~The BOT Battalion~ BOTS On The Run

[KeenHo]

Howard - Good luck at MCM!! I wish it wasn't the same weekend as ToT so that I could come cheer for you.

Thanks Cindy!!! I'm sorry that you and Matt won't be there to run MCM or to cheer us on. It was sure great to see you there last year! Have fun in WDW!!

CindyLou~ Congratulations on the BQ, if I ever get there someone will be picking me up off the ground on this side of the finish line.

I wanted to post some results from my last two runs, for some reason I didn't get here to post them.

October 18
(I got a break in the Nor'easter clouds so no rain, but it was windy!)

Miles: 7.44
Time: 1:08:57
Pace: 9:16
Splits: 9:27, 9:19, 9:04, 11:06, 8:39, 8:56, and 8:32.

Tonight:

Miles: 7.0
Time: 1:01:34
Pace: 8:48
Splits:8:36, 9:06, 8:49, 8:42, 8:48, 8:46 and 8:46.

I am not quite fully trained the way I want to be or should be for Sunday's MCM. I have run two half marathons and a 10K in recent weeks at pretty good paces, but I haven't gone 26.2 since January. My LR was 15 MIles on September 7th (15 miles). I am running with Judy's DH, Charlie, and will start and finish with him. His goal is to finish in about 5 hours. I think I can handle a slower paced 26.2 given my splits above. I will just chalk this up to the Jodi training philosophy... less is more.

I'll most likely not run again until Sunday to protect the knee which is feeling fine right now. I am excited that Mike and Kathy (and DD's) will be there at MCM to cheer us on! Judy is running the 10K along with a co-worker of Charlies. We are planning a group dinner with Bill Floyf, Lynnda and their two boys on Saturday evening to carb load. Probably at a Bertucci's close to our respective hotels.

Thanks for the well wishes and support. I'll be checking in up to the event on Sunday and will post results once its over. To all of the ToT'ers, HAVE A BLAST!!!



Howard

 

[msblrobs]

CindyLou - Congrats on the BQ Awesome race report and I hope you're feeling fine these days.

Howard - Have a blast at MCM this weekend. I'll be tracking you for sure and hoping the knee doesn't give you a hard time. Sweet splits these days

Chester, Jen and Mindy - Have a magical time at ToT and WDW.

Jodi - I hate to about the psycho dog adoption fiasco but I am glad that Sparky is back home with you. Have a great time in NYC

Colleen - Is Jeff letting you go to NYC unattended to be corrupted by Jodi I hope you have a great race. I thought of you when I had a layover in Charlotte on Saturday

Lou - Yankees vs Phillies, say it isn't so Sorry I can't help you out any with the Halloween/World Series/NYC Marathon predicament you seem to have yourself firmly planted in I'm sure Jodi and Colleen will wear Philly red with you proud in NYC!

Dave - Sorry to hear about Dana's recent misfortune I'll keep her in my prayers and am confident it'll all work out as it should. Hoping the therapy offers great relief for the shins

Mike - Loads of for your toe and there's no crying in running Maybe that's why I haven't run in ages . Best of luck in Richmond even though you don't need luck to BQ, just lots of speed, which you definitely have in the bag

I did get a good TM run in this week in Dallas. Hopefully I'll get out tonight at some point for another spin. Definitely need to commit to those LR's at some point and face the fact WDW will be here before I know it Best of luck again to everyone racing this weekend

 

[Optimator]

Dave - Sorry to hear about Dana. I hope everything works out for the best.

Sara - Yes, you MAY want to think about a LR or two sometime between now and January.

Howard - No DD's will be in attendance. Don't take it personally. Heck, they don't even want to come cheer for their own parents. I'm not sure how it's all going to shake out. I think the plan is that Kathy is going down early while I'm still at work. My part of the puzzle is yet to be determined.

Cindy, Matt, Chester, and Jen - I'm jealous of your ToT trip. Have fun and eat (and drink) some good stuff for me.

