October 09, 2010
2010 Chicago Marathon Race Prequel
(Cross-posted from/comments at DailyMile)
Some quick thoughts on the eve of the 2010 Chicago Marathon. I'm in the basement bedroom of my cousin's place on Dayton street on Chicago's North Side. Amy and Em dropped me off after we had a nice family dinner at Leona's. God, I love my family. I really enjoyed it. And the red wine. My clothes are laid out, my pace tattoo, Rally Monkeys, “Go Dad” bracelet to remind me of Em are all on, and I've put a list of spectators to look for on my hand in Sharpie. Meetups are in place for the morning, as well as my ride to Grant Park (thanks, Kevin!). I'm as ready as I'm going to get.
So, the race. I'm being kind of stubborn about it. At some point in my training, I decided I could run it in 3:45. WHY I thought that is lost to me right now, but it's too late to start second-guessing. The fact is, I had a very strong training cycle (with a few down weeks, but good recoveries) and was in great shape and confident. Then the taper happened. The taper is supposed to be rest and recover time. Not a total rest, but an easing up of training. In my second week of the 3 week taper, my leg started bothering me, and it hasn't settled fully since. I scrapped most of my runs since then hoping that rest would fix everything. It hasn't. BUT, it seems, my leg only hurts when I'm NOT running. So we'll see how that plays in tomorrow.
As for the layoff, theoretically, it shouldn't affect my fitness too much, but it's certainly not great for confidence. Add to that the fact that they are calling for tomorrow to be the 3rd warmest Chicago Marathon in 20 years. Not good. So what am I going to do?
I'm going to run. I'm sticking with my original plan. The nagging leg, the layoff, the weather – they're all just excuses at this point, and I'm not willing to cash in on them yet. I let the weather get in my head and crash my party in Illinois on 5/1 and I'm not ready to give in to it.
One thing I did learn in Illinois is that weather is a factor, for sure, but the trick is how you adjust to it. One major difference between 5/1 and the prediction for tomorrow is that 5/1 STARTED hot and humid and got hotter, though the humidity got better. Tomorrow, the picture is normal morning moisture and around 60, then getting up to 70, but not humid, around 10 (start is at 7:30). So a decent part of the race can be run before it gets too nasty. Thus, I'm sticking to my plan to start with an eye on 3:45, and if I have to adjust, I'll address that as needed. But I am NOT planning to fail.
Maybe that's bold of me, and maybe I'll pay for it, but I've got a chip on my shoulder and I'm still out for redemption.
Not only is this about redemption for 5/1, but I'm running, for the first time, with a pair of names on my shirt. “Aunt Jeanne,” and “Linda Picchi.” I don't want to get into too much personal information, but both women, dear to me, are fighting the fight of their lives against cancer, for the 3rd time each.
Aunt Jeanne is the woman who taught me how to snow ski, cross country and downhill, had a hand in teaching me to water ski, introduced me to soccer, and has taught me that trying new things is what keeps you young. She's a strong, tough Irish woman, a runner, and I'm proud to run this race for her.
Linda Picchi, or Mrs. Picchi as I usually call her, is the mother of one of my dearest friends, Art. Art is the kind of friend you call when you need to move. A body. So you can imagine that his mom is pretty important to me. Not only have I spent a lot of time with her and consider her like extended family (she used to cut my hair when I had some, in fact she gave me my last haircut ever, for my wedding), but she's a wonderful person beyond that. She has worked, for years, with the National Association for Down Syndrome organizing, raising money and awareness, and lobbying the government on their behalf.
If these two woman can keep fighting and fighting, day in and day out, I can run 26.2 miles on an unseasonably warm Chicago day, right? Damn straight. So no excuses. Let's do this.
There's more to say – about the Expo, and meetups, and awesome people on twitter and Facebook, and of course family – but now it's time for bed, and hopefully I can give that some proper due on Sunday afternoon.
June 15, 2008
Father's Day Weekend
Yay for Father's Day. You know, I never really 'got' Father's or Mother's Day until I became a father. That's too bad.
Saturday, Emily and I hung out at Kenosha Regional Airport watching planes while an EAA Young Eagles rally was going on.
Someone had brought a pedal-plane which she adored.
Then we went to a "farkle-fest"/tech day a few blocks from our hose and got my new motorcycle tires (Bridgestone Spitfie S11s) mounted on the rims. I met up with these guys through Sport-Touring.Net and their generosity saved me $75+ as opposed to getting the tires mounted in a shop.
Emily got a little bored/tired.
Afterwards, we went to Pep Boys and the motorcycle shop for tools and brake parts. When we got home, we went swimming for the first time of the year.
On Sunday, I got a bunch of nice work shirts and shorts and a great Gerber multi-tool (think Leatherman but different brand) and after my ladies took me out to breakfast, I spent 7 hours with my Seca replacing the brake pads/shoes and getting the freshly shod wheels on.
I got back from my test-ride (Oh, the new tires are fantastic) in time to watch a few videos with Em and put her to bed. I finished off the evening with a Guinness or two and a few episodes of Long Way Round.
It was a GREAT weekend!
Unfortunately I had to settle for a phone conversation with my dad instead of hanging out in person. Maybe next year we can spend it together.
April 02, 2008
R.I.P. Uncle Bob
It looks like I'll be in my old neighborhood soon. I just got word that a good family friend and deer hunting buddy passed away this afternoon. I have no details other than an ambulance was at the house around 1:00 p.m. and he was gone. The phone tree went into action from there. He was 62 or so.
Pisser.
Though we weren't particularly close, he's someone I've known my entire life. They owned the very first house on our block. He was "Uncle Bob." It was in his back yard that I fell off the monkey bars and split my head open - good for 22 stitches. His 4 sons were my best friends and sometimes "enemies" growing up. He was my Cub Scout Den Leader for a while. He was a quiet, stern-looking dude, but when he spoke, 95% of the time it was funny as hell.
The last time I saw him was on my birthday this year. Here's perhaps the last photo I have of him - livin' it up with the ladies:
Rest in Peace Uncle Bob.
October 15, 2007
Family Time
This weekend was all about me and my dad hanging out. We went turkey hunting. We went crappie fishing. We spotted deer.
It was a great weekend.
September 18, 2006
A Podcast Star is Born
040_a_podcast_star_is_born.mp3 - 38.6MB - 54:54
Yes, this is a long episode, but hopefully its worth it. And hey, it's under an hour - that's kind of short for me.
Click the photo for the full set.
EMILY WAS BORN!!!!! August 22, 7.5#, 19.75" long. Mother and child are doing great and you can hear all about it.
Ths show runs the gamut from us thinking she was on her way, to her birth, my musings, her first bath, and even a walk through a forest preserve.
There are TONS of pictures of her life so far. If you want to follow along with the birthing and bathing pictures, click the image above. If you want to follow along with the sound seeing through the forest preserve including our run-in with geocachers and C-130s, click on the image below. The geocache in question was GCW593 - The Des Plaines River Trail, which the GameDorks did apparently find.
Click the photo for the full set.
Please feel free to comment on the Flickr photos or use and of the contact information below. Thanks. It's good to be back to podcasting. And it's GREAT to be a father!
Contact info:
- email: eblo at ratula dot net
- call: 206-FEW-EBLO (206-339-3256)
- skype: oblivion9999 - now with voicemail!
- Subscribe to my podcasts via RSS: 
- Add yourself to my Frappr Map.
- Friend me on MySpace.
- My banners and promos
