Mid-Summer Classic Memories and Such

Since I'm already bored with the Home Run Derby, I figured I'd blog about my All-Star Memories. There's only so many HR's you can watch. When are they going to have a skills competition similar to the NHL's? You could have fastest runner, fastest pitch, OF accuracy throws, hitting targets, etc.

It does bring back some good memories as it was in Pittsburgh TWICE since I started high school ('94 and '06). This also means, since there are 30 teams, it may not be back to the 'burgh again until I'm retired. The reason for two so close was that in '94 it was Pittsburgh's turn in the rotation with Three Rivers Stadium. Then, PNC Park opened and they wanted to show off all the new MLB stadiums (I still think there was some sort of deal made to appease the Pirates ownership by giving them the game again so quickly even though there were other new parks. Regardless, that's a whole other story).

In 1994, my neighbor up the street who I mowed the grass for, Dr. DeNino, invited me and two other younger neighborhood boys to go since he had four tickets and his two daughters were still in diapers. What a guy! He took us to the day of the batting practice and home run derby (back when it was in the afternoon). I still remember the moon shots Ken Griffey Jr. and Frank Thomas sent to the third deck of right and left field, respectively as they dueled it out for the HR Derby title.

In 2006, I went with my dad and we went to the Sunday events: The Futures Game, a concert (don't remember who), and the Celebrity & Legends softball game. It was a fun time. Here are some of the pictures pulled out of the pre-blog archives:



Crossing the Clemente Bridge over to PNC Park with the All-Star banner overhead



Our seats up in right field. I found out that day that there truly are no bad seats in PNC Park. This was about as far away as you can be from home plate and it still felt close.




The Futures Game.
When they're playing in it, you don't really recognize many of the names, but it was fun to go back and look at the list of who played that day and rattle off the top of my head where they are now (I left the ones I didn't recognize out).

ADENHART, Nick, P - Angels pitcher who had great promise but was unfortunately killed in a car accident by a drunk driver after a his season debut in the major leagues in 2009.
BAILEY, Homer, P - Up and down with the Reds
BRAUN, Ryan, 3B - MVP Candidate with the hated Brewers
BUTLER, Billy, LF - Key bat for the young Royals team
CARRASCO, Carlos, P - Young pitcher for the Indians
DREW, Stephen, SS - Starting SS for the Diamondbacks
GALLARDO, Yovani, P - Top starting pitcher for the Brewers
GARCIA, Jaime, P - one of the top rookies last year (on the Cardinals)
GONZALEZ, Carlos, OF - amazing 2010, among MVP candidates
GONZALEZ, Gio, P - starting pitcher for the A's
GORDON, Alex, 3B - another starting bat for the Royals
HUGHES, Philip, P - one of the Yankees young pitchers (injured some this year)
KENDRICK, Howie, 2B - speedy player for the Angels
LINDSTROM, Matt, P - reliable relief pitcher
MAYBIN, Cameron, CF - speedy outfielder with lots of promise that has bounced around in several different organizations
PENCE, Hunter, RF - the Astro's All-Star who would look great in right field at PNC Park for the Buccos
REIMOLD, Nolan, RF - up with the Orioles the last few years
SANDOVAL, Pablo, 1B/C - the Panda had a down 2010, but a great 2009 and 2011 SHARPLESS, Josh, P -a token hometown Bucco selection from Freedom, PA. He was out of the Pirates system (and maybe now out of baseball) in just a few years. Never panned out.
SUZUKI, Kurt, C - Catcher with the A's
TABATA, Jose, CF - disgruntled Yankees prospect back then who has now (hopefully) turned into a cornerstone of the Buccos for the next few years
TULOWITZKI, Troy, SS - only one of the best offensive shortstops in the game
VOTTO, Joey, INF - 2010 NL MVP with the reds
WALKER, Neil, C - Another token local Pittsburgh guy selection (although this one's turned out a little better!) He's an RBI machine!



Setup for the concert


Setup for the softball game with the shorter fence.
I remember Franco Harris played and also that Fred Lynn and somebody else had a home run derby to break a tie at the end.

It's pretty exciting to see the Pirates have three All-Star representatives this year, even if two of the three were replacements. What's more exciting is that they are 4 games over .500 and only 1 game out of first place. They've got 3 against Houston coming out of the break, but then division foes Cincinnati and St. Louis. I think that will go a long way towards determining whether they are legit contenders this year (I can't believe I just legitimately wrote that!!!)

