Turkey Trot mania, Thanksgiving 2006

The annual Georgetown University Turkey Trot was scheduled for Thursday November 16th this year. The day turned out to be terrible with thundershowers destroying the opportunity to run. So the race was rescheduled for 4 p.m. on Monday November 20th. That Monday brought clear skies but frigid temperatures somewhere in the 30's at race time. There were only about 20 of us that showed up to do three laps around Kehoe turf, two laps around the practice field, down the hill and two laps around the football field, back up the hill and one more lap around the practice field before crossing back to the finish line. There were two people that really took off at the start that I wound up chasing as soon as I got warmed up and started moving. One of them didn't pace well and I got by him really slowed down on the football field. The leader was just too far out in front of me that I just couldn't catch up and wound up crossing the finish line of the ~2.4 mile course at 14 minutes 30 seconds about a couple hundred yards back. They gave me a 15 lb frozen turkey, Booeymongers gift certificates, and an IM champion shirt.

On Wednesday November 22nd the brother Steven, his girlfriend Sierra, and I flew home to Cincinnati, Ohio for Thanksgiving with the parents. As soon as we got into town, we headed straight to Fries Cafe, the used-to-be family owned divebar than has been the annual Thanksgiving Eve watering hole for the past several years. Check out the picutre of us throwing them back above. The father drove us home after a night without too much commotion compared to years past. Steven and I left the house in West Chester at 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning the 23rd and headed down to Paul Brown Stadium to run in Cincinnati's 97th annual Thanksgiving Day 10k race. We got there in time to register and then sprint through the crowds to the line for the 9 a.m. start. The gun went off and we all set out on the 6.2 mile trek around downtown Cincinnati, across a bridge over the Ohio River into Kentucky, through Newport and then Covington, across another bridge back into Cincinnati, and then back to the finish line at Paul Brown Stadium. The weather was beautiful for running that morning with a race temp somewhere in the low 50's. The legs felt good for the run but there was some hurt inside from the night before (no doubt those Southern Comfort shots) and I fell off during the last mile or so crossing the finish at 41:21 (6:39 mile pace) that would have been good for 331st place out of 10,591 finishers had I gotten there in time to get a chip on my shoe. Steven also finished well only a couple minutes back. Steven wonders why we always party so hard the night before races together. I don't know. Check us out passed out together later Thanksgiving afternoon. Gobble gobble!

A most exhilirating and painful day - Sunday November 5th, 2006

- On Friday November 3rd I took the 10:30 p.m. Chinatown bus from D.C. up to Penn Station in New York City. From there I hopped a ride over to Chelsea to meet up with my friend Dee at a house party and then we headed down to Tribeca to sleep for the night. On Saturday morning I made my way over to the marathon expo at the Javits Center on the west side to pick up my race packet, buy a bus ticket down to Staten Island for the morning, and found a cool pair of running shorts. After the expo I met up with my mommy in Midtown who had come into town for the weekend to watch the race and hang out with friends. We wound up spending the day walking around the neighborhoods of Manhattan, shopping, and got some pasta for dinner in the West Village. I went and dropped off everything I didn't need in the morning at my mom's hotel room and then made my way over to my hotel on the Upper West Side where I actually managed to fall asleep by 11 p.m.

The alarm went off at 5:45 a.m. on Sunday morning and I was out the door of the hotel by 6:00. I took the metro down to the NYC Public Library at 42nd St where I was to catch a bus down to the start line on Staten Island. There were literally thousands of people waiting in line for the bus. It was quite a chilly morning with a high on race day of 45 degrees, and I was glad to be wearing gloves and a hat while waiting in line to get on the bus. There were so many international runners waiting in line around me. It was about 7:30 by the time we got on the bus and started rolling - first over to Brooklyn and then across the Verazano-Narrows bridge to get down to Staten Island. We were crossing the bridge a little after 8 and got to see all the runners with disabilities starting their 26.2 mile adventure heading the other way on the bridge after their 8:00 start. It was truly inspiring to see people on crutches, people with no legs, people with no vision, all filled with the desire to traverse the same 26.2 miles I would be running in a couple hours. The bus let us off around 8:30, quite a while until the 10:10 a.m. race start. There was an amazing amount of nervous energy among the 38,368 runners gathered on Staten Island that morning - the largest group to ever start a marathon in history. It was an amusing sight to see everyone's pre-race routine be it sleeping, huddled up in a foil blanket, stretching, rubbing Ben-Gay all over oneself, etc. It took quite a while to stand in line to use the bathroom one last time and to check my bag. Race time came upon us very quickly.

