepatitis B?They didn't make me more analysis.
Response from Barbara McGovern, M.D.
Tufts University School of Medicine...Ultraquant means ultrasensitive. You have very little hepatitis B in your blood and by itself, it is hard to interpret. If you know that you are hepatitis B surface antigen positive, this confirms Read more »
Guide to Hepatitis B for People Living With HIV...not HBV hasbecome chronic. HBsAg (Hepatitis B Surface Antigen) HBsAgs are small protein particles on the surface of the hepatitis B virus. HBsAgs can bedetected and measured by a blood test. HBsAg testing is commonly used to screen for... Read more »
Hepatitis B: The Other Hepatitis Virus...significant problem for many people with HIV, but it isn't the only virus that can cause hepatitis (inflammation of the liver). HIV/hepatitis B virus (HBV) is another common co-infection and, like HIV/HCV co-infection, can cause severe liver... Read more »
Entecavir in Hepatitis B Virus (HBV)/HIV Co-Infected Patients... Previously, the guidelines recommended entecavir as an option for patients who required treatment for Hepatitis B virus (HBV) but not HIV infection. This recommendation was based on in vitro data showing no significant activity of entecavir... Read more »
Hepatitis B FAQs for the Public...ranges in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, lifelong illness. It results from infection with the Hepatitis B virus. Hepatitis B can be either "acute" or "chronic." Acute Hepatitis B virus infection is a short-term... Read more »
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hepatitis B (duda solo por si hay algun medico)
Posted by Mairannnn, 2 Replies...cual es el periodo de ventana de la hepatitis b? y ya que estamos de la c? en que lapso de tiempo es aconsejable hacer una serologia? saludos Read more »
hepatitis B
Posted by Anonymous, 1 ReplyDr. Urkie. gracias por contestar nuestras preguntas y por el tiempo que le dedica a esta pagina. tengo duda sobre la hepatitis cual es el periodo ventana? he leido informacion pero no entiendo muy bien por que se dice que el virus de saparece de 2... Read more »
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Open Access This content is freely available online to anyone, anywhere at any time.
3 Biotech
ISSN: 2190-572X (Print) 2190-5738 (Online)
- 5 Volumes
- 22 Issues
- 293 Articles
- 293 Open Access
- 2011 - 2015 Available between
Browse all Content Browse Volumes & Issues View Open Access Articles
Latest Articles
Original Article
Molecular characterization of an endophytic Phomopsis liquidambaris CBR-15 from Cryptolepis buchanani Roem. and impact of culture media on biosynthesis of antimicrobial metabolites
H. C. Yashavantha Rao, Parthasarathy Santosh, Devaraju Rakshith… (April 2015)
Original Article
Streptokinase production from Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis SK-6 in the presence of surfactants, growth factors and trace elements
Shilpi Bhardwaj, Jayaraman Angayarkanni (April 2015)
Original Article
Quantitative trait loci underlying resistance to sudden death syndrome (SDS) in MD96-5722 by 'Spencer' recombinant inbred line population of soybean
J. Anderson, M. Akond, M. A. Kassem, K. Meksem, S. K. Kantartzi (April 2015)
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|Page: 4 of 6
|Sort By:
Car Rentals Turkey - Car rental
Car Rentals Bulgaria - You need a luxury vehicle at affordable price, that will provide you with lots of comfort and safety- Your choice is only one- Rent Luxury car by Veger Rent a Car- Rent Mercedes CLK. You will get this vehicle at the best possible price by Veger
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Car Rentals South Dakota - Newer late model Camper Trailers, cars, suv's, mini vans, atv's, and mopeds for rent. See web site for more information on prices, photos, and other fees. RV parts & camping supplies available at our retail store.
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Rent A Car ! Great Rates And Package Prices From Economy Car Rentals to Luxury Vehicle Rentals. Rent Your Car Today!
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NC Electric Cooperatives Advise: What to Do When the Lights Go Out
RALEIGH, N.C., Aug. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – North Carolina's electric cooperatives are reporting approximately 100,000 outages from Hurricane Irene, whose destructive winds and heavy rains lashed North Carolina this morning. As expected, these outages are primarily along the coast and east of I-95. Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands are completely without power. As Hurricane Irene proceeds on its path, additional outages are likely.… Read More »


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Registered 2008-08-12 by Jonathan Thomas
OpenShot Video Editor is a free, open-source, non-linear video editor. It can create and edit videos and movies using many popular video, audio, and image formats. Create videos for YouTube, Flickr, Vimeo, Metacafe, Xbox, and many more common formats!