Lots of people are wanting the Pirates to make trades. The guys they have coming off the DL over the next month (Beimel, Cedeno, Doumit, Pearce, Alvarez, Ohlendorf, Meek) may do the trick. However, I wouldn't be against making a trade as long as it makes sense. The bullpen could always use a fresh arm with how much they have pitched in the first half. A corner IF or OF bat would be nice, too, but at the right price. The names thrown around are Carlos Pena, Aramis Ramirez, Mark Reynolds, and Hunter Pence. I figure let's see how things play out over the next few weeks before worrying too much about trades.

Enjoy the All-Star festivities and let's go Bucs! It is so fun to have the phrase "first time since 1992" thrown around so much!

Fun 4th of July Weekend

So, the week leading up to the weekend was a bit interesting. But all turned out very well in the end.

Rewind back to Monday. Actually, rewind back to March while we're at it....

(Note, if you don't want to be bored with my dental issues, skip ahead 5 or so paragraphs)

At my dentist appointment, the dentist noticed an issue on an upper molar in the back on both sides. Next step, a root canal for each of those because it was apparently too deep for just a filling. So, on to a specialist who does root canals. Visit #1 for a consultation. Visit #2 for first root canal. Visit #3 supposed to be for the other root canal. However, this guy felt the issue was too close to another tooth and wanted a second opinion (really?).

In the mean time, a crown was then to be put on after each root canal. I go in for crown #1 (from root canal #1), but the dentist can't complete it because he feels there's not enough tooth left. So, I need a crown lengthening on that before a crown can be put in. So, a temporary crown was glued on in the meantime (which popped out when I ate the scrumptious rice krispy treat from Noodles down at Columbia and had to get glued back in...oops).

Next on to another specialist for the crown lengthening. Visit #1 for the consultation at the end of the schoolyear and visit #2 for the actual crown lengthening on both sides (confirmed what root canal guy said). Lots of annoying half days needing to be taken during track season. Thank goodness school is out and I don't have to use any more sick days.

So, back to Monday (apologies for the multi-paragraph tooth malady summary). The dentist warned me going in I wouldn't be able to use my back teeth much for nearly a week. I figured that was conservative and I'd be eating pizza the next day (like after root canal #1).

Not so much. Monday night I was in BIG TIME pain. I used the pain-killer meds, put ice on both sides of my face and didn't each much for the rest of the night. This probably led to headaches probably from both the pain and also the hunger. Tuesday wasn't much better. Went to the summer program Tuesday morning but it wasn't too fun. Tuesday night, Beth's mom was in town so we went to the Olive Garden and it took me almost an hour to slurp up a plate of some fettuccine noodles. Wednesday I took a good 45 minutes to put down my two slices of pizza (usually only takes me 10-15 min).

After more soup, jello, pudding, and applesauce for most of the rest of the week I get to Friday. They needed me to fill in for the softball team (for a doubleheader, no less) and I figured I was game for it. I took a gel beforehand because I knew I was calorie deficient and it was hot out. I was slurping down liquids the whole way there and during the first game. However in spite of this I still cramped up while sprinting on the basepaths at the beginning of game 2. Not the hammy this time, but the left quad. Not good. I told the guys I lost 5th gear but could still jog (probably lost 4th gear too).

I finish out the games, but come home pretty bummed because it was pretty apparent the quad wasn't in good shape. However (and I'm not sure why) but it just "felt" like a cramp/knot and not a strain/pull, so I still had hope it may go away. I go to work on the quad at home that night trying to get the cramp out but pretty worried about running the 5k on July 4th.

Saturday morning I go out and try to run on it. I go on flat ground and jog over to the high school track. It was "tugging" at me a little if I tried to go too fast. 8-minute pace was all I could muster for that 25-minute run (with some stretching in there). I try it again on Sunday and this time I was able to pick it up and run a timed 7:15 mile on the track (not quite what I would hope for in the race). Then I tried three 200's and was able to get down to 45 seconds (6:00 pace) but I had to labor a little to do that and it was only a 200. I was pretty wary of how things would turn out because the quad was still tugging a little bit.