I was in the orange corral at the start meaning I got to cross the Verazano-Narrows Bridge on the top left side - thankfully not on the bottom where you can get peed on by runners on the top if the wind is blowing right. At about 9:50 they started herding us to the start line. After the singing of the national anthem, the gun went off at 10:10 a.m. and the race was underway. On the top right side of the bridge I got to see the professional runners go by along with Lance Armstrong and his entourage. There was a concrete wall with several armed NYPD officers dividing my corral from Lance's so I was not able to chase him down and pull down his pants as was my plan. I made it to the start very quickly after the gun went off and was on my way across the Verazano-Narrows Bridge from Staten Island into Brooklyn. See the picture of the thousands of us crossing the bridge above.

I felt good from the get go and started at a nice pace after I got past the crowded first mile. The crowds were 5-10 people deep as we treked through Brooklyn. Knowing how much training I had put in really helped drive me during most of the race. I had some moderate knee pain starting about mile 9 that I was able to run through and subsided around mile 13 or 14. I was running with the 3 hr 15 min pace group and crossed the half marathon mark at 1:39:12. At mile 15 I reached Queensboro Bridge, a nightmarish 1.2 mile uphill climb from Queens onto Manhattan. I somehow found the stamina to run up that freaky hill at which point I thought I was done only to be greeted by the thousands of New Yorkers cheering us on as we made our way onto Manhattan for the first time in the race. The cheering crowds propeled me for the next couple miles at which point I fell apart or hit the proverbial "wall". The legs started cramping and I just didn't have the energy to keep it going at the pace I was at come mile 19 or so. See my demise on the pace chart above. It was a real struggle that last 7 or 8 miles filled with much stretching, walking, and agony. After we made it into Central Park around mile 24 I was able to pick it up a little bit and bring it home running in front of the enormous crowds. My mommy was there cheering for me at Columbus Circle at mile 26.1 and got to see me cross the finish line at 3 hours 45 minutes 22 seconds. My 8:36 mile pace for the 26.2 miles was good for 7,452 place out of 37,480 finishers on the day. There was an unforgettable feeling of accomplishment that came across me as I took that last few steps. Lance crossed the finish line in 2:59:36 (45 min 46 sec ahead of me) and called the marathon "the hardest physical thing I have ever done". The pain kicked in right away after my legs stopped and I was pretty crippled for that couple mile walk where you take the chip off your shoe, get your foil blanket, water hand out, baggage pick up, and then finally family reunion where I met up with the mother. We took a cab over to her hotel room where I got cleaned up and then headed over to Chinatown and caught a bus back to D.C. I can't wait for the next one!

The 17th Street High Heel Race - Tuesday October 24th, 2006

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THE MOST FABULOUSLY RAUCOUS RACE EVER!!!!!!!!

"Traditionally held on the Tuesday before Halloween, this annual neighborhood event features elaborately costumed drag queens racing down 17th Street (from Q to Church streets) and attracts a large crowd eager to cheer them on. The race begins at 9, but the real fun takes place before the main event, as the contestants parade up and down the race course showing off their outfits. The informal block party continues long after the last Mary Jane (size 13 EE) crosses the finish line." ~ Washington Post

To get any sense of what insanity transpired on 17th Street this Tuesday, click on this link to see a short video put together by the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2006/10/24/VI2006102400655.html

So I spent the last week assembling my costume for the big race. Thigh-high white leather platform-heel boots, feather boa, leather choker, and body glitter from the Pleasure Place. Red plaid skirt from Urban Outfitters. White button-up shirt from H&M. Pink wig from Commander Salamander. I won't disclose how and where my buddy Adam Kutcher got his priest outfit.

See the picture of me above with my housemates before heading over to 17th Street. Believe me - hailing a cab was not difficult. In fact, I didn't need a cab as I got picked up by a couple in their 50's who thought I was a prostitute at first but then realized where I must be going and wanted to give me a ride. I am sure they had fun telling all their friends about their out of the ordinary ride from Georgetown to Dupont Circle that night.

