An Ultimate Return

I got Mom, Hollie, Mike, and Matthew to the airport this morning by 6:30a and rushed home to make final preparations for the start of the Live Ultimate Run.  And thus, after a long hiatus, I made a triumphant return to the road race circuit. 

This race was challenging for two reasons: I didn’t get a full night sleep and, Ali and I took the family on the official Mills in the Hills Napa Valley excursion yesterday!  Today’s endeavor was a 10k race.   Under other conditions, I might aim to finish under 50 minutes but not today, my friends, not today.  Instead, I set a more modest goal of 1 hour.  Good thing I did too!  My official race time was 59:52.9.

Overall, I enjoyed the race.  Anytime there’s a flat course, a good time, a medal, and a cool t-shirt…the race is sure to get high marks in my book.  You may (or may not) have noticed that I need a tan.  7 days 'til Maui!  ...actually, I'm pretty sure that's not gonna do a whole lot in the "tan" department.

The Fattman Cup Chilly Half Marathon

Whoa. 13.1 miles is f-a-r-r-r. ...and I enjoyed (nearly) all of them.

I ran my first half marathon today! The race was in Newton and the start time was 7:30a so I was out the door at 5:45a. When I arrived at the start area, the temp was a brisk 32 degrees. This Fall has been very mild so I shouldn't complain about the temp but this meant that I was likely to start with more layers than I'd finish. No one likes to carry more than they must, so I opted to start light and dress for the warmer part of the race.

The cold just compounded my nerves. For the past 4 days, I've been sweating the Newton Hills because my training routes are almost entirely flat. Actually, I should clarify; if it weren't for the structural benefits that an arch lends to bridges, my training routes are completely flat. The Newton Hills are famous for one Boston Marathon hill in particular: Heartbreak Hill. As it turns out, Heartbreak Hill isn't much of a hill at all. It's the fourth hill in a set that spans 2.5 miles and climbs nearly 150'. Fortunately for me, it's placement in this half marathon is much more friendly (miles 5.75 - 8.25) than in The Boston (miles 21 - 23ish).

My goal for the race was admittedly modest: finish with an average pace of 9-10 minutes per mile. I'm happy to report that I accomplished my goal. My final time was 2:04:38. Excluding a pee break, I didn't once walk or stop running. Moral victory! Granted, this isn't the kind of time that gets one to the front of the pack BUT I still got a medal!

The first 10 miles weren't difficult; however, my body ran out of fuel around mile 11. The last two miles were all will power. Here's what I've learned:

• don't make fun of those runners with the little energy gel packs
• hill training makes a big difference
• the longer the race, the better the shirt
• my knees and hips aren't as awesome as I thought

I was tempted to sign up for a full marathon in the Spring and have since wised-up. I think I'll stick to halves for the next 6-9 months.

That’s Milah to You

It might not be a big deal to most people, but I'm pumped because I completed the Harwich Cranberry Harvest Half Marathon and 7.3 Mile race. Or if you speak New English, it's the Harwich Cranberry Harvest Half Marathon and 7.3 Milah. Not just did I finish, but I came in 4^th place…well, in my weight class. So what if the 3 guys that beat me averaged 4 years older than me? I'm concentrating on how badly I crushed that 25 year olds time! Eat it, Hightower.

When I got into the office this morning, someone on the team was looking for Tower projects and it gave me an excuse to jump into my old designs. It's been a while since I looked at these but was happy with what I found. I uploaded a bunch of renderings for these projects to share (look on the left hand side). Here are some of my favorite images.