Enough of the leadup, on to race morning at the Hampton 5k. I warm up and it feels okay, but I'm still a little nervous. My strategy was to go out conservative and see how it feels. 'Racer X' was there and I figured I'd just settle back in behind him to start the race. The gun goes off and I can tell within the first few strides the quad was going to cooperate....at least to start. I tuck in behind Racer X and follow him on the flat first mile around the school.

We split mile 1 in 5:25 and I'm in 6th or so place. I guess the quad is feeling okay. However, mile #2 goes up a pretty steep, long hill. I figured this will be the true test for the quad and if it would seize up. I start motoring up the hill and all feels well. In fact, the leaders start coming back to me. By the top of the hill, I pull even with the front two and then I'm in the lead.

A wrap then around the middle school and back down the hill. I snuck a peak at the middle school turnaround and noticed nobody really came with me (I thought the two behind me would concede the hill but then put in a surge and catch back up to me on the flat).

Okay, this will be the true test for the quad to go back down the hill. All is well and I split 5:45 at the beginning of the return down the hill. I get back toward the high school with about 3/4 of a mile to go and Beth tells me I have about a 10 second lead (as can be seen in her stellar picture--what a spectathlete, getting splits and taking pictures!).

I'm starting to hurt at this point (the good hurt not the quad hurt) and I'm running scared back around the high school. I hope they don't catch me!! I'm peaking with each 90-degree turn around the high school, but can't see anybody. Beth updates me with less than 1/4 of a mile and says I have about a 15-second lead. I do my best to just finish strong and cross the line at 17:35 with that 15-second margin still in tact. (6:25 for the last 3.1).

So, in spite of the tooth procedure, the liquid/soft diet for most of the week, the quad "knot" two days before the race, and the general doubt of the unknown factoring all that in, a VERY satisfying time and a great finishing award!

The one disclaimer on career victory #2 is that this was most certainly the "JV" 4th of July race around Pittsburgh. All of the big boys were down at the Brentwood 5k (with the winning time of 14:57 and 14 runners sub-17).

A trip to the Hampton Community Pool while we are there and an easy 1650 while Beth gets a little workout in (and a cannonball off the diving board and a trip down the slide).

Very soothing on the legs. In fact, I credit trips to the YMCA pool with Beth on both Saturday and Sunday for easy swim workouts to help loosen up the cramp in the quad and allowing me to even race on Monday.

Throw in a BBQ at Ben's house on Saturday, some fireworks, and the Buccos inching their way more over .500 and closer to first place, it was a great weekend!

Since last time...

Okay, last post was my marathon race report. I figured I should sneak a June post in being that it's the last day of the month at all. The reason I haven't written a blog since May 21 is because...

A. I went into a deep blogging exile and depression after not meeting my marathon time goals.
B. I was so overwhelmed by the end of the track season and school year and start of summer.
C. I vowed to not write a new blog post until the Pirates stayed under .500 for a week.
D. I took a peaceful non-internet trip into the woods for a month to meditate and find my center-balance.
E. I'm just plain lazy.

Well, perhaps there are shades of truth to A and B, but those aren't really the reasons. It can't be C because the Pirates keep winning and are currently 2 games over .500. Not really sure what D means, so it must be E. Sorry for the two fans out there who are regular readers of the blog. That's probably been reduced by 50% (thanks, Beth, for remaining a loyal follower).

So, what has happened since the marathon....

*For track, there were many outstanding performances at the WPIAL (district) finals including our guys finishing 1-2 in the mile. The jumpers performed solidly and are poised for a strong senior year next year. Two of our qualifiers for the state meet brought home hardware and our junior guy in the mile is looking like a good candidate to be among the top runners in the state next year.

*For Beth, she was the first female amateur to cross the line at Eagleman. So (in your best Forest Gump impression of seeing the president multiple times), we get to go to Hawaii...again. Our buddy Ben had a strong showing at Eagleman also and he now has a blog. Good luck to him and our other buddy Nate up in Providence next weekend.

*I'm involved in my summer elementary program again. It's called "Math in Sports" and it's a fun way to work for a few mornings a week talking about fantasy baseball, calculating BA/OPS/ERA/WHIP, and collecting data on basketball shooting percentages. Not to mention I get to be all-time QB, all-time whiffleball pitcher (with a NASTY slider thanks to how those holes are cut in the ball), and referee when they're doing anything else.