Colleen and Jodi - Where are you?? Are you already finding trouble in the big city?

Lou - Have you bought your Series tickets yet?

CindyLou - How's recovery going? So now your worried about being fast enough to run Boston??? You belong sister! You earned it!

Cam - How's the knee?

Judy - Are you out there lurking?

Gee, I hope I didn't miss anyone.

Well, my toe's still whacked (as Jodi would say). No running yet. I was able to do 10 miles on the bike at the gym today and only mildly aggravate the offending digit.

I'm getting some grief at home about going to the doctor but really, what can you do for a beat up toe? It's not a tape it to it's neighbor or a loose the nail kind of thing so I'll just have to give it some time.

 

[Honeibee]

Mike - I wasn't until this morning when I just have to post this....

Cindy! OMG! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

 

[keenercam]

Hi, everyone! Just popping in to wish all of our ToTers and our MCMers a fabulous weekend and awesome races!! I will be thinking of all of you and cheering you on virtually from here.

Mike - Please tell Kathy I will truly miss doing 10+ miles worth of scream-teaming with her this weekend. Thanks for asking about my knee. Yesterday was the first Synvisc injection and the doctor described it as "somewhat gelatinous, a bit thicker than motor oil". That may be why it was so incredibly painful yesterday; I guess that stuff has to make its way through the joint. I am prohibited from using the TM or doing any extended walking for 2 weeks. The other two shots are the next 2 Thursdays. He said that in two weeks we'll talk about a plan to get me to the start of the 1/2 in January. Some patients get up to 6-8 months of relief with these injections. He said he felt bone fragments in the knee, on manipulation, and could feel that the tibia and femur are grinding against each other behind the knee cap. If my knee were locking for any period of time ("freezing"), he wouldn't have been permitted to inject the stuff because of use limitations imposed by the FDA and instead would have recommended surgery imminently. Today it feels a bit better. I am going to do the elliptical and bike with limited range and no resistance, as well as keeping up the lower body strength training. Hopefully, all of that will be an effective way to start getting into shape for the WDW 1/2without causing any further damage. In 2 weeks, I am hoping to start some shorter distances, with the aid of a knee sleeve and the patience of my training partner, Patty.
In the meantime, I'll live vicariously through all of my amazing BOTS friends.
(sorry for the all-about-me post!)

 

[Jodi]

It's been 3 days & way too many posts since I've been on here (as Mike has pointed out). But I'm still not as slacking as Mindy . What gives with those two???

Cam - Ouch, ouch & ouch. Motor oil (synthetic or high mileage?) in the knee via needles does NOT sound like a good time. I hope you find relief & are able to train properly for Jan.

Mindy - Can't your friend just quit their job? I mean, it's a Disney race!

Howeird - I can't believe you are running MCM on Sunday! . Bruce says "Ooo-Rah"! I WISH we were all running it again this year.

Lou - I hope we'll be able to hit some of those Philly bars after the run...or are you going to high-tail it back to NJ & watch from the comfort of your home? Colleen & I will be dancing the night away @ the post-race party, no doubt. . Right Colleen? Taper going OK?

Colleen - Post-race dancing, pre-race partying, that's what we discussed, right? I can see the youtube footage already "Hags Gone Wild: NYC Marathon '09". How're you feeling? Enough with the running already.

CindyBQWho - Still on ?

Mike - See above post. Take care of that tootsie .

Chester - Bon Voyage, skipper! Weather? Can't believe I'm missing the final ToT....

Dave - Can't believe you're missing this by what, 3 days?? Glad you're getting help for those shins. Good luck with a run tomorrow.

Jen - RU already in Disney?

Sara - Howdy, pardner. Nice to see you in these parts!

HoniButt - Go back to your favorite boards....we don't need your charity here!

Who'd I miss? Me? Running a little bit, freaking about weather for next Sun, torturing my family....you know, the usual.

