I meant to post this late Saturday, but I just got plain busy doing “stuff”. I was hopping from project to project from Friday afternoon until late Sunday evening. Physicals, 5k runs, dog park, birthday shopping, scoping out a newer trailer - one of those weekends that just seem to fly by.
Left work early Friday for round 3 of my physical. 1st round last week was the typical physical – height, weight, blood pressure, EKG, blood work, DRE. Everything checked out 5 by 5. Thursday I went in for a Carotid artery ultrasound (?) where they scan your neck to see what shape your veins are in. Weird little test. Doc told me afterwards that everything looked good and I have no plaque, but my vein wall thickness were those of a 67 year old man? WTF? SRSLY??? Friday I went in for a treadmill stress test. First time I’ve done one of those. Now, for the record, I hate treadmills. All that running and sweating and you don’t get anywhere. I prefer running the streets/trails over treadmills every time. The doc hooked me up a wiring harness with about 12 wires that made me look like a marionette. Then I got up on the treadmill to start the test. Started with a slow pace, no elevation. I think I had a turtle pass me up. My only problem that speed is I want to run/walk faster than the treadmill will allow. During the test, the doc will take my blood pressure and hold up a sign where you rate the difficulty you are feeling at the time on a scale of 1-20 (1 - easy, 10 - moderately hard, 20 - kill me now). Every 3 minutes, my sadistic doc would dial it up a notch. First we stepped up the pace to 2 and cranked the elevation up one level. He kept doing this every 3-4 minutes until I was at a 7.5 MPH pace and 25 degree incline. Not wanting to wimp out on the test, I felt that, if he took it up another notch, I was going to hurt him. Fortunately, he finished the test and I didn't have to kill him. Results were good, see you next year.
Couldn't sleep Friday night so I got up early with plans to head downtown early enough to find some parking close to the start. Walked the dogs, caught up on e-mails, collected some trailer gear, lost track of time and did not leave the house until 0715 (0800 start time). Had to fly into town, navigate a traffic jam, find a parking spot, and sprint to the starting line ½ mile away. I made the line with about 3 minutes to spare, found my way into the herd of runners and found my pace time (9-10 minutes). Last year there was a massive line at the registration to get your bib/packet that took almost 45 minutes. This year, I got smart and paid to have my packet mailed to me. By the time the gun sounded, I was warmed up. Conditions at start time was 83 degrees, 72% humidity. Race was pretty good, but I had the crowd at the outset. Just like the Marathon, the first kilometer was packed with bodies all running at different paces. Some sprinters, some joggers, some walkers. Spent a lot of time trying to pick my way through the mob. Took me most of the 1st kilometer to get clear of the crowd. It may have been due to the pre-race sprint or the stress test on Friday, but I started to feel old around mile two. I finished up in the middle of the pack with a mediocre time of 31:47 (10:11 pace), not a PR. At 22:08 (7:06 pace) I don’t think Bernie felt any pressure from me. All-in-all, good race. I just need to run more to improve my time. The lead runners were pulling down a 15-16 minute time (sub 6 minute pace).
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| No way I am getting beat by a 6 year old in a tutu... |
Hung around for photos and award ceremony and headed to the west side of town to look at a camping trailer I was looking to buy. We have an older Airstream trailer and I was looking to get something a bit newer. The trailer popped up late last week and I was interested in making a deal but the story got sideways and the deal fell through. Will explain more details in another post.
Was a quiet Father's Day. Took the dogs to the dog park for another mud bath, called my dad to wish him a happy father's day, took a call from my son doing the same, did some online shopping for my wife's upcoming birthday, cooked up some steaks on the grill. All-in-all, a good low key weekend to enjoy at home with my wife and the dogs.
6 comments:
Sounds like a fun weekend, although the sprint BEFORE THE RACE STARTED does not sound ideal! That on its own would have knocked down most people!
It really looks like a great weekend there. Want to join the marathon.
buy treadmill
But hey... you finished the race and it was for a good cause! So congrats!
Your physical and medical stuff does not sound fun. I had a check up yesterday and compared to yours it was a cake walk.
Whew... at least you beat the girl in the tutu. :)
I used to start the race in the middle of the pack, but after seeing it slow my time, I began starting in the front - off to the side. I'm extremely competitive and wanted every advantage I could get.
83 degrees at the start is tough. You did great considering the heat and humidity...and the stress you endured before the race!
Congrats on passing your treadmill test, and I'm happy to hear you enjoyed your Father's Day. Low-key is awesome, isn't it?
That Bernie is an animal. 22:08 in 82 and 76? Hmmm... I like that tutu though.
I did sort of a stress test once - it was for research. The "researcher" told me to tell her when I couldn't run anymore. Once I did that, she said, "okay, 2 more minutes!" I was too tired to kill her.
* Super happy all of your tests from all of your physicals came out good! Huzzah.
* Oy vey, I hate when I lose track of time, and ed up being late for something. especially when it's something important. But, I'm glad you made it to the race with 3 minutes to spare, despite the traffic jam!
* 72% humidity? BLECH!!
* I don't know much about running paces, I just think the fact that you ran at all, is totally awesome.
* Loved the pictures!
* And hooray for a quite Father's Day.
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