*I've been an emergency callup on a co-worker's softball team this summer. It's slowpitch so it's not quite as engaging as fastpitch (no bunts or steals), but I'm getting to play the outfield which I haven't done a lot of for about four or five years (since I mostly pitched the last few years in my fastpitch league). The first few times were a little shaky defensively, but I was feeling a lot more comfortable and getting better jumps on the ball by the last game. The one downside to this is the disparity in record when I'm there (0-4) and when I'm not there (something like 10-2). It's not like I'm doing bad and causing the team to lose, it's just they lose when I'm there. I keep waiting to not get invited back or to be given directions to an incorrect field so I miss the game.

*Also, running around the bases and the outfield has helped my speed training and make sub-90 400's feel like a piece of cake. I ran a 5k back on my birthday and went sub-18 on a pretty hilly course. It was a good start to the summer racing schedule I've laid out. I'm going to do more races this summer with the goal of hopefully making my leg muscles strong and not prone to the marathon cramping. In addition to that, the plan for the fall is to do either the Harrisburg or Philly marathon in November with the expressed goal of going at 7:10-7:15 pace and RUN a complete marathon (no cramping, walking, etc). Then, hopefully that will set me up with a solid base to train even harder through the winter and spring to finally reach that elusive sub-3:00 marathon in Pittsburgh 2012.

*Of course, I've already managed to catch several baseball games. Beth took me up to Altoona for my birthday.

And I went down to Frederick last weekend to hang out with my parents & sister.

I was there while Beth and Pittsburgh's other finest triathletes conquered the mountains around Deep Creek, MD. I'll need to get over to PNC Park to watch this juggernaut of a baseball team. The pitching has been extremely exceeding expectations and the hitting has been holding the team back from even having a better record. We'll see what the second half has in store.

*The high school XC "fun runs" start Friday. It's exciting to get back in to it, especially with all the returning runners we have.

So, hopefully a few more posts in July as I settle in to summer. I hope everybody has a great 4th of July! (I can always picture Bill Pullman's speech in Independence Day)

If At First You Don't Succeed...

Back in my Philly marathon, I identified several key factors that may have contributed to not hitting the sub-3:00 goal in the form of my running out of gas around mile 15 and subsequent hamstring convulsions around mile 24.

-Following the high school’s cross country training schedule during the week and just doing a long run on the weekend
-Going out WAAAAAY too hard (like a 1:23 half and some sub-6:10 miles in the first ten)
-Could have been better on my nutrition plan (no gel before the race, not enough fluids, too long between gels)
-Rushing to the start line after long port-o-potty lines and not enough pre-race stretching

So, to address these issues, I:

-Mapped out a training plan from the “Advanced Marathon Training” book and followed the daily mileage to a T
-Resolved to maintain a 6:50 pace and go through the half right around 1:30
-Work doing the same nutrition for my weekend long runs through the race. Oatmeal, powerbar, and a gel right before the run. Gels every 5 miles on the run.
-Scouting out the port-o-potty’s before the race and know where to go to take care of business quickly before the race, so I get a complete warmup and stretch.

It’s a little misty on race morning, but not too bad. If anything the mist cooled things off. Before I knew it, the race took off. I saw Cheryl Gatons and knew she would be running under 3:00. So, I told myself I was NOT allowed to pass her in the first few miles or else I’d be going out too fast. Even with this, mile 1 was 6:33.

Whoa, throw on the brakes! Mile 2 was 6:40, but then I settled in to my rhythm. 6:48, 6:53, 6:53 was miles 3-5. Mile 6 and 7 were a little downhill and were 6:41, 6:39. On to the south side and miles 8-11 were 6:45, 6:44, 6:45, 6:49. Mile 12 was the uphill into Oakland and I resolved to not push it too hard up that hill and drain the legs – 6:59. Into Oakland I was 6:37 for mile 13 and through the half in 1:28:30. Slightly fast but on pace for a 2:57.

Miles 14-17 were 6:41, 6:52, 6:50, and 6:44. Up to this point, things were comfortable. I had been using the word “effortless” when talking to people this week. That may be exaggerating it, but it felt like I was executing my plan. Mile 18 over in Homewood is when it started getting harder, but I figured it was merely because the entire marathon wasn’t going to be easy. I knew it would get hard. Mile 18 split at 7:02. I took in my mile 20 gel between 18-19 to try to jumpstart me. But, it got harder. Mile 19 was 7:15.

