Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Death Magnetic

On Thursday I went to see Metallica at the Toyota Center. I have had the opportunity to see Metallica one other time in 1991 in Oakland, CA at a festival called Day on the Green. It was festival with 4 bands that included the then unknown Soundgarden.













I was very excited about seeing one of my favorite bands and they did not disappoint. We did not make it for the opening act and it didn't matter to me because I never heard of them and their name escapes me now. We were in the mosh area not more than 10 feet from the stage. There was a little bit of moshing going on and needless to say my anger management issues kicked in and I had to set a few youngsters straight. :)















The set was a little over two hours. Most of the set was between the new album "Death Magnetic" and the "Black" album. I know you have to promote the new stuff and you have to play the stuff off the best selling album but I would have loved to have heard a few more of "And Justice for All" or any of their earlier records. It was a great show and I'm glad I had the opportunity to see them.

Monday, November 17, 2008

San Antonio Marathon

Yesterday I ran the San Antonio Marathon and although I did not have the race I was hoping for I did finish and I should be back at it in a few days. Before I get into the details of the race I wanted to share my feelings on the pre and post race activities.

We arrived in San Antonio around 1:30 and you could see that it was total chaos around the Alamo Dome. There were a lot of roads blocked off and while I was trying to find a detour I found myself stuck in the downtown area and it just sucked. After 45 minutes I finally found some parking down the street from the dome. After we were yelled by a cop for crossing the street we finally made it inside for packet pick-up. This might have been one of the biggest disasters ever. They had a very small area set up for the pick up. It was so small that the lines were merging together. You could barely wade you way through the bodies. After getting my packet and arguing with the lady that was giving out the race shirts I made my way through the expo which was also a disaster. You could barely move or look at anything. Why they only had part of the dome open and set up things the way they did is really bizarre. The post race set up was just as stupid. For some reason we parked at the AT&T Center and were bussed over to the downtown area and then finished the race at the Alamo Dome only to have to wait in freaking line for hours to get back to your car might be the stupidest thing. We took a taxi just so we didn't have to wait. At the finish there wasn't much food and it seemed they were charging for the beer. Most races it is free. They also wanted you to pay for the finishers shirt. The Rock N' Roll people should call the event people from the Houston Marathon and ask them how to do a marathon.

Now for the race itself. (sorry about the complaining) When we got to the start it was very cold. I had a lot of debate over what to wear and I did not choose wisely. I wore thermal tights, a sleeveless shell, a thermal shirt and a long sleeve running shirt at the start. ( I am a sissy in the cold). I began running the race with Jarntip, Kyle and Crystal. When we got started I felt good and quickly pulled ahead of the other 3. I quickly got hot and had to start stripping off layers eventually throwing my thermal shirt away but I was stuck with the rest. I wish I would have just worn shorts and a running shirt. Around mile 4 I had to pee very bad so I stopped at a Port-O-Can. Shortly after I was back on the road and I took a Power Bar Gel and I had some stomach problems about 2 minutes later. I don't know what was in it but it did not settle well with me. I kept running at a decent pace despite my stomach but I had to stop around mile 6 to use the restroom. After I got back on the road I still wasn't feeling well and stopped at mile 10 and again at mile 13. All during this time I kept a good pace but I felt it taking its toll on me. I couldn't take any Cytomax as it seemed to aggravate my stomach and I really needed some energy. At mile 14 my stomach was still bothering me but I was through the worst as far my stomach goes. I kept going well until mile 19 and then things got really tough. My right knee starting causing me a lot of pain and I had to slow way down and eventually walk. I starting running again for a while and then walking and finally stopping to stretch until mile 23. That is when Crystal caught me walking. We walked together for about half a mile and then I just started running despite all the pain I was in. I pulled ahead of her and I was just trying to block out the pain. I wanted to stop and walk but I wanted to finish even more so I picked up the pace even more. I finally managed to get to the finish line and came in with a time of 4:27:41. This was my second marathon and it was a PR for me. I'm happy that I finished but I felt like I would come in closer to 4 hours based on my training. I am going back to the drawing board to tweak my training and I need to figure out why the gel made me sick. My next event is the Houston Marathon in January but I may do the Dallas Marathon in December if its still open.

I am pretty sure I will not do this race again at least not next year. It is two weeks before Ironman Cozumel and I don't want to take the chance of an injury. If the event gets straightened out then maybe I will do but it will take a lot of convincing to make me want to do this race. The course itself was good and it was nice seeing all my peeps from H-Town it was everything else that sucked.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Seattle

I was in Seattle last week and I must say it is a beautiful city. I see why the people there love it so much. It did rain every day but it didn't seem to bother anyone in the city like it does here in Houston. If we had that amount of rain in Houston I think the city would shut down. (Just kidding) I didn't get to do too much site seeing but we did head down to Pike Place Market. Its the place you see on TV where they throw the fish from person to person before they wrap it up and give to you. It was kind of neat. At the market we also visited the first Starbucks and a kick ass Clam Chowder joint. We also ate at Pegasus Pizza in Alki (a suburb of Seattle) with Mark Vega and his girlfriend. (Mark is Dave Vega's brother) The pizza was awesome and so was the company. I hope to go back to Seattle someday. It reminds me of Austin and San Francisco combined together.

When I travel I always try and workout. I didn't do as good of a job with this is Seattle. I did run on Friday morning at Discovery Park. The park was very nice and very hilly. My goal was to get a 10 mile run in but I strained by left calf early in my run. I was only able to get 5 miles and I have been limping around since then. I have done two runs since Friday. I did a 5 mile run on Tuesday and 9 mile run today. My calf is still very sore but I think I will be O.K. for the marathon on Sunday. Even if I'm not I'm still running. I may have to crawl to the finish but I am going to finish.

Monday, November 3, 2008

I'm Ready

Yesterday I finally did my 21 mile run in preparation for the San Antonio Marathon. I felt pretty good during the run and this morning I am just a little sore. I finished my 21.02 miles in 3:13:17 which includes a few stops at traffic lights. I pretty happy with that time and I feel that I am ready for the marathon.

Backing up a few days I was able to get a short swim in on Friday and I rode 46 miles on Saturday. My swimming is getting better but I need more time in the pool. That is going to be tough with my travel this week. The 46 miles I did on Saturday was great. It was the first long ride since the Longhorn 70.3.

Lastly, I have had a big debate with myself about what races I want to do in 2009. I am already signed up for Ironman Cozumel but my goal is to do two Ironman races in 2009. My initial thought was to do Ironman Brazil. It was the first one I planned for when looking at the 2009 schedule. The main issue there is the cost. I know I could be ready in plenty of time. While on the Ironman site the other day I noticed that Ironman Kentucky was still open. The cost to get to Kentucky would be a lot less but the issues there are a tough course and it is on August 30th. (Very hot!) I'm still not sure what I will do but I will make a decision soon.