I got to JR's on 17th Street at 7:30 p.m. and the scene was already raging. So many people gathered for an evening of drinking and gawking. Oh my god gawking. Everyone would not stop staring and whistling and asking me to take a picture with them. I met up with my brother Steven at JR's where I got registered for the race and then had some beers in their beer garten. Then Adam Kutcher finally showed up - we were priest and naughty catholic school girl together at last.

Parading was unbelievable. I ran into my friend Filip who was Orange Fanta together with the other three Fanta Girls. Everyone's outfits were totally outrageous. So many friends were out to watch and were screaming at us parading up and down the street. I ran into the newly elected mayor of DC Adrian Fenty who shook my hand and told me I was looking beautiful. No joke! I got in a little bit of stretching and did some strides and it was time for the race to begin.

We lined up at Church St and believe me there was a lot of elbowing trying to get to the front of the starting line. People on the left side of the street were screaming "HIGH" and people on the right side were screaming "HEEL" back and forth like the "tastes great / less filling" Bud Lite commercial. The gun went off at 9:00 p.m. and we were off. I had the desire but not the shoes on to win. I sprinted the four blocks hard but my heels were just too tall and clumsy and I couldn't keep up with the leaders. I crossed the finish line somewhere in the 10th-15th place range but am absolutely certain I had the fastest time/heel ratio of any drag queen racing Tuesday night.

The block party began only minutes after the race had just begun. An overwhelming number of friends came over to tell me how beautiful I was and how fast I had run. Many more pictures with people on the street. A huge group of us went to Annie's Steak House and caused a scene at the bar I am sure that restaurant won't see again for a long while. At some point a few of us moved over to Cobalt for their Tuesday night 80's dance party that was more fun than ever. I ran into the winner of the race carrying the golden high heel trophy and we did a shot together. I told him to watch out in 2007.

What an amazing night! I am already planning my outfit for next year. And am already strategizing on how I am going to be first across that finish line to win the golden high heel.

PACE Race 5K -- Saturday October 21st, 2006

At 7 a.m. on Saturday October 21st Bill Scully and I drove down to West Potomac Park to run the third annual PACE Race 5K, an event organized every year to raise awareness about prostate cancer. The course is a speedy out and back starting in West Potomac Park and returning from halfway down the river side of East Potomac Park. I actually got more than a couple hours of sleep and didn't have too much to drink the night before and was feeling pretty good except quite a bit chilly. The gun went off at 8 a.m. and we all took off. The cold air was painful to the lungs with the first deep breaths, and the hands were completely numb for the duration of the run. About 10 of us had broken away by the 1 mile mark but the leaders were running an insane pace and I just couldn't keep up. After crossing the 2 mile mark I knew I was going to make it and turned up the pace for the run to the finish. I wound up crossing the finish line in 19 minutes 6 seconds (6:10 mile pace), good for 9th place overall out of 212 runners and 1st place in the males age 25-29 group. I got a $25 gift certificate to Safeway and a $25 gift certificate to the restaurant Glory Days. Bill also finished well on what turned out to be a beautiful fall day. Two weeks until New York!!!

The Richmond Sprint Triathlon -- Sunday October 15th, 2006

The brother Steven and I drove down to Richmond, Virginia on Saturday October 14th to compete in the Richmond Sprint Triathlon. We made it down in time for packet pick up and to go for an easy ride along the bike course for the event. We got a hotel room and all set for the morning before going out to hit the town. We went and got an awesome dinner and mojitos at Havana '59. Then we hopped down to the Tobacco Company for a copious amount of alcoholic beverages, dancing, and met up with some college friends living in the area. We then traversed over to Richbrau for more drinking, dancing, and frolicking before heading back to the hotel at around 2 a.m. Not the kind of night you're supposed to have before a triathlon.