I memorized two splits going into the race: Be at mile 10 around 68 minutes. Be at mile 20 by 2:17. I go through mile 20 at 2:16:43 (still on pace), but my split for that mile was 7:32. Not quite 6:50. I would need to split 6:52’s the rest of the way and could feel it slipping away.

After an 8:16 for mile 21 I knew it wasn’t going to be in the cards to crack 3:00. I figured, “back off a little and still earn a PR and get it in the 3:0X’s.” I could feel the legs getting fatigued. I took a long stroll through the next water station to fuel up on fluids and to finish the deal. Mile 22 is 9:15 as I walked through that water station.

Fueled and with the downhill mile 23 past Bloomfield back towards the strip district, I “improved” to an 8:33 mile. However, the fatigue, the upset stomach (did I mention I had a little throw-up around mile 22-ish?), the pounding of the downhill all came to rear its ugly head in the strip district. First, the quads cramped and I was reduced to a walk because there was a knife being driven into my right quad, just above the knee. Must press forward.

Then the hammies and groin start getting tight. I’m starting to yell at those muscles, “YOU STAY IN THERE!” urging them to not ball up like the knotty mess they became in Philly. I alternate squeezing and massaging my hamstrings, quads, and groin and could only imagine what the spectators were thinking of my hand placement as I’m shuffling along. Mile 23 to 24 was 11:19 because I had to walk a few points due to the beginning of the cramping and massaging.

2.2 miles to go. I make the left off of Penn at 16th Street and then the quick right onto Liberty. Almost to downtown. Then, it happened. Again. It’s as if someone shot BOTH my hamstrings at the same time. Pretzels for hamstrings. I tried to somehow get into a position to make the painful contractions in the hammies go away. However, unlike Philly, there was no 2-foot wall along the side of the road to lean up against. My legs couldn’t move. It was all in slow-motion, but I went DOWN. Literally fell over. There was nowhere else to go.

I crawled to the sidewalk to get out of the way of the runners but was in a lot of pain as the legs were throbbing from the pain and there was no way to make it go away. Somehow, just like in Philly, there were medics only about a block away. I am so blessed to have them that close that quickly. Three medics started working on my legs and making the cramp go away. They asked was it my left or my right leg. I said, “YES!” They asked was it my hamstring or quad. I said, “YES!” At least I had a sense of humor while gritting my teeth.

After they got to the point of having me straighten my legs without contractions, they then helped me get the legs moving in a SLOOOOOW bicycle-like motion as I laid on my back on the sidewalk. After a good minute or so of the slow cycles, we determined it was time to get up and try walking. Success!

So, I started moving forward with the EMT’s escorting me along my walk. I have to really hand it to them. When the legs cramped up and I went down. I was done. I was ready for someone to radio in a cart to pick me up and take me to the finish. I thought about how that would be letting down all the people who supported me through the Alzheimer’s Association but I was so down about cramping up severely again and it just didn’t matter.

However, the first thing the lead EMT said to me was, “You’re so close. Less than two miles to go. We’ll get you loosened up and get you to that finish line.” What a great motivator. Once the legs started loosening up doing the “bicycles” I then thought about how I MUST finish because of all of the support and backing I had from all of those great people that supported the Alzheimer’s Association. So, a-shuffling I went. This entire ordeal from mile 24 to 25 somehow “only” took 15:22 even though it felt like a half hour.

Shuffle downtown on Liberty. Shuffle to make a right onto 6th street. Shuffle over the Clemente Bridge. Shuffle as I make the left onto General Robinson Street (Mile 25 to 26 a speedy 11:04). The last 0.2 in 2:07. I cross the line in 3:22:28 and just reached for my hammies. The medal handing-out lady could tell that I was not in good shape, so she requested a medic. I did not resist the gurney escort to the medical tent. Anything to get off my weary legs. After some fluids and more stretching of the hammies, I was released and went to find Beth.

It took a little while, but found her and relayed to her my yet again disappointing second half of a marathon. Like the awesome wife that she is, she was able to help me accentuate the positives and set up a plan for improving next time. Probably the best part of the day was that I didn’t have time to sit around and pout. There was the Etown alumni post-race get-together. Seeing the gathering of 15-20 people and hearing their positive stories from the day helped lift my spirits.