If you are interested in helping improve this project, please join the "OpenShot Developers" team on launchpad. We welcome any contributions, big or small. Whatever your ideas and skills are, we have a place for you on our team. =)
Project information
- Part of:
- OpenShot Project
- Maintainer:
- Jonathan Thomas
- Driver:
- OpenShot Developers
- Development focus:
- Programming Languages:
- Python, GTK, MLT
- Licences:
- GNU GPL v3
View full history Series and milestones
Loading graph...
OpenShot Video Editor trunk series is the current focus of development
All FAQs FAQs for OpenShot Video Editor
- No ladpsa plugins
- No audio No video after export
- How to compile Libopenshot
- How to obtain Libopenshot
- How to Install Openshot 2.0.0 on Mac
All bugs Latest bugs reported
Bug #1434859: Openshot 1.4.3 Still Gray Screen
Reported on 2015-03-21
Bug #1434252: overlay video box keeps growing as the playback advance
Reported on 2015-03-19
Bug #1434180: Openshot crashes while playing the project
Reported on 2015-03-19
Bug #1432618: Video and Audio are asynchronous with mp3 and jpegs
Reported on 2015-03-16
Bug #1431525: Openshot Crash in 14.10 GNOME
Reported on 2015-03-12
More contributors Top contributors
- Olivier Girard 1049 points
- Joseph Eoff 392 points
- Jonathan Thomas 209 points
- kiama 147 points
- Роман 111 points
All packages Packages in Distributions
openshot source package in Vivid
Version 1.4.3-1.1 uploaded on 2013-10-28
openshot source package in Utopic
Version 1.4.3-1.1 uploaded on 2013-10-28
openshot source package in Trusty
Version 1.4.3-1.1 uploaded on 2013-10-28
openshot source package in Squeeze
Version 1.1.3-1 uploaded on 2010-05-19
openshot source package in Sid
Version 1.4.3-1.1 uploaded on 2013-10-28
All questions Latest questions
How do i save a video as a mpeg 4 file
Posted on 2015-03-29
Open Shot Windows Installers
Posted on 2015-03-25
Need to delete unwanted video clips
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Openshot missing python-mlt files
Posted on 2015-03-24
No sound after Video Export with Open Shot
Posted on 2015-03-22
All blueprints Latest blueprints
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Add time widget in preview panel
Registered on 2014-04-11
Add user-definable masks
Registered on 2013-02-27
Right-Klick Feature at Project-Files to save Audio as Audio-file
Registered on 2012-11-11
Provide a way to tell the user why the GUI is busy
Registered on 2012-07-26


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|ESPN.com: Page 2
|[Print without images]
|Quiet protest: Toni Smith turns her back to the flag as the pregame anthem is played.
|What do you think?
|Toni Smith has made her stand. Now tell us what you think about protests made in the sports arena by voting in our polls at SportsNation.
|During a recent game, Vietnam vet Jerry Kiley stormed the court to confront Smith.
|Even a part-time player at little Manhattanville College can make her voice heard.
|Kiley got booted from the gym after running onto the court.


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I'm implementing a simple store to take payments. I'm using a hosted store solution. The way it works is:
- My page handles building out the shopping cart. When it comes time for taking money, my page will redirect to the hosted store.
- The hosted store will handle the transaction.
- The hosted store will redirect back to me with the results.
I want to make sure the transactions run as smoothly and securely as possible. The documentation for the store makes the process seem quite simple. All that really needs to be sent to the store provider is below, grabbed from their documentation.
<FORM METHOD="POST" ACTION="https://www.fakehostedstore.com/xxx/index.php">
<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="store_id" VALUE="abcdefg">
<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="store_key" VALUE="hijklmnop">
<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="charge_total" VALUE="100.00">
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" NAME="SUBMIT" VALUE="Click to proceed to Secure Page">
This has me somewhat concerned. If I, for example, opened up something like Firebug, I could change the "charge_total" to whatever I like before submitting the form. Very quickly, I could reduce the amount of the charge to be sent to the store from "100.00" to "10.00". The store, who will be making the charge, will be none the wiser, and proceed with the incorrect charge.