We got up quite a bit hung over at 6:15 a.m. and headed over to the big event. The Richmond Sprint Triathlon is a 400 meter indoor swim, a 20k bike (12.4 miles), and 5k run (3.1 miles). The swim was a snake swim going up and down each of 4 lanes in a 50 meter pool with one swimmer going off every 15 seconds. It was not until about 9 o'clock before it was my turn to take off. My left shoulder was still a little bit tender from the bike wreck a few weekends ago but I was able to make do and get the swim done in 8 minutes 25 seconds. There was quite a run in bare feet from the pool to the transition area and it took me 4 minutes 28 seconds to get from the pool to on my bike. I trucked it on the bike crossing 12.4 miles in 38 minutes 26 seconds and passing dozens of people without any glimpse of a faster biker approaching from behind. The 23:57 5k run was certainly not my fastest of the season as I was experiencing some pretty severe stomach cramps I'm sure from being dehydrated. I wound up crossing the finish line in 1:16:57 good for 77th place overall out of 530 participants and 12th place out of 34 participants in the males age 25-29 group. Steven also crossed the finish line of his first triathlon smiling and in good time finishing 4th in his age group. Check out the adorable picture of the two of us at the finish line. We did have a blast and got to see the nightlife of Richmond but I am going to start taking this whole running and biking thing a little bit more seriously from now on. No more dying during a 5k run because I needed those last few drinks the night before! We'll see how this resolution turns out.

The Fifth Avenue Mile -- Saturday September 30th along Central Park in New York City

I was ready to see how fast I really am so I decided to try a one mile race...

I took the 2 a.m. Chinatown bus on the morning of Saturday September 30th from Washington, D.C. to New York City. I got let out in Chinatown in Manhattan at 5:45 a.m. still a bit tired and 4 hours til race time. I wound up taking the subway up to Chelsea and hanging out at Starbucks for a couple hours until heading to the Upper East Side where the race was going on.

The Fifth Avenue Mile is a 1 mile road race down Fifth Ave along Central Park from 80th Street to 60th Street (see the map). There is a small uphill during the first quarter mile and then the rest is downhill -- the course is the fastest and most prestigious 1 mile road race in the world. The race was run in waves going off every 15 minutes. I got to see the wave of under 15 year old runners start and then the 15-29 year old females. I did a 10 minute warm up jog around Central Park before it was time to line up with the males age 15-29 for the 9:45 a.m. wave start. There turned out to be more than 500 people running in my wave and 372 finishers in the males age 20-29 group. I lined up in the middle of the pack so it took a few seconds to get going once the gun went off. I ran hard and thought I was trekking pretty good but wound up crossing the finish line at 5 minutes and 31 seconds -- 1 minute 8 seconds behind the winner of the 20-29 age group (4:23) and 1 minute 37 seconds behind the professional winner (3:54). I was out of breath for a couple minutes after the finish but once I caught my breath I was ragingly pissed I hadn't pushed harder during that short 5 minutes.

I met Jill at the finish line and we went to FAO Schwarz to play with the stuffed animals and eat a brownie sundae. Then we walked up through Central Park and saw John Stewart playing with his kid under a bridge. We traversed up to the Guggenheim Museum and saw a cool architecture exhibit and some famous art. Met up with Dee for sushi in SoHo before a crazy night of barhopping - "it's raining Jagermeister all night long", a trip to the store "GirlProps" for sunglasses & wigs, and then clubbing first at Bank and then at the infamous Roxy before getting back to Jill's place sometime around 6 in the morning. Jill and I met up with Adrienne at a Ukranian diner on Sunday morning for brunch which was awesome, and then some shopping before hopping on the bus back to D.C. Overall, I had a blast and it was great training for the NYC Marathon coming up in a few weeks. I will be back next year to break 5 minutes.

Go Georgetown U Cycling Team!

So I recently found out about and started riding with the Georgetown University Cycling Team. They are a Division II USA Cycling (USAC) NCAA racing team and part of the Atlantic Coast Cycling Conference. I have been out on a few rides with them now and have met some pretty amazing bikers that I have a hard time keeping up with. We went on some rides out Macarthur Blvd and out River Road that were quite hilly and fun and also a ride down to Haines Point to do some sprints - I learned how to get down there via the Mt Vernon Trail so that I don't have to ride over M Street and Constitution Ave now to get down to Haines Point which is nice. The racing season is in the spring so I still have quite a while to get in competitive biking shape. Visit the Georgetown University Cycling Team homepage at: http://www14.georgetown.edu/explore/organizations/cyclingteam/

A disappointing and painful day - the Odyssey Half Iron Triathlon, September 16th

On Friday September 15th I departed from Georgetown down to Fredericksburg, VA to participate in the Odyssey Half Iron Triathlon in Lake Anna State Park - a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile ride, and 13.1 mile run. I got down to Fredericksburg at 8 p.m. in time for packet pick up and to get a room at the Ramada. Got everything organized for in the morning and then got some pasta at Ruby Tuesdays before getting to sleep early. There was unfortunately no alarm clock in the room so I set the alarm on my cell phone and turned up the volume - a bad bad idea. I got a phone call every 30 minutes all night long. Also, it was crazy storming with loud thunder and lightning all evening and I kept thinking "not again, not again".