So, back to the drawing board. No rash decisions yet. Let the race marinate for a little bit and then set up a plan moving forward. Thank you again to all the supporters of the Alzheimer’s Association and I look forward to meeting my goal in the future.

Marathon Scouting Report

So I allegedly have a blog. I guess I should post something from time to time.

This whole routine of wakeup, walk dog, drive to school, run, teach, coach, drive home, dinner, odds & ends, sleep is just about over. The marathon is Sunday. Track season is in its final weeks. Whew!

Our boys and girls teams both made it to the district team finals. That's a fun event because it recognizes a true "team" where it's dual meet scoring between the teams. Not like invitational scoring where a few outstanding individuals get 10 pts each for first and win the 'team' championship. We're going up against my alma mater, so it should be fun to compete against the old coaches.

Okay on to the marathon scouting report for Sunday.

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***Spoiler alert*** If you're interested in winning some FREE granola from Nuts About Granola, go to Beth's blog and predict my time BEFORE reading on. Otherwise, that's kind of cheating.
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And, prior to going into any of the details, I want to say this marathon preparation has already been a HUGE success. I went into it wanting to make a difference beyond just running faster than last time and I feel like I have accomplished that.

First of all, Beth was asked to be the team dietitian for the Alzheimer's Association Alz-Stars. I went with her to a meeting and ended up signing up to be a fundraiser. Through the awesome generosity of nearly 50 individuals, somehow they decided to give a total of $1,830 to the Alzheimer's Association on my behalf. I am truly grateful and speechless for all that giving. What a difference you have made. I'll be thinking of you and your family members when things get tough out on the race course. If you're one of those amazing people, THANK YOU!! If not, you can still help and donate here.

Secondly, I wanted to help others get involved with the marathon weekend and I had two main groups I was involved with. First of all, from my high school I teach at, there are two others doing the full, 5 more doing the half, and a couple on relays. I've been an 'advisor' to them throughout the process (don't know if you can really call it a coach).

The other group is through one of the colleges I went to, Elizabethtown College. It's located out by the Harrisburg/Lancaster area, so there aren't a lot of alums here in the Pittsburgh area. However, our alumni group thought it would be neat to organize for the marathon either running or volunteering. Through this, we have 2 people running the full, 2 running the half, 2 relay teams (10 people), and 5 or so people volunteering on race morning. It's so exciting to see so many people get involved. Some are even from outside the area and just coming in to Pittsburgh for the weekend.

So, before the gun goes off on Sunday to start the race, it is certainly a success (and part of the reason I haven't gotten around to blogging much trying to keep all of this organized). However, it is still the ultimate priority of mine this weekend to redeem myself from the ill-advised greedy start and paying for it the last 5 miles Philadelphia Marathon.

My training has gone well. I have followed my plan throughout--especially the mid-week long runs. With that said, I'm feeling confident that I have put myself in a position to crack the 3:00 barrier. How will it turn out? We'll find out Sunday. One thing I do know is that I will NOT be going through the half in 1:23:11 like I did in Philly. The goal is to click off that 6:45-6:50-ish pace and come through at 1:29:29 or so. Then, as I get to around mile 20 I will assess things. The best advice I've heard is that the marathon doesn't start until mile 20. Keep it under wraps until then!

I have checked out the course on several long runs and have seen the entire course (except for this little 1-mile part out by the West-End Bridge) twice. I know what to expect and just have to execute the plan. I didn't take my camera on my long runs on the course but, through the use of Google's StreetView, I'll highlight some of the key parts of the course for me.

Miles 1-5 are about getting into the rhythm. After mile 6, you go on to the West End Bridge. I don't really drive over it too often, but loved taking in the view of Heinz Field and downtown during my training runs. I figured I'd do it then because it's all business on race day. Not time for sight-seeing!



After that uncharted 1-mile rectangle past the West-End Bridge, you proceed along Carson Street on the South Side. I again liked looking back towards downtown and admiring the skyline.


Mile 10 is at the end of the South Side, you cross the Birmingham Bridge and then work your way to the only true "uphill" of the course into Oakland. I tried to capture it with this shot. You can see the Cathedral of Learning on Pitt's campus in the background. Just run towards that up the hill.