 

[CynthiaCindy]

Hi Bots! Matt and I are at the free Sam Adams beer tasting. (it seems like someof the people here don't really need more to drink). Have a great weekend everyone!

 

[Honeibee]

HoniButt - Go back to your favorite boards....we don't need your charity here!

Jodith - You're a brat. I'm gonna tell Sparky to bite you on the butt.

 

[KeenHo]

Howard - No DD's will be in attendance. Don't take it personally. Heck, they don't even want to come cheer for their own parents. I'm not sure how it's all going to shake out. I think the plan is that Kathy is going down early while I'm still at work. My part of the puzzle is yet to be determined.

Well, my toe's still whacked (as Jodi would say). No running yet. I was able to do 10 miles on the bike at the gym today and only mildly aggravate the offending digit.

I'm getting some grief at home about going to the doctor but really, what can you do for a beat up toe? It's not a tape it to it's neighbor or a loose the nail kind of thing so I'll just have to give it some time.

Mike~ I guess I assumed your DD's would be in-toe (ouch, bad one there! Sorry... ). I won't take it personally. Glad they won't be up and out early with Kathy. It is so very nice of you both to want to be there for us. I look forward to seeing you both. Please take care of said toe and be wise about your activities until it is back to 100%. BTW, Is it the Big toe, the Captain of the Toes?

Jodi~ Ooo Rah! Indeed. This is my second in a row, I think I'll look for another Marathon for October next year (If I don't get into NYC! )

Lou~ Go Fight'in Phils! Great final game of the NLCS Series, I watched most of it (a rarity). Congratulations!

Cindy & Matt~ Enjoy the Beer! I mean Disney and the Tot 13K!!! Tell everyone we send our regards! Oh yes, please tell Carrie something for me... GO PENN STATE!!! BEAT MICHIGAN THIS WEEKEND!!!

Sara~ Thanks for tracking my progress this weekend! Have a great one yourself! It looks like the weather will be cooperating!

Judy~ I'll see you tomorrow at my hotel. If not sooner.

Hi to everyone else and best of luck to everyone running the ToT 13K!!!! Have a great weekend!



Howard

 

[Optimator]

Good evening everyone!

It was great fun chasing Howard and Charlie around at MCM today (but really made me wish I was running it!).

Kathy and I were able to see them a number of times on the course and they did great. WTG guys!

Judy - Congrats on your race as well. I'm glad we got to spend a few brief minutes with you this afternoon.

Can't wait to hear from all you ToT runners.

 

[KeenHo]

Mike~ Thank you very much for taking some time out of your day (most likely sleep time) to run around the MCM course to spot Charlie and I. It was great to see you and Kathy, sorry it was such a brief visit.

I am a bit sore this morning and nursing some sore feet. I'll post my splits and a report later on tonight. Have a great day everyone!



Howard

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

Hi Bots! I'm just dropping in to congratulate the ToTers and MCMers. Hope you all had a great event.

 

[lourodrigis]

Chester - I already screwed up Halloween for the kids. Actually, I see no reason why they can't trick or treat in NYC. It may end up being more fun then our boring neighborhood.

Jodi - We'll see about any post race activity as the week goes on. I have a feeling I will be making a hasty getaway back to Philly after the race. If the Phils sweep the Yanks (wishful thinking) I want to be back in time to celebrate on Broad St! What's up with this lady that adopted Sparky? You must have forgotten to say "no take backs!". I'll get a Phillies hat for Sparky.

Cindy - Being 19th out of 27 in Boston is still awesome. I'd be psyched about being in the last corral. The key is that you actually qualified.

Dave - Sorry about the news on Dana's job. On the plus side, she has advanced noticed and time to plan a next move. I'd take this as an opportunity to move onto something new and better. As I told Nicole this year, "never fall in love with a job.". Nicole resigned after working 16 years in the ER and her supervisor didn't so much as even respond to her resignation. To the hospital she was just a number. It's just the way it is today. Dana will find something better.