I got up at 4:45 in the m0rning and was out of the hotel by 5:15. It turned out to be a 40 minute drive over to Lake Anna State Park during which time the rain finally stopped for the day. Got my bike put together, went through the bike check, and got my transition area set up without problem. Out of the 200+ participants, it turns out that I was one out of less than 10 or so people not wearing a full-body wetsuit for the swim. Whoops. I was pretty ridiculously nervous before I went off in the first swim wave, really not sure if I was going to be able to swim 1.2 miles and how my legs were going to hold up on the run after biking so far. At 7:00 a.m. the gun went off and the first wave took off from the beach into the lake. I stuck to the back of the pack getting in the lake as I knew I wasn't going to be fast. It turns out that I am a pretty slow swimmer despite all the training I had done in the pool. It took me 45 minutes 8 seconds to swim, good for 14th place out of 14 individuals in the male age 25-29 category. Something is so different about swimming in a lake than swimming in a pool. My breathing was off, I was aimed in the wrong direction every time I looked up to see where I was going, and I really didn't like bumping into and getting bumped into by other swimmers.

The race for me really began as soon as I got my feet on dry land. I popped on my cleats and helmet and hopped on my bike in good time and set out on the 56 mile ride. I am becoming a good biker and was really cruising on the ride passing quite a few people. Unfortunately, I just got a little too caught up in the race and trying to make up time on my bike. I didn't quite make a turn around mile 30 on the course and wound up in the gravel shoulder just off the road. I am not sure exactly what happened but wound up wiping out into the gravel at 20 or 21 m.p.h. I mutilated the handlebars on my bike. I grade 2 dislocated my left shoulder. And suffered pretty disgusting road rash on my left forearm, side, and shoulder. I walked off the pain for a few minutes and then hopped back on my bike and tried to keep riding for a few miles. See the picture of me with my stupid grin, mutilated handlebars, and bloody left arm. As the adrenaline started to wear off after the crash, I started to realize how hurt my shoulder was and came to the realization that I was not going to be able to run. I was incredibly disappointed and spent a long time sitting, reflecting, crying when I got back to the transition area. It was pretty painful scrubbing off all the gravel with hydrogen peroxide. My buddy Mark Roche always says, "Pain is temporary, quitting is forever." Well I say, "Relief from pain is temporary until you run out of vicodin." I am not sure what lesson I learned out of all of this but I do know that I am crossing the finish line of a half iron tri in the very near future!

The Virginia Beach Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon - Sept 3th, 2006

On Saturday September 2nd, Andy Dietrich and I drove from DC down to Virginia Beach for the 6th annual Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon. The drive took a ridiculous 6 hours being Labor Day weekend and all. We got into VA Beach in time to pick up our numbers and catch the last few minutes of the running expo. We met up with the girlfriend Jill and company, and the group of us went out and got some pasta for dinner. Andy and I went for a quick jog to loosen up the legs from the long day in the car before heading back to the hotel at an early hour to get some sleep.

Andy, Jill, and I departed from the hotel at 5:00 a.m. for the race. We parked at the VA Beach Amphitheater and caught a shuttle to the convention center near the start of the race. I got in a little stretching and made my way to Corral 2 in time for the 7:00 a.m. start. There were more than 20,000 people registered to run and the start line was crazy and full of nervous energy. At 7:00 the professional runners took off, followed by Corral 1 and then finally Corral 2. It was 1:27 on the clock when I made it to the start line and a couple minutes after that by the time I got to pace. The first mile they had us running directly into the sunlight and I was glad to be wearing sunglasses. I was feeling pretty good most of the first several miles and crossed the 10k mark in 45:44. I have been having a nagging left knee injury this running season that starting flaring up around mile 8 or 9 when I was planning to start picking up the pace. The last few miles wound up being much slower than I had hoped to run. I cruised the last couple miles down the boardwalk along the beach to the finish line that seemed so close yet wouldn't come fast enough. I came in at 1:38:56 (7:34 mile pace), good for 646th place overall out of 16,136 runners. I was hoping to run 1:31:00 but was pleased with my performance on the day.