Then, it's through Oakland, Shadyside, East Liberty (a little scary) and then back into Shadyside. Around mile 22, you're at the Bloomfield Bridge and this is where it could get exciting on Sunday. I could feel the anticipation brewing on my long runs when I got to this point. It's pretty much downhill and flat from here on in to the finish.


You continue down Liberty Avenue towards the Strip District. As you go past mile 23, you can see downtown in the distance and know you're getting close!


After going back through the Strip District (and I can imagine a lot of people lining the streets), you cut through downtown back to 6th street. Make a right onto 6th street and head towards the Clemente Bridge and PNC Park. Less than a mile when you can see PNC Park!


Once over the bridge, hang a left around Left Field of PNC Park onto General Robinson St and it's a straightaway to the finish as you're running towards Heinz Field!

That's how I'm hoping it plays out on race day. We shall see. Thank you for all of the well-wishes I've gotten already. If you're interested in tracking people in the marathon, they have set that up here. You have to set up a username and password, but then you can have the splits every time we cross over mats (every 5 or 10 miles?) emailed, tweeted, texted, facebook-ed to you.

Time to get some rest for the big weekend coming up! Good luck to all racing in this weekend!

Martha's RR, Track, and The Big Easy

In what is a LOOOONG overdue blog, here we go.

Martha's Run 10k went well. Unlike last year when the top three were long gone two minutes into the race (winning time 33:48), the makeup of the running group was different. I looked around at the start line and saw one local big-time runner (and a big fan of giving high-fives) and the college kid who went to Mt. Lebo and wrestled but is now getting really fast at road races.

The starter said "GO" and I took off from the line....and nobody went with me. And it stayed that way for the first mile and half. I told myself this is just like my morning runs on the course....except it's light out....and I'm running on the road instead of the sidewalk....and I'm following a fire truck...and I'm running faster. Other than that, just like a morning run.

Finally, around two miles into it, the big-timer caught up to me (I was starting to think he was just using this as a tempo run). We ran together for the next mile, but then he started to put a gap on me. He was about 5-10 seconds ahead as we got to the 5 mile mark. We descended down the last big hill and I couldn't close the gap (similar to my experience from last year). We get to the final flat (about a half mile long) and I picked it up and tried to close the gap but was unable to. The end result: 2nd place 36:32 (5 seconds behind the winner), just under a minute faster than last year.

The race is in memory of a Mt. Lebanon graduate Martha Dixon who worked for the FBI Cold Case Squad. A gunman entered their office and began shooting. She returned fire and wounded the perpetrator but was killed in the exchange. The goal of the race is to raise money to build playgrounds to keep kids active. The playground in the picture below was the first one built a few years back. Their next one is going to be in conjunction with the South Hills YMCA.

Sunday was a long run (17 miles) and I hit that pretty good. Monday I did 6 miles. Then, I hit the wall. My legs felt like lead the rest of the week. I think I overdid it. I took off Tuesday, ran a sluggish 10 miles Wednesday and 5 miles Thursday. Then, I took Friday off with the travel day and started to finally feel better on Saturday. More on the New Orleans portion in a minute....

TRACK
Our weather continued par for the spring. Cold, rainy, throw a little snow in there. While we were in New Orleans, the invitational got cancelled due to wind and rain. It's been a crazy spring. In spite of that, our boys and girls have been adapting, adjusting, and excelling and we haven't lost yet heading into our final week of section meets. Hoping for a string of nice weather for the final month of the season.

NEW ORLEANS
Off to a new and exciting place again. Beth's triathlon season has started. We did our usual routine--Beth packs her bike and everything Thursday night. Friday morning I drop Beth off at the airport before school. She flies down while I'm at school and practice. Then, I fly down. My flight from Pittsburgh got delayed about an hour. Then, due to thunderstorms, the Atlanta airport closed and we were left sitting on the runway in Pittsburgh.

A half hour later, we finally took off and made our way off to Atlanta. The descent into Atlanta was a little dicey. There were lots of corrections made by the plane due to the wind. A lightning bolt flashed right outside of the window. Whoa! After a hard landing we made it. My flight to New Orleans was also delayed and didn't take off until around Midnight. I get into New Orleans around 2am central (3am eastern), making for a 23-hour day.