If the transaction completes at the store, the store sends back the amount that was successfully charged. I can then verify against my expected charge. For example, I expected a $100 charge, only $10 was charged, WTF!
Is there a way to secure this form in such a way that it is less susceptible to tampering?


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Friday, March, 27, 2015
Blog: Destroying the Student-Athlete — A Cautionary Tale
For far too many college athletic programs, acting in the best interests of the student-athlete is pure fiction. From academic fraud to sexual assaults, colleges and universities have frequently failed their student-athletes by putting their best interests ahead of the student-athlete's. These failures extend beyond what is making national headlines, and can happen at the most unlikely of institutions — in my case, a Catholic university.
Friday, February, 27, 2015
Poll: Handling Sexual Assault Incidents
In the wake of numerous stories on sexual assaults by athletes at all levels AB is investigating the topic for a story in an upcoming issue. We'd like your opinion. Please weigh in below.
Monday, February, 23, 2015
Blog: Misfiring on Active-Shooter Preparation
Two years ago, while picking up my oldest daughter from school, I was overwhelmed with anxiety, fear and one all-consuming thought: Get her home.
Monday, February, 23, 2015
Developing Better Evacuation Plans Through Simulation Modeling
Penn State University's football home opener on Sept. 6 provided little in-game drama last year — the Nittany Lions comfortably beat Akron, 21-3 — but plenty of pregame drama. The weather forecast called for potential lightning storms that day, creating a headache for athletic officials concerned about the safety of spectators both in the tailgate areas and Beaver Stadium. In preparation for the coming storm, Penn State shared with the public its evacuation plan, which included designated shelter areas and evacuation routes, to ensure everyone understood instructions in advance.
Sunday, February, 08, 2015
Back To School for My Collegiate Security Education
Death Valley is the intimidating home field of LSU football where, on any given Saturday in the fall, the number of tailgating, non-ticket-holding fans can equal the 100,000+ entering the gates to watch their beloved Tigers. It's a security nightmare that requires meticulous planning, flawless execution, and a little help from your friends in the industry.
Friday, February, 06, 2015
How To Prevent Fan Violence at Sporting Events
The perception surrounding the modern professional football environment is that unruly fan behavior is escalating, forcing families to stay far away from these increasingly unstable atmospheres. Perpetuating that stigma is a steady flow of videos showing fans fighting at football venues across the country. For example, New England Patriots fan Jaclyn Nugent was punched by New York Jets fan Kurt Paschke at MetLife Stadium last fall. A fan videotaped part of the fight, including the infamous punch, on her smartphone and uploaded it to YouTube. Two months later, it had received more than 350,000 views.
Monday, February, 02, 2015
AB Survey: Campus Recreation Security Access
Athletic Business is conducting a survey of college recreation managers and leaders to learn more about how you are controlling access to your facilities. Specifically, we want to know what, if any, role biometrics is playing in access control at your facility. Please take a few minutes to answer the following survey questions, and look for a summary in our April issue.
Monday, January, 26, 2015
High Schools Earn Failing Grade in Security Planning
It was a situation that, according to reports, school officials should've seen coming.
Friday, January, 23, 2015
Drones Emerging as Security Threat at Domestic Sporting Events
Marc Lovicott, public information officer for the University of Wisconsin, never misses a home football game. But recovering from knee surgery, he was forced to watch from home as the Badgers battled the University of Illinois at Camp Randall Stadium on October 11, 2014. The game made national news, but not for the 38-28 Badgers victory. Rather, it was for what happened between the third and fourth quarters — during the "Jump Around" tradition — when an unmanned aircraft was spotted hovering over the student section.
Tuesday, January, 13, 2015
Police Protect Ohio Stadium After Historic CFP Victory
Ohio State students and fans flooded the streets of Columbus last night after the Buckeyes' historic 42-20 victory over the University of Oregon in the first College Football Playoff Championship. As of this morning, a total of 89 fires had been reportedly set in trash cans and dumpster, prompting police to reportedly use pepper spray and other tactics to manage the escalating situation.
Thursday, February, 13, 2014
A Look Inside Prominent Collegiate Sustainability Efforts
In the December 2013 issue of AB, senior editor Paul Steinbach examined the growing interest in stadium and arena sustainability, citing a groundbreaking new study by the Natural Resources Defense Council in collaboration with the Green Sports Alliance and the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. The report, "Collegiate Game Changers," represents the first time that sustainability efforts currently under way at collegiate sports departments have been documented. According to the report, more than 200 college sports programs (including both intercollegiate athletics and campus recreation programs) are prioritizing a greener approach, prompting Alice Henly, coordinator of NRDC's collegiate sports work and author of the report, to declare in an NRDC press release: "College athletics and recreation programs are leading the sustainability charge."