After the race we all met up in the beer garden for some oat sodas and then went to a cafe on the beach for some Coronas, margaritas, and eventually lunch. Andy and I went and found our college friend Kleo at his family's restaurant Fishbones on the beach where he made up some tasty beverages in exchange for the Geico t-shirt I got after the race. That night we went down to the Fifth Street Stage for the awards ceremony and to see Three Doors Down. The soreness the next morning was rather intense but only lasted a day or so. Andy and I stopped through Williamsburg on the way back to DC. We went by the Cheese Shop for sandwiches and picked up bread ends and house, went by the Peanut Shop for butter toffee peanuts, and by the Williamsburg Winery for a wine tour, sampling, and a half case of wine. It was quite the Labor Day weekend we all had.

The North East Triathlon-turned-Rainathon - Sunday August 27th, 2006

On Saturday August 26th I drove two hours north up through Baltimore to the small town of North East, Maryland to participate in the North East Triathlon. The event was scheduled for a 1500 kilometer swim in the North East River, a 40 kilometer (24.8 mile) bike around Elk Neck State Park, and a 10 kilometer (6.2 mile) run.

I arrived at my first USA Triathlon sanctioned triathlon on Saturday around 4 p.m. in time for packet pick-up, to get my bike checked over, and figure out the course for the race the next morning. There was enough daylight left in the day that I got a chance to go out for a short ride and run to see some of the course before eating some dinner and getting to sleep early.

I awoke at 4:45 a.m. on race morning to the cracking of lightning and a raging thundershower outside my hotel room. It hadn't rained in weeks so why this morning of all times??? All of us staying in the hotel drove down to the race site where everyone was parked in the grass field turned mudslide lot and sitting in their cars hoping for the storm to pass. The race was scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. so at 7:00 I decided to brave the rain and got my bike and gear and headed to the race site. It was still lightning so the race director decided to cancel the swim portion of the event and make it a duathlon - run, bike, and then run. It would be my first ever duathlon.

By the time of the race start at 8:15 a.m. the storm had passed and the sky had cleared. It turned out to be a beautiful day. I ran the initial 5K in 20:45, biked the 40k in 1:15:11, and ran the final 10K in 51:27 finishing overall in 2:30:26 good for 84th

place out of about 300 finishers. I was happy with my performance in my first duathlon but it was insane how many 40 year old women were flying by me on the bike. I am definitely getting fitter and faster and more and more addicted to the active lifestyle. It was a great weekend and I got to meet quite a few triathlon lunatics who I identify with too well. I can't wait for the Odyssey Half Ironman in Lake Anna State Park down in Fredericksburg, VA on Saturday September 16th!

Woohoo!!!

I got a new bike!

Hehehe!!! I had put about 3000 miles on my Cannondale T2000 touring bike since last March and decided that I was getting progressively more serious about biking by the day, especially after watching the Tour de France for the last 3 weeks. It was time for a road bike capable of some speed. On July 28th I signed my semester's loan check over to Revolution Cycles down on M Street. Check it out:

the Trek Madone SL 5.2 with carbon fiber fork and frame, Shimano Ultegra crank and deraileurs, Bontrager Race Lite wheels, and carbon fiber aerobars

I AM IN!!!

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More than 90,000 people applied to run in the 2006 ING New York City Marathon and a lottery was used to select the lucky 35,000 individuals who get to run 26.2 miles through the five burroughs of NYC on November 5th, 2006.

On June 8th I found out: I AM IN!!!

Countdown to the start, November 5, 2006: 127 days 15h 38m 55s

Time to get training if I am going to keep up with Lance Armstrong and ultra-marathoner Dean Karnazes on race day!!!

Green Mountain Relay - June 10-11th, 2006

_ On Friday June 9th I flew up to Albany, NY with my favorite 11 Gtown law students to participate in the inaugural running of the Green Mountain Relay - http://www.greenmountainrelay.com.