On to the weekend, Beth had her usual pre-race routine. She went in the (choppy) water and I did an hour run. The legs started to come back a little bit. Sunday was race day. The choppy water ended up forcing the cancelling of the swim. Beth did awesome and was the 4th amateur to finish and she cracked 1:30 in the half marathon! I did my usual thing of being out on the course.

While I was out there I snapped a few pictures. These pictures turned out pretty clear since our new phones have a higher resolution.

Beth about 3 miles into the run.

While waiting for Beth on the run, I was snapping shots of the pros (some of which are on FB). This one was interesting, though. Racer number 57, Kelzie Beebe, threw me for a loop as I was cheering the runners on. She says, "You're Beth Shutt's husband, aren't you?" I guess my reputation is starting to preceed me.

Beth about to overtake 4th place with about 3 miles to go. She was trucking!

This was a little tricky since it was point-to-point for the run, but I made it work. I checked it out on mapmyrun and it turns out I logged 11+ miles on race day.

POST-RACE

With it being our spring break at school (and because tickets were a lot cheaper to return on Tuesday) we stuck around an extra day than usual and actually had a chance to check out the host city. New Orleans has been through a lot with Hurricane Katrina. Some parts, like the French Quarter, seem like they've fully recovered. Other parts up by Lake Ponchartrain, had areas that have recovered but others still with the spray paint on the houses. The roads were real bumpy in that area. It also looks as though they are working on levee projects still there.

The French Quarter was...unique. Driving the course on Saturday we saw a whole bunch of people out including people dressed up as pirates (not from Pittsburgh). There were beads everywhere and I can only imagine what it was like there at night.

I found a new favorite treat in beignets - doughy funnel cake-like donuts with mounds of powdered sugar on them. Cafe DuMonde does ship the mix!

We went past the Super Dome. It's so much bigger than Heinz Field, an amazing structure.

On Monday, I ran along the Mississippi River levee. It just went on forever. My 8.5 miles out went pretty well, however I melted on the way back. Must have been something to do with the 80-degree temperatures and humidity since I was coming from 40's and 50's.

Monday night, we saw a AAA baseball game between the New Orleans Zephyrs (Florida Marlins) and the Round Rock Express (Texas Rangers). It was a good game, but selfishly I was a little disappointed because there weren't any real top prospects playing in the game. In fact, there were a good number of late-20's journeymen who I recognized from playing in the big leagues.

The first pitch. I think it's in the air, but you can't see it. It's out of the pitcher's hand, the batter is still looking out and the catcher still has his target up.

Like with many things in New Orleans, there is a levee incorporated as part of the outfield beyond the right-center fence.

Our flight back went smooth and soon after I got home, it was off to another track meet, where it was 50 and rainy (of course).

I'm excited for Easter this weekend to see family and to remember the whole reason for our faith. Jesus loved us so much to die for us and take our place for all the bad stuff we have done in our lives. We don't owe Him anything, but knowing what He did for us makes you want to make a difference for Jesus with other people.

Spring Has Sprung?

It's April! Start of the baseball season! Two track meets so far in April and......IT SNOWED AT BOTH!!!! Here's a picture of me driving to Saturday's meet.




Today, we had more snow flurries at our meet. My workout this morning was in the rain/snow of mid-30's temperatures bringing back memories of the Turkey Trot. It's just not right. But, hopefully things will start warming up.

Training is going well. Last week I had 5x1000 at 5k pace on Wednesdsay, 17 mi with 14 miles at marathon pace on Saturday, and 5x600 at 5k pace today. I'm doing a 10k Saturday (Martha's Run from last year) and 17 on Sunday. This weekend will be 5 weeks to go. It's getting close. And, thanks again to all who have been so generous in donating to the Alzheimer's Association on my behalf. It's so awesome to see how many people are willing to support. If you haven't had a chance yet and would like to, you can donate here.

I also need to get around to my Pirates preview. Last spring, I wrote a blog on why the Pirates couldn't be any worse. Well, they were worse. So, I'm not going to write an opinion on whether they'll be better or worse. I'll just focus on individuals.

Even though it's a few days late, my concern for the year is starting pitching (off to a great start) and infield defense (kind of ugly so far). I feel Neil Walker will regress to his minor league stats (he's off to an awesome start) but think Tabata and McCutchen will take off this year (so far so good). Through five games, they LOOK better. But, we shall see.....

AND HOW ABOUT SOME WARMER WEATHER!!!!!!