Wednesday, January, 22, 2014
Blog: Prioritizing The Student-Athlete a Must for ADs
Since I have been a member of the AB team, I have had the fortunate opportunity to chronicle the challenges high school athletic administrators are facing in today's high-pressure, win-at-all-costs environment. We hear about all the steps that are being taken to protect the student-athlete from a physical standpoint, but what about from an emotional and psychological standpoint?
Monday, October, 21, 2013
Diving Into the World Aquatics Health Conference
Debbie couldn't believe she was in the same position again. Four years ago, her daughter missed making the U.S. Olympic swim team. It had been agonizing then as her daughter, who was favored to make the team, struggled through her swim. Even her children, including her 11-year-old son, were in shock. After the race, it was discovered Debbie's daughter had swam through herniated discs and stress fractures in her back.
Friday, October, 11, 2013
Blog: A Budding Star Resurfaces
Villains in the world of track and field are rare. Turning fans and/or competitors against you typically requires doing one thing: cheating. But for young Zola Budd at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, there was no cheating. There was no boisterous verbal sparring with her media-created rival, American Mary Decker. All it took was a racing error on Decker's part to turn Budd into one of the most despised athletes in America - at the ripe old age of 18.


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The Single Best GOP Argument to Stop Obama's Executive Amnesty
There are lots of good reasons to oppose President Obama's move to grant a form of amnesty to millions of illegal aliens -- reasons that transcend anybody's position on broader issues of immigration reform.
But as we head into this battle over tying that amnesty to DHS funding and the beating Republicans are taking in the media (as always) for standing up for exceptionally important principles, I think that one particular argument could be the most effective in terms of public opinion and putting Democrats on the defensive for blocking a bill which would fund DHS but block amnesty:
Amnesty will allow illegal aliens to collect money retroactively from US taxpayers. Admittedly there are probably not very many illegals who filed tax returns, but those who did - even if they didn't pay any tax - could apply for the Earned Income Tax Credit and receive a check from the federal government.
This is insane and offensive to any American of common sense, again regardless of their view on immigration reform overall.


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What's with all the Union Jacks in the trailer?
View Single Post
February 5 2013, 05:34 PM
Lieutenant Commander
Location: Unhooked.
Re: What's with all the Union Jacks in the trailer?
DonIago wrote:
Here's a novel thought...why not wait to judge the movie based on the movie itself rather than the trailer?
Not that trailers ever contained material that didn't appear in exactly the same way in the final product...
I totally agree... sometimes scenes are reversed, flipped, even played backwards for trailers... but I looked at a screen shot... and it's just wrong. It doesn't really matter, it has no real bearing on anything important or worthwhile (although a British citizen might see it differently)... but it is lazy. Lazy is bad for movies.
DarthTom wrote:
FlapJoy wrote:
It's impossible to get everything right, but a flag isn't easy to fuck up unless you're just not giving a shit.
Oh good lord. At first glance it appears symmetrical as someone said but after you read about it - it's not. It's not as if to the casual
viewer or even someone who's a skilled
director that such a thing would be obvious whereas I'm assuming even to the most inexperienced British director hanging the American flag upside down would be an obvious and stupid mistake unless they were trying to make a political point.
I'm doubting that Abrams thought having special production people on staff to make sure the Union Jack was flying in a few frames right was worth the cost and no one in pre and post production caught the mistake.
If anyone deserves blame here it's set design not Abrams.
Oh and BTW, why didn't Benedict Cumberbatch who
is a British actor
catch the problem when they were filming it?
Mickey Smith from Dr. Who is another famous British actor who was cast in some of the scenes where the flag is flying.
They must not be patriots?
It's not about patriotism. It's not about blame, it's just dumb... really, really, dumb.
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A rusted piece of barbed wire on a lichen encrusted post makes a striking image. Taken at "Miss" Ethel's farm in the hills of Eastern Tennessee, USA.
Panasonic Lumix DFZ30
Elizabethton, Tennessee USA
Almost a double edge sword "barbed wire" Great capture
Thanks for the kind comments. …Hope
– Hope Ledebur