Sara - I'm not too worried about the Phils/Yanks/NYC Marathon issue. I think everything will work itself out.

Mike - No Series tix. Just hoping I can escape from NY in time to see the Game 4 sweeping of the Yanks. You should live in my house. When your wife is an ER nurse you get absolutely no sympathy for a toe injury. She'd probably make me tape it up myself.

Howard - Congrats on toughing out another MCM! I was following you online all day on that MCM map application. I kept trying to push you along with my mouse.

Hey Colleen, Cindy, Matt, Jen, and everyone!

Got in 8 miles at 8:27 mpm yesterday. That's basically it until NYC. I'll get in some short runs this week but nothing major again until I see Staten Island. On the plus side I feel good and the weather outlook looks decent.

Lou

 

[KeenHo]

Thanks Lou, I wish your mouse had been able to push me along, that would have been helpful.

On Saturday, Judy and Charlie drove to Delaware and I drove to DC taking them along. We drove through the torrential rains on I-95 and made it to the Expo by 4:45 PM, then to pick up Bill and Lynnda (& sons) by 6:15 PM and to dinner at Bertucci's by 6:30. Kevin (Solotraveler) met us there and picked up Cam's unused bib for the 10K which he ran the next day. We dropped off Bill & family and made our way to our hotel and checked in and settled in for the night. I did not sleep well, pre race syndrome I call it. We met up at 6 AM and then made our way to the Metro and to our prospective stops.

Here is the tale of the tape:

(Per my Garmin):

Miles: 26.45
Time: 4:53:31 (Chip Time: 4:53:27)
Pace: 11:06
Splits: 9:56, 10:01, 9:36, 9:15, 9:36, 9:28, 10:12, 9:33, 9:41, 10:05, 9:54, 9:40, 10:07, 10:58, 10:44, 11:30, 12:30, 12:16, 11:39, 12:29, 11:48, 13:30, 14:26, 13:59, 11:52, and 12:50.

5K: 30:25
10K: 1:00:40
15K: 1:31:11
Half: 2:09:20

Charlie and I had a stong first half, probably a bit faster than he would have liked but we both felt pretty good up til then. My wheels started to fall off around mile 18 when my feet began to blister and ache. The bandaids I had one select toes had worked their way lose and were floating around in my shoe. The BodyGlide I put on my feel and toes (along with the perspiration) caused some slippage in the shoes which compounded itself over the length of the run. The blistering was much better than last year, but still painful to run on continually. Also, my legs lost all energy towards the last miles of the race, it was all I could do to run for a few minutes and walk for a few - as evidenced in our later splits.

Charlie's goal was to break 5 hours, I had made up pace bands for 5 hours that I checked at each mile. His PR was something like 5:15 so he greatly eclipsed that. This years race (for me) was almost 30 minutes slower than my PR from this race last year.

My performance is indicitave of my lack of long distance training for this race. I was humbled by the distance, but not defeated. I am going to heal and in the mean time put my schedule together for the WDW Marathon on January 10. For MCM last year, I had trained well, was about 18 to 20 pounds less. What a difference a year makes.

If anyone is thinking about MCM 2010, it sells out very quickly (3 days in 2009) and I'd recommend the Holiday Inn Rossyln for a place to stay. Close to the Metro and close to the finish.

This race brings me to here since Summer 2001:

41 = 5K
6 = 5 Milers
1 = 10K
1 = 13K
3 = 15K
9 = Half Marathons
7 = Marathons

500.6 Miles Racing

Have a great evening!



Howard

 

[Optimator]

Howard - I'm still amazed at your performance given your trials and tribulations over the last 12 months. You did great given the lack of miles you've been able to train.

I know I've said this before, but I haven't had one blister since I started wearing those funky Injinji toe socks for my long runs/races. No bandaids, Body Glide, duct tape or anything. You really should give them a try. Well worth a $9 experiment.