The Green Mountain Relay is a 200 mile relay race across the state of Vermont from Jeffersonville to Bennington. It is broken up into 36 legs of varying lengths and difficulties meaning everyone on the team gets to run three legs. The first person on the team runs from the start line to the checkpoint at the end of leg 1 where the second team member is waiting to take off. The second team member starts running for checkpoint 2 where hopefully the third team member is waiting and ready to run. All the teams ride in vans from checkpoint to checkpoint and stop along the way to cheer on their running teammate.

We rented a couple vans at the airport in Albany and drove a couple hours up to Middlebury, VT where we stopped for some drinks and the t-shirt presentation before treking up to Burlington, VT near the start of the race where we crashed in a hotel for the night. Our starting time in Jeffersonville was 9 a.m. on Saturday where Loren led us off. It turned out to be a cold rainy day, probably in the 50's during the day and 30's at night. I got to run legs 12, 24, and 36 - the last one meaning I got to cross the finish line for our team. My first leg was a pretty flat 5.7 miles and our 11th runner Mark arrived around 6 p.m. It was a good first run though I didn't see any other runners on the road. I definitely flashed my bare ass to our vans when they were driving by and to another set of vans that I thought were ours mistakenly. At the transition point for my second leg there was a high school track team waiting for their runner who turned out to be right on Mark's heels as he passed off to me at 3:30 a.m. for my second run. The second leg was 4.2 miles - the first 500 yards or so straight uphill, then straight downhill for 2 miles, and then flat to the finish. I took off with the high school track star like 5 steps behind me. I tried to run up the hill at a moderate pace because I wanted him to pass me so I would have someone to chase on my run. I heard his footsteps behind me the whole way up the hill but he didn't go by until we reached the crest where he sprinted by and then we both took off chugging down the hill. It was so much fun sprinting after Mr. high school track star for four miles. He didn't really get more than 30 paces ahead of me until about a half mile from the finish where he somehow had a kick left in him that I didn't. My third leg was 5.0 miles - the first two and a half straight uphill and then flat with some rolling hills on the way into the event's finish line in Bennington. Mark passed off to me around 10 a.m. and I took off up the mountain. I really didn't think I was going to make it but my team was there cheering for me at the top and I was re-energized to bring it home. Chad, Paul, and Jennie met up with me dressed as scantily clad as I was about 500 yards from the finish line and we all ran across together. In the end we crossed the finish line at 11 a.m. after 25 hours 51 minutes 50 seconds of non-stop running (7:51 mile pace for the 200 mile course) good enough for 2nd place overall and 1st place in the mixed division.

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Bay to Breakers - San Francisco, May 21st, 2006

THE CRAZIEST RACE EVER!

So I flew out to San Francisco this year to participate in the 95th running of Bay to Breakers (http://ingbaytobreakers.com). B2B is a 12K (7.46 miles) course starting on the east side of the city at the bay and ending on the west side at Ocean Beach on the Pacific. From sea level at the Embarcadero the course rises steeply along Hayes Street Hill. Around the 2.5-mile mark runners climb an 11.15% grade between Fillmore and Steiner, bringing them to the highest point in the race, approximately 215 feet above sea level. The remainder of the course gradually flows downhill alongside the Panhandle and through Golden Gate Park.

Everyone I know that lives out in SF decided to build a float and dress in costume for the race of course. The theme: Goonies. The float they spent the better part of a week constructing was no doubt the vessel of One-Eyed Willy, the Armada - a booze carrying craft with wheels. From what I was told they had a blast every afternoon during the construction process. The all out costume wear ranged from pirate gear to Brand on a bicycle with training wheels. As I was told, the race is not actually about how fast you can get from the start to the finish line. But rather how long it can take you while consuming as many alcoholic beverages as possible while frolicking, dancing, enjoying the mania of the other "participants" (runners is by no means an accurate statement) while constantly avoiding the gross naked men and women carrying yellow balloons.

Now to say the race was crazy is one thing but insanity might just be the best description. 80,000 people lined up on the streets of SF at 8 a.m. in full costume ranging from naked to nuns on rollerskates. Everyone was drinking and screaming, and the funniest part, throwing tortillas in the air. Not sure how the tortilla tradition started but it was hilarious seeing thousands of tortillas in the air for the half hour I was at the start line before the gun went off. It took me 2 min 40 sec to get to start line after the official start and it was pretty crowded running for the first 3-4 miles. It was not until about the beginning of Golden Gate Park that I was able to really start running at pace. The Hayes Street Hill was a monster. I wound up crossing the finish line with a gun time of 60:01. I guess I should have figured that it's a race to just enjoy the running and not worry about time unless you're a seated runner. After a couple beers in the beer garden, I taxied back to the entrance to Golden Gate Park and caught back up with the party that was the race. There was a group of people dressed up as the Duke lacrosse team, a group was FEMA, and so many other funny costumes. At one point the course went through a small tunnel where there was an incredible dance party. Ocean Beach was raging the second time I made it to the finish line. The best of times!

Idiotic Bike Adventure April 2006 - The C&O Canal Towpath

So what the hell? I hadn't been on a bike expedition since last spring and had a couple days off so...

At 7:30 a.m. on Saturday April 15th I left the house on my bicycle and rode the 5 miles down the Mt Vernon Trail into Virginia to Ronald Reagan National Airport. Here I rented a car and threw my bike in the trunk and took off for Cumberland, Maryland. Along the Potomac River runs the C&O Canal Towpath from Cumberland, MD to Washington, DC. It is an

184 mile unpaved bike trail that has over 80 historic canal homes preserved on it and passes locations including Harper's Ferry and Great Falls (check out http://www.bikewashington.org/canal/ for maps and an info on the trail). I dropped off the rental car in Cumberland and made it to the head of the trail at noon where you see me in the picture above ready to take off. On Saturday, I covered the first 85 miles of the trail taking me until 8:30 p.m. and 7 hours 10 minutes of actual pedaling time. There were several trees down over the trail that I had to stop and carry my bike over. At about mile 30, I had to walk my bike through the pitch black 3/4 mile long Paw Paw Tunnel. I rode by a couple 4 or 5 foot long black snakes stretched out catching some sun on the trail. Most of the ride was beautiful - through the trees, lined by flowers, along the canal and the Potomac River. There were several deer out at dusk before I turned off and crashed at the Red Roof Inn in Williamsport, MD.

On Sunday I made it back to the Towpath at 11:30 a.m. for another day of riding and beautiful sunny weather. Not too long into my ride there was a detour off the Towpath due to flooding damage. I wound up biking 6 miles along hilly roads before being put back on the trail only 1 mile down from where I turned off. All that wasted energy. Later on in the afternoon I biked over a bridge lined by dozens of scary looking vultures. Check out the up close picture of one. They didn't seem that scared of me. In the late evening I passed by an area called Bald Eagle Island and was instructed to look up by a biker I passed along the way. There was a HUGE birds nest in one of the trees and a bald eagle sitting on the branch close by. No kidding! In the end I didn't have quite the stamina or daylight hours to make it all the way back to DC on my bike. My near and dear girlfriend Anna picked me up at milepost 35 around 7:30 p.m. Altogether, I biked the first 150 miles of the Towpath and 162 total miles over the 2 days and had a phenomenal time. The legs, back, and hands are a bit sore today, but I am definitely making it back out next weekend to milepost 35 to pickup where I left off and pedal the rest of the way into DC. Will pick up the story here where I left off after next weekend.

So long for now! ~ D.

The 2006 IronMed Charity Triathlon

At the finish line with the sexy man that is my inspiration, Chad Russell. Together his team of Georgetown law students raised over $800 for MetroTeenAIDS.

On Saturday April 8th, 2006 came together the culmination of several months of my hard work -- the 2006 IronMed Charity Triathlon & 10K Run. On this cold and rainy morning, over 110 athletes and 30 volunteers showed up at sunrise to take part in what was a very memorable event that raised over $11,000 for MetroTeenAIDS, a nonprofit organization centered in southeast Washington, D.C. that focuses on preventing new HIV infections in the youth of our capitol. Despite the weather, we managed to have a great time - not too hard to do when you are running around in a Speedo all day!

I made major improvements in my triathlon performance over last year. I swam the 1000 meters this year in 17:34, biked 15.7 miles in 1:04:00, and ran 6.2 miles in 45:01 -- finishing the event in 2:06:35, more than 14 minutes faster than my time last year.

Click on the following link to see some pictures from the event and after-party:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=148qvxyi.19rp8ld6&x=0&y=8dk812

That's all for now. Will write again soon.