Lou - Enjoy your taper week and best of luck in NYC.


I was able to actually run this afternoon. It felt like I was starting from scratch again.

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

Dave - Sorry about the news on Dana's job. On the plus side, she has advanced noticed and time to plan a next move. I'd take this as an opportunity to move onto something new and better. As I told Nicole this year, "never fall in love with a job.". Nicole resigned after working 16 years in the ER and her supervisor didn't so much as even respond to her resignation. To the hospital she was just a number. It's just the way it is today. Dana will find something better.

Thanks Lou - that means a lot to me. Wow, that's something about Nicole, and her job of 16 years. It depresses me how employers treat people these days. Yeah, that's what Dana thinks - it's all about the money. Bring in a grant and they're fine with you. If not, you're nothing... btw, Go Phillies!

Howard- I am so impressed with your MCM effort. I loved that race - boy, my last full marathon now. You and Charlie were really cruising there for a while.

So I'm up early because I'm heading to Orlando for a conference. Normally I get excited about these solo trips. This is the 3rd time I've been able to go down to Orlando for a work meeting. However, I'm just not feeling it for this one. I wish my family were able to go down with me, and I just don't feel like seeing and experiencing things on my own. I'd rather gather my family up close around me and hold them tight right now.

I've been in a real mental funk since last week. A lot probably having to do with this trip I'm going on. I'll feel a lot better once I get back. I'm going to try to do some running when I get down there. I haven't done any running for weeks, and I haven't even exercised since last Wednesday. Maybe that's contributing to my mental funk as well.

OK, how pathetic does this sound? Oh, woe is me, I have to travel to Orlando by myself...

OK, take care my friends.

 

[keenercam]

Dave - Sending you a hug, my friend.

Hi, BOTs! I was thinking about how a year ago we were looking forward to having a house full of BOTs for a pre-Philly marathon lasagna fest. Not having that BOT gathering to look forwrd to this year makes me sad. Miss you all!

 

[StitchAttack]

Hello Bots.

Howard Congrats on another marathon completed. I second Mike's opinion on the injini toe socks. I've used them for my last few races with no issues. They feel strange at first, but you will get used to them. If blisters were the worst injury you suffered in the MCM that sounds pretty good to me.

New York City Folks Time to rest up! What are your bib numbers? Does NYC have a tracking system similar to Marine Corp?

Chester I only saw you briefly at the ToT 13K. What did you finish in? Did you have a good time?

Now for my tower of terror race report:

Cindy and I went down to Disney with some friends of ours. We both ran the 13K, as did Rhodri (he also ran Everest with us last year and hung out with Dave after the race) and Rhodri's sister. Rhodri's wife ran the 5K. We all got to the staging area about an hour before the race and the start was PACKED. It was very chaotic and we didn't see anyone giving instructions on what to do. Luckily we were all race vets and figured it out (bag check and such) but if you were a first time racer it would have been pretty intimidating.

The start was also pretty disorganized. The 5K race started 15 minutes before the 13K, but they just had one huge corral for 13K + 5K runners. The 5K runners just had to fight their way to the front of the corral, where the pace signs read "7 minutes per mile and under". In the meantime, the 13K runners had to line up well above their expected pace times and fight their way to the front once the 5K race started.

Once the race started, I was able to get pretty clear of the large pack easily enough and run my pace. I finished the first mile in 7:19 or so, but after the first mile I started to feel really really warm. Even though it was 10:30 at night, the temps were still in the 70s and the humidity was high. The second mile ran along this gravel / dirt lane near the wide world of sports and it was slow going. Just getting footing on the rocks and soft sand slowed me down a lot. I think I finished the second mile in 7:35. It was also around this time that my stomach started to feel bad. I ate a large turkey BTL right before the race, and in retrospect I should have skipped dinner. I was burping up turkey BLT for the next few miles or so, ugh.

The next mile ran around wide world of sports. We ran around the baseball fields and on the running track and then back out to the freeway type roads. From miles 2-6 most of my splits were in the 7:30-7:45 range. I was slowing down significantly.

After mile 6, however, we started heading into MGM. The crowds were lining the streets through most of the park and this really pumped me up and I picked up the pace. For the last two miles I probably passed 30-40 people and no one passed me at all. I passed one girl who was dressed completely like snow white and a guy running with a superman cape and no shirt. I finished mile 7 in 7:20 and mile 8 in 7:04 (this was my fastest mile of the race). You run all over MGM, through parts that you don't get to run in during the marathon. The best part was running through lights, motor, action. They had the big screen on and you could see yourself in the jumbotron.

I ended up finishing in 1:00:57 (7:33 pace and 120th place overall). I was hoping to finish in under an hour, but I felt pretty good about my time considering the conditions and my full stomach. Rhodri ended up running another super fast race and finished in 53 minutes and change and in 43rd place overall.

The after party at MGM was fun, but very crowded. Tower of Terror, Rock n Rollercoaster and Toy Story were all open, but the lines were super long and we only got to ride Rock n Rollercoaster before the park closed at 2 am. There were only ~7,000 runners in the races, but I guess lots of people bought party tickets and filled up the park. I think we would have seen shorter lines during regular operating hours, so this was kind of a bust for the 13K runners. At least the beer lines weren't long.

 

[rKyDeX]

Chester I only saw you briefly at the ToT 13K. What did you finish in? Did you have a good time?

Matt
Before the race Chet and I hung out with the gathering group of W.I.S.H.er's. We headed to the port-o-lets about 45 min before the start and ran into Cindy while waiting in line. We saw her again somewhere between mile 4 and 5 I think. She also commented that she had too much, too soon for dinner.

We started near the 9:01 to 11:00 pace sign and went out slowly with plans to build up pace until mile 3 and then cruise until mile 6 and then increase until the finish. We thought the temperature was nice and the humidity low. I was able to turn out some really good mile splits based on heart rate. We finished in 01:12:48 at a sub 9:00 pace which was 3 minutes faster than last years race. We saw Butch after the finish and he had a similar chip time as us.

We really enjoyed the race and hate to see this race retired. Chet and I were able to hit the Rockin' Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror and Star Wars before he headed back to Gainesville. I had a chilly ride back to Fort Wilderness on Tracy's scooter. A hot shower sure felt good.

Best wishes to Bots everywhere and good luck to the NY Marathoners.

Chester

 

[Jodi]

Mindy - As long as the beer lines weren't long, it's all good. Weird that the start was so confusing. Maybe because it was the last year they figured, "who cares"? That would suck for the people new to racing, though. Excellent finish time, dude.

Howard - Way to squeak out 26.2 with all the ailments leading up to it . You toughed it out & got it done, dude. Congratulations!!! Another one under your belt.

Lou - Enjoying taper? Keep those weather forecasts coming, dude! Score tix for the series yet? Guess we won't be seeing you @ the finish line . Have you decided how you're going to travel in? BTW, Sparky takes a size M for that Phillies hat.. We're re-naming him Boomerang....for obvious reasons.

Mike - That was nice of you to run around after work, seeking Howie & Charlie out on the course. ...Huh, wondering if you'e ever do such a thing for me???. Be nice. Well, at least Kathy likes me..... She does, right?

Chester - Sounds like you had a blast...nice times! I so wish I coulda run this race. You drove all the way home afterward???

Cam - Hey! How's the knee feeling? Thanks again for that dinner .

Dave - I'd feel sorry for you, but last time I checked you were riding the new roller coaster @ Universal, so you ain't gettin' no pity here! .

Lily - Hi!

Collen - Counting down the days to your extra special weekend a la Do-do? We're gonna have SO much fun!!!.

Sara - I've been meaning to ask, how are those puppies of yours doin'?

Not much to report here, just obsessing about the weather & hoping to